It was late in the morning a couple of weeks later and Julie Teeger was home alone catching up on some chores. She had hugged her Mom and Adrian goodbye and had turned on the dishwasher, sitting down on the couch to read a book. She knew it was going to be a while before she heard from them again since Natalie had taken Adrian into town for his regular appointment with Dr. Bell. After that, they were supposed to have lunch together and then run out to Ambrose's house to pick up some things that Monk's brother was finally throwing away. It was expected they would stay there a while before again taking off for a lecture at city hall early that evening.

Her Mom actually was a little surprised that Adrian wanted to attend it since it involved the Feds, whom he didn't trust, and the topic was Changing Technologies in Crime Fighting. But he had insisted that they go and told her it would be fun to hear all the false confidence they had in their methods – and besides, a free meal was included. Natalie knew that they wouldn't have time to come home and clean up before heading to the event, so she left that morning in a little black dress with a jacket she could take off to make it more formal that evening, and her faux Christian Louboutin shoes. Adrian was not dressed quite as fancy, opting for his standard brown suit and pullover sweater, but they made quite the striking pair as they left that morning to head downtown. It was good to see them happy.


Natalie drove Monk downtown in her car, dropping him off about a block away from Dr. Bell's. She told him that she wanted to do a little shopping while he was there, and they agreed to meet at twelve-thirty at a little bistro three blocks from Bell's office. Monk kissed her goodbye and told her he loved her and she watched as he walked away.

It was a half hour later and she was standing in line at Nordstrom's her arms full of dishtowels that she had picked up for her future kitchen. The insurance money had come in and she and Adrian had picked up a couple of cases so she suddenly found, as his partner, that she had more money on her at that point in time than she had since Mitch had died. But, what a way to come about it!

She had just stepped up to the counter when her cell phone rang. Setting her things down, she looked at the caller I.D., answered the line, and held the phone between her ear and her shoulder while she fished through her purse for her credit card.

"Hey, Randy. What's up?" she asked, nodding politely at the cashier when she asked her if she knew that the items were on sale.

"Hi Nat. Where are you guys? Is Monk nearby?" he asked, his voice sounding urgent.

"That'll be twenty-four twenty-five." the cashier said and Natalie, paused, looking around on the counter spotting a package of breath mints for seventy-five cents.

"I'll take those too." she chuckled. "Just to make it an even." she told the woman then turned back to Randy. "I swear, Randy. He's rubbing off." She laughed. "No, he's not with me. I dropped him off near Dr. Bell's then we're going to meet at Mid-Town Bistro to have some lunch. Why, what's up?"

"Go pick him up." Randy replied.

"What? Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Sammy Menendez just escaped custody when they were transferring him from County to San Quentin. He grabbed the cop's gun and he shot two cops." he replied.

"Oh, Randy! No! Are they okay?" she asked, alarmed.

"Yeah. Neither one is life threatening, but he told one of them before he left that he's not going to prison and he's going to make the SFPD pay. We lost track of him somewhere around Post Street."

"That's four blocks from here." Natalie replied as she took her bag. "Do you think we're in danger?"

"It's possible. Consider him armed and dangerous and go get Monk and make sure he's not alone. With his name and face recognition, if Menendez saw him, I'm afraid what he would do." he replied.

"Randy. Thank you! I'll go pick him up right away." she responded, hanging up her phone and then dialing Monk's cell phone which just continued to ring.


Julie continued to sit quietly in the living room trying to read a book, but in the end, she just wasn't in that mood. So, she reached for the remote and turned on the television, wrinkling her nose at what she found. She'd hoped that with the new money, they would get a new cable package, thinking they were going to be staying there long term. Natalie hadn't told her about the possibility of moving upstairs and she was trying to make due with what Monk's place offered.

As she stared at the screen, disinterested in what she saw, her phone buzzed with a text and she immediately picked it up. She would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that her heart did a little flip when she saw Jared Stottlemeyer's name pop up on the screen. He was outside the apartment complex and he was asking if he could come up.

Julie bit her lip and her fingers flew across her keyboard as she texted him back Yes. I'd love to see you, but only for a few minutes. Rules, you know. Jared was the commander's son and had more leeway than most boys, but her mother wasn't home and Julie didn't want to disrespect her long-standing rule of no boys while alone in the house.

It didn't take long until Julie heard a knock at the front door and she hurried to open it, steadfastly refusing to admit to herself that it meant anything that she gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror before she answered the door.

