He’d remembered hearing the wolves howling the other night when they’d been at the reindeer farm.It’d been soulful and fierce—there was nothing quite like the sound of untamed wolves howling in unison.At the time, he’d made a promise to himself to find out more about the Nordic wolf population.Sadly, he’d been preoccupied with other things and hadn’t done so.Yet.
He knew some of the Nordic wolf’s traits would probably be much the same as its Californian brothers.Such as the fact that all wolf pups had blue eyes when they were first born, with their eyes turning yellow usually before the end of their first year.The wolves that he studied could travel long distances, up to forty or fifty kilometers a day if their territory allowed for it.He wondered if the Nordic wolves traveled even further because they had large corridors of unbroken wilderness in which to roam.
Aurora slowed her pace in front of him, and he realized he’d been daydreaming.Shaking his head, he refocused.They were close to the edge of the clearing now, but this time she didn’t stop to survey the surroundings, instead turning left and following the trail they’d made yesterday when they’d come to rescue his father.He was grateful for the use of Karl’s snow gear as they waded through knee-deep drifts.His feet were still dry and toasty warm, unlike when he’d been wearing his own boots yesterday.And although it was probably still ten below zero, he was almost too warm in the thick jacket and waterproof gloves.Now he understood what Aurora had been trying to tell him.He’d spent a lot of time in the wilderness, hiking, camping, tracking his wolves, even during winter in the snowcapped mountains of Montana.So he’d thought he was prepared, but he’d been wrong.
Jiro caught glimpses of the cabin as they threaded through the trees; it looked exactly the same as it had when they were last here.Why had the kidnappers chosen this particular hut?Was Aurora correct when she theorized that whoever owned this land might be connected somehow?It didn’t really matter now anyway.What mattered was getting inside.
Jiro’s heart rate picked up even as Aurora waved her hand at him behind her back to warn him to be quiet.They hunkered down and edged more slowly around the clearing until they were close to where the cabin nestled in a small copes of birch trees.Aurora drew her weapon, but kept it pointed at the ground.Jiro had to stop himself from shouting out Taro’s name as he kneeled in the snow.Was his brother in there?And was he alive?
They finally got into a position where they could see directly into the single entrance.Unlike yesterday, the door now gaped open, exactly the way they’d left it when they carried Papa out.The mess of footprints they and the other police had left behind was still visible in the snow outside.But it was clear that no one had been near this place since they’d left yesterday morning.
“This is a dead end,” he said, standing up to his full height.“Taro isn’t here.”
Aurora also stood, replacing her gun in her holster.“It seems that way,” she agreed.“We should check it out anyway.”
He let her go first, knowing that he would just get a lecture if he tried to push past her.But when they both peered around the edge of the door, he found exactly what he was expecting.Nothing.It was completely empty.Now what?Was this a dead end?Would the kidnapper send him another message?He had to resist the urge to ram his fist into the wall.They were wasting time.They needed to find Taro.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AURORA STOOD STARING out into the clearing, not really seeing what was in front of her.She wanted to scream out her frustration.Although she’d half-expected this, it was still gut-wrenching not to have found Taro.Jiro’s face looked like thunder, and she knew he was close to losing it, even though he was trying to hide it behind his ferocious frown.The urgent need to go up and take him in her arms nearly drowned out all other emotions.It was as if his palpable fear and anguish were leaching into her, obscuring all her logical thoughts.She’d never wanted to comfort anyone quite so desperately as she wanted to soothe Jiro.But she couldn’t let her personal feelings overtake her professional mind.Although she wasn’t here in an official capacity, she was still the one with the badge, the one with the training who needed to stay calm and keep control, to stop him from becoming desperate and doing something stupid.
What would Mårten do in this situation?Think this through logically, that’s what.So she closed her eyes, blocking out the image of Jiro’s forlorn face and concentrated.Of course, how stupid could she be?If the kidnapper was indeed playing games with them—and most likely watching them from afar—then he would send them another clue, wouldn’t he?So why hadn’t the next clue come in?
“Have you got reception on your phone?”she asked.
Startled, he looked around from where he’d been glowering at the side of the hut as if he could burn holes through it with the intensity of his gaze.“What?”But he seemed to grasp what she was saying even as he spoke, and pulled his phone out from the side pocket of his jacket, studying it for many moments.“No.”His shoulders collapsed with disappointment.“Wait… Maybe.”He took a few steps into the clearing, holding the cell up above his head.After what felt like an eon, as he danced around in the snow waving his phone in the air, there was a loudping, indicating an incoming message.
“Is it from him?What does it say?”She hustled over to where he stood, leaning against his shoulder so she could read the text.
Did you really expect I would reveal his whereabouts so quickly?That was foolish of you.But you need to stay the course if you want to save his life.Look out beyond the lake and walk toward the Torrberget.Head directly north.Taro is out there, you just have to find him.Remember, no cops, or Taro will die.
