The Cold Edge (23 page)

Anna and Kjersti had shared a hotel room, talking in the dark like sisters until they both finally slept out of complete exhaustion. With everything that had happened, it had been a long week for the both of them.

In the morning Anna woke first. Her stomach had suddenly lurched and forced her to run to the bathroom, where she threw up everything inside her. Twice. She thought the bug had returned, but guessed now that it could have been nerves. She used to throw up a few hours before each biathlon, forcing her to suck down water and an energy bar closer to the start of the competition to avoid dehydration.

Then Anna took a shower and was toweling down in front of a mirror when Kjersti came into the bathroom naked and sat down to pee.

“Hope you don't mind,” Kjersti said. “I really have to go.”

Anna continued with the towel. “No problem.” She ran her hand across her belly. She must be getting her period, she thought. A little bloating. Either that or she needed to work out. It had been quite a while since she ran.

Kjersti flushed and came to the mirror next to Anna. Washed her hands. “You all right?”

“Suppose you heard me throw up again,” Anna said. “Nerves.”

“Yeah, that's probably it.” Kjersti smiled and wiped her hands. “I'll take a quick shower and we'll go fill that belly of yours again.”

Anna watched Kjersti in the mirror as she got into the shower. No belly on her. Perfect body. She left her friend alone and went to get dressed. She wished she could call Jake and see what he was doing right now. She missed him. He was a stabilizing force for her, even though crazy things seemed to happen with him. Should she try to call him? Would he even answer? She got as far as putting on her panties and bra when the shower stopped.

Seconds later Kjersti came out, her body dry but toweling her hair still. “Remember what we talked about last night?”

They had talked about a lot of things. Anna shook her head.

Kjersti said, “I either need a man to screw me hard or I need to kill something. My God, I'm horny as hell.” She wiggled and sat on the end of her bed, the towel still working her hair.

Anna couldn't keep her eyes off of the woman. If she ever had feelings for another woman, then it was now. But she didn't go that way. She loved Jake and desired only what he had to give her.

Throwing the towel on the floor, Kjersti said, “I didn't mean to suggest that we do something. I mean, you are beautiful and have the cutest body I've ever seen. But. . .”

“I wasn't thinking that,” Anna lied. “I was just admiring your body. That doesn't make me a lesbian does it?”

“I wouldn't know,” Kjersti said, embarrassed now. “I've never done it with a woman. I mean. . .if I ever was going to do it with a woman, you would be my first choice. I'm rambling. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to suggest we should do anything. I was just saying what I was thinking. I haven't had a man in a while, and I could really use one right now.”

Anna took a deep breath. “I've never considered doing anything with a woman. Although Jake made a joke about doing the both of us, and that actually sounded interesting.”

“Wish you had told me that,” Kjersti said. “I would have done it. Your man is hot.”

Anna covered her eyes and looked away, then took a seat on her bed. “Don't tell Jake that. Now I'm embarrassed.”

Kjersti giggled. “Maybe we should get dressed and find some breakfast.”

Anna looked up at Kjersti. “Good plan.”

Without saying another word, the two of them hurriedly got dressed, locked up, and went down to the hotel restaurant.

●

Jake lingered in bed until around eight-thirty. The B&B was one of those mountain lodge type places with feather beds, the room somewhat chilled with the window cracked all night. He took a quick shower and went over his day in his mind. Too bad he didn't have a few friends to help him. Victor Petrova's place was protected by high tech and low tech. While he had circled the complex, he had heard a few dogs yelp. Although he could bypass many electronic systems, well-trained dogs rarely acted like they did on TV, where someone drops them a raw steak or dog treats and the dog eats it, rolls over, and falls to sleep. That was nice for the tube, where they didn't want to piss off dog owners by actually killing them. But, of course, it was okay to twist some guys neck. Humans were fine to kill.

