Fuming, Mountain tried to conceal his emotions, but the tic in his jaw gave it away. He did keep his tone under control, as he added, “I wonder if she was hoping that, by now, whoever would look after her medical care would note the old wounds and the new, recognizing the need to keep her safe. For her, coming here had to be a giant leap in faith and trust.”

  “You can count on that,” Sydney stated. “However, keeping her safe in this hellhole right now may be a whole different story.”

  “And yet you would think, with the latest development, we should be free and clear,” Magnus noted, his gaze going from one to the other.

  She shrugged. “I’m not convinced it was Elijah,” she shared. “So, no, I certainly don’t feel that sense of relief.”

  Magnus looked over at Mountain. “What about you?”

  “Something’s off here,” he replied bluntly. “I don’t know what, and, until I get answers, I’m not sure how this will play out. Elijah is a wild card, but I don’t believe for a second that he could shoot someone. Plus, who shot at you and the sled dogs? I don’t see Elijah doing that either. Has he confessed? No. Has he explained anything? No. The whole thing obviously has the colonel pretty upset, but I’m not certain of anything at this point in time.”

  “So, you don’t believe this nightmare is over with?” Magnus asked.

  “I’m sure it isn’t. We don’t have a motive yet either,” Mountain said. “Until we get that, I’m not sure I can say either way.”

  Magnus eyed him carefully, then Sydney. “Are you guys not telling me something?”

  “No. We don’t know anything to not tell you yet,” Mountain pointed out, and his words had that same flinty tone he took on when he needed to end an argument. “The bottom line is, I don’t want to leave Amelia alone in case she says something tonight, awake or asleep. Although Sydney doesn’t seem to think that Amelia will say anything that’s worth noting. Still, I don’t want to take the chance of missing something.” He stared at Magnus. “I can’t afford to.”

  Magnus nodded at that. “Makes sense to me, so I presume you’re staying here on watch.”

  “I am, at least for now, which means you need to keep an eye on the rest of the base.”

  “If we keep our chef under guard, that should help. We’re also trying to keep the news and everybody’s interpretation of the news about Elijah’s supposed involvement low-key, as long as that is worth doing.”

  “Which won’t work,” Sydney noted. “People here already know that he’s been picked up and is being held by the investigative team in our makeshift jail, otherwise known as the storage room. The base doesn’t know why, and they don’t know what he’s done, but, considering all the shit going on around this place, it could get ugly.”

  “Ugly how?” Mountain asked her. “What is it? Are you picking up something that we aren’t?”

  “Outside of the fact that everybody is upset, I haven’t heard a whole lot,” Sydney replied, taking a deep breath. “However, if you think about it, it won’t take them long to realize what’s happened, and, when they do, I suspect you’ll have people reacting to Elijah in a pretty ugly way. It’s not as if they haven’t noticed his absence from the kitchen already. Avalon and Chrissy are handling the food, but Elijah has been the one constant in this place, since the very beginning.”

  “We’ve got a guard on him, just in case,” Magnus shared.

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t think one guard is enough,” she argued bluntly. He looked at her in surprise, and she shrugged. “Some pretty upset people are out there, not to mention the fact that we have thirty or so highly trained people from almost a dozen countries cooped up in this place.”

  “Right. I’ll be on guard duty from time to time then, I guess,” Magnus responded, as he turned back to Mountain.

  Mountain studied him intently, then shook his head. “Set up three teams of three. I don’t think one at a time will be enough.”

  “Got it. First let’s see if we can make it through tonight.” He looked down at the sleeping woman and asked no one in particular, “Will she wake up anytime soon?”

  “No,” Sydney declared, her tone flat. “I made sure of that. I can’t take a chance of her injuring herself, fighting me off or fighting whatever nightmare she has when she wakes up. I just now got the bleeding under control, but any struggle from her will destroy all my handiwork. We can’t risk it right now. She’s lost an awful lot of blood. I can’t do a transfusion here, so keeping her under, while her body works to recover, is the best I can do.”

