Page 25 of Critical Mass
Except Hudson had indicated these people were after her because of her father.
Natalie closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window.
Her father loved her. She knew that with absolute certainty.
He’d been at every school play and dance recital. Had been there for her after her mother died. Had cheered for her at her college graduation.
He would never hurt her.
Would he? Why was she even asking herself that question?
However, if he wouldn’t hurt her, then why did Hudson say she was in danger because of him? Why had those men been shooting at her? Why did she feel, deep in her gut, that her father was somehow connected to all this?
Ravenscroft International. The shipping company that had paid for her education, her house, her entire life.
What did they really ship? Simple products from overseas?
Or was it something illegal? Maybe even deadly?
What if everything Hudson had told her was true?
The thought made bile rise in her throat again.
Because if her father was involved in something criminal—something dangerous—then her entire life had been built on lies.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
As Natalie staredout the window at the sporadic lights twinkling in the darkness, her throat tightened.
Something stopped her from asking for a phone to call her dad. Some instinct for self-preservation that whispered:Wait. Not yet. Not until you know more.
Beside her, Hudson sat in silence, his jaw tight, his eyes distant.
Atlas and Maverick—they’d introduced themselves while Hudson talked to Jake—flanked them, professional and watchful. And Jake sat in the copilot seat, occasionally speaking into his headset.
These were Hudson’s people. His team.
Whatever organization he worked for, it was real. The helicopter was real. The training she’d seen in the way he’d navigated that boat, the way these men moved—all of it was real.
Which meant the threat of more danger was probably real too.
Natalie pulled the blanket tighter and watched the darkness rush past below them. Somewhere out there was her normal life—her job, her house, her father, her normal world where everything made sense.
But that world was gone now.
She’d followed Hudson to that marina and discovered that nothing was what it seemed.
Not him. Not her father. Possibly not even herself.
She’d gotten caught up in something much bigger than she could have ever imagined. And somehow, impossibly, her father must be at the center of it.
But which side was he on?
The question echoed in her mind as they flew through the night.
Her father had never wanted to hurt her. She believed that. Shehadto believe that.
