Free Cherry Adair - T-flac 06 by On Thin Ice Page B

"Too?"
    Lily rotated her neck. "Too noisy, too bright, too frenetic." She was starting to use Derekisms herself.
    After . After Sean. What did that mean?
    "Don't go too far," Matt cautioned. "You and the dogs all need sleep. And for God's sake," he said sternly, touching a gloved finger to the tip of her icy nose, "don't forget to eat something yourself!"
    "Yes, Mom." She smiled. "That chocolate will hold me for a bit." It was nice having a big brother. "Are we good to go?"
    "Yeah. Travel safe. I'll check your food bags through for you. See you at Finger Lake."
    "With bells on," Lily assured him. "Thanks." Maybe she could push on another four hours and beat the rush to the next checkpoint.
    She checked her lines one last time, hugged Matt good-bye and notified the checker she was leaving.

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    "Let's go, kids." The dogs took off as if spring-loaded. Lily laughed as the chill wind slapped her face and snow sprayed out in a rooster tail behind the sled as they headed back into the wilderness.
    It was a perfect travel night. Crisply cold, bright with moonlight, the snow packed and fast. If she could catch a few hours' sleep while mushing behind the sled she'd have it made.

    Full of beef stew, he lay against the wall of the lodge wrapped in his damp sleeping bag trying to defrost his extremities. He hadn't been that late, and it pissed him off that all the choice spots near the fire had already been taken. Losers.
    The floor was hard. He rolled over to find a more comfortable spot. There wasn't one. He wanted his own bed with an intense longing. Hell, he wanted his own bed, a fifth of scotch and a soft broad. Not necessarily in that order.
    But here he was. In the middle of fucking Nowheresville.
    She'd looked exhausted. Well, fuck! Who wasn't?
    He closed gritty eyes. Opened them again. She'd have to stop to sleep. Even as driven as she was, she'd have to fucking stop, at least to rest the dogs.
    He tossed the sleeping bag aside, glanced around the firelit room. Lumps under sleeping bags as far as the eye could see. Everyone was catching z' s. No chatting, no socializing, no watching the nonexistent fucking TV. When these assholes stopped it was necessity, not a vacation.
    It had only been one day. But what a fucking day. He was sick and tired of the noise of all these freaking damn dogs yipping and barking. He was sick of all the goddamned snow . The landscape was nothing but white and green, white and green, white and green, as far as the eye could see.
    And goddamn it, he was fucking sick of being cold all the freaking time.
    He hefted himself out of the bag and sighed. Honest to God. This cat-and-mouse game was supposed to at least afford him a little fun. But this was purgatory. He wanted to be done with it. He wasn't interested in a good time anymore. All he wanted now was the bitch dead and his ass on a nice warm plane home.
    "I hope you appreciate that I'm now going to make this quick, Lily," he said under his breath, pulling on his still-wet boots with a grimace.
    Nobody stirred as he tiptoed around the snoring, snorting, farting lumps scattered around the room.
    "Losers," he muttered under his breath as he opened the door to blackness and cold. Cold so fucking icy it felt like tiny ice picks attacking his eyeballs and freezing the snot in his nose. "Fuck Alaska."
    Five

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

    Derek slipped the handheld screen of the GPS out of his pocket. He'd had a small side bet with himself that Lily wouldn't stay at the last checkpoint for one second longer than it took to check in, get the dogs inspected and be on her way again. He'd been right on the money.
    " Get up !" he yelled out to encourage the dogs to pull harder and pick up speed. He needed to head two degrees southwest to intercept Lily. He'd detoured from the trail because of the rough terrain caused by the Ice Dog