On Thin Ice

by Cherry Adair

Right. She and James Bond had to get a move on. Holy crap, she thought again, sliding him covert glances as she helped him break camp. Lily stuffed the million and one questions down with difficulty. An anti-terrorist operative. Wow. Bore some thinking about. She threw equipment into its storage compartment as she asked, "Was that your… person who sends you out on jobs? Don't tell me anything if you're going to have to kill me afterwards!" she added quickly, not sure if she was joking or not.

  He smiled. "Control. Yeah. I have less than ten hours to reach a location south of Nome." He touched a finger to the lip she was biting to prevent herself from blurting out a string of fascinated questions. "I can tell you this much. We've known of a terror attack somewhere in the vicinity for several days, but not the exact location. Now I have it. Now I go."

  "For heaven's sake, Derek, you can barely see." Terrorist attacks were something she read about in the paper or watched on the six o'clock news. Not something someone she lo—cared about was involved with.

  A clutch of panic closed her throat. Spy types were sexy and fun to watch—in movies; she suddenly realized it wasn't fun finding out Derek was one of the people who put themselves on the line every day to keep her country safe. She swallowed the metallic taste of fear. "Let them send someone else."

  Packing and getting on with business, he didn't even spare her a glance. The snow flurries whipped around their legs as the wind got stronger, and the sky darkened accordingly. "The storm has already closed the airports where our people were waiting for the coordinates. Getting that intel, even half an hour ago, would've made the difference. But now… There is no one else, Lily."

  He wasn't grandstanding or being arrogant. If he said there was no one else, then there was no one else. He stumbled over the coffeepot lying on the ground at his feet, turned slightly, then bent to pick it up.

  Oh, God.

  "Forget the next checkpoint." Lily snatched the pot from him and emptied the last few inches of coffee on the ground. "I'll have to go with you. Be your eyes."

  "Jesus." He looked appalled. "Are you out of your mind? You'll go to Nikolai, where I know you'll be safe."

  Yes. She was out of her mind. For even thinking about going into danger. She'd had more danger in the last few days than she'd had in a lifetime already. But she was also out of her mind worrying about him. Under normal circumstances she presumed he was capable of doing whatever he was supposed to do—and doing it well. But how could he do when he couldn't see'?

  She fisted one hand on her hip and stared him down. "How will you know I'm safe?"

  "I'll have people waiting there to take you back to Montana."

  She thought about it. Frankly, with some relief. She was tired of being scared. "Fine. Come with me, and let them go with you wherever you're going. You need the help. I can see myself home."

  "You can't," he said, face grim. "There aren't any flights out for the next twelve to sixteen hours. The storm—"

  "So you aren't even sure if your people will be waiting for me when I get there, are you?" she asked.

  "They will be."

  "Before either I'm dead or you're killed by these bad guys?"

  "Lily, we don't have time for this."

  "And you were just going to pull me out of the stupid race like I'm a child needing a time-out? Without a damn explanation?"

  "There'll be another race next year. Win that."

  She wanted to hit him. She helped him fight to hold down the tarp as they tried to cover the sled and secure the gyrating canvas. It felt as though it were alive and fighting for its life. "Damn it, Derek," Lily snapped. "I don't give a rat's ass about this race. I'm thinking about Mr. Super Spy, who just tripped over the damn coffeepot."

  "I didn't see it."

  "My point exactly."

  "Just do this for me, will you, Lily? Cut me a break here? Take pity on the blind?"

  "Fine. Say I do it your way. Who says I'll be safe between here and the checkpoint? I lost my gun in the water, and my rifle's jammed." She paused, gathering ammo. "Did Barber tell you who'd sent him?" Derek shook his head with a wince. "No? I rest my case. So far we've had both Croft and Barber after me. What if there's someone else just waiting for us to separate?"

  Beneath the bruises, he actually paled and Lily knew she'd scored a direct hit. It didn't make her feel any better.

  "Jesus, Lily—"

  "No. Listen to me. I understand you don't want me to come with you. And frankly, I'm not real happy at the thought of getting in the middle of some terrorist plot to overthrow the world. But the reality is, you don't have twenty-twenty vision right now. And that's my fault."

