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Ch 14

Some where about five thirty in the morning Natalie heard her phone ring, not her cell phone but her land line, she gently moved from John's arms and picked up the phone that sat on a table near the wall that led to her bedroom, she picked it up, it was dead, she put it back down, stared at the phone for a minute and then went into her bedroom to grab a shirt to put on when she saw something sitting outside her bedroom window on t he terrace, she walked closer to the doors leading out to it and saw it was a man with a cap on his head sitting in her outside chairs, she covered her mouth with her hand and let out a screeching noise as she felt a hand on her shoulder, she automatically jumped and let out a scream.

John heard her scream and felt her jump as he touched her shoulder, he grabbed her, she looked shaken, he pulled her to his chest and then looked straight ahead and he to noticed the dead man sitting outside on the chair. After a few seconds Natalie pulled herself off John's chest. He looked into his eyes.

"I'm okay now, I just.. I just didn't expect that, I mean we have been here all night, we didn't hear anything"

"Natalie, are you sure you are alright?"

"Yeah, let me get my kit, call Jake and the station for me, I'll get started" she told him and she walked into the living room for her Tech Bag.

Fifteen minutes later Jake arrived at Nat's apartment, he came barging into the apartment like a whirlwind, his face was pushed up and he was steaming. He walked into the living room and saw a pile of clothes on the couch and a few blankets on the floor, if he wasn't already mad he was pissed now. He walked into the bedroom and saw her examining the terrace doors from the outside, they were half shut and she didn't notice him, she was to wrapped up in her task at hand, her task to see if this killer slipped up.

John was walking out of her bathroom, he was in there looking to see if anything was odd, he didn't see Jakes fist until it was upon his jaw.

John went down when Jake sucker punched in the Jaw, john went down hard and was stunned by the force of his punch.

"Shit!" John screamed out as he felt the pain from his jaw, john was attempting to pick himself up off the floor when Jake was now pacing back and forth like a prize fighter.

"Stay down you son of a bitch, stay down there or I'll knock you head off next time" Jake told John and John got up anyways

"You wanna go Asshole, lets go!" John said just as mad now, there was no denying this was going to get ugly and quick if someone didn't do something. One of the other Forensic Tech's saw the whole thing and he couldn't believe his eye's, he was in shock, he had worked for Lt Harrison for a very long time and never once did he see him lose his cool, never, not even dealing with lowlifes and criminals. The Tech went outside to where Natalie was oblivious to what was going on inside her bedroom. Within a few minutes of Natalie being told yes hurried inside to catch them just as they were going to go take matters outside.

"Stop right there the two of you!" she said loudly and hostile. Both of the men turned to look at her.

"What!" John turned and said Nasty to her, she stared him down till he softened

"I'm sorry, but he hit me first" John told her

"I only hit you cause your an ass, you were suppose to keep her safe, she could've got hurt tonight, the killer was right here in her apartment, probably even watching you guys having..having..."

"Making love on the floor!" John screamed in his face and they both stared with the looks of hatred and pumping up of chests.

"You two are acting like three year olds, we don't have time for this, none of it, this guy is trying to tell us something, tell me something, now are we all going to work together or not?"

Both men still refused to budge for a few minutes, they looked back and forth to each other and then John broke the stares between him and Jake, he looked at Natalie, she was mad, very mad but she was being more professional then either of them.

"I might be willing if he's willing to" John told her as he pointed to Jake

"Jake?" Natalie said asking with her tone

"Fine"

" Good now shake, be friends and let's get working on the clues, if there are any"

"You didn't find anything, Babe?" Jake asked and he knew it might set John off but he was wrong. John shook his head and decided he could call her babe all he wanted, it wasn't going to be bothering him anymore, they made love last night and that was all that mattered, there was no way, no how this asshole would take this feeling away from him, not even finding a dead guy on her terrace after they held each other all night would bring him completely down from the High he felt by them sharing there Love.

"Nothing yet and I really don't expect to find anything either, he's good, real good"

"What about a note, in his zipper?"

"I was just about to look for one when I was interrupted by a school yard fight" Natalie told them and she gave them a look.

'Lets go look for the note" the three of them proceeded to the doors and looked over the man, he still had his cap on and this one read Philly Forensics. John removed the mans cap and noticed it, he looked similar to Jake, same color hair, sort of same steroid looking built, same complexion. John stood studying the cap and the guys face as Nat and Jake carefully removed the note from the man's pants, just like the other note.

John looked at the cap, back and forth, he remembered the other man in Llanview outside her window on the fire escape, he also wore a hat, the hat said LPD for Llanview police department, and this one was a forensics cap.

" I don't think he wants either of us with you Natalie" John said softly and quietly out loud to Nat, as she was a few inches away

"Hold on a second john, we got the note out of his zipper without ripping it" Natalie took the note and carefully opened it. She read it to herself first

" To be the best you need to catch the best, I've made that possible now catch me... ps. there's a present for you in the kitchen" the three of them made there way carefully into the kitchen, all three of them eager to see what was left for them, for Nat in the kitchen.

On Nat's kitchen counter sat a bottle of red wine, the brand the killer always left spilled out around his victims. Natalie carefully with her gloves still on picked it up, she held it from the top, it was open but where was the red wine, Jake looked behind him into the sink and saw the red stain on the sink.

'He poured out the wine in the sink" Jake said as they saw Natalie turn the bottle upside down and shake something out of it, as she shook about came a plastic zip lock bag with a another note in it, carefully unfolding the clothe like paper note Natalie read the next note

"You have too many men but they can't give you what I can, eliminate them or I will and then we'll meet" Natalie looked at the note, it wasn't on any type of stationary, it seemed to be on not even paper at all, some sort of heavy cloth all most a clothe type napkin like from a restaurant of some sort. All three of them studied it.

"What is it?"

" It's some sort of napkin, almost cloth, it looks familiar doesn't it?" Natalie said but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"You were right John he wants you guys gone" Nat said as she kept saying the words over and over again " you have too many men but they can't give you what I can, eliminate them or I will and then we'll meet"

John watched as Natalie said and replayed the words over an over again with her mouth and in her head, he knew what she was going to say next even before she figured it out.

"NO!" John told her, as she looked at him after hearing it loud and clear

"No Natalie, don't even think it, I'm not going anywhere" John told her and then Jake chimed in.

"I'm not either" Jake told her as he too got himself into the mix