“I’m not going to stand here and be accused of treason by Santa Claus and his dwarfs.” Kimber backed away and reached in his pocket. “I’m going for a smoke.”
Nick reached out to grab him, but Brooke caught his arm and stepped in between. “What are you doing, Nick? Just because we can’t find answers doesn’t mean you can force them.”
Brooke’s eyes were bloodshot. It had been a long night, so Nick decided he would give her a pass on stepping in for that reason only. “Don’t step in when I am talking to someone again, Brooke. Understand?”
Brooke took a step back. “Excuse me? You’re not my boss. And you won’t talk to me like that. I’m just trying to get you to use some reason here.”
“What the hell do you know about any of this? What makes you think you can tell me how to handle it? I’ve been dealing with guys like Nasir for years. They are smarter than you think. We know he got to Andrews, what makes you think he couldn’t get to Kimber too?”
Brooke was quiet for a moment.
“Boss,” Zeke said from behind them. “You need to see this.”
“Not now, Zeke. The adults are having a conversation.”
Nick watched Brooke’s eyes focus over his shoulder. “Who are you following, Zeke?” Brooke said.
Nick whirled around and the screen showed Kimber walking away from the warehouse. Then he raised a phone to his ear. Nick rushed forward. “Make sure we can hear.”
Zeke zoomed in and twisted a knob on the controls. Kimber’s voice was loud enough now to hear him.
“No, I’m telling you, he is on to us.”
Nick shot a look at Brooke. She hung her head.
Kimber continued his conversation. “You can’t just leave me stranded here.” Pause. “The North Pole! I have no way out. I came here by sleigh for god’s sake! You can’t—”
The three of them watched as Kimber took the phone from his ear, looked at it, then put it back to his ear. “Hello! Hello?!” Then he shouted in frustration and put his phone away. He was cursing to himself as he walked down the main street in the village. Nick pulled his Beretta and checked the mag.
“What are you going to do?” Brooke asked.
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know, Nick. You’re kind of a loose cannon. He doesn’t know for sure that we know anything.”
“Yes he does. And he’s going to get desperate.” Nick looked over at Zeke. “Is Jack back yet with the sleigh?”
“I saw him pulling into the stables on camera seven about a half hour ago. He should be finished putting away the reindeer.”
Just as Zeke finished his sentence, Nick watched Kimber walk up to Jack on the ASE’s main screen. Then Kimber pulled a gun.
Nick looked at Brooke as he started for the door. “You think I’m the loose cannon?”
“Nick, be careful. He’s a highly trained assassin.”
“Well what the hell do you think I am?”
Brooke had nothing to say to that. Nick opened the door. “He’s going to try to get out of here. Zeke, get Brooke over to the stables. I’d lay money on Kimber trying to make Jack take him to the States. Find a place in there where he can’t see you, and make sure he doesn’t leave. No matter what you have to do.”
“Where are you going?” Brooke asked.
“To try to beat him there.”
13
Nick had left in such a rush that he’d forgotten his coat. Which would have been fine if it was just cold out, but at the North Pole, cold wasn’t thirty degrees, it was thirty below. He was lucky that it was a little warmer tonight, but a still frozen negative three. The snow was lightly falling, and the wind was whipping at his back as he jogged down the alley. His bare arms were already stinging, and he had just left the warm warehouse. It was too late to worry about that now; he had to focus on getting to Kimber.
He came to the edge of the warehouse and stopped. He knew Kimber would have Jack take him to the stables. They were the equivalent of four city blocks from Nick. He saw only an empty side road that was now covered in snow. He followed the only tracks in them—Kimber’s footsteps—and crossed to the next alley. At the end of the building was the road where they’d watched Kimber greet Jack with his pistol.
Zeke would be taking Brooke the opposite way around. It was a more direct route to the stables. Nick put it in high gear and ran right across the street where Kimber met Jack, and on through to the other side. When he peered across the next street, he was just able to see the back of Kimber as he pushed Jack into the backside of some of the elves’ apartments. Nick ran around the right side of the apartments to try to head Kimber off. He tried not to let the cold bother him, but he was freezing. His teeth began to chatter, and his entire body was shaking.
