Tundra Threat

by Sarah Varland

  Then he stepped outside, closed the door behind him and pulled his pistol from its holster, holding it in a ready position.

  “Don’t shoot,” a familiar voice called.

  He turned in the direction it had come from, catching sight of someone dressed in camo.

  “Chris.” Will lowered the gun slightly but kept it out. “You shot Rick?”

  “Yes. Is he dead?”

  “Yes. Mind telling me why you’re here?”

  “I saw him abduct McKenna.”

  “And you didn’t call the troopers? The police? Anyone?”

  “I didn’t know who I could trust. It’s a long story.”

  Will studied him for a long minute, praying that God would give him wisdom. He believed Chris was on their side. “All right. Go on in. We need to untie McKenna and see if Captain Wilkins is still alive.”

  They opened the door and Matt looked up from where he knelt beside Wilkins, his face grim. “He’s still hanging on. But he needs to get out of here now.”

  “Or he needs someone to come to him.” Chris pulled a SAT phone from the backpack he carried and handed it to Will. “Call whoever you want, just so you know this isn’t some kind of trick.” He said the last words to McKenna, who Will noted was watching him with suspicion.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, eyes narrowed.

  “Saving your life.”

  Will gave the emergency dispatcher a summary of their situation and Wilkins’s condition and hung up after they promised a flight would be on its way to their GPS location as soon as possible. “He says he can explain,” Will told McKenna as he handed the phone back to Chris.

  “Go ahead,” McKenna replied. “This, I’ve got to hear.”

  SEVENTEEN

  “Several of the native Alaskans had come to me,” Chris began, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I guess they felt the last trooper wasn’t taking their concerns seriously. They know how to keep tabs on animal populations and they weren’t satisfied with the job the last guy did. I flew the trooper everywhere, tried to watch him closely, but I never could decide if he was corrupt or just incompetent. When they sent you, an inexperienced city girl, up here, I thought for sure someone had someone in the troopers in their pocket. I figured that sending you up here was their way to ensure that regulations weren’t strictly enforced and things continued to slip through the cracks.”

  “So you were following me.” She’d been sure of it ever since she’d talked to him at the pizza place, but it was nice to hear him say the words.

  “I was. But that’s all I did.”

  “I know.”

  Will broke in. “And it’s good he was following you because he saw Rick cause the crash and abduct you.”

  The debt she owed Chris was greater than she’d realized. “I misjudged you,” she confessed. The words, the admission that she’d been so zealous to do her job right that she’d isolated someone who could have been a huge help in the case, pained her. But it was true.

  “Same here. If you ever need anything else, let me know.”

  “Will’s going to be busy soon starting up his own company. Any chance you know where I could find a good pilot?”

  He grinned as he stuck out his hand. “Give me a call anytime.”

  McKenna took his hand and shook it, her grip firm. “I’ll do that.”

  “You two probably want to talk alone,” Chris said, eyeing her and Will.

  “We’ll stay with Wilkins,” Matt offered. He nodded toward the exit. McKenna got the message and turned to Will.

  “Want to take a walk with me?”

  He nodded, and followed her out the door.

  McKenna’s pulse sped up to racing speed. The case had been an almost physical barrier against getting involved with Will beyond friendship. She’d been able to limit her thoughts about him, reminding herself that being distracted could cost her life. But that wasn’t an issue now. And she knew she wasn’t crazy to think that he might feel something for her, too. His words earlier, along with that kiss on the tundra, had proven it. They’d just never had the chance to finish that conversation.

  The thought of having it scared her. But so did the thought of not having it. It was time to resolve this, too. She was running out of excuses.

  * * *

  “I am so glad you’re okay,” Will said again. He’d thought so many things when she’d gone missing. Several of those thoughts were possibilities of what could have happened to her—things he never wanted to think about again. Right now she was standing in front of him looking healthy, unharmed and entirely too kissable. And while the moment seemed entirely inappropriate for things like kissing, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to stop himself.

  “About yesterday...” he continued. “I got your message. It’s okay, McKenna.” He wrapped one arm around her, then the other, slowly pulling her closer to him.

  She swiped a tear from her eye. “But it’s not okay. I can’t believe I pushed you away like that.”

  “I was too protective.” Will shrugged, knowing now how true the words were. “I should have let you handle the case.”

  McKenna sniffed.

  “But whatever it is you’ve been trying to prove, McKenna, you can stop. You’ve proven it.” He tightened his grip on her, not caring that activity swarmed around them, that planes had started to land near them with paramedics to treat Wilkins and various law enforcement officers ready to process the scene, or that they were standing yards away from a crime scene. “You’re a grown woman and an incredible trooper and I have been guilty of underestimating you. You don’t need me. But I love you. Even if you are Luke’s little sister. And I’m hoping you love me enough to let me take care of you for the rest of our lives even if you could do just fine on your own.”

  She sniffed. “No.”

