by Seton, Cora
Lucy yelped in agony as she was gored by the gigantic horns. The moose smashed the small dog into the ground, pounding her down with brute force. He dragged her back and forth as if she was a piece of dirt stuck on his horns. Blood splattered the snow.
“No! Oh my God, Lucy!” Holly screeched. This wasn’t happening. Fear paralyzed her. She couldn’t move, think, breathe. Like so many times before.
Conan went berserk, savagely snapping at the moose’s long legs with his sharp teeth. He couldn’t quite reach because he was still harnessed to the sled. There wasn’t much he could do. It was a nightmare. Lucy, her best friend, was going to be slaughtered before her eyes. She had to save her. Suddenly, the chains of fear broke, and Holly no longer felt paralyzed.
“Let her go!” Holly jumped off the sled, waving her arms frantically and ran to save Lucy. As she jumped off, Conan pulled hard, and the sled lurched toward the agitated moose. The sudden movement momentarily frightened the creature, causing him to release the battered and bleeding dog. Lucy lay where she fell, her eyes closed.
Holly’s heart was in her throat. “Stay there, girl. I’m coming.”
Slowly, she crept along, keeping the sled between her and the giant beast. It was small protection if the bull decided to stampede, but it was the only shield she had. The bull was breathing heavily, white vapor puffing out of his large nostrils. His eyes were wide and his ears remained back. For the moment, he was still.
Conan continued growling and snapping at the bull. “That’s it. Distract him,” she encouraged. “And keep out of range.”
With her eyes on the bull, her boots crunched through the snow as she moved toward the front of the sled. Once she got there, she’d be at the horn end of a fifteen hundred pound furious animal. What choice did she have? Her precious dog wasn’t moving and hadn’t made a sound since the bull released her. Was she dead?
Lucy was her life. How would she survive without her?
“Calm down, Mr. Moose. I’m not going to hurt you.” With her gaze pinned to the bull, she squatted down and put her hand on Lucy’s fur. She sucked in a gasp. The beautiful gray and white fur was wet. Was she breathing?
Conan’s growl grew more menacing as if to say, I’ve got this, Mom. You rescue Lucy. The towline was the only thing keeping him from lunging for the moose’s jugular. She had no doubt an untethered Conan would fight the bull to the death, which would leave her stranded in the woods with one sled, an angry moose, and two dead dogs.
She pulled her focus off the bull and scooped her baby up in her arms. “Oh, Lucy.” The bloody dog opened her eyes and whimpered.
“It’s all right, girl.” Holly choked on a hot ball of sadness. “Dr. Stevens will fix you right up. I promise.” But it was bad. Possibly, the worst thing she’d ever seen in her life, and given her life that was saying a lot. Opening her own parka, she did her best to shield Lucy from the storm. She prayed she’d get to Dr. Stevens before it was too late.
Her anguish was deep and so blinding she momentarily forgot about Mr. Moose. The loud grunt reminded her a second too late to watch her back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the thick hoof raised in the air. She ducked and ran.
“Help!” She stumbled in the soft snow, but pushed on. “Someone, please.”
The first hoof hit her shoulder like a sledgehammer. Holly’s legs collapsed, and she went to ground. Shielding Lucy the best she could, she curled into herself and screamed. The hooves pounded her relentlessly, over and over again. The irony was astounding. She’d fled to Alaska to escape a psychopathic jackass only to be killed by an enraged bull moose.
With one loud snort, the moose sprayed her with snot and spit and delivered his final blow.
Everything went black.
Chapter Three
‡
Ty opened his eyes. Everything was white. He sucked in a deep frosty breath. His lungs seized from the cold, his limbs tingled and everything started to ache. Nothing felt broken. Reality rushed in fast. “Preston!” He scrambled to dig the snow out of the way and unfastened his belt. “Where are you, man?”
No answer. A massive mound of snow had been driven between them. He dug through as fast as he could. Had Preston been thrown out of the helo, or was he still buried in the seat beside him? Was the kid dead? He touched an arm. Feeling his way down to the wrist, he felt a pulse. “Preston, can you move?”
Nothing.