  “Understood,” Magnus said, as he looked back at Mountain. “While I’m here, do you want to take off and grab your laptop or anything else you might need? I presume you won’t let me relieve you during the night.”

  “No, I won’t, and you’ll have plenty to do anyway, as you secure the base. And, yes, I’ll go grab my laptop and a jacket and maybe pick up some coffee and food.”

  “I’m not sure about the food status,” Magnus noted.

  “Food’s coming,” Mountain said. “I went down there and grabbed a hot blanket a while ago, and the two women were hard at work on our meals.” With that, he got up, walked over to stare at the sleeping woman and shook his head. “This behavior is the kind we would expect from one of us, if we were in enemy territory, anticipating a poor reception. It’s not something we expect out of a neighboring scientist and certainly not somebody staying out in these Arctic conditions,” he muttered, a deep crease between his eyebrows. “Getting shot was an obvious life-or-death issue,” he noted. “Yet she managed to deal with the first gunshot incident quite efficiently, I would say. However, this most recent attack, the second attempt, that’s the one that did her in. God damn it, I want to find the bastard who did that.” He glared at Magnus. “Give me five minutes.” And, with that, he quickly disappeared.

  *

  Amelia shifted, pain slammed into her, gasping, even more pain slammed right back.

  “Take it easy,” a woman said from her side in a gentle tone.

  Amelia moaned, not able to orient herself. She started to panic.

  The same woman spoke again. “I’m checking that the bleeding has stopped,” she explained, “and then I’ll give you something for the pain.”

  Sure enough, the pain eased again, as Amelia drifted in and out of consciousness. She slept several more times, only to wake to the same pain again, then to immediately crash back down. When she woke yet once more, she heard a different voice. A male—strong, deep, and dark. She couldn’t place that voice either and felt herself fighting it, afraid. His words told her that she was safe and that she was getting the medical help she needed, but it didn’t ease her fears.

  She didn’t remember needing medical help. She didn’t remember anything, and that part bothered her. She shifted and once again cried out with pain. Warm hands reached out with a wet washcloth and gently wiped her face and her neck, before a woman whispered, “Go back to sleep.” Amelia immediately dropped back under, happy to get away from a world so seemingly unpleasant. The additional whispered words came from a man. “You are safe now. I’ll make sure of it.” His words were so faint that she thought she had imagined them.

  When she surfaced again, she had no idea of time or space; her world had completely changed. She didn’t know where anything was or who anyone was. She raised her eyelids and stared straight ahead. The light was dim, and she was on something soft, like a bed, and sheets covered her. The blankets were warm too, so, wherever she was, she was obviously being cared for, and that was both good and bad. She didn’t know why, but a feeling of doom underlaid all this comfort.

  She stared around the room in confusion. The lights were low, so much so that she could see but not enough. Her mind was clear though, and, for that, she was grateful. When a quiet voice beside her spoke, she shifted and then gasped in pain. Immediately a hand reached out and squeezed hers, a hand that felt both familiar and foreign. She looked down at it, trying to concentrate and to recognize who this might be. When a huge male figure loomed large above her, she gasped and shrank back.

  “It’s all right,” he said.

  It was the same soothing voice she’d heard many times throughout the night.

  “My name is Mountain. I’m not here to hurt you,” he explained. “I’m here to protect you.”

  She blinked at him several times. What kind of a name was that? Who was this person? And what the hell did she need protecting from? Nothing made any sense. She closed her eyes and willed it all away. Much later she heard the same voice call out to her.

  “Easy now, just wake up. Take it easy. You’re okay.”

  She shifted and winced in pain.

  “Yeah, that side will hurt you,” he confirmed, a compassionate note in his voice.

  She turned her head to find him staring down at her. “Where am I?” She spoke in a whisper.