Jared gave her a quick kiss on the cheek when he entered the apartment, bringing his left hand from behind his back to reveal a triple-chocolate cupcake in a box. "Thought I'd bring you something to eat. I was so happy to see you last week and I'm sorry I haven't stopped by before now. It's been..."

Julie waved her hand as if to wave off his apology, leading him to the kitchen island and instructing him to set down the box. She quickly grabbed two paper towels from the under-the-sink cabinet and shared a secret smile with Jared as he lifted the box while she slid the paper towels underneath. She thought there was no sense in causing a mess in their nice clean kitchen, but in reality, some of Adrian's tendencies were starting to transfer to her as well.

Moving over to the drawer she grabbed two forks, figuring since he was nice enough to bring her this special treat, the polite thing to do would be to share it. Still, as she joined him over by the island and looked down at the confection, the cupcake looked so good that she couldn't help but feel a bit selfish. Maybe, if she angled the cupcake a little bit more towards her rather than him, he might take the hint and let her have the most, she thought.

She grinned when she took her first bite, pointing her chocolate-laced fork at him. "You've been busy with your dad. I totally get it. We were so glad to see him back on the field. For a while there, we weren't sure."

Jared shook his head and took a small bite of the cupcake and pushed the rest of it towards Julie. "We were glad too, especially T.K. Have you ever heard the phrase doctors make the worst patients? Well, whoever made that up hadn't met my dad."

Julie stifled a giggle, and Jared smiled. It might not be nice to laugh at Jared's father, but it was more than nice to experience the lightness and happiness that her freedom had brought to their lives. It was a welcomed change.

Jared took another bite of the cupcake and smiled innocently at Julie when she glared at him as if him taking that bite had personally offended her. She made a show of moving the box closer to her side of the island. He only reached over her to take another bite, Julie's breath catching in her throat when his hand brushed up against hers.

"The first day or so wasn't so bad because the medications they had him on kept him asleep for most of the time." He continued. "But the doctors gave him a list of things he could and couldn't do, especially for the first couple of days, and as you may or may not know, Leland Stottlemeyer is not the 'sit around and do nothing' type. Max and I actually took bets on how long it would take him to drive poor T.K. crazy."

Julie cocked her head and looked at him quizzically. "How very...sibling of you."

Jared laughed. "That's why I hung around the house as much as I could, so Dad didn't give her too much of a hard time. It's just - yeah, he had the time off when he was suspended, but he was doing things, you know? He fixed that step in the basement that always creaked that T.K. was always on him to fix. He fixed the lock on the bathroom door and the hinges in Max's closet. He fixed things that T.K. hadn't even put on the list just so he had something to do."

Julie crinkled her nose. "Far be it from me to judge, but it sounds like they bought an old house."

Jared laughed out loud. "Don't let her hear you say that. She loves that house." He took another bite of cupcake and set down his fork. "How are you, Julie?" he asked quietly. "You've been through a lot in a short amount of time, and now for the truth to come out that someone you'd known since middle school was the one to murder Josh - "

Julie hesitated only slightly before setting down her own fork, a hesitation so slight that only her mother and Adrian would have picked up on it if they were there. She took a step back, from the counter and from Jared, hugging her arms around her chest.

"Melody and I were never really what you'd call friends," she murmured. "I didn't go out of my way to spend time with her and she wasn't a fixture at my house after school like my friends Amy and Bethany are. But we ran in the same circles sometimes and we knew each other.

To think that she hated me enough to try and frame me for murder and send me to prison for the rest of my life..." Her voice trailed off. "I can't wrap my head around that. Mom and Adrian are so happy to have me home and mom keeps saying how happy she is that all of this is over and we can move on with our lives, the three of us together. I can't - I don't want to upset her and bring it all back up for her just because I want to talk about it, but..." She began to cry.


Natalie continued to try to reach Adrian as she walked into the parking garage to retrieve her car. There was still no answer, but that wasn't entirely unusual. She could easily see him turning off the ringer while he was in his session with Dr. Bell so she didn't think much about it at all. Instead, she determined to get to the good doctor's office as soon as she could and then take him somewhere far away from where they were so they could have their lunch in peace.

She pulled up to Dr. Bell's office about five minutes before his session was to end, parked the car in her normal spot and then walked into his waiting room to wait for Adrian to come out. As she waited, Natalie picked up a baby magazine with the image of a child on the cover who had dark curly hair and she grinned. It would probably scare him to death to know she thought of things like this, particularly since they weren't intimate. But she did. Someday, perhaps. She thought and she smiled. Her mind was prevented from drifting further when Dr. Bell's receptionist Deidre, entered the room from taking a break.

