"Well, here we are, Monk. The walls are as thick as the jail cells, there are no windows. It is just the three of us."

"I don't know anything new about the case, Leland."

"I figured."

"Natalie and I are involved in something… something we can't tell you about."

"I figured that, too." He nodded.

"But we need to find out if we're being listened to at home, on our phones, in our cars, or even here, and we can't tell you why that would be important either."

Leland gave him one of his patented looks of exasperation. "Monk, if you're telling me this much…."

"Truly, Leland. We're not in danger or anything," Adrian said aloud; except my heart, he thought. "We're just caught up in something… inexplicable."

"So the house, the cars, the pool…."

"Yes," Natalie replied, "but we can't tell you more. Really. Just how do we handle the idea that we might be bugged?"

Leland cocked his head a moment, then inspiration hit. Give me a few minutes. He sent a group text to Randy, Sharona, TK, Molly, and Julie. "While we wait for my inspiration to take effect, why don't you use the computer to see if anything about this case actually connects to any other case. I will be right back!" Leland practically scampered out of the office. Natalie and Adrian looked after him with raised eyebrows. Leland seemed pretty excited to help them.

Adrian shrugged at Natalie, and she went to the computer and plugged in what they knew about the current case. Modus operandi, locations, possible weapons, possible motives. Then they let the computer do its work. While they waited for something to happen, Adrian paced the aisles of the records room, hoping that his intuition was off target for once, but if it was not, Leland could help them.

"Okaaay," Leland walked in carrying a box in his hands 15 minutes later. Behind him, Randy walked in silently. Based on his expression, he'd been recently chastised. Right behind Randy were TK, Sharona, Molly, and Julie.

"Leland! Natalie and Adrian cried at the same time.

"Hey, to pull off what I have in mind, you need all of us. I already warned everyone that we can't know everything, or anything really. Except you think you're either being bugged at home, in your cars… or both, so here's what I propose. Each of us comes by the new house every few days, and we'll formulate some kind of schedule amongst ourselves, so it isn't regular or obvious. And we will sweep for bugs using this." He extracted a wand-like object from the box and a receiver. He also pulled out some tiny things that Adrian, at least, recognized as surveillance devices. Leland turned on the wand and receiver and passed them over the objects he'd laid on the table. The receiver beeped. Leland adjusted a few things, then wanded the bugs again. The receiver lit up as Leland had set it to silent. That would be key.

"We don't want any listeners to know that you know, right?" Leland asked.

Natalie just looked to Adrian for his determination. "Right," Adrian agreed. "We just want to be on the offensive, not the defensive," using his recently gained sports knowledge to create the correct analogy. He really was showing remarkable social-emotional growth, Natalie acknowledged silently but proudly.

"Are you sure you can't tell us more?" Julie asked.

"We're sure, honey," Natalie said firmly but kindly.

"But-"

"No buts, Sharona," Adrian quieted his former assistant instantly and raised his hand, palm out, as she tried to say more. "We've probably made a problem for ourselves just for saying this much to Leland, and then he added all of you. When we can say something, we will. We promise." The other six looked at the pair with concern.

Natalie picked up on their worries. "We're not in danger. Honestly. We're just involved in an adventure we can't explain. That's it. Please stop worrying!"

TK smiled and spoke up at last, "If you say you're alright, we have to trust that. But hear this, Natalie, Adrian, if you do get into trouble, if you need us for more than this weird bug-sweeping thing, you have to find a way to let us know."

"We will, TK, honest." Adrian looked at his best friend's wife and smiled sincerely. She was such a good person, such a fine addition to their group. He was glad Leland had found his answer at last.

Molly hugged him and said, "I was going to come over later anyway, so I guess I can be first."

"Perfect," Natalie smiled at her.

The friends disbursed separately in case they were also being watched, exiting through different doors of the station, and Leland had promised he'd get them a schedule shortly.

𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ𝕸ɳ

Later on, after the work day was through, Molly joined Adrian and Natalie at the new house for dinner. Under the guise of a house tour, they "bug-wanded" the entire house, Natalie's purse, the phones, and the cars they proudly "showed off" to Molly. They found listening devices on the underside of Adrian's desk chair in the office, under the sugar bowl in the kitchen, inside the decorative tissue box holder in the living room, and in the armrest of Natalie's car. Adrian felt they should leave them in place. They were just audio bugs. He wrote a note to the women, "We must leave them, so they don't get the idea to plant others or realize we're onto them." They nodded and simply retreated to the kitchen to make dinner together.

Monk returned to the office but found it difficult to concentrate when he knew every breath he took was being monitored. Every squeak of that one part on his chair that he meant to fix… it was too intrusive. Yet, oddly, he never minded Natalie's presence when he worked on a case, although she heard his breathing while she puttered, read, or fixed a meal. That was comfort. That was trust. That was lo- He stopped those thoughts abruptly because suddenly Adrian had an idea. He left the room and hurried down the hall. When he got into the kitchen, he gently moved Molly from where she was standing so he could get closer to the open shelf that contained the sugar bowl, the creamer, the butter dish, and a pitcher.

"Hey, Natalie, do we have anything to fix that squeak the office chair is making? I can't work with it squeaking like that. Every time I move, it breaks my concentration." Adrian spoke awkwardly to the sugar bowl and to Natalie simultaneously. She looked at him like he was a lunatic at first but caught on after a moment.

She washed her hands and answered him. "Yes, beeswax paste and WD-40 in the cabinet by the door in the garage. On the left. Try the wax first if it's a wood squeak, the WD-40 if it's the metal parts."

