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She did as he said and took in a deep breath, the cold stinging her lungs and then coming out in white puffs. Her head cleared and she got control of herself. “I’m fine. I’m ready.”
She followed the instructions Joe had given her for starting up the team and they took off like a shot across the snow, pointed in the direction of what Joe called the End of the World.
“Oh, man. My daughter would love this,” Nate said into her ear. “I’m going to have to take her to do this on our next vacation.”
Eden realized she had a big grin on her face as the snow slushed up around them, the speed of the dogs exhilarating. The sun seemed twice as bright as normal against the white of the landscape, and not even the protective shades she wore could cut the glare completely.
“You do a lot of stuff like this with her?” she asked, settling into the rhythm of the moving sled, adjusting her weight as needed.
“We don’t get a lot of time together, so I always make sure we do something memorable. She’s a bit of a daredevil and she likes adventures, so it’s not always easy finding something that’s not completely crazy and still safe for a sixteen-year-old.”
“She sounds a lot like you.”
“Yeah. It drives her mother crazy.”
Eden heard the smile in his voice and turned her head to look up at him, returning the smile. But it faded as she saw how close his face was to her own. She felt the warmth of his breath against her lips. but didn’t dare give in to the temptation to glance down and look at them. Instead, her gaze was caught in his dark stare.
It was one of those moments where time seemed to stop as the world continued to rush by around them. She somehow found the strength to turn away, but it had taken more resolve than she’d expected, and she’d had to take a moment to get her racing heart under control.
Nate kept his word and didn’t move his hands from the bar, but she couldn’t help but notice how the front of his body was pressed against hers. Every jostle and turn had their bodies pressing closer until sweat gathered beneath the layers of her clothes and her body was responding in ways that had nothing to do with the hunt.
What was wrong with her? Nothing had ever come between her and the job before. Not even Jonah. She’d been able to compartmentalize her feelings for him while they were on a mission. But Nate was wreaking havoc with her concentration.
She couldn’t seem to control the response of her body. It was chemical—plain and simple. Every mile they traveled became more unbearable.
Fortunately, the dogs helped solve the problem. About halfway to their destination, just past the sign Joe had told them about warning trespassers to turn back or risk death, the dogs pulled up sharp, and if she hadn’t had a good grip on the drive bar she would’ve dumped them both onto the ground. She pressed her foot to the brake, and she had to fight to keep the sled upright, so Nate lent his strength to hold them steady while she called out commands to the dogs.
The sudden silence was unnerving and she slowly released the white-knuckled grip she had on the bar.
“What the hell?” she breathed out in a rush, though she didn’t expect an answer.
The dogs moved restlessly, some of them whimpering as they lay down in the snow, letting her know with certainty that they had no plans to continue on.
She and Nate got off the sled, each of them reaching for the weapons beneath their jackets. They were in the middle of open land in all directions. There were no trees for cover. Just rolling hills of snow. But something had spooked the dogs. Joe had told them they were very intuitive and to pay attention.
They moved into a position where they stood back-to-back, their weapons up and ready for attack if it came. All they could do was listen. But the question waswhathad spooked the dogs? As far as she could tell, there was nothing to make them react as they had.
Silence lay heavy like a blanket with only the occasional rattle of the harness breaking through. There were no fresh tracks in the snow. Nothing but the two of them and wide-open land.
“You want to walk out a little ways?” Nate suggested. “We can circle around, see if we can find what’s got the dogs riled.”
“Maybe they’re not fans of the End of the World,” she said, dryly. “Though by my calculations we still have more than a hundred miles to go before we get there.”
“At least,” he said. “Even with the snowmobile, Salt would’ve been cutting it close outracing the storm, considering how quickly it moved in.”
“Joe said a snowmobile would run out of fuel before reaching our destination,” she said. “But knowing Jonah, he’s canvassed this terrain dozens of times. This is his playground. He’ll have fuel and provisions set up. I’d bet money he’s got enough provisions to live on the land for the next year. We’d never see him.”
“That would make his attempt at world domination more difficult,” Nate said. “He’s in prime position for the ultimate power play in being able to control multiple global superpowers through nuclear control. Disappearing right now isn’t going to be possible. But you’re right about the preparation. He’s waiting for us. Let’s not make it too easy for him.”
Eden did as Nate suggested and moved ahead of the dogs, going clockwise to Nate’s counterclockwise until they’d eventually meet in the middle.
Neither of them had elected to wear snowshoes so they could move quickly if they needed to—the snowshoes weren’t great for maneuverability and she’d rather take her chances on her own two feet. The downside was the snow came up above her knees, and in some places up to her thighs and hips, as she trudged through.
It turned out the slow movement and depth of the snow was a blessing in disguise. The sound of the trigger as her foot came down was no louder than a click. But it was a sound she’d heard before.
“Oh, God,” she said, but the words came out as a strangled whisper. Her muscles froze and the cold sweat of fear raced down her back.
The good news was the land mine didn’t automatically detonate as soon as she’d pressed the trigger. But if she took her foot off the mechanism, they’d be finding little pieces of her body in the snow for months.