Nick streaked under a streetlamp and ran up the sidewalk adjacent to the main road. Kimber would have to cross here to get to the stables. Nick ran up to a tree and stood for a moment, waiting for Kimber. He should have already been trying to cross the street. If Jack was his normal stubborn self and put up a fight, Kimber would shoot him. Nick felt his body beginning the process of shutting down from the cold. He had to keep moving.
That was when he heard two gunshots echo through the quiet night. They came from behind the apartments. Nick surged forward, just in time to see the edge of Kimber’s coat poke out of the shadows of the apartments. Nick raised his gun and fired twice. Both rounds hit the logs that made up the end of the housing complex—Kimber had recoiled just in time. Nick knew what was coming next. He was completely exposed.
Nick dove for the bush to his left just as he saw Kimber move out of the darkness into the glow of the streetlight. A millisecond later, he heard three shots fire. Nick slid headfirst into the bush. He didn’t feel the ripping burn of a bullet, but he did feel sting of the cold and wet snow beneath his already half frozen body.
The cloaking device.
Nick reached in his pocket and felt for the fob. His hand came up empty. An image of his coat lying on one of the chairs in the warehouse flashed in his mind. Not only had forgetting his coat left him freezing cold, it left him without an advantage. A situation Nick had been in many times before.
“Time to go old school,” he whispered aloud as he picked himself up from the snow.
“I just want to get out of here, Nick,” Kimber shouted from the shadows. “No one else has to get hurt!”
Nick answered by moving his pistol just above the bush he was crouched behind and squeezing the trigger twice. He followed that with a quick glance that only showed him the building. No Kimber. Since he had Brooke waiting at the stables, he could take a chance and try to go around behind Kimber. As he turned and raced back the way he came, he couldn’t help but picture Jack dead in the snow. Later he would feel bad for bringing violence to such an innocent place, but right then he had to stay focused so no one else got hurt.
He felt like he was barely moving. The cold made it an act of congress to keep his legs in motion. As he ran down the street at the front of the apartment building, his arms had gone numb. While Nick was used to spending most of his time in miserably hot weather, he had heard on many occasions that bare skin in temperatures below zero didn’t take long to get frost bitten. And he’d read one of the first signs was numbness. Not good.
Still, Nick plodded forward through the ankle-high snow. He flailed his arms about as he ran, trying to keep some blood moving through them. He looked right as he passed an alley and caught a glimpse of Kimber. Nick had gotten ahead of him a bit. He dug deep and found another gear. Kimber was running in the direction of Mrs. Claus’ house. The last thing he wanted was to bring this to her front door; especially if it put her in danger.
He sped forward, then turned down the first alley on his right. He continued his slow churning sprint down the alley. His lungs were on fire from the cold air he was sucking in, but he couldn’t slow down. Nick knew if he was hurting, Kimber had to be about to break. Even if he was more appropriately dressed for the cold, he
hadn’t been through the wars Nick had been through.
Kimber streaked by, right in front of Nick, and at the last second, Nick dove and managed to grip the back of Kimber’s coat collar and drag him to the ground. Normally, Nick would have just shot Kimber, but while he knew what the conversation he overheard Kimber having with the ASE meant, he didn’t have proof—yet.
As both men hit the snow, they slid, Nick on his back and Kimber on top of him. As Nick was hooking his right leg around Kimber to secure position, Kimber turned into him. The move surprised Nick. He wasn’t expecting Kimber to be versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It would be the last time Nick would underestimate him.
Nick wrapped his arms around Kimber, squeezed him close, a defensive move to keep Kimber from posturing up, and to keep him from being able to drop punches down on him. However, his squeeze was weak, as his arms had completely lost feeling. He had almost no power in them at all. Kimber slipped out of his grip, sat up on top of him, and the first punch came downward. Under a normal setting, it would have been easy for Nick to get his arms in front of his face to block, but they were so stiff, he was a split second too late. Kimber’s right hand thudded into his forehead. The man hit harder than what he looked capable of. Fist number two from Kimber’s oncoming left was on its way down. Nick bucked his hips to throw Kimber off balance, and thankfully the punch went high into the snow above his head.
