Page 4 of Sergeant's Christmas Siege

“I have experience with fringe survivalist groups, yes.Some might call them cults. I personally view them as criminals, the same as any others.”

It had been so long now that Kate knew her voice stayed cool. Even. She could easily have been talking about any old experience she might have had on the job, and she didn’t know why she had the distinct impression that this man could see right through her. That he could tell, when so many others hadn’t had a clue, that she was talking about herself. Her own experiences. Her personal life that she talked about with no one of her own volition.

That notion chilled her straight through.

“Are you asking if Isaac Gentry has cobbled together a group of fringe survivalists?” Templeton asked. “I’m not sure I know what that even means. This is Alaska. Isn’t everyone here a survivalist by default the minute they make it through their first winter? What makes them ‘fringe’?”

“There’s a difference between what I would call a dangerous survivalist mentality and regular folks who like to keep to themselves, stay off the grid, and conduct their own lives as they see fit.”

“If you say so.”

Kate leaned forward. “Grizzly Harbor has become the epicenter of an ongoing series of violent incidents. And involved in each and every one of these incidents is this group of yours. A band of men with military skills, who like to get themselves in trouble and then tell lies to the authorities about what happened. This is an unacceptable situation.”

“Lies?” Templeton looked innocent—or tried to, anyway, though his face looked purely wicked. “That seems like a harsh word.”

“Everybody lies,” Kate assured him. “Especially to the police.”

“Everybodydoes? Have you interviewedeverybody?”

“It’s the quality, quantity, and kind of lies that you and your friends keep telling that concern me. I have to askmyself what exactly you’re hiding out there in Fool’s Cove. It’s supposed to be nothing more than an old family fishing lodge and a few cabins.”

“Fishing is very relaxing. You should try it sometime.”

“The thing about a basically inaccessible Alaskan cove that no one can sneak up on is that from where I’m sitting, it looks a lot like a fortress.” Kate smiled again. This time, Templeton didn’t return it. “And I have yet to discover something that looks that much like a fortress that isn’t filled with men who are prepared to defend it like one, too. No matter who comes calling.”

“If you’re so interested in whether or not Fool’s Cove is an armed fortress,” Templeton said with a drawl, “why didn’t you just show up there and see for yourself? Isn’t that what police officers do?”

“This conversation is step one,” Kate said. “The friendly approach. I invite you to consider it a warning.”

“I’d better behave, then,” Templeton murmured, and there was a heat in his voice that made her wonder if he even knew what the wordbehavemeant. “You sound like my mama used to. It was best that she never did count all the way to three, if you know what I mean.”

“When we asked for this meeting, we expected to meet with Isaac Gentry,” Kate said, because she found it oddly disconcerting to imagine the woman a man like this would callMama. “Why isn’t he here? Is he too intimidated to have this conversation himself?”

There was what sounded like a snort from the kitchen. Kate didn’t turn around, but Templeton’s mouth curved the slightest bit in one corner.

“There must be some misunderstanding,” he said after a moment, and a deepening of that small curve. “I’m here as a representative of Alaska Force, and also as its first, best member. Isaac and I go way back.”

“You and Isaac served together, didn’t you?”

“I consider him a brother,” Templeton said. Which was a touching way to not answer the question, muchless talk about what he and Isaac had done while active-duty members of the military. Kate suspected it was part of that highly classified section of his record. “But if you feel more comfortable talking to him directly, I’m sure we can arrange that.” He glanced at his wrist, where he wore a technical watch that looked as if it controlled a fleet of space shuttles. “Thing is, it’s getting dark. It’s a miserable boat ride this time of year, and it’s next-level suffering at night. But I’m game if you are.”

And Kate knew she didn’t mistake the challenge in the way he looked at her, in his glinting gaze that made her body temperature click up a few degrees, though she refused to acknowledge it.

“No, thank you,” she said. “I think I’ll pass on the offer to travel in the dark, over rough December seas, on a boat of unknown provenance, with a man I suspect to be involved in criminal activity. Much less to a heavily armed fortress in the middle of nowhere.”

“Technically, you just described almost every house in rural Alaska.”

“Do you know what sort of people don’t turn up to meetings like this? Ones who have something to hide. Or, say, your run-of-the-mill cult leader who feels he’s far above such mundane concerns. Which is Isaac?”

Templeton tipped his head back and laughed uproariously at that.

He took his time looking at her again, and when he did, he shook his head a little, as if the hilarity had all but overcome him. Somehow, Kate doubted it.

“He’s working, Ms. Holiday. He’s a busy man.”

“You can call me Trooper Holiday, thank you,” Kate corrected him. “But I suspect you know that. Or did they not teach you proper forms of address when you were in the army?” She tilted her head slightly. “Sergeant?”

“I apologize.” Though he looked, if anything, amused that she’d used his title in return. Entertained, even. He did not look apologetic. “We keep it pretty informalaround here. It helps remind us we’re not active duty anymore. Trooper Holiday.”

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