Race Against Time: A Novel Read online

  Praise for Race Against Time

  Kudos to Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse for their spine-tingling novel Race Against Time. This mother-daughter team has proven once again that they’ve got the goods when it comes to action-packed stories. Highly recommended!

  —Janice Hanna Thompson, author of Hello Hollywood!

  Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse rocket out of the gate with another winner. Laden with compelling characters and an intense plot, Race Against Time pulls the reader through rapid-fire encounters with intrigue, danger, and deadly trails. There is also a beautiful innocence in the Woodhouse’s craft that is unlike any other. Race Against Time is a solid read—one you can’t afford to miss!

  —Ronie Kendig, author of Nightshade, Digitalis, and Wolfsbane

  Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse are a potent combination, delivering riveting storytelling and poignant insights into the human condition. Exhilarating, heart-felt, and well written, Race Against Time takes readers on a journey long remembered after the last page is turned.

  —James L. Rubart Bestselling author of Rooms, Book of Days, and The Chair

  Kim and Kayla Woodhouse make an amazing team as co-writers. Their love of God and writing shines in their work, and I can’t wait to read their next novel. I highly recommend their books to readers of all ages who enjoy intrigue, family interaction and heart-warming fiction.

  —Tracie Peterson, best-selling, award-winning author of more than ninety-five books, including the Striking a Match and Song of Alaska series

  Praise for No Safe Haven

  Non-stop action from an unforgettable mother/daughter team.

  Brandilyn and Amberly Collins, coauthors of the award-winning Rayne Tour Series

  No Safe Haven is a page-turner on several levels—adventure, excitement, and compelling characters. But I’m fascinated that it was written by a mother and her teenage daughter, and that the young character in the book suffers with the same disorders that Kayla Woodhouse has. That gave it more texture and urgency and made it difficult to put down. I look forward to seeing more from these authors.

  —Terri Blackstock, author of Intervention and Predator

  No Safe Haven is a nail-biting delight of a romantic suspense novel. I loved the Alaskan setting and characters. The Woodhouse writing duo is dynamite!

  —Colleen Coble, author of The Lightkeeper’s Ball and the Rock Harbor series

  No Safe Haven is a remarkable book that grips you from page one and doesn’t let go. Romance, suspense, intrigue—Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse have crafted a book that has it all. You won’t be able to put this one down!

  —Jenny B. Jones, award-winning author of Save the Date and A Charmed Life series

  No Safe Haven explodes onto the suspense scene with an intensity and energy that only Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse can create. What a compelling look into daily lives—with a burst of excitement and adrenaline—of these powerhouse ladies. No Safe Haven is a page-turner you don’t want to miss. I’m so impressed—and a huge fan!!

  —Ronie Kendig, author of Nightshade and Digitalis

  Copyright © 2011 by Kimberley Woodhouse and Kayla R. Woodhouse

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America

  978-1-4336-7117-3

  Published by B&H Publishing Group,

  Nashville, Tennessee

  Dewey Decimal Classification: F

  Subject Heading: MYSTERY FICTION ALASKA—FICTION SLED DOG RACING—FICTION

  Authors represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80920, www.alivecommunications.com.

  Scripture quotations or paraphrases are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). All rights reserved.

  Publisher’s Note: The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 • 15 14 13 12 11

  DEDICATION

  From Kim:

  To Deanna Chang, for hitting me over the head. Literally. I deserved it.

  You were right. Yes, you heard me. And without you, I never would’ve tried.

  Thank you, friend.

  And to Kayla, precious girl. Sure do love you. I love how much God is teaching me through you. What an honor and privilege to write with you. Love you more.

  From Kayla:

  To God be the glory. Now and always.

  To Daddy, thanks for being the most awesome-est dad ever. I love you mostest. Plus infinity and beyond.

  I win.

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Word Glossasry

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Dear Reader

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First and foremost, we’d like to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of Your love and sacrifice, we have the hope and joy of eternity with You. Thank You. We want to glorify God in all that we do.

  Jeremy—husband to Kim and dad to Kayla. You are the best. Thanks for your support, encouragement, love, and prayers. We love you so much.

  Josh—son to Kim and brother to Kayla. Often the quiet and unsung hero, we wouldn’t be able to do all this without you. We love you!

  Karen Ball—again, we can’t express how brilliant you are and how blessed we are to have you as an editor and, more important, friend. Thank you for suggesting we write together. We love it. Thank you for challenging us, teaching us, and bringing out the very best in our writing. You’re amazing. Just sayin’.

