Chapter Twenty-Three
“Are you sure she’s not with him?” Ren asked.
“At least she’s not in that room,” Ashton responded. “It’s got big windows with no curtains, so I’ve got a pretty unobstructed view.”
“I can confirm,” Lillian chimed in from her location. “Damn it, I can’t get all the way over to that set of offices from this air duct, but I can see them from this vent. Freihof is just standing here, like he’s reminiscing. And no Natalie. But, Ren, I think in Freihof’s other hand is Natalie’s red phone.”
Ren cursed under his breath. How the hell was the tracker in the room if Natalie wasn’t? If she wasn’t there, where the hell was she?
“Lillian, do you think he’s about to blow the whole building?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know. But we need to do something fast. Because clearing the building if he uses that biological weapon is not going to help. It will spread. Radius will be devastating.”
Ren turned to Steve. “I’m calling him on Natalie’s phone. If he’s about to release that pressure trigger, we need to do something to distract him. He doesn’t know we’re here, and I won’t let him know. Let’s just get as many people out and back as far as possible without causing a panic.”
Steve nodded, and the rest of the team immediately began moving fast around him.
“I’ll keep trying to find a way to get closer so I can get the drop on him,” Lillian said. “It might mean crawling back to the other side of the building and coming in from that direction.”
Ashton added, “Ren, I need a word or phrase that lets me know to take him out. I don’t think a direct shot is a good option with the pressure trigger, but we need one, anyway. I’ll aim for the chest.”
“Let’s go with ‘reign of terror.’”
“Appropriate. Roger that.”
“Get him mad,” Brandon came on the line and said. “He won’t take himself—and hopefully everyone else—out if he’s angry at you. Make him mad enough that he wants to live to come after you.”
Ren pulled out his phone and dialed the number for the one he’d given to Natalie.
“Who’s this?” he asked when Freihof answered, like he didn’t already know.
“Who’s this?” Freihof responded in kind.
“Let me talk to Natalie.”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid Natalie isn’t here right now.”
“And this is?” Ren wasn’t sure exactly how to play this most effectively. Did Freihof know about Ren? That he was part of Omega?
“I’m Natalie’s husband, Damien. You must be her...friend, Warren.”
“I think you mean ex-husband, right, Damien? Since you remarried and all?”
“I never would’ve remarried if I had known my Natalie was alive. So as far as I’m concerned, that means we’re still married.”
Ren sighed dramatically and walked inside city hall. He didn’t want Freihof to hear any activities or sirens and become suspicious. “Well, as far as the law—and every logical person on the planet—is concerned, when you signed a divorce decreefrom her, you officially became unmarried. No matter what you want.”
There was a long moment of silence. “And why does it matter to you, Warren?”
“Because she’s mine now, Damien. She’s done with you and she’s chosen me. That’s just the way it is.”
“No, that’s not how it is at all.” The words were bit out. “Not at all.”
“Why don’t you just let me talk to her, okay? Or maybe the three of us can meet somewhere and figure out the answer to this. Nobody has to get hurt. Just put Natalie on the phone, okay?”
“No, the choices have already been made. Natalie knew if she didn’t choose me, then she wouldn’t be choosing anyone.”
Ice formed in Ren’s veins. Was he too late? Was Natalie already dead? Or stuffed in a closet somewhere here, hurt? He hit the mute button on the phone and spoke into the comm unit.
