Page 22 of Winter’s Heart (Three of Hearts #1)

NOT FOR A single second did Jacob regret his decision to get on this flight with Nikki.

As a matter of fact, he knew deep in his gut it was the right call to make.

Glancing to his left, he acknowledged Nikki, who sat a few seats down from him on another one of the uncomfortable fold-down chairs set against the fuselage.

She smiled but said nothing. Two official army guys were at the back of the aircraft, giving them sideways glances but leaving them to their own devices.

They all wore headphones to cut out the noise, and while it wasn’t freezing in here, it wasn’t warm either.

This military plane would usually transport large loads of cargo, or a whole regiment of personnel to be deployed to one of the many conflict zones around the world.

Today, they were the only two civilians on the aircraft.

He’d had to do some fast talking to get past the soldiers, who wouldn’t let him on at first. Their mission was to collect Dr. Winter and bring her back to America, they stated.

There’d been no mention of a second person, and these flyboys were nothing if not sticklers for the rules.

But when Jacob had produced his American passport and spun the story that he was a US citizen who might also be in danger from the squad of hitmen—keeping his true identity as a Swedish cop under wraps—they’d had to take another look at him.

All the while, Nikki had been glaring down at him from the doorway into the plane, not saying a word, but making it clear with her arctic-blue stare she was not happy.

Jacob had thanked the powers that be that’d allowed him to hold dual citizenship.

And he also thanked his mother for urging him to keep both passports updated, telling him that while his heart was Sámi, he may never know when he’d need to take a trip to his country of birth.

Not to see his father; that was never on the table.

His father had disowned both him and Rikka the day they left American shores, and they’d had no contact since.

Jacob’s dad was a dick, no two ways about it.

Jacob didn’t miss him at all, and had no urge to reconnect with him.

Not now, not ever. He’d bonded more with both of his uncles after he’d returned to Sweden than he ever had with his biological dad.

Sometimes he wondered what his mother had seen in him in the first place.

But he’d never been brave enough to ask that question, and he knew that love did strange things to a person’s heart and mind, altering reason and logic until it was often too late.

He risked another glance at Nikki and tried not to think about love or acting stupidly in the face of infatuation.

He also had M?rten to thank for being here.

Without M?rten having brought his passport to him early this morning, he wouldn’t be on this flight.

M?rten had returned from leave to come home to Lule? late last night when he’d heard about Jacob’s high-stakes mission, in case he could be of any help.

That was just like M?rten, always dependable, always having Jacob’s back.

“Rydberg sent me a message, and so I hightailed at home,” M?rten had said over the phone when Jacob had called him once they’d reached the safe house earlier this morning.

All he’d really wanted was his partner’s advice, expecting his call to wake a sleepy M?rten, who should still be in Stockholm.

But he was more than delighted to hear he’d just arrived back in town and was wide-awake and eager to help.

“So, what’s your take on all this?” M?rten had cut straight to the chase.

Rydberg would’ve already given him the official line, but M?rten knew there would be much more to it than that.

“I know you hate to use the term gut instinct ,” Jacob grimaced at the phone, imagining M?rten’s face when he said those words; his partner detested that phrase.

“But I have this feeling. I need to see this through to the end. I want to get on that plane with her tomorrow.” If anyone understood, it would be M?rten.

He wouldn’t question why; he would just ask what he could do to help. Which is exactly what he did.

“Can you bring my American passport for me? I can tell you where to find it in my house.” M?rten had a key to Jacob’s house, as did he for M?rten’s; they trusted each other implicitly.

“Of course,” M?rten had replied, but Jacob heard the note of caution in his tone. After a moment’s hesitation, M?rten added, “She must be pretty special.”

Jacob didn’t reply. He couldn’t completely understand it all himself, let alone convey his convoluted feelings about this case and about Nikki to his best mate and partner. All he could do was hope that M?rten read between the lines.

M?rten gave a deep sigh. “I’ll do my best to head off Rydberg for as long as I can. But the rest is up to you. Look for me in the early morning. I’ll message you when I’m close,” he added before hanging up.