  "Lily—"

  She pulled her goggles on because the blowing snow was starting to sting her face, then jumped as a huge chunk of snow dropped from the swaying branches of a nearby tree with a loud thwack! God. She was already spooked.

  "The storm is almost here," she told him, keeping her tone even with effort. "We don't have time to debate this, do we? I'll be safe traveling with you until we get to wherever it is you have to go. And once we get there, I can take the dogs and find a safe place until the danger is past. You can do whatever you have to do. Don't look at me like that. You know there isn't any other way to do this. Someone has to be there to take care of the dogs. I'm your girl there. And if push comes to shove, in a crunch you could use my shooting ability."

  "I don't want you anywhere within a five-hundred-mile radius in a freaking crunch."

  "Well, that makes two of us. Believe me." Lily threw both hands wide, then let them drop. "Contrary to the last couple of days, I don't have a death wish. Finish up with the packing and culling of our stuff," she told him briskly, turning around. "I'm going to pick our fastest dogs and reharness them."

  "No."

  "Talk to yourself," Lily told him. "Time's a wasting."

  In the end Derek acknowledged Lily was right. He couldn't do it on his own. His vision was seriously impaired. An ice pack wasn't doing much for the swelling. Not only was she a necessary adjunct to his sight, but in this case, it was Lily who was the expert. She'd put together the fastest dogs with the highest endurance levels. Eighteen of the best-trained sled dogs in the country. Not only were the dogs the best but Lily was acknowledged as one of the best mushers around. She'd get him where he had to be a hell of a lot faster than he could do it on his own.

  She'd trained in the worst weather possible. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of trail time. This storm was going to make her experience invaluable to him. Torn between needing her and desperate to keep her safe, he weighed the pros and cons.

  What if Croft and Barber weren't the only ones they'd sent? How safe would she be on the trail? Eventually there might be other mushers nearby to give her some semblance of safety. But they couldn't protect her if the next shooter was more efficient than the last.

  Matt would see she got home safely. But when she was back in Montana, who knew who was waiting for her there?

  Christ. He scrubbed a hand across his jaw. Take her into the kind of danger he was anticipating? It was insanity.

  Should he trust her and her well-trained dogs to get him where he had to go in the fastest way possible? The truth was, he needed the dogs' speed and Lily's expertise. And more than that, the only way he could be sure she was safe was if he was with her.

  No way in hell did he want her out on the trail, alone, in this storm. Any musher with any sense would've already battened down the hatches and found shelter. She'd be alone out there.

  Jesus. A catch-22.

  If she were with him he wouldn't have to stop, other than to snack and rest the animals, and they could travel through the day and night to reach the location quickly. As much as he loathed putting Lily in danger, she was right. He wondered rather ruefully if he'd ever live this down.

  And then realizing, like it or not, that he had no choice, he hoped like hell they both lived to tell their grandchildren about it.

  Derek repacked his sled, keeping only what he deeme
d absolute necessities in a bid to hold down the weight. Then he cleared a space in the cargo bed for a passenger. They were traveling light and fast.

  Lily opted for writing a note to Matt, which she attached to Finn's collar, telling her brother she and Derek had decided to go off on their own for a few days. Matt would put a romantic spin on it, which was fine.

  With blurry eyes Lily watched the dogs they weren't taking with them disappear over the rise as they followed the trail to the checkpoint, alone. In seconds their tracks were covered by wind-driven snow.

  Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "They'll be fine."

  "They don't need anyone telling them where to go." She rubbed her nose with her palm, watching until the last tail disappeared over the rise. "They know the trail better than we do."

  "Damn straight." He herded her to the team, who by this time were practically jogging in place and singing the Hallelujah Chorus in their eagerness to get going.

  "Don't worry. They'll be with Matt this afternoon," Derek told her. "This is one of the times you're going to agree to do as I ask. I want you to ride in the sled for the first four hours. Try to take a nap. Close your mouth, please. Because, thank you," he continued when Lily snapped her mouth shut, "because you're still in shock after your dunking, and I'd feel better if you rested. Will you do that for me? Please?"

