Anders stood outside the small chalet and wondered why anybody would want to spend so much time in the frozen Alps as this woman apparently did. But, as he well knew, nothing was normal about her. He’d already read the short dossier he’d received on Angelica. It was enlightening.
He already knew her on one level. A gut level. He’d met her in England at a pub about a year ago. She had been attending a conference, and he was passing through. By chance they were staying at the same hotel. He’d taken one look and had fallen hard.
With only a short time to make an impact, he’d come on hard and fast—and had crashed and burned badly when he had found out she had a fiancé.
His heart had stuttered to a stop, and he’d been literally speechless. How could his gut have been so wrong? It had never happened before. And he’d never met anyone before or after who had touched him in the same way.
Someone so fantastic with such an emotional impact upon him … and she wasn’t available.
Still, he wasn’t one to give up. He’d done his best to let her know who he was and what they had—and that she was in the wrong relationship. That might not have been his smoothest move, but, with time so short, and the impact on his senses so strong, he’d been just as determined to let her know that she had options, and she needed to pick a different one than her current choice. When he’d kissed her, … wow.
The hardest thing had been stepping back, seeing the dazed look in her eyes, knowing she was as affected as he was by their kiss. And then he had walked away, since he couldn’t cross his own line of taking another man’s lady. So he had to wait while she made a decision.
And apparently she had.
He’d planned to give her recovery time and to see her again. It had been almost one year since that fateful meeting. He’d hoped to stop by after this job and to see her now that he would be in Switzerland. Then he found out who he was coming to collect.
To him, that meant the timing was right. This time he wouldn’t walk away. If she wasn’t married—and her portfolio didn’t say she was—then she was his.
Angelica Winthrop.
She was a glaciologist. Some career he didn’t even know existed. But she studied glaciers and snowfields, ice-pack flows, the movement of glaciers over time and distance. It was a fascinating subject, but certainly not one he’d ever considered as a specialty.
He assumed it was another form of a hydrologist, which technically it probably was. At the same time, she was well respected and had made a name for herself in the industry.
Only she was in trouble, and he was here to help.
He stood on dry ground, staring up at the snowcapped mountain. Part of a four-man research team, Angelica had spent the last five days in a snow hut, somewhere at the top of the mountain, as the researchers took measurements and studied the images with scanners and cameras. She came up here several times a year, and it was just Anders’s luck that she was up there now.
He’d left his buddy North in England, after they had completed their last job, so Anders could join the new hires Levi had sent over today. Behind him, Harrison set up the internet connection, while Anders stepped outside on the deck to take a look at the weather. He glanced back and asked, “Are we confirmed to go up there?”
Harrison snorted. “That’s a yes. The researchers aren’t due to come down for two more days. Weather here at the base of the mountain looks fine but sucks at the top. So I have to wonder if nobody else is able to go up there and get her either.”
“We’re still trying to contact her by phone,” Anders said. “Maybe she’s not answering or the weather is interfering. Will she be more amiable if we snag her up there, or should we wait until she’s down the mountain, then grab her?” Anders paused. “I understand from her father that either of those options will be problematic.”
Harrison chuckled. “Indeed. The two new hires are on the way. Reyes just texted from the airport, saying he and Dezi would be here in the next twenty minutes to half an hour.”
“Good. I’ve worked with Dezi before. What about you?”
“No. I know him but haven’t worked with him. I did a couple missions with Reyes though.”
Anders considered the two new arrivals for a moment. “He’s a friend of Badger’s group, isn’t he?”
“He is. And Badger recommended him, so that’s good enough for Levi. In fact, I think Levi would like to convince many of Badger’s old unit to work for him. At least on a part-time basis.”
“He already has,” Anders said with a chuckle. “They’re doing small jobs for us now. As we expand and get bigger, they will be finding jobs that suit them.”
“The world is a sad place when we can keep so many employed in our line of work,” Harrison said.
“It is, indeed,” Anders agreed. “And, right now, we’ve got a perfect example of why everything is so screwed up. Just thinking about the research team being sitting ducks up in that snow is enough to make me shudder.”
“I don’t mind the snow,” Harrison said. “We don’t get enough, living in Texas. I miss our northern training sessions.”
“I don’t miss them. They were definitely different and definitely fun to do at the time. That doesn’t mean I want to do them all the time.”
“Exactly,” Harrison said, “but this will be fun.”
“Gear?”
“No sign of it yet. Reyes and Dezi haven’t had a chance to get suited up yet.”
Just then the doorbell rang, and Harrison shot Anders a look. Shifting into silent mode, Anders moved to the front door and peered out the side window. “Delivery. He’s cleared.”
“Good,” Harrison said, snapping the laptop closed and joining him at the door.
With Harrison ready, Anders pulled open the door and, sure enough, found the delivery man. They had vetted several already from the expected sources, including this individual.
