Page 15 of Winter’s Heart (Three of Hearts #1)

“Andreas will keep his mouth shut; don’t worry about him,” Petar confirmed.

Jacob nodded, trusting Petar’s assessment.

While Jacob had moved away from Jokkmokk over ten years ago, Petar had remained embedded in the community and the Sámi way of life, and in this small town everyone knew everybody else.

“Good.” That was one more thing Jacob didn’t have to worry about.

But a quick glance in Nikki’s direction reminded him he was still worried about her.

If she needed proper treatment, he might have to alter his plan substantially.

“Do you mind if I take a quick look at your feet?” He gestured below the table, and Nikki’s face became pensive.

“Hmm, okay,” she agreed. “But if it’s bad news, I’m not sure I want to know.”

If it was bad news, they probably should get her to a hospital, but he kept that to himself as he kneeled before her and gently peeled Petar’s large sock down her leg and over her ankle to reveal her toes.

They were still red, but seemed to have lost some of their puffiness, which was a good sign.

The little pinky toe was also regaining some color, not white and lifeless anymore.

At least his specially tailored snow boots had made sure they didn’t receive more damage from the cold on their flight on the snowmobile.

After checking the other foot and finding it much the same as the first, he let out a relieved gust of air.

“I take it my toes have passed the test,” she said, trying to peer past him and get a look at her feet.

“Yes, they’ll still be sore for a day or so, but there should be no permanent damage,” he replied, pulling the sock back on.

Her feet were as petite and elegant as the rest of her.

He’d never given much thought to feet before; certainly never considered them as beautiful or alluring.

But even red-tinged and puffy, hers appealed to him like no others had ever done.

He could imagine them draped in his lap as they both lay relaxing on the couch, him massaging the strain of the day away, running his hands over the curves of her heel and up her slim ankles until…

There he went again, letting his libido get the better of him.

He stood a little too quickly and retreated until his rear end met the countertop.

Time for a quick change of topic. Back to the business at hand.

“Do you have access to the data your team collected? I mean, did you share your documents with your colleagues?” he asked, his tone gruffer than he intended.

He’d meant to ask this back when the deputy commissioner mentioned the missing laptops, but the hitmen had appeared before he’d had a chance to pose the question.

Nikki looked up, confusion clouding her face.

“It’s the data they’re after,” he clarified. “Even if they get rid of you, if that information gets out into the world, they’re still screwed.” Surely the same idea must’ve occurred to her too?

Glancing down at her laptop bag on the floor, he saw the moment when comprehension arrived and she sat up straighter.

She answered him slowly. “We all maintained separate records on our individual laptops. We were all researching different aspects of the pollution. Mine was specifically microplastic contamination of the water, checking water quality, that sort of thing. While Tammy was looking at the effect on the environment of the larger plastic waste, such as how it affected sediment load. And Antoine was looking at how plastic waste is entering the marine food chain, and the harm it’s causing, especially in larger aquatic animals as it accumulates up the chain. ”

Jacob’s heart sank at the news. That all sounded impossibly convoluted and complicated. But Nikki sat up a little straighter, slitting her eyes at him.

“Tammy set up a shared Dropbox. The plan was to upload our documents at the end of every day to make sure we lost nothing.” Nikki pursed her lips and made a face.

“Of course, being imperfect humans, we were always too busy to do that most days. But…” Nikki paused, and the room went silent as she sorted through her thoughts.

“I uploaded my raw data on the day we finished our research, because I knew I’d be off-grid for the next week.

Back then, I never checked to see if Tammy and Antoine had done the same.

” She glanced at him, hope burgeoning in her eyes.

“You think they might’ve done it too?” he asked.

“Yes. All I need is a Wi-Fi connection, and I could check and see.” Animation made her face come alight, and Jacob almost lost his breath at how beautiful she was.

Both of them swung their gazes in Petar’s direction, and he held his hands up as if in surrender.

“First you wanted my Volvo and now you want my Wi-Fi. What next?” he quipped, but his face became serious when neither of them smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, I have Wi-Fi. Let me get you the password,” he grumbled as he got out of his chair.

Jacob owed his friend big time for all his help.

Without him, they might still be stuck out in the cold on a snowmobile.

He would repay his debt soon once this was all over.