Ward was stepping in from the kitchen, a bottle of Corona in each hand. He handed one to Beaman and took a healthy swig out of his before he answered, “Ellen found it. The one drawback is the commute to the pier. It’s an hour by car. About the same by bicycle, my transportation of choice when the weather permits.”

Beaman laughed. “You haven’t changed a bit since you lucked into this cushy assignment. Always working out. What you training for now? Some triathlon?”

“Oh, the triathlon season here doesn’t start for another couple of months. Right now I’m getting ready for the Shamrock Marathon.” Ward winked. “If you want to, we could go for a run before dinner.”

Beaman chuckled. The two men had competed through innumerable races when they both served in San Diego. Neither was sure who had beaten the other more often, but the competition was always fierce, yet friendly.

“Naw, in the morning maybe. Tonight, all I want is some cold beer and Ellen’s good cooking.” He toasted Ward with the Corona. Enticing smells drifted out from the kitchen and he could hear Ward’s wife singing softly back there. “You are one lucky son of a bitch. You know that, don’t you?”

Ward grinned, returned the toast, and plopped down on the couch next to his old friend. They both stared into the fire for a few minutes, listening to its pleasant sizzling, popping, and crackling.

The first bits of sleet were beginning to tap against the large picture window. Pleasant as it was in here, it was already a nasty night out there.

Ward broke the silence. “Bill, why the hell are you on this mission in the first place? Aren’t you a little senior to be traipsing around the tundra?”

Beaman took a swallow of beer before he answered. He deliberately used his little finger to shove the lime in the bottle’s neck back down into the amber liquid. “Tom Donnegan called and asked me if I’d lead the team in. You know as well as I do that you don’t say no to Admiral Donnegan. I guess he trusts me and my guys after that little run-in we had down in Colombia. From all I’ve seen so far, this deal should be a cakewalk after that one.”

Ward grunted. He remembered how tough that drug interdiction mission had been on Beaman. Half his team had been killed in a vicious ambush and the rest badly mauled.