Chapter 2

2

Oh-dark-thirty.

What did that even mean in a place where there'd be no sunrise for another four months? Ever since the team had touched down inside the Arctic Circle six days ago, the well-worn phrase had taken on a new meaning for Fenn Scarborough.

He hunched against the biting arctic wind as he stalked across the tarmac toward the airstrip's one and only hangar and slipped inside. The utter blackness, a place so devoid of light that the glow of the stars seemed like harsh pinpricks, only stoked his anger.

He glanced around at the rest of the Redemption Inc. team gathered between the sled piled high with their gear and their rental plane. A far cry from their sleek Pilatus, the big-bellied de Havilland sat like a fat duck on its ungainly skis.

His gaze snagged on a familiar dark ponytail. Kate. She was already climbing around the plane she and Bridger, their team leader, had been thrilled to fly for the mission. She was going through the preflight checklist. Watching her, Fenn's gut churned like he'd eaten a batch of bad chili. After more than a decade of missions together, he'd thought he knew her.

Clearly not, if the little stunt she'd pulled last night was any indication.

He couldn't believe she'd actually sabotaged the plane. He'd seen it with his own eyes when he'd followed her out here, watching from the shadows as she'd fiddled with the nose's landing gear. Still, it seemed so unreal.

Unbelievable.

Kate knew they needed to get back home before the storm blew in. Why would she put them at risk like this?

He gritted his teeth. He'd just have let her play this out. No way she'd allow the team to take off in a wounded bird. But what was her endgame?

"Yo, Fennster. Little help here?" Their cyber-security expert, Paige, called out, her voice slightly muffled by the stack of equipment cases in her arms.

Fenn strode over, taking a couple of the unwieldy cases from the petite woman. "I got it. Wouldn't want you to strain something."

Rolling her eyes, Paige headed up the steps into the belly of the plane. Fenn followed, stowing the gear in the rear of the cabin. Tai and Graham were already inside, efficiently organizing the last of the team's belongings.

As he stepped back out, Fenn's attention immediately swiveled back to Kate and Bridger. They huddled together as they poured over a flight map.

Kate's brow furrowed in concentration, her gloved finger stabbing at something on the diagram. Bridger nodded, his expression morphing into a scowl.

Unease prickled down Fenn's spine. He moved closer, straining to hear their low-voiced conversation over the whine of the industrial heaters, but Bridger handed Kate the map and headed around to the front of the aircraft.

Just what are you up to, Kate? And why won't you let me in on it?

After all they'd been through together, all the tight spots and close calls, he'd thought their trust was bulletproof.

Apparently not.

Stuffing down the sting of hurt, Fenn focused on the facts. Kate had deliberately damaged the plane. She clearly had some scheme up her fur-lined sleeve. And based on her clandestine behavior, she had no intention of cluing him in.

Fine. He'd figure it out himself. One way or another, he'd get to the bottom of this.

And then he and Kate were going to have a little chat about the importance of honesty between teammates.

Bridger's voice rose, snapping Fenn out of his brooding thoughts. "Kate, you need to see this. We've got a problem with the landing gear."

Kate's head jerked up, her eyes narrowing. "What kind of problem?" She followed Bridger around to the front of the plane, crouching down to examine the front landing gear strut.

Fenn edged closer, trying to get a better view without drawing attention to himself.

Bridger pointed to a dark spot on the strut, his expression grim. "Hydraulic fluid leak. See that wet spot? Strut's compromised. No way we can take off like this."

Fenn's heart stuttered in his chest. The moment of truth.

Kate crouched down to examine the strut, her gloved fingers probing the metal. She straightened up slowly, her expression grim. "It's cracked." Her voice carried across the hangar.

Burl McCoy, the airport's one-man air operations and mechanic, ambled over, insulated mug in hand, his weathered face creased with concern. He knelt down as quickly as a man with a generous gut and close to sixty-years in his knees could, examining the part with a critical eye. "Yep, she's cracked all right. Gonna need a replacement. I can order one, but it'll take a few days to get here."

