Race Against Time

by kimberly

  A small smile lifted her lips. “Oh? For what?”

  He lifted her hand, placed it over his heart. “For a kiss you’ll never forget.”

  Pink tinged her cheeks, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she lifted her other hand and placed it over his. “I promise. I will tell you.” Her smile grew. “And I will, most definitely, be prepared. But you’d better be ready, too.”

  He let his fingers caress her cheek. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Because, Sean Connolly, I plan to kiss you back.”

  9:18 a.m.

  Sean stood by the door while Anesia unlocked the box and opened the lid. She pulled out an envelope first. Lifted the flap with her fingers and peered inside. “Sean, look.”

  He came to her side and saw another tiny disk. A macro SD card. How astonishing technology was nowadays to be able to store large amounts of information on such a tiny piece of hardware.

  “There’s a note.” Anesia unfolded the paper and read:

  Anesia,

  I’m sorry to throw this at you, but my time is short. I’m afraid I won’t be around much longer. Please make sure Jenna and Andie are taken care of. You’ll find account information in the box. One for you, and one for Jenna.

  Please find a Major Cole Maddox and give him this disk. Tell him it has to do with encryption. He’ll know what that means and what to do with it.

  You’ve been a wonderful friend all these years. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused. Forgive me.

  Marc

  She stared down at the paper. “I had no idea. He must’ve known. And prepared . . .” She choked. “Accounts? What does he mean?”

  Sean stood beside her for support but knew she needed to process all the information.

  She pulled out a small cardboard box. Packing tape held it shut. Another note was taped to the top. Sean read over Anesia’s shoulder.

  Anesia,

  Dan asked me to hold onto this for you. He wanted me to give it to you if anything ever happened to him. I’m sorry to say that I forgot about it. I had it stashed in one of my safety deposit boxes.

  As you know by now, things got out of control for me. If you’re reading this, then I’m also gone. Please forgive me.

  Marc

  She ran her hand over the box and sniffed. “I think I’ll take this home to open. Cole needs the disk.”

  “There’s one more thing in there, Anesia.”

  She blinked back tears and reached in for a large manila envelope. The brass clasp opened with ease. As she pulled out a stack of papers, she gasped. “Sean, look at this!”

  He perused a few lines then glanced at the bottom. “Good night, Anesia! That’s a hefty sum.”

  “Ahh, so the truth comes out. You just love me for my money.”

  He pulled her into his arms and laughed with her. “I’m worth way more than that. I don’t need your money. I just need you.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  ZOYA

  February 26

  Junior North American Championships

  11:44 a.m.

  The championship.

  I couldn’t believe it. I had actually made it to the Junior North American Championships. Finally. After all those dreams, all those days of hoping, praying . . .

  I was about to race in the biggest race of my life yet.

  Sean whistled and cheered along with Mom, Auntie Jenna, Andie, and Cole.

  Thank You, God. For everything.

  God was there. He was with me. All the time.

  And I loved it.

  I took a moment to think of how I had been blessed: Sean, soon to be my dad. The promise of a whole new life.

  I sighed.

  God was a great Giver.

  I didn’t deserve His love, His kindness. And yet there I was. Standing in the midst of them.

  My eyes closed. I could feel the slight breeze whipping across my face.

  I wanted to stay in God’s love forever. Never wanted to leave, never wanted to let go of Him again . . .

  My thoughts were cut short as the starter sounded. The Painkiller Litter once again took off running at full speed.

  Oh, how I loved racing.

  As we rode down the trail, I realized I had been blessed with more than I could ever imagine.

  As I closed my eyes, my heart cried out. Cried out to my Savior. My best friend for all eternity.

  I love You, God. Thank You for loving me.

  I cried, the tears sliding down my cheeks and freezing, making my mask stick to my face. But for once my tears fell from joy. The joy of forgiveness. The joy of love.

  The joy of everlasting life.

  “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

  In reality, life really was like one big race.

  I knew it would be hard. But I ran it with God by my side. His love in my heart. His strength upholding me.

  With everything in me, I raced toward the finish line.

  And I was determined to win.

  * * *

  ANESIA

  11:53 a.m.

  Cheers from the fans cascaded over Anesia like a warm blanket as Zoya passed the marker at the midway turnaround.

  Her daughter. Precious girl. Running her race with a smile on her face as her body turned with the sled.

  Thoughts skittered through Anesia’s brain as she jumped, cheered, and waved her thirteen-year-old on. Go, Rainbow. Fly.

  “Go, Zoya!” Sean’s deep voice rumbled next to her.

  Pride surged and joined with the bubbling of joy in her heart. God was so good. To bring them through such difficult circumstances and bless them with joy.

  Dashing back to her truck, she shot a smile to Sean.

  What a man. As they climbed into her 4x4, her insides buzzed with butterflies every time she thought of him. She wanted to take things slow, think things through, but who was she kidding? She knew.

  He was the one.

  In the last few weeks, she’d finally forgiven, finally let go of her past. Now? Anesia looked forward to her future. A future that no longer stretched out in front of her like a barren landscape. No longer desperately alone.

