The sun rose on moving day, and Natalie greeted the movers with a combination of excitement and trepidation. She'd rented out her current house, almost entirely furnished to a lovely young couple, so there was very little for the movers to haul except for the balance of her wardrobe, boxes of memorabilia, and such. Natalie followed the moving van to Adrian's, where nearly everything was being moved out and into the "new" house. Patiently, she listened to him issue orders and admonishments. At the same time, she read a magazine on gardening and remained inert and uninvolved in the hysteria until they needed to take the chair on which she sat. She tucked her magazine into her purse and walked out to her new car. She gave Adrian time to say goodbye to 2G on his own. She'd already bid her silent farewell to the place where she had met the quirky, irascible, broken, lovable Adrian Monk. It affected her more than she thought it would, but definitely not as much as it would affect him. She studied his expression when he met her in the car. A look of calm resolve sat upon his face, an unusual look for Adrian. She chose not to comment or ask any questions. She just patted his shoulder and started the car.

They followed the moving van to the house on Briarcliff Terrace and parked on the street so the movers would have total access to the driveway and garage.

As they walked up to the front door, Natalie took Adrian's arm and said, "Here we go," with a bright smile that belied her sudden nervousness. She endured Adrian's continued neurotic directing of the movers, in reverse now, for a while. But Natalie was able to retreat to her new bedroom this time. She slipped off her shoes, looked into the nice-sized walk-in closet she'd had custom designed with shelves and racks for everything, and turned to her luggage and boxes to unpack. She'd had the same customization done in Adrian's closet, knowing his wardrobe as well as she knew her own. She was so happy the closets had been done so quickly. It was amazing what you could accomplish with money. A lot of freaking money. She sighed. Before Natalie could open her luggage, something caught her eye. A bouquet of silvery lavender roses sat on her new nightstand in the lovely crystal vase she purchased the other day. Before she opened the card, she knew. There were ten flowers. They were the same length, and each flower was perfect. How on Earth did he… Her heart leaped into her throat. The card in Adrian's perfect handwriting read, "To smooth sailing, calm seas, and happy days on our new adventure. Thank you for taking this leap with me, Natalie! Will Grandpa Neville's net appear for us? I hope so. Yours, Adrian"

She held the card to her breast and felt her heart beating so hard she thought it might burst. Again she wondered how he'd gotten the flowers into her bedroom. Sometimes he was magical. She unpacked and set up her belongings in her preferred way as she listened to Adrian and the movers from a distance. Then, behind her door, she hung a secret purchase. It was a wooden calendar that had three hooks that held wooden numbers. Right now, those numbers were 3-6-5… to count down the days until the end of their "captivity." She would change the count before she went to bed each evening, knowing they were one step closer to being able to live their dreams. At least financially. What would happen to them emotionally over the year ahead was something neither of them could foresee.

About two hours later, there was a knock on her door, "Natalie?"

"Come in," she called from the small loveseat by the window that looked over the side yard.

Adrian walked in to find her curled on the new, tiny floral sofa, a blanket over her feet, and a book in her hands. She looked so lovely and comfortable that he didn't want to disturb her peace. He gave her so little of it. She looked up at him and smiled in such a way that his heart skipped a beat. He mentally got himself under control and said, "The movers are gone. Come see if everything is okay."

"I'm sure it's fine," she replied off-handedly. As if Adrian Monk would have items placed improperly or crookedly. Still, she rose and followed him out the door and down the hall, feet bare and sweats on, he noticed. Already getting comfortable. What she saw pleased and shocked her. Their books were combined on the shelves of his handsome bookcases in some order only Adrian would ever comprehend. Although still divided by possessor, their photo albums stood side by side on the bottom shelves. Their videotapes and DVDs were combined and alphabetized on the shelves that surrounded the fireplace. A new flat-screen television hung above the fireplace, and a new stereo sat on the left shelves—both installed the day before. The most incredible thing was that photos of Mitch and Trudy stood side by side on the mantle below the television, and on the opposite side were two wedding pictures, one of Adrian and Trudy and one of Natalie and Mitch. Natalie was overwhelmed, and tears started in her eyes. She really hadn't thought about how they'd incorporate their late spouses into this new madness but leave it to Adrian to make it right. There were pictures of Julie and Julie with the two of them at her high school graduation, as well as Mitch's flag, and young Julie with Mitch, and more casual pictures of Adrian and Trudy and Mitch and her interspersed with the books as well. Natalie felt a little unsteady when she plopped onto the couch and reached for a tissue. They were right where they'd always been in both of their homes, next to the sofa.

"Natalie?" Adrian questioned, worried that he'd done something wrong, as usual.

"Thank you, Adrian," she whispered. "Thank you for the flowers in my room, thank you for finding a way to combine our lives without making it weird, thank you for unpacking all this stuff… How on Earth did you do it so fast? You are truly amazing." She swiped at her eyes with the tissue and then stood and hugged him close.

He smiled and tentatively returned the hug. "I only did a few boxes of things. There's still plenty more to do, but we have time. I thought we'd feel more comfortable having a room where we could both…uh… hang …that was at least partly finished."

