by Cherry Adair
Even five hours later, for Derek, it was as though those few precious hours had never happened. "You're not out of my system yet, my sweet little hedgehog," Derek had told Lily with a satisfied smile as he looked down at her sleeping face moments after they'd made love for the third time, while she'd slept like an exhausted puppy cuddled against his side. "Guess you'll just have to try harder."
The thought made him smile now, but hell, he'd lost the post-coital glow hours ago. It was no wonder many of the contestants hallucinated along the trail, Derek thought, listening intently to a barely there noise as his sled swooshed across the snow.
A full moon played cat and mouse with low, heavy, scudding snow clouds. The landscape went from brilliant, blinding white to inky black in undulating waves that made visibility damn difficult. Fortunately, the dogs could follow the trail markers with no difficulty, and Derek didn't bother turning on his headlamp. He'd enjoyed the dark and the quiet, enjoyed the soft rasp of Lily's breathing in his ear for the past several hours. But now he was on full alert.
Danger hovered just out of sight.
Someone was out there in the darkness. Tracking him.
Dog teams could use trails high-speed snow machines couldn't, but he'd heard the low throb of a powerful engine for several hours up in the higher elevations. Following him? Keeping pace just out of sight?
Part of the Iditarod support team or the mysterious sniper?
Sound was distorted between the mountains and thick trees, but the vehicle appeared to be several miles away, not yet attempting to close the gap. Not yet.
He'd change that.
He didn't enjoy being the mouse in the game. Time to turn the tables.
He smiled a tiger smile. He was ready.
He'd weighed the risks of being separated from Lily. But since it was him they were after, if he put himself directly in the assassin's path, he'd be an easy target. And Lily would be miles ahead and safe.
He wanted Lily as far the hell away from him as possible, no matter that he wanted to hold her tightly in the shelter of his arms to keep her safe. But being with him right now was the most dangerous place for her to be.
The sat phone vibrated. He clicked channels so Lily couldn't hear him. "Talk to me." It was Dare. Derek filled him in on the avalanche.
"Could've been triggered by the movement of your sled, or the dogs barking—"
"I heard the detonation a few seconds before it blew," Derek said harshly. "It was just bad timing that I'd moved ahead faster than they anticipated, otherwise I'd've been the one buried." Just thinking about Lily under all that snow made his gut clench. "It's one thing for those sons of bitches to target me, quite another to harm Lily. Find out who the hell knows I'm here."
They talked a few more minutes, both baffled by the way this was playing out.
"Perhaps Pekovic is sending his grandkid in as a training exercise?" Dare suggested.
"God only knows it's low-scale enough to be someone without a whole hell of a lot of experience. Still, even a screw-up can kill. Look at what our guy did to Croft. This person knows his way around a knife. Several of those cuts were postmortem. Not only was the son of a bitch enjoying himself, he wasn't afraid that I'd be there any minute and find him. He lingered.
"I'm not taking chances with Lily on this. Feed in what data we have and give me a face."
"I'll do what I can. W-ch -ou -k. Int—"
Derek frowned as Dare faded out, but he kept the line open.
Who the hell was after him? And why? His T-FLAC cover was airtight, had been for twelve years. Nobody but family and fellow operatives knew he was anything other than a rancher. How the hell had this intel leaked? And who had it?
The reality of the situation was, it didn't matter the who or why. He had to cut Lily loose to keep her safe. Damn it to hell, he didn't want to believe that he couldn't keep her safe. But the avalanche had changed all that. It chapped his hide that he couldn't protect her in this. The wilderness was just too vast, filled with just too many natural hazards and hiding places.
His problem was twofold. He was sure the sniper and Oslukivati weren't connected. Hell. He had to be more than sure. He'd have Dare check out the possibility of a connection.
Would Lily be safe apart from him right now? The possibility that they'd try to get to her to get to him gave him pause.
