I Thought It Was You

by Athena13

Takes place after the waitress was killed in her place at the AS Diner. John calls Natalie in for late night questioning and discovers that it's not just the KC killer that has her targeted for death. Complete.

5. It'll Be Okay

I Thought It Was You 5

>>>>>
Chapter 5
>>>>>

Natalie smiled as the sunshine hit the side of her face and the wind blew through her hair.

Though tired from a full night of travel from Llanview, she was too wired up to head straight for her hotel and settle in. She didn't really know where she was going in San Diego, but from the map she had studied at the rental car counter San Diego seemed to have only three main highways running north and south.

"Freeways." She mentally corrected herself with a smile.

And the Pacific Coast Highway. That famed old road that ran along the Pacific Ocean.

Natalie caught her breath as she caught sight of that blue beauty for the first time. It looked nothing like the sea of her Atlantic City home. Which was the point, after all, for her escape to this paradise thousands of miles away from Llanview.

A fresh start where no one knew her, or thought they did. A place where she could be whoever she said she was and do whatever she wanted to do.

Natalie shook her head, whipping the hair off her face and the dark thoughts out of her mind. She was not going to think about serial killers and imposters. Not unless it was in school or on the job.

But that would not be for a few months. For now, she was going to learn what it was to enjoy life without looking over her shoulder for the next tragedy. Kevin had unlocked her money from the blind trust he had placed it in on her behalf - having thankfully refused to set up at an irrevocable trust back when she was with Paul - and for the first time she was going to take advantage of the opportunity it afforded her. She was going to buy a cottage by the sea or in the mountains, she hadn't decided yet. Then she was going to learn to surf and work on her tan. And if she decided to get a job, perhaps waitressing at a seaside haunt, it was going to be for the opportunity to meet people and keep busy, not to barely make ends meet. And not to prove to anyone that she wasn't a trust fund kid.

She finally had nothing to prove.

Except that she was entitled to a life. Entitled to be loved. On her own terms.

She was finally free.