"You did a great job of it. Really." Natalie turned to admire the shiny new finishes on the cherrywood floors, the white wood trim, and the satiny light wheat color of the family room they'd chosen together - and that he'd so meticulously set up. "I really like the wall color and how it doesn't detract from the furniture," she said.

"Me too."

All his cognac-brown leather furniture was in this room, looking like it had been meant for it all along. Natalie had been thrilled to leave the green couch behind her. But, as her toes dug into the costly area rug she'd purchased, a quiver ran up her spine.

Speaking of thrills, she thought. "Surprise alert!"

"Natalie!"

"What?"

"I hate surprises!"

"You're gonna love this one!"

She hurried to the garage where she'd hidden a large wrapped package. Then, with effort, she hefted it in through the door to the kitchen and to their new family room.

"Ta-dah," Natalie announced

"What is it?"

"Usually, you have to open surprises to find out!"

He gave her the side-eye and a raised eyebrow, but she ignored it, knowing how happy he'd be in just a few minutes. Having a million dollars to spend was very fun, she realized, very fun indeed.

Adrian methodically lifted the ends of the wrapping paper and folded back the ends. Natalie waited patiently, knowing his gift-opening style was slow and sometimes excruciatingly annoying. But she gave him her attention and knew it pleased him to do it his way, in his time. When the paper had been removed at last, Adrian stood staring at the large box speechlessly. A top-of-the-line Dyson vacuum stood between them.

After a minute or so, she asked, "Well, do you like it?" Because by this time, her patience had eroded, so to move him along kindly, and because Natalie couldn't wait for him to speak any longer, she prompted him.

"Like it?" He turned and faced her with astonishment. "I love it! Natalie! It's… and I'm… I don't really know what to say!"

"How about thank you?"

"Well, thank you. It is wonderful." He surprised her then by bussing her cheek with a lighter-than-air kiss and turning quickly back to the box. Natalie thought she'd imagined it, but his clean, masculine scent lingered in the air next to her. He opened the box and began reading the instructions with enthusiasm as she shook her head and went to figure out dinner. She decided that a celebration was in order, so she placed an order at Del Vino and went to change her clothes while Adrian carefully unpacked his new "toy."

By the time the doorbell rang forty-five minutes later, he'd taken the new vacuum out for a spin and was happily vacuuming the spotless and furniture-less formal living room when she answered the door. She paid and tipped the driver.

Natalie set the dining room table and then called him to eat. He was so wrapped up that he didn't even realize what had happened around him. Finally, Natalie had to go in and place her hand over his hand on the vacuum handle for him to realize she was speaking to him. He turned the vacuum off.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hi," he said with a slight flush of his cheeks, embarrassed to have been caught so wrapped up.

"Dinner."

"Oh! Wow! Okay. Thank you. Coming." She turned, and he noticed she had put on a pretty, casual dress. It swung around her lithe frame and showed off her long legs. Yet, she was still barefoot. And the scent of her perfume trailed after her. He swallowed hard. He went to wash up and was glad she couldn't read his mind. While he was vacuuming, his thoughts about her were decidedly less than clean. In fact, if there were such a thing as a Dyson for the brain, he would be glad to have it. People didn't think Adrian Monk had thoughts of a graphic or sexual nature, but from time to time, he did, and lately, those thoughts had been happening more frequently, and they always involved Natalie. Walking into the dining room, he ripped his thoughts back to dinner.

"How did you…." when he saw the table set with the new dishes, the flowers he'd given her, and a fat candle. Plus, something smelled delicious. Was he so wrapped up with the new vacuum that he overlooked her cooking?

"I made my specialty… a phone call to Del Vino," she laughed as she sat at her traditional place across from him. He chuckled too. There was chicken française, angel hair pasta, a Caesar salad, and crusty bread. Next to her plate was a wine glass filled with white wine, and next to his many plates was a wine glass filled with Sierra Springs. "You were really involved in the vacuuming, so I made an executive decision. I felt a little celebration was in order!"

"Ah," he said, mystified.

"Yes, a celebration, Adrian. To the beginning of our new adventure," she clarified for him and raised her glass.

He caught on and raised his as well. "To our adventure."

As they ate, he surreptitiously studied Natalie. She was talking about a list of ideas she had for them to spend the required amount of money. She had the list next to her in her notebook. And he assumed he was making the right noises of agreement as he watched her greener-than-green eyes flash with excitement and worry, with hope and fun. Her face was animated and happy as she spoke. God, she was beautiful; he nearly choked when he forgot to chew. He coughed and reached for his water.

"Are you okay?" she asked. The tiny line between her eyebrows that always appeared when she worried made itself visible.