"Damn it to hell." I didn't protect her from a sniper or the avalanche, he told himself, adjusting the reins as Max and Kryptonite pulled him a little off the trail to bypass a fallen tree. If the sniper had been halfway competent, Lily would be dead right now. If the explosion had been the correct velocity, half the damn mountain would've catapulted Lily and her team to their deaths.
Both times he'd been within shouting distance. How had he helped her? And why the hell, if they were that close, had they targeted Lily instead of him? Ineptitude? Or strategic planning? Jesus, he was at a loss for the first time in his life. The people he worked with took care of their own asses.
But not Lily. Lily was an innocent.
She had no business being anywhere near the scum of the earth that Derek and other T-FLAC operatives had to deal with daily. He hoped to God whoever had set the explosive hadn't seen him kiss her. Who knew what would set the guy off? No. From now until this was resolved he had to treat Lily circumspectly. Show no affection at all. She was in danger. Christ.
Leave her behind and she'd be defenseless against the assassin. Keep her with him and he doubled her danger. Send her ahead, she might be safe. With him nearby she'd at least have his expertise for protection.
Darius wasn't back on the line. But he would be soon. "Chiku is having problems," Derek told Lily after clicking channels. "I'm going to stop to rest the team."
"He checked out okay in Rohn." He imagined that endearing little worry frown between her brows. "Want me to turn around and take a look?"
"No. I think he pulled a muscle. I'll put a heat wrap on it, and let them rest for an hour or so. Don't worry," he told her lightly. "I'll catch up with you in Nikolai."
Lily laughed. "In your dreams. I'll be long gone by the time you get there."
"Keep your mic on in case I need advice." So that he could hear if she was in trouble. She was only about ten minutes ahead of him now. Close enough to get to her if there was any sign of trouble, and just far enough away to attract attention only to himself.
The faint hum of the snowmobile engine beat against his temper.
"Will do. Check Eyota, too, when you stop," Lily instructed. "She looked constipated."
Derek choked back a half laugh. "Constipated? And if she is, I do… what?" Yes, I can hear you. Come and get me, you son of a bitch.
"Toss a couple of those frozen pumpkin treats in with her food when you heat her snack," Lily told him cheerfully. "She'll be fine."
"Will do."
He heard her click the mic, and smiled. She thought she was turning it off, but all she was doing was changing channels. Wherever she went, he'd be there.
The sat phone buzzed. Still smiling, he flicked off Lily's audio so she couldn't hear him, and clicked in to HQ. He could hear her breathing softly in the background.
Thirteen
"What have we got?" Derek demanded.
"Hey, don't bite my head off," Dare snarled in his ear. "I'm not the one touring the tundra and going through the mountains." He didn't like being control and stuck in the office; he wanted to be in the field. But Dare was babysitting someone and wouldn't leave her, not even to do a job he loved.
"I've still got the guy riding my ass. I thought I'd stop and have a word with him," Derek told him. "Fill me in while I wait. And while you're doing that, have someone check again the possibility that my friend isn't an Oslukivati operative."
He heard Darius typing away on his keyboard as he spoke. "Doesn't sound competent enough for the connect, but we'll see… Now to the meat. Homeland Threat Advisory and the National Security Council have agreed to finally admit we have an 'installation'
up there, and they would 'have reason for concern' if said facility were breached. Pretty much, it means we should all be shitting ourselves until Oslukivati's contained."
"Hell." Derek rapidly put up a mental map of the area. It made sense that the United States would have some sort of installation way the hell up here in Alaska.
"What kind of facility?" he asked Darius. "Too far for a DEW? Or did they stick another one up here somewhere we don't know about?" Distant early warning observation stations were strung across the Aleutian Islands. It was possible—hell, probable—they'd added a few without advising T-FLAC. The anti-terrorist group didn't work for the government. They were freelance. And therefore frequently the last to know, as well as often the last resort for an efficient cleanup.
"Could be. They're not talking. But we have our best people in on this. Possibly a critical energy infrastructure?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"You are one cranky ass lately, what's up with you?" Dare asked, his tone amused. "Woman troubles?"
