Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
Hudson reached into his pocket for his phone.
His hands were steadier than they had any right to be as he dialed Colton.
His boss answered on the first ring. “Hudson. Where are you?”
“Back Bay, somewhere near the Ashville Bridge Creek area.”
“What?” Colton’s voice rose.
Hudson had already called Colton to update him as he drove to the marina. Colton knew he was being followed and already had backup close. Colton had also listened to the recording of Natalie’s phone call with her father at the restaurant. He knew her father had warned her not to be too trusting.
That was why she’d been acting differently when she returned.
“I was confronted and chased at the marina.” Hudson kept his voice low, professional, even as he watched Natalie shake apart in front of him. “I’ve got Natalie with me.”
Silence stretched on the other end.
Then, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Wish I was. She followed me from Virginia Beach. Operatives showed up at the marina, and I had to commandeer a boat to get away.”
Hudson could practically hear Colton running through scenarios, weighing options.
“What’s your current situation?” Colton finally asked. “Where’s the pursuit boat?”
“Stuck on a sandbar about a quarter mile back. But they’ll radio for backup, and once they do, we’ll have more company than I can handle.
” Hudson glanced at the fuel gauge. The needle hovered just above empty.
“I’ve got maybe twenty minutes of fuel left.
Not enough to make it to Lantern Beach, especially not at low speeds through these channels. ”
“Okay.” Colton’s voice shifted into tactical mode. “There’s a private marina in Moyock, about ten nautical miles south of your position. Small place, mostly locals, but the owner owes us a favor. Can you make it there?”
Hudson checked the GPS on his phone, mentally calculating fuel consumption against distance. “It’ll be close, but yeah. I can make it.”
“Good. Head there now. I already have a team en route. They’ll secure the area and get you both back to headquarters.”
“Sir, about Natalie—”
“We’ll deal with that situation when you get here. Right now, just get her to the marina.”
The line went dead.
Hudson pocketed the phone and adjusted their heading, pointing the boat south through the winding channels. The engine purred quietly now, barely more than a trolling speed, but every gallon of fuel counted.
“Natalie,” he said. “We’re heading to a marina about ten miles from here. My team will meet us there and get you somewhere safe.”
She finally looked at him. The expression in her eyes made his chest ache.
It wasn’t just fear anymore.
It was something worse—betrayal, confusion, the look of someone whose entire world had just shattered.
“Who are you?” Her voice was hoarse from being sick, from crying, from screaming. “Really. Not your name, not your job. Who are you?”
Hudson wanted to tell her everything—about Blackout, about Sigma, about the investigation that had led him to her.
But in the darkness of Back Bay, with her soaked and shivering and traumatized, it didn’t seem like the right time.
“I’m someone who’s made a lot of mistakes,” he said instead. “Someone who got you into this mess when you should have been nowhere near it. And I’m someone who’s going to do everything in my power to keep you safe, even if you never forgive me.”
“Safe,” she repeated, like the word was foreign. “I was safe until I met you.”
Was that correct? True, the men chasing them tonight were most likely after Hudson.
But with a father like Richard Ravenscroft, Natalie had probably always had a target on her back.
Now she was running from terrorists, being shot at, and she’d discovered that the man she was falling in love with didn’t truly exist.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “For all of this.”
Natalie turned away from him, wrapping her arms tighter around herself. “Sorry doesn’t help me right now.”
No, it didn’t.
Nothing he could say would help.
But he could get her to safety, get her warm and dry, and then figure out how to protect her from the upcoming storm.
The boat engine sputtered and coughed, each sound making Natalie’s already-frayed nerves pull tighter.
They were running out of gas.
Of course they were.
Because this nightmare couldn’t possibly get any worse.
Except then she heard it—a rhythmic thumping sound growing louder, cutting through the night air.
Natalie looked up and saw lights descending from the sky.
A helicopter. An actual helicopter, lowering itself toward what looked like a small marina ahead of them.
“What—?” Her voice came out as a croak. “Hudson, who is that?”
“Help,” he said simply, his attention fixed on guiding the dying boat toward the dock.
The helicopter touched down in the marina’s parking lot, its rotors kicking up dust and debris that she could see even from the water.
Two figures emerged and ran toward the dock.
Natalie’s heart hammered against her ribs.
This was real. This was actually happening.
Helicopters and men running in the darkness and Hudson navigating like this was all perfectly normal.
“Are these your friends?” The question sounded absurd even as she asked it.
What kind of consulting job involved helicopters in the middle of the night?
No, he’d said he worked in private . . . something or other. She couldn’t remember what he’d said his real job was with all the chaos.
“Yes.” Hudson’s jaw was tight as the engine gave one final cough and died completely. “They’re my friends, and they’re here to help us.”
The boat drifted the last few feet to the dock, momentum carrying them in.
One of the men—tall and athletic with curly brown hair—caught the bow line and secured it.
“You look terrible, Hud,” the man said. Then his eyes found Natalie and his expression immediately softened. “Ma’am. Let’s get you out of that boat.”
Hud. So Hudson was his real name.
At least that part hadn’t been a lie.
Natalie looked at Hudson, searching his face for . . . what? Reassurance? Permission? Some sign that getting off this boat and going with these armed strangers was the right choice?
“Maverick’s with me.” Hudson said the words as if they should make her feel better. “He’s here to help keep you safe.”
Safe. There was that word again.
Natalie had been safe before she’d followed Hudson to that marina. Before she’d discovered his lies. Before people had started shooting at her.
But what choice did she have? Stay on this boat and wait for the men with guns to find them again?
She didn’t think so.