  Will’s heart dropped a thousand feet in that split second and he struggled to swallow past the lump in his throat. “No?”

  “I mean, not ‘no’ to the whole thing. ‘No,’ you’re wrong. I do need you. I needed you today and I’ve always needed you, Will.” She sniffed again. “I was wrong to push you away—the same way I pushed God away—and I was wrong to think I could handle everything on my own.”

  Will tightened his arms around her, loving the feeling of her relaxing into him.

  “What are you doing with your arms around my sister, Harrison?”

  Will laughed at the familiar voice and the fact that McKenna pulled away when she heard it. “I think the better question is, what are you doing interrupting?”

  “Luke!” McKenna pulled away from Will and threw her arms around her brother, who had stepped out of one of the small planes that had just landed. “What are you doing here? Isn’t this a little ways out of your jurisdiction?”

  “I got a call from a trooper friend of mine who heard about what happened this morning. I came straight out to find you, but I wasn’t in Barrow for long before word came that you were out here. So I talked them into letting me on the plane.” He shook his head. “Abducted, McKenna?”

  She shrugged.

  Luke laughed as he hugged her again. “I’m so glad you’re okay, kid. But wow, am I proud of you.”

  “Thanks.”

  The three of them stood for a minute, staring wordlessly at the chaos that had erupted around them.

  “I know everything,” McKenna finally said. “Rick confessed to it all.”

  “To everything?” Will asked.

  She nodded.

  “By the way, I checked in with the crime lab this morning,” Luke told her. “They were just finishing getting your results together.” He nodded toward the cabin. “They found DNA that doesn’t belong to the victims. I’m willing to bet once they get Rick to Anchorage and take a sample, it’ll be a perfect
match.”

  McKenna nodded. “I’ll just be glad to have all this behind us.”

  A paramedic ran toward them then, and Will braced himself for one more bit of bad news, but as the guy got closer, he started to smile. “The captain is going to be okay. You got us here in time.”

  “Thank you!” McKenna called. The man waved and ran back to the helicopter that would take Captain Wilkins to Anchorage and better medical care.

  “Looks like everything’s turning out well, after all.” Luke nodded. A slow smile inched across his face. “For everyone.”

  Will nodded at his friend, knowing that nod and smile said he approved of Will pursuing a relationship with McKenna, or at least didn’t disapprove. He should have asked sooner. But he knew that God had perfect timing. And this seemed to be the timing for his and McKenna’s relationship to grow. He glanced over at her but didn’t see the same peace on her face that he was feeling.

  “What is it?” he asked, wondering if he’d had anything to do with her frown.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head. “Just the case.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Luke said. “You don’t need to be reliving it all. There’s no reason you can’t talk to the team working this once you’re back in Barrow. Especially since it was your case to start with. Come on, my buddy will fly us.” He motioned toward one of the planes at the edge of the cluster.

  “I think that’s a good idea.” Will grabbed McKenna’s hand and led her to the plane.

  * * *

  They’d been sitting in Will’s living room for an hour when McKenna finally found the words for what had been bothering her. “I sat there in that cabin and listened to his whole confession. But what I still don’t understand is why. Why would Rick do that? Why would anyone go to such violent lengths?” McKenna asked, processing her questions as she vocalized them.

  “Money,” Luke and Will answered instantly.

  “But it’s just money.” She frowned. “I can see a decent man breaking the law for it, but not going all the way to murder.”

  Luke shrugged. “It’s almost textbook. People always have the capacity for evil, if they choose to take that route.”

  “Which is why we need a Savior,” Will added.

  A look McKenna didn’t understand passed over Luke’s face. She’d have to ask him about that later. But she knew Will was right.

  Rick had made his choices. She had to get the look on his face out of her mind and let it go. McKenna took a deep breath and prayed that God would help her, thankful that in not too many hours, her life and job would both settle down.

  “I’ll be so glad when my job gets back to normal,” she said with a sigh.

  Luke cleared his throat. “So, are you staying in Barrow?” He directed the question to her.

  McKenna’s heart began to race and she felt herself tense in preparation for the coming conversation.

  “What do you mean?” Will asked slowly.

  “You didn’t tell him?”

  McKenna shook her head slightly. Luke stood. “I’ll be outside.” He patted his leg for Mollie to follow, and after a long glance at her owner, she did so. The door shut behind them, leaving the house utterly silent until McKenna spoke again.

  “Nothing’s official yet. But it’s possible I could get a job back in Anchorage. It’s the same level as what I have now, so I’d keep my last promotion, but it’s in the city.” Her old boss in Anchorage had called her not long after they’d arrived back in Barrow. He’d said it would take a few days to process and make it official, but that he’d had an unexpected opening just days ago and given how she’d handled herself for this case, she was his first choice to fill the vacancy.

  “So...you’re leaving.”

  He said it as a statement not a question. There was no emotion in his tone, no indication that he wanted her to stay. Just a statement of fact, as if he should have known that was what she would do.