He kept digging until he uncovered a bluish face. Blood congealed on the side of Preston’s head. His raspy breaths were shallow, and pink bubbles popped at the corner of his trembling lips. Snow and ice clung to his eyelashes. And the look in his eyes…shit, Ty had seen that terror in dying men’s faces far too many times.
“It’s okay, man.” Ty kept digging through the snow. “I’m going to get you out of here.” When he put an ear to Preston’s chest, he didn’t like what he heard. Preston was struggling to breathe. The safety belt had broken his ribs and most likely punctured a lung. No telling what other internal injuries he had. Shit, shit, shit.
Preston’s wide eyes blinked. “It’s…bad?”
“I’m not going to lie. It’s not good. But they’ll fix you right up at the hospital. Just sit tight.” He reached for the radio, praying it still was operational.
“Stop!” Preston hissed. “They’ll hear.”
He squeezed Preston’s arm, the only thing that wasn’t bloody. “Listen, man, our cover is already blown. Hostiles shot us down, remember? We’ve got to get you out of here. Quickly. The Navy, or Army, shit, even the Coast Guard, I don’t care who rescues us, but it has to be now.”
“Radar’s blocked,” he rasped. “Before…the missile…they took this area…off grid.”
Ty frowned. “So, you’re saying we’re under the radar. No one saw us go down, except the hostiles?”
Preston’s lips chattered. “Yes.”
“And if I radio for help, the hostiles will be the only ones listening.”
“Yes. They’ll track…radio signal…to us.”
“Crap.” Ty pressed his gloves against his freezing cheeks.
“No radio comm…means we’re dead.”
Preston was not far from it already. “Crow’s men will come looking to make sure. They’ll finish the job if we don’t get out of here.”
“No radio.” Preston’s eyes flashed with determination and strength. Good, the fear was ebbing. Now was the time to move.
“Okay. I heard you. We’ll hike out.” Ty found his pack. It was loaded with everything he needed, medical supplies, guns, and ammo. He pulled out one grenade and then two more. “We get as far away from the crash site as possible and blow the rest of this damned helo sky high. When Crow comes, there won’t be any bodies to find.”
Preston moved his head in a tiny nod. “Good…plan. Except…I can’t…” His chest wheezed with the effort to breathe.
“Can’t what?”
He swallowed hard. “Feel my legs. Are they…there?”
Hell. Ty hadn’t uncovered them yet. I hope to God they are. “They’re probably just asleep from the cold.” Putting the grenades aside, he dug through the snow and found a left thigh, knee…He exhaled his relief. “Yep, still attached.”
“Good.” A light smile lifted Preston’s blue lips. “My girl…likes to…dance.”
Ty kept uncovering more and more gore beneath the snow. Preston’s femur had snapped and torn through his pant leg like a shiv. Good thing the snow had numbed it. The leg was going to hurt like a bitch when the cold wore off. But the pain wouldn’t matter if he bled out right here in his mangled seat. He used his cravat for a tourniquet to slow the blood flow. “Girl, huh? Married?”
“If she…says yes. Got her a…diamond…ring…for Christmas.”
“Congratulations. Proves there’s someone for every ugly dude.” He continued moving snow, trying to distract Preston as he did.
“Even you?”
Yeah, if Granny Whitehorse had any say in the matter. She’d been parading gi
rls in front of him for the past five years. None of them was THE ONE. As ridiculous as it was for a guy to admit, he didn’t want just any gorgeous girl; he wanted the right one. His teammates called him picky. Maybe he was. He wanted a lover to give his whole heart to. A woman who met him mind-to-mind and loved him with her body and soul. He shook his head. Crazy. He wanted too much.
“I’m still looking for the perfect Mrs. Whitehorse. Not every girl wants a SEAL, cuz they’re damned hard to train to stay home. But if you see her out here—” His words were cut off when he saw Preston’s right leg was smashed beneath metal that used to be the helo’s nose. How the hell was he going to get him out?
“What’s…wrong?”
Ty recovered. “Logistical problem. I’m on it.” He tugged Preston’s parka up around his neck to keep him warm. He joked to distract him. “But you must’ve hit your head, because I’m not ugly, man. SEALs are required to be good looking.”
The kid nodded as if it was God’s truth. “I wanted…to be…a SEAL.”
“Yeah?” Ty tried manually lifting the metal. It didn’t budge. There had to be something he could use.