"Out here?" The faint sound of the snowmobile engine changed. Infinitesimally. The guy had made a turn. Which way?
"Your lovely widowed lady vet partner is there, isn't she?" Of course Dare knew Lily was here with him. It was the loaded implication in the observation that made Derek frown.
The man hadn't left HQ in a year; how did he know Derek's feelings for Lily? "Nobody likes a smart-ass," Derek said absently, listening to the faint sound of the approaching engine.
"Better than being a cranky ass," Dare countered.
Derek checked the clip of the Baer, then returned his weapon to the outside pocket of his coat, where he could reach it quickly. "They'd better work on plugging that leak while they're at it. It pisses me off that the bad guys know what's up here before we do."
Dare's voice was dry as he said, "They'd better tell us where the hell we're headed before it's too late."
That was a given. "Any coordinates?"
"Michael's in D.C. putting pressure on the president as we speak. Kinda hard for us to go in to help the Marines if they don't tell us where the hell they are."
Derek thought of his ex-Navy SEAL brother, Michael, and smiled.
They'd have those coordinates within the hour if he knew his brother.
"I'll be in Nikolai in about four hours," he told Darius. "Have a snowmobile and my equipment ready, and have someone there to take Lily back to Montana, where she'll be safe. This asshole blew up the mountain to get me, and almost killed her. Until this situation is contained, I want her—"
"It's not that I regret having sex with you," Lily spoke directly into his ear, cutting off the feed from Darius. Clearly she'd been chewing on the subject for hours. "Now that I've had time to consider my actions, I'm wondering if I wasn't a bit… rash."
"Rash?" he parroted, opening his mic to her. "It was incredible! You did things with your body that are forever imprinted on my brain. And I sure as hell am not going to let you slip away now."
Derek switched gears easily as he keyed Dare back in. "Get back to me on those details ASAP," he told his control, then clicked back into Lily's audio channel without her being any the wiser.
Of course she'd try to diminish the intensity of their lovemaking. Safer for her that way. "Nice try, sweetheart."
"We weren't thinking clearly."
"And I took advantage of you?" he asked dangerously.
"No," she said honestly. "If anything it was the other way around."
Derek laughed. "It was exactly as it should've been. Mutual. Don't analyze it to death."
"Sean—"
"Don't," Derek said tightly. "Do not throw Sean up to me now. It won't work, and frankly, Lily, I'm damn sick of pretending it ever did. You might lie to yourself about him. But you will not lie about what's going on between us."
"I'm not lying about anything, Derek. For your information, I was about to say Sean had never touched me the way you did in those few hours—"
He inhaled sharply, taken off guard, and lost his chance to talk.
"But now I'm not feeling quite so friendly." Lily's voice tightened, then dropped a notch as she asked, "Derek, I have to know. Are you involved in the bogus bull-sperm sales? And don't lie to me, either. Please."
Derek frowned as the hum of the engine got closer, staying parallel instead of closing in. He removed the Walther from his pocket and held it in readiness against the handlebars. The Baer in his right, the Walther in his left.
Come and get me, you bastard. "Say what?"
"Someone is selling sperm overseas and claiming it belongs to Diablo."
"And you know this—how?" Derek asked softly into the lip mic, as his eyes scanned the darkness. Definitely closer. No visual. But within range.
"I was in the birthing shed about six weeks ago and overheard two of the hands talking about it."
Christ. Exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen: Lily knowing about the illegal activity going on at the ranch. He'd insisted on keeping her out of it. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize just how dangerous Lily's discovery was.
The sale of prime bull sperm was a multimillion-dollar business. Hell, Diablo's sperm went for upward of a million dollars a vial. The main objectives behind Sean's scheme were to develop and refine various biotechnical applications related to the in vitro production of bovine embryos on an industrial scale.
Good DNA, which Diablo had in spades, was essential. A high-genetic merit bull could produce thousands of viable offspring. The fact that Diablo's sperm had also been successfully sexed before sale made it much more valuable.
