Page 71 of Natalie's Nighthawk

Natalie kneeled beside him on the bed. Her arm around his shoulders. “You didn’t fail. You saved me. That’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, but none of it would have happened if I could have just stayed away from you. I brought Lauren into your life.”

“I could have no sooner stayed away from you as you could have stayed away from me. I think we were destined for each other. Look at how you found me.”

“You helped with that with your clever little trail,” he argued.

“But you knew where to find me. Youknew.Instinctively. Like you could feel me or something. It makes no sense, but there it is. When I was trying to talk her down, offering to leave you, to go away, she told me that you would just follow me. I knew she was right. You would move heaven and earth to find me.”

She moved to stand in front of him, unconcerned with her nakedness. She took his hands and put them on her hips. Then placing her hands on his shoulders, she whispered, “Look at me.” His eyes slowly rose, a pained expression on his handsome features. “I am fine. I am safe, and I am fine. I am alive.Youdid that. And onlyyoucould have done that. Everybody else would have been looking for me up at your cabin. But you knew. How did you know? Because when it comes to the people you love, you listen to them and pay attention. You knew that note was out of character for me. You knew that me not returning your messages would never have happened. You are a good person. An excellent friend. As you were for Lauren. She was just really good at hiding her true nature.”

He drew her closer to him, hugging her tight, his head resting on her breast. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

She snorted. “Are you kidding me? Your entire adult life has been about saving lives, and you can wonder about what you deserve? The question should be, what didIever do to deserveyou?”

He smiled up at her before his eyes turned sad again. “I think it’s going to take me some time to come to grips with what happened. With what Lauren did. I hope you can be patient with me.”

“I will always be here for you,” she said, placing her hand over the starburst nestled between her breasts. “When you feel the darkness, let me be your light.” She grabbed his face between her hands, leaned over, and kissed him. He clutched her to him and fell backward to the bed. She giggled as he flipped them and took control of the kiss. Natalie let him.

Chapter 24

ThenextdaytheyallwatchedinaweasEmmascaled the climbing wall like she was taking a leisurely stroll. She tackled the most difficult routes as if she’d been born for it. She was even better than David, and that was saying something. An idea was starting to take root in Graham’s mind.

Later, as he watched Emma instruct Jolene in the intricacies of climbing and encourage her all the way up the wall, he knew his idea was perfect. He and David were stretched pretty thin at Nighthawk as their notoriety spread. With Lauren gone, they needed some extra help. Emma seemed like a perfect fit. After running it by David, who agreed, he offered the job to Emma.

“You want me to come work here? For Nighthawk?” Emma asked incredulously. “But I don’t have much training in search and rescue aside from water rescues. What possible use could I be?”

“We need a climbing instructor. You, obviously, are the best climber I’ve ever seen. You see things in the wall that the rest of us can’t. I bet you’d have that same instinct during a rescue. I’ve never seen anyone handle the ropes like you. The rest of the training will come. We’ll all work hard in getting you up to speed. That is if you are interested.”

“If I’m interested?” She looked to Jolene for guidance, who emphatically nodded her head. “Of course, I’m interested. I’ve been searching for a new adventure. This seems the perfect fit.”

“Excellent,” Graham said, shaking her hand. The rest of the Nighthawks crowded around her welcoming her to the team.

“Chow time,” David called. The group headed toward the dining hall. “Coming?” David asked Graham as he hung back from the crowd.

“You guys go ahead. I want to put some of these things away.” There were a few of the ropes that Graham wanted to set aside to inspect more closely later. It was important that the ropes be inspected after each use, otherwise, an unnoticed fray could be deadly. They’d given them a once over as they coiled them, but some were worrying Graham. He might have to budget for more rope in the future. He sighed when he realized that was a job Lauren usually managed.

“Need help?” David offered.

“Nah. Go get some lunch. I’ll be there in a minute,” he bent to grab another coil of rope, throwing it over his shoulder. He made his way to the large warehouse that stored most of their equipment. He entered, flipping on the lights, glad he had paid a little extra to have the building heated. He made his way to the back room where they did most of the equipment inspections, passing the floor to ceiling shelves full of supplies.

He walked through the door at the back of the warehouse into the Nighthawk’s repair room, glancing briefly around to make sure all the tools were in their proper place. After setting the gear down on the long table in the center of the room, he heard Natalie call to him. “Graham, you in here somewhere?”

“Back here.”

She joined him. “David said they need?” She never finished. At that moment, Graham saw a movement behind Natalie.

Moving instinctively, he grabbed Natalie and spun around, his back now to the main part of the warehouse just as the shot rang out. He felt a searing pain in his arm. Natalie screamed. Graham pushed her behind him as he turned to face Lauren.

She was in the middle of the warehouse. Gun in hand. Crazed look in her eyes. “Get back, Natalie!” Graham yelled, making sure to stay in front of her as a shield. Graham placed his body next to the door jamb hoping that would protect him from any more flying bullets, Natalie behind and slightly to the left of him, out of sight as much as she could be. But the windows on either side of the door looking into the repair room were not going to be much of a shield. He knew he should make Natalie leave out the back door, but he also knew she’d never go and leave him to face this alone.

“Lauren,” he called. “What are you doing?”

“Shut up! I want her! I want her dead!” Lauren cried firing the gun wildly. The round ricocheting off the metal shelves with a sonorous ring like a bell being struck.

“Lauren, stop! Calm down. Let’s talk about this,” Graham reasoned. Natalie grabbed the hand he held out in front of her to keep her behind him. He could feel her trembling against his back, her fear palpable.

“No, I want her dead. Why is she not dead? She ruined everything.”

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