Her face was already looking more relaxed, so Ren continued. “We can’t lock the windows, but we can close the shutters and put a broom handle across the bars. Again, it’s not foolproof but it’s definitely more fortified.”
The relief that flooded her features was so pronounced it was difficult to look at.
After they’d made the cabin as safe as they could—he noticed she double-checked more than once—they washed and brushed their teeth as best they could and got into bed. Ren tried to ignore the fact that he wished it was colder in the cabin so that they’d be forced to get closer for heat. The bed wasn’t that big, but it was bigger than their sleeping arrangements last night.
As he heard Natalie’s breathing even out as exhaustion pulled her under, Ren lay for a long time trying to process what he had learned tonight about the woman lying next to him. Unfortunately he had more questions than answers. Questions that would affect every decision Ren made for the rest of this mission.
Why did she have calluses on her hands that suggested she’d been doing hard manual labor every day for years? Why was she fanatic about locking up and safety?
Because she knew that Freihof had a number of enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to attack her to get to him?
Or because she was afraid of Freihof himself?
Chapter Nine
Ren woke up to a sleeping Natalie sprawled all over him again. She’d been that way most of the night. It hadn’t taken long after she’d finally fallen into an exhausted slumber, secure in the knowledge that the windows and doors were as locked as they could be, before she’d snuggled into him.
He should’ve pushed her away, rolled over, hell, gone and slept on the couch. Curling her lithe body next to his while they both slept didn’t do anything to advance the mission—she was asleep, so it wasn’t affecting her. And if their closeness didn’t advance the mission, then it shouldn’t have interested Ren at all.
But damned if he’d been able to let her go all night.
He eased away from her now as dawn approached. He needed to go out, make the call to Omega, finalize plans.
Plans that were even murkier than they’d been when they’d started two days ago. Everything he learned about Natalie just made him more confused. He’d been so sure she was working with Freihof. But the calluses on her hands didn’t lie.
The fear on her features last night, the panic at the thought of not being able to lock the doors and windows, didn’t lie, either.
But none of that gave Ren actionable intel. So he wasn’t sure how to play this with her.
Even worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to play this at all. If time wasn’t such a factor—with those damned biological warfare canisters—Ren would probably remove himself from the picture entirely. Obviously he was losing his objectivity when it came to her.
He looked down at her sleeping form, how she’d curled protectively into herself, even in sleep. As if her mind knew some sort of attack might be coming.
But from who?
Ren found a pen and paper and wrote that he’d be back soon and laid it on the bed where she would see it. He didn’t want her waking up and thinking someone had gotten in the cabin because the door was no longer barred. She might wake up and not be thinking clearly at first.
He wiped a hand across his face as he realized that he wasn’t just concerned—again—about the damage that might do to the mission. He was concerned about the damage it might do to her psyche.
He had to get his damned head in the game.
Grabbing the knife and fishing poles, he moved quietly out the door and made his way deeper into the forest away from the cabin. He came up to the river a few minutes later and cast a pole with a fly lure—might as well try to catch some protein to go with the canned food—then used a specially made cell signal booster to call Steve Drackett.
“Ren. Good to hear from you. How’s camping?”
“We made it to the cave and then the cabin on schedule. Rest of the team make it safely from the crash site?”
“Yep. No problem, although now Philip Carnell is convinced he wants to work undercover full-time.”
Ren chuckled. “That would at least get him out of your hair.” Philip was known for his surliness and inability to play well with others. “Let him terrorize some criminals instead of your agents.”
“Definitely something to consider. How’s it going with Natalie? She give you anything useful yet?”
“Honestly, no, nothing. She hasn’t panicked about not being able to make contact and wasn’t interested in using my phone to try to call anyone.”
Steve gave some sort of disgruntled sigh. “So what’s your plan? Threats? Friendship? Seduction? Before you choose, there’s been some developments you need to know about.”
“What?”
