Chapter Eighteen

Once the plane landed in Grand Cayman, John and Natalie quickly cleared customs and to their surprise were met by the person who took care of Asa's property. By the time he had driven them to the small secluded beach house, it was well past midnight. He explained that there was a car in the garage at their disposal, and he had taken the liberty to stock the fridge with the necessities. After handing Natalie the keys and his number to call if they needed anything, he drove off.

Picking up their duffle bags, John and Natalie made their way to the front door with the sound of crashing waves behind them. They made their way inside to find a comfortable, cozy vacation home. It was all one level, consisting of a living room, kitchen and study. Their surprise however came when they realized there was only the one bedroom.

"I'll take the couch," John said breaking his eyes away from the large king size bed that stood before them.

Natalie shook her head. "John that's ridiculous. This bed is huge, there's enough room for the both of us."

"Are you sure?" After their drunken incident in his room earlier that week he wanted to be cautious he didn't cross a line.

"Yes. I'm just going to hit the bathroom and then it's all yours." Grabbing an oversized tee-shirt and her toothbrush from her bag, Natalie quickly went into the bathroom and closed the door. She took a few minutes to lean against the door frame and collect her thoughts. Despite how sure and determined her voice had sounded when she insisted they share the bed, Natalie was trying not to freak out.

The last time she had tried sharing a bed with him, he had muttered the words "I love you Natalie," and she did not want a repeat of that, since this time she had no where else to go.

Remaining calm, Natalie quickly got changed, brushed her teeth and left the bathroom. Jumping into the bed, she turned off the lights and called out to John, "Bathroom's free. Goodnight," in the hopes that by the time he made it to the bed, she would be fast asleep.

Unfortunately, John was quick and joined her in less then five minutes dressed only in a tee-shirt and boxers. "Are you sure about this?"

"John we are both mature adults who need to sleep."

Sighing, John got into the bed and laid straight on his back looking up at the ceiling.

"Good night Natalie."

"Good night John."

Though they both turned over and shut their eyes, due to the close proximity it was awhile before either one of them actually were able to sleep.

When John awoke the next morning he realized somehow during the night they had shifted and he was now holding Natalie close to him. John took a few minutes just to stare down at her, remembering the mornings before Statesville when he would do the same. He had always enjoyed seeing her like this, eyes closed, looking peaceful, with a mess of red hair tangled around her. She was beautiful.

More and more he was realizing how much he missed her bright laugh as they played pool, or the quiet noises she made while she slept, and most of all the sound of her moan as he…

Seeing where his mind was going, John gently pulled away from her, careful he didn't wake her.

After having a quick shower and getting dressed, John made his way into the kitchen and surveyed the contents of the fridge. Seeing eggs, milk, cheese and some peppers, he opted for an omelet. He was just putting it on his plate when Natalie walked in, looking half asleep and disheveled.

"Something smells good."

"Did you want some? There's enough for two here."

Natalie nodded and rummaged through the cabinets until she found some instant coffee. "Did you want some?" she then asked as she started to boil the water.

John nodded, and was stuck by how natural and comfortable this little domestic set up was. Pushing those thoughts aside, he picked up the two plates and carried them to the small table that was outside on the deck which overlooked the ocean. Natalie soon joined him with two steaming mugs of coffee and they began to eat.

"It's really beautiful here," Natalie remarked, enjoying the feeling of the sun and the smell of the salty air.

"Yeah it is."

They went back to eating in silence, and once they were finished talked about what they had ahead of them.

"We need to stake out Walter's address and confirm it is him before we figure out a way to lure him back to Llanview." John said as he took another sip of his coffee.

Natalie nodded and picked up her plate. "I'm just going to have a shower and then we can go."

It took a few practice laps around the area surrounding the beach house before John got used to driving in the left side of the road. Finally he pulled on to the main roads and began to drive. At first they had a few scary moments like when John turned into the right hand lane, and when he realized there were some different street signs, but eventually he got the hang of it. The made it to the address they had found alive and in one piece.

Parked across the street, they both looked over at the small house that was in front of them. It was part of a subdivision, and a short walk to the ocean.

"So, now what?" Natalie asked.

John took out a pair of binoculars and trained them on the house. "Well we have two options; we can either wait and see if he comes out, or go up and knock."

"Which one should we do?"

"Well the house is completely dark so it looks like he may not be there. The sooner we make an ID the sooner we can figure out what to do next." Lowering the binoculars, John turned to face her. "Do you have any type of paper or envelope in your purse?"

Unsure of what he was doing, Natalie grabbed her purse and went through it. Finally she produced an unopened credit card statement. "This is all I have," she said handing it to him.

"Perfect. Do you have that picture of Walter?"

Natalie reached back in her purse and withdrew the picture she had found buried under papers in the storage area of the hotel. "Okay, I'll be back in a second."

John got out of the car and Natalie watched as he made his way up to the house they suspected was Walters. John knocked and remained on the porch for a few minutes before cutting across the lawn to a neighbor's house. The door was soon opened by an older woman and Natalie saw John holding up the envelope. They spoke for a few seconds then John handed her the picture to which she started nodding at. He remained there for a few more minutes then made his way back to the car.

"What was that about?" Natalie asked once he was back inside.

John started up the car and glanced over at her with a smile. "You're not the only one who can act their way out of information. I told her I was a PI who had to serve him with court papers. She looked at the picture and confirmed it is Walter."

"So he faked his death."

"Yeah, looks that way." John said as he pulled away from the curb.

"Where is he now?"

"The woman said he mentioned something about having a business trip. He asked her to get his mail and said he would be back on Monday.

"So I guess we are stuck here for the next three days?"

John nodded. "Is that okay? I know you have things going on at home…"

Natalie smiled. "Actually, I am kind of relieved that we are going have to be here for a few days despite everything that's going on back at home and with the case. The idea of sitting on the beach and just being away from everything seems too good to be true."

Glancing over at her happy face, John was once again filled with feelings of love. The prospect of spending the next few days on the beach with her was very appealing. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He said as he continued to drive.