Chapter Twenty-Five

"No, absolutely not. If you do that, he wins. He wants you to pull away from Natalie and follow your usual pattern of drowning your sorrows in alcohol. In my opinion, that is when he plans to go after her."

"So then what do you suggest we do?" John asked, feeling slightly foolish at his impulsive instinct to pull away from Natalie in order to keep her safe. He had been becoming too predictable.

"This is a man who not only wants to cause problems, but also to watch his handiwork, so I guarantee he will definitely be waiting somewhere outside the station wanting to see your reaction. Call Natalie and get her to come over as soon as she can. This will excite him because he'll see this as a bonus, not only seeing your reaction but also hers. Then, come out together and act normal. Then once you are outside the station in plain sight, take the card out, tear it up and throw it in the trash can. Then walk off together, maybe even consider holding hands."

"Won't this piss him off?"

Dr. Ryan nodded. "If you want any chance of catching this guy before he goes after Natalie, you have to get him mad, because once he is he will start acting impulsively and it is likely he will screw up."

John's brow furrowed in concern as he thought back to pissing off Haver, and how that had resulted in Caitlyn's death. "Isn't there a risk that would put Natalie in danger?"

"You are dealing with someone completely different then the music box killer John. Haver was fixated on you – his endgame was making you suffer, which is why he went after Caitlyn, Your mother and Natalie. This guy is fixated on Natalie – and part of that obsession involves needing her alive. Making you suffer is just an added benefit."

John nodded and considered what the doctor was saying. Dr. Ryan was one of the most renowned criminal psychologists on the east coast, but he worried about the consequences if the doctor was wrong. Realizing that John was in deep though Dr. Ryan decided it was time to take his leave. Standing up he zipped up his long overcoat and wrapped a scarf tightly around him. "I need to get back to Philly, but call me if anything else turns up. I hope I was able to help."

John stood up from his desk and walked over to the door to let him out. "Yes, a great help. I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me."

Dr. Ryan offered John a small smile, "It was the least I could do for a former colleague. One more thing before I go. I know I said that whoever he is, he is not close to Natalie – but John, his fixation of her is unnatural."

"What does that mean?"

"I can't say for sure – but in my opinion I think he has known her in the past, maybe a past boyfriend or lover, but definitely someone that had some form of interaction with her and got quite possibly got spurned. This is a guy who insists on being control and if Natalie did manage to take that control away once then he's looking to take it back – and in my professional opinion that is what you need to worry about."

After Dr. Ryan had left his office, John sat down and contemplated what the doctor had said. In all the years he had worked at the FBI, Dr. Ryan's profiles had never been wrong – a record which forced John to seriously consider his suggestion of trying to piss the stalker off. On one hand he could understand the doctors point, it was obvious they were dealing with a cold and calculated man, one who carefully planed out every move before making it. So it made sense for them to use this rare opportunity to one up him. But at the same time, all he could think of was Caitlyn.

During the past year or so, John had found himself thinking of her less and less and she had finally become another memory. There were times he missed her, like when he would be up late at night flipping through channels and come across those old classic movies she loved, but since falling in love with Natalie, his grief over Caitlyn had been put to rest.

Natalie was now his life… and John was terrified of losing her.

When John had called that press conference about the White Rose Killer, his intentions had been the same – piss the guy off so he screws up, a plan which had backfired. But now here he was, 7 years later put into the same situation.

John debated over this dilemma for nearly an hour before he decided that he needed to talk it over with Natalie. Since getting back together they had both promised no more secrets between them, something that despite finding hard John was making an effort to do. Plus, John had learned from experience that by including Natalie in things like this she was less likely to go off and do something stupid. Knowing that Natalie would be in class for a few more hours, John left a message on her cell phone asking her to drop by the station before heading home.

Remembering the list of stuff he still needed to get for Valentines Day, John figured now would be the best time since Natalie would be gone for a few hours. But at the same time he had an ulterior motive. Since he already knew what Natalie's decision would be about angering the stalker, there was something else he had to do – something that would violate the whole idea of no secrets between them.

When Natalie finally got John's message she could tell from his tone that something was wrong. She immediately cancelled a meeting at the Love Center and went to meet him at the police station. When she walked into his office John was sitting at his desk with a thick folder spread open in front of him.

"Hey," she said softly as she closed the door behind her and crossed the room to give him a quick kiss. "I got your message. What's up?"

John closed the folder and smiled at her, happy to see her despite the circumstances.

