Fury held his pulse and hands steady as he clenched the twin weapons, placing his thumbs on the smooth flat plungers.
“Sweet dreams, assholes . . .” He jabbed the syringes into their necks, then hopped over the seat to open the driver’s door and shove him from the still moving vehicle. After also dispensing with the driver’s friend by pushing him out the passenger-side door, Jasper stopped the rig long enough to kill the pounding music, then climb back over the seat to get to Eden.
“Hey, gorgeous . . .” He slipped his arm beneath her shoulders and gave her a light shake. “I sure could use some company. Mind waking up for me?”
Nothing.
His stomach knotted in fear.
After hefting her limp form over the seat back to rest on the front seat, he found a mummy-style sleeping bag to place over her, then realized they had big trouble. Leo’s goons had chucked them into the snowcat’s cargo hold wearing nothing but T-shirts, jeans and socks. If the vehicle broke down, they’d last mere minutes.
Thankfully, Leo’s men had stashed their white parkas in back, so at least Jasper and Eden had those. He also found hats, face masks and gloves. The gear would swamp Eden, but this was about survival. Not fashion.
Unfortunately, getting boots wouldn’t be so easy. His only option would be taking them from the human popsicles he’d dumped outside.
While foraging through one of the food bins, he remembered seeing protein bars stored in Ziploc bags. He found them, dumped the contents into the bin, and then slipped the bags over his feet. If he failed to locate at least one of the guys in a hurry, he’d be screwed.
He dressed in the available gear, then exited the vehicle out the rear cargo door.
Wind raged against him, making it tough to even stand.
He squinted into the gloom for the men, but visibility was limited to about two feet in front of his face. He’d heard about guys dying in whiteout situations only to be found the next morning a few feet from their shelter. The stories were chilling. The reality provided a much-needed gut check.
He turned back to the cat for rope. He tied one end around his waist. The other end, to the door handle.
By this time, he’d dicked around long enough that his feet stung. A thousand tiny pinpricks made each step agony.
Blowing snow burned his cheeks with cold fire.
He trudged as far as the rope allowed, then fanned out until damn near falling over a body. Beyond relieved, he made fast work of removing the sorry bastard’s boots, then yanking off the plastic bags to shove his own feet into fleece-lined footwear heaven. The Sorel’s were so well-insulated they were still warm.
The fit was snug, but Jasper wasn’t complaining.
He repeated the search pattern on the vehicle’s opposite side until finding the other guy’s boots for Eden.
Considering how many students and scientists these guys shared in killing, Jasper regretted giving them the luxury of meeting death in their sleep.
Back behind the wheel, Jasper checked Eden to find her still out, but her breathing was regular.
Aiming one heater vent at her and the other at his face, he allowed himself a few minutes to thaw. He’d been in a lot of bad spots, but none that he could recall where literally, the air killed. As cold as it was outside, they might as well be on the moon. The climate was that inhospitable.
He needed to push forward, putting more distance between them and Leo’s crew, but where was he supposed to go?
With the cat’s cab silent, wind howled beyond the safety of metal and glass. That safety was an illusion. Who needed bad guys when Mother Nature had turned into a frigid bitch?
He reached for the dash-mounted GPS, but when he punched in McMurdo’s coordinates, all he got was a message reading: System Error.
Frustration didn’t begin to cover his dour mood.
He’d come down here expecting to encounter a lovable nerd herd. He’d expected Eden’s cryptic message to be about a petri dish massacre. During hours and hours of travel, he’d fantasized about wild, buck-naked bunkbed, make-up sex. This was supposed to have been a seriously good time, yet so far Antarctica sucked.
For Jasper’s entire military career, he’d been trained to embrace the suck, but honestly? He was tired.
He eased the cat into gear, then turned at a ninety-degree angle from their previous course. In whiteout conditions, it was risky to move at all, yet he didn’t feel comfortable returning to the station. He sure as hell didn’t want to end up facing Leo’s sub, but rolling off a cliff didn’t sound that great, either.
