Polar (Book 1): Polar Night (9 page)

Danny and Terry both jumped as they heard a woman’s voice coming from the corridor they had just vacated. They ran back to the hall and through each room, searching for the woman they had heard yell. They found nothing.

“This place is giving me the fucking creeps,” Danny said.

“You and me both.”

“Let’s hurry up and get through the rest of it. He’s gotta be hiding Maria here somewhere.”

They went back through the day room and searched the kitchen and dining area, where they found nothing out of the ordinary. As they continued their search, they came to the attached bungalow which had to be Aleksei’s living quarters. Danny felt his pulse quicken. Instinct told him this was what they were looking for.

But his instinct was wrong. They searched Aleksei’s living room, study, bedroom, guest room, and bathroom and found nothing of interest. A fire roared in the study and it was clear that Aleksei had been sitting in an old-fashioned leather arm chair in front of it and enjoying a glass of vodka when Danny and Terry had interrupted him. The half-empty glass sat on a coaster on the end table next to the chair, with a copy of the St. Petersburg Times folded haphazardly next to it.

“There’s nothing here,” Danny said. “What are we missing?”

“I think we’ve seen everything.”

“But where the hell is she?”

“I don’t think she’s here, Detective.”

Danny shook his head. “I was so god-damn sure.”

They left Aleksei’s bungalow and Danny jumped again as they heard the sound of another slamming door.

“Holy shit this place is something else,” he said.

“I’m ready to get out of here,” Terry said.

Danny nodded and the two walked briskly back toward the lobby, where they found Aleksei waiting for them.

“I trust you didn’t find anything of interest, gentlemen?” he asked.

“Why do you have a closet full of old-fashioned women’s clothes?” Danny asked, forcing himself to ignore Aleksei’s smug demeanor.

“We put on a play here sometimes in the summer. Try to recreate the asylum days. Those are some of our costumes.”

“Those clothes didn’t look like anything anyone would be wearing at an asylum.”

Aleksei shrugged. “We make do with what we can.”

“Do you only have women in this play?”

“Excuse me?”

“There weren’t any costumes for men.”

“Oh, well my cook has those. He’s away for the winter season though.”

Danny knew Aleksei was lying, and he was certain if he researched Snow Creek he’d find that a play had never once been held at the resort. But as he hadn’t found a thing to back up any of his suspicions, he had no choice but to let it go. For now, at least.

“I guess we’ve seen everything we need to see here then,” Danny said. He couldn’t deny he was anxious to get away from this creepy place and its equally creepy owner.

Danny forced himself to hold his hand out for Aleksei to shake. He flinched when he felt Aleksei’s strong, ice cold grip.

“Cold hands,” Danny said.

“So I’ve been told. A hazard of living in the Arctic, I guess.”

Danny stared at Aleksei, looking into his dark blue eyes, and felt a spine-tingling chill pass over him. He pulled his hand away, startled at the terror that had momentarily overwhelmed him. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d dealt with plenty of psychos before. But there was something different about this guy. Something really off.

“Let me know if you need anything else from me,” Aleksei said, his voice cordial. “You can always call. Fairbanks isn’t exactly a short trip from here.”

“Thanks,” Danny said. “We’ll be in touch if we have any other questions.”

“I hope you find that woman.”

Aleksei watched Danny and Terry walk back to their waiting truck, and noticed they were walking much more quickly now than when they had arrived. They moved like men in a hurry now.

Aleksei waved at Doug Matheson, and shut the door behind him. He had to admit, this had been unexpected. He’d dealt with nosy cops before, but not any that seemed to know about two of his guests. He knew the Irish detective had highlighted Anna’s name on purpose.

Aleksei locked up the lobby and headed back towards his living quarters. He wasn’t really worried, as the cops had found nothing and would probably be out of his hair now. Most likely, Fitzpatrick was merely some stiff who had stumbled on the fact that Anna and Maria had both been to Snow Creek. Beyond that, he had nothing to go on. Aleksei knew he had covered his tracks. He always did.

Still, if this cop kept sniffing around he’d have to do something. He wouldn’t have his winter ruined. If the cop came back, he’d get rid of him. That wouldn’t be a problem.

Aleksei knew exactly how to get rid of people.

Chapter 20

“I’m telling you, there’s something
wrong with this guy,” Danny said.

He had called Tessa from the Coldfoot hanger while he was waiting for the pilot to prep the plane.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. But something sure as hell is. He gave me the fucking creeps. Gave Terry the creeps too. The whole place, Tessa. It’s like a god-damn haunted house.”

“Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be?”

“Yeah but you don’t expect those things to really be haunted, do you? I didn’t think we’d be hearing all kinds of shit while we were looking around. I thought I was going fucking nuts.”

“But you didn’t find anything?”

“No. God-dammit, I didn’t find a damn thing. Except that Anna and Maria were both there, but we already knew that. And we found a closet full of costumes that were fucking strange, but he had a cover story for them.” Danny sighed. “I kept trying to get a reaction from the guy, but he didn’t miss a beat. He was like a damn robot, saying all the right things, showing concern, insisting he didn’t know anything about Maria’s disappearance..”

“Isn’t it possible that he really doesn’t know anything?”

“Sure it’s possible. I told you I didn’t find shit. But I know there’s something there. I’m telling you…”

“I know,” Tessa said, interrupting him. “There’s something off about him. I believe you. I just don’t know what we can do, Danny.”

Danny shook his head. He wasn’t lying when he said he had been freaked out by the hallway lined with cells and the strange noises echoing around the building. He had no trouble believing there were ghosts there. And he already spent more than enough time with ghosts. Had he just imagined Aleksei’s strangeness?

