Page 28 of Critical Mass
She looked terrified.
Natalie turned on the faucet and cupped water in her hands, rinsing her mouth to get rid of the lingering taste of bile. The cold water felt good against her face, grounding her in physical sensation when her mind wanted to spin out into panic.
She needed to think. To assess her situation.
She was in some kind of private para-military facility, surrounded by people she didn’t know, miles from home, with no car and no phone.
Hudson had brought her here and claimed it was for her safety. But how did she know that was true?
He’d been lying to her for three months. Why should she believe him now?
Then there was her father. The man she’d loved and trusted her entire life.
Could he be involved in something shady?
But her father had also warned her about Hudson when he’d said men weren’t always who they claimed to be.
Could she trust either of them?
She wasn’t sure. But her life was on the line right now, so she needed to figure this out.
Natalie’s eyes fell on the window above the toilet. It was small, but she was small too. She could probably fit through it.
She could climb out, run, find help.
There had to be a way to get around the razor-wire fence surrounding the place, right?
There was probably a town nearby, people who could?—
The thought froze in her mind as a memory surfaced, sharp and clear.
When she’d gone to the gym yesterday morning, she’d noticed a man there. She probably would have overlooked him, except he had a tattoo that looked like a rosary.
He was the man she’d just seen in one of the rooms she’d passed. Standing near the computer monitors, talking to another operative. He’d been watching her at the gym, hadn’t he?
Then she remembered the man she’d seen on the boardwalk when she’d stepped out to take her father’s call.
She’d dismissed the feeling that he was watching her, had figured it was paranoia.
It hadn’t been.
Which meant either Hudson’s people had been following her all along or?—
No. She couldn’t complete that thought. Couldn’t face what it might mean.
A knock on the door made her jump.
“Natalie?” Hudson sounded patient but firm. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Natalie looked at the window again.
She could run.
Right now.
Climb through that window and disappear into the night.
But where would she go? Those men from the marina were still out there, still hunting her. And she had no idea who she could trust—not Hudson, maybe not her father, not these people in this compound.
