Page 9 of Winter's Heart
He put his phone back in his pocket, and she listened to him groping around in the near darkness, then he thrust something into her lap.“Put this on.”Careful of her sore fingers, she explored the pile of fabric, deciding it was some sort of winter clothing, maybe a snowsuit like the one Jacob had been wearing earlier, along with some fur-lined boots.She remembered he’d mentioned he had a spare commando suit when they’d first arrived at his hut.A small amount of firelight filtered through a window high in the door to the mudroom.It wasn’t much, but her eyes were adjusting quickly so that she could hold the suit out in front of her and work out which way was up.The small window silhouetted Jacob as he bobbed up and down, huffing a little with the effort, and she understood he was also getting dressed.
Which meant only one thing.They were going back outside into the freezing temperatures.In the dark.And then it dawned on her.That buzzing sound had been an alarm.One of Jacob’s laser beams, or cameras, or whatever he had out there, must’ve triggered, and this was a warning that someone had approached.Coming for her.The thought made her go as still as a statue, fear pervading every cell.Tears pricked at her eyelids.She’d thought she could relax once they’d made it to Jacob’s hut.Stupid really, because of course the danger had followed her here.She wanted all of this just to go away.Wished with all her heart she could continue to stay safe and warm in Jacob’s little hut, enjoying a bowl of soup with a good-looking man and not have to worry about a murderous psychopath coming to kill her.
There was a sudden presence hovering in front of her, Jacob’s face very close to hers.A white knit hat covered his dark hair, but she caught a glint as his eyes reflected the light seeping through the window.“Are you okay?”he asked, concern edging the urgency in his voice.Her fear coalesced into a cold, hard lump in the pit of her stomach, but his presence removed the numbing paralysis from her limbs.This man would keep her safe.He would make sure she made it out of here alive.She’d trusted him so far, she just had to keep on trusting him.His skills and training would get them through.
Drawing in a deep breath, she nodded, then realized he probably couldn’t see.“Yes.Yes, sorry,” she replied in a hurry.
“Good.I have a snowmobile parked in the shed next to the hut.We’re going to use it to get out of here.You’ll need to follow my lead.Now quickly, get dressed.”He stood and went over to the door that led outside, peering through another small window.
“Is someone coming?”She had to ask the question.Had to know for sure what was going on.
“Yes,” he answered simply.“Two people as far as I can tell.”At least he wasn’t pulling any punches.She wanted to ask more, like how close they were, and had they spotted the hut yet, but kept her mouth shut.
Stirred into action, she wriggled her legs into the suit and then proceeded to stand so she could pull it on and nearly toppled back onto the bench as pain seared through her.She’d forgotten about her feet.They were still sore and swollen.But she had no choice; Jacob was already dressed and waiting.She was holding him up, wasting precious time while possible hired hitmen neared the hut.They might even be outside right now, sizing up the place, getting ready to storm through the door.The image spurred her on, and she gritted her teeth as she got slowly to her feet, levering herself off the seat until most of her weight was in her legs.This time it was bearable, but she swayed a little as she struggled to get both arms into the suit and then do up the zip, using the wall to help her balance.Lifting one foot, she delicately wedged it into the boot opening.She wasn’t wearing any socks, but there was no time to ask about that now.The boots were too big, but that was probably a godsend.If they’d been too tight, she would never have got her damaged feet into them.Once she’d forced her feet past the pain and had them on, she found it was easier to stand; she could put all her weight on her feet now and the fur lining was soft against her tender skin.
“I’m ready,” she announced quietly, drawing in a deep breath, clenching her fists on her thighs.She felt a bit like the abominable snowman in this suit, three sizes too large for her.It would hinder her movement, but she braced herself anyway, ready to go on his command.
“Good.”He turned away from his scrutiny of the window.“Put this on.It will be freezing on the snowmobile.”Without asking, he tugged a white balaclava down over her head, his gloved fingers brushing the side of her face, reminding her for a second how he’d touched her cheek so tenderly only a few moments before.Then, he also pushed a knit beanie over the top of her head.Perhaps a little overkill, but after her experience today in this fierce cold, maybe he was right to overdress her.His hands left her, and this time she really did feel like the abominable snowman with the balaclava leaving only her eyes showing.“And these.”He thrust a pair of gloves into her hands, but as he watched her pull them on, his head sprang up and he stared intently at the door leading back into the main room.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, and disappeared into the hut before she could even open her mouth.What now?She froze, unsure of what was happening.Five seconds later, he re-emerged through the door carrying her backpack.“Wear it on the front,” he said, and so she slipped it over her shoulders so that it covered her chest.Thank the Lord he’d remembered.She broke out in a cold sweat at the thought they’d almost left it behind.All the data she’d collected over the past two weeks was stored on this computer.Now more than ever, it became critical that she not lose her research.Tammy and Antoine had died because of what they knew, their computers and all their records missing.She would not let these bastards win that easily.It was then that she noticed Jacob also had a white backpack slung across his chest as well, but she had no time to ask what was in it.
“Stay as close to me as you can,” he instructed.“We’re going out and to the right.”It was only then she noted the gun was back in his hand, and a chill ran down her spine.This was real.He was armed and dangerous and expecting trouble.She nodded and stood behind him, awaiting his next move.
