Chapter Twenty
“By now Freihof will have seen the footage of Natalie. Our best estimates based on where he was last seen in South Carolina are that he will be here in twenty-four to thirty hours,” Brandon Han said.
A big chunk of the Omega Critical Response team—including Brandon’s wife, Andrea, Steve Drackett, Lillian Muir and Aston Fitzgerald—were all sitting around the kitchen table of the safe house on the outskirts of Westwater.
These were the people who had faced down Freihof in the past, who had, or very nearly had, lost everything to him. The ones who were most invested in catching him.
“So we give him twelve hours tops before we’re on red alert,” Fitzgerald shot back. “Because we all know that Freihof is always at least one step ahead of where we think he is.”
Ren was listening to the team but his eyes were on Natalie. He’d tried to talk her into sleeping. Even had Andrea try. Natalie had rested for about twenty minutes, but had been up wandering around the house for the last half hour.
“We have law enforcement at every major airport looking for him. Hopefully he is so desperate to get to her quickly that he’ll decide air travel is worth the risk,” Steve said.
“We’ve also got all smaller regional airports on alert.
If anyone files a sudden flight plan to any of the airports within a hundred and fifty miles of here, we’ll get a notification.
But our guess is he’ll probably drive, rather than risk detection. ”
“I’ll still be ready with my sniper rifle by dawn,” Ashton, one of the best marksmen in the country, assured them. Freihof had dared to bring Ashton’s beautiful toddler daughter into this bloody fight, a fact Ashton wouldn’t be forgetting any time before ever.
Natalie walked to another window, looking out it, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. No amount of words had been able to convince her that they weren’t going to let Freihof get to her.
Brandon looked in Natalie’s direction also. “We’ll do one more press interview with Natalie in the morning. Just to make doubly sure she’s seen, then we’ll get her to Omega HQ for safety.”
She had to be able to hear them, but nothing changed about her demeanor to indicate that she was listening at all. She just walked over to the door and stood looking at it. Then began to gently rock herself back and forth, just like she had...
Damn. Ren was out of his chair and over to her in an instant, her face confirming what he’d feared. She hadn’t been just wandering around the house. She was panicking over the door and window locks like she had in the cabin.
Her face was devoid of color. Her nails had dug into the skin at her elbows until they were bloody. She was staring at the locks on the windows.
He had done this to her. By selfishly using the time they had to be physically close to her rather than prepare her for what was coming—this battle with Freihof—he’d tossed her back into this fight with no warning and no mental weapons.
“Natalie.”
She didn’t blink. He gently pried her hands from her arms. “Peaches.”
She finally looked at him. Explaining to her again that they weren’t going to let Freihof get to her wouldn’t help. Instead, he drew her closer to the window.
“C’mon. I’ll check the locks with you, okay?”
“I already know they’re locked. But I can’t stop checking. I know it’s stupid, but I can’t...”
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her forward. “Sometimes we fight our demons. Sometimes we just learn to live with them. Either way, it’s okay.” They stepped forward and tried the lock of the first window together.
When they made it over to the second, he stopped her. “We’ll finish checking all the locks, but before that, I want to give you something. Maybe it will help you feel better.”
He pulled out the tiny piece of equipment Steve had given him. It was flat and not much larger than a dime, sticky on one side.
“This is a tracking device. Omega Sector agents often use something similar when they’re on undercover missions. I’d like you to keep it on even when you get to Omega HQ tomorrow. That way I’ll always be able to tell where you are.”
“Will you be able to hear what I’m saying?”
He swallowed a smile at her natural inquisitive nature overtaking her fear for just a moment. “No, location only. It’s not a communication device, so you can’t hear me and vice versa.”
“Where do I put it?”
He gently lifted her beautiful mane of blond hair from her shoulder and placed it behind her ear. “We’ve discovered this is the least obtrusive place for an agent to put it. If it becomes unsticky, just get it wet to reactivate the adhesive.”
“Okay.”
He reluctantly let her hair fall and moved his hand away from her neck with one more soft caress.
“And I have a phone for you, too.” He handed her the little red device. “It doesn’t have any bells or whistles, but you can use it to call me anytime once you get to Omega. Anytime. For any reason. It’s going to be okay.”
She tried to smile, but all the fear was back. “I know you believe that. I hope I’ll be able to believe it soon, as well.” She glanced back at the windows, tension once again strumming through her lithe body, and he knew her need to check them had returned.
“Let’s finish double-checking the locks. Maybe then you can get some rest.”
“I’ve already double-checked them,” she whispered. “It will just get worse from here. I can’t help it. I move from lock to lock, rechecking them even though I know I’ve already made certain they’re secure.”
He wanted to take her into his arms more than he wanted his next breath, but knew she would resist. Knew fighting him would just add to her burden.
“Can I help with anything?” Andrea stepped up next to them and asked.
“Do we have any sticky notes? Or even just paper and tape?” he asked her. “Natalie uses them to keep track of what locks she’s checked.”
Her face crumpled. “It’s stupid, I know.”
Andrea touched her on the arm. “Actually, it’s a pretty smart coping mechanism that helps you keep situational OCD under control. Did a psychiatrist suggest it to you?”