“Just get home now,” Tessa said in her best mothering voice. “You need to get out of there.”

“I will. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

The pilot called to Danny and Terry that the plane was ready and the two of them quickly boarded. They both agreed they were anxious to leave this barren place behind.

As the plane took off and flew through the snow, Danny couldn’t stop thinking about Aleksei Nechayev, his deathly cold hands, and his cobalt blue eyes with their unflinching gaze. Danny had been around more rapists, murderers, kidnappers, and general human garbage than he could count, and none of them had ever given him the chills. None of them had caused him to feel a rush of terror that took him completely by surprise and floored him.

He leaned his head back on the seat and tried to figure out what was so different about Nechayev. Unbidden, his mind drifted back to Amanda Fiske. She had described her attacker as unusually tall and blond, with dark blue eyes that were filled with evil.

Danny
frowned, remembering how his mother used to warn him that drinking too much alcohol would addle the brain. Maybe he had finally done it and his brain was addled. What else could explain where his mind was now going?

Addled brain or not, he couldn’t deny what was now suddenly so obvious. Amanda Fiske may be crazy, but her description of her attacker had been spot on.

She had described Aleksei Nechayev.

Chapter 21

Aleksei settled into his leather armchair
and sipped his glass of vodka. He didn’t want to admit it, but the Irish detective had left his nerves on edge. He knew he could deal with him if needed, but he didn’t want it to come to that. He was angry that his winter had been disturbed and his home had been violated. His plans were important to him and they didn’t include dealing with a nosy cop.

He was angry at himself that he had probably showed too much of the real Aleksei to Danny Fitzpatrick.
He hadn’t been able to resist giving the jackass a glimpse of the monster inside him when he shook his hand. He’d wanted to frighten the man and he knew he had succeeded. But when he thought about it now, he knew he had let his anger at Fitzpatrick’s intrusion get the better of him. After so many years of perfecting his human cover, he never should have allowed that kind of a slip. It had been fun to give the detective a scare, but it had also been stupid, and he’d probably managed to pique Fitzpartick’s interest even more.

He put his feet up on the ottoman in front of him and rested his head on the back of his chair. He considered visiting his guest, but he wasn’t ready for her yet. It wasn’t time. The cop’s interference made keeping to his schedule even more important. He needed to stick with what he could control.

The reminder that his guest was totally under his control brought a small smile to his lips. There was no reason his winter couldn’t still go on as planned. The cop was nothing more than an irritating fly who needed to be swatted away.

He needed to forget about the cop for tonight. And about his guest. And, about everything here in December, 201
2. He wanted another December. The most important one of his very long life.

He took another sip of vodka, and closed his eyes. In his mind, the present had already drifted away. In his mind, he was back in a decidedly different December.

It was 1916, and Aleksei felt nothing but cold and pain. He had no idea where he was, or how long he had been there. The last thing he remembered was being stationed at the front outside Petrograd. The sound of cannon fire was overwhelming and then suddenly everything had gone quiet. And dark.

He was lying on a cot now and staring at a flimsy grey ceiling that seemed to be flapping in the wind. Was it a tent? He had no idea. But whatever it was, it didn’t provide any warmth for the freezing room. He tried to sit up and find a blanket, but he was unable to move a muscle. The pain was simply too much.

As if by magic, she appeared next to his cot, holding a threadbare blanket in her arms. She unrolled the blanket and spread it over his shaking body.

“
This was the best one I could find for you,” she said. “I know you’re terribly cold.”

He opened his mouth to say thank you, but no sound came from his lips. Instead, a searing pain filled his throat.

“
You don’t have to speak,” the woman said. She sat down on the cot next to him and produced a canteen from her apron. “Here, take a bit of water.”

She held the canteen to his lips, and he winced as the water touched his parched throat. It was painful to swallow, but the water brought relief. He tried to take more, but she pulled the canteen away from him.

“
I can’t give you too much right now,” she said. “This is all we have. I need to conserve it.”

Aleksei blinked and stared up at the woman, who remained on the side of his cot. She had long yellow hair pulled back from her face, and wore a dirty white apron over her blue dress. She clasped a tattered fur cape around her shoulders in an attempt to stay warm. In spite of her thin, drawn face and the circles under her blue eyes, Aleksei was sure she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was an angel.

“
I’m Natasha,” she said. “I’m your nurse. Do you know where you are?”

Aleksei shook his head no.

“You’re in the field hospital in Petrograd. You were wounded at the front but we’re caring for you now.” She patted his hand. “You’ll be alright. Try to relax now. Pасслабьтесь”

Aleksei lifted his head from his pillow and glanced around the room. There were more cots than he could count, jammed together and filled with fellow soldiers. Some moaned in agony, others wer
e so still and silent Aleksei wondered if they were still alive.

“You’ll be alright,” Natasha said again as she pulled the blanket around his shoulders. “If I can find another blanket, I’ll bring it to you.”

Aleksei tried again to respond, but was interrupted by a scream and a commotion from across the room. A man yelled in pain, and knocked over a table filled with medical instruments. Natasha jumped up from her cot.

“
I have to help that poor thing,” she said. She patted Aleksei’s hand again. “I’ll be back to check on you.”

He watched her walk from his cot and wanted to yell for her not to go, to come back, to stay with him. Outside of the pain and the cold and the hunger, he felt something far worse. He felt fear. He knew Natasha’s insistence that he would be alright was just her attempt to comfort him. He knew it wasn’t true. He was going to die and he knew it. And he was afraid.

He didn’t want to die alone.