Head over Heels for the Holidays

by Jennifer Bernard

  He must have seen the change in her expression, because his eyes darkened and his face hovered closer to hers. She felt his warm breath against her chilled skin and saw his lips part.

  Just then the snow machine came to a jerking stop outside the service entrance of the lodge. Back to business. She climbed off the rig and looked around the property, automatically scanning for anything out of the normal.

  The deep forest surrounding the lodge was filled with shadows and snow, but she caught no glint of binoculars or weapons. Good.

  The machine had kicked up a swirl of snow crystals, which were now descending through the air in a glorious fall of glitter. She held out her gloves to catch a handful, the way she had as a kid. Maybe that was the Rune effect; he brought back that carefree time in her life.

  The four of them ferried the boxes of supplies into the kitchen. Maya got the sense that while she and Rune had been mooning at each other in the backseat, Kelsey and Alastair had argued about something. Interesting.

  When they were done unloading, Kelsey told them to pick whichever suites they wanted.

  “The lodge is at your disposal. Maya, can I have a minute?”

  She pulled Maya into the walk-in pantry, which was about the size of Harris’ entire fish house. Out here, stocking up for the winter was serious business. Cases of canned tomatoes filled the shelves, along with pallets of pasta and commercial-size containers of cooking oil. Half of Costco seemed to be in here.

  “I’m nervous about this meeting with Maggie.” Kelsey twisted her hands together. Behind her horn-rimmed glasses, her vivid blue eyes were wide and anxious. Her dark red hair was twisted into an over-the-shoulder braid. “How do you…what do you…how should I…”

  Maya put a comforting hand on her arm. “You don’t have to worry. Maggie is as straightforward as they come. She’s excited to see you.”

  “She’s not angry with me because I didn’t rescue her from that crazy trapper?”

  “Of course not. She doesn’t blame you for anything. Maggie deals with what’s right in front of her. She doesn’t overthink things. She doesn’t get distracted. I’ve learned a lot from her, to tell you the truth. She’s quite a girl.”

  Kelsey chewed at her lower lip. “Will you come with me to pick her up?”

  Maggie and Cara were coming on the Piper Cub’s next trip, along with Ethan.

  “How will we all fit on the four-wheeler?”

  “We’ll take two. You can drive one. Please, Maya.”

  Kelsey, who had always seemed to be a fiercely capable person, looked so rattled that Maya agreed.

  “Of course. But at the airstrip, it’s best not to greet Maggie like any other guest. We don’t want to tip off anyone who might be watching.”

  “Yes. Of course,” she said, sounding a little distracted.

  Maya eyed the manager, wondering if it was the right moment to ask the question she most wanted the answer to.

  Then again, she might not have a better chance—alone in a pantry surrounded by reassuring stacks of food stores.

  “There’s a question I need to ask you, regarding Maggie.”

  Kelsey’s expression shifted to one of wariness. “I’ll answer if I can.”

  “You’ll probably get this question from Maggie too, so you might as well be prepared. Who is her father?”

  If Maya wasn’t a detective, she might have missed the quick flash of fear in Kelsey’s eyes, so quickly did she mask it.

  “He’s not in the picture.”

  Which didn’t answer the question. Ding ding. Maya knew she’d been right about the father. He was connected to this somehow.

  “Is he a threat to Maggie? Is he involved with whatever’s going on out here?”

  “He’s not in the picture.” Kelsey’s forcefulness just added to Maya’s conviction that she was right. “Maggie will be safe here, but we have to keep her inside.”

  She tried to push past Maya, to leave the pantry, but Maya didn’t budge. “Can you at least tell me if you were pregnant before you came to the lodge? Or did you get pregnant here?”

  Kelsey stared at her, a muscle ticking in her cheek. “I got pregnant here,” she finally said, reluctantly. “It was a fling. I was young and I lost my head.”

  “A fling with a guest?”

  “Yes. That’s why he’s not in the picture. He’s long gone.”

  Maya knew she was lying. She knew the signs.

  “Gone where? Gone from Lost Souls? Gone from Alaska?”

