Chapter Seventeen
Like she promised, Natalie had all their stuff returned to the backpacks, and had even cleaned up as best she could, when Ren arrived back a little over thirty minutes later.
He strode through the door and walked right up to her, lifting her in a one-armed hug with his uninjured limb.
“What?” she said as he kissed her, ignoring the pain from her hurt back. There was a desperation to him she’d never seen before.
“We have to leave right now.”
“Oh.” She’d known that was coming but had hoped he would come back and say they had more time. She liked it here. Just the two of them and her painting.
He closed his eyes for a moment, almost like he was fortifying himself before reopening them.
“I ran into some hunters. They gave me a snowmobile to use to get us into town. But we’ve got to go right now.
My family got word of the accident and they’ve been frantic.
I need to get in touch with them right away. ”
She felt terrible. Of course they needed to go. “Sure. I’m ready.”
“Peaches. I...” He stepped away from her, eyes tortured. “When we get there, everything will change.”
“I know.” She’d always known that. “The real world. It’s okay.”
He looked at the phone in his hand. “Damn it, we’ve got to go right now.” He rushed over to the door and ushered her out. “Just, once we get to Westwater, stay near me, okay? I promise I will explain everything as soon as I can.”
Westwater? That was the nearby town? Natalie forced herself to breathe down the panic. She’d known they were somewhere in or near Colorado, but had no idea they were so close to Grand Junction where she’d lived with Damien.
It didn’t matter. She would get out of here as soon as she could. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to go to Montana with Ren right away, but she could meet him there later. There was so much they needed to talk about.
Ren got her situated on the snowmobile, before sitting behind her, surrounding her with his warmth.
“We’ll need to talk,” he said. “I ran out of time, and that’s on me, but just promise me we’ll talk when we get there. That you’ll give me a chance.”
She turned to look at him over her shoulder and smiled. “Of course.” There was nothing she wanted more.
He didn’t smile back, that tortured look still in his eyes as he put the only helmet over her head, started the machine and soon had them flying.
The faster they sped, the more worried Natalie became. Something must be pretty desperately wrong for him to move them at such a reckless pace.
Less than twenty minutes later he stopped them. She could see the lights of the town a few hundred yards away, but he didn’t drive the snowmobile all the way in, even though it probably wouldn’t even be that uncommon.
He stood and helped her take off her helmet.
“Why did we stop? A lot of Colorado towns allow the use of snowmobiles on the street.”
He began walking, holding her hand. “We have to walk the rest of the way and there are things you need to know before we make it into town.”
Her gut tightened, but she kept up her steps with him. “Okay.”
“Natalie, I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
“About what?” She almost stumbled over a root sticking up on the uneven ground but he held on to her arm, righting her.
He grimaced, continuing to propel them forward. “About a lot. I need your help. It’s important. Bigger than you or me. Or even us. A lot of lives are at stake.”
“Ren, what’s going on?” she whispered.
He stopped and ran his hand through his brown hair. They were just on the outskirts of town. “God, Peaches... Natalie... I never meant...”
“McClement!” A woman rushed into the woods. “Thank God. You guys have got to move right now. We’re going to miss our window to hit the evening news if you don’t.”
Natalie just watched as Ren turned to the woman, not correcting her at the wrong name.
“Lillian, I need a few minutes. Natalie doesn’t know what’s going on.”
He knew this woman?
And what was it that Natalie did not know? Evidently a lot.
Lillian just shook her head. “What the hell have you been doing in that cabin for the last five days if not explaining what we need?” She looked back and forth between Ren and Natalie. “Oh.”
The petite woman who sounded vaguely familiar turned to glare at Ren as she obviously figured something out. Something Natalie still couldn’t. “Damn you, McClement. But we’re still out of time. We’ve got to go.”
As she came closer, Natalie realized this was the same woman who had sold her the ticket for the train. Why would she even be here?
Natalie grabbed the woman’s arm gently. “Why are you here if you work for the bus company?” Maybe the train and bus company were owned by the same corporation or something.
The compassion—pity—in the other woman’s eyes made Natalie’s heart sink more.