  "Yes, sir. Just don'—"

  He brushed her mouth with his. "Nothing is going to happen to either of us. Actually, I just want to be able to take a nice relaxing nap on your watch."

  He helped Lily step into the basket of the sled. "I love watching you sleep," she told him as she sat down with her legs extended. "You make a cute little snuffling noise just before you drop off."

  Derek chuckled as he went to the back of the sled. "I do not. Maybe something manly like a good rib-cracking snore—but a snuffle? No way."

  "Very sweet. Quite endearing, really." She looked in the direction her other dogs had taken. "They'll be okay, won't they?"

  "Matt'll get them home safe and sound and have them waiting for us when we get back. Lip mic on?" he finished, directly in her ear.

  Lily spread an unfolded sleeping bag over her to keep her warm since she wouldn't be doing much moving in the next few hours, and nodded. "Hit it."

  Even though she could practically feel Derek standing directly behind her, the lip mic made it possible for them to communicate without shouting.

  It was a beautiful day for a run. Crisply cold but windy. And that wind was picking up speed at an alarming rate. The dogs, eager to stretch their legs, let out assorted happy yips as they crested the hill. Derek steered them expertly away from the marked trail their little friends had taken, and with only a brief hesitation they streaked along as if they were on greased wheels.

  Lily felt a pang as they left the trail behind. She was going into uncharted territory, and that always made her a little nervous. She coped better when things were predictable. Her heart lurched at just how unpredictable the past few days had been. Other than falling into the water, leaving the race, abandoning her dogs, blinding Derek and joining a supersecret organization out to save the world from terrorists, it had turned into a pretty good day, Lily thought with a grin.

  The blizzard had started just minutes after leaving the river. Bundled up, taking her turn on the back of the sled, Lily's head ached from trying to see beyond the snow-dancing yellow beam of her headlamp. Her fingers were stiff on the handlebar from gripping it so tightly as the sled slid and slithered from side to side where there was no traction.

  The night was horror-movie eerie, she thought, licking dry lips beneath the heavy protection of the wool scarf. The bright moonlight of the night before was just a memory. She could almost feel the low clouds brushing her shoulders in the oppressive darkness.

  The only sound was of the runners gliding across the frozen snow with a high-pitched ssssssshhhhheee, accompanied by the crunch of the dogs' feet breaking into the icy crust as if stomping on cardboard with every step.

  Across open plains, over small frozen tributaries and through deep forests, she, Derek and the dogs seemed to be the only creatures on earth.

  And the snow kept falling, and falling and falling. Covering their tracks as if they'd never been. Very Twilight Zone-ish.

  Kind of spooky.

  And kind of thrilling, she thought, correcting a left-hand skid with a flick of the brake. She loved the challenge of the Iditarod. But this wild race through unmarked territory, this anticipation of an event people sleeping safe in their beds didn't even know about—this made her heart race and her pulse leap. She felt… alive. Terrified. But alive.

  To fight the bad guys, they first had to triumph over the elements. This was something she could do. Something she was good at.

  She felt almost heroic.

  Who knew she would have made a great spy?

  "Need to stop?" Derek asked softly in her ear. He'd been very quiet for several hours since their last stop and she suspected he'd dozed off and on. Just as he'd stayed silent when it was her turn to be in the cargo bed, she'd left him alone, too. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately. The black fur of his hat and the sleeping bag covering him were mounded with snow and shiny with ice.

  "I'm fine, and the kids are loving it," Lily assured him, brushing a small mound of snow off the top edge of her goggles. "You could pour me a cup of coffee, though."

  "Sure." He found the Thermos and carefully poured a steaming mug of coffee, then handed the half-filled container back to her, over his head.

  Lily pushed down the thick scarf covering the lower half of her face and took the mug. Her goggles fogged up, but she didn't care. She took two sips, enjoying the burn all the way down to her esophagus before she murmured, "Elixir of the gods."