“Didn’t…pass…BUD/s.”
“Not many do. Eighty percent drop rate, man. It’s one of the toughest military training programs in the world.” He yanked on the cyclic and did a fist pump when the stick came free in his hand.
“If we…find Crow…the admiral said…” he stopped to catch his breath.
Ty narrowed his eyes. What carrot had the admiral dangled before the kid? “What, you’ll get another chance at BUD/s?”
“No. Help…you. Be one of…the EXtreme Team.”
Ty snorted. “You realize that’s no honor. We’re all shit listed.”
“The admiral…says…you’re the best.”
“Hell, yeah we are.” Ty smiled. “Admiral Collins really said that?” He was embarrassed by how much the praise warmed his chest. “Hold still, I’m going to see if I can jam this under a piece of metal to free your leg.”
“My leg…is stuck?” Preston’s voice cranked up. The fear was back again.
“I’m going to get you out of here. Try not to move.”
“Where…would I go?” The corners of the kid’s lips lifted, but the fear was still wild in his eyes.
“On three.” Ty did the count down and jammed the cyclic in as far as it would go. He worked to pry the shit off Preston’s leg. He used all the strength his arms, back, and legs could give. And then he forced his muscles to give more. Nothing happened. He panted from the effort. They were screwed. “I’ll go outside to see if I can find something else to use.”
Preston shivered uncontrollably. “We’re running…out…of time.”
“I know.” Crow’s men were coming. He could feel it in his Apache bones.
He burrowed through the tunnel of snow and finally made it to fresh air. The damned sky was still dumping snow. Finding bits and pieces of the helo, he carried them back inside to unwedge Preston. Nothing worked.
“Damned piece of crap helicopter!” he tossed the cyclic out the hole in the snow.
“Leave me. Give…the admiral…Crow’s location.”
His blood went hot. “That’s a shitty thing to say, man. Really, really shitty. You know SEALs never leave a man behind. Never.”
“Just this…once.” Preston closed his eyes. “I’m so tired …” his voice trailed off.
Ty got in Preston’s face. “That’s a giant hell no! Open your eyes and help me figure this out. You’re on the EXtreme Team now. That’s it. Members pulls their own weight, start pulling.”
No answer.
Ty slapped his cheek. “Wake up! Don’t give in to the cold.”
Preston blinked. “I’m on the team?”
“Damned straight.”
“SEAL EXtreme.” He smiled. “Cool.”
“Hey!” Ty smiled. “I have wound sucking ointment in my bag. Not tons of it, but maybe enough to grease your leg so we can slip it out from under the metal.”
As Ty squeezed every drop of ointment on the lodged leg, Preston’s blinks got slower. Sleepiness was one of the signs of hypothermia. “Talk to me, man. No falling asleep.”
“What?” Preston jerked himself awake, looking disorientated.
“Tell me about the radar signal. Before we crashed you traced it. Remember? Connect the dots for me. Where did the signal originate?”
“HFAFR.”
Ty shrugged. “Okay, now you’re just throwing letters around.”
“High Frequency…Active Auroral…Research,” Preston said.
“Hairy long ass name. What’s it mean?”
“Air Force and Navy…” Preston was heaving to breathe. “Joint…joint…
“Combined military program. I got it. What do they do?” He slicked Preston’s pants really good. “Can you move your leg?”
Preston pushed back against his seat and pulled. He leaned forward, grabbed his leg with his hands and lifted. No luck. Sinking back again, he mumbled, “They shoot lasers…into ionosphere. For surveillance.”
“Star Wars. So the HFAFR boys are messing around with radar.” Sort of interesting, but didn’t explain what the two of them were doing here. Or why Admiral Collins was keeping it on the down low.
“HFAFR…was decommissioned.”
Ty narrowed his eyes. “If the place is shut down, why are you tracing signals there? And why did a missile shoot us down when we flew too close? This all reeks of Crow shit.”
Preston let out a deep breath. “Yep.”
“Okay, this might sting. On the count of three, we pull as hard as we can. One, two, three, execute.”
They pulled, grunted, groaned, and roared. Nothing. Preston’s leg was still wedged tight. Ty dropped his head. They couldn’t stay here much longer. As former SEALs, Crow’s men were already hunting them down. At least, that’s what he would be doing right now.
