Page 64 of Natalie's Nighthawk

“Broken?” he asked, indicating the splint. She nodded. “Ribs?”

“Just bruised.”

He saw the tears then, and it broke him. “Aww, Chickadee. Don’t cry.” He placed his lips on the fingers that peeked out from the splint. “You’re safe now.”

She nodded again. “I thought I’d never see you again,” she sobbed.

He placed a hip on the bed and laid next to her. She shifted to make room, wincing. His heart caught. He gathered her into his arms as gently as he could and held her as she cried. She cried until exhaustion overcame her, and she fell asleep in his arms.

The deputy came in after a while, Maddie and David on his heels. “I’m sorry. I really need to speak with her.”

“Chickadee,” Graham said close to her ear. He sure as hell hated to wake her but knew the deputy needed answers. “Can you wake up for me?” Slowly she opened her eyes. “Ian needs to talk to you. Do you feel up to it?” She nodded. Graham stayed where he was as McClintock approached. He needed to keep Natalie close.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Natalie, but I need you to tell me what happened,” the law officer began pulling a notebook out of his pocket.

“I’ll try,” Natalie said quietly. “Some of it is foggy, though.”

“Just tell us as much as you can remember. When did you leave your house?” he asked.

“Friday.”

“Why?”

“Lauren had stopped by. She said she wanted us to become friends and asked if we could go for a walk.”

“And you went with her?” Natalie nodded. “Which way did you two start walking?”

“Towards the school. Away from the lake.”

“Did you talk about anything?”

“No, at least not until we got into the woods.”

“Go on,” he prompted.

“She was acting weird. When we were pretty far into the woods, I asked her if something was wrong … I think.” She placed her bandaged hand on her forehead, her brow creasing as if it hurt to remember.

He saw her peek at him through her fingers. She seemed unwilling to continue. Her eyes looked on him with pity like she didn’t want to hurt him by completing her story.

He grabbed her hand and lowered it from her face. “It’s okay, Chickadee. I know what she did, who she really is now. You can finish it. It won’t hurt me to hear.”

She took a deep breath, wincing with pain from her bruised ribs. “She pointed a gun at me then and saidIwas what was wrong.” Graham flinched inwardly at the mention of a gun. Lauren. His friend and confidant all these years. He still couldn’t believe she was responsible for all of this. Couldn’t believe she would want to harm someone who meant so much to him.

“Did you know what she meant by that?”

“Not at first. Then she explained that Graham was hers and I was in the way. She was ranting about how I had ruined everything.” He’d assured Natalie he could handle hearing what had happened, but it still rankled to learn he was the cause of all this.

He’d brought Natalie into his world and had hoped the two women would be friends. He should have paid closer attention. He knew something had been bothering Lauren and should have asked her about it. They could have avoided all the pain. Natalie would have been safe and sound in her house all weekend, not lying broken at the bottom of a pit.

“She led me to the clearing, and then I knew,” Natalie continued. “I remembered the well was there. I figured she was going to shoot me and dump my body in the well. I tried to talk her out of it. Tried to reason with her. She’d spent her life helping others. She wasn’t a murderer. It wasn’t in her nature. I even offered to go away. Leave Graham. She wouldn’t listen.

“I tried one last time to convince her she wasn’t a murderer. She said something like, ‘I’m not.’ That’s the last thing I remember before waking up at the bottom of the well.” Graham squeezed her tighter. She’d begged for her life. That was another image that was now burned into his brain.

His anger surged. He gritted his teeth and contained it, seething inside. Lauren had wanted Natalie dead. She may not have pulled the trigger, but she was still trying to kill Natalie by leaving her in that pit. That, in Graham’s book,wasmurder.

“Anything else you need to tell me?” Ian asked. Natalie shook her head, wincing. Her head obviously still hurting her.

“Okay,” the deputy said, closing his notebook. “I think I’ve got everything I need. I’d like to take the clothes you were wearing though. There could be trace evidence on them.”

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