John filled her in about the most recent note from the stalker and his meeting with Dr. Ryan. Once he was finished, he leaned back in his chair and gave her a few minutes to digest it all. She remained silent for a few minutes, just staring blankly at the card. When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were dark.

"I am going to kill this bastard."

"Natalie…"

"No, don't 'Natalie' me. This is just sick," she said angrily as she held up the card. "Sending me notes, spying on me, even stealing my rings I can handle, but this… this just crosses a line."

"I know. We'll get him Natalie, I promise." John reached across the desk and squeezed one of her hands. "Because of the misinformation about our break-up, Dr. Ryan seems to think he has to be getting his information from someone close to you – someone who got fed the story about me being unable to commit."

Natalie's forehead creased in confusion. "The only people who know the truth are Rex, Michael and my mom. But John, there is no way anyone close to me would be trying to put me in danger."

"Maybe they don't know they are – this guy could be acting like a friend to them and secretly pumping information from them, or he could be blackmailing them. Look how much damage Spencer almost got away with by blackmailing Paige and David? Todd was almost executed and your family came close to losing BE."

Natalie nodded, though she had been gone for most of it, Jessica and Vicki had filled her in whenever they had spoken on the phone. "I'll talk to my family – see if anyone knows anything."

"He also thinks this guy was spurned by you – someone you rejected, or someone you took an upper hand against. I know have asked you before, but I need you to think – is there anyone you can think of that matches this?"

"Typically I am the one getting my heart broken," she said dryly.

John winced, her remark a painful reminder of all the times he had screwed up with her. Pushing it aside he continued to push. "Maybe someone from high school, someone like Hayes who could still is holding a grudge?"

Natalie shook her head. "Noting jumps out at me. I don't keep in touch with a lot of people from high school, but my story might have gotten around A.C. I'll dig out a yearbook and go through it."

Knowing it was time to tell her about the plan suggested by the Doctor; John took a deep breath and began. As expected, Natalie was nodding her head by the time he was done. "John, we have no other options here, and I am getting sick of just sitting around waiting for him to make his next move."

"What if this puts you in danger Natalie?"

Natalie's expression softened, as she realized where John's concerns were stemming from. "You said it yourself; Dr. Ryan is one of the best criminal psychologists in the country... I think we can trust him on this one."

"I don't want to lose you," John said it so softly Natalie had to strain to hear him. Seeing the emotion on his face, Natalie went over to him, put her arms around his neck and sat on his lap. "That's not going to happen," she said as she brought her lips to his.

Across the street from the police station Mitch was sitting in his rented sedan holding a pair of binoculars. 'Things are going perfectly,' he thought to himself, an evil smiling playing on his lips. He knew by now that John must have gotten the card he sent and couldn't wait to see the reaction. Plus, much to the surprise and delight of Mitch, Natalie had just shown up and he couldn't have been happier. 'Two shows for the price of one,' he mused.

He imagined that John would come rushing out first, his face blank and his eyes dark – heading straight to the nearest liquor store. Then Natalie would rush out, her red hair flying wildly around her, tears steaming prettily from her eyes. She would try and catch up to him, maybe even try and stop him – but he would push her away. Maybe they would even get into a fight right outside the station so he could watch!

Once they parted Natalie would be left all alone and John out of the way. Then he could put his final plan into motion. Natalie had no classes tomorrow, so he had arranged for a dozen roses to be sent to her with a card from John, asking her to meet him at Crossroads. The abandoned bar not only had significance for John and Natalie, but was located on the outskirts of town – a place where no one could hear her scream. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he stepped out of the shadows.

Caught up in his fantasy, Mitch almost missed the doors to the police station opening. Picking up his binoculars, he pointed them in the direction and became excited when he saw the familiar form of John opening the doors. However his excitement soon turned to horror as he realized John's arm was around Natalie.

"This can't be right…." He muttered to himself, zooming in on their faces. Seeing the matching happy smiles, he tried to calm himself down. "He must not have opened the card yet." Just as the thought occurred to him, John and Natalie stopped in front of a trash can. Mitch watched as John reached into his pocket and pulled out a red card, tore it up and tossed it into the garbage can. It that wasn't bad enough, John then reached down and pulled Natalie in for a kiss. Seething, Mitch watched at the two of them walked toward John's car hand in hand.

It hadn't worked.

About to snap, Mitch furiously started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. 'I am going to kill that son of a bitch,' he muttered angrily as he sped toward his makeshift home.