  A future as bright and vibrant as the Alaskan fireweed.

  As they bounced along the dirt road taking them back to the finish line, Anesia reached over and squeezed Sean’s hand.

  “What’s that for?” He winked.

  “Just a promise.”

  “A promise of what?”

  “Oh, you’ll see.”

  The parking area came into view and she focused on the racing crowd ahead. Zoya would be coming in just a few moments. Unable to contain the laughter that poured out, Anesia grabbed Sean’s hand again and they ran to the crowd.

  Cheers once again washed over her. Time stood still—only for a moment, but it was long enough for an old dream to resurface. Closing her eyes, she leaned into Sean, grateful for his strength, his warmth. As he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she realized the dream was different now. And oh, so beautiful.

  Whistles and yells grew in their intensity. Anesia opened her eyes. A smile split her lips as Zoya and her dogs barreled toward them. Her daughter crossed the finish line and raised her fist in the air in answer to the roaring crowd.

  Sean lifted Anesia off her feet and spun her around. “That’s my Sunshine!”

  Breathless when her feet hit the ground, Anesia melted into him. He loved her. He loved her daughter. Loved her dogs. This man was so—

  “Mom?” Zoya stood there, hands on her hips. She whipped off her goggles and glared at Sean. “Well? Aren’t you going to kiss her? I just won the Championship!” Giggling, she threw herself into Anesia and Sean’s arms.

  When they untangled from their group hug, Anesia winked at her match
maker daughter, then turned and slid her arms around the man she loved. She smiled up at him.

  He studied her face for a moment, then his eyes widened. “Are you . . . ?”

  She nodded. “Zoya’s right, Sean. I’m ready for that ki—”

  She didn’t get to finish, but then, she didn’t exactly care. Not when his lips on hers told her everything she needed to know. Promised her not just today, but tomorrow. And the day after that.

  And forever.

  Amen.

  Dear Readers,

  We had the awesome privilege to live in Alaska for several years. Part of that time was spent in the Aleutian Islands living among the native Aleut (al-ee-oot) people. They are precious to us. We maintain a deep love for Alaska and a respect for all the different native peoples of Alaska and hope that our heart is shown in attempting to capture the beauty of the Ahtna-Athabaskan.

  There are only about twenty people left in the world who actually speak Ahtna, so a huge thanks goes out to Dr. John Smelcer for his work on the Ahtna dictionary, which we were able to use for the Land of the Midnight Sun series. The Ahtna Heritage Foundation and elders were also key in helping us.

  There is a list of Ahtna words with pronunciations and definitions at the beginning of this book. We know several native people who are doing what Jenna, Andie, Anesia, and Zoya are doing by trying to learn more of their native language and pass it on. In writing about them, we hope to do our part to help preserve another beautiful piece of Alaskan and American History. Our characters in this series are from the North Pole, Alaska, area. The Ahtna are not originally from this area but from a region farther south.

  We’d like to thank you for reading Race Against Time. As enjoyable as it was to write, it was equally a doozy. Tackling anger, forgiveness, and PTSD in teens were all challenging. PTSD is tough and manifests itself in so many different ways. Add in our imagined defense weapon, the Ahtna language, sprint racing, and all those dogs—and our hands were full juggling all the pieces to the puzzle.

  Sprint racing is so incredible. Hundreds of hours were spent in research. A lot of people helped with that and with the facts in this book. But the Callis Family deserves a trophy and medals of honor for putting up with all our questions. We are so thankful for their help and expertise. During the writing of this book, some of the rules changed within the world of sprint racing. We tried to make sure that we got it correct, but any mistakes are clearly our own. If you’d like to see pictures of some dogs and videos of our sled rides, go to http://kimberleyandkaylawoodhouse.com and go to the All About Alaska page. To find out more and see pictures of racing and sled dog trucks, etc., go to http://sleddogcentral.com and click on the photo gallery.

  While we had wonderful sources with the North Pole Police Department, FBI, Army, and other military, please keep in mind that this is a work of fiction, and some artistic license was taken to preserve the integrity of top secret intelligence and procedurals of law enforcement officials. AMI and the AMI ops facility beneath Fort Greeley are completely of our own imaginations.

  Oh, and about law enforcement in Alaska . . . if you’ve ever watched the shows about the state troopers or pilots in Alaska, or even Deadliest Catch, you understand that things in Alaska are different. The risks, the terrain, the amount of sunlight (or lack thereof) are all different. In short, Alaska is an amazing place and it fascinates people. We hope we were able to capture a tiny taste of its magnificence and give you a yearning to visit.

  As we worked on this book, our respect and admiration for all law enforcement and military grew. We’d like to challenge you to encourage, support, and pray for all these men and women.

  More than anything, we hope you were able to come away from Race Against Time with the reality that God loves you. More than you could ever imagine. His love and forgiveness know no bounds. This life on earth will never be easy, but His joy is always there for the taking. So grab on, friends. And hold on for dear life as you run your race.

  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1–3)

  As always, we love to hear from our readers. So please drop us a note or e-mail.

  Kim and Kayla