He checked the fuel and found the tank three-quarters full.
A cat this size probably had a range of at least a few hundred miles. What would be helpful to know was the size of the storm. How close were they to the back edge?
With unlimited daylight, Jasper planned to drive at least another hour, then stop to rest and make a proper meal.
The vehicle’s former occupants had been courteous enough to leave an iPhone attached to the stereo, so he slowed to glance through the playlists.
“What sounds good, gorgeous?” A hopeful glance in Eden’s direction netted nothing but disappointment.
Wake up, babe. We’ve got a lot of unfinished business to go over. What we shared was real. You had to have felt it, too, right?
Even if she had, what gave him the right to act on those feelings? He couldn’t hide out in Antarctica forever, and he sure as hell couldn’t live with himself for ignoring his promise. The night his brother lost his wife, Jasper had sworn he’d never allow himself to even think about falling in love.
Shaking his head as if that would help erase the memory of the awful night Mariah had died, Jasper focused on the here and now. Music. Something peaceful to wake Eden.
“Let’s see . . . We have playlists called—and I’m not kidding: Weight-lifting, Screwing, Driving, Gun Range, and one far too vile for your tender ears.” Hoping for the best, Jasper picked the second.
Then all hell broke loose to the soothing strains of Marvin Gaye crooning, “Let’s Get it On.”
Bam. The cat struck rock.
The impact jolted Jasper forward and then back. He shot his arm out protectively to brace Eden.
With the vehicle slanted at an unnavigable angle, the tracks lurched, then groaned while gliding back.
The motor chugged, coughed, then died.
Helping himself to what remained of the precious battery power, Marvin kept right on singing above the wind’s eerie howl.
Jasper killed the music.
How long would they have before the bone-chilling temp killed them?
5
EDEN WINCED, CUPPING her gloved hands over her eyes to shield them from the painful glare of sun against snow.
Confused didn’t begin to cover how she felt; her head ached and grogginess left her disoriented, but then she saw Jasper and the nightmare with Leo came roaring back.
“Good morning,” Jasper said from a few feet away. He sat cross-legged alongside a camp stove, stirring what looked and smelled like scrambled eggs. She spied an open package of a freeze-dried breakfast complete with peppers, potatoes and cheese.
Coffee also flavored the frigid air.
“Hey.” Her stomach rumbled. “Mind letting me in on what happened? I mean, I remember the showdown with Leo and his thugs, but—” she shivered despite wearing full outdoor gear and being inside a sleeping bag “—how did we get from there to what I’m guessing is a crashed snowcat?”
“Funny story,” he said with the crooked grin she’d fallen for the first time they’d met at Tattered Cover, her favorite Denver bookstore. It had been snowing, and he had been nursing a hot chocolate while searching for the latest Martha Stewart cookbook for his landlord. Here was this big, strong guy oblivious to his adorable whipped cream mustache. She’d fallen fast and hard. She’d helped him find the book, then cancelled that afternoon’s office hours at the small college where she taught English Lit. The rest of the day was spent talking
and laughing and kissing and eventually tumbling into bed. She’d never gone that fast with a man—before or since. But Jasper did things to her heart and mind and body that she still didn’t fully understand. And now, thanks to her diagnosis, she never would. “Those two Neanderthals who nailed us? I had the pleasure of returning the favor. I figured from there we were home free. All I had to do was drive a ways before riding out the storm, but then a big pile of rocks attacked us, and wham. We’re kinda stuck.”
“The rocks attacked us?” She cocked her right eyebrow.
“It was bad, babe. Glad you weren’t awake to witness the carnage.” He turned off the stove to cross the short distance to kiss her. Lord help her, she let him. His lips were at first cold, but then warmed with their combined heat. She groaned when he offered a sweep of his tongue. “Mmm . . . I missed you. Let’s for sure have more of that in a bit. But first, let’s get this food in you before it gets cold.”
