Chapter Twenty-Nine

The next twenty-four hours were complete hell for John. He had spent hours at the park trying to follow leads and find witnesses, but there was hardly anything to go on. Considering that it had happened in broad daylight, it was almost as if Matthew and Starr had vanished into thin air.

The one witness they did have was an older lady who had been walking her dog at the time. She reported seeing a dark van pull up to the children and two people in masks jump out and grab them. Almost all of the Buchanans, Lords and Mannings were at the station and most of them were frantic. Of course, as is the usual when these groups together, there were snide comments, lots of blaming and one or two fights that officers had to break up.

In a nutshell, it was chaos.

In addition to that, John couldn't keep his mind of Natalie. There was no denying it; once again he had screwed up. Remembering how angry and hurt she looked and how she claimed it "violated her," John continued to be filled with remorse. He had never expected that she would find out about the tracker. In the past twenty-four hours he hadn't seen or heard from her at all. He had ended up spending the night at the station, as the thought of going back to their empty house just filled him with even more regret.

He had no idea how to fix this.

It was nearing 5pm when John finally got back to the station after another day of canvassing and following the fee leads they had. As he was making his way back toward his office, he spotted her familiar red hair in the corner of his eye. Spinning around, John watched as Natalie and her mother entered the station and went over to where the rest of the family was sitting.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, just watching her unsure whether he should venture over there or not. But Vicki must have noticed his hesitation as she motioned to Natalie that he was standing there and Natalie's turned her head and met his eyes.

They made eye contact for a few seconds until Natalie turned away and began speaking to her mother again. His face falling, John slowly tore his eyes away and began to turn back into his office when he realized she was headed toward him. Wordlessly she made her way past him and into his office and then waited for him to shut the door.

"Has there been any news about Matthew and Starr?" Natalie asked, her voice slightly cold.

John shook his head. "Not yet, we're still looking."

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds until John spoke.

"Natalie I made a mistake putting that tracker in the watch. As much as you may hate me right now, I need you to know how sorry I am."

Sighing, Natalie took a seat on his couch. "I just can't believe you would do something like that. Why didn't you just suggest it to me? Gave me a chance to think about it?"

"Would you have even considered it?"

Natalie thought about that for a moment before honestly answering. "Probably not… but John, what possessed you to do something like that?"

Suddenly feeling angry, John turned toward her his eyes flashing. "You want to know what possessed me Natalie, fine I'll tell you. The thought of this guy grabbing you, the million scenarios that won't stop through my mind of the potential things he would do to you, the thought of finding your naked, mutilated body positioned for me like he did with Ginger…" John trailed off and finally met her eyes. "Knowing that if I wasn't smart enough or fast enough I could never see you again. The days I'd leave for work wondering if it would be the last time I ever saw you, thinking of having to re-live the pain of losing someone else I loved. That's what possessed me to do it Natalie."

Though still upset with him, Natalie stood up and went over to him. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms and around him and hugged him tightly. "John I know you're scared, and I'm scared too, but we can't just stop living our lives because of this guy. We can't spend every waking minute together, or track the other persons ever move because that's not just going to keep us safe, it's going to end up tearing us apart."

Knowing she was right, John remained silent, just enjoying the feel of her in his arms. Finally, he whispered once more, "I'm sorry."

"I know you are, but I'm still angry you went behind my back like this..." Natalie said, but seeing the worry that crossed over John's face, she rushed on. "I'll get over it, I just need some time."

Although he hated to, John pulled away from her. "I understand. Listen I need to get back out there…"

Natalie nodded. "I know. My Dad gets back tonight so if you get a chance to go home, I'll see you there, okay?"

For the first time in twenty-four hour John smiled, realizing everything was going to be okay. "Okay. I love you Natalie."

Smiling Natalie suddenly learned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I love you too."

Giving her one last look, John turned away and left the room. Natalie was just about to follow him when her cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID and seeing it was unknown, Natalie answered it.

Hello?"

"If you ever want to see your cousins alive again you will do exactly as I say." The voice was computer generated.

"Who is this?" Natalie choked out, trying to remain calm.

"I will be the one with the questions. As I said, if you want to see them alive you are going to follow my orders."

When Natalie remained silent the voice continued. "Good, I see we understand each other. I want you to know that right now I am watching you. I see you in Lieutenants McBain's office, standing by his desk and trying to reach for that piece of paper and pen. Put it down Natalie or else I will start by slitting Matthews's throat."

Hearing the terrified scream of Starr, Natalie's hand froze and the paper fluttered to the desk. In that instant she knew… it was the stalker.

"Good girl. Now, you have 10 minutes to get to your car and start driving. Keep the phone on so I can hear what you are doing. Don't try to be a hero Natalie or else one of them will die."

Suddenly seeing the silver watch on the corner of John's desk, Natalie got an idea. "My watch is on his desk… I'm going to need to reach for it so I can keep track of time."

There was a slight pause on the other end, until finally the voice agreed. "If I see you reach for anything other then the watch they are dead."

Natalie obliged and with shaking hands, slid the watch onto her wrist. "You're wasting time, you better hurry," The voice demanded.

Nodding, Natalie took a deep breath and left John's office praying that she would run into someone. Her prayers were answered as one of the rookies Officer Davis, stopped her.

"Are you leaving Ms. Vega?" He asked having been told by the Lieutenant to keep her updated on the case.

"You better handle this carefully," The voice whispered.

"Sorry Mom, just a second." Natalie pulled the phone away from her ear and forced a smile at the officer. "I have to get back to Llanfair – My Mom is really upset about the whole kidnapping thing."

"Is there anything you want me to tell the Lieutenant when he gets back?"

Choosing her words carefully Natalie nodded. "Just explain to him where I had to go, and could you tell him I am sorry? I didn't mean to snap at him over the necklace he bought me – he was right, silver was the better choice, tell him not to take it back."

Though confused the officer nodded and promised to do so. As she began to leave the station she put the phone back to her ear. "Trying to right some wrongs are we? Very well done. You have five minutes left."

Picking up her pace, Natalie all but ran to her car praying that John would get and understand her cryptic message.

Her cousin's lives depended on it.