The ringing phone woke Natalie from her sleep the next morning. Sometime during the night she had fallen into a restless slumber. "Hello?" she questioned her voice husky with sleep.
"Hey," John said heat washing over him at the sound of her voice. He loved the way she talked first thing in the morning. It reminded him of the way she sounded when he was making love to her. "I'm supposed to leave this afternoon at 1." He said talking about the transport he was accompanying Todd on.
Natalie glance at the clock and saw that it was nearly 10 am. Sitting up quickly she cursed when she hit the nightstand with her leg knocking off the book she had been reading.
"What'd you say?" John asked amused.
"Nothing." Natalie said mentally groaning. "I just bumped my leg."
John laughed under his breath thinking that he wished he were there with her right then. Just hearing the sound of her voice made him yearn for things he knew he had no right to. "So are you going to see me off?" He asked hopefully.
Natalie heard the hope in his voice and didn't have it in her to say no. She had planned on going to the airport and seeing him off anyway, she just hadn't planned on him knowing it. "Yeah, I guess I will." She replied pretending to sound reluctant.
John smiled at her tone but only said, "ok, well I'll see you then. I need to run some errands before I leave."
"Ok. Bye John." Natalie said then hung up after he also said goodbye.
Later that day around noon Rex stopped by Llanfair to see Natalie. When he knocked on the door he was surprised that it was thrown open almost immediately. "Natty! How are ya?" He exclaimed with exaggerated cheer.
"Hi Rex," Natalie said rolling her eyes at him. She was used to his manor and knew that he must want something from her, "what do you want?" She said not unkindly.
"Can't a man visit his sister without wanting something?" Rex asked putting a hand to his chest and pasting an overly dramatic hurt expression on his face.
Natalie laughed at that. "I'm kinda in a hurry Rex so just ask me what you want to ask." She said wanting to make it to the airport so see John off.
Rex looked at her quizzically before asking, "Why? Where are you supposed to be?"
"I'm meeting John at the airport." She said hoping her would let it drop at that but knew he probably wouldn't.
Rex's eyes widened and he looked at her in amazement. "You're back with the cop?" He asked a bit shocked.
"No! John and I are just friends." Natalie stated matter-of-factly.
Studying her intently Rex smiled and said, "Sure you are."
"We are!" Natalie said.
"What? I just agreed with you didn't it?" Rex asked with a grin.
"Yeah but it was the way you agreed." Natalie said then shook her head deciding it wasn't worth it. Bringing the subject back to her original question she asked, "So, why are you here anyway?"
"I need you to talk to Roxy for me. I'm working on something for Bo and she has some information that I think could help but she won't talk to me about it. She clamed up the minute I asked her. You think you could help me out?" He asked hopefully.
Natalie though a minute then said, "I'll think about it. What exactly are you working on?"
"I can't tell you. It's confidential." He said proudly. "But if you can get her to talk to me I would be really, really happy."
"I'll think about it," she said again. As happy as she was that he was going for his PI license she couldn't help but worry that it would get him into more trouble. Glancing at her watch she realized that she really needed to go or she would miss John she hurriedly say goodbye and raced to the airport leaving Rex smiling knowingly. 'Just friends' indeed! He thought.
John stood on the tarmac watching as Todd was led onto the plane. Looking around he was disappointed that Natalie wasn't there. She had said she was coming but she must have changed her mind cause she wasn't there. He dreaded this trip and was not looking forward to spending 4 plus hours in the company of Todd Manning.
As he turned and started to climb the steps onto the plane he heard his name. Spinning around he saw Natalie running toward him, her beautiful red locks streaming behind her. He waited for her to reach him and was shocked when she threw herself into his arms.
"I almost missed you," she said breathlessly giving him a squeeze before letting him go.
As Natalie took her arms from around him John also let go reluctantly missing her warmth, and not just because it was freezing outside. "I thought you weren't coming." He said softly still standing very close to her.
"I said I would." Natalie said just as softly. Reaching a hand up to his face she cupped his cheek gently. "I wanted to make sure you were ok. I have a bad feeling about this flight." She said grimly.
John, emboldened by her touch, leaned down and captured her lips with his. Kissing her softly he deepened the kiss when she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
"Well, well, well look who has kissed and made up," said a voice from behind Natalie causing them both to stiffen and pull away from each other. Raising his head quickly John looked behind Natalie to see who was talking. The figure was wearing a black jumpsuit and a bulky mask so he couldn't tell who it was. The thing that had his undivided attention was the shiny black gun the person was holding. It was pointed straight at Natalie.
Natalie gasped when she saw the gun. Looking around she saw that there wasn't any security around and wondered where everyone was. The figure saw her questioning gaze and said, "Oh no there isn't anyone around. They are dealing with a bomb scare." Laughing crazily the figure motioned for John and Natalie to get on the plane. "On the plane, both of you," they said.
Natalie and John exchanged glances before Natalie stepped up onto the stairs and climbed up, John right behind her. Neither of them was willing to risk the others safety in an attempt to disarm their captor.
Todd was waiting for McBain to get on the plane. Sitting in his seat he was confused to see Natalie step through the door followed closely by John. He stared to ask what was going on when a disguised figure followed them on carrying a gun. Shifting in his seat in alarm he watched at the figure waved John and Natalie to seats and made them sit down.
"Now lets get going," said a voice Todd recognized all too well. After shutting the door and telling the pilot to take off the figure sat down and waited for the plane to leave. They didn't have to wait long for the plane to get in the air.
Once the plane had taken off and started its flight away from Llanview the figure, who was still holding John and Natalie at gunpoint took off their mask and grinned merrily at their shocked faces.