The guy gave Anders and Harrison a grin and said, “It seems weird to be delivering all this winter gear. But, if you’re part of that ice crew that comes back and forth all the time, then it makes sense.”
“We definitely are,” Harrison confirmed with a big smile. “Now if we can only find the maps of the camps.”
The delivery guy chuckled. “Hey, that’s not a problem. Lots of us have done these climbs.” He handed off the first of the boxes and then walked back to his truck to grab more, both Anders and Harrison following him. “I might even have a map here with the majority of the routes marked down. Most of us locals who are ice climbers know the best routes. And you do need to know where the huts are.”
“Do you go up to the glaciers?” Harrison asked.
He nodded. “Absolutely. It’s two days minimum. Most of the time we get dropped off by helicopter if we’re going very high up.”
Anders filed away that info. They certainly had considered helicopters, but they were looking into the logistics to see how many miles were involved to get them up into the ice fields where these researcher’s huts were. And whether he and his team would stay there for several more days or come straight back. His instructions were to retrieve her now. But, if she was on a job, she wouldn’t be all that amiable to being pulled back to safety. Particularly when safety was a relative term. It sounded like what she did and where she did it was already dangerous in terms of Mother Nature. But then human predators were by far the nastiest on the planet.
As soon as all the boxes were unloaded into the main cabin, the delivery guy walked to the front of his truck, pulled out a map from the glove box and came back. “If you take a look at this,” he said, laying it out against the deck railing, “you can see from my marks these are cabins that we’ve already stayed in. The hillsides are literally dotted with them. But that’s because it’s a huge ice-climbing destination. Not to mention trekking and every other ice and alpine-snow activity.”
“Do you have another copy of this?”
“At home. I have lots of them. You can keep this.”
“We’re heading up to join the scientists on the ice field. Do you know what cabins they use?”
Enlightenment lit up his face. “Angelica?”
Anders nodded.
“I know exactly where they stay.” He took his pen and tapped one of the cabins that already had a circle around it. “She stays at this one. And at this one.” He pointed to another one farther up. “They have proper gear if they go higher.”
Harrison reached over and put little Xs on the side of the two selected cabins. “Any others that you know she stayed in?”
“She should have filed a map with the county. The government does keep track of these research trips,” he said. “But I honestly haven’t a clue who she’d be reporting to. Anyway, you can keep this map.” He gave them a quick salute. “I’ve got to go. Lots more deliveries to make.” He ran back to his truck, whistling.
The two stood in the doorway and watched as he took off down the dirt road. “Friendly enough,” Harrison said.
“Uh-huh,” Anders said, thinking about it. “Not too friendly, normal. Nothing suspicious as far as I can tell.”
They both looked down at the map the delivery guy had just provided.
“Let’s get inside, spread this out and get a better idea of where we’re at.”
They took various measurements, working out the best route up the mountain. Plus several escape routes.
“There’s a website too,” Harrison said, looking up from his laptop. “I just found it. It’s got all the ice trails marked. Apparently this is a very popular climbing spot.”
“How close is she to these trails?”
“It would make sense that she would use the same trails—much easier for traveling.”
“Unless she’s flying in by helicopter to a midway station, then trekking up the route to the spots she needs for her research.”
“That’s not what her father said.” Harrison looked up with a frown. “But, if we took a helicopter to be dropped in, it would cut out days of traveling. Could give us the jump on the competition and would lessen the chance of missing her on our way up to get her.”
Anders looked back at the map. “That’s a good point. If Levi okays the helicopter charge, and the weather allows, I suggest we do that. We still have to come down with her, and that could take days.”
“I’ll send Levi a text,” Harrison said, his fingers busy on his phone. When done, he put down his phone and went back to the website. “We can utilize a couple good maps here, and they’re printable.”
“We might also be able to buy some current maps,” Anders said. “If it’s a popular hiking spot, there’ll be well-marked trails.”
“What’s the chance we can use a helicopter for pickup?”
Anders looked up and grinned. “I imagine we’ll be drop-shipped close to the cabin, and we’ll be on our own after that.”
“Right. I’m looking forward to this.”
Anders picked up his phone and once again dialed Angelica’s number. This time he heard a crackling on the other end as somebody tried to answer it.
“Hello? Hello?”
He walked over toward Harrison. “Hello, Angelica. It’s Anders. I’ve been sent by your father to collect you.”
“Hello? Hello? Collect? What’s the matter?”
He could hear her voice breaking up and knew his must be doing the same thing. She was clearly confused as to who and what he was calling about. He tried again. Instead the response was just, “Hello? Hello?” And then he heard a click, and the phone went dead. He groaned and said, “Apparently phone service doesn’t work so well with Angelica right now.”
“Just because it’s clear down here doesn’t mean it’s clear up there,” Harrison said, pointing to the gray clouds over the top of the mountain. “She could be in the middle of a storm.”