Derek suspected the article about sexing in the Cattleman's Weekly last year had started the ball rolling internationally.
"Who the hell were they?" he demanded, keeping his voice low so it didn't carry. The custom, handcrafted rosewood grip of the Baer Ultimate combat pistol fit comfortably in his hand like an old friend. The Walther was backup.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
"And exactly what did they say?"
"One was Sam Croft." She sighed and her voice sounded ghostly, whispering through the mic. "I didn't recognize the other guy's voice. They said it made no difference whether Sean was around or not, it was business as usual, and another large order from their buyer in Japan had just come in."
His heart shuddered in his chest. Croft. Dead. Bloody. Brutally murdered Sam Croft. On a snowy Alaskan mountainside.
Not Oslukivati.
Closer to home.
Much closer to home.
Who the hell was the second man? Who? "Jesus Christ, Lily. Did they see you?"
She huffed out an insulted breath. "Of course not."
"Are you positive?"
"Yes, I'm positive. It was well after midnight, and I'd fallen asleep in Clementine's stall waiting for her labor to intensify. I woke up when I heard their voices."
"What were they doing in there?"
"I didn't get up and ask them, for Pete's sake! I stayed where I was and kept quiet, and hoped like hell they didn't have reason to round the wall. They stayed about five minutes, then left. Clemmie didn't start her contractions, and I eventually left, too. I stayed at the main house and went back the next morning. I'm sure they didn't see me."
She didn't sound as sure as he'd like her to be. "It was dark. They could've watched you cross back to the house." She only spent the night at his house when he was gone. He'd change that, of course. But first things first. His blood chilled at the ramifications of what she'd just revealed. She'd known about this for weeks.
He'd had his own investigation going for the past eighteen months. Sean had been eyebrow deep in the mess. And even with him gone, the rest of the cartel involved was cleverly evasive, covering their tracks well. Nevertheless, his people were closing in on the top men now.
But, Jesus Christ, he'd had no idea Lily knew about it. "Why didn't you tell me weeks ago?" he demanded.
"First of all, because you weren't there," Lily said with asperit
y. "Second of all… damn it, Derek. How do I know you aren't involved?"
The accusation was a brutal punch to the gut. "You think I'm involved?"
"Sean was. It's easy money and extremely lucrative," she told him, her voice flat. "And it is your ranch."
"What if I were involved? Do you realize how damn stupid it is to ask me about this now considering the circumstances? We're alone out here. Miles from help—Jesus. Jesus."
"I'm armed, and a very good shot," she reminded him, then paused before saying quietly, "But you didn't know anything about this, did you?"
"As you say, it's my ranch. Damn straight I knew," he told her shortly, and with a sense that he'd been given a reprieve. "But set your mind at rest. In this case," he said bitterly, "I'm one of the good guys. It was you I didn't want to know. Christ, Lily, you have no idea who these people are, and what they could do to you if they knew. You should have contacted me and told me what you'd overheard. My staff always knows how to reach me."
"Your staff. But not your partner," she said flatly. "Trust goes both ways, doesn't it?"
Damn it, they shouldn't be having this talk now. Where the hell was the snowmobile? Closer? "I wanted to protect you. A shitload of money has been changing hands. In the multimillions—"
"The money's in my name in the Caymans," Lily said flatly. "Just tell me who and where; I can't wait to get rid of it. The bastard. I had no idea until I went through his papers that he'd opened an account in my name."
"Gambling was one of his biggest vices. All from the comfort of his sickbed."
"I don't think so, Derek. He hadn't left the house or gone out of town in years. How—"
"Online gambling."
"My God." Her breathing sounded in his ear, harsh with anger as she added, "No wonder he had that damn computer on his lap night and day. I thought he was scouring the medical sites for any new cures or treatments."
"He was keeping in touch with the overseas buyers, brokering the sperm sales and then gambling with the proceeds," Derek told her flatly. "Heavily. It's a wonder there was any money left at all. He wasn't that lucky." The only luck the sorry bastard had had was Lily. And he'd screwed up there.