Kimber recovered quickly, but this time when he raised up, two gunshots broke the silent night, and Kimber dove off of Nick. Nick looked to his left. Down the street, Brooke was glowing under a streetlamp, and she fired two more shots in Kimber’s direction. Nick sat up, his body in slow motion, and reached for Kimber as Kimber got to his feet. He was just able to grab an ankle, but Kimber easily pulled away. At that point, Nick’s arms were useless, so much so that he wasn’t sure if he had even been able to squeeze Kimber’s leg at all.
Nick heard two more shots, but Kimber kept running. Brooke made it to Nick just as he picked up the gun that he’d dropped in the tussle and got back up to his feet. She wrapped his coat around him and began moving him in the direction Kimber was running.
“I told you to wait at the stables,” Nick said. He could feel the coat around his shoulders, but his arms didn’t know there was anything on them at all.
“Zeke pulled the ASE up on his mobile. When I saw you out here without a coat, I couldn’t just sit and watch. Frostbite happens fast at temps like these.”
Both of them were moving forward together. Kimber was almost out of sight. He was running straight for Mrs. Claus. A pang of worry prodded at Nick. He had no idea what Kimber might be capable of, but when you’re willing to go against your country, you’re probably willing to hurt someone you don’t know in order to get what you want.
14
“We’ve gotta hurry,” Nick said through labored breath. Though he said it to Brooke, he was really talking to himself. She was the one pulling him along. He just couldn’t get his legs moving. The outsides of his pants were packed with snow, accelerating the stiffness he was experiencing.
“I’ll go ahead if you can’t run,” Brooke said.
“No.” It was time for Nick to dial into his training. The pain was mental—all in his head. The stiffness was something he could overcome with movement. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and pushed forward. “He’s heading straight for the Claus house. Mary will be in there alone. No telling what he might do to try to get out of this.”
“Then stop yapping and get moving, soldier.”
Nick looked up. “What?”
“I don’t know, isn’t that what an instructor might say?” Brooke shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s just go!”
With Brooke’s help, Nick was able to move faster. He could just make out Kimber’s shadow as he turned right down a side street.
“If you were a better shot, we wouldn’t be chasing,” Nick said.
“And if I hadn’t at least tried, you’d probably be dead.”
Nick wanted to make another smartass remark—it was just who he was—but she might very well have been right. Without full use of his arms, Kimber probably would have eventually beat Nick to death.
Brooke’s cell phone began to ring. “Where did he go?”
Brooke continued to impress Nick. She must have given Zeke her number before she came after them and told him to update her as he watched the ASE.
Brooke looked at Nick in horror. Though he couldn’t hear Zeke, he knew by the look on her face that Kimber had gone to Mrs. Claus’ house. It would be the natural thing to do on this street. The house was separated from everything else. It would have looked like a beacon to Kimber just sitting there at the end of the lane.
“Can you warn Mrs. Claus?” A pause. “Shit. Okay, we’re going in.” Brooke put the phone back in her pocket and looked at Nick. “Zeke tried to call Mrs. Claus, but she didn’t answer. Probably asleep.”
“Nice work, Brooke. But it’s best I take it from here. I’m getting the feeling back in my arms.” It was mostly true. Though his ability to move was still negligible, he was feeling tingles and pinpricks on the back of his arms.
“No chance. You dragged me up here, I’m not going to stand by while a national icon gets hurt, or worse, by a rogue CIA agent.”
Nick’s legs were beginning to loosen, though he still couldn’t really feel the gun in his hand. He actually had to look down to make sure it was still there. Not good when you are going up against a tactical elite. But with Brooke alongside him, the advantage tipped in Nick’s favor. As long as Kimber didn’t make it to Mrs. Claus.
