“Someone’s awake,” the woman said.
What was her name? Who cared. It was fake anyway. Names were a pain in the ass.
“You were snoring,” the colonel said.
With one hand she stroked a rubber onto him. Then she rolled onto him and with one smooth motion was filled completely by him. A real pro. That’s what he liked. He grasped her breasts as she rode him with great enthusiasm and precision. And he held out longer than normal, thinking about the cold edge of Svalbard.
McLean had gotten back to Edinburgh, cleared his travel with MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall Cross in London, and booked his travel. The only caveat was that he bring his associate, Velda Crane. He had protested, knowing that she had some kind of obsession with him, and that could cloud her judgment, but she had proven herself quite capable to Vauxhall. She also had friends and benefactors there who could send Jimmy to an assignment far less comfortable than his native land. That little half-pint had even suggested Turkey or Iraq — two places he had no desire to see again.
Their plans had changed late the night before, when McLean had gotten word that his contact, Gary Dixon, had purchased a ticket to Oslo — the red eye. Velda had hurried to Glasgow to get on the same flight as Dixon, and McLean had taken a different route, flying to London to pick up a diplomatic pouch and then going on to Oslo, getting in an hour before Dixon and his associate.
Sitting now near the arrivals gate for the Glasgow to Oslo flight, Jimmy McLean watched over the top of his newspaper as the passengers streamed out and down the concourse corridor, their eyes like zombies from the night flight. It wasn’t hard for him to see Gary Dixon shuffle along, a carry-on bag over his shoulder. Bringing up the rear was Velda, her little legs doing their best to keep up, and her gaze catching McLean, who smiled at her.
McLean caught up to her and walked a few paces behind Velda. “Glad to see you made it.”
“Crappy flight. Hot as hell. No air. We going to get some local support?”
“NIS says they can’t spare an officer.” NIS was the Norwegian Intelligence Service, the MI6 counterpart.
“Great. I gotta pee. Can you keep an eye on that little troll for me while I scoot?”
“Go ahead. Since he knows me, I’ll stay back and track him on my Blackberry.”
Her head nodded as she hurried off.
McLean went to the baggage carousel area and looked at the wall advertising hotels in Oslo. He could see Dixon’s reflection in the glass. Seconds later he felt a nudge at his side.
“That was quick,” McLean said, not looking down at Velda.
“You gotta go, you gotta go. Time for me to move front and center.”
“Put on the charm.”
“You know me.”
He thought about the alley encounter with her the other night. Yeah, he knew her.
The crowd was large enough now that Jimmy McLean could turn around and watch her work. She stood a few feet from Dixon and kept checking bags, not even looking at the man. But he had noticed her. Couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. McLean walked farther away so he wouldn’t be seen. Finally the bags stopped coming and the only two who had not gotten their suitcases were Velda and Dixon. Both of them went for help, two little folks without their bags. Of course, McLean had made sure both were confiscated — Dixon’s to have a bug sewn into the lining, and hers to maintain the ruse and bring them together.
8
The night had been uncomfortable for Jake. The back of the helo was small and the three of them were packed in tight, girl girl boy, with Anna in the middle. For some reason, maybe because of Anna’s comment the evening before, he couldn’t help thinking about the three of them together. It wasn’t like he was dissatisfied with the sex that he and Anna had experienced over the past couple of years, but still…this was like having two Anna’s.
But not only those thoughts had kept Jake awake. He also wondered about the box he had found with his old friend, Steve Olson. The one with the Biohazard symbol. What was in there? And, better yet, why had it been so important back in 1986 to send four KGB officers after it? Even more importantly, perhaps, was why they had not sent more officers to retrieve the box. What had changed? And why hadn’t the old CIA sent someone to find Olson and Korkala? Too many damn questions.
Jake had told Anna and Kjersti about finding Steve and the snowmobile, but had left out the part about finding the box. No need to mention that. At least not yet. He had simply buried it again where he had found it. What if it was a biological weapon? What if the box leaked? Although the box looked completely solid, as if there was no seam or way to open it. How was that possible? It was as if the box had been formed around something. Or at least the top had been melted onto it.
Jake finally did get to sleep. He dreamt of a beast gnawing at the bodies, even though there wasn’t much left of them.
He woke and it was almost light outside. Sitting up, he glanced out the window and saw something from his dream.
A huge polar bear rummaged about a few feet from the helicopter. A cub shuffled around the massive sow bear.
Not wanting to wake Anna and Kjersti, and knowing that was probably not possible, Jake unzipped his sleeping bag and put on his jacket. Then he pulled the rifle from his side and looked at the two women sleeping. Better to wake them with a nudge than a shot.
“Anna,” Jake said, shaking her.
Her eyes opened. “Yeah?”
“Got a little polar bear problem.”
With those words Kjersti woke also and sat up, her sleeping bag falling from her shoulders. She was completely naked, or at least from the top to the waist. Jake looked away as Kjersti put on her thermal underwear top.
“Don’t shoot them,” Kjersti said. “Just scare them away. Here, use my handgun.” She handed Jake her .44 magnum revolver.
He slid the door open slightly, put his entire arm outside to keep down the noise inside, and fired off a round into a snow bank. The huge sow swiveled around and ran off, the cub at her tail. Jake closed the door and handed her gun back to her.
“Nice piece,” Jake said.
Anna smiled at him.
They got dressed and Anna checked over the helo to make sure it was ready for flight, while Jake put a backpack over his shoulders and the 30.06 rifle over his right shoulder. He needed to take care of one more thing before they left.
“I’m going to hike back up to Steve,” Jake said.
“Need some company?” Anna asked.
“No. Stay here and watch for those polar bear.”
“Your loss,” she mumbled.
Jake came closer to her. “What’d you have in mind?” he whispered.
“Thought you might be a little excited after seeing Kjersti’s breasts.”
“They were all right.”
“Come on,” she said. “They turned me on. She stripped down in front of me last night before getting into her sleeping bag. What a body.”
Jesus. Why was she doing this to him? His body still felt like shit, although not as bad as the previous morning. He had a feeling things were moving in the right direction for him.
“Let’s hold that thought until we reach the hotel tonight,” he said.
She pouted her lips. “All right.”
Jake reluctantly walked away toward the ridge where Steve’s body remained, and would probably remain forever. When he reached the top he programmed in the location on his GPS. Looking around, the sun was rising. No wind. He could see the sow polar bear and her cub nearly a mile away already. See the clarity of the morning and that the GPS had picked up a number of satellites, Jake tried the SAT phone. A perfect signal.