  Ronie Kendig—fellow author, dear friend, and crit partner. We praise God for bringing you into our lives. Here’s to many more years (and books!) of phone calls, visits, book signings, brainstorming, Bible study, and blessed friendship.

  Julie Gwinn—what a blessing to work with you. You always have such great ideas! Thank you. Especially for all your understanding when times are crazy.

  Diana Lawrence—for your beautiful covers. Thank you so much for listening to all our opinions and ideas and bringing forth a great design.

  Karen Vincler—for allowing us to use you as Anesia on the cover. It’s beautiful.

  Lydia Vincler—for taking the wonderful picture of Karen. Thank you so much for sharing!

  Greg Pope—the book trailers for No Safe Hav
en and Race Against Time are amazing. We’ve heard from so many people who are captivated because they watch one of the trailers. Well done. You are a master.

  Our B&H Family—thank you. You’ve poured a lot into us and we know there are so many behind the scenes at work. Thank you. Thank you.

  Callis Family—The Naltsiine Kennels would not have come to life on the page without you. Thank you for taking the time to teach us all about sprint racing and for answering all our crazy phone calls. We can’t wait to see you all again! Give the dogs some love from us. (And thanks for allowing us to use some of your unique dog names.)

  Tammy and Katie Vachris and Holly Morookian—we love you all so very much. Thanks for extra Alaska expertise and for being part of the fam. We treasure you.

  The Country Café in North Pole—wish we lived closer so we could eat there all the time! Thank you for being so generous with us and treating us like family.

  Terri Nelson at North Pole Police Department—Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I know time is precious with the important, life-saving work that you all do. And to all at the North Pole Police Department. Thank you.

  Brigadier General (Ret.) Lane Killen—Wow. Thanks for help once again with all the military “stuff”—and thanks for all the years of prayer and support. We’ll never forget OCF Bible study and Colonel Freimark and y’all teaching us the ranks all those years ago.

  And to our other two military sources who have to remain anonymous for security reasons—thank you. Your input was invaluable.

  Wanda Uballe and Melissa Conatser at Hotel North Pole—we had the greatest experience with you all at the hotel. Thank you for taking great care of us, helping us with research, and allowing us to use it all in Race Against Time. It’s been a privilege to get to know you both. Thank you.

  Carrie Kintz—crazy friend extraordinaire. Thanks for writing discussion questions (for ALL my books so far!), helping with marketing, reading, critting, and most of all, thanks for your precious, precious friendship. Love you much!

  Lori Healy—friend, assistant, PR person, encourager, and much, much more. Thank you for sticking with us all these years. You’ve learned how to keep up and jump in to just about every insane experience we have and help us with it all. You are wonderful and we love you dearly.

  Darcie Gudger, Becca Whitham, Sally McPherson, Shelly Ring—critters. Thanks for taking the time to read! Especially in the crunch times. Whew. We’re blessed to have you with us. Darcie, thanks for helping with the discussion questions as well.

  The Ahtna Heritage Foundation and Dr. John Smelcer—Thank you for all you do to preserve the Ahtna language.

  David and Lori Phelps and family—you all are precious to us. Thank you.

  The amazing people at Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. You all rock. Thanks again.

  And last, but definitely not least, you, our wonderful readers. Thank you for investing a part of your lives in our story and in this book. We love to hear from you!

  WORD GLOSSARY

  These are the Ahtna words used in Race Against Time, with the pronunciation (in the brackets) and their definition. Enjoy!

  Anesia [A-knee-shuh]

  C’gaaya [Kay-Guy-ah]—Bear cub

  Deltlaagi [dell-tlaw-gee]—Clock, watch

  Kon’ [kon] (C,L)—Fire

  łic’ae [thick-a]—Dog

  Naltsiine [Nall-chee-neh]—Down from the sky clan

  Natsagga [nat-sag-ga] (M)—Smoked salmon strips

  Sabiile’ [sa-beel-eh]—Rainbow

  Saeł [sath]—Box

  Syats’ea [soo-yats-eh]—Niece

  Ts’ede’ [ched-ah](C,U)—Blanket

  Udzih [yoo-jee]—Caribou

  -yats’e’e [oo-yats-eh]—Daughter (woman’s daughter)

  Yanlaey [yan-lay]—Clouds; overcast

  PROLOGUE

  ANESIA

  Eve of World Championships

  Sprint Dog Racing

  Anchorage, Alaska

  4:26 p.m.

  The word lose didn’t exist in Anesia Naltsiine’s vocabulary.

  Liquid sloshed over the rim of Thunder’s bowl and, in seconds, turned to ice. Anesia leaned down to her prized racing dog and checked his paws, then broke a piece of frozen water off the edge.

