Page 39 of Critical Mass
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 handgripping 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.