M?rten had come through, handing over the passport as Jacob stood in the doorway, Nils watching their meet-up from his station at the front gate, but not interfering.

Jacob had told the other two officers his partner was dropping off some essential documents, and neither of them had argued.

He was sure word of this would reach Rydberg eventually.

Then M?rten would be in nearly as much shit as Jacob.

M?rten had thumped Jacob on the back in a manly version of a hug right before he left, catching Jacob off guard.

“You take care,” M?rten had said, then hightailed it out through the front gate.

Neither of them was the touchy-feely type, and M?rten’s uncharacteristic show of sentiment left Jacob with a strange lump in his throat.

In that moment, he realized he was possibly closer to M?rten than he was to his own sister; M?rten was like a brother to him.

He would miss him if he ever left the force.

The flight had been long and arduous, over eleven hours in the air, and Jacob had plenty of time to dissect how many types of stupid he was being, and just how much trouble he was getting himself and M?rten into.

But it soon became clear from the activity of the two army officers in the cargo hold and the drop in pressure inside the aircraft that they were on their descent into Seattle.

Both he and Nikki had caught a few hours of sleep, lying down along the row of crash seats.

Not the most comfortable of beds, but he’d had worse.

Jacob unbuckled his belt and moved to the seat next to Nikki.

They’d hardly spoken during the flight; he could see in her eyes she was still mad at him.

Maybe mad wasn’t the word, more like frustrated or exasperated.

But he was a big boy; he knew what he was doing.

Knew what was at stake here. And something about Runar’s veiled warning had got to him.

Call it a hunch, but he just wanted to make sure Nikki was safe.

To finish the mission he’d started. Once he’d seen her delivered to her front door, and confirmed her protection detail were up to scratch, he’d hightail it back home.

Although why he thought he could do a better job than the FBI was anyone’s guess.

He took her hand in his, and she let him, which told him she was more nervous than she’d admit. Her hand was small and cool in his own. Her other hand rested possessively on top of her backpack, which was shoved under her seat. They sat, unspeaking but still connected, until the plane touched down.

Two FBI agents, a man and a woman, were waiting at the bottom of the steps as they exited the aircraft, just as Nikki had been promised.

Dressed in civilian clothing, their upright stance and sharp, wary glances gave them away.

Because of the different time zones, it was still the middle of the day here in Seattle, and a bright sun shone out of a brittle blue sky, almost blinding him as he walked down the stairway behind Nikki.

It was cold, but not bone-crunchingly freezing like it had been in Lule?.

Thanks to Runar, Jacob had at least been able to discard his white snowsuit for the fresh jeans and jumper the deputy commissioner had sent over.

But Jacob also welcomed the warm jacket Runar had included, because that Seattle wind had an icy edge to it.

“I’m Agent Sabitino, and this is Agent Miller,” the male agent said brusquely.

They both flashed their badges, and he held out his hand to greet Nikki and then Jacob.

They didn’t look in the least surprised to see Jacob, and he assumed word of his sudden addition to the flight had already reached their ears.

“Thanks so much,” Nikki said on a gust of outward breath. “You don’t know how good it is to hear an American accent again,” she added. “And how wonderful it is to be on home soil. After… Well, I’m assuming you are aware of what happened in Sweden?” she asked.

They both nodded, stone-faced, giving nothing away. Something niggled low down in Jacob’s gut.

“We’ll be taking care of you now,” Sabitino said, but his gaze never met Nikki’s, his eyes roving across the deserted tarmac instead.

“Come with us, Dr. Winter. We’ll take you home. I’m sure you’ll be wanting a hot shower and the comfort of your own bed,” Agent Miller added, but there was no softness, her face never showing the hint of a smile. “And you, Mr. Utsi, of course.” The woman gestured for both of them to precede her.

“Oh, good, you’re taking me to my house. I was worried I’d have to go into another safe house or something,” Nikki chatted happily with the female agent.