  "Isn't it, though." He drank from his own cup. All Lily saw was the steam coming from beneath a snow cap and floating up to her in the dark. "I could get used to this," he told her, his voice melting over her like thick, rich chocolate. Hot chocolate, Lily thought fancifully.

  "What?" she asked lightly. For some reason, hearing his voice after so many hours of silence made her heart actually ache. "Traveling at the speed of dog in the snow?"

  "Me sitting here while you do all the work. This is what it'll be like when we're really, really old."

  "Don't tell me." Lily laughed; the wind hurt her teeth and she quickly took another gulp of rapidly cooling coffee. "Me pushing you around in your wheelchair?"

  He chuckled, and the deep, rumbling sound rolled around her like a warm breeze. "Or me pushing you in yours. Or both tooling around in our high-powered, state-of-the-art chairs together."

  "I think I'll get a fluorescent-red racing stripe on mine," Lily said, keeping her tone light. Just idle chitchat as they traveled. Not a commitment to a future together. One thing could be said for Derek Wright, she thought, ignoring the ache in her chest: when he had his attention focused on a woman, she felt as though she was the only woman in his world.

  It was a heady sensation, and one she'd remember with heat long after their affair was over. In the meantime, they were out here together—perhaps not romantically at this very moment, but sharing an adventure together—and she wasn't going to spoil one precious moment with him by taking a reality check a second too soon.

  There'd be plenty of time for that later.

  "Racing stripe, huh?"

  "You bet," Lily said, forcing lightness into her tone.

  "Uh-huh." Derek paused and in that moment, a world of time ticked past. "Doesn't matter how fast you go, Lily," he said softly, "I'll always catch you."

  The predicted ice storm was even worse than Derek had anticipated. Within hours, tree branches and shrubs became encapsulated inside cocoons of crystalline ice.

  They now stopped every half hour to check the dogs' feet, change booties and give the animals a few minutes' respite from the layer of solid crust frosting the top of the snow.

  As much as Derek h
ated to take all these stops, he realized if Lily wasn't with him, the trip would've been much more difficult. No, he admitted honestly, he wasn't at all sure he'd've made it. She shouldered more than her fair share of responsibility without comment or complaint. And she knew her dogs' strengths and weaknesses and drove them accordingly.

  "Can you tell me a little about what we're heading into?" Lily asked in his ear. Her voice shook, partly from the cold, and partly, he was sure, from fear. She sat in the sled bed, muffled from top to toe. She'd still be cold, though. It was almost easier standing on the back of the sled and using one's legs to help propel the sled forward.

  "The bunch we're after is called Oslukivati. A Serbian terrorist group," Derek told her, blinking to get his headlight focused back on the dogs. "They're on the top terrorist lists around the world. Somehow they've discovered an early warning installation up here, south of Nome. If this installation is taken out, they could bring in missiles and the United States wouldn't know about them until they'd taken out a major city."

  "My God."

  "Our intel shows they plan to eliminate the early warning facility with a dirty bomb, and then come in guns blazing. A one-two punch. All carefully coordinated with one of the biggest storms to hit Alaska in seventy-eight years."

  "How—" Lily's voice caught and she had to start again. "How can one man possibly do this alone?"

  "I'll have backup," he assured her. "Don't worry." Christ only knew, he was worried enough for everybody. Dare had assured him nothing was going to be in the air for at least twelve hours. Plenty of time for Oslukivati to blow up half the free world. "Gee!" he shouted to the dogs.

  "Where's backup?" Lily demanded. "I don't see the cavalry racing in to help you. I want cannons and flamethrowers and atomic weapons of our own, damn it!"

  T-FLAC operatives were a resourceful bunch. If they couldn't fly in, they'd find another way. Derek forced a chuckle. "I'd kinda like to see you operating a flamethrower."

  "Hey. Get me one. I'll do on-the-job training."

  Derek shifted his weight as the lead dogs curved around a clump of frozen bushes before straightening out again. Lily wouldn't be within five miles of the action. Once he located where he needed to be, he'd head her and the dogs toward Nome and safety. She'd make it. She had to.