Jake went downstairs and ate a hearty meal of various meat, including pickled fish, eggs, juice, and strong coffee. The older woman who ran the place kept pushing more coffee on him. When he was done, he went outside and took in a deep breath of fresh air.

A heavy fog wrapped itself around the entire town, and a light mist trickled down on Jake's head. He got into his acquired car with the new plates and drove off to the downtown. He had a few things to pick up before he went back out to Petrova's estate.

●

Toni had slept in longer than she wanted. After her shower and changing into tight, dark clothes, she had found Colonel Reed in the room next door and they went downstairs for breakfast. She looked out the windows and saw only the fog and light rain. Perfect. Couldn't have asked for better weather. They were the only two in the breakfast room.

“You sleep all right?” Colonel Reed asked Toni, as the both of them took seats at a thick wooden table.

“Not bad. I love the feather bed.”

“What time is our briefing?”

The older woman who ran the place came with a carafe of coffee. “You just missed another American,” she said with perfect English. “Is he a friend of yours?”

Toni shook her head. “No, we're here alone.”

“Oh.” The woman glanced at Colonel Reed.

“We're not together,” Toni said. “We're colleagues.”

The old woman smiled and walked away.

“I don't think she believes you,” Colonel Reed said. “That's flattering.”

Not for Toni. The colonel was old enough to be her father. “Can we get back to the subject. You asked about the briefing.”

“Right. At the airport. Do you expect Jake to show up at some time?”

“You can bet on it.” She knew that Jake was far from predictable, but he was most passionate when wronged in some way. Victor Petrova had not only done that to him in the past, he had made it more personal now. Jake wouldn't stand for it. But she had already discussed this with Colonel Reed on the drive from Oslo. “You better hope Jake has a forgiving side.”

“I've told you,” the colonel said. “I was planning on turning everything over to the Agency once I knew for sure what we were dealing with. I had no idea it was a deadly virus. If I had, I never would have sent Jake to find it.”

“You didn't,” she reminded him. “You sent him to find the body of an old friend.”

“Right.”

“But you knew that wasn't his real reason to go there.”

“Right. I knew that if Victor Petrova wanted it, then it must be important. I had no idea. . .”

Time would tell if he was telling the truth. Toni only hoped Jake would give the man a chance to explain himself. Jake was better than anyone she knew at determining if someone was lying to him. Which made her wonder why he had gone to the Arctic in the first place. Was it because his mind was clouded by alcohol? Or maybe he suspected all along that the colonel was sending him there for some other reason. She'd have to ask him that when she saw him again. It would be the first time they saw each other since Jake found out she was married. Didn't sound like fun to her, but she couldn't help feeling something for the man she had loved at one time.

“Let's go,” Toni said. “Briefing in a half hour.”

The colonel sucked down the last of his coffee and they left the B&B.

The fog was still as thick as Norwegian fish soup when Anna and Kjersti got to the airport. Anna was still not feeling great, even after a light breakfast and coffee. Maybe she should have had the tea.

They were at a small operations building near the air traffic control tower, not wanting to roll into town with the SWAT mobile and have one of Petrova's men see them coming. They could have also conducted the meeting at the local police station, but didn't for that same reason. The local police would only be told once they rolled on the estate. They would be used to cut off the highways.

Anna watched all the entities stream into the small conference room. There would be standing room only. When she finally saw Colonel Reed and Toni come through and take a seat at the table, she had mixed feelings. The colonel had set this whole thing in motion. Had brought her and Jake from their comfortable yet complex life in Austria to Norway, to the Arctic, and back. She didn't know if she should shoot the colonel or hug him. Jake knew him. Maybe she'd let him decide. And Toni. They had worked together a few times in Austria, while she was the station chief in Vienna, especially on that strange Teutonic Order case a couple years ago.

Toni wasn't looking at her. What did that mean?