“You just need to come with us,” Lillian said, taking another moment to glare at Ren. “Don’t say anything, okay? Just let Ren do the talking.”
“Do the talking to who?”
Neither Lillian nor Ren answered. Lillian just wrapped an arm around Natalie’s waist and led her toward the town.
Just before they made it onto the streets, Lillian grabbed a walkie-talkie from her waist and spoke into it. “Sheriff, I found them! They’re here on the west side of town near Mill Road! Going to need medical, but they’re both alive and relatively unharmed!”
The excitement in her voice was in direct opposition to the anger in her eyes for Ren.
“Damn it, I told everyone to use the private channel if we learned anything.” The sheriff came back on the walkie-talkie a moment later. “The press is on this channel.”
“Oopsies,” Lillian said. “Sorry, Sheriff. I forgot.”
She most definitely had not forgotten.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Natalie whispered. Every second her heart sank lower in her chest.
“Congratulations. You and Ren are hikers who have been lost for nearly a week and have somehow miraculously survived.”
Natalie shook her head. “But we weren’t hiking. We were on the train. The train you sold me a ticket to.”
“Natalie...” Ren reached for her, but she took a step back.
She could see people rushing toward them now. A lot of people. People with lights and cameras.
“What have you done?” she whispered. Not wanting to believe what she was finally beginning to understand. Ren had been using her.
“I’ve got to go,” Lillian said. “I can’t be in any of the press footage. Freihof knows me.”
Lillian knew Damien.
Ren knew Damien.
Natalie fought to hold on as the whole world spun around her, the snow seeming to rise up and swallow her whole. She couldn’t fall. Couldn’t allow it to bury her.
Because this time no amount of begging was going to get her out.
* * *
THE NEXT HOUR passed in a blur for Natalie. Just before the press had completely descended on them, Ren had ripped his jacket open just a little farther so his wound was more noticeable.
They’d been led to the high school auditorium, quickly checked out by a medic, then sent in front of the cameras. Ren kept Natalie plastered to his side. When it became obvious she wasn’t interested in—or capable of—much response, the reporters had turned all their questions to Ren.
He answered them with practiced ease.
They were two hikers whose GPS had failed and then they had gotten caught in a freak storm.
No mention of a train crash at all. When Natalie glanced over to the side and saw the young man with the sandwich who had hit on her on the train, still very much alive, she realized the extent of what was going on.
It had all been a setup. From the very beginning. The moment she’d set foot in the bus station. She couldn’t even fathom the resources it had taken to fool her to such a degree.
Ren answered more questions as Natalie glanced the other way and saw Brandon and Andrea, the Omega Sector agents who’d come to her house, standing in a darkened corner.
Andrea smiled gently at Natalie, an obvious attempt at some sort of apology for what was happening, but Natalie just ignored it.
They were all working together. Every single event and action of the past week had been in careful deliberation to get them right here in front of dozens of news cameras.
Where Damien would be sure to see her.
Ren, or Warren Thompson, as he’d been introduced, was great with the reporters. Charming. Handsome. So photogenic that every producer in the country probably couldn’t wait to get this happy-ending story in front of as many viewers as possible. Ratings through the roof.
“A mountain lion, not behaving normally because it had been injured, became aggressive and attacked me. If it hadn’t been for Natalie...”
The reporters launched into more questions that he answered.
“Natalie pulled me out of the river.
“Natalie amazingly managed to get my unconscious half-frozen carcass to the hunter’s cabin.
“Natalie was able to stitch me up.
“Natalie is very definitely the reason I’m still alive and we’re both here.”
She realized he was saying her name over and over for a reason: to draw attention to it. So that any soundbites that were used had a better chance of including her name.
“Natalie and I are truly touched by the onslaught of support and thankful to be alive. But I’m sure you can appreciate how tired we are and our need to be more thoroughly checked out by medical professionals, but we will definitely be here for at least three or four more days, until we’re cleared to travel.
On behalf of both Natalie and me, thank you. ”
Her name again. They were throwing her in Damien’s face.
She was bait.
And she had no doubt at all that Ren had just signed her death warrant.