He handed her a fork and they both ate from the pan.
“Almost forgot,” he said between bites. “I made instant coffee.” He reached next to the stove for a tall, stainless steel covered mug. “It’s not exactly a Starbucks, and no cream or sugar, but it’s hot.”
“That works for me. Thanks.” The soothing drink and food heated her from the inside out. They were lucky to have it. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen any pee funnels? Going in the snow is frowned upon.”
He winced. “Afraid not. Leo’s crew wasn’t especially environmentally friendly. Hold on a sec, and I’ll at least make you pee bucket.” He dumped gear from a five-gallon model, and even found her a pack of wet wipes. “I’ll head outside. Knock on the glass when you’re done.”
Never had she wished more for tinted windows.
Finished, she had no choice but to dump it in the snow, which was seriously uncool. She buried it, but still felt awful.
A few minutes later, once they were both back inside, Jasper asked, “Want the good news? Or the bad, or the really bad?”
She groaned. “After yesterday, I’m kind of at my bad news max.”
“Ditto.” He leaned in for another kiss she should have pushed away from, but couldn’t. She needed him—his strength. Just for a little while. Then she’d let him go. “But you need to know where things stand. I climbed to the top of the rock pile we ran into, and got the GPS to pick up a signal. As the crow flies, we’re a couple hundred miles from McMurdo. No biggee if the crash hadn’t killed the engine.”
“I’m assuming you couldn’t see in the whiteout?”
“True, but still . . .” He hardened his jaw. “I’ve landed us in a helluva jam.”
“Stop. If it weren’t for you, we probably wouldn’t even be alive. I still can’t believe that for all these years, a monster has been lurking inside Leo. How could he have killed so many people? And for what? There’s no treasure. The whole idea is silly. Which makes what he did all the more senseless.” Needing comfort, she fished out the locket she’d worn since her father gave it to her on her twelfth birthday. Just rubbing the family tree etching brought her strength. As did touching the amethyst birthstone at the tree’s roots. “And where are my father and Dane? Did Leo hurt them, too?”
“Wish I knew.” He sat beside her, and she rested her head against his shoulder. Even through bulky winter gear, her body sang to be near him. At the moment, the song was tragic but welcome all the same. “Back to our options, I’m no MacGyver when it comes to engine repairs, but now that the wind’s died down enough for me to see my hand in front of my face, I’ll do my damnedest to get this thing back on a flat angle and running. We’d have warmth and plenty of gear—maybe even enough fuel. But the real kicker is all of this . . .” He gestured out the window toward a sea of endless white punctuated by imposing Mount Erebus. “If we have such great visibility, so does Leo. I hope he was lying about his sub and having even more manpower. If he wasn’t, that means he could already be looking for us, and in this red cat, we’ll be an easy target to find. I’d say we could at least monitor his movements with our friends’ radio, but it’s dead.”
“So what do we do? Set out on foot? Try making it back to our station for snowmobiles?”
“That’s an option. But what if Crazy Leo did fabricate the whole sub thing and he’s really just hanging out in his lab, waiting for his next victims?”
She sighed.
“On the flip side,” Jasper said, “I have a hard time buying the fact that Leo doesn’t have some basis for launching his treasure hunt. There’s thousands of dollars in gear and weapons in this vehicle alone. There’s no telling what else he may have. A guy doesn’t stock up like this on a lark, you know? Think, Eden. Has your dad or this Dane guy you’ve been talking about ever even hinted at there being more going on down here than standard research?”
Rubbing her temples, she said, “Honestly, all of their work is so complex. When they talk about it, I glaze over. I know Dad’s trying to cure cancer, and he’s had promising leads, but—”
“Didn’t your mom die of ovarian cancer?”
Eden nodded.
“So up until her death, he was driven by a desire to save her?”
“I guess so.”
“This is a longshot, but could this treasure be a pharmaceutical thing? There’s huge money in drugs. What if your dad and Dane discovered a formula or new bio-organism that’s a scientific game changer and Leo wants it?”
