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Chapter 18

"Now look at the wires Nat, pick one to concentrate on first, do you have one?" he asked and she nodded yes," good, trace it back, trace it all the way back to where the wire begins

Natalie looked at the white wire and concentrated on the sound of John's voice guiding her thru. Tracing it back to the detonator she sucked in a sharp breath. It was imbedded in a large rectangle of plasteque. The plasteque was hidden behind the large timer, but it was there. It was a soft, moldable clay like substance but it was also highly unstable. She had to be very, very careful.

"John its plasteque. What do I do?" Natalie asked in a soft voice as if afraid speaking in a louder voice would set the explosives off.

"Trace the yellow wire now. What do you see?" John asked in a deliberately calm voice.

Natalie traced the yellow wire back and saw that it was attached to a small metal probe stuck into the plasteque and also connected to the timer. Slipping into her professional mode she began to narrate to John what she saw. She then traced the third wire and saw that it too was attached to both a metal probe and the timer.

With John's help it was soon very apparent that this wasn't a complicated bomb. The yellow wire was the one that would stop the timer and disarm it. "I can't do this John!" Natalie said her clippers poised to cut the yellow wire. Her hands shaking and clammy she struggled to push back her fear of making a mistake. "What if it's the wrong one?" she asked softly and nervously

"Natalie, you can do this, I know you can, and I trust you, now cut the yellow wire, do it Nat, do it now" John told her as he saw her start to shake, she was starting to lose it again.

"Look at me Nat, Look at Me!" he said nice but then raised his voice.

"Trust me! Cut the yellow wire, NOW!" he told her and she did. The timer automatically stopped, all the noise was gone and when John bent his head down to look at the bomb timer, it was stopped at two seconds. He looked up at her with a small smile of relief forming on his face when he saw her jolt for the door.

"Natalie! Natalie No! Untie us first, untie us!" John screamed out to her as she ran off and he knew where she was going, she was off to find the killer in one of the other rooms, just how he had planned it, planned on her being the best and to be able to get thru the bomb.

John was still screaming along with Jake now for her to not go alone when they heard her scream back.

" I have to do this alone, this is about me, if I don't he could get away or we could all die, He's made me the best now I have to prove it" Natalie yelled back to both of them as she fled the room quickly, she didn't look into John's eye's before she left knowing they would immobilize her, that all she would want is for him to take care of this for her but this was about her, it always was, about her being the best, now she would have to live up to that title.

Natalie ran frantically to the Mock Living room again, there was five other doors for her to choose from and she knew he was behind one of them, that was the game and she knew it, he'd be waiting behind one of these doors, she couched down studying the floor in front of one the doors again.

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"Jake can you get your hands free?" John asked as the two men frantically worked on untying themselves so they could go help her find the killer; so they could both help keep her safe.

"I've almost got it, almost, there.. I'm free" Jake said as he ran over to John to untie him

"Just go! Go get her, make sure she's safe" John told him but Jake didn't listen.

"She'll be fine, she needs you more than she needs me, she always has " Jake told him quickly as he worked on untying him

Natalie continued to look at the floor and then at the door, looking for visible signs of entry or exiting, looking for a sign, to feel something. She quickly sized up all but one door, she studied the last door quickly but thoroughly, there was a small fiber stuck to the very edge of door in the bottom corner, she looked at it more closely, it was a piece of hair, a dark brown piece of hair, color she remembered Dougie having. She smiled to herself knowing he was trying to fool her.

Natalie knew this was the door he wanted her to think contained him, but it wasn't, he wasn't behind this door, she went over to the others, she was still unsure which it was. She looked at the doors and she felt something, a gut feeling about one, she moved closer without hesitation and went with her gut.

Natalie flung the door open as she saw the pride on his face when she did.

He had clearly been expecting her to find him. A split second later his head was blown off by a shotgun blast. Shocked and sickened Natalie took in the scene. Dougie was sitting in a chair close to the door. There was a shotgun set up on a tripod with a wire or string attached to the trigger.

Looking at the gun and wire Natalie carefully studied it, just in case there were other surprises waiting. It looked as if the wire had been attached to the door somehow. When Natalie opened the door the wire was pulled and the gun went off just as he had planned. Obviously Dougie knew Natalie would find him and he wanted her to be the one to see him die. He wanted her to find him, wanted her to be the last thing he saw.

John followed by Jake ran up behind Natalie as they all saw what happened to Dougie. As he killed himself, they looked behind him to see pictures and newspaper articles on the walls. Natalie started moving towards Dougie's body and the wall when John grabbed for her hand, she looked at him behind her slightly and she found even more strength in his eyes. They proceeded together, and they walked over to him and the shrine of Natalie on the back wall of the room.

Jake also followed them and none of them could believe their eyes. Pictures of Natalie everywhere, all on cases, on this case the Red wine Killer case that was put to rest today. They looked over a little on another wall that didn't have any pictures or newspaper clipping on it. It was blank except for the killers, Dougie Finney's last note:

"I did it all for you. Now you are the best." Natalie said out loud as she turned herself and brought her head in close to John's chest so he could hold her tight.