Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Natalie could answer the phone. Tell her father everything—about Hudson’s real identity, about Blackout, about where she was right now.
Her father would rescue her. She knew he would.
But if these people were telling the truth, she’d be warning a terrorist that his operation was compromised.
If they were lying, she’d be saving herself from kidnappers.
Or she could not answer. Could stay here with Hudson and his team. Could look at more evidence, hear more recordings, try to figure out if the father she’d trusted and loved all her life was really the monster they claimed he was.
And if Hudson and his colleagues were telling the truth, she’d be helping stop whatever Critical Mass was.
If they were lying, she’d be trapped with people who’d already proven they were willing to deceive her.
She waffled back and forth.
There was no good choice. No safe option.
Either way, she was betraying someone.
The phone buzzed again. And again.
Her father wasn’t giving up.
She thought about the phrase “Critical Mass” that her father had used in his phone calls. Business jargon, she’d assumed.
But what if it wasn’t?
And those men at the marina. They’d appeared so quickly. How had they known exactly where to find them?
They’d been shooting to kill.
But her father would never hurt her. She knew that.
Didn’t she?
“Ms. Ravenscroft, we know this is an impossible situation,” Colton said. “But before you answer the phone, we need to know if you’re with us or not.”
Emotion clogged her throat.
“You’ll be saving a lot of innocent lives if you play along with us,” Ty said. “Ideally, if you answer, you should try to sound normal. Don’t let your father know you’ve discovered anything. We could use your help gathering more intelligence in order to stop this terror attack.”
The phone buzzed one more time, then went silent. A moment later, a text message appeared.
Natalie, please call me. I’m worried about you.
Natalie read the message once, twice, three times.
I’m worried about you.
She looked up at Hudson, saw the tension in his jaw, the way he waited for her decision without trying to influence it. He’d lied to her, used her, broken her heart.
But he also saved her life tonight.
And her father, who’d raised her and loved her and been her entire world . . .
Natalie stared at the phone, the weight of the decision pressing down on her like a physical force.
Tell her father everything and pray these people were lying? Or stay silent and risk betraying the only family she had left?
Innocent lives were potentially on the line. She had to choose. Right now. There was no more time to wait, no more room for doubt.
What was she going to do?
The room held its collective breath as Natalie stared at the phone.
Hudson saw the war playing out across her face—fear, doubt, loyalty, betrayal.
Every emotion she felt was written in the tension of her shoulders, the tremor in her hands.
She was going to call her father back.
He saw it in the way her thumb moved toward the screen.
But she hadn’t confirmed whose side she was on.
If she chose her father, it meant she didn’t believe them. It meant she’d rather trust the man who might be planning mass murder than the people trying to stop him.
It meant Hudson had failed completely and that three of months of hard work were all for nothing.
Natalie navigated to her father’s contact number and pressed the Call button, her hand steadying as she put the phone on speaker.
“Hi, Dad.” Her voice was remarkably calm, almost cheerful.
“Natalie! I’ve been calling and calling. Where are you? Are you all right?” Richard Ravenscroft’s voice filled the air, his tone thick with what sounded like genuine concern.
“I’m fine, Dad. Sorry I didn’t answer earlier.” Natalie’s face was a mask of composure, but Hudson saw her free hand gripping the edge of the table so hard her knuckles were white. “Timothy and I went for a boat ride. It was loud, and I couldn’t hear my phone.”
“A boat ride? At this hour?” Ravenscroft’s tone shifted, an edge of suspicion creeping in.
“Yeah, it was spontaneous.” Natalie’s laugh sounded almost natural. “We just wanted to be alone for a while and enjoy the full moon tonight.”
A pause sounded on the other end of the line. Hudson could practically hear Ravenscroft calculating, assessing, trying to determine if his daughter was telling the truth.
“Where are you now?”
Natalie glanced around the conference room, her eyes landing on Hudson a moment before she looked away. “Some beach somewhere. I’m not really sure. Timothy knows the area better than I do. We’re just walking, talking. It’s nice.”
“Natalie, I was worried.”
“Dad, I’m fine. Really. I’ll check in with you in the morning, okay? I promise.” Her voice was gentle but firm. “I need to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Natalie, wait—”
She ended the call before he could finish. Her hand shook as she lowered the phone to the table.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Natalie looked up, her eyes moving from Colton to Ty to Hudson, before finally settling somewhere in the middle distance between all of them.
“What do you want from me?” Her voice was steady, but Hudson heard the exhaustion beneath it. “How can I prove to you that my father isn’t the man you think he is?”
The question hung in the air.
Hudson saw Colton and Ty exchange another glance, some silent communication passing between them.
“Ms. Ravenscroft, we’re not asking you to prove your father is innocent.” Colton seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “We’re asking you to help us determine the truth. If we’re wrong about him, the evidence will show that. But if we’re right—”
“If you’re right, then my father is planning to kill thousands of people, and I’ve been living with a monster my entire life without knowing it.” Natalie’s voice cracked slightly. “Is that what you want me to believe?”
“We want you to look at the facts objectively,” Ty said. “To help us uncover what your father is planning so we can stop it before people die. And, yes, we understand that’s asking you to potentially betray your own father.”
Natalie closed her eyes, and Hudson saw a tear slip down her cheek. When she opened them again, there was something different in her expression—a hardness that hadn’t been there before.
“Listen, about four months ago, one of our teammates betrayed us.” Hudson’s voice sounded low and compassionate. “We know what it’s like to be unsure of who to trust. We know the sting of being stabbed in the back.”
“And?” She raised her chin.
“And all you can do is trust your gut sometimes—your gut and God.”
She stared at him a moment, thoughts brewing in her gaze.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Something shifted in Hudson’s chest.
Natalie had made her choice. She’d lied to her father, chosen to stay with them, and had agreed to help.
Whether it was because she believed them or because she wanted to prove them wrong, he wasn’t sure. But she was giving them a chance.
And Hudson knew, with absolute certainty, that he’d do everything in his power to keep her safe.
Even if it destroyed him in the process.