Chapter 60
CHAPTER
SIXTY
Her father stood by the window when Natalie entered his office, his back to her, hands clasped behind him.
The guard deposited her inside and shut the door.
She stepped closer to her father.
“Dad, what’s happening? Where’s Timothy?” She tried to keep the panic out of her voice but couldn’t.
“Sit down, Natalie,” he called over his shoulder, his voice mellow.
“I don’t want to sit down. I want to know—”
“Sit. Down.” He turned fully toward her.
The command in his voice made her flinch.
This wasn’t her father the doting parent. This was Richard Ravenscroft the CEO, the man who commanded empires and expected obedience.
Natalie sat.
Her gaze traveled to his hand, and she saw a folder there. He opened it and placed it on the desk in front of her.
“Timothy Shaw doesn’t exist,” he said, his voice flat. “The man you’ve been dating is actually Hudson Roberts, an operative for a private military contractor called Blackout.”
Natalie stared at the photographs spilling from the folder. Hudson in tactical gear. Hudson with other armed men. Hudson in a huddle with unknown men.
Yes, she already knew who he really was. But the reminder still felt jarring at times.
She had to make a split-second decision.
Own up to the fact she knew?
Or play dumb?
Natalie swallowed hard and willed her arms not to shake.
She couldn’t just sit here thinking. She had to react. Otherwise, she’d give herself away.
“What are you talking about?” Her voice came out as a squeak.
Her father’s gaze narrowed. “I’m afraid Timothy—Hudson—has been using you to get information about me.”
“No.” She swung her head back and forth, trying to put on the show of her life. “He would never do that.”
“I’m sorry, baby girl.” His voice softened. “But he would. And he did. I’ve confirmed it.”
She stared at her father a moment before shaking her head again and looking in the distance. “I—I don’t know what to say. I need to talk to him. I need to hear this from his own lips.”
“That’s a terrible idea. I don’t want you anywhere near that man.”
“But I want to understand why he would do something like this.”
“He’s doing this because he’s investigating me.
He was using you to get close, to gather intelligence, to build a case.
” Her father moved to his desk, pulling out a small black device.
“He planted surveillance equipment in my study. Who knows what he’s found out about me, what he’s reported back to his handlers. ”
Natalie stared at the bug. She needed to play it cool. It wasn’t time to admit the truth—not yet, she decided.
Her eyes widened with fake confusion as she peered up at her dad. “Why would he investigate you?”
“Some people think I’m a terrorist.” Her father’s laugh was bitter. “They think I’m planning some kind of attack. And they sent that man”—he gestured toward Hudson’s photo—“to use you to prove it.”
“Are they right?” The question burst out before Natalie could stop it. “Dad, are you—”
“No.” Her father’s voice was firm, certain. “I’m not a terrorist. I’m a businessman who’s made powerful enemies. I have competitors who want to destroy me, who’d like to frame me for crimes I didn’t commit.”
Could that be true? Could her father be innocent?
Natalie wished she could say yes with 100 percent certainty.
But she couldn’t.
He moved closer, taking her hands in his. “Natalie, I need you to listen. The people Hudson works for are dangerous. If they think you’re compromised, if they think you know too much, you’ll become a target.”
She scrambled to come up with a response. “No, Dad. Timothy, or Hudson, wouldn’t—”
“He was using you. Everything about your relationship was a lie designed to get close to me. You were a means to an end, nothing more.” Her father’s grip tightened. “Which is why we need to leave. Now. Before his people come for you.”
His people? His people were trying to stop this terrorist attack.
Hudson wasn’t a bad guy.
Her dad needed her to think Hudson was the enemy so she’d leave with him, so he could take her somewhere safe. But leaving felt like the ultimate act of cowardice.
She should be helping stop this attack.
Her mind drifted through the faces of people she knew who would be affected.
Her assistant who was planning her wedding.
Her elderly neighbors who brought her a poinsettia every Christmas.
The woman at the coffee shop who had plans of opening her own place one day—but first she needed to raise her three young children.
All innocent people who would be harmed. Who would suffer.
How could she turn her back on them?
Natalie looked at her father—at the concern in his eyes, the protective grip on her hands, the genuine fear for her safety. This was the man who’d raised her, who’d never let anything harm her.
But she also remembered the evidence Hudson had shown her. The Dubai trip. The warehouse. The plans for “Critical Mass.”
He was involved. She couldn’t deny that any longer.
She swallowed hard before asking, “What about Hudson? What will you do with him?”
“He’ll be released once we’re safely away.”
Or he’d simply be left here to suffer the effects of the chemical attack.
She felt sick even thinking about it.
“Released?” Her voice sounded strained. “What do you mean released? What have you done with him?”
Her father’s expression softened. “He’s detained but unharmed. I’m not a monster, Natalie. But I can’t have him interfering while I’m trying to protect you.”
It sounded reasonable, like her father was the victim, not the perpetrator.
But her gut screamed that this was wrong. That her father’s explanation was too neat, too convenient.
Her father only wanted to get her away from here because there was going to be a chemical attack. In his own way, he wanted to protect her.
“I need to think.” She rubbed her temples.
“There’s no time to think. We leave in thirty minutes. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Her father left her alone in the study, and Natalie’s mind spun.
What was she going to do?
Hudson tested the zip ties for the hundredth time, ignoring the burning in his wrists where the plastic cut into his skin.
Dimitri had done his job well—the restraints were tight, the straps positioned where Hudson couldn’t reach them.
But the Russian had made one mistake: He’d secured Hudson to a wooden chair. Decades of salt air had weakened the joints.
However, Hudson would have to be careful. One wrong move, and he’d fall into the water, still bound.
That would be a possible death sentence.
But he had to take the chance.
Hudson rocked his weight, testing the chair’s structural integrity. There was a slight give in the back left leg. Not much.
But enough.
He’d been working at it for twenty minutes when he heard voices outside the boathouse. Ravenscroft’s voice sounded urgent and commanding as it carried across the lawn.
“Helicopter arrives in thirty minutes. Have the car ready. Dimitri, make sure Natalie’s bag is loaded.”
“Yes, sir. And the other matter?”
“We moved up the timeline. The shipment is now at five, not seven. We need to be gone before anyone realizes what’s happening.”
Hudson’s blood ran cold. Five o’clock. Not seven.
He had to let his team know that the timeline had been accelerated.
If he was calculating the time correctly, that still left him with two hours.
“What about your daughter’s boyfriend?” Dimitri asked.
“Leave him. By the time he’s found, we’ll be airborne. Let his people clean up their own mess. My daughter will never forgive me if I hurt him.”
Hudson supposed that should be a relief. But his muscles remained taut.
With an imminent chemical attack, this was no time to relax.
The voices faded, and Hudson renewed his efforts to escape.
The shipment was arriving early. His team would miss it. And Natalie was being taken away—not to safety, but to keep her from interfering.
He had no time to waste.