“What is the Torrberget?”Jiro asked before she’d finished reading.
“It’s a mountain.Out that way.”Aurora swiveled and pointed out beyond the clearing in the exact direction opposite to where they’d left the car.Her stomach dropped as she scrutinized the vista beyond.
“Oh, shit.”Jiro followed where she pointed with his gaze.She knew he would be seeing the same as her; a never-ending forest with a hazy blue mountain rising above it all in the distance.This wasn’t good.She didn’t know the area well—she’d only lived in the region for two years—but she had driven and hiked through this section once or twice, as it was fairly close to the outskirts of town.It was just open forest out there.At least until they got to the lake, which they would have to cross if they were to continue in a direct line toward the mountain.But how far the lake was and how long it would take them to get there, she would be guessing.“Do you think he wants us to hike out there?”Jiro asked, still frowning in the direction of the lonely mountain.
“Can’t see any other option.”There was no point in hiding it from him.“You can drive to Torrberget, and there is a hiking trail that takes you to the peak.But if we do that, we may well miss something that this guy wants us to see.A hut or a dwelling.”Hell, they could have even dumped Taro by the side of the lake and left him there to freeze to death.Then a darker voice in her head said quietly,or in the lake.She didn’t mention this to Jiro, however.
“We’ll need the snowshoes if we’re going to attempt that,” she decided.If they were going to hike cross country, the amount of snow that’d fallen over the past few days would make the going almost impossible without them.She was very glad she’d sent off a message to Millie this morning, asking if she could check in on her father, because who knew what time they would get back from this mission.Millie hadn’t replied straight away, which was a little unusual, but Aurora was sure she would get the message soon.
“But that means going back to the car to get them.It’s wasting time and energy,” he argued, turning to stare down at her.“We need to go now.”
“We’ll waste more time getting bogged down in snowdrifts if we don’t,” she countered, her frustration building at his lack of understanding, as well as their lack of success in finding Taro so far.She knew she was probably overreacting, but her emotions weren’t listening.They were standing nose to nose now, as the conversation became heated; she wasn’t about to let him win this one.So she stepped in and got right up in his face.“I know what I’m doing, Jiro.I want to find your brother as much as you do.You asked me to trust you before.Now I’m asking you for the same thing in return.I can get us where we need to go, but only with the right equipment.”And that was probably an understatement.If they were going to hike out into the middle of nowhere, they should have backpacks full of food and water, a first aid kit and all kinds of other essential gear to keep them alive if they got stuck out there.As it was, she had a couple of bottles of water in the car, a stash of chocolate bars, and a small emergency survival kit that she’d never had to use.Up till now.
Her words seemed to get through to him, as the fire in his eyes began to die.But that emotion was quickly replaced with something else.Something equally hot and passionate.“I do trust you, Aurora.How could I not?But…?”
As she waited for him to finish, she realized how near they were to each other, and how she could see little flecks of gold buried deep within the richness of his irises.How the surrounding air seemed to go completely still, encasing them in a bubble of awareness that was just the two of them.How she wanted to reach out and run her fingers over the stubble on his cheek, to find out if it was soft or scratchy.This was no good.She needed to curtail her runaway emotional state right now, but it was as if he were creating a veil of attraction that she was finding harder and harder to push aside.Drawing in a deep breath, she went to turn away from him, to break the spell.
“Wait.This is crazy.”Jiro pulled her back around to face him, trapping her gloved hands within his, and bringing her back into his circle of influence.For a second, she thought he was referring to the unspoken desire pulsing between them.“What if we get lost?If there is little to no reception here, what’s it going to be like out there?”he asked.It was a valid question, but her body was on a completely different trajectory, and she found it hard to pull herself back to the matter at hand.
She pursed her lips but said nothing.The probability of them getting lost was higher than he might think.Like most Swedes, she’d spent a lot of her recreation time outdoors.So she knew how to navigate well, how to find a path through the wilderness.But that was all when she’d lived in the south.Northern Sweden was a whole other kettle of fish.
“I’m serious, Aurora, I’ve already put you in enough danger.I think we might have to draw the line here.”He leaned down so his mouth was mere inches from hers.Part of her understood that he was being chivalrous, giving her a way out of this whole mess, and she should take him up on his offer.But the other part responded with ahell no, because his delicious mouth was there for the taking, and the last thing she wanted was for this to end.
The previous time they’d stood this close together, he had nearly kissed her.There were so many reasons he shouldn’t kiss her.So many reasons she shouldn’t kiss him.But she couldn’t bring one to mind right now.She didn’t want him to give her a way out; she wanted to see this through.And she also desperately wanted to taste his full, masculine lips.
So she did.