“No, I came up with it on my own.”
Andrea smiled. “Then I think it’s even smarter. Let me see what I can find, then I’ll help.”
Ren turned around and found the rest of the team there.
“We’ll all help,” Steve said.
Natalie just stared at them. “B-but I’m your enemy,” she finally stuttered.
“No, you’re not.” Ren kept his arm wrapped around her. “You’ve lost more than all of us at Damien’s hands. And you’re never going to fight him alone again. Now you’ve got a family who will fight with you.”
“Let’s get those locks checked,” Steve said. “Because that’s how family gets through things. Together.”
* * *
NATALIE FINALLY FELL asleep on the couch with the lights on and everyone sitting and talking around her.
That was fine with Ren; he was going to have trouble letting her out of his sight until Freihof was caught. Even once she was at Omega HQ it wouldn’t be easy for him.
Everyone had moved the conversation into the kitchen to give Natalie some quiet. Ren had stayed. Watching her from the chair next to the couch, wishing he had the right to scoop her up in his arms and hold her while she slept.
“I would say you’ve got it bad, brother, but I think you already know that.” Steve, one of Ren’s oldest friends and colleagues, took the chair across from him.
“That doesn’t mean she’s going to forgive me for what I did.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But at least at the end of the day, she’ll be safe.”
Ren nodded. If she couldn’t forgive him, couldn’t trust him again, he’d have to find a way to live with that. But Steve was right. At least he would know she was safe.
“I just got a call from Homeland.”
Ren rolled his eyes. “Knew that was coming.”
“We’ll fight it. All of us. Everybody knows things happen in the field that are unexpected. You have to make decisions on the fly and sometimes—”
“I’m out, Steve.” There wasn’t any point in anyone taking a political bullet for him.
“Is that what you want?”
Ren shrugged again. “It’s what I need. I’ve been under too long.”
Steve studied him for a long minute. “Got other plans? Hell, Ren, you basically started Omega. It’s been your baby all these years.”
“Might be time to have a different kind of baby. I do believe you know a little something about that.”
“Don’t force me to get out pictures. My son is three months old now and I have at least one for every day of his existence.” Steve chuckled before turning serious. “What will you do?”
“Go back to Montana, I think. I miss it. It wasn’t until I was talking in such detail to Natalie about the farm that I realized how much.”
Ashton stuck his head in from the kitchen.
“You guys, we’ve got problems. This town isn’t really equipped for the number of people we brought here with all the press, not to mention gawkers.
There’s a fight at the one bar in town and a fire has broken out at the hotel. Locals are asking for assistance.”
Ren shot a look at Steve. “I’m not leaving Natalie.”
“I’ll send Brandon, Lillian and Ashton. This may be just what it seems like, too many people in a town with not enough amenities. But it doesn’t change our overall mission. Freihof is the priority.”
Ren looked over at Andrea, who wouldn’t be going, and she just shrugged. “I’m not like Lillian in a fight—I’m more of a liability. And it would split Brandon’s focus. He worries about me.”
When the team left it was Ren’s turn to pace from window to window—sidearm in hand. Dividing and conquering was definitely one of Freihof’s MOs. Fire was, too.
But Ren would stand guard over Natalie while she slept. The magnitude of the fact that she trusted him enough, at least subconsciously, to sleep was not lost on him. Her brain had accepted that it was okay to shut down, that Ren wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
And it was one hundred percent correct.
A couple hours later, looking a little worse for wear, the team returned. Yes, there had been fighting. Yes, also a fire. But nothing that suggested there was any further nefarious intent behind them.
Ren still didn’t sleep. Even with the tracking device on her he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep until he knew Natalie was safely within the fortitude of Omega HQ’s walls. Nobody got in there.
He hated to wake her up a few hours later, knowing she needed the rest, and her body, which she’d abused so badly saving his life, needed to heal.
But it was time. They were doing one last press conference before she was taken to Omega.
After that, an agent of her general build and coloring would stay here for a few days to see if Freihof took the bait.
Ren didn’t even want to think about what would happen if Freihof was more cautious than they gave him credit for. If he didn’t come after Natalie—or who he thought was Natalie—over the next few days. If he decided to bide his time, wait for their guard to drop.
It would eat at Natalie’s very sanity. And there wouldn’t be a damned thing Ren could do about it except continuously put her in danger in hopes of luring Freihof out.
The entire team was exhausted but on high alert as they entered the school auditorium once again to meet the press. The county had given the kids the day off due to all the hoopla, but the school was packed with media and townspeople.
Ren kept his arm around Natalie as the mayor of Westwater introduced them. Ren stepped up to the podium, giving everyone his most charming smile. Their plan had to work this time. They needed to draw Freihof out.
“Thank you all for coming. As you can see, Natalie and I are alive and well.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw her flinch at his use of her name. She was on to the fact that he said her name as much as possible. “We appreciate you even thinking we’re newsworthy—”
“We don’t!” someone screamed from the back of the room. “Get out of our town!”
Then Ren threw Natalie to the ground as shots rang out in the air and people began screaming.