“At least we know she’s alive at the moment.”
“So let’s see if we can get a helicopter first thing in the morning. If we can do a pickup at the same time, that’s the easiest. It’s also the most expensive.”
“We need approval from Levi first.”
“True enough.”
At that, sounds came at the front of the cabin again. The two men looked at each other and slowly approached. With Harrison once again standing guard, Anders opened the door to find the rest of their team.
Reyes and Dezi unloaded their bags from their rented vehicle and walked up to the front door.
Inside, Dezi turned and said, “We did contact two guides,” he looked at his watch, “for the best route to take, given the current weather. Apparently the hillside is completely covered in trails, and it’s easy to get lost.”
“And here we were thinking it would be easy,” Anders said. “Because these trails are supposedly already well-marked.”
“That’s what we thought too originally,” Reyes said. “But then we realized just how many different trails there are.”
“We are also contemplating a helicopter,” Harrison said. “I have a call in to Levi.”
“Oh, that’s an interesting thought,” Reyes said. “It will be faster. It’s supposed to be a day up to the first camp and a second day up to their camp for nonpros. Although the weather is getting worse and could change that time line.”
“And that’s something to consider too. The helicopter issue is not just about cost. It’s also availability. And the weather.”
“Did anybody consider,” Dezi asked, “whoever is after her will have the same problems we are?”
All the men nodded.
“We considered it. The job is to retrieve her—and we need to do it before anybody else gets to her.”
“We also picked up groceries,” Dezi said. “I don’t know about you guys, but my stomach is already empty.”
Anders laughed out loud. “Now that’s your stomach for you. You’re always hungry.”
“What did you pick up?” Harrison asked with interest. “We’ve got a full kitchen, but we don’t have much in the way of food.”
“Pasta, ham, eggs,” Dezi said. “I brought ingredients for a prosciutto carbonara dinner, and ham and eggs for breakfast along with toast.”
“That works,” Harrison said, hopping to his feet. “Did you pick up onions and garlic?”
“Picked up shallots instead. Two for one there,” Dezi said with a laugh.
The two men wrangled gently as they walked into the kitchen to start dinner.
Anders watched them. “At least you two can cook.”
“You can too,” Harrison said. “I see you sneaking in to help Bailey every once in a while.”
Anders snorted. “Yeah. I’m sneaking in all right, and that’s to steal cinnamon buns every chance I get.”
“Man, I tell you,” Reyes said with a chuckle, “Bailey’s cinnamon buns have become legendary.”
At the mention of “legendary,” they laughed. Appropriate, since they all worked for Legendary Security.
“She fits in well,” Anders said.
“So the timing will be tight, depending on weather with the guides coming,” Anders said. “Did they say what we would need for supplies, special gear? Anything helpful?”
“They were perturbed we wanted to leave in the morning,” Reyes said. “They said they had some supplies, but their choice would be to go up the day after.”
Anders rapped his fingers on the wall he leaned against. “That’s a possibility,” he said. “We haven’t heard back from Levi about the helicopter. We thought that would be faster.”
“Yes, but, with the weather coming toward us, I doubt that’ll work, even if a helicopter is approved and available to us.”
“I’ve been trying to get an updated weather forecast,” Anders said. “But it’s taking time.”
“The guides said a storm is coming. They don’t like the idea of us going up at all.”
Anders frowned. “And that takes us back to the earlier question. Will anybody else try to take her out while we’re waiting for the storm to clear? The last thing we want is to get up there and find out she and her team have been massacred because we were being cautious.”
“True enough, but we also know what Levi says, that there’s no point in saving the client if we kill ourselves.”
Anders stared at him. “And yet, the motto has always been to live and to serve, so it’s almost second nature for all of us to put ourselves in harm’s way in order to save somebody else, especially a civilian.”
“Sure, but none of us are in the navy anymore,” Reyes said, smacking Anders on the shoulder. “But it’s damn good to see you. I figured by now you’d be married with a kid on the way.”
“Why the hell would you think that?” Anders asked in shock. “The last thing I’m doing is following in everybody else’s footsteps.”
Reyes opened his arms and said, “Hey, I’m open and willing. Michelle and I broke up about six months ago. I have to admit. It hit me pretty hard, but I’m ready to get back in the saddle.”
“Ouch. Sorry, dude. You and Michelle were together what? Four years?”
Reyes nodded. “She decided we were just friends, and she wanted more excitement in her life,” Reyes said with a shake of his head. “Here I thought being good friends meant you knew each other inside and out. Who knew it just meant all the spark had worn off.”
“I think she’s wrong. I don’t think the spark was there to begin with if it wore off like that.”