  How appropriate. The chill in the air matched the one in her heart.

  For thirteen years she’d raised her daughter, Zoya. For thirteen years she’d raced her heart out over the snow and built her kennel up to the prestige it held today. For thirteen years . . .

  She’d been alone.

  If only Dan—

  Her braid whipped against her face as she shook her head. Cut it out. World Championships were tomorrow. And she’d keep her thoughts on that if it killed her.

  Every major championship the past five years had her name at the top. She owned this race. She owned a good and decent legacy to pass down to her daughter.

  Rubbing the heads of her dogs as she passed each one, Anesia visualized the race. The snow. Her dogs. The sled. When she closed her eyes, she could feel the wind freezing her face as the dogs flew over the snow. She could hear them yip and yap and feel the runners under her feet. She lived and breathed racing. Other than Zoya, it was the one thing that made her feel alive.

  Anesia popped another Atomic Fireball into her mouth and checked the gear for tomorrow. The hot and spicy cinnamon burned her tongue. Over the years she’d tried to break the habit of sucking on the red jawbreakers as she raced. Far too often she almost choked on one when her sled hit a bump. Or when one of the curves jolted her. Then there was the time her best friend’s husband, Marc, threatened to take a picture and send it to the paper.

  But she wouldn’t give them up. The spicy balls of fire were her good luck charm.

  The press loved the shot Marc took of her flying down the trail on her sled. Her dogs all appeared to be in midair, her hood and hair whipped back by the wind. An exultant expression filled her face.

  And red drool streaked down her chin from both corners of her mouth.

  The shot ran on the front page. In full color. Marc and Jenna never let her live it down, and yet she continued the crazy ritual.

  Marc and Jenna. How many times had Anesia longed for that same kind of love? Even felt jealousy over the relationship they shared?

  Guilt flooded her heart as she pictured Jenna.

  Alone.

  Marc died almost a year ago.

  Anesia wanted to be there for Jenna. She did. But her heart often betrayed her and still longed for a companion—a husband—of her own.

  A tidal wave of loneliness washed over her. Might as well be honest with herself. She longed to be loved again. Longed to find someone special.

  A sharp, stabbing pain to her midsection made her catch her breath. She pushed it, and her morose thoughts, away. She had no right to feel sorry for herself. She had Zoya. Her beautiful, bright daughter.

  She had her kennel. And all her dogs.

  She had Jenna and her daughter, Andie.

  The ache intensified. Maybe she’d pushed too hard. She must be tired.

  Needed to focus.

  Win the race.

  Then she’d take a break.

  She and Zoya could take some time off from home school and enjoy the spring. Besides, Andie’s one-year anniversary of her brain surgery was coming up. As soon as the Tikaani-Grays returned from the one-year checkup with the neurosurgeon, they’d celebrate. Maybe planning would help take her mind off the conflict and desire churning inside her.

  She nodded to confirm her decision. No more selfish thoughts. Zoya needed her. Her dogs needed her. Jenna and Andie needed her.

  Her life was full.

  And it was going great. No time for loneliness. Beside
s, she’d made a vow. Never, ever repeating past mistakes.

  Squashing down the yearning inside, she gathered a few dogs in her arms and closed her eyes again. Pictured herself racing tomorrow . . .

  Cheers from fans cascade over her like a warm blanket as she passes the marker at the mid-way turnaround and her body turns with the sled . . . The race passes by in a blur . . . A smile splits her lips as she crosses the finish line and raises her fist in the air in answer to the roaring crowd. Once again the champion.

  And desperately alone.

  CHAPTER ONE

  ZOYA

  Ten Months Later

  January 2

  Outside North Pole, Alaska

  1:12 p.m.

  Trees and the soft blanket of pure white snow zoomed past. I took a deep breath and caught the smell of fresh forest wilderness. The trees, the snow, the breeze.

  Everything seemed so . . . perfect. As always.

  The Painkiller Litter ran with everything in them. We flew down the trail. I could hear the harnesses rattle, the dogs panting, birds chirping.

  I smiled. My sled slithered and slid across the pristine paleness, my hands gripping the fiberglass handle.

  Out here I was free. Free from school, free from anything that stressed me. In this beautiful escape I was free to fly. Fly like the wind, and not worry about anything.

  Thank You, God. I smiled and giggled at the dogs’ antics. Silly łic’ae. “Stop clowning around or you’ll get tangled.”

  Morphine looked back at me, mischief in his eyes.

  I rotated my shoulders.

  Sore. How could I be sore when the Junior Championships were still weeks away?