"Oh, hi Natalie! What brings you here?" she asked, taking a seat.

Natalie smiled. "I just thought I would surprise Adrian by picking him up. He and I are supposed to have lunch together and I figured I would save him the walk."

Deidre looked confused. "Um…I'm sorry, but Mr. Monk isn't here." she said. "He came in for about a minute, probably about an hour ago, and cancelled his appointment. Said something about meeting some guy at the museum. Don't know what it was about, but he seemed a little agitated. I wished he would have stayed."

Natalie's expression turned to one of concern. "He didn't say anything to me about a museum. Do you know which one?" she asked.

"Yeah. The Science Museum." she replied. "Is everything okay?"

Natalie looked around towards the ground as she thought about why he would have cancelled an appointment with Dr. Bell in order to go to the Science Museum. "Yeah. I think so. Thank you, I have to go." she replied as she walked out the door.


Julie hadn't realized that her voice was shaking and that she had started to cry until Jared was there, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close, murmuring to her that everything was going to be okay. She clung to him, tears dripping down her face and onto his shirt, and her weeping got louder. Then, her knees gave out and she slid to the floor, but Jared was still there, holding her against him as she cried.

Something about Jared's kindness and willingness to listen got to her. She cried for a long time, for the loss of a friendship that never really was, but more so for the realization that if it wasn't for Adrian and her mother and their unshakable belief in her innocence, that she would have spent the rest of her life in prison for a crime she didn't commit. She wouldn't have seen anyone she loved ever again, except her mom and Adrian and that would have only been during monitored visits.

Jared stayed on the floor with her until her crying tapered off to occasional whimpers, and only when she said she was ready, did he help her to her feet again. He took her hand to lead her to the sink, handing her a napkin to wipe her eyes. But before she even brought the napkin to her face Jared was slowly wiping away her tears with his thumb. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up and upset you. We can go talk about something else."

Julie stayed perfectly still as he was touching her, not daring to move for fear that he would realize what he was doing and stop. She didn't want him to stop. "Jared..."

Her lips parted slightly, her tear-stained face looking up at his, and that was more than enough of an invitation for him to act on his desire. Despite the voice screaming in his head, the multitude of reasons why this was a bad idea, he moved in towards her.

"Forgive me," he murmured. "Forgive me for what I'm about to do."

He then wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him once again their lips met. They kissed as if they never wanted to stop.

If Julie knew about the voices screaming in his head about how bad of an idea this was, she might have felt better about the same voices in her head, but she didn't care. Her arms instinctively went around his neck and she allowed him to deepen the kiss.

She was no longer aware of time or that there was no one in the apartment to put a stop to this. She didn't even know how long they had kissed for. She knew how it felt to have his forehead touching hers and the beautiful sound of him whispering her name, and she never wanted it to end. Jared pulled back briefly to gage her reaction and this time it was Julie that took the initiative and held his face in her hands, guiding his mouth back to hers. He picked her up in his arms and twirled her around in a circle a few inches off the ground and that was what brought Julie back to earth.

"Commander Stottlemeyer!" she instantly gasped when they pulled apart, Julie stumbling backwards towards the sink. "Jared, we - we can't do this. We can't."

Jared made a face. "Can you - can you please, not bring up my dad's name right after I've just kissed you? It's a mind-trip and not in a good way."

Julie had the decency to blush. "Commander Stottlemeyer...my mom...Adrian...even your stepmom. This is a bad idea for so, so many reasons, Jared."

Jared reached for Julie once more and stopped what he was doing when she pulled away and glared at him. "But things are better between everyone since - well, to put it horribly bluntly, since dad almost died and since they went to therapy. Your mom and my stepmom are going out for coffee every week now, just like they used to. And it's written in pen on the calendar, so it doesn't get erased."

"And that's great for them," Julie insisted, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "It is, I'm happy everyone is getting to be friends again. But that's my point, Jared. Your dad and my...Adrian, despite the last months, have been best friends for thirty years. Your dad is still my mom's and Adrian's boss. And until either of those things changes, which I don't think they ever will, I don't see how we can be together. What if we did date and we broke up? Your dad and your stepmom would take your side, mom and Adrian would take mine and everyone would be right back to where we started. Hating each other. Because of me. Again."