The two of them turned down the street and headed straight for the Claus home. It looked as if it were made out of gingerbread, complete with the picturesque snow-covered roof and glowing colored lights draped across its front. There was no sign of Kimber. But that was no surprise. Here in Santa’s village, they didn’t lock their doors. Never had a need to. Not until “Saint Nick” came to town—bringing his baggage of bad guys right along with him.
That was when they heard the scream.
Kimber had made it to Mary.
Nick exchanged a look with Brooke as they moved toward the front door. Nick was no longer running with Brooke’s assistance, and he moved his gun hand to his mouth and continuously huffed hot air over it in an attempt to gain more feeling. It was getting better. The warmth inside the house when they walked through the door seemed to immediately help bring all of his senses back around. It was either that or the adrenaline. Probably the adrenaline, because it was flowing steadily at that point.
Brooke shut the door behind them. Nick knew Mrs. Claus’ room was upstairs. For the first couple of weeks after he’d been first brought to the NP via dead Santa and his vigilant reindeer, Nick slept on the couch. It was like living at home with his parents (if they’d ever lived together), so it was nice. Mary treated him like a son—treatment he hadn’t had in more than twenty-five years from his grandmother. His mom left when he was a kid, so the only warm childlike experiences he had were those few trips his drill sergeant dad had let him take to his grandparents’ house.
The Claus house was quiet. Inside, it smelled of fresh baked bread and an extinguished wood-burning fire. It was dark in the foyer, but what little light seeped in from the streetlamp outside showed that the bottom floor looked like Christmas had thrown up all over it. Ornaments, figurines, garland, tinsel—the whole nine yards. Nick held his arm out toward Brooke, motioning that they were going upstairs, but to stay behind him. Brooke nodded and fell in.
“Kimber. I know you’re in here. Let’s just talk this out.” Nick waited for a response as he walked gingerly up, one slow step at a time. His gun up and ready. “There’s no way out of this that doesn’t end in you dead on the floor if you hurt Mary. Can we at least agree on that?” Another pause. “Let her go, and I won’t kill you.”
Finally, just as Nick was cresting the stairs, Kimber responded. “The way I see it, Nick, you’re in no position to
be making demands. Why don’t you tell him, Mary?”
“Nick!” her voice came from what sounded like the far end of the hall. They were still in her bedroom. “He has a gun. Just do what he says!”
Nick’s visceral reaction to hearing the fear in Mary’s voice was to hang his head. He was disappointed in himself.
“It’s okay, Mary. He’s not gonna hurt you. He’s in enough trouble as it is.”
Then he heard Kimber laugh. More of a scoff really—straight from the gut. “That’s why you’re going to do exactly what I tell you, because I’m fried either way. The US doesn’t take treason too lightly.”
“Seems you should have thought of that before you decided to aid a terrorist.”
Mary squealed in pain.
“I went easy on her with that one, Nick. Make another smartass remark and I’ll really hurt her.”
Nick could hear Mary begin to cry. He hated to admit it, Kimber had the upper hand, and Nick was going to have to give him what he wanted. As painful as that might be to do.
15
Even in all the commotion, intensity, and heaviness of the moment, it wasn’t lost on Nick that this was the most insane combat situation he’d ever been in. And he’d been in some crazy ones. Once in Afghanistan, he and three of his men had been pinned down, caught in a fire sack, enemy coming down on them from all sides. While that was certainly a lot more dangerous, it was still nowhere near as nuts as this. Here he was at the North Pole, Santa’s reindeer at his beck and call, an elf working by his side every day, an FBI agent tagging along to help him follow protocol, and now a rogue CIA agent holding Mrs. Claus hostage in her very own home. Bonkers.
Now that they had been in the house for a minute, and he still had his coat on, his arms were beginning to feel normal again. But that didn’t help the situation. As bad as it was in the house, the biggest problem with all of it was that if he didn’t hurry, a terrorist was going to pull off an attack on American soil. Nick had to turn things around—fast.
Saint Nick Page 7