Page 4

Tai hesitated, his gaze darting between Fenn and Kate. But finally, he nodded. “Stay safe, you two.”
While Kate started on the strut, Fenn helped transfer the team’s gear into McCoy’s impressive snowcat and the rest of the team headed back to the hotel to secure provisions for the long crawl across the tundra.
The minute they were alone in the hangar, Kate rounded on him, her eyes flashing with anger. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Fenn shrugged, keeping his expression neutral. “Thought you could use an extra set of hands.”
She scoffed. “Please. You don’t know one end of a wrench from the other. We both know that’s not why you’re staying.”
“Enlighten me.” He crossed his arms, leaning back against the plane. The metal was cold, even through his heavy parka.
“You don’t trust me.” She mirrored his posture, her voice as icy as the arctic wind howling outside. “You think I can’t handle this on my own.”
“That’s not it, and you know it.”
“Do I?” She took a step forward, invading his personal space. “Then why are you really staying? Because last I checked, your skills were more in line with covert ops. Interrogation and spying, not mechanics.” She gave a humorless laugh. “What, you think you’re going to interrogate the delivery guy when he shows up with the replacement part?”
Fenn didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times before holding it up for her to see. “I’m here because of this.”
Kate’s eyes widened as she watched the grainy video of her sneaking out to the de Havilland in the dead of night. Her jaw clenched, but she said nothing.
Fenn’s heart sank as he realized his insistence on butting into her plans was only going to drive a wedge between them. He loved her, had loved her for years. Not that she had any idea. And now, with this new revelation, he just pushed her even further away.
He pocketed the phone. “I saw you sabotage the plane.”
She looked away, her breath clouding in the frigid air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What was so important that you had to damage our ride to get the team to leave without you?”
Her shoulders slumped, and for a moment, Fenn thought she might actually tell him the truth. But then her walls slammed back up, and she met his gaze with a defiant glare. “I have my reasons.”
He studied her face, searching for any crack in her armor, any hint of the woman he thought he knew. But her expression was unreadable, her blue eyes as cold as the arctic landscape surrounding them.
“Reasons?” He took a step closer, invading her personal space. “What reasons could possibly justify putting the team at risk like that?”
Her jaw tightened, and for a moment, he thought she might take a swing at him. But instead, she let out a harsh laugh. “You think I’d put the team in danger? Everything I do is to protect you all.”
“Protect us from what? From you?”
Something flashed in Kate’s eyes, but it was gone too quickly for him to decipher. Regret? Guilt? Fear? He couldn’t be sure. But before he could press further, she turned away, her shoulders hunched.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she said, her voice barely audible over the massive heaters.
Fenn’s heart twisted in his chest. He’d never seen her like this before––vulnerable, uncertain, almost broken.
He reached out, his fingers brushing her shoulder. “Then help me understand. Let me in.”
She flinched at his touch, and Fenn’s hand fell away. For a long moment, neither of them spoke, the silence stretching between them like an icy chasm.
Finally, she turned to face him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I can’t,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Not yet.”
Whatever she was hiding, it was big.
As the arctic wind howled outside the hangar, he realized the chill he felt had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with Kate’s secrets—secrets that could freeze any chance of the future he’d imagined for so long.
3
Kate wipedthe grease from her hands, the lingering taste of lunch turning sour in her mouth. The team’s laughter and camaraderie had been a welcome distraction, but now, with the group on their way across the tundra with Burl, and her and Fenn back in the hangar with the damaged plane, the weight of her guilt settled heavily on her shoulders.