Everyone in place, Anna started the briefing. With Kjersti's help, she showed them satellite photos of Victor Petrova's compound, building plans, although not up to date, since the man had made his modifications over the past few years, and what they knew about the security systems. The Norwegian Police Security Service captain briefed them on their roll, and then a Norwegian Air Force colonel explained how they would block all air traffic. With the roads and air cut off, there would be no flaw to their plan. Even the lake would be cut off. Questions were asked and answered. Yet, during the entire briefing, Anna noticed that Toni didn't say a word. She only sat and listened.

They would strike at three p.m. Petrova, if he suspected they would come for him, would think they'd wait for dark.

Everyone strolled out of the briefing to prepare for the mission.

“Toni,” Anna said. “Could I speak with you and the colonel?”

Looking somewhat disturbed, Toni reluctantly returned but didn't sit down, indicating she wasn't going to stay long. Colonel Reed did sit down, his disposition somber.

Kjersti took a seat in a far corner.

Anna leaned against the conference table and said, “You didn't have any questions.”

Toni hunched. “You have a good plan.”

“But?”

“You didn't mention Jake,” Toni said. “He might get caught in the crossfire.”

“We don't even know if he's here,” Anna assured her.

Toni huffed out a breath. “He's here.”

Anna glanced at the colonel. “You think so?”

Colonel Reed nodded.

“Why did you send us to Svalbard if you knew there was a deadly flu virus involved?” Anna asked the colonel.

“I didn't know,” he said. “You've gotta believe me. I would've never sent Jake into harm's way if I'd known that. Does he know that?”

They had discussed it some on the trip back from Svalbard, but Jake wasn't sure. “Jake said that people can change for the good and the bad.” As she watched the colonel shake his head, she considered also how Jake had changed over the past years, especially in the past three months, and how he seemed to be changing again. Yet, he had stopped drinking. Then their last encounter flashed before her, how he had brusquely dismissed her at the airport in Sweden.

“I must talk with him,” Colonel Reed said. “Let him know we must talk. I can explain myself to him. Make him understand.”

Maybe he could.

“Are we done here?” Toni asked. She looked like she wanted to rip Anna's head off.

“Yeah,” Anna muttered. “See you in a few hours.”

Toni and Colonel Reed left the room.

Kjersti came to Anna and put her arm around her. “You all right?”

Anna put her hand over her mouth. She wanted to throw up again, but willed herself to settle down.

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“That was Jake's ex?”

“Yeah.”

“She might have been pretty at one time,” Kjersti said, “but she just seems old and bitter now. You're much hotter.”

A smile crossed Anna's lips. “Thank you.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” Kjersti pulled Anna toward the door. “Let's go find us some brutal weapons.”

Jake had gone to a sporting goods store, which wasn't hard to find in Lillehammer, and he found some gear he needed. Then he went down to the lakefront and rented a boat with cash, with enough gas to let him run all day if necessary.

Now he chugged along in the sixteen-foot canoe, shoving the control arm from side to side to stay perpendicular to the foot-high waves. He couldn't figure out how the wind was blowing so hard, yet the fog was still so thick, not allowing him to see very far ahead. But he had taken the GPS readings out at Petrova's estate the night before, and an arrow was now pointing him in the right direction.

He had piled two backpacks of gear in the bow to offset his weight. The GPS had him at four hundred meters out, but that was only accurate to about thirty feet, since he had taken the reading about that distance from the water, back in the woods where the fence ran right into the water and was topped with buoys with warning signs to keep the hell away. Jake guessed the fence probably ran right around the front of the water.

Twisting the throttle, the electric trolling motor slowed. There wasn't much noise even at full throttle, with the exception of the waves slapping the bow. He couldn't have asked for better weather. The weather folks on the radio had said the fog would last until evening, and maybe beyond that. It could go on for days. That would make Petrova's cameras less effective. But it wouldn't stop the motion detectors or any kind of traps he might have for Jake. Not to mention the dogs. They didn't give a crap about the fog.

GPS read one hundred meters. He slowed more and looked through his binoculars toward the shore. Couldn't see that far. Damn that was thick.