Chapter 7
Randy and Natalie drove through the quiet streets of San Francisco, searching for any sign of Adrian.
"Where do you think he might have gone?"
Natalie leaned her head against the passenger seat. "God Randy, I have no idea. I didn't even hear him leave. What kind of assistant am I if I can't even keep track of Mr. Monk for one night?"
"A great one." Randy observed.
Natalie smiled. "Thanks."
They continued to drive in silence, but with each passing moment, Natalie grew more and more anxious. "Randy, what if we never find him?"
Randy reached for her hand. "We'll find him, I promise."
"Hey, what about Ambrose? Would Monk go over there?"
Natalie shook her head. "No, that's the last place he would go."
Randy turned down a residential street.
"Wait!" Natalie yelled, causing him to slam on the breaks.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I think I know where he might be."
Minutes later they pulled up in front of a large iron gate.
The cemetery.
Despite all the murder cases that she had helped Adrian with, the thought of being in a cemetery at night terrified her.
"Randy, maybe this is a bad idea."
Randy extended his hand. "I won't let anything happen to you." He pulled out a flashlight and together they walked through the cemetery until they came to an immaculately tended headstone. Streams of moonlight illuminated Trudy's name.
"He's not here." Natalie said, falling to her knees. "What are we going to do?"
Randy kneeled down and put his arm around her. "We won't stop looking for him, Natalie."
"This place is creepy. Can we go now?"
Randy nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Let's get out of here."
As soon as they were safely in the car, the police radio crackled with static:
We have a disturbance on Bryant Street, just north of 24th. Suspect broke into brick building, reportedly threatened a security officer and may be armed.
"Damn!" Randy said. "Well, hopefully this won't take long."
"Are you serious? Randy, what about Mr. Monk? You promised we would look until we find him!"
"Natalie, it's my job to-"
"Look, I don't give a damn about your job, okay? I thought you were Mr. Monk's friend!" Hot tears stung her eyes and the sudden tightness in her throat made it difficult to breathe.
"Well of course I am, but -"
"Just forget about it, okay? Go do what you have to do!" Angrily she looked out the window, ignoring the tension headache that was growing behind her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Natalie." Randy reached over to touch her shoulder, but she jerked it away. "I just-"
"Don't you have a crime to solve?" Natalie snapped, unable to keep the tears from spilling onto her cheeks.
With a sigh, Randy pulled away from the curb and headed for Bryant Street.
Minutes later, they were pulling into the back parking lot of a small building. Natalie ignored Randy as they got out of the car and watched through blurred vision while he went to consult with the officers on the scene.
"What's going on?" She heard him ask.
"There was a break in and a threat made to the security officer."
Randy wrote the info in his notepad. "Was he armed?"
"That I don't know." The officer admitted.
"Where is he now?"
"I guess he's still inside. No one has seen anyone leave."
"Wait... he's still inside?" Randy asked incredulous. "Why would he be there, unless he's waiting for someone?"
"I'm going in." he informed the officer.
Despite his protests, Natalie followed him into the building. As soon as they entered the dimly lit lobby, she froze.
"Randy, I know this place!"
"What?"
"I know this place! This is Dr. Kroger's office!"
"You stay out here." Randy ordered.
"No! I'm coming with you!" Natalie said. "You can't just leave me out there by myself! Besides, you promised we'd find Mr. Monk!"
"All right, but stay close to me." Randy said. "I don't want you getting hurt."
As they walked through the lobby, a strange feeling came over her. She had been here, just days before; picking up Mr. Monk from his therapy session with Dr. Kroger.
"Okay, let's check it out." Randy said, after taking a statement from the security guard.
As they neared Dr. Kroger's office, they could see evidence of intrusion; broken items littered the carpet.
Natalie picked up a piece of a broken lamp.
"Oh my God, who would do such a thing? Dr. Kroger would be heartbroken if he saw this."
"You're right about that." Randy said. "Here we are. Now be extremely quiet, okay?" He turned the knob and pushed the door open. They both walked inside, stopping dead in their tracks.
"Mr. Monk!"
