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Chapter 9

(A week later)

Natalie had never been so happy in her entire life. She didn't miss Llanview even though she did miss her family. Most of the time, she didn't have time to think about anything, but John. She had gotten so used to waking up in his arms every morning and going to sleep in his arms every single night. He was always there. When they were apart even for a few minutes, she felt as if a part of her was missing.

Right now, she was in John's car waiting for him while he was picking up a couple of tickets for a pool tournament that involved her favorite player, Jeanette Lee. She stared out the window, letting her mind wander when she saw a dark haired young woman walking quickly down the street. Normally, this wouldn't have seemed suspicious to Natalie, but the woman kept looking over her shoulder. Natalie turned in her seat and saw three ominous men only a couple of yards behind her. She saw one of the men grab the woman and quickly yank her into a side alley. Natalie looked around to see if John was anywhere nearby, but it was just her luck that he wasn't. She had to act now if she was going to help the woman. She grabbed a scissor from one of the car's compartments and jumped out of the car.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Natalie yelled. She clenched the scissors in her hand feeling her confidence go down a notch. Two men were holding the woman down while the other man held a blade up to her neck. Natalie's voice startled them, making the guy holding the blade drop it. Not giving them a chance to react, Natalie pounced on the man and stabbed him in the shoulder with the scissor. He screamed out in pain while Natalie almost seemed shocked by all of the blood.

The dark haired woman took advantage of the distraction and kicked one of the men who was holding her and pulled herself loose from the other man's grasp. She took off running with Natalie close behind her. They could hear the men chasing them, which only made them pick up their speed. Unfortunately, they came to a dead end.

Natalie was starting to feel like she was in a bad horror movie. She grabbed a rusted pole off of the ground and turned to face the men. The other woman grabbed a glass bottle by its neck.

John is going to kill me if these men don't beat him to it Natalie thought.

One of their attackers shot forward, and Natalie swung the pole, hitting him in the chest. One of his friends grabbed the pole and held onto it firmly. He used his strength to yank it from her grasp, throwing her off balance. The other woman seemed frozen in shock and she didn't move to help Natalie. One of the men threw himself on top of Natalie, but she had no intention of going down without a fight. She had never done so when she was growing up in AC, and she didn't plan to now. She punched him in the side of his head and tried to kick him, but he caught her foot.

"You're a heck of a lot more gorgeous than her," he said referring to his initial target. When he touched her cheek, she retaliated by biting his fingers. He grabbed a hold of Natalie and slapped her hard across the face. She refused to show any fear even though it was growing inside of her. She stifled a cry when he ripped part of her whit tank top off.

"Back away from the girls now!"

John's voice filled Natalie's ear, giving her renewed strength. She brought her knee up into her attacker's stomach. He raised his hand to hit her again.

"You lay a hand on her and you're a dead man," John said. Natalie saw him now as she peered over her attacker's shoulder. He was pointing his gun at the men and his let them know that he was more than ready to pull the trigger. He told the other woman to come over to him. "Natalie, come on over here."

Natalie got up quickly; meeting no resistance from any of the three would be murderers or rapists. She kept a wary eye on them as she moved to John's side.

"Get my cell phone out of my pocket, Natalie," John said, keeping his gun trained on the men. For the first time, Natalie noticed that they weren't that much older than her.

Within minutes, it was all over, and cops were taking the three

criminals away. John put his jacket over Natalie's shoulders as she sat on a stretcher waiting for the police and paramedics to give them the okay to go.

After several minutes of silence, John shook his head. "What the heck were you thinking?"

"I saw those guys going after her. I had to help her John. I know I should have waited for you, but I didn't see you." Natalie pulled his jacket closer to her body, receiving little warmth from it. "What would you have done if you were in my position?"

"Oh no. We are not having that conversation. You could have been..."

"Excuse me, sir," a paramedic said. "We need to take the young lady to the hospital so that a doctor can take a look at her."

Natalie shook her head. "No. Please. I'm fine, John. I don't want to go."

"I wish that you'd go, but if you say you're fine..."

"I am fine," Natalie insisted. She had a stubborn look in her eyes. An officer came and took her statement before saying that it was okay for John to take her home.

(The Cabin)

Once they were alone, all of John's fear, anger, and frustration poured out. "What if I hadn't realized that something was wrong when I didn't see you in the car? What if I didn't have my gun? Those men were most likely going to rape that woman and kill her! They would have done the same thing to you, too!" John went to his room--a room he hadn't slept in since the night they had made love on the beach, and closed the door. He was so angry. Didn't she realize the danger she had been in? He could have lost her today.