  “All of the above. And more.”

  And more? That was a strange way to put it. Maybe he was gone from the country. She thought about Maggie’s pale gray eyes and light coloring. She didn’t look much like Kelsey, who had dark red hair and blue eyes. Maggie looked more like the Old Believer Russians who lived in the tiny villages in the hills around Lost Harbor.

  Was her father Russian? Not just a Russian living in Alaska, but a Russian national? If so, the residual fear in Kelsey’s eyes could mean that the criminal acts going on in Lost Souls had a transnational component. A cross-border Alaska-Russia connection.

  Other parts of Alaska were much closer to Russia than Lost Souls Wilderness was, but maybe this area was simply more useful for whatever they were doing.

  Because of the lodge?

  Maya’s gears were turning. Maybe the Aurora Lodge offered the perfect combination of remoteness, luxury, and accessibility. But for who? And what?

  Kelsey’s lips were pressed into a tight pale line; Maya knew she wasn’t getting any more out of her today.

  “You might want to flesh that story out a little for Maggie,” she said wryly. “She’ll have just as many questions as I do. And she isn’t shy about asking them.”

  Kelsey gave a tight nod and pushed past Maya into the kitchen. “I’ll get the other snow machine ready.”

  Back in the kitchen, Maya met Rune’s curious glance. He and Alastair were guzzling glasses of water next to the sink. The door to the mud room was just swinging closed; Kelsey must have run out of there as if her hair was on fire.

  “I’m going to take a second snow machine out to meet Maggie and Cara,” she told Rune. “Want to come with me?”

  “Absolutely. This is the big reunion, right?”

  Maya nodded. “Kelsey’s a little nervous about it. Alastair, are you cool here on your own?”

  “First pick of rooms. No complaints.” He gave them a little salute and wandered out of the kitchen.

  “I asked Kelsey who Maggie’s father is and she freaked out. Not a normal freak-out, more of the she’s-too-terrified-to-say kind,” Maya whispered to Rune as they put their boots back on in the mudroom.

  “Sounds like you’re onto something.”

  “I think so. But she’s really scared. It’s a good thing Jessica’s bringing eggnog supplies and lots of rum.”

  “That’s your plan? Get her buzzed and interrogate her?”

  “I have no shame. At least the holidays are good for something, right?”

  He looked up from his boots with a wicked grin. “I think we’ve made the holidays good for a lot of things.”

  As if following the same invisible pull, their lips met in a deep, quick kiss. It didn’t last long, but it was enough to make her pulse flutter.

  The drone of the arriving plane interrupted them, along with Kelsey’s shout for them to hurry.

  They smiled at each other, as if the two of them were in on the best secret in the world, one known only to them.

  Then they ran out to claim their snow machine.

  Chapter 30

  As soon as the three new arrivals hopped off the plane, Rune beckoned to Cara. He wanted to give Kelsey and Maggie some space for their reunion. She came reluctantly, glancing back at her friend. She and Maggie were all bundled up in nearly identical parkas and snow pants and they really did look like sisters, both with blond braids peeking from under their hats.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t miss anything,” he said dryly when she reached the
m. “We can eavesdrop just fine from here.”

  “You’re no fun,” Cara grumbled. She climbed into the backseat of the snow machine while they all tried not to stare at the reunion taking place on the tarmac.

  Maggie had stopped a few yards away from Kelsey, who still lingered next to her snow machine, as if the last few steps to see her daughter were simply too difficult to take.

  “Crap,” Maya murmured. “I warned Kelsey not to do this out in the open.”

  “Should’ve warned Maggie too,” Rune told her. “Not that it would have stopped her.”

  “You’re right. Jeez, Kelsey looks like she’s forgotten how to breathe. Or move. We’ll never get back to the lodge at this rate.” Under her breath, she urged, “Come on, Maggie. Let’s get this moving. It’s on you, girl.”

  Sure enough, it was the girl who broke the ice. After hefting her backpack onto one shoulder, she marched the rest of the way toward Kelsey.

