Chapter Fourteen

The next few weeks flew quickly and without any more contact from the stalker. Natalie easily resettled back in to life in Llanview and her family. She hadn't seen John since their fight at the police station, he was staying away from her like she had asked. She was relieved not to have to suffer through awkward encounters which brought up all the painful memories, because she couldn't bear to relive them.

Immediately after returning home that day, Natalie had called Rex and Michael telling them both about the most recent note and demanding to know if either of them had told anyone about the miscarriage. They had both assured her they hadn't and Rex pointed out it could just be come tactic to distract John. As much as Natalie wanted to believe that part of her had an awful feeling there was more to it then just a tactic.

It was now December 20th, and only a few shopping days remained before Christmas. Natalie knew her and Starr needed to get a move on it if they wanted to avoid the massive crowds at the mall. Opening her jewelry box she grabbed her watch. As she was closing the lid, an empty space caught her eye.

Her wedding rings were gone.

Quickly, Natalie opened up all the compartments in the box, and was checking the area on her dresser when Starr appeared.

"Natalie, we should get going." Starr whined, annoyed it had was taking her cousin so long to get ready.

"Starr, have you seen my wedding rings?" Natalie asked distractedly as continued to search.

"No."

"What about the other day when you were borrowing that necklace?"

Concentrating, Starr thought back to that day and shook her head. "No, they weren't there. When was the last time you saw them?" she asked trying to be helpful.

Natalie tried to remember. "A few weeks ago, when I first moved in. I thought I put them in here."

"Everything always turns up when you're not looking. They're probably in one of the boxes you haven't unpacked or at Aunt Vicki's. I'm sure you'll find them, but can we please go?"

Natalie nodded, still distracted. Closing her jewelry box she grabbed her purse and jacket and ushered her cousin out of the room.

Natalie spent the entire shopping trip with Starr mentally retracing her steps since moving back into the cottage. The last time she remembered seeing them was weeks ago when she first arrived back in Llanview and had set her jewelry box up on her vanity.

"Natalie… Natalie..." Starr's voice interrupted her thoughts. Turning her attention on to her cousin, Natalie forced a smile. "Yeah?"

"You weren't listening to a word I said," Starr said angrily as they left the bookstore they had been in.

"I'm sorry Starr; I'm just worried about those rings."

"I'm sure you'll find them."

"Find what?" John asked coming up behind them.

"What are you doing here?" Natalie's eyes narrowed.

John held up the shopping bags he held. "Christmas shopping. I was just coming out of that store when I overheard Starr. What are you missing?"

When Natalie didn't answer his question, Starr took it upon herself too ignoring the look Natalie shot her. "Her wedding rings. She thought they were in her jewelry box, but they aren't."

John looked back at Natalie, the detective in him assuming the worst "Is this true?"

"It's no big deal, they'll turn up." Shifting her shopping bags to the other hand, Natalie put a hand on Starr's shoulder. "Come on Starr, I still have a millions things to buy." The two of them walked off together, neither of them playing attention to John. That didn't bother him, but the missing rings did. Natalie didn't lose things, especially not things that were important to her, he knew she wouldn't have just misplaced them. John hoped he was wrong because if his suspicions were right it meant that not only did those rings fall in to the wrong hands, but that someone had access to the cottage. As he was walking back to the parking lot, he made a mental note to call Natalie in a few days and see if they had turned up. In the meantime, he would have some extra patrols past the cottage and check into her security system.

He followed her cautiously, leaving a large space between them as he wasn't concerned about losing track of her since he knew where she lived. He had been watching her from a distance for days and knew that she lived alone without a boyfriend that could possibly show up and ruin things. He smiled to himself, remembering how easy it had been to swipe the key from Roxanne once she was drunk enough.

Despite the distance between them, he could see clearly the bright red hair that peeked out from under her woolen hat. Although up close the hair color wasn't a perfect match, from afar it did the job nicely. Her eyes however, were all wrong, but he kept telling himself it wouldn't matter once he was finished with her.

Fingering the gold rings in his pocket, he licked his lips in anticipation. Tonight was the night.

"I think we made out pretty well don't you?" Natalie asked Starr as the rode the elevator up to the Manning penthouse.

"Do you really think Aunt Vicki will like the picture frame I got her? It's really flowery."

"Have you seen Llanfair?" Natalie laughed.

The cousins exchanged matching grins. "Thanks for letting me pick my own Christmas gift Natalie. I promise to act surprised when I open the outfit."

Natalie laughed and gathered up some of Starr's bags as the elevator doors opened. Before Starr even had a chance to dig through her purse Blair opened the door.

"I thought I heard you two laughing." Blair smiled, happy to see her daughter smiling again. Since they had found out Ginger was Margaret's niece, Starr had been miserable. But now that Natalie was back and spending time with her cousin Starr's mood had improved.

"Wow, you bought a lot." Blair exclaimed helping Natalie with some of the bags. Natalie laughed. "I think your daughter takes after her Aunt Dorian."

After both women helped Starr carry her purchases to her room, Blair pulled Natalie into the master bedroom. "I'm glad you're here Natalie, I just got the bridesmaid dresses back and wanted you to try yours on."

Blair and Todd had decided that they were going to attempt another wedding this New Years Eve and had planned an event bigger and more extravagant then all their previous weddings put together. Starr was the maid-of-honor, with Kelly, Adrianna, Jessica and Natalie as bridesmaids.

Smiling, Natalie excitedly took the long black dress Blair handed to her, unaware of the horror occurring across town. As Natalie gently slipped the silky fabric over her body, He was roughly forcing the wedding rings on to the woman's motionless hand.