Jackie’s head snapped around to the door. Mick’s cheeks were reddened and his jacket was still speckled with bits of snow. He walked past Roman to the bed, eyes wide. “Are you all right? Mrs. Delucchi told me about the accident. I snowmobiled over, but it took me forever.”
“I’m okay.”
He sank into a hard chair next to the bed. “I feel terrible.” He shot a look at Roman. “She was waiting for my call. We made arrangements to catch up. Thinking of you out there getting shot while you waited for me gives me the creeps.” He shook his head. “What happened? Someone playing around with a rifle?”
Roman snorted. “People here don’t play around with guns. They’re tools and they’re treated that way. It wasn’t an accident. The police will investigate. Skip’s already called them.”
Jackie’s stomach flipped at the thought of talking to the police. She knew he was probably right, but for the moment all she wanted to do was find out about Asia.
Roman’s phone rang and he stepped into the hallway to answer it.
Mick leaned toward the bed. “I thought he’d never get out of here. He your boyfriend?”
She swallowed. “No, but he used to be, a long time ago. It’s over now.”
Mick raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it’s over on his end.”
She shifted a shiver. “Never mind that. Where’s Asia?”
He held up a hand. “Still in San Francisco.”
Jackie gaped. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t she come with you?”
He stood and walked to a small window. “Because she’s as stubborn as you are. She was sure that she was close to finding concrete proof in that mountain of notes. She wanted to put it all together so we could go to the authorities.”
“Is it safe for her to stay alone?”
“Safe?” He passed a hand over his eyes and she saw a heavy fatigue on his face. “I wouldn’t say that. Right after you left someone tried to drive us off the road.”
Jackie gasped.
“Yeah. We only barely made it out of that scrape. The car was a sedan, male driver, but I know it was an unmarked police car. Cops are dirty, all right.”
Jackie felt like jumping out of the bed and grabbing him by the jacket. “Where is Asia? We’ve got to get her out of there.”
“She begged me to come take care of you, to find a place for us all to hole up. Then she just took off, left a note that she went to a friend’s. She’s driving me crazy.” Mick sighed. “I wish I knew where she was.”
Jackie almost smiled. Asia was stubborn without question. “She’s good at landing on her feet.”
Mick patted her hand. “The sooner we get this taken care of, the better. What have you been able to put together?”
“Nothing, so far. I know the answer is on that drive. Someone else knows it too. There was a break-in at my cabin.”
He started. “At the lodge? Who would do that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it might be one of the guests there who is passing himself off as a reporter.”
His eyes rolled in thought. “Dr. Reynolds must have figured out where you went and paid someone off. A local cop, maybe. The people he’s selling the information to must have a long reach, and they don’t want their operation compromised. Where’s the evidence? We have to make sure it’s safe.”
She opened her mouth to reply when a nurse stepped in.
“Visiting hours are over in ten minutes.”
Mick started to protest, but Jackie cut him off. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine here for the night.”
“What are you going to tell the police?” he whispered.
“Maybe I should tell them everything.”
His dark eyes gleamed with worry. “Not with Asia unprotected. The Alaska cops will immediately contact SFPD and they’ll find her. We’ve got to wait until she’s here and safe. I told her if she didn’t fly out pronto I was going to come back for her.”
Roman returned then, hovering uncertainly in the doorway until Mick left. He bobbed a chin in the direction Mick had taken. “He looks worried.”
She sighed. “He’s concerned about me and his girlfriend, Asia.”
Roman raised an eyebrow. “His girlfriend?”
“Oh.” His gaze wandered all over the room. “I just wanted to tell you I’ll come back tomorrow to pick you up, if that’s what you want.” He turned to go.
“Wait.” Jackie felt an inexplicable need to comfort him. She held up a hand and he stepped over, taking her fingers in his, hesitantly. It was strange how she had not held these hands in years, yet the strong, calloused fingers seemed so familiar. “Thank you, for everything you did for me.”
Then the reality of the situation suddenly hit home with full force. She had been shot and it was no accident. If he hadn’t been there to help her, she would be dead, her blood seeping out onto the snow until someone eventually found her body. A cold wind seemed to blow through her, wrapping her in frigid gales of fear. His voice sounded very far away.
“Jackie? Are you all right?”
Roman’s eyes melted into hers, bringing her back. There was the slightest tremor on his lips as he bent down and held his cheek to her hand. The touch seemed to set off an electric current through her body and she knew what she had to do. After drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, she told him everything.
He listened without speaking, standing motionless until she was through.
“So you see why we can’t go to the police yet. I know I’ve been an idiot, Roman. I’m sorry for getting you involved. I have no right.” Especially after the things she said.