  “I’m glad that I’m Magpie now,” she said, in her direct way. “But I used to be Spruce Grouse. If a mother Spruce Grouse thinks someone’s threatening her young, she turns her tail feathers into a fan and struts in the other direction. Is that what you did?”

  Even from their snow machine, Rune could hear the quiver in Kelsey’s voice. “More or less,” she managed. “I didn’t do much strutting. But I was trying to protect you.”

  Maggie nodded, then her usual stoic expression broke. She darted at Kelsey, who opened her arms wide. The two collided with an audible sob of joy. Rune couldn’t tell who it came from, but his guess was Kelsey. It had the poignancy of years behind it—years of stress and worry and now, bone-deep relief.

  He caught Maya’s gloved hand in his, too overwhelmed with emotion to witness this moment alone.

  Maya smiled, though she still looked nervous. “Okay, you two. Wrap it up and let’s get to the lodge,” she called.

  Ethan came trudging across the airstrip, loaded up with his and Maggie’s duffel bags, along with a shopping bag filled with wrapped gifts.

  “Hey there, Santa,” Rune greeted him. They bumped fists. Rune gestured with his head towards the mother and daughter reunion. “Not sure anything in that bag can beat that present.”

  “Nothing could,” Ethan agreed. “Brought a tear to my eye, and I’m a hard-boiled detective.”

  Maya snorted. “No one’s buying the hard-boiled act anymore, Ethan.”

  “And I’m not buying the stern detective bit.” He glanced meaningfully at their joined hands. Rune gave hers a squeeze.

  “It’s Christmas,” Maya said with a wink. “Get off my case.”

  Finally, hand in hand, Kelsey and Maggie came toward them. Both of them looked lit up from inside. In all the time he’d spent with Maggie—all those many sleepovers and rides and so forth—he’d never seen her look so young. As if a few years had just been lifted from her slim shoulders.

  “Thank you,” Kelsey said fervently. From behind her horn-rimmed glasses, she directed her teary gaze mostly at Maya, but at all of them. “Maya, thanks for making this happen, and to all the rest of you for providing cover. You’ll never know what this means to me.”

  Maya reached a hand to squeeze hers. “I’m glad,” she said simply. “But we should get inside as soon as possible.”

  The flap of a bird caught Kelsey’s attention, and she turned to one side with a grin, shading her eyes. “I do believe we have a magpie checking us out. Maggie, do you see—”

  The rest of her words were drowned out by the loud drone of the Piper Cub’s engine as it took off down the runway. Rune turned to watch it lift into the air.

  A moment later, Rune felt a jerk at his side; Maya reacting to something.

  “Kelsey?” Maya darted forward. “What’s wrong?”

  He looked over at Kelsey, who was slumped against Maggie, as if she’d suddenly lost her balance. Maggie was valiantly trying to hold her upright, but she looked completely bewildered.

  There’d been a sound buried in that engine noise, he suddenly realized. He’d written it off, unconsciously, as a backfire. But it wasn’t.

  It was a gunshot.

  He sprang forward to help Maya catch Kelsey before her weight grew too much for the slender Maggie.

  “She’s been shot,” he said tightly. “We have to get her back to the lodge. My med bag is there.”

  Maya threw herself in front of the two girls and drew out her service weapon. “Sniper. Maggie, get into the snow machine. Now. We’re sitting ducks out here.”

  Maggie ducked behind her as she aimed her gun into the forest.

  Another ping and a spray of dirt not two yards away from them. The shooter was still active. Jesus.

  Maya fired back. No clear target, but at least it might slow down the sniper.

  Rune glanced over his shoulder at the girls. Looking shellshocked, Cara was helping Maggie climb into the snow machine. Rune wanted to push her down into the snow machine but he couldn’t leave the wounded woman in his arms.

  “Cara!” he yelled at her. “Get down.”

  Luckily, Maggie still had her wits about her. She pulled Cara into the machine and shoved her down. At least the vehicle would provide some cover.

