Read Online Dark Winter by William Dietrich - Free Book Online Page A

George," coaxed another woman. Gabriella, her name was, and she was a more effective recruiter, as sensual as Dana was stolid. She was slim, dark-haired, her skin the color of butterscotch, her eyes large, and her mouth arrested in a wry curl. She moved with a self-conscious liquid grace. Not pretty like Abby so much as alluring. Dangerously so.
    "I suppose not," Lewis agreed, watching while Geller put three darts wide of the bull's-eye.
    The maintenance man was frowning at his own volley when Gabriella brought Lewis to the line. Geller gave them a knowing look. "I see you've managed to let yourself be drafted. You found this dame persuasive?"
    The woman gave Lewis a glance.
    "More so than you," Lewis allowed.
    "That isn't even a compliment," Gabriella complained.
    "I like the mascot."
    "That's no better! I hope you're more adept with darts than words!"
    In truth, Lewis had never played the game. But he was determined to socialize down here and so he threw, managing to hit the board. Then he watched as Gabriella toed the line and cocked her slim arm, the dart balanced in her fingers like a feather. She was a male magnet and knew it, reeking of femininity and pheromones. "Who is she?" he murmured to Geller as they watched.
    "Gabriella Reid, gal Friday. She does berthing, assignments, time cards, records, and all that administrative crap. Not to mention keeping men on red alert."
    "I heard that, George." She didn't seem very offended, arching her body up on her toes as she threw.
    "We call her Triple-A," Geller whispered after she threw a near bull's-eye and went out of earshot to retrieve the dart. "Anybody, anytime, anywhere."
    "Ouch."
    "She'll put out for you if you want. Looking for love in all the polar places. Easier to warm up than Ice Cream."
    "Ice Cream?"
    "Abby Dixon. We keep the ice cream here outside and it comes in so rock-hard we have to microwave it to eat it. The joke is that Dixon needs thirty seconds in the box, too."
    "She seemed friendly enough."
    "Everybody likes Abby. She's just not as friendly as our teammate there. Abby's got a boyfriend somewhere and pretends it still matters at the Pole."
    Gabriella took aim again. She could tell they were watching her, talking about her, and thrived on it.
    "Reid's really a good kid. Fun-loving. If you're looking for that kind of thing."
    "I'm still getting over altitude sickness."
    Geller laughed.
    Gabriella hit the bull's-eye again.
    "She's good," Lewis observed.
    "Coordinated," Geller said, loud enough for her to hear.
    The woman pulled the dart out. "Coordinated enough to keep my thumb out from under a hammer, which is more than I can say for you, George."
    "I know. I worship you, babe."
    "And I'm indifferent to your existence." She winked at Lewis.
    "What brings you to the Pole?" Lewis asked her.
    Gabriella considered that one more seriously. "Time. Money. Fun. It's kind of a do-over, you know?"
    "Do-over?"
    "I was in a cubicle next to three thousand co-workers and not a single real friend. None of it was real. Nothing I was doing counted. Nobody seemed genuine. There was too much… noise. So I decided to see if I could get a new start down here."
    "Quite a change."
    "I hope so. Everyone comes down here with a lot of baggage. Armor. Everyone knows they're going home. So some people are here but they're not really here, you know what I mean? You can just wait the winter out if you want to. I don't want to wait, I want to live life. Here. Now. How about you?"
    Lewis shrugged. "I guess I'm still a fingie on that one."
    "Not for long, maybe." She was flirting.
    He decided on caution. "There's some interesting personalities at the Pole."
    "Oddballs, you mean."
    "Characters. Individuals."
    "It wouldn't be worth being here if there weren't. Would it?" She held out the darts. "Your turn again."
    "And why the Pole?" Lewis asked her, toeing up to the line.
    "Because it's a powerful place. Where all lines converge. Point zero. You're on sacred ground, Jed Lewis."
    "Sacred