Blindsided by Hope Anika

Author:Hope Anika [Anika, Hope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hope Anika

Nineteen

Sognefjord, known as King of the Fjords, was surrounded by magnificent cliffs that rose from the sea like the giant, spiny ridges of some massive undersea creature. Some were sheer; some rolled gently, and some resembled bony knuckles covered in a thick green carpet of trees. Small, picturesque villages dotted the shoreline, and narrow inlets veered from the main fjord, mysterious, misty passageways that conjured visions of mystical lands and otherworldly creatures.

Ruby wanted to explore them all.

The landscape was stunning and surreal, unlike anything she'd ever seen. She couldn’t get enough. The mountains; the fjord; the cold, salty sea. The sound of people speaking Norwegian and Swedish; the pure, crystalline scent of the air; the taste of the ocean in every breath. It was cold, but she didn’t care.

Had she not been part of a team whose mission it was to blow a biological weapons facility to kingdom come, it would have been the vacation of her dreams.

“Something else, isn’t it?” Pete asked from where he stood beside her.

“It’s wonderful,” she told him. “I didn’t know places like this existed.”

His grey gaze studied her. “The world’s filled with amazing places.”

Travel was not something with which Ruby was experienced. Before climbing aboard Pete’s small plane, the farthest she’d ever been from home was Cleveland. In the past few days, she’d traveled nearly five thousand miles, from Ottawa to Toronto to Oslo, and beyond.

Which was just as surreal as the land around her.

She’d never considered going anywhere—other than maybe (when she was dreaming) Paris, because the thought of clapping eyes on the Mona Lisa live and in-person was damn near orgasmic—her life was in Chicago, and it had been so painstakingly built, she’d never allowed herself to want more.

Enough, she’d always told herself. This is enough.

But looking around now—

No, it isn’t.

And it never would be again. She was ruined.

“I’m not much of a believer in a higher power,” Pete said, looking out at the vast expanse of the fjord. “But this planet is an incredible piece of work. All those intricate systems interconnected in a way we still don’t understand. I’d compare it with a machine, but machines are cold. And everything about the earth is warm. Alive, vibrant. Places like this are powerful because they plug you into that vibrancy. It’s a direct connection.”

Ruby blinked at him. She and Pete, along with Mickey, had embarked that morning on one of the boat trips through the fjord offered by a local fisherman to see if they couldn’t determine which one of the narrow inlets that veered from the main channel of the fjord was the one Magnolia was using as a port for its facility. Ruby had suggested renting a small boat and investigating them, but Pete had vetoed the idea.

“We’re fish in a barrel in that inlet. They already know we’re snooping around, no use painting a target on our back. We’ll just take a leisurely boat trip with the rest of the tourists. I’ve got the GPS for the facility. Finding the inlet shouldn’t be too hard.

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