“They were partners. They worked together for years. My father isn’t a selfish man. Every dime he’s ever made either went to my mother’s medical bills, my education, or the station and his studies.” Because Eden couldn’t bear for her father to sink still more money and hopes into her losing cause, she hadn’t even told him about her prognosis. What was the point? She’d had a front row seat to her mother’s physical and emotional breakdown, and the harder she’d fought, the worse the physical toll had been. Eden wanted no part of that. When it was her time, she’d accept it gracefully. Until then, she needed to regain her composure and help ensure Jasper reached safety. Her life was already gone, but she’d fight for his and her father’s. “When the first of the students were shot, I wanted to find my father and Dane, but you can’t imagine the chaos. All I could do was hide, but like I told you, one of Leo’s men easily found me. It was . . .” Cold enveloped her from the inside out. She used to love this place. The isolation. The pure, unspoiled beauty. Now, she’d give anything to be far away from here, in a place where if she tipped her face to the sun, warm rays would soak in like a healing balm. Like Jasper’s softest caress. “Aside from watching my mother die, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done—hiding like a coward beneath a table. I should have fought back.”
“Give yourself credit for staying alive.” He kissed the crown of her head. “You pretty sure your dad and Dane made it out alive?”
“Yes.” I hope. “Unless Leo caught them later and . . .” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“Could they have gone to McMurdo for help?”
“I suppose? But if they had, wouldn’t help have already arrived? I was alone with Leo a few days before you arrived. Doug plays online chess with my dad. He would have mentioned him being at McMurdo. But now, he’s probably dead, too.” She shivered. “What are we going to do?”
“Since it’s cold as balls in here—” he formed a smoke ring with his foggy breath “—I vote we’re proactive. I’ll try getting the engine started. You make a proper inventory of our food. In this cold, we ideally need about six thousand calories per day. Give me a guesstimate of how many days we’ve got at say six, four, or two thousand a day. We might find civilization in hours. If not, we need to be prepared.”
“Agreed.”
He opened the cat’s rear door and leaped out.
The even deeper cold hit her face like a slap.
“Jasper!” she called.
“Yeah?” He squinted against the sun, then took sunglasses from a pocket on his coat and slipped them on.
“Are we going to be okay?”
“Absolutely. All you need to worry about is getting back to civilization. Because once we’re in a toasty coffee house, I fully intend to make you explain what you were thinking when you dumped a great catch like me.” His toothy grin and wink started a flutter low in her belly.
In light of their circumstances, she had no business thinking about anything other than getting help to find her father, but Jasper had always had a way about him that brightened the darkest corner.
She fought to find a smile, but nodded instead. Yes, she needed to tell him exactly what she’d been thinking when she’d broken her own heart by breaking up with him, but this was neither the time nor place.
With him outside, she did as he asked, counting an assortment of freeze-dried meals, MREs, and four cases of protein bars that held a hundred forty-four bars each. While it was a relief to know running short on food wouldn’t be their most pressing issue, that fact did little to hold fear at bay. He’d asked her to run specific calorie computations, but in the cold there was no way she could hold her focus long enough to run the figures in her head.
She found more sunglasses on the dash, then stared out the window at the stark view that usually brought solace.
Now, the desolation raised her pulse. They were in a bad spot, but if anyone could get them out, it would be Jasper.
From outside the vehicle came a few clangs, then curses.
She’d cleaned their breakfast pan as best she could with snow, and was contemplating boiling water for the cocoa packets she’d found when Jasper yanked open the front door to try the engine.
Fingers crossed, she held her breath while awaiting the results.
The engine turned three times, but didn’t start.
He cursed under his breath, then headed back outside.
What if the fix was too complex to manage in the field? It happened all the time. Usually, operators radioed for help and it proved no big deal. In their case, everything was a big deal.
She hopped out of the cab to join him. “Anything I can do?”
Outcast (SEAL Team: Disavowed Book 2) Page 3