  “You’re in the military training base,” he replied.

  Her eyes widened in shock, even as she tried to process what that meant.

  He added, “You’re safe, and we’re keeping an eye on you. You haven’t been left alone for a moment.”

  She struggled with that too because none of it made any sense.

  “And, in case you don’t remember,” he shared in that same calm, patient, and soothing tone, completely at odds with the size of the man in front of her, “you came here after being shot—for a second time, I might add—with two bullets hitting you most recently.”

  She blinked at him, not comprehending anything.

  He nodded and repeated, “Just know that we’re looking after you, and you’re safe.”

  “Yet obviously I wasn’t,” she murmured.

  “Obviously not,” he agreed, with a nod. “I’m really hoping you can talk to me, although I know our good doc will shut me down the moment she finds out you’re awake.”

  Amelia stared at him. “I’m not at all sure I’m very awake. I’m not sure I’m awake at all,” she shared, as she shifted carefully, realizing that every movement was agonizing.

  “I understand that too,” he told her calmly. “Remember. You’ve been shot very recently in the side, and the older wound is up on your shoulder. So, no matter which way or how you move, it’ll hurt.”

  “Great,” she muttered, and then her eyes opened wide. “My dogs.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Did you bring them here?”

  She blinked several times and then whispered, in a near panic, “I don’t remember.”

  “I’ll check,” he said, standing up now. “Don’t you worry. If your dogs are here, we’ll find them. We’ve got somebody here to look after the sled dogs.”

  “Joe,” she whispered immediately.

  He frowned at her intently. “Do you know Joe?”

  She gave somewhat of a nod. “I think he has them.”

  “I’ll check,” Mountain repeated. “Now don’t you worry. Just relax and go back to sleep.” He sat back down, and she even heard the clicks on his phone, as he texted someone.

  “Tell me if he has them,” she demanded, but her eyelids were still closed, knowing that any movement would hurt. Still, she couldn’t rest until she knew.

  When his phone buzzed, he sighed in relief, and then told her in a pleasant tone, “Joe has them. They’re doing fine, chilling with his pack.”

  She gave him a twisted smile. “Good.”

  With that, she immediately fell back asleep again.

  Day 2 Morning

  Amelia woke with a start, her eyes wide. She stared around, not moving her head, aware that she was finally back to the land of the living, and yet she couldn’t recall everything that had led up to her arrival in this place. She hoped for more answers, and, as she rolled her head to the side, it landed on the electric gaze of the huge man sitting beside her. She blinked again, thinking she might have imagined him, but he was still here.

  He got up, walked over, and asked gently, “How are you feeling now?”

  “Water?” she asked in a raspy voice.

  He immediately held out a glass for her, and she drank deeply. When she had emptied the glass, he asked, “Do you want more?”

  “No, I’m good.” She sagged back and took a moment to recover from the pain of her exertions, closing her eyes.

  “My name is Mountain,” he offered, and her lips twitched at that.

  She opened her eyes and gave him an odd smile. “Did your parents have any idea what size you would be?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” he replied, with a laugh. “Apparently they guessed, and I would say correctly.”

  She gave him a small smile. “You’ve been here looking after me, haven’t you?”

  “I have been,” he confirmed. “Though looking after you might be an exaggeration of my skills, but I’ve definitely been keeping an eye on you. We do have a doctor for the true looking after.”

  She looked over at him. “Do you know what happened?”

  “No, and I’m really hoping that you can tell me.”

  She frowned, as she stared up at the ceiling again. “It’s pretty hazy,” she muttered and glanced at him. “You also look familiar.”

  “That could be for a lot of reasons,” he explained calmly. “I think I saw you in the village once or twice, although mostly in passing. I don’t think we ever spoke. You may also have been to this base and seen me because I’ve certainly been here plenty of times. However, I don’t know that we’ve ever been introduced.”

