Chapter 37
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
After work, Hudson drove Natalie back to her house. The black sedan with the two security agents maintained its discreet distance three cars behind.
He had to get rid of them.
He pulled into her driveway and grabbed his overnight bag from his trunk. They’d need to maintain the appearance that he was staying close, protecting her. Thankfully he’d brought a variety of clothes—business casual as well as a suit.
He needed something suitable for dinner with Richard Ravenscroft—the kind of outfit a consultant boyfriend would wear to impress his girlfriend’s powerful father.
The house felt different as they walked inside. Blemished.
Hudson sensed Natalie’s tension as she moved through the rooms. Her eyes lingered on the couch cushions, the bookshelf, the stairs leading to her bedroom.
Someone had been here. Someone had touched her things, invaded her space, and searched through her life.
And Hudson still didn’t know why.
“I’m going to change.” Tension threaded through Natalie’s voice. “You can use the guest bathroom. You know where it is.”
She disappeared upstairs before he could respond.
Hudson went into the guest bathroom and changed quickly, pulling on dark slacks and a button-down shirt, the kind of outfit Timothy Shaw would wear to make a good impression.
As he buttoned his shirt, Hudson caught his reflection in the mirror over the dresser. He looked like a civilian. Like a consultant boyfriend nervous about meeting his girlfriend’s father.
But his eyes told a different story. They held the wariness of someone walking into a potential trap, the calculation of an operative assessing threats, and the tension of a man who knew tonight could go catastrophically wrong.
Because that was what this dinner really was—a trap waiting to spring.
Hudson just didn’t know yet who had set it.
Before leaving the bathroom, Hudson checked his phone.
Jake would be tailing them. Atlas was already in position near Ravenscroft’s estate. Maverick was monitoring communications from a van disguised to look like a communications company vehicle. Colton and Ty were at headquarters, ready to coordinate if things went sideways.
They had backup. They had contingency plans. They had every advantage careful preparation could provide.
But Hudson had learned long ago that no amount of planning could account for every variable. Sometimes operations went wrong simply because human beings were unpredictable.
And Richard Ravenscroft was one of the most unpredictable variables Hudson had ever encountered.
He closed his eyes a moment and tried to steady himself.
God, I need wisdom tonight. Help me see clearly, speak carefully, protect Natalie even when she doesn’t want my protection. And please—please let us find the truth before innocent people die.
The prayer felt inadequate, but it was all he had.
Hudson opened his eyes and checked his weapon—secured in an ankle holster, hidden but accessible.
Tonight could change everything. He could gather the intelligence they needed to stop Critical Mass.
Or he could blow the entire operation and put Natalie in more danger than she’d ever been in before.
In a few minutes, they would head toward Richard Ravenscroft’s estate.
Toward answers.
Toward danger.
Toward whatever truth was waiting at the end of this web of lies.