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No signs of movement, or heat. Not even a distant polar bear.
“Fenn, can you hear me?” She cupped his face in her hands, her voice breaking. “Please, wake up. Please.”
She pulled off her glove. He didn’t stir, his skin pale and clammy beneath her fingers. Her mind raced, various scenarios playing out in rapid-fire succession. All of them bad. If she didn’t get him help soon, if she couldn’t keep him warm…
She pushed the thought away, refusing to let panic take hold. She was a trained pilot, a member of an elite special ops team. She’d faced worse than this, and she’d come out the other side.
No way Fenn died on her watch. No. Way.
18
“Fenn, stay with me,”Kate pleaded, her voice trembling as she cradled his head in her lap. The icy wind whipped around them, sending flurries of snow dancing across the barren landscape. Her heart pounding against her ribs.
Okay, so what were the options?
She couldn’t stay here, exposed and vulnerable, with Fenn unconscious and injured. The only shelter was the back end of the station. But the thought of their attacker circling back sent a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the biting cold. Fenn’s attacker was probably the lab’s squatter.
He’d know what was left of the facility far better than she. Plus, they’d have to camp out down below. No way she could defend Fenn and keep that generator running. All the attacker would have to do was cut the power and she and Fenn would die within hours.
She glanced down at the churned-up snow around them, evidence of the struggle that had taken place. In a perfect world, she’d secure the scene, gather evidence, but time was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
Getting Fenn back to Endurance was the priority.
Adrenaline surged through her, setting her nerves on fire. After setting Fenn down gently, she struggled to her feet. With a burst of strength born of desperation, she cleared a spot on the sled behind her snowmobile. The cold seeped through her gloves, numbing her fingers as she worked.
“I’ve got you,” she whispered, her breath clouding the air as she dragged him onto the sled. His body was limp, a dead weight in her arms. The sight of him so still and helpless made her heart constrict painfully.
She wrapped him in their emergency blankets, cocooning him in a layer of warmth and protection, then she strapped him down and climbed onto her machine, and took off. Half-expecting to see Fenn’s attacker in pursuit, she glanced over her shoulder, but there was nothing but an endless sea of snow, broken only by the fading tracks of her own machine.
Jaw clenched, she turned her focus to following their tracks back toward the settlement. The lights of town beckoned in the distance, a promise of safety and warmth. She gunned the engine, urging the snowmobile forward, the cold air burning her lungs with each ragged breath.
“Just hold on, Fenn,” she murmured, her words snatched away by the wind. “I’ll get you help. I won’t let you down.”
By the time she slid the snowmobile to a stop at the front door of the hotel, Kate was so cold she could barely get herself off the machine. Without checking on Fenn, she raced inside, calling for help.
Eyes wide, Jimbo rounded the corner of the reception desk without a word, pulling on a parka as he followed her outside.
Together, they carried Fenn into the lobby and laid him on the only couch.
She was lifting another prayer when he opened his eyes. His groan of pain washed over her, a soothing balm after the past several hours.
“Don’t move,” she ordered. “You got bashed in the head. Let me check you out.”
Except for the goose-egg on the back of his head, he was blessedly intact. She helped him sit up. “How’re you feeling?”
He put a hand to his head. “Like I got hit by a freight train.”
“Makes sense.” He was pale, for sure, and a little shaky, but oriented to time and place. He probably had a good concussion, but so far, no evidence of a brain bleed.
Now, he needed rest.
“Let’s get him upstairs,” she directed Jimbo.
Between the two of them, they managed to walk him up the half flight of stairs to his room and into bed.
“You’re a tough gal,” Jimbo’s voice was rich with admiration as he backed away from Fenn’s narrow bed. “Anybody else would’ve ended up dead out there.”
Fenn lifted his head with a soft groan. “Roger that.”