“For one, Sean and Theresa Baxter.”
“Why do those names sound familiar?” He knew he should be able to place them.
“They were the names on the deed of the Santa Barbara house where Natalie was staying. We were looking into them as a possible front.”
“What did you find?” Ren asked.
“They definitely weren’t a front. Were actually real-life people who legitimately purchased the house in 2003.”
Ren didn’t like how Steve was phrasing this.“Were?”
“They were both found murdered at a resort bungalow in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, last night. Brutally. Tortured.”
Ren’s curse was nothing short of foul. Just when he thought he was closer to getting a handle on things. “What the hell does that mean, Steve? Tying up loose ends? An enemy of Freihof’s trying to get information?”
Could Natalie have ordered their deaths before she left to make sure they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone anything about her? Not just killed, but tortured?
“We’ve been running info on the Baxters all night and haven’t found anything to suggest they were linked to Freihof or Natalie in any way. Nothing.”
“Which we both know doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Not with a criminal of Freihof’s caliber.”
“True,” Steve replied before they both dropped into silence. “So what’s your plan?” Steve repeated.
“Until what you just told me, I was beginning to think that Natalie might be completely innocent in all this. A victim, like Brandon and Andrea said.”
“But we can’t deny that no one knew she was running except us and her. No one would know to tie up loose ends like the Baxters.”
“Exactly. Plus, Lillian said Natalie mentioned Atlanta when she was trying to buy a bus ticket. That can’t be a coincidence that it’s Freihof’s last known whereabouts.” Ren ran a hand over his face. “Did you discover anything new about those office buildings she went to every day? That bar?”
“As far as we can tell, all the companies in both buildings are clean. Maybe some minor tax stuff, but nothing that would put them on any radars. If Natalie was using one as a front, she was damn good at it. And the bar has been family-owned for generations. I have no idea what she was doing there.”
Ren thought of the calluses on her hands again. He didn’t know, either. And he was afraid the truth was going to make this mission even less simple.
“What does your gut say about her, Ren?” Steve finally asked when he didn’t say anything. “You and I have been in the spy game for a long time. I would take your gut instinct over some incomplete intel any day.”
What did his gut say? His gut said he was already too compromised to make an impartial judgment when it came to Natalie. That every time he looked into those endless blue eyes, it seemed impossible that she could be mixed up with Freihof. That she couldn’t be a killer or be collaborating with someone who was.
But his gut also told him that those baby-blues, that tragic smile, even the panic, could all be part of a very specific ploy to fool him. That she could’ve been trained by Freihof for years on how to best manipulate a law enforcement agent. Godknew there was no better teacher than Freihof when it came to exploitation.
“My gut says I need more time,” he finally told Steve. “I need to be able to dig deeper into her and pick her apart.”
“We don’t have a lot of time. There’s been another development.”
Not what Ren wanted to hear. “What?”
“Because of the canisters, Homeland Security is breathing down my neck. They want to assume control of the op and take Natalie into custody.”
“You know if they do that she’ll be treated like a hostile subject and terrorist enemy of the United States.” It would be illegal to torture her, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make her incarcerated time extremely uncomfortable. “We don’t have enough intel yet to even suggest she’s guilty or knows anything about Freihof.”
“That’s what I told them and convinced them that you getting her cooperation voluntarily would be not only more efficient, but humane. Especially if she really is innocent in all this.”
“How long can you hold them off?”
“Five days at the max, Ren. And that’s with calling in every favor I have. If you don’t walk into Riverton in five days, they’re coming in to take her.”
“And if I come out with no answers but Natalie’s agreement to cooperate with the media blitz plan?”
“They don’t like it,” Steve said. “But they’ve agreed. As long as we’re taking measurable steps forward.”