Slowly, he cracked the door open; the blast of razor-sharp air took her breath away.It was dark, but not as dark as she’d expected.A quarter moon hung low in the sky, and the snow glowed in the moonlight, making the shadows seem darker and every tree stand out in stark relief.Nothing moved out there.But Jacob waited.And waited.Her feet throbbed inside her boots.At last, he took a step out through the door and onto the front porch, every move predatory as she followed on his heels.They crept down the stairs, hugging the front of the hut as she followed the path he made for her through the thigh-high snowdrifts, her poor feet protesting at every step.Nikki flinched at every sound, expecting someone to come charging across the small clearing, or bullets to fly in their direction.Only the hoot of a distant owl and the gentle rush of snow falling from a branch filled the silence.Otherwise, it was eerily quiet.
Just as he’d said, a little shed hugged the side of the house, and Jacob stopped to scrutinize their surroundings one last time before pulling off his glove and keying in a code that undid a large padlock.The double doors opened inwards, leading them into a narrow but surprisingly long building.It was too dark to see much inside, so Nikki grabbed at Jacob’s suit, holding on and following behind him as best as she was able.
There was a loud rustling sound, and she caught the gleam of metal as Jacob pulled a tarpaulin off, revealing a large snowmobile.
“You hop on the back,” he commanded in a whisper.“Then when I climb on, hang on to me as tight as you can.This is going to happen fast; we have to get across the clearing and into the trees.”
Even though her insides trembled like a bowl of jelly, she swung her leg over the wide seat and settled herself against the bar at the back, waiting.Her cousins owned a couple of snowmobiles, and so she was familiar with the machine, having driven one herself a few times over the years when she visited Montana.But that’d never been in the pitch dark, in unfamiliar countryside.
Jacob was suddenly in front of her, straddling the seat, inserting a key into the ignition.The machine coughed and died the first time he pushed the start button.“Come on, you piece of shit,” he muttered.Then it roared to life, the guttural engine almost deafening within the confines of the shed.“Hold on,” he called, and she scrambled to wrap her arms around his middle as he let out the throttle.Hampered slightly by the backpack she wore on her front, which was now wedged between them, she managed to grip his waist as tightly as possible.She suddenly understood why he’d told her to wear the pack frontwards, because now that it was safely sandwiched in the middle, there was less chance of her losing it.Her body, encased in Jacob’s snow camouflage, also shielded the pack so it no longer stood out against the all-white surroundings.
The sled rolled forward, and they were out into the open and speeding over the blanket of snow before she knew it.A loud crack sounded off to their left, audible even over the din of the roaring engine.Two more cracks followed in quick succession, and Jacob swerved the sled sideways, zigzagging his way across the clearing.
Was that…?Another crack and something whizzed past her ear.
A bullet.
Someone was shooting at them.
Nikki turned to look back over her shoulder as a figure emerged from the treeline.He lifted a rifle and took aim.“Watch out!”she screamed, and ducked instinctively, burying her head into Jacob’s back.A bullet cut the air near her as Jacob turned the snowmobile sharply to the left.She hung on for dear life while Jacob threw the machine from left to right and then left again.More bullets buzzed past and Nikki tensed, waiting for the biting pain of one embedding in her back.But it never came, and all of a sudden dark tree trunks reared up on either side as they slid beneath the first branches of the forest.
Safe.Were they safe now they were no longer out in the open?
Jacob slowed once they were under the trees, but not as much as Nikki would’ve liked.They were traveling through dense woodland, not following a trail, let alone a road, and he maintained what Nikki considered to be a breakneck speed.He probably knew this forest like the back of his hand, but she remained terrified and continued to cling to him like a limpet.If her fear hadn’t been so great, she might’ve been able to enjoy the feel of his firm abs underneath the snowsuit tensing as he rode, but right now all she cared about was hanging on long enough to get away from that shooter.
Ten minutes later, he slowed, coming to a complete stop beneath the cover of a copse of birch trees.Their trunks glowed palely in the moonlight as Nikki dared to lift her head and look around.Cutting the engine, he turned to the side so he could look down at her.She hadn’t noticed at the time, but he’d pulled up the loose folds of his suit’s neckline to cover his mouth and nose as they left the shed, so that only his eyes were showing under the brim of his white beanie.Clumps of icy snow clung to the fabric, where his moist breath had frozen as it hit the arctic air.She must have similar icicles on her balaclava and was silently grateful for his quick thinking; otherwise, she might be sporting a frost-bitten nose right now to add to her hands and feet.An almost otherworldly silence settled over them, and she was more than glad he was here with her; she would’ve been completely lost out in this dark wilderness.
“Are you okay?”Jacob barked, eyes boring into her face.“You weren’t hurt?”
“No.No, I’m fine.But that was real.That man really shot at us,” she panted, her breath forming a silver cloud as she tugged up her balaclava.
“Yes,” Jacob replied, his mouth a grim line.“But you did a great job hanging on.”His gaze met hers, and his tone softened.“We’ve bought a little time.They were on foot, which means they’ll have to go back and regroup before they can follow us.”
“Are you sure?”she asked.“They could have snowmobiles too.”She swiveled and half stood at the thought, expecting to hear pursuing engines cutting through the stillness.
