Winter Bounty: A Polar Task Force Thriller, Book #3 (PolarPol) by Christoffer Petersen

Author:Christoffer Petersen [Petersen, Christoffer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aarluuk Press for Arctic Noir, Action Thrillers and Greenland Crime
Published: 2023-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

LAKE SAIMAA, FINLAND

Shvets was the first to climb off the back of his snowmobile when Evelyn raised a hand for them to stop. He lit a cigarette and gestured for Etienne to join him as Evelyn scoured the ice for tracks. Etienne removed his helmet and nodded.

“She’s not American,” Shvets said, puffing a thick cloud of smoke above his head.

“Actually,” Etienne said, muffling a cough as Shvets’ smoke and the cold air caught in his lungs. “She’s more American than most.”

“Inuit?”

Etienne nodded. “Yupik, from Alaska.”

“And why is she with you?”

“She’s not with me,” Etienne said. “She’s a part of the team. A valued member of Polarpol.”

Shvets took another drag on his cigarette and then frowned. “And what is this Polarpol, eh? Is it special? And if it is, why haven’t I heard of it, eh?”

Etienne paused to zip his jacket, suddenly curious about the late afternoon light that seemed to be caught in Shvets’ eye, revealing something odd about the man, and his supposed lack of information. It was difficult for Etienne to imagine the Russian knew nothing about Polarpol, especially as Trooper First Class Vitaly Kuznetsov, from the Russian Militsiya, had been a part of the team from the beginning, until he was mysteriously recalled. But he played along, nodding as if he understood why Shvets might not have heard about the newly formed international police force.

“We’ve had some teething trouble,” Etienne said. He smiled when Shvets frowned. “Sorry,” he said. “Poor choice of words.” He tried again. “We’ve had a rough start. Polarpol got landed with some difficult assignments from the beginning.” He shrugged, adding, “We still haven’t got a full complement.”

“Of what?”

“Members from each of the Arctic states.” Etienne looked for the light in Shvets’ eyes, wondering if he really didn’t know about Vitaly. “One of the team is Russian. At least, he was, until he was recalled.”

“He was Russian?” Shvets’ eyes narrowed as he studied Etienne. “What? Did he try to defect?”

“No.” Etienne shook his head. “God, no. Vitaly is loyal to his country, and he was loyal to Polarpol, for as long as he was with us.”

“Vitaly who?”

“Kuznetsov,” Etienne said.

Shvets finished his cigarette and flicked the unfiltered butt onto the ice. “Kuznetsov? I don’t know this man.”

“Really?”

Shvets smiled and said, “Inspector, not every Russian you meet is a member of the SVR, the Foreign Intelligence Service. Some of us, even in the police department, are simple detectives, just going about our lives, trying to keep the peace. We are not all spies, no matter how much you wish it.”

“I don’t wish for that kind of thing,” Etienne said. And yet, as the glimmer of light returned to Shvets’ eyes, if only for a second, he struggled to imagine the man was merely the simple detective he professed to be.

“Ask Aliisa,” Shvets said, calling the Finnish Ylikonstaapeli over. “She knows me and what I do.”

“And what’s that?” Aliisa said as she joined them.

Shvets switched to Russian and Etienne watched the exchange, catching the same flicker of something in Aliisa’s eyes that he had seen in Shvets’.

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