Page 114 of Critical Mass
He hit the ground hard, rolled, and came up running.
No phone. No weapon. No backup.
But he was free.
The world needed him.
And so did Natalie.
Her father pulled Natalie into a hug, and for a moment, he was just her father again—the man who’d comforted her through nightmares, who’d held her when her mother died.
“You’ll understand someday,” he said in her ear. “I promise.”
His words made no sense.
He was going to kill innocent people.
And notjustkill them. He was going to kill them in a terrible, agonizing way.
How could he do this? How could he justify it?
She couldn’t imagine any reason why he’d be okay with this.
His actions didn’t line up with the man she knew and loved.
Before she could ask more questions, he released her and nodded to Dimitri. “Get her on board. I’ll be right behind you.”
Dimitri’s hand closed around her arm—not painful but firm and inescapable.
Natalie desperately searched the terminal with her gaze.
Surely someone would see, would help, would question why a woman was being forced onto a helicopter.
But the terminal was empty except for her father’s people. And they all looked away as Dimitri led her toward the aircraft.
Hudson,please be okay. Please find a way to stop this. I feel like I’m out of options right now.
She was trapped, powerless, being taken away from everything while her father committed an act of terrorism.
God, she prayed as Dimitri helped her into the helicopter.Please protect Hudson. Please stop whatever’s about to happen. Please let me be wrong about my father.
The helicopter door closed with athunk, sealing her inside. Through the window, she saw her father speaking into his phone, his expression grim.
A few moments later, he pocketed the phone and climbed into the helicopter beside her.
“Let’s go,” he told the pilot.
As the helicopter lifted off, carrying her away from Norfolk, away from Hudson, away from any chance to stop Critical Mass, Natalie’s heart ached.
She’d never felt so helpless before.
CHAPTER
SIXTY-FOUR
Hudson ranalong the tree line, staying off the road where Ravenscroft’s security could spot him.
A vehicle appeared around the bend—a black SUV.