Jared scoffed. "This has to be a new record for the shortest relationship I've ever had. You've broken up with me before I've even asked you out." Jared stuffed his hands in his pockets to stop himself from reaching out and touching her. "Pardon my French, Julie, but I think that's bull. I think you're inventing things that could go wrong as an excuse not to deal with what's happening between us. It just feels like - you've closed the door before I've even built up the courage to knock, you know?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "But it didn't take you long to build up enough courage to kiss me, did it?"

His eyes flashed with something close enough to embarrassment and anger that Julie felt ashamed for what she had implied about him. "I did kiss you, Julie Teeger. Twice. Three times if you include the kiss when I left your house that day."

There was no need to reference what 'that day' was, both of them were painfully aware: the day Melody had kidnapped Julie and Jared's father was shot and left to die by Jenna Ryan's bullet. "You enjoyed it as much as I did, don't put this all on me.

Julie, I can't - I can't go out and get a new dad. I'm kind of fond of the one I've got. And you can't go out and get a new mom. Our parents are always going to be our parents. But our parents can't stop us from being together if we want to be. They can't stop me from feeling how I feel about you."

Jared cautiously stepped one step closer to Julie and then another when she didn't stop him. "They can't stop you from feeling how I - how I think you feel about me."

Julie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand once again. It was hard for her to think with him so close to her looking at her like that, but she braved her emotions and reached out to touch his cheek.

"I like you, Jared." she murmured. "I like you a lot. And those three times you kissed me were...very good. Believe me, if there was nothing in the way, I'd be asking you to kiss me again. But -"

"My dad and your mom," he echoed, stepping away from her. "I get it. I'm sorry you feel that way. I wish you didn't."

Julie blinked back the tears that stung her eyes. This was so silly, it felt like this was the worst breakup she'd ever had and they hadn't ever been on a single date. "If...if anything ever changes, I promise I'll let you know. But we can still be friends, right?"

He shrugged and gave her a little half-smile. "I guess that's all we ever were." Jared hesitated before kissing her on the cheek and turning to leave, but before he did, he turned back to face her. "You're allowed to be happy, Julie," he said softly. "And you're allowed to be happy with me, if you want to be."

Julie waited until Jared was fully out of the kitchen and out of the apartment, and only when she heard the door close and click shut behind her did she run to her room, lay on the bed and cry.


The San Francisco Science Museum was housed in a building adjacent to the Municipal Museum of Art. It was a place Natalie knew well since she and Monk had taken Julie there frequently through the years they had known each other and it was in fact the place where they had their first case together - a case involving Natalie killing a man out of self-defense. In fact, it was a place that Monk had later credited as being the first place that he had seen Natalie in action and 'knew that she was special.' Yet, in all of the years they had been together, she had never known of him to go there alone, not even to relax. Why did he take off like he did, especially without telling her? He knew she had her cell phone. Why hadn't he called?

She walked into the lobby and looked around. The place had not changed at all except the main exhibit was no longer The Sea of Tranquility exhibit featuring a moon rock, rather it was something about horticulture and how much of an impact that plants have on our lives. As she started to look around, a guard walked up to her asking her for her ticket.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not checking out the museum. I'm looking for my boyfriend. Someone said he stopped by here." she said.

"Sorry, Ma'am but you can't go in without a ticket." he replied.

Natalie looked over at the ticket counter and saw where a single ticket cost $17.50 for an adult. She decided to forego the expense.

"Well, maybe you have seen him." she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a photo in her wallet of her and Adrian.

The guard looked at the picture. "Oh, that guy? Yeah. I saw him. He was here about a half hour ago. Looked like he was in a hurry or something. Some guy came up to him in the lobby and then they left. Haven't seen them since."

"Did they happen to say where they were going?" she asked.

"No ma'am. I'm sorry. That's all that I know."


It was now 12:30 and Natalie drove back into town, stopping in the little bistro that the two were supposed to meet at. He wasn't there and nobody had seen him, so she went back to her car. Picking up her cell phone, she considered calling Randy but changed her mind. He had enough to worry about with a cop shooter on the loose. There had to be a simple explanation for where her boyfriend had gone. She decided to call him again.

The phone rang both in her ear and in the car, and it was only then that she realized that he had left his cell phone in the console. She sighed then picked it up, feeling it vibrate the moment she flipped open the screen. He had received a text. It was from West Bay Trust, Adrian's bank. It was notifying him of a large withdrawal from his account. Quickly, she buckled her safety belt and drove over to the bank.


