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Sure, Natalie had always seemed a bit distant. Polite, but not really open. Scotty had taken it for shyness. Then again, he’d seen her handle herself adeptly with drunken pub patrons who tried to cop a feel or expected more from her than their drink order. Had she maybe handled herself a little…too adeptly? He remembered commenting on it once and her brushing it off with a remark about a woman needing to know how to protect herself. But now that he thought about it, skills like the ones she’d displayed felt too polished, too professional to come from local self-defense classes. Nick had only just started dating her at that point, meaning he hadn’t taught her…so who, then?
“I think she’s had a tough life,” Hayley said, frowning. “I kind of feel sorry for her.”
Scotty grunted and kept his gaze trained on their target. Natalie wore jeans and a navy blue hoodie. The wind was fierce today, sending her dark hair flying out behind her. She gathered it in one hand and jammed it all under her hood, then trudged toward the bridge. It had rained the night before, and the ground was still somewhat soggy, making the riverbanks muddy. Perhaps thanks to the weather, the place wasn’t as crowded as usual, which both helped and hindered their mission. Having a lot of people around provided cover, but it also meant more witnesses—and potential victims. Scotty and his team cared about avoiding civilian casualties, but he doubted Becks shared their scruples.
Scotty adjusted his position to keep his legs from going numb. They were SEALs. They’d make do with what they had. “Do me a favor, Red. Feel sorry for Natalie later. For now, just keep her on the security footage, okay?”
“Will do.” Hayley clicked a few more keys.
Scotty scanned the area with his binoculars again, his unease sprouting tentacles that choked his airway as he spotted a badly scarred man limping toward the bridge from the opposite direction. Scotty pressed the Bluetooth to his ear. “Becks is here.”
“Can’t claim we weren’t expecting it,” Spencer said. “Doesn’t make me any happier, though. Are you sure I can’t waste ’im, Kyle? Please?”
“Negative,” Kyle responded. “Stick to the mission at hand.”
“I could take him out too. One shot, clean and clear.” Spence said. “Please say yes.”
“No.” Kyle sounded all kinds of pissed. “No one opens fire. Understand?”
“Goddammit.” Spence’s sigh blustered through the communication lines.
“Don’t you think I want him dead?” Kyle said. “He took out my brother, for Christ’s sake. But first we need to find out why he’s here. This goes beyond some revenge pact. I can feel it.”
Kyle’sfeelingswere legendary. He’d once predicted an IED explosion, and they’d avoided it, based solely on his gut instincts. If he said they needed Becks alive, they needed Becks alive, and that was all there was to it. Scotty exhaled and zoomed in with his binoculars. To his shock, he saw Natalie heading directly toward Becks. When she reached him, she slipped something from the bag at her hip and passed it to him. He nodded and took off in the same direction he’d entered from.
“Uh, guys.” Scotty sat and rubbed his eyes. “Natalie just passed something to Becks.”
“What?” The trio of identical responses rang with disbelief.
He glanced at Hayley. “Did the camera feeds pick that up?”
She nodded.
“We got it on tape. Definite exchange.”
“What does that mean?” Gage said. “Is she in cahoots with Becks?”
“Dammit!” The vehemence in Spence’s voice made Scotty cringe. “She double-crossed us. Double-crossed Nick.”
“There’s something strange going on, that’s for sure.” Scotty removed his black baseball hat and ran a hand through his hair. “We need to find out what the hell she knows.”
“Yes, we do.” Kyle’s words were clipped. “Gage, grab her. If she betrayed my brother, I swear to God…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. “What’s going on?” Hayley asked. “What are they going to do?”
“Capture that traitor and bring her in.”
“You don’t know Natalie’s a traitor,” Hayley whispered. “What if Becks threatened or blackmailed her somehow?”
“I don’t give a damn what he did or didn’t do to her. There’s no reason for her to have any contact with him. You’re the one who cracked her files—the same files that showed the twisted things he did to his team. We may not have proof that he’s the one who killed Nick, but there’s a pretty strong reason to believe it. And she knows that, doesn’t she?” He scowled and shrugged her hand off his shoulder. “Now, monitor those feeds so we can get this done, okay?”
She sat back, anger sparking in her gaze. “Fine.”
“I’m going down the way a bit, so I can see Spence better. You stay right here until I come back for you, got it, Red?”
Hayley gave him a harsh glare and a mock salute. “Whatever.”
Grumbling, Scotty traversed the muddy riverbank, then knelt near a large boulder and peered through his binoculars. Gage was closing in on Natalie.
