Edge of the Storm


 
 
 
 “Shawn!” Jackie yelled. “Don’t give up!”
 He blinked, as if coming out of a nightmare. Pain like he’d never experienced rushed through all his muscles. He fought to focus. Jackie lay flat on her stomach on the lake’s treacherous ice. She could plunge through right next to Shawn at any second.
 “Put both hands on my pack and don’t let go,” she ordered. She twisted slightly away from him. The momentum pulled Shawn up enough to get his elbows on top of the ice. Jackie’s back arched, and she stabbed the ice with a stick end to anchor them. “Try to climb!”
 He reached six inches past his first grasp. Jackie pulled on the stick and slid farther away. The strain it had to be causing her gave Shawn newfound strength. He would not let her die for him. Coming out of a frozen lake, threatening to pull him back in, proved to be the hardest pull-up he’d ever endured. His chest hit the ice.
 Crack...
 
 
 Edge of the Storm
 Heather Woodhaven&Tanya Stowe
 2 Thrilling Stories
 Wilderness Sabotage and Vanished in the Mountains
 
 
 
 Table of Contents
 Wilderness Sabotage by Heather Woodhaven
 Vanished in the Mountains by Tanya Stowe
 Excerpt from Alaskan Mountain Search by Sarah Varland
 
 
 Wilderness Sabotage
 Heather Woodhaven
 
 
 Heather Woodhaven earned her pilot’s license, rode a hot-air balloon over the safari lands of Kenya, parasailed over Caribbean seas, lived through an accidental detour onto a black-diamond ski trail in Aspen, and snorkeled among stingrays before becoming a mother of three and wife of one. She channels her love for adventure into writing characters who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances.
 Books by Heather Woodhaven
 Love Inspired Suspense
 Calculated Risk
 Surviving the Storm
 Code of Silence
 Countdown
 Texas Takedown
 Tracking Secrets
 Credible Threat
 Protected Secrets
 Wilderness Sabotage
 Deadly River Pursuit 
 Search and Defend 
 Alaska K-9 Unit
 Arctic Witness 
 Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
 
 
 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
 —John 15:9
 
 
 To my husband: Thank you for being my research partner and first reader. Your reactions make writing all the more enjoyable. Love you.
 
 
 Contents
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 
 
 ONE
 Jackie Dutton flipped up the back collar of her navy peacoat to brace against the bitter wind. Her boots crunched over the thick snow, hours away from Boise—hours away from any city—in the middle of the mountainous desert terrain of southern Idaho. She would do almost anything to get a story. Unfortunately, her editor used the knowledge to his advantage.
 She walked alongside Hank Swain, an older foreman whose face displayed the evidence of many years spent squinting into the sun. He led her around green and red shipping containers that unintentionally looked like Christmas decorations for the mountains. “We’re talking about a two-hundred-acre project,” Hank said, stopping next to a snowmobile. “So it’s hard to give you a proper tour, but I think I’ve shown you the basics. We finished building that control structure, but as you can see, we’ve only started on the air-cooling assembly.”
 She glanced up at what looked like fans the size of airplane engines on top of fifty-foot-high poles with metallic ladders at every corner. “These acts of sabotage must be extremely upsetting for you and your crew,” Jackie said.
 “That’s an understatement.” The foreman gestured with his hand at the damaged crane. “We specialize in building at remote sites no matter the season. It’s why we win most of our bids from government contracts, but winter weather makes the challenges harder.”
 “Isn’t this a private contract?”
 “No.” He shook his head. “We’re on federal land. Everything the McDowell Geothermal Company does is by permit and lease. Even the bid for construction had to be approved by the Bureau of Land Management.”
 From her rudimentary understanding, the geothermal plant was designed to drill down to the hot water underneath the ground and use the steam to produce electricity, making it a valuable renewable energy source—assuming the sabotage stopped long enough for them to finish building.
 Swain spun around and pointed north. “We finished the access road you drove up on before the first snow, at least, but we can’t afford to let sabotage slow us down.”
 The sun hovered low against the horizon of the surrounding foothills. Days ended even earlier up in the mountains, which meant she’d be driving in the dark if she didn’t wrap up the interview fast. “So far, your equipment and tools have been targeted. Any ideas on who wants to sabotage your efforts here?”
 He shrugged. “Off the record?”
 How was she ever supposed to get a promotion-worthy story if everything was off the record? Jackie forced a pleasant smile.
 He folded his arms against his chest. “Environmental groups get riled up every time anything is constructed. Some bird nest gets disturbed...”
 No news there. The CEO and plant manager had given her the same answer on the phone. The foreman rounded the corner of the control building and led her back to her car. Except, she couldn’t go yet. She had no story.
 “Would any of your crew be willing to talk to me?”
 He shook his head. “Even if they were, they’re on the opposite edge of the site and should have wrapped up for the day.” He gestured at his snowmobile, sitting alone. “The closest place my guys can stay is a motel thirty miles away as the crow flies past that line of trees. Would take them a couple hours if they drove it, though they get to go home to their families this weekend. Won’t be back until after Christmas.” The wind blew an extra hard