Page 11 of Winter's Heart
A door banged behind him and Jacob sprang to his feet, backing away from Nikki just as Petar bustled into the kitchen, arms full of blankets.“Here, this one is for you.”His friend tossed a gray fleece blanket in Jacob’s direction, then bent over Nikki, reverentially draping another blanket around her shoulders.Jacob turned to face the countertop, pretending to untangle the thick material and wrap it around his shoulders, while he gave the bulge in his pants a chance to retreat.What had he been thinking?That was the second time he’d come close to kissing her.He retrieved his mug, his glacial hands welcoming the warmth of the hot drink into his palms.A coffee drinker, he screwed up his nose as he took a sip of the sweet, creamy liquid, but was quietly surprised.The last occasion he’d drunk hot chocolate had been when he was a kid, but Nikki was right; this was damn good stuff.He could feel the sugar reviving him already.
Petar was now on his knees, helping Nikki pull a woolen sock gently over her sore foot.Jacob took a chair next to Nikki, giving his friend a hard look as he continued to fuss around her.A surprising sliver of jealousy wormed its way through his gut as he watched Petar tend to her.Not something he was used to, especially when he was on the job.But he seemed unable to control that hint of possessiveness when it came to this woman, and he wanted to growl at Petar to get away from her.
Petar must’ve felt the vibe of Jacob’s growing ire, and rose to his feet with a small frown in Jacob’s direction, leaving Nikki to pull on the other sock by herself.Dragging out a seat on the other side of the table and stretching out his long, pajama-clad legs, Petar said, “So, are you going to tell me what’s happening?”
Nikki stopped, the mug half-way to her mouth, and shared a look with Jacob, uncertainty in her gaze.
“Do you mind if we close the curtains?”Jacob asked.It was a Swedish tradition to leave a small lamp burning in the window, possibly stemming from the belief it would send out its golden light like a beacon in the snow, to help guide people lost in a blizzard home.Usually the drapes also remained open, but tonight Jacob needed privacy.
Jacob could feel Petar’s growing puzzlement, but he got up and did as Jacob requested, twitching the curtains shut and making sure not even a chink of light was visible.He sat down again and stared pointedly at Jacob.
“It’s okay, we can talk in front of Petar.I trust him with my life,” he assured Nikki.Petar was Sámi, like himself.There was an unwritten code; they would do anything to protect their community and the people in it.Once his mother had brought him and his sister back to rejoin the family, even though Jacob may have moved away to join the police force, he would always be Sámi in the clan’s eyes.
Nikki’s gaze darted between the two men, narrowing when it came to rest on Jacob.“Well, I guess I trust him with my life then too.”
Petar gave a grunt and sat up straighter, but to his credit, said nothing.
Jacob quickly outlined the day’s events, starting with his phone call from the deputy commissioner and ending with their harrowing flight on the snowmobile.All the while, Nikki watched him with those big, trusting, blue eyes of hers.
“Shit.That’s intense,” Petar replied when Jacob stopped speaking.“That must’ve been tough even for a hardened police officer.”He switched his gaze over to Nikki.“But it must’ve been damn scary for you.”
She merely nodded, perhaps not wanting to relive it all over again.
“Yeah, intense is one word for it,” Jacob butted in, dragging his friend’s attention back to himself.“Look, mate, I hope I haven’t brought trouble to your door, but we had nowhere else to go.I mean, I couldn’t go to my mother’s because—”
Petar held up his hand.“Of course you shouldn’t involve your family; I completely understand.You know you’re always welcome here, no matter what issues you might drag in behind you,” he added with a cheeky grin.“And who doesn’t love a bit of drama now and then?But you know I can look after myself, so don’t you worry about that.”Petar sobered quickly as he spoke.“And you also know I will keep an eye on your family, so don’t worry about them either.”
Yes, he could look after himself, Jacob knew, and it was one reason he’d come straight here.Petar was tough, a true Northern Sami man.He could hunt, survive in the wilderness, and even kill a man if that was ever necessary.Then there was the fact that the clans would protect Petar.This was one unbreakable little community that looked after each other and had each other’s backs.If the gunmen turned up, they would soon be run out of town, or worse; they were the ones who should be afraid.But the sooner Jacob could be out of here, the sooner Petar would be out of immediate danger.