  She swallowed and winced at the pain reverberating up her side. “Where’s the doc?” she asked, her pain evident in her tone and her breathing.

  “She’ll be back in a minute,” he replied, checking the time. “She stepped out to grab some coffee for us,” he shared, with a note of amusement. “She’ll be back soon.”

  She heard his words and then it hit. “Coffee?” Suddenly a hint of hope filled her tone.

  He snorted. “I’m glad to see you’re on the mend, but I’m not sure that the doc will let you have coffee this soon.” She gave him a frown, but he wasn’t swayed either way. “An awful lot of people need to hear what happened to you, so anything that would get your brain kicked in and functioning would help.”

  “In that case, I need coffee,” she stated firmly.

  The door opened then, and Amelia watched, without moving too much, as a graceful woman of about her age stepped into the room, carrying coffee for two. Another man was at her side, and both of them were laughing. As they approached, Sydney looked over in delight. “Wow. Look who’s awake.”

  Amelia gave her a slight smile. “Apparently I owe you my life.”

  Sydney shrugged. “I don’t know about that,” she argued, with the same enthusiasm. “I certainly would have preferred to see you before you got into this shape, particularly since you didn’t come to me after you’d been shot the first time.”

  Amelia gave her a flat stare, then looked at what was in her hand. “Mountain said there’s coffee.”

  “Did he offer you coffee?” Sydney asked curiously.

  “No, he explained I probably wouldn’t be allowed to have any.”

  Sydney chuckled. “And I suppose you disagree.” She came over, picked up a blood pressure cuff, and immediately checked Amelia’s vitals. When Sydney was finished, she noted the data on her e-tablet, ignoring everyone else around her.

  When she stopped tapping on the screen, Amelia broke the silence in the room. “So, what’s the verdict on the coffee?”

  Looking at her carefully, Sydney spoke. “You’re more concerned about the coffee than anything else?”

  “If anybody starts asking me questions, believe me, I will need coffee.”

  “We can send Magnus down to get you a cup,” she offered, turning to look at Magnus, as he nodded with a smile. “Do you take it black?”

  “I’ll take it any way I can get it,” Amelia replied, “particularly right now.”

  With a chuckle, Magnus nodded and quickly walked out of the clinic, taking Mountain with him.

  Sydney looked down at her patient. “Now, while the men are gone, I want to check your wounds, if that’s okay with you.”

  “Are you afraid the coffee will leak out?” Amelia asked, with interest.

  Sydney burst out laughing. “Oh, a sense of humor. I like that.”

  “Sometimes it’s all we have,” Amelia shared.

  Sydney stopped to focus on her and nodded. “Sounds as if you and Mountain have been having quite the conversation.”

  Amelia slowly lowered her lashes, as she considered that. “He’s looking to find out what happened, but so am I.”

  “You don’t remember?” Sydney asked lightly, as she continued to check over Amelia.

  “Let’s just say, things are a bit on the fuzzy side.”

  “Let’s start with some basics, which I need you to understand,” the doc began. “You’ve been shot, and I’m talking about the fresh wound on your side. You’ve lost an awful lot of blood, and I don’t have any here,” she pointed out. “So, you are not to move. You’re not to do anything that would stress the stitches or would cause any bleeding. If I had to go back in to try to stop the bleeding, that in itself could kill you.”

  Amelia stared at her. “Of course,” she whispered. “I hadn’t considered that.”

  “No, and yet, even now, you’re wondering how to get out of here,” the doc stated, looking at Amelia closely. “You need to stop thinking about that. You can’t even think about that because, if you open any of those wounds,” she repeated, “I can’t save you. Your blood count is critically low. The only remedy for that is to get your blood built back up again, and that’ll take some time. You’re weak, and you won’t get out of this bed anytime soon. A simple fall now could start the bleeding again and could literally kill you. I’m not sure how you made it here, but I’m grateful that you came, so that we could at least try to do our best for you.”