“Cut…it.”
Ty looked up. “No, man. There’s got to be another way.”
Preston was seriously pale. The only color bleeding through was blue. “I’m dying. Chop…it off.”
Water rose in Ty’s mouth. He was a corpsman, but he’d never amputated a limb before. Preston was right, he was dying. If they didn’t do something, he’d freeze to death by nightfall. But chop off his leg? No way. He wasn’t going there. He was just a damned kid! With a girl who liked to dance. Shit, shit, shit.
Ty ran his hand over his shoulder-length hair. There had to be another way around this problem. Think! He exhaled and grabbed his pack. “There’s a hill behind us. I’ll get elevation and scout the area. There’s got to be something out there to lift this shit off of you. If not, we might have to break radio silence to drum up some help.”
“If that doesn’t work…”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah, we’ll do what we need to do.” He grabbed his gear. “Sit tight.”
Preston twitched his lips in a failed smile. He closed his eyes instead. “Yep, tight.”
Ty hiked the slope behind the crash scene. At the top, he lay low and scanned the area with his high-powered binoculars. No town, no isolated base, no tractor to lift a ton of metal off a dying man’s leg, nothing. But in the distance he heard the hum of a snowmobile. Rescuers or Crow’s devil spawn? Tuning the radio, he scanned for chatter.
A man’s voice came through loud and clear. “See anything?”
Ty adjusted for background noise. The reception was clear. The man was close.
“No, idiot. I told you this is bullshit. No one radioed for help which means no one survived. The drone registered a direct hit. Let’s go back. I’m freezing my balls off out here.”
Drone! His blood went cold. These men were not here to help.
The first man, who Ty was now calling Idiot, erupted in high-pitched laughter. “What balls? You’re a big pussy. Crow said to check the wreckage and find out who was snooping around. If they’re alive, we off them. That’s the order, keep looking.”
Where are you
? Ty scanned the white scene before him. No movement. No color. Were they in camo? Did the hill block therm from his sight?
Frozen Balls said, “This is a huge waste of time. The only thing we’ll find is…Hold on. I think I see something up ahead. Looks like wreckage. I found it! I’ll have to trek in, damned snowmobile is stuck. Going off comm for a minute while I gather my gear.”
Idiot replied, “Wait! Where are you?”
Frozen Balls didn’t answer.
Several minutes later Idiot spoke up again. “Repeat. Where are you?”
When the man gave his coordinates, Ty nearly swallowed his tongue. No, no, no! The bastard was below him, next to the buried helo. He couldn’t radio Preston to warn him or they’d hear him. It was up to him to silently take out both hostiles before they alerted Crow.
Idiot said, “I’m coming.”
Ty had to hurry. He lifted his weapon and put Frozen Balls in the crosshairs of his rifle scope. The man was big—wide chest, thick arms—and fully loaded. But he was cocky and stupid. The dude rubbed his gloved hands together and stomped his feet to warm himself as if he was alone. A good SEAL would’ve cleared the wreckage for hostiles before letting his guard down. Frozen Balls wasn’t a good SEAL. And Ty had to take him down now, before he killed Preston. It was a long shot. How he wished Mack, the team’s champion sniper, was here. Frozen Balls would already be down. For Ty, it would be a Hail Mary lucky shot.
Ty let out his breath slowly and between beats of his heart, pulled the trigger. Sweet Mary was on his side today. Frozen Balls dropped without a sound, his massive body blocking the tunnel entrance to the helo. Could Preston see the dead guy? Did he know what was happening outside his igloo? Ty hoped not. No need to scare the kid any worse than he was already.
Go, go, go! Ty slid town the icy hill as fast as he could. He didn’t dare take aim from the top again. He might miss and give Idiot too much time to go after Preston. He needed to get closer for a clean shot. Right now, the hill blocked his view of the crash site. When he popped out the other side and into the clearing…
“Shit.” Ty froze.
An AK-47 was pointed at his chest. The man holding it leaned against a snowmobile parked a mere ten feet from the snowbank over Preston. “What do we have here? Were you the one who took out my partner?” The man motioned with his head toward the bloody lump behind him.