Frozen Memories

He motioned for Clarence and the other man to join them.

Still unsure about whether she should accept this Trevor person as an undercover agent, she narrowed her gaze. It seemed awfully coincidental that Trevor and his bad guy cronies had landed near Aunt Trudy’s house.

Trevor reached toward her for a handshake. “I’m sorry, Angelica.”

She held back, not ready to be friends, not willing to let bygones be. She forced her voice to an almost-normal level. “Why did you choose the cabin with the green door?”

“You’re going to make me work for this apology.” He flashed the lopsided grin that some people might call charming. “Can we walk toward the house while I talk?”

“Not yet,” she said.

“Okay, here’s what happened. I was contacted by one of the bad guys, Lex Heller.”

“A computer programmer,” Spence said. “He’s on our short list of suspects.”

“He wanted me and the three other guys—Larry, Moe and Curly Joe—to take care of you.” He flashed another smile, clearly his best feature. “When I say ‘take care of,’ I mean exactly that. We were instructed to keep you from harm. To hold you in a safe place until he contacted us.”

So far, he was making sense. “Continue.”

“I could see you were waking up and wanted you to have a fair chance to escape. So, I suggested the cabin near Uncle Clarence’s place, and I called him to warn him.”

“Which is why I never called 911,” Clarence said. “I couldn’t very well have the sheriff show up and take Trevor into custody.”

“You lied to me,” she said.

“And I’m sorry.”

“What if I’d been more seriously injured?” she asked.

“I would have called an ambulance. I’d never put your life at risk,” Clarence said. His blue eyes were intense. His beard puckered around his mouth. “You believe me, don’t you?”

She did. “You’re not a bad person, Pastor. And I understand why you didn’t want to betray your nephew.”

“Am I forgiven?” Trevor asked.

She grabbed his glove and gave a firm shake. “For now.”

* * *

SPENCE SCOOPED ANGELICA off her feet and started to carry her toward the cabin. He liked her nearness, the intimacy and the way she felt in his arms. She was firm but not hard. No six-pack abs. No buns of steel. Her body had a feminine softness, a gift of nature that could never be achieved in a gym.

“Put me down.” She lightly punched him on the chin. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Keeping you from getting your feet wet.”

She stuck her legs straight out. “I have my good boots, thanks to you.”

“We’re almost there.” He strode forward toward the cabin. Nuzzling her earlobe, he whispered, “I’m just trying to pay you back.”

“I missed something.” Her lips were inches from his. Her poor, tired eyes were bloodshot. Her skin was reddened and chapped. But she was still beautiful. She croaked, “You owe me?”

“In spite of frostbite, you charged out into the cold to save me.”

“I should have been armed.”

“I’m glad you weren’t.”

“Why?”

“If you’d gotten your paws on a gun, Trevor would have paid the consequences.”

“Not if he followed my orders.”

She didn’t look anywhere near as dangerous as she actually was. Angelica qualified as a sharpshooter in pistol and in rifle, which meant her accuracy was over 90 percent. Her hand-to-hand combat skills weren’t as good, and Spence was grateful for that. He didn’t have to endure a Vulcan death grip every time she got riled.

As they approached the porch at the front of the cabin, she said, “It’s hard for me to be authoritative when you’re carrying me, but I have a few demands.”

He climbed onto the porch and allowed her legs to swing down. “Shoot.”

“Whenever possible, I need to be carrying a weapon.”

He agreed. “If you’d been armed last night, do you think you could have gotten away from the kidnappers?”

“Don’t know,” she muttered. “Can’t remember what happened.”

“I’m with you on this. We’ll have to figure out some way for both of us to carry firearms while we’re inside the NORAD complex. It’s a weapons-free zone.”

“You’re the superspy. You’ll come up with something.” She tapped him in the center of his chest with her forefinger. “My next demand is that you treat me like any other partner. No hugging, no carrying, no kissing...unless we’re alone...and I give consent.”

“That road goes both ways,” he said with a grin. “So don’t be rubbing up against me or making kissy faces.”

“Oh, please, I don’t do that.”

“We’ll see.”

Clarence and Trevor clomped onto the porch beside them. Trevor handed her an unexpected gift.

“Your cell phone,” he said.

“A thousand thanks. I never thought I’d see this again.”

“It was with you when we picked you up. Don’t worry, it’s untraceable. I’ve already removed the batteries, sim card and GPS.”

Spence suspected the bad guys were still tracking her, using something like his own little implanted device. Modern electronics were too tempting. Sooner or later, everyone would be wearing an array of chips for location and scanners for making payments. They’d all be blips on a giant blue screen, and there would be no need for humans at all.

Clarence opened the front door, and Trudy joyfully greeted her nephew, rushing him toward the kitchen, where she had cookies and muffins. Spence’s stomach growled. When was the last time he ate? He closed the door against the cold.

Quietly, Angelica said, “My last demand is the most important. I will go to the hospital with you for tests, but I will not stay. And you’re taking me with you when you talk to Lex Heller.”