Chapter 8
Natalie's face froze in fear as she watched John crumple to the ground. He had been standing on the edge of the clearing leading to the cabin. Before anyone on the team could react, Haver grabbed him and pulled him into the woods.
Bo started talking rapidly into his walkie talkie, barking orders to everyone on the team. He looked at Natalie and saw tears streaming down her face. "We're going get him out of there, Nat."
She looked at Bo and nodded. "I have an idea of how."
"I don't think I like the sound of that."
"Haver wants to make John suffer. What better way to do that than for him to be able to get to me?"
"I'm not handing you over to that psycho!"
Natalie smiled despite the situation. "That's good to know. I'm not asking you to hand me over to anyone. Just let me distract him."
Bo sighed heavily. "I don't like this. John is going to kill me."
"I'll protect you Uncle Bo."
"I appreciate that. Ok, let me get the team around so we can decide exactly what we're going to do."
Haver looked down at his unconscious adversary. "They don't seem to know what to do now Lieutenant. I thought you would have prepared them better. Or did you underestimate me AGAIN?"
He looked back at the officers and saw Natalie Buchanan among them. He smiled as he thought how sweet it would be to let McBain watch his lady love die before his eyes. That might be better revenge than simply ending his life. He had only sent Natalie the music box as a way to insure McBain knew it was him and would come after him. But this might be even better.
John groaned as he fought to regain consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw Steven Haver staring back at him. His body felt sluggish and he knew he didn't have the strength to overtake his captor. "What are you gonna do Haver? Kill me?"
Haver shook his head and smiled evilly. "I was going to do that originally. Get rid of you once and for all. But I think I've come up with a better way to make you suffer. Your pretty redhead is over there with the rest of the cops. I think it would be much worse for you to watch her die than for you to die yourself."
John felt anger and fear rising within him, but he fought back the panic he felt at the idea of losing Natalie. "That's not going to happen. I won't let you hurt her."
Haver laughed. "As if you can stop me in your condition. You may be awake but your body is still partially paralyzed and you can do nothing to stop me."
John looked over and saw Natalie moving towards them. His voice caught in his throat as his mind screamed, No!
She walked purposefully and without fear. "Hey Haver, why did you have to drug him? Did you know you didn't stand a chance against a real man like John?"
John didn't know whether to laugh at her insults or scream at her to keep herself safe.
She stopped about 50 feet from the edge of the woods and put her hands on her hips. "Cat got your tongue, Doctor?"
Haver started to shake with anger. How dare this girl talk to him that way? He pulled the gun from his jacket pocket and stood up, pointing it at her.
Natalie felt fear rise within her as she saw the barrel of gun pointed straight at her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. There are 15 cops with guns pointed right at the guy. He won't get a shot off.
He started past John, determined to get to Natalie. John only had limited movement but he was able to throw his arm in front of Haver's legs, causing him to trip and fall on the ground. The gun skidded away from him, far enough that Natalie was able to get to it before Haver could get to his feet. As the officers rushed in to arrest Haver, Natalie held the gun on him.
"I was right. You didn't stand a chance against John, even after you drugged him."
She handed the gun to Bo and ran to John's side. "Are you ok?"
John nodded. "If you ever do that again…."
"Yeah I know. Look, I had to do something. I'm not about to lose you."
"He could have killed you Natalie."
"Well yeah he was going to kill you if we didn't do something."
"I'm guessing this was your idea?"
She nodded and smiled. "I even promised Uncle Bo that I'd protect him from you 'cause he said you were going to kill him."
John laughed slightly. "Yeah well I just might."
"Let's get you to the hospital so you can get checked out."
"And then I owe you that date."
"Deal." She kissed him softly just before the EMTs arrived to take him to the hospital.