  “Did I say that?”

  “I thought—”

  “You didn’t think. Not if you automatically assumed I’d be leaving.” McKenna felt her cheeks heating, a telltale sign that her temper was flaring. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

  “Isn’t that what you want?”

  She said nothing. The job in Anchorage was what she wanted, if she didn’t factor Will into the equation. But she wanted to factor him in—for the rest of her life. She thought everything that had happened after the rescue meant they were a couple. But if he thought she was leaving without talking to him first, maybe she’d misunderstood.

  “If you had a say...what would you say about me transferring?” she finally asked.

  “You really have to ask that?” Will said as he moved to where she sat on the sofa and grabbed her hand.

  She blinked away the tears that threatened. “Maybe.”

  He tightened his grip on her hand. “Then if I had a say, I’d say that I love you. I’d say that I want you to stay here with me, out here in this crazy wilderness, having all kinds of adventures until we’re too old to remember them.”

  McKenna’s smile grew, spreading from inside her heart, all the way across her face. “So you don’t mind if I stay?”

  “It would make me the happiest man in the world.”

  “About that kiss you weren’t sure if you should apologize for...” She trailed off.

  “Yes?” he whispered, inching closer.

  “You do need to apologize...for taking so long.” McKenna tilted her face up until her lips met his and they shared the kind of kiss that only comes from a deep love born out of friendship.

  “Now, what about my question?” He pulled back, searching her eyes for their answer. They sparkled beneath raised eyebrows.

  “A question?” A slow smile inched across McKenna’s face. “I don’t think I heard you ask a question.”

  He smiled back. “Do I really have to ask?”

  She nodded. “I’ve been dreaming of this for decades. I’m not letting you get away with not being official.”

  “Let me try this again, then.” He took her hands in his and knelt down on one knee. “McKenna Clark, you’ve been driving me crazy and making me fall in love with you I think since you could talk. And I want to love you and take care of you and keep getting to know you forever. Will you marry me?”

  “I can’t think of anything that sounds better.”

  * * *

  “Ready to go?”

  McKenna looked down at the sparkling diamond-and-gold wedding band adorning her left hand. It had only taken a month to pull together details for a wedding and get their families up to Barrow to watch it happen. Some people had wondered what the rush was, but McKenna and Will were sure this was right and saw no reason to wait even longer than they already had.

  She looked up at the man who had captured her heart so many years ago, who’d only grown more dear to her as time went on.

  “Almost. I have to say goodbye to a few people first.”

  Will laughed. “We’ll only be gone for a week.”

  Will had arranged for the two of them to fly to a remote resort and spa near Mount McKinley for their honeymoon. It was outside a little town called Talkeetna, and was enough in the wilderness to make Will happy and was upscale and luxurious enough to satisfy all McKenna’s fantasies of being pampered.

  “That’s true. And I can’t wait to leave with you.” She smiled and looked out at the small group of friends and family who were still standing around talking and enjoying cake. “But it’s polite to tell people goodbye. They did come here for us, you know.” She grinned and then felt her smile slip. “Besides, Anna’s moving away while we’re gone.”

  “I’d forgotten that. Take as much time as you need.” He stroked her arm as he stepped away from her. “But remember, this next
week? You’re all mine.”

  McKenna’s face heated and she smiled at her new husband, then walked to where she saw her friend standing.

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving Barrow,” McKenna said to Anna as she hugged her.

  Anna shrugged, the slow movement of her shoulder evidence of the long healing process she was still enduring since being shot. “It’s time.” She shook her head. “I’ve thought before about going, living somewhere else, having a little adventure of my own for a long time now. Since I got shot...I’m ready for a new start.”

  “So where will you go?” McKenna asked with genuine concern for the woman who’d so willingly opened her home to her and her heart to her friendship.

  “Probably Anchorage.” She laughed. “Isn’t this a switch? You’re happily settling into small-town life, and I’m off to the big city.”

  McKenna couldn’t help laughing, too. “It’s funny how things work out sometimes.”

  “It is. I’m hoping to find a good job there at one of the hospitals. Something nice and predictable. More than anything, I just want to feel safe again.”

  “I’ll be praying you do.”

  Anna walked away and McKenna looked over at Will, who looked so handsome in his tux. “We can say goodbye and head out now. I don’t want to make the pilot wait for us,” she teased.

  They bid their friends and family farewell and walked outside amidst snowflakes that fell from the sky like their own little shower of confetti.

  “Will we make it to the resort tonight?” McKenna asked as she climbed into the plane, noting the storm that had moved in.

  “It’s not a bad storm, we should be fine.” Will looked at her with a slow smile. “But there’s no one I’d rather be stranded in the tundra with than you.”

  McKenna laughed. She couldn’t have agreed more.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from KEEPING WATCH by Jane Choate.

  Dear Reader,

  It’s because of your love for reading that I have the opportunity to do what I love—write—and I am so grateful to you for that. Thank you!