"Yes. Yes, fine. So about this pool…I don't have to swim in it, do I?" Natalie laughed and launched into a description of what she envisioned for the backyard that would spend down a lot of the money, make the unpretentious house's value go up, and make it enjoyable to live there. She described a hot tub, a figure eight-shaped pool, variegated gray pavers to match the dove gray they'd sided the house with, surrounding both, and a permanent cabana for shade with a dark gray, light gray, and white striped awning. Then she pulled over a catalog from the local backyard store showing him the furniture she liked but wanted his input. They discussed the furniture he thought he'd likely never use; he hated the sun, sweating, and bugs. Natalie had other ideas but would let him believe what he wanted to believe for the time being. She also showed him ideas for a barbeque. They debated over the built-in version or the freestanding kind. Finally, they settled on the built-in outdoor kitchen set-up, knowing it would cost more and, again, improve the house's value. Then she moved on to what to do with the living room.

For a few minutes, Adrian lost himself in the memory of similar discussions he'd had with Trudy about the improvements they had planned to make over the years to this very house as their salaries and circumstances allowed. It was eerily reminiscent and yet not at all the same. The freedom that comes from wealth, even if it had strings, was amazing. The phone rang then.

"Now all we have to do is figure out which phone is ringing when they ring," Natalie said as she rose to answer it. She gave him a sarcastic eye roll and said, "Hello?" into the phone in the kitchen. This phone had two lines, a new purchase from Best Buy. In addition, they'd had both of their home phone lines transferred to this house. So each of their home lines was now on this phone, the extension in the office, and the extension in the family room, while only their own lines were in their bedrooms.

"Yes, captain. We'll be there shortly." She hung up the phone. "Duty calls. Good thing I barely had one glass of wine."

"Alrighty. What are we going to say to them?"

"Hopefully, nothing. We can invite Leland, TK, Randy, and Sharona over next week and give them the story."

"Okay. But I hope they don't ask me any questions."

"They probably won't. There's a case with too much to do. They won't be thinking about us. Just let me change." He watched her walk down the hall to her room and donned his jacket. While he waited for her, he wrapped the cord for the vacuum and rewashed his hands.

"Ready?" she called from the front door.

"Yes." He grabbed his keys and wallet from the table in the entryway and locked the door behind them with the push of the center button on the keypad.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

Neither Natalie nor Monk noticed the nearly silent hybrid that pulled away from the curb after they left their driveway and followed them from several car lengths to the crime scene.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

The crime scene turned out to be an unused warehouse on Fisherman's Wharf. It was owned and maintained by a company with offices next door, plus two other warehouses adjacent and across the street. A security guard doing his rounds found the victim on his usual patrol.

Leland greeted them outside with "Fair warning. It's like the Silence of the Lambs in there, guys."

"The what of the what?" Adrian responded, puzzled.

Natalie sighed and braced herself. Leland said, "Nevermind!"

The body was strung up from a pair of pulleys that once were used to unload pallets of sugar from ships that came in from Hawai'i. The corpse, nude except for a pair of bloody cotton jockey shorts, was flayed open like a butterflied steak ready for grilling. Natalie, even having been warned, even knowing what to expect based on Leland's words, even after all these years, paled and covered her mouth with both hands. She turned to go and bumped right into Adrian. His arms automatically went to steady her. She held onto his shoulders for support and got herself together. She looked him in the eyes and shrugged slightly. His arms tightened automatically when he saw her horrified expression.

"Thanks. I'll be okay. That was just a little shocking. More than usual."

Adrian nodded in understanding, "It is. It's awful. I'm sorry you had to see that. In fact, why don't you wait outside."

"No, no," Natalie said firmly. "This is my job. If I ever want to get a private investigator's license, I need to be able to handle all kinds of situations, right?"

She'd been studying for months for the California PI Exam. She was extraordinarily pernicious when she wanted something. She'd also finished her Bachelor's Degree online at night over the last two years. He knew it took her a while because she was on call for him so much. He'd held her back somewhat, and that made him feel guilty. But she was so extraordinarily smart, too. He knew she could go further, and he wanted to encourage that. That would be a good use of the money! He would discuss it with her later; he had clues to unearth.

As it turned out, the investigation took until well into the early hours of the next day. When Adrian and Natalie returned to the house, she pulled into the driveway, engaged the garage door opener, pulled in carefully, and turned off the car. Then she yawned behind her hand and said, "This situation actually does work out for us at times like these, right? Now we're both home. I don't have to go home after dropping you off. Neither of us has to sleep on a couch or in a guest room. So maybe our 'cover story' isn't really so far-fetched after all. It is economically prudent and extraordinarily convenient." She shrugged and moved to get out of the car.

He got out as well, and as always, when seeing the house, his heart clenched, but this time it didn't hurt quite as much. Too exhausted to say much, they retreated to their rooms to get ready for bed. When they met in the hall as Natalie was exiting the bathroom and Adrian was returning from his check that all the windows and doors were locked, the alarm set, and everything was clean and put away, all they could do was say goodnight.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

A dark sedan sat parked across the street, the lone occupant inside the car gritted their teeth, and an expression of disdain was painted upon their visage. It was too dark for any photos. It was too late to peek in the windows; the shades were drawn. The engine purred to life, a nice hybrid soft and quiet sound. The car drove away, and the driver unrevealed to the occupants of the house on Briarcliff Terrace.