"Okay," he chirped. Again his voice directed to the sugar bowl and Natalie.

Molly and Natalie resumed their conversation about the new film Molly was writing an article about, and Adrian breezed back with a smile. No one who knew him would know he was plotting the murder of an inanimate object.

He returned to the office and sighed with an exaggerated effect. He sat heavily in the chair, and there was the darn squeak.

"Damn!" He said aloud to no one but whoever was listening. "You are going down, squeak!" He thought his acting skills were passable. He wasn't Julie, but he was getting better at lying when absolutely necessary. He took the weighty chair and turned it over to see the mechanism attached to the wooden seat and where he'd seen the teeny listening device earlier in the day. He took the WD-40 and sprayed it liberally over the pump that raised and lowered the seat to different heights, the screws, and most importantly, the bug. He turned the chair back over when it was clear the WD-40 wouldn't drip on the newly finished floor, and then he sat. No squeak. He sighed with happiness.

He took his supplies back to the garage cabinet. That had been one of his ideas for a way to spend the bequest money. They'd had a garage organizational system installed after the walls and floor had been painted a bright high-gloss white. The floor was also sealed. It was even better than Monica Waters' garage had been. There were cabinets for extra pantry items, extra cleaning supplies, car needs, gardening supplies, and many more carefully labeled and organized shelves and hooks. He smiled in satisfaction at the orderly space and shut off the light. When he returned, he grabbed the electronics sweeper from Molly's bag and returned to the office. He swept the room just as they had earlier, but there were no lights or vibrations this time. So it seemed he accidentally "killed" the bug. Now they might get a more solid idea of who was placing the listening devices if one reappeared in the future by keeping careful track of who was in the house. Adrian hastily wrote a note to the girls about what he had done and why and rejoined them in the kitchen.

"Mmm. That smells so good! What's for dinner?" He handed the note to Molly.

"Your favorite… homemade chicken pot pie!"

"Oh, Natalie! Thank you! I've missed your pot pie!" He was joyful.

As Molly handed the note to Natalie, she said to Adrian, "More good news, Natalie taught me how to make it from scratch!"

"Well, I'm sure Kyle will be grateful," he replied with a slight scowl, at which both women laughed. The thought of Kyle made him a little crazy. Just because no one would be good enough for Molly, ever. "The only thing that would improve this dinner would be if Julie were here!"

The doorbell rang just then. Adrian went to answer it. "Julie!"

"Mom texted! I couldn't miss the first chicken pot pie night!" She smiled and kissed his cheek as she walked past him and into her mother's hug. He didn't wipe his cheek clean.

What followed was a lovely meal with all his favorite women, his favorite people, and Adrian couldn't remember when he was as content or happy just sitting and talking to others. Molly and Julie were both excited about a movie that opened the following weekend; the three were excited about a preseason swimsuit sale at Nordstrom. Natalie was happy they were all under one roof and was excited to share the plans for the bathroom renovations. Adrian simply followed each conversation about work, school, and life and chimed in where appropriate where he could. He could fantasize that these were his children, and they came for dinner with him and their mother as they often did, and he could see clearly that this was indeed the life he had yearned for over the past several years. Except beside Molly and Julie, as wonderful as they were, and as much as he loved them, cared for them, and often worried about them, he was picturing a little girl with his black curls flowing down her back and those sparkling green eyes of Natalie's. He envisioned her on a swing high in the air, Natalie's fearless personality informing the person she became as she grew. He could just see the child sitting at the table in one of the other chairs. He nearly choked on his water when he realized he'd checked out of the conversation and retreated into his little happy place. Natalie had asked him a question and was awaiting an answer.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. What did you ask?"

"I asked if you wanted some tea or coffee to go with the apple pie Molly brought."

"Oh, uh, yes."

"Which?"

"Tea, please."

"Sure." She looked at him, again wondering what put that expression on his face. He seemed positively euphoric. She smiled at him in return and went back to the kitchen.

Adrian turned to the girls as they sat down again. They had cleared the dinner dishes. "So, ladies, I have an important question for you both…."

The young women looked at him eagerly, hoping it was personal, possibly romantic.

"Pool table or Ping pong table?"

"What?" Julie said, obviously confused.

"Your mother and I can't decide between a pool table and a ping pong table for the living room. We decided that it should be a more useful entertainment space. No one ever really uses a formal living room."

"Oh," Molly said dejectedly.

"What's the matter, Molly?" Adrian asked cluelessly.

"Oh, nothing, I was just … Nothing." She had no idea how to finish the thought she'd had in her head.

So for a few minutes, they debated the merits of each game table. Adrian had eagerly grabbed the catalog from the sideboard. Natalie came in a few times while water boiled and coffee brewed to bring in the milk, sugar, and other necessary items, and she listened to the conversation with an indulgent smile. Adrian and their girls earnestly discussed the pros and cons of one type of game table over another. It was sweet and adorable. It was so normal, so familial, so much what she wished for in her heart of hearts… by the time the coffee and tea were ready, they had determined that a pool table was the ideal social and fun item to add to the newly finished living room. Natalie really didn't care either way. It was fun to let the girls and Adrian make a decision. They chose a table that went with the furnishings they had already purchased and added a dart board for good measure. It was also fun to imagine them all having a night of playing pool. With Kyle too, and if Julie found someone she was interested in dating. Well, god help the poor boy now that Adrian was around 24/7. She'd have to hide the darts. Natalie smirked into her tea cup as she thought of his overprotective, old-fashioned ways. She drank the tea, ate her pie, and gazed at her "family" with love and happiness.