"How do you think you know me?" asked Natalie as she felt John's hand go on her back to ease her off the ledge she was about to pounce down from.
"The night Scott died—I saw your picture for the first time—even when I had this put away your face would still haunt me," said Sam as he sat down and opened his suitcase to pull out a small photo album and handed it to John.
John flipped through the pictures, Natalie barely glancing at them, becoming sick to her stomach at what she saw. It was candid shots of her throughout her childhood—standing at the bus stop, playing at the playground, walking down the boardwalk, even a picture of her and Seth kissing. "Where'd you find these?"
"That night we actually went into the complex—Scott wanted to see if we could find something to help with the case."
"That's an illegal search, Sam—you know that," spoke Brett.
"Yeah, we knew—but we were young and naïve—wanted to prove something to the big man. We got in pretty easy and made our way to his office without being spotted. Didn't find much, but in the top drawer was that photo album. We figured she was his daughter."
"You figured wrong," said Natalie coolly as she left the room and went upstairs.
"So who is she?" asked Sam as he watched her leave.
"Not his daughter, that's for sure," said John as they all sat down and began to explain what was going on.
She heard him walk into the room and lock the door behind him but stayed quiet—she hadn't gone back downstairs after she came up—actually getting sick in the bathroom their room had, but she didn't want to share that with John. Share the idea that the man had been watching her since she was a small child. Knowing the life he'd put her into—and being boastful about it was more than she could take.
John heard the muffled sigh she let into the covers—the realization of the pictures had put a huge knot into his stomach—and known it had probably done more to hers than she would admit.
He didn't say a word though, knew there was nothing to say to take all the years away, instead he got into the bed with her and just held her tight—after a minute he felt her shaking with sobs, "Shhhh—hey—it's ok."
Natalie sniffled some before rolling over and looking up at him. "Damn hormones," she laughed, wiping away the tears.
John cracked a smile, "Guess I better get used to it." He gently kissed her forehead as she placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.
The love making tonight wasn't rushed and passionate like the night before—but calm and tender, reminding each how far they'd come from the streets of Atlantic City.
She slipped into the room quietly—it had been easy to override the security system—to make her way into this mansion and up to the room. She picked up the sleeping infant and the pink blanket that was lying on the rocking chair, "You ready to go see your grandpa?" she said softly as she slipped back out unnoticed to all.
Natalie yawned and stretched as she came down into the living room the next morning, already seeing Brett sitting on the couch watching the news. "Good morning, Rooster," she laughed at the irony of the statement and sat down next to him.
"Morning," he smiled. "We ok?"
"Yeah, we're ok—is Sam up yet? I wanted to talk to him."
"No, Aaron and him went over to the complex and staked it out for a bit. Craig's in the office working on something. Good morning, Sunshine," he grinned as John walked down the steps rubbing his eyes and went to the kitchen.
"Please tell me someone bought decaf," groaned Natalie as John let out a laugh. "I'm serious—if not someone better be headed out to the nearest coffee shop pronto."
"I'll go—you two have a phone call coming in from Bo Buchanan," said Craig as he and John switched places.
"I wonder if he found a connection with Evangeline," said Natalie as she got up and went into the office also, closing the door behind her.
John rolled his eyes before picking the phone up and putting it on speaker, "McBain."
"Hi, John," he said, walking onto the terrace to have a private conversation. "Nat in there with you?"
"I'm here, Uncle Bo. Did you find anything on Evangeline?"
"No, sweetie, but we do have a new development," he sighed.
"Is everything ok? Is it mom or Jess?"
"Not exactly—Brennan was kidnapped from her crib during the night."
"Oh no—how is Jess taking it?"
"She's holding on—Nash has been by her side the entire time. I haven't told anyone that Mitch is alive—I don't want to push in to your assignment, John."
"I know—we're close, we'll just make sure we work harder and faster. Call us with updates," said John as he hung up and looked at Natalie just sitting there on the edge of the desk. "Hey—we're going to get Brennan back."
She nodded her head, "But we have to work fast. I won't let my niece be raised by anyone else other than Jess and Nash. Who knows how long we have until he drops her into one of his disciples laps."
"I'm going with you," said Natalie as she stood in the doorway of the office where Brett, Craig, Aaron, and John now stood packing up their equipment.
"No you aren't, and that's final," scolded John.
"How are you going to stop me?"
John ignored the tease in her voice, "I said you aren't going—it's dangerous Natalie."
"Yeah, and who knows about danger more than me? This is personal John—even more for me because I won't let this happen again."
He pushed his way past Aaron and took her face into his hands, "And I won't let it happen again either. But we need to do this the right way—so can you stay here and let us do our job, please?"
"I—fine," she said, rolling her eyes as she walked out of the doorway and went to sit on the couch in the living room.
"You think that's going to work?" whispered Aaron.
"Hell no," groaned John as he went back to helping the others with the bags.