  Still firing her weapon, Maya moved to the other side of the snow machine and took the wheel. “I’ll take the girls in this one. Ethan, you take Rune and Kelsey in the other machine. Put them in the back. Give your gun to Rune so he can defend you while you drive.”

  “Got it.”

  “Kelsey, can you hear me?” Rune shook her lightly as Ethan came to her other side. Ethan draped her limp arm over his shoulders. “Stay with us. We have to get you to the snow machine.”

  “Okay,” she said faintly. Conscious, but possibly going into shock. “My leg…”

  “You’ve been shot, and they may shoot again. We have to move fast. Let’s go.” Practically running, carrying her between them, Rune and Ethan hurried toward the idling snow machine.

  Maya provided cover for them, firing with one hand while she steered the snow machine with the other. So quick-thinking, so cool under pressure. What a star she was. He’d trust her with his life, and that of his sister, too.

  Get in the back, Maya had said. Smart, because he’d be able to triage Kelsey’s bleeding back there. Unless he had to fire at some hidden threat in the forest.

  After helping the two of them get settled in the backseat, Ethan pressed a Ruger into his hand. He kept his head low as he swung behind the wheel.

  The other snow machine was already on the road, waiting for them to go ahead. Maya kept her weapon trained on the forest, but he didn’t hear any more gunshots.

  Maybe she’d actually hit the shooter?

  He could barely make out the two girls. They were using their backpacks as shields, like turtle shells. Only Maya was fully exposed, which would have fucking terrified him if he’d given himself a chance to dwell on it.

  Ethan put the snow machine into gear and they leaped forward. Rune felt better now that they were underway. At least they were a moving target now, so it wouldn’t be so easy to pick them off.

  Rune had never felt so exposed as they rattled at top speed toward the road. Crouching on the floorboards, he aimed the gun into the woods to the right, just to make the point to whoever was out there that he would shoot back.

  Kelsey moaned in pain as the snow machine bounced across humped snow and the occasional rock.

  After a few minutes, when no more gunshots came, Rune decided he’d be more useful helping Kelsey. Chances were good that they’d raced out of range of the gunman. He put the safety back on the Ruger and set it on the floorboards, then maneuvered himself so he was sitting under Kelsey’s stretched-out body. She was very likely going into shock, so the warmer he could keep her, the better.

  He huddled his body around her. “We’re almost there, Kelsey. You don’t know me, but I’m a paramedic and a home health care nurse. I’ve dealt with quite a few gunshots in my time. You’re in good hands.”


  “I…got…lucky,” she managed.

  Tough cookie, this one. That didn’t surprise him. Anyone who could survive out here, managing a remote wilderness lodge while fending off criminals, had to be pretty freaking tough.

  “Tell…Maggie…love her…”

  “You’re not going to die,” he said briskly.

  But she didn’t seem to believe him. “Maya wanted to know … Her father…tell Maya…security…transnational ring…”

  “You’re talking about Maggie’s father?”

  She gave a nod, almost more of a spasm of her head. Her gaze clung desperately to his.

  “He’s part of a transnational ring?”

  “Head…of security.”

  “Okay, do I have this right? Maggie’s father is the head of security for a transnational crime ring? Is that what you’re saying?” He had to make sure he got it correct. Not because he thought she might die of this gunshot wound. He was going to make sure she didn’t. But she seemed so desperate to get her message through, and he needed her to relax.

  “Russia,” she gasped. “He’s Russian. Evidence…in office. Tell her…Magpie.”

  Magpie…now she was back to talking about Maggie.

  “I’ll tell Maggie you love her, but you can tell her yourself too. You’re going to be fine.”

  Her eyes closed and her muscles went slack. He checked her pulse quickly. Alive but unconscious.

  Maybe it was better that she didn’t have to experience the rough jolts of the snow machine as they raced back to the lodge.

  He looked at the other snow machine just behind them. Go, Maya, go. The two most important people in the world to him were in that tiny vehicle.

  Everything crystallized for him, just like the frozen ice crystals kicked up by the machine. No matter what happened with the stalker, he was going to fight for his relationship with Maya. He’d make this work. After Cara’s safety, nothing was more important to him.