Attn: I don't own John or Natalie or any other OLTL character. I do own everyone else though.

Chapter 3

"Getting kidnapped twice in one night. That's got to be a record for you my dear," he said silkily then cocked his head as if realizing a mistake. "No make that three times," he said cheerfully and nodded to the other man beside her.

"NO!" Natalie screamed struggling weakly as her rescuer turned kidnapper hauled her kicking and screaming to the black Lincoln and threw her into the back seat.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. They knew Natalie was too weak to escape them so they left her unbound. They were right, because when they got into the car Natalie was passed out. Probably from exhaustion and shock. Seeing this they left the dead man in the middle of the road and drove off.

3 days later.

Bo still couldn't believe it. His niece was dead. Natalie was dead. How was he supposed to tell her brother Rex who had just returned to town and was sitting in his office waiting for Bo to return? He just didn't know what to say to the other man. Rex loved Natalie more than anyone even though they weren't biologically related. To tell that young man that Natalie was dead... it would destroy him.

But it had to be done.

Bo took a deep breath and entered his office. He slapped Rex's feet off his desk automatically before sitting done in his chair behind the desk. Studying the younger man carefully Bo took in the worried expression on his face, the short blond hair that looked like Rex had run his hands thru it repeatedly in worry, the tension in his body. It all told him that Rex already knew something wasn't right. He looked Rex in the eye and started, "Rex..."

Rex tensed immediately at Bo's tone. He looked Bo square in the face and knew, he just knew, that what ever Bo was about to say would change his life. And not for the better. He was almost positive it was about Natalie. Something was wrong, he had been feeling it for days. It wasn't too strong at first, just a nagging little feeling that something wasn't right but over the past 3 days it had gotten stronger and stronger until he could think of little else. Trying Natalie's cell and having the voicemail pick up every time didn't help matters at all.

So he had cut his vacation short and had come home to make sure she was all right. So here he was, waiting for Bo to tell him where Natalie was. After a moment of silence in which Bo was obviously struggling to find the right words Rex finally snapped, "For God sake just tell me!"

Bo blinked then did as Rex had asked, "I'm sorry Rex, Natalie was murdered." Tears formed in his eyes as he finished speaking. The pain of the loss still pierced his chest, sharp and agonizing like the blade of the knife that had killed Natalie. As the tears blurred his vision and spilled onto his face Bo put his face in his hands and took a deep breath, trying to get himself back under control.

Rex choked at Bo's blunt words and gasped as their meaning hit him with all the force of a sledge hammer to the chest. "Wh... What?" he gasped, not believe he had heard correctly. He stared at Bo and saw his tears and knew that he had heard correctly. For a second he stopped breathing then he let out a gasping sob and jumped up in panic, "No! That's not possible. She's not dead! She's Not! I would have known! I would know if she were...!" He began backing away from Bo and hit the opposite wall still denying the words.

Bo pulled himself together long enough to get up and go to the man that was almost a son to him. As Rex sank to the floor still mumbling Bo went down too and embraced him. Together they sat there for a long time, until Rex had gotten himself back under control. As Bo felt Rex pull away and wipe his eyes with the back of the sweatshirt he wore he let go and stood up.

Rex also got up and sat back in the chair he abandoned. Now that the initial shock had passed and the pain had turned to white-hot fury he was able to speak. He wanted details. He needed to know what happened and why. "Murdered? Who did it? Have you caught them yet?"

Bo swallowed back the remaining tears that clogged his throat and answered in a hallow voice. "So far it looks like she was kidnapped at home then murdered. We believe it was the work of the serial killer that they are calling 'The Forest Desecrator' He hasn't been caught yet.

"Are you sure it was Natalie? Maybe it wasn't her!" Rex asked, still not really believing Natalie was dead. He felt like he would have known if she had died. Even if they weren't blood he still felt like he would know.

Bo shook his head and said softly, "I identified the body." He didn't say more, didn't want Rex to know that there really hadn't been much to identify. That they had to use the prints and the tattoo that Natalie had gotten the day she had died to identify her.

Rex teared up again at that but didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. It was all he could do not to fall apart again as the pain of the loss of his sister hit him again. He just got up and stumbled out of Bo's office. He needed to go home, to be alone.

Bo watched Rex leave and he too again felt the staggering loss of the woman he had loved so much. Natalie might have only been his niece but she had been more like a daughter too him. Not seeing her, Never hearing her voice again was still unthinkable to him.

John still felt terrible for bringing such horrible news to his new boss. Seeing Bo identify his niece had touched a cord in him that John hadn't known was still there. He had been there when Bo had called Vicki Buchanan to tell her and he had heard the shock and grief from the woman on the other end of the phone. Opposed to the other victims of this killer this girl would be sorely missed.

'The forest desecrater' the Media had dubbed the guy, what a stupid name he thought to himself as he looked at the newest victim. Different town, same MO. God he was tired of all this, tired of seeing so much useless death, tired of getting into the head of these monsters. He was really looking forward to being a small town cop in a place where murder wasn't around every corner.

John took a deep breath and pushed all other thoughts from his head and concentrated on the scene before him. He studied the body, the surrounding area. On the surface it seemed almost identical to the previous murders but something felt off about it to John. It felt different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it right now but something wasn't right here.

John looked over at the man next to him and said, "I want a full report on the body and detailed pictures."

The other man nodded, following orders with out complaint. He had heard about John McBain. He was the best and that's what they needed right now. After 5 murders the public was crying out for justice and John working the case was the best chance they had at getting it. After talking with his men he came back and asked, "What are you thinking?"

"Something doesn't fit. Something is off here. This one feels different to me." John explained briefly. He closed his eyes tiredly and said, "I'm going back to the office. Get that report to me as soon as you can." With that John left the scene and drove back to the station. He had some thinking to do and there was nothing left for him to do at the crime scene.

John was sitting at his makeshift desk 2 hours later when the report came in. He took the folder and opened it up. He began reading it and at first it seemed normal, like the other murders, then John spotted something in the report that caused him to hiss," I knew it. It was different."

The other man jumped at John's unexpected exclamation and peered over at the file. He had read it and hadn't noticed anything that would cause such a reaction.

"She wasn't a natural redhead!" John said to him. In the previous murders the woman had always been a natural redhead. It really wasn't much but it was something.

"So what? Maybe the guy couldn't tell it was a dye job." The other man said, dismissing the find.

John looked up at him and said, "This girl looked like she had money, I bet if she wanted her hair dyed she would go to a salon, not by the over the counter dye and do it herself. The report says that the dye is Herbal Essence. My guess is the killer dyed the hair himself to fit his needs."

"But what does that mean? Why does it matter?"

John frowned thoughtfully, "I'm not sure yet, but its something. Its more than we had before."

To be continued...