Chapter Nine
Ren woke up to a sleeping Natalie sprawled all over him again. She’d been that way most of the night. It hadn’t taken long after she’d finally fallen into an exhausted slumber, secure in the knowledge that the windows and doors were as locked as they could be, before she’d snuggled into him.
He should’ve pushed her away, rolled over, hell, gone and slept on the couch.
Curling her lithe body next to his while they both slept didn’t do anything to advance the mission—she was asleep, so it wasn’t affecting her.
And if their closeness didn’t advance the mission, then it shouldn’t have interested Ren at all.
But damned if he’d been able to let her go all night.
He eased away from her now as dawn approached. He needed to go out, make the call to Omega, finalize plans.
Plans that were even murkier than they’d been when they’d started two days ago. Everything he learned about Natalie just made him more confused. He’d been so sure she was working with Freihof. But the calluses on her hands didn’t lie.
The fear on her features last night, the panic at the thought of not being able to lock the doors and windows, didn’t lie, either.
But none of that gave Ren actionable intel. So he wasn’t sure how to play this with her.
Even worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to play this at all. If time wasn’t such a factor—with those damned biological warfare canisters—Ren would probably remove himself from the picture entirely. Obviously he was losing his objectivity when it came to her.
He looked down at her sleeping form, how she’d curled protectively into herself, even in sleep. As if her mind knew some sort of attack might be coming.
But from who?
Ren found a pen and paper and wrote that he’d be back soon and laid it on the bed where she would see it. He didn’t want her waking up and thinking someone had gotten in the cabin because the door was no longer barred. She might wake up and not be thinking clearly at first.
He wiped a hand across his face as he realized that he wasn’t just concerned—again—about the damage that might do to the mission. He was concerned about the damage it might do to her psyche.
He had to get his damned head in the game.
Grabbing the knife and fishing poles, he moved quietly out the door and made his way deeper into the forest away from the cabin.
He came up to the river a few minutes later and cast a pole with a fly lure—might as well try to catch some protein to go with the canned food—then used a specially made cell signal booster to call Steve Drackett.
“Ren. Good to hear from you. How’s camping?”
“We made it to the cave and then the cabin on schedule. Rest of the team make it safely from the crash site?”
“Yep. No problem, although now Philip Carnell is convinced he wants to work undercover full-time.”
Ren chuckled. “That would at least get him out of your hair.” Philip was known for his surliness and inability to play well with others. “Let him terrorize some criminals instead of your agents.”
“Definitely something to consider. How’s it going with Natalie? She give you anything useful yet?”
“Honestly, no, nothing. She hasn’t panicked about not being able to make contact and wasn’t interested in using my phone to try to call anyone.”
Steve gave some sort of disgruntled sigh. “So what’s your plan? Threats? Friendship? Seduction? Before you choose, there’s been some developments you need to know about.”
“What?”
“For one, Sean and Theresa Baxter.”
“Why do those names sound familiar?” He knew he should be able to place them.
“They were the names on the deed of the Santa Barbara house where Natalie was staying. We were looking into them as a possible front.”
“What did you find?” Ren asked.
“They definitely weren’t a front. Were actually real-life people who legitimately purchased the house in 2003.”
Ren didn’t like how Steve was phrasing this. “Were?”
“They were both found murdered at a resort bungalow in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, last night. Brutally. Tortured.”
Ren’s curse was nothing short of foul. Just when he thought he was closer to getting a handle on things. “What the hell does that mean, Steve? Tying up loose ends? An enemy of Freihof’s trying to get information?”
Could Natalie have ordered their deaths before she left to make sure they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone anything about her? Not just killed, but tortured?
“We’ve been running info on the Baxters all night and haven’t found anything to suggest they were linked to Freihof or Natalie in any way. Nothing.”
“Which we both know doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Not with a criminal of Freihof’s caliber.”
“True,” Steve replied before they both dropped into silence. “So what’s your plan?” Steve repeated.
“Until what you just told me, I was beginning to think that Natalie might be completely innocent in all this. A victim, like Brandon and Andrea said.”
“But we can’t deny that no one knew she was running except us and her. No one would know to tie up loose ends like the Baxters.”
“Exactly. Plus, Lillian said Natalie mentioned Atlanta when she was trying to buy a bus ticket. That can’t be a coincidence that it’s Freihof’s last known whereabouts.” Ren ran a hand over his face. “Did you discover anything new about those office buildings she went to every day? That bar?”
“As far as we can tell, all the companies in both buildings are clean. Maybe some minor tax stuff, but nothing that would put them on any radars. If Natalie was using one as a front, she was damn good at it. And the bar has been family-owned for generations. I have no idea what she was doing there.”
Ren thought of the calluses on her hands again. He didn’t know, either. And he was afraid the truth was going to make this mission even less simple.
“What does your gut say about her, Ren?” Steve finally asked when he didn’t say anything. “You and I have been in the spy game for a long time. I would take your gut instinct over some incomplete intel any day.”
What did his gut say? His gut said he was already too compromised to make an impartial judgment when it came to Natalie.
That every time he looked into those endless blue eyes, it seemed impossible that she could be mixed up with Freihof.
That she couldn’t be a killer or be collaborating with someone who was.
But his gut also told him that those baby-blues, that tragic smile, even the panic, could all be part of a very specific ploy to fool him.
That she could’ve been trained by Freihof for years on how to best manipulate a law enforcement agent.
God knew there was no better teacher than Freihof when it came to exploitation.