He shook his head as if to clear it for a moment and took a deep breath. “Don’t apologize, Jackie. One way or another, we’re going to get you out of this mess.” He leaned close and kissed her cheek, wrapping her in a faint scent of musk. He whispered the words in her ear that seemed to flow throughout her body in a tide of comfort. “I promise.”
The next morning Roman waited patiently while Skip checked Jackie out of the hospital. He tried to stretch out the kink in his back from sleeping in a chair in the waiting area. After what she had told him, there was no way he was leaving her alone. In spite of his concern, he smiled at the chagrined look on her face at having to be pushed out in a wheelchair.
“Hospital policy,” Skip reminded her cheerfully, as they got into the van and drove back to the airstrip where he’d left the de Havilland. Once they were aboard, Roman got a better look at her.
Face pale, eyes shadowed, Jackie moved only a little tentatively as she buckled her seat belt. He mulled over her revelation again, wondering what she intended to tell the police. In spite of the worry, he felt an odd sense of elation; she’d confided in him, trusted him, and it made him feel ten feet tall. If he could not share his love with her, he could at least keep her safe. It would have to be enough.
The river of people needing hopper flights to their various Winterfest accommodations had lessened, or been snapped up by the other aviation companies, so Wayne gave him permission to help with the activities at the lodge. He was happy to have an excuse to keep close to Jackie, but he couldn’t help the fear that overtook him. What if he couldn’t protect her? What if she died too?
Lord, don’t let me fail her.
When they disembarked, there were only two snowmobiles waiting. Roman climbed on one. Strapping on an overstuffed backpack, Skip climbed on the other. After an awkward moment, Jackie slid onto the seat behind Roman on his snowmobile.
He tried not to react when her good arm slid around his waist and tightened as the motor gunned to life. She pressed her face into his shoulders as they made their way along. He concentrated on avoiding as many of the bumps as he could, to keep from jarring her shoulder.
At the lodge the sculptors had already begun to transform the big blocks of snow into crystalline flowers, horses and totems. Skip excused himself and trotted off toward the throng. Roman escorted Jackie into the lodge, which was warmed by a massive fire and filled with people.
The village public safety officer was waiting, amid a swarm of people with coffee mugs in their hands. Officer Tom Brady’s round cheeks and thick brows brought back a series of bad memories. He’d been the one to investigate the accident two years ago, before the Alaska state trooper had arrived to take over.
Roman saw Jackie tense. He wondered if she too remembered the officer, or if it was the current situation that affected her. After a deep breath, she held her chin up and followed the stout official to a relatively quiet corner. Roman grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down out of earshot. The officer spoke to her for what seemed a very long while and then gestured for Roman to join them.
Brady got right to the point. “Hello, Roman. What happened last night?”
Roman recounted the shooting as best he could.
The officer nodded. “I got that much from her. Do you have any idea why someone might be interested in shooting Ms. Swann?”
Roman blinked. Had Jackie told Brady about the break-in at her cabin? She turned a beseeching look on Roman, with eyes that tore at his heart. Trust me, they seemed to say. He cleared his throat and stuck to the bare-bones truth. “I don’t know anybody who’d want to hurt Jackie.”
Brady scratched his neck with a pencil. “Okay. Looks like one of those crazy things that happens from time to time. I’ll take a cruise out along the top of the bluff, but I don’t expect to find anything. I’d stay out of the woods at night, if I were you, Ms. Swann. Or take this big guy with you, just in case.” Brady bobbed a chin at Roman.
Jackie’s cheeks colored, but she said nothing as the officer left.
Roman noticed that her hands were shaking, her fingers laced together tightly on her lap.
She looked so lost and scared that Roman couldn’t stand it. He took her hand and moved until their knees touched.
Tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh, Roman. I think I made a mistake, a big mistake, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
He considered his words carefully. “I know what that feels like—to make a mistake that turns your life upside down.”
Jackie sighed. “You’ve been so good to me through all this. Why?”
“Old times sake.”
She smiled. “We had some great times, didn’t we?”
His breath caught at the gentle look on her face. “The best times of my life were spent with you.”
She looked at him and it was as if she could see right down into the very bottom of his soul. Could she face the sorrow there? The terrible regret for what he had done to them all? A tear slid down her face and he reached out a finger and traced its salty path down her smooth cheek. She closed her eyes. With a small shudder she opened them again, a mask of control falling over her features.
“I’m a little tired. I’m going to go lie down so I can help with the sculpture competition later.”
“Don’t worry about it. You rest. I can take care of everything.”
She smiled in spite of the tears. “Thanks, but you know I’m going to help anyway.”
He laughed. “Yes, I do.”