Page 41 of Natalie's Nighthawk

“No. It’s okay. I need a break and the paint needs to dry before the next step.”

“In that case, Maddie stopped by when I was finishing up my call. She said to tell you that the band you like is playing tonight at Jolene’s. She’ll be at the usual table if we want to join her.”

“Great! I love listening to them. Maddie and I usually go and have some dinner there before the band starts, does that work for you?” The all-female band mostly did covers of some of the better classic pop and rock songs, but occasionally, they’d play an original piece, written by the keyboard player.

As they left Natalie’s house for Jolene’s, she noticed footprints in the snow wrapping around the side of her house. “That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“Those.” She pointed then followed the footprints to the side of her house, Graham right behind her. “That’s weird.”

Maddie joined them, having seen them leave. “Did you walk around out here?” Natalie asked Maddie.

“No,” she had her phone out. Natalie knew who she was calling. “Ian, yeah, it’s Maddie. We’ve got a situation at our place.” Ian McClintock, the deputy with the sheriff’s department, had been first on the scene when Natalie had been attacked. Ever since then, he’d watched over the sisters, always making himself available if they needed help. And, of course, this situation was no different. It wasn’t long before he was pulling up in front of the duplex.

He studied the footprints, following them to the side of the house, then to the back. Even though Maddie had cleaned off the deck, they could still see where someone had stood near the sliding glass door.

“I checked on the way over,” Ian was saying. “He’s still locked up.” He was referring to Erik, of course. There was always the outside chance of him getting out and coming after Natalie again.

“Okay,” Ian continued studying the prints. “Looks like someone walked from the front of the house. Stopped at the side. Peering in windows maybe? Then continued to the back where bold as can be they walked up onto the deck. Small feet perhaps, but hard to tell with all the snowmelt from today.”

“Why would someone want to look in my windows?” Natalie wondered. “Is there some sort of peeping Tom going around town?”

“Not that I know of,” Ian said as he took a closer look at the windows on the side of the house. “I’ll dust for prints on the window and sliding door. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Though probably not,” Graham remarked dryly.

“Yeah, probably not.” Ian walked to his cruiser to get his kit. “You headed to Jolene’s?” he asked them.

“Yeah. You gonna be able to stop by too?” Maddie asked.

“I’ll be there when I’m done here.”

Natalie gave him a quick hug. “Thanks so much for this, Ian.”

“You’ll let us know what you find?” Graham asked.

“Absolutely.”

As the trio walked down the block, the lake breeze hitting them in the face, they discussed the situation. Who would want to peek in Natalie’s windows and why? She remembered the things she and Graham had done within sight of those windows. A shiver chased through her body at the thought of someone spying on them. Graham, of course, guessed where her thoughts had gone and reached for her hand.

“It was probably just someone who was lost,” Graham tried to reassure her.

“Yeah, maybe,” she replied, not entirely convinced.

The three of them joined David at Jolene’s. At David’s mention of food, the others in the team had been only too anxious to join. They had pushed a couple of tables together and were all talking animatedly with each other. Finch and Jude were the loudest. Evan was quietly talking with Lauren and Logan.

It wasn’t long before the ribbing started. Since Graham had opted to get a life instead of going on their last SAR mission, he was fair game. He took it good-naturedly. And Natalie managed to give as good as she got even though she didn’t know the men all that well. Graham could tell beneath all the teasing; his men were happy for him. Most of them knew about his struggles after the tsunami. And they could see that Natalie was going to be good for him. But still, they couldn’t resist knocking their stoic boss down a peg or two.

“I know that Maddie’s your sister, but she seems to be a little occupied with David at the moment.” Tin Man shouted across the table to Natalie. “Do you happen to have any other sisters hidden anywhere?”

“Sorry, Tin Man, just the one sister.” “Cousin? Aunt? Mother? I’m not picky.” he appealed to her. “Nope. Sorry. And believe me, you do not want my mother.”

“There’s a story there,” he remarked.

“Not one we have time for,” Maddie muttered. She shared a knowing look with her sister, and Natalie laughed.

Graham loved seeing Natalie so relaxed. Her laugh was magical and lit up her whole face. He promised himself he would try to keep her laughing as often as possible. Natalie was pure light, and he never wanted it to dim.

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