Natalie was upset and shocked by John's anger. She trembled as the events and everything that could have been finally sunk in. She went into her room and stood in front of the mirror. Her hair was a mess, with dirt and bits of grass tangled in it. He shirt was ripped partially exposing the red lace of her bra. A light bruise was forming on her cheek and a bruise in the shape of fingerprints was forming on her arms. Her clothes were covered with dirt. Earlier things were happening too fast for her to think. Her adrenaline had been pumping. Now, she let out a soft cry and her knees went weak.

"Oh my God. Oh God," Natalie said crying. She buried her face in her hands. She didn't want John to hear her. He was so right. How could she have thought that she could have handled three men on her own? She grabbed her phone and pulled it into the bathroom with her. She sat with her back pressed against the tub. I have to stay in control she kept telling herself as she dialed her sister's cell phone number.

"Hello?"

"Jess?" Natalie said.

"Natalie, is that you?"

Natalie nodded and then remembered that her sister couldn't see her nodding. "Yeah, it's me. Jess, I..." Natalie burst into fresh tears.

"Oh, Honey. Shh. Don't cry," Jessica said softly, trying to console a sister she couldn't even see. "Tell me what happened."

"Jessica, I did something really crazy today. I saw this woman about to be attacked and I tried to help her by myself.'

"Are you okay! You're not hurt, are you?" Jessica's voice was filled with worry.

"No, I'm not hurt, but I could have been if John hadn't shown up. What was I thinking?"

"You wanted to help save someone's life. There's nothing wrong with that. Maybe you didn't think your actions through, but your heart was in the right place," Jessica said, soothingly.

"John is so mad at me. I'm mad at me." Natalie's hand shook as she wiped away a tear. She knew she sounded like a wreck. Even as she wiped her tears, more tears replaced them until she thought that she would drown in her tears.

The bathroom door opened and John came in quietly. He knelt in front of Natalie and took the phone from her hand. "She'll call you back, Jessica. Yes, she'll be fine." He hung up the phone and put his hands on Natalie's shoulders.

"I'm not mad at you, Natalie. I'm proud of you. I was just so scared. I am so scared of losing you," John said, gently caressing her cheek.

Natalie looked at him through her tears and saw that he was crying. "You won't lose me, John. I'll always come back to you."

John smiled. "You'd better." He pushed her hair out of her face so that he could get a good look at her. "You're a mess, Baby."

"You sure know how to make me feel better," Natalie said with a small smile. She was still visibly shaken.

"Well, let's get you cleaned up," John said. He ran warm water in the tub.

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning you up," John responded. He lifted Natalie's shirt over her head and unsnapped her bra. He slid her jeans and underwear over her hips with some assistance from her. John lifted her up into his arms and placed her in the tub as if he were placing her on a cloud. Slowly he washed every inch of her body. He soaped her down while she watched his every move. She had never loved him more than she did now. John poured shampoo in her hair and massaged her scalp. When he was done, he rinsed her off and dried her with a towel. He carried her to her bed and rubbed lotion all over her bare body. When he was done, he dressed her and got into bed with her.

Natalie was completely relaxed. All of her fear and tears were gone. She was with the man she loved, and she knew that she was safe.

John leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I love you,' he whispered, but she had already fallen asleep.

(Llanview)

Kevin walked into the living room with Ace in his arms. He was surprised to see his little sister asleep on the couch with her head rested on Antonio's lap.

"Should we wake, Auntie Jess?" Kevin asked Ace.

"Let them sleep. They were up late last night talking," Viki said, coming from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hands. She had barely spoken when the doorbell rang. She opened the door and Bo rushed in.

"Turn on the TV," he said.

Viki was confused, but she went into the livingroom and did as he asked. By now, both Antonio and Jessica were wide-awake.

"Yesterday, Senator Coulter's twenty-nine year old daughter, Amanda coulter, was attacked just blocks from her apartment. She was rescued by a young redheaded woman who risked her life to save her. The woman is rumored to be an heiress from Pennsylvania. We'll have more details for you later," the reporter said.

Bo turned off the TV. "I hope I'm wrong about this, but could Natalie be the redhead that the reporter was talking about?" He looked over at his niece because she was the closest to Natalie. "Jess?"

Jessica sighed. "Natalie called me yesterday. She was really upset. She told me that she jumped in to help some woman who was being attacked. She's okay. John got there before anything bad happened." She didn't go into all the details. Natalie had scared the crap out of her last night.

"I thought McBain was supposed to look out for her and keep her safe. How could he let her get involved in something like that?" Kevin asked angrily.

"If he hadn't been looking out for her, she could have been raped or killed," Jessica blurted out in John's defense. Everyone was silent as they digested Jessica's words.

"I need to contact them now. They need to get back to Llanview now,' Bo said.

"Why, what's going on, Bo?" Viki asked.

"Somehow 'Chris' escaped from prison. There were sketches of Antonio and Natalie on the walls. There was a slash through both of the sketches. If he saw the news broadcast that we did, and it's his intent to harm Natalie, then he could be headed to Florida as we speak."