Chapter Seventeen

Natalie sat there waiting at the airport gates when John came rushing in, his black duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as she stood up and met him. "I was waiting for ballistics to come back on the gun we found in the safety deposit box."

"Was it the one?" Natalie asked quietly.

John nodded solemnly, deciding not to tell her the other reason he had been late was because he had taken a half hour to tear apart his room in order to release some of his anger. But seeing the way his left hand was bandaged, Natalie predicted what he had done and made a mental note to call Michael and have him straighten up the place before John got back.

Stopping at the gate, she took a hold of his uninjured hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry."

Smiling at how well she knew him, John just nodded and let go of her hand motioning for Natalie to lead the way. Once they were on the Buchanan jet, John took a second to look around before letting out a low whistle. Natalie just rolled her eyes and took a seat on one of the leather couches. John sat down across from her and they both buckled their seatbelts.

Once she heard the roar of the plane engine, Natalie gripped the arm rest so tightly that her hands started to turn white. Seeing this and noticing the way Natalie had her eyes and mouth clamped shut, John looked at her in concern.

"Natalie, are you all right?"

Without opening her eyes, Natalie frantically nodded her head. When the plane started to taxi, he heard her start to count.

"Natalie, are you scared of flying?"

Opening one eye, she looked across at him, "No" she answered before shutting her eyes again.

John bit back the laugh that was forming. "You know statistics have proven that planes are safer then cars."

"Yeah well common sense proves you actually have a chance surviving a car accident, can't say that about planes."

"How long have you been scared of flying?"

Natalie opened both her eyes and fixed him with a frustrated stare. "I'm not scared."

John just rolled his eyes. "You know you don't always have to be so tough, it's okay to show a little weakness once in awhile."

"Oh that's rich coming from you," she said tying not to get angry. "The king of hiding from feelings is lecturing me on my actions."

John just shrugged nonchalantly. "Just trying to help make you a better person."

"What the hell does that mean?" Her voice was starting to rise and if looks could kill he would be dead.

"I just think you need to stop keeping everything all bottled up. You know, it's okay to cry once in awhile… no one would judge you."

"Who the hell do you think you are talking to me about emotions? You're the guy that bolted every single time I tried to talk to you about how I was feeling. You're the one that holes up in his apartment when he's upset and pushes everyone away. And for you to sit there and talk to me about…"

"Ms. Buchanan, Mr. McBain, this is your pilot speaking. I just want you to know we are in the air at our desired altitude and it is safe for you to take off your seatbelts and move around the cabin."

Natalie turned her attention back to John who was now smiling. Not sure whether to be annoyed or amused Natalie shook her head. "You did that on purpose."

"I figured getting you mad would be the best way to take your mind off it."

Natalie let out the breath she had been holding. "Thanks, I think."

"You looked about ready to kill me." John said with a small laugh, his mind actually away from his earlier anger over finding the gun that shot his father."

Now it was Natalie's turn to smile. "A couple more minutes and I probably would have tried."

Remembering that Natalie had planned on speaking to her grandfather about Spencer, John changed the subject. "How did it go with Asa?" Natalie just made a face which told John whatever she had learned wasn't going to be good. He didn't press her again, knowing she would eventually start talking.

"Before I tell you what I learned I need you to promise me you will say and do nothing about this."

Feeling like he was being backed into a corner, John stiffened. "Did Asa do something I may have to arrest him for?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, nothing like that, but it's pretty bad and I gave him my word I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Okay, it stays between us."

Feeling very relieved as she knew she could trust him, Natalie began to tell him what she had learned. All about Spencer's mother lied about him raping her, how Asa had hired people to destroy her life, how she had ended up in prison and finally how it was possible that Spencer was his son. Once she had finished, John took a few minutes to take everything in.

"I don't even know how to respond to that."

"At least your not part of the crazy, messed up family." Natalie said with a forced smile as she settled back on the couch. "As I was leaving Asa's something occurred to me. If Walter was working closely with Spencer and Paige, it's likely that they could have known who I was. And if that's the case, if just one of them had reported it, I wouldn't have spent twenty-two years separated from my family."

Unsure of what to say, John just nodded. Finally he spoke softly, "I guess both our lives were ruined by these people."

A slight look of anger crossed into Natalie's eyes, but was quickly replaced with one of determination. "That's why we have to nail these bastards."

"I'm not so sure that's going to be possible. The fact that the gun that was used to shoot my father was in Walter's safety deposit box, makes it look like Walter was the one that pulled the trigger. If we go down there and find out he did in fact fake his death, the Cayman Islands doesn't extradite criminals back to the states. We may never have a chance to get him." Knowing this was part of the reason John had pretty much lost it and almost destroyed his room. The fact that his father's shooter could possibly spent the rest of his life sitting on the beach and sipping margaritas carelessly, was infuriating and just thinking about it made John's blood boil.

Seeing the dangerous glint of fury that was crossing onto John's face, Natalie knew she had to think of something. Luckily an idea came to her quickly.

"We just have to willingly get him back to Llanview."

"But how? He obviously faked his death for a reason, why would he come back?"

"Okay, here's my theory based on what we know and the evidence we have. Walter, Spencer, and possibly Paige and other unknown doctors were involved in this black-market sales ring right? One of them finds out that because of Allison your dad is closing in on them, and Walter goes to take care of it. Obviously something went wrong, maybe because I was with him at the time and got out of the car, or he didn't have a clear shot – but regardless he ends up leaving your father alive."

What she was saying made sense, so John nodded.

"Then your dad shows up at the hospital alive, and whether Paige was involved or not she manages to get the case and operates drunk. She ends up leaving the hospital, leaves Spencer and from what Rex told us, gave birth about 8 months later and gave her child up for adoption. But the one thing we don't know why she left Spencer. Was she involved with everything or did she find out what Spencer was up too?"

"We're going to have to talk to her."

Natalie nodded, "But we are going to have to tread carefully and talk to Uncle Bo first."

"Okay, so Paige has been out of the picture for about a year when Walter fakes his own death. Since she's gone, that leaves us with Spencer." John thought about it for a second. "For Walter to stage his own death rather then just take off, he was obviously scared of something. My guess would be Spencer. You and I both said there's just something about him that is off."

"So then that's what we use to draw him to Llanview. It's worth a shot John, because this could be our only hope of bringing Walter down."