The big man struggled to his feet and tugged at his beard. "Must've happened on landing. We get this all the time. The cold makes the metal brittle."

Fenn studied Kate's face, looking for any hint of guilt or satisfaction. But her expression was carefully neutral, revealing nothing.

Graham, their former sniper instructor and the newest member of Redemption Inc., walked over, his boots thudding on the concrete. "How long?"

The team eyed McCoy, who squinted up at the ceiling. "Best case scenario, it'll take a day to get the part off and send in the order. Then we're looking at a week for a delivery. That's if I can find the part and the weather cooperates."

Fenn's stomach twisted. A week. Minimum. In this godforsaken place, with a storm brewing on the horizon.

He glanced at Kate, trying to read her expression. But her face was a mask of professional concern, revealing nothing of her true thoughts.

Tai, their second in command, shifted uneasily, his dark eyes darting to the sky. "If we don't leave now, we might not make it home for Christmas."

Graham nodded, his jaw tight. The man had only recently repaired a fractured relationship with his daughter, Tai's new lady love. Graham had missed too many holidays with Tenaya to miss another. Plus Bridger had a new wife and the nine-year-old son they'd recently adopted. Christmas wasn't for another week and a half, but out here, that could go by in an instant as they waited for another decent weather window.

From what he'd read of the Arctic, they could easily wait months for another opportunity to bug out.

Burl shook his head. "Storm's coming. You don't get out today, you're not flying anywhere for at least a couple days. There's not enough time for a charter flight to fly in and grab you."

Bridger pressed a gloved hand to the belly of the beefy plane. "Looks like we'll be imposing on the good folks of Endurance for a while longer."

No kidding. The settlement, more of a cluster of buildings than an actual town, was generally accessible only by sea, or air. The nearest real road began fifty miles to the south, at the territorial seat. From there, they could rent a vehicle and make the two-day drive down to Iqaluit. There they'd be able to rent another plane, or fly commercial.

Not that it mattered. No way to get from here to there. They might manage to rent a snowmobile or two from the locals, but no way people here had five machines they could spare. Plus, the team had no way to get the machines back to Endurance.

The mechanic snapped his fingers. "I'm heading down to Nunaviksiaround noon. Got myself a new snowcat last year. Pistenbully. Top of the line. Thing'll carry all of you. I'm happy to give you a lift."

Bridger brightened. "Seriously? That would be fantastic. I'm fine leaving the plane here if you have room. I could head back after the New Year and fly her home."

Fenn's heart sank. He knew what was coming next.

Kate squared her shoulders, her voice calm and confident. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay with the plane, make sure the repairs get done right."

Paige frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Are you sure? We can wait?—"

Kate cut her off with a shake of her head. "No, you need to get back. I'll be fine."

Fenn's mind raced. He couldn't let her stay here alone. Not when he knew she was up to something.

He cleared his throat. "I'll stay too."

Kate's head whipped around, her eyes narrowing. "What? Why?"

Fenn shrugged, keeping his voice casual. "I got nowhere I gotta be. Plus, two sets of hands are better than one. We'll get the job done faster."

Their teammates watched the exchange, arms folded, as if they were watching a tennis match.

Kate's lips thinned. Annoyance flickered in her eyes. But she couldn't refuse him, not without drawing attention to herself.

The mechanic was watching, too. He took a long sip of coffee. "Whatever you folks decide, it's gotta be soon. Trip takes a coupla-three hours. I need to head out by eight a.m. sharp if I'm gonna make it to town in time for the tournament. The wife loves her bowling. I promised I wouldn't be late." He made a sound. "She's little, but she's fierce."

The team looked from him to Kate and back again.

"Fine," she bit out, her tone clipped.

Fenn nodded, ignoring the curious looks from the rest of the team. He grabbed his bag from the plane, then turned to face them.

"We'll catch up with you guys as soon as we can," he said, his voice steady.

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.