“I sure as hell don’t understand any of it,” Reyes said with a snort. “I’m up for a lot more excitement in life than anything I’ve seen so far. So I thought Michelle and I were doing just fine. It’s a shock to see what I thought versus what she thought of our relationship.”
“I think that’s all too common,” Anders said, getting up to watch Harrison work his magic in the kitchen. “Let’s see if the guys need a hand.”
“You guys talking girl talk?” Harrison asked as they walked in.
“Just that I’m single,” Reyes said. “Now that we’ve joined Levi’s group though, maybe I’ll get lucky.”
Dezi said with a smirk, “I tell you, his team is becoming legendary for matchmaking too. It’s as bloody bad as Mason’s group. Although it’s more like Cupid has chosen to sit in residence within those two groups and to play matchmaker himself.”
“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Harrison said. “On the other hand it doesn’t really matter because, when fate dumps the right person in front of you, you can fight it all you want, but it’s already over.”
“Maybe,” Reyes said, the doubt evident in his tone. “That doesn’t mean you’ll recognize the right thing just because it’s in front of you.”
Harrison nodded. “That’s quite true. It’s not that easy to always know what you’re supposed to do, what you could do, what’s the best thing to do. I think, once you know it though, you know it.”
“No regrets?” Anders asked Harrison. “You guys have found some pretty special women.”
“We have, indeed,” Harrison said. “We’ve been very lucky. And more single women are out there for you single guys, and we’re quite happy to have more couples join the fold.”
Dezi smirked as he walked to the fridge. “Good thing you got beer.” He brought out four and popped the caps on all of them. “I’m okay to meet up with somebody. But, with my luck, it won’t happen to me.”
“Why is that?” Harrison asked.
“Because it’s never me,” Dezi said. “Probably will be Reyes next.”
Reyes shook his head. “Nope. This job is Anders’s assignment. It’s his turn now.”
Anders held up his beer bottle and clinked it with the others. “We’ll see.” Inside he smiled. If they only knew.
*
Angelica pocketed her phone once again. The storm was coming in. On a clear night they sometimes could get reception up here, but the minute the storm arrived, they lost all telecommunications. She walked the few steps back to where the team was. The wind howled enough that they could hardly hear their own voices.
They were roped together and looking for the turnoff they needed to get down to their hut for the night. They hadn’t expected the storm to appear so hard or so fast. She was in the lead, taking over a good hundred yards back. It was just the three of them today as they took the turnoff to where they would stay for the night, to join their fourth team member.
And Angelica couldn’t wait to get inside. As much as she loved her work, she had to wonder sometimes about the psychotic nature of always working in such harsh winter temperatures. But thankfully she did a nice balance of field work versus lab work. If she could keep the report-writing at bay, she’d be even happier.
The wind picked up again, howling and whistling. With the ropes between them keeping them steady, they made their way slowly down the trail. They’d done this trip many, many times over the years. But this time she had a fourth person on her team, who had stayed at the cabin. Hannah hadn’t felt well that morning and had decided to stay in the hut rather than stress her body more in the extreme temperatures. She stayed inside the cabin, cooking meals and keeping the place warm for them.
Up ahead the smell of woodsmoke tantalized their nostrils as they headed toward the cabin. But the way was treacherous. Angelica had picks and spikes keeping her moving forward steadily. She kept the line taut behind her, not dragging anybody but not allowing any slack either. It was too hard to rein in a researcher when the slack picked up and someone fell.
They walked at a steady pace as the fog rose and the storm raged in. In whiteout conditions, this mountain was a killer. It was too easy to get lost and to freeze to death in minutes. But she had a great internal navigational system, and she had already taken stock of where they were going, so she kept her feet pointed in the right direction, and they trudged forward. As long as she kept the cliff edge to the right of her, she held steady.
And just enough of an indent remained in the snow from their morning trek to give her a bit of a trail to follow as well. She could hear somebody yell something from behind her, but the rope hadn’t jerked, so she didn’t worry about it. She kept moving. If the rope had been jerked back hard, that was a different story.
Up ahead the smoke smell got stronger and more welcoming. She could almost feel the heat reaching for her. Finally, after another fifty yards, the cabin came into view. The relief coming from the two men behind her was almost palpable. Continuing forward, she made it alongside the cabin. There they untied the ropes around their waists and then kicked their heavy boots to knock off some of the snow before she entered the initial part of the cabin, which was mostly a boot room. It was a necessary space to take off the snow gear before stepping into the inner recesses of the cabin.
The huts were small and compact, and they packed in a lot of people with multiple bunks up and down the walls. Climbers came here and stayed overnight. The only rules were to be kind and to help each other as needed and to leave the huts in good shape for the next occupants. Most of the time the system worked well. As she stepped in, she lifted her nose and sniffed. “I can’t say I’m sorry you weren’t feeling 100 percent today,” Angelica said to Hannah. “Nothing like coming back to a hot meal at the end of the day.”