Lori gazed at the door to the main great room, the flickering reflection of the fire dancing shadows across her door. Jake had reminded her to keep the bedroom door open so the heat could reach her. She was staying in the main bedroom and the professor was in the smaller room in the corner of the cabin. Jake made a bed for himself on the sofa in front of the fire.
Now she was too hot. She threw the sleeping bag open and almost immediately heard another log go on the fire.
She got up from the bed wearing only a pair of shorts and a shirt that almost reached the bottom of those. At the door she glanced around the corner and saw Jake stooped down poking at the fire with a metal bar. He was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs. Wow. She had no idea the man was still that ripped.
Moving out into the main room, Lori stepped lightly on the wooden floor.
Jake rose and turned to Lori. “Everything all right?” he whispered.
She scanned his body and thought, ‘Yeah, it’s just fine.’ She said, “I can’t sleep.”
“Welcome to the club,” he said. “It’s too hot out here. But I want to make sure to get some good coals for the professor.”
Stepping a little closer, she pointed at the scar on his left knee. “What happened there?”
“Blew my knee out.”
“Skiing?”
“No. A bullet.”
“And that one on your side?”
Jake smiled. “Let me make this easy for you.” He pointed out various scars on his body from top to bottom. “Only this one, this one and this one are from knives. All the rest are bullets. Well, except for some of the slashes on my back.” He turned for her to see. “Most of these are from torture I received in what is now the Ukraine. Oh, and this scar on my shin is from football in high school.”
Lori shook her head. “Wow. I’ll bet you could tell me some stories.”
He smiled. “You know the old saying, though. I could tell you, but then I’d have to…”
“Kill me. I know. But I have the clearance.”
“But not the need to know.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “It must be difficult holding all of this inside you.”
Jake shrugged. “It could be worse.”
“How so?”
“Well, one of these bullets could have killed me.”
“True. But you have nobody to talk with about this.”
He took a seat on the sofa and leaned back. “Secrets are the nature of my business. Well, used to be. Now that the hits keep going up on the internet I might have to really go into retirement. Thank your committee for that.”
Lori thought about that and sat next to him on the couch, leaving a foot between them. “We’re not the one who made the video so interesting.”
“It was a waste of my time, Lori. A dog and pony show. And I was the mutt. Everything I knew about that case was in my after-action report I gave to the Agency.”
“I know,” she said. “I brought that up in closed session to my colleagues. The left wouldn’t listen.”
“That’s because nearly every one of those assholes have never put on a uniform or worked in intelligence. They can’t keep a secret to save their own ass.”
God, she liked this man. She could easily fall for Jake Adams. “I know. It’s why I got into the game in the first place.”
“I didn’t mean you, Lori.”
“I know.” She wished she didn’t have so little time with Jake. “Where do we go from here?”
“We keep Tramil here until we find those after him,” Jake said.
“I have to go to Korea in a couple of days,” she said.
“I meant we as in me,” he clarified. “What kind of boondoggle junket are you going on?”
“Hey. It’s official congressional business. A bipartisan select committee from the senate and the house. A meeting with officials from South and North Korea, along with a few from Japan, China and Russia. All the major players in the region.”
Jake smiled. “I’ve done a little work in that area.”
“Really? I thought you worked in Europe.”
“Mostly. But I’ve dabbled in other regions, depending on the needs of the Agency. Sometimes it’s nice to bring in unknown players. Someone without a complete intelligence dossier.”
“Makes sense.”
They both stared at each other for a moment.
Jake broke the silence. “May I ask you a personal question?”
Reluctantly she said, “Sure.”
“You’re obviously a very attractive woman. A professional woman. Accomplished and…”
“Why am I not married? Am I a lesbian?”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger.” Jake smiled.
She hit him in the arm. Perhaps harder than she expected, because her hand felt like it hit a stone wall. Which turned her on even more, if that was possible.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She shook her hand and then tried to rub life into it. “I’m the one that’s sorry. Are you sure your arm isn’t made of titanium like your knee?”
Jake took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth, kissing it gently. “I just wondered how you had escaped all those cowboys in Montana and now the sharks in DC.”
“What about you?” she asked. “I mean, you’re reasonably attractive, in a rugged sort of way. Some women might find that appealing.” She held back a smile.
“Too many scars.”
Suddenly a voice from the end bedroom yelled out loudly, “Would you two just have sex?”
Lori put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.
“We’re doing it right now,” Jake said. Then he made all kinds of fake sex noises.
Lori took that as a sign to pretend orgasm herself, moaning and shaking the sofa.
“Ha, ha. You two are hilarious,” Tramil said. “Seriously, though. Get a room.”
Jake shook his head and smiled at her.
She got up and said, “Better hit the hay.”
“Right,” he said. “Could be a long hike out tomorrow through some thick snow.”
“And I do need my beauty rest,” she added.
“Yes, you’re such an old hag.”
Walking back to her room, she was conscious of the sway of her hips for the first time in years. Deep down she wanted Jake to follow her. Take her. But he didn’t. Unfortunately, he was a perfect gentleman.
18
It was only hours later when Jake woke, curled up on the sofa in a sleeping bag, his brain still somewhat tired. The room had chilled considerably so he immediately added wood to the fire, blew the coals to a bright orange, and watched as the flames engulfed the new fuel.
Then he got dressed in a hurry, packed his bag and woke the others in the cabin.
Glancing out the front window, Jake stared at the sun shining off the fresh snow. They must have gotten at least eighteen inches that night, which would make their hike back to the truck quite difficult.
“How does it look?” Tramil asked, coming up behind Jake.
“Beautiful but not fun to snowshoe through.”
“Your girlfriend awake?” the professor asked with a smirk.
“The congresswoman is getting dressed,” Jake said. “There are a couple of things you need to know about this place.” Jake explained the firewood supply, the generator and fuel, the backup batteries that were charged each time the generator fired up, and the food supply, which consisted mostly of dried meat, cheeses, power bars, and freeze dried meals.