“My gut says I need more time,” he finally told Steve. “I need to be able to dig deeper into her and pick her apart.”
“We don’t have a lot of time. There’s been another development.”
Not what Ren wanted to hear. “What?”
“Because of the canisters, Homeland Security is breathing down my neck. They want to assume control of the op and take Natalie into custody.”
“You know if they do that she’ll be treated like a hostile subject and terrorist enemy of the United States.
” It would be illegal to torture her, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make her incarcerated time extremely uncomfortable.
“We don’t have enough intel yet to even suggest she’s guilty or knows anything about Freihof. ”
“That’s what I told them and convinced them that you getting her cooperation voluntarily would be not only more efficient, but humane. Especially if she really is innocent in all this.”
“How long can you hold them off?”
“Five days at the max, Ren. And that’s with calling in every favor I have. If you don’t walk into Riverton in five days, they’re coming in to take her.”
“And if I come out with no answers but Natalie’s agreement to cooperate with the media blitz plan?”
“They don’t like it,” Steve said. “But they’ve agreed. As long as we’re taking measurable steps forward.”
A fish bit at one of the fishing lines and Ren leaned down to reel it in, but it had gotten away. Fitting. “Do you have everything set on your end for when we come out five days from now?”
“Yes. We’ll have every major news outlet waiting in Riverton to cover the huge story of two lost hikers finding their way out of the wilderness. That tiny Colorado town will be packed with media, I promise. We’ll spin the romance angle. It’ll work.”
Ren recast the line back out into the stream. “It’s got to be big. Big enough for Freihof to hear about it wherever he is. If she doesn’t know where he is, this will get him to come to us.”
“Barring some international incident the news has to cover, we’ll make sure this is top priority. That it goes viral. But, Ren, it won’t work if she comes out all angry and refuses to get in front of the camera.”
“She won’t. I’ll get her cooperation.” He said it with a great deal more assurance than he felt.
“Like, you know, Brandon and Andrea both think she’s innocent. They think that if you’re honest with her, tell her about the canisters and what Freihof could do with them, that she’ll help you.”
Ren wanted to believe it. But he also knew that if he believed it and he was wrong, a lot of innocent people would die. Like it or not, Natalie was their best chance to catch Freihof, either by her telling them how he could be located or by using her as bait to draw him out.
“You’ve got five days to figure out the best way to use her,” Steve continued.
Ren couldn’t help his wince at the word use, even though he knew Steve was right. The softness of the woman he’d held in his arms the last two nights was secondary to what she could provide as an asset. Ren had to steel himself against any sort of tenderness toward her.
That was what he was known for, right? Getting the job done. Getting what he needed by any means necessary. Feelings had nothing to do with stopping a killer.
Ren could feel the darkness, the shadows he’d lived and fought in for so long, wrap around him a little more tightly. Another little piece of his soul gone.
“Five days,” he said to Steve. “I’ll have what we need. Just be ready.”
The sound of cracking branches in the distance had him turning and slipping the phone into his jacket pocket. A few moments later Natalie came into view.
“Hi.” She rushed in, then stopped, breathing a little hard.
She was back in her jeans and sweater, the sleeping bag wrapped around her again.
She looked around, then took a few steps closer.
“I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. And then it sounded like you were talking to someone and I got excited.”
Damn it. “I was talking to someone.” He smiled, then jerked his head toward the river. “This damn fish. Trying to coerce him onto my hook.”
Ren swallowed a curse as her eyes narrowed like she didn’t quite believe him. He let go of the rod and closed the distance between them until they were only a couple of feet from each other.
“I thought you’d sleep longer and not witness the lunacy that runs in my family in the form of talking to fish.”
“I’m normally an early riser.” She looked at the river, then back at him. “You were really talking to the fish?”
How much had she heard? “Did you hear what I was saying?”
“No.”
He stepped closer. He had to get her mind off this, and there was only one way he knew how. “I was telling the fish I needed to catch him so I could take him back to the beautiful woman I found draped over my body again this morning.”
“I was?” That flush. Damn, it was so adorable.
He reached out and grabbed the edges of the sleeping bag, pulling her closer. “You were. And just like yesterday I didn’t mind it at all.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep doing that... I just—I mean...”
He brought his lips down to hers, stopping her words.
The kiss was supposed to be a distraction. A way to stop her thinking about having heard him talking. Light. Fun. Hint of sweet flirtation and possible promise of more.
But the moment their lips touched every agenda he had vanished. What he meant to be sweet and soft immediately turned heated. Scorched air filled his lungs as she gave a little gasp at the attraction that crackled and danced around them.
He took complete possession of her mouth.
There was no other word for it. His fingers slipped from the grip he had on the sleeping bag to slide around her back, wrapping low around her hips.
The fingers of his other hand wound into the hair at the base of her neck, anchoring her in place so he could kiss her more deeply.
And he did. Over and over. Taking her mouth with a need he hadn’t even known could exist, especially not in a situation like this. He moved her back against a large tree, pulling her closer as her arms entwined around his neck.
It was her soft sigh of something close to wonder that brought him back to reality.
What the hell was he doing? That kiss had left the distracting-her-from-almost-catching-him category within the first three seconds and had gone straight to...
Hell if he knew.
He stepped back, giving him some much needed distance, and found her clear blue eyes blinking up at him as if she couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.
Know the feeling, Peaches.
He gave her a smile and moved away, trying—way too late—to make this more casual. And fighting the fear that this was going to leave them both bloody in the end.