Back at the precinct, things were hectic. There had been another shooting downtown, this time a security guard who was formally a cop. The board was lit up with reports as the two men tried to triangulate the last sightings of their felon. They put up road blocks on the Golden Gate Bridge and all avenues outside of the city. They also notified the media who flashed Menendez's picture all over the airwaves. They were going to find him and stop him no matter what it took.

A call came into the precinct at 1:45 PM. Leland's secretary Viv Anne was the one to field the call and immediately came to Randy's office in order to let Leland know that Natalie was on the line.

"Can you take a message?" he said, gruffly. "We're a little busy here."

"She says its important. She sounds upset." Viv Anne replied.

Randy looked at Leland. "I called her earlier to warn her about what was going on. Monk was supposed to be at Dr. Bell's. What if something's happened?"

Leland sighed and walked over to the phone, pressing the flashing button and connecting with the call.

"Yeah, Natalie. What's up?" he asked.

"Have you all heard from Adrian?" she asked. "I can't find him anywhere and I'm really getting concerned."

She filled him in on the details of all that had gone on, but it was when she told him about the bank that he really began to get worried. He put her on the speaker so Disher could hear.

"Repeat what you just told me, Natalie. So that Randy can hear." Leland said.

"I...I just left the bank and they said that Adrian came in here about thirty to forty minutes ago with another man. They said he looked nervous and wanted to make a withdrawal. When they asked him how much, he said 'all of it.' He withdrew almost $20,000 and walked out the door and the teller said she handed it to the man, who pointed to his car and made him get in."

"What happened then?" Randy asked.

"They left." she said. "Oh, and they said when he signed his withdrawal receipt, he signed it funny. I guess they know because he's there all the time and they know him, but they said he used his middle name."

"Monk has a middle name?" Randy asked.

"Yeah. He does." Natalie said. "But that isn't the one he used. He signed it Adrian Nicolletto Monk."

Leland and Randy looked at one another, "Nicolletto?"

"Nicolletto. Nicolletto. Where do I know that name?" Randy asked.

Leland remembered. "Isn't that the guy who killed that Ben Gruber guy at that place in Sonoma?"

"Oh my gosh? Do you think Al Nicolletto escaped?" Natalie said on the other line.

Quickly, Randy jumped on the computer looking up the current status of Nicolletto who had been extradited back to Florida in 2005. Within a couple of minutes, he had pulled the record up. "No. Says he's still in the Federal Detention Center in Miami. So, it's not him."

"Then, why would he use that name?" Natalie asked. "Unless..."

"What are you thinking?" Leland asked.

"The vineyard. Let me call the vineyard." she said.

"Why would he go to the vineyard?" Leland asked.

"I don't know." she said. "Why would he cancel on Dr. Bell? Leland. I've got a bad feeling, he's in trouble."

"Call me back when you find something out." Leland replied.

"Sir!" a young officer said, entering Randy's office. "They got him. They got Menendez, down on Fulsom. They're bringing him in."

"Did you hear that?" Leland asked.

"Yes! That's the guy Randy was talking about?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am. It is. Natalie, don't worry. We'll be here to talk to this guy. I doubt he has anything to do with what is going on with Monk. But, if anything comes up we'll call you. Let us know when you find him."

"I will." Natalie said with a mixture of relief and concern. Then, she hung up the line and used her smart phone to look up the number to the Allacco Winery, to see if Adrian had been there or if he had called.

The phone rang a few times and an attendant finally answered. It was a young lady who sounded like she was fairly new. It took several minutes for Natalie to get through to the woman what she wanted, and only then did she pass the phone to the manager who took the call.

"Mr. Monk? Yeah. He called. Said he was coming here this afternoon and wanted to know if we had a specific Pinot, one that didn't taste like Aqua Velva. Wasn't sure what he meant, but he said he'd be here in a little while. Can I give him a message?"

Natalie thought for a few minutes and considered. If he was in trouble, alerting someone to the fact that she knew he was in trouble might put him in danger.

"No. Stall him if you can. I'm driving over there. I should be there in about an hour and a half." she replied.

She hung up and called Julie to make sure that everything was okay and then told her to call her if Adrian happened to call. Julie told her that she planned on going out with Amy later that afternoon, but offered to stay back if she wanted her to. Julie was a clearly concerned, but Natalie downplayed it. No sense in alarming her more if she could help it.