Which led him to his next request.“I need to borrow a car,” Jacob said flatly.He knew he was asking a lot.In this small town, a vehicle was essential to get around.There was no public transport to speak of, except buses that infrequently traveled the main roads between the remote communities, out to Luleå on the coast, or to the larger cities further south.Petar’s job as the manager at the local pulp mill, which was fifteen miles out of town, meant that he used his car every day to drive to work.Jacob would leave his friend in the lurch by calling in this favor.Petar had a snowmobile, of course, but those were for emergencies only in freezing weather such as this.Apart from stealing a car, however, he couldn’t think of any alternatives.They needed to get to Luleå in a hurry, and a vehicle was the only way to do it.
Petar scrubbed a hand across his forehead.“I was afraid you were going to say that,” he said with a sigh.“Of course you can have my Volvo.”
“What about my hire car?Can’t we use that?”Nikki interrupted.It was the first time she’d spoken since Jacob had started his story.Jacob had watched the color slowly come back to her face, her skin losing that pale, translucent look from her exposure to the freezing temperatures.The heat of Petar’s kitchen and his hot chocolate were doing the trick to revive her.Jacob felt a stab of regret that he’d been the one to inflict such suffering on her.If he could’ve kept her warm and safe in his hut until morning, he would’ve.They’d had no choice but to flee, however, and he hoped with all his heart that her hands and feet weren’t permanently scarred from this experience.Which reminded him he should take another peek soon.
“They’ll most likely be on the lookout for your vehicle,” Jacob said softly.
“Oh.”Comprehension dawned on her face.
“I’ll arrange for someone to get it back to the hire company in the next few days once you’re safe.”Then as an afterthought, he turned to Petar and added, “Can you please let Andreas Eriksson know he doesn’t need to collect Nikki from his hut tomorrow.Tell him as little as possible about the reasons why,” Jacob added.
“Andreas will keep his mouth shut; don’t worry about him,” Petar confirmed.Jacob nodded, trusting Petar’s assessment.While Jacob had moved away from Jokkmokk over ten years ago, Petar had remained embedded in the community and the Sámi way of life, and in this small town everyone knew everybody else.
“Good.”That was one more thing Jacob didn’t have to worry about.But a quick glance in Nikki’s direction reminded him he was still worried about her.If she needed proper treatment, he might have to alter his plan substantially.“Do you mind if I take a quick look at your feet?”He gestured below the table, and Nikki’s face became pensive.
“Hmm, okay,” she agreed.“But if it’s bad news, I’m not sure I want to know.”
If it was bad news, they probably should get her to a hospital, but he kept that to himself as he kneeled before her and gently peeled Petar’s large sock down her leg and over her ankle to reveal her toes.They were still red, but seemed to have lost some of their puffiness, which was a good sign.The little pinky toe was also regaining some color, not white and lifeless anymore.At least his specially tailored snow boots had made sure they didn’t receive more damage from the cold on their flight on the snowmobile.After checking the other foot and finding it much the same as the first, he let out a relieved gust of air.
“I take it my toes have passed the test,” she said, trying to peer past him and get a look at her feet.
“Yes, they’ll still be sore for a day or so, but there should be no permanent damage,” he replied, pulling the sock back on.Her feet were as petite and elegant as the rest of her.He’d never given much thought to feet before; certainly never considered them as beautiful or alluring.But even red-tinged and puffy, hers appealed to him like no others had ever done.He could imagine them draped in his lap as they both lay relaxing on the couch, him massaging the strain of the day away, running his hands over the curves of her heel and up her slim ankles until…
There he went again, letting his libido get the better of him.
He stood a little too quickly and retreated until his rear end met the countertop.Time for a quick change of topic.Back to the business at hand.“Do you have access to the data your team collected?I mean, did you share your documents with your colleagues?”he asked, his tone gruffer than he intended.He’d meant to ask this back when the deputy commissioner mentioned the missing laptops, but the hitmen had appeared before he’d had a chance to pose the question.
Nikki looked up, confusion clouding her face.
