Page 8 of Natalie's Nighthawk

That day by the lake was a tangible memory to him, one he kept with him always. And when he was starting up his search and rescue training business, the drawing had inspired him. Nighthawk Search and Rescue. He had named his company after that drawing and the story she’d told him.

The fact that he was sitting in his truck beside the artist that had held an important place in his heart for so many years was a wonder to him. His little chickadee; the nickname still suited her. She was still little, probably five foot four, and she still had that lovely cap of dark hair that now fell in waves around her shoulders instead of the messy bun from that day twelve years ago that he’d always pictured her with.

He knew he should have looked her up years ago, but he’d been afraid he’d find her married with kids. He’d never been sure he could deal with that reality. It had been better to live with his fantasy. Shit! For all he knew right now, shewasmarried. He stole a glance at her left hand. He couldn’t just come out and ask. Though he felt like he was still that inept eighteen-year-old; he knew that would be awkward. Once again, she had him tongue-tied.

As Graham pulled up in front of the school, he chided himself. He needed to get his head back in the game and not on his living, breathing dream sitting beside him.

Natalie introduced Graham to Donnie and his mom, Diane. The boy, to his credit, looked miserable and was more than willing to answer all of Graham’s questions. The guilt he was feeling was palpable. He admitted to teasing Colin unmercifully every day before school and had, in fact, been stationed at his usual spot that Friday morning when he saw Colin and Lucy veer off into the woods to avoid him and his buddies. Donnie even showed Graham and Natalie exactly where, admitting to chasing them through the trees for a short time until the fog made it too difficult to see, and they lost their prey.

As he finished with his story, a sheriff’s vehicle raced into the lot. Graham had asked his Receptionist/Administrative Assistant, Lauren Phillips, to call the local law to let them know that the Nighthawks were joining the search. Leaving the engine running, Sheriff Dodd hefted his weight out of the SUV.

“What’s this all about?” he blustered, the buttons of his uniform shirt straining to contain his girth, his eyes narrowing in on Natalie. “I told you, Miss Ghannon,” he said, pointing his bulbous finger at her while spittle flew out of his mouth. “There is no reason to believe those kids are in these woods.” The man was the epitome of smarmy, and Graham’s hackles rose to defend Natalie.

But before he could, Donnie stepped up between the Sheriff and Natalie, fists clenched. “I saw them, Sheriff Dodd. That morning. They went into the forest.” Even he was outraged that the Sheriff was such an ass.

“Look, I’m just here to help,” Graham interjected. “I’m sure your resources are stretched pretty thin.” The word had spread that a Nighthawk was here to help, and the parking lot was quickly filling up with townsfolk.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t want to turn away more searchers, would you, Sheriff Dodd?” Natalie stated loudly. Sheriff Dodd glowered at Natalie, and Graham could tell he knew full well she had bested him. He obviously couldn’t say anything without the whole town thinking him an ass. The Sheriff’s eyes darted around at the gathering crowd, and Graham could see the moment he realized he had to save face somehow in front of all the potential voters if he wanted to keep his job with election season just around the corner.

“Of course not,” the Sheriff conceded, running an agitated hand over his bald head. “Obviously, the more searchers, the better. Since you’ve come with your own manpower,” the Sheriff indicated David, who had just arrived. “Why don’t you start in these woods while my men continue their search behind the O’Donnoll’s house?”

Graham heard Maddie’s snort of derision behind him. “Absolutely. Here’s my cell number where you can reach me if you find them.” He handed the Sheriff his business card. Then he turned to David, completely dismissing the incompetent Sheriff. “Let’s take a look at that topo map you brought.”

A young deputy walked over to Natalie. “Sorry about this, Natalie. Sheriff’s got tunnel vision when it comes to this case for some reason. I’m glad you brought your own group in. Dodd wouldn’t listen to reason, and we were stretched too thin doing his bidding. Otherwise, I would have been in these woods long ago.”

Natalie introduced Graham to Deputy Ian McClintock, who thanked him for helping out. Then he excused himself to smooth over the Sheriff’s ruffled feathers. Natalie explained that everybody knew if you needed anything, Deputy McClintock was your man.

Graham felt a wave of jealousy momentarily as he observed Natalie converse with the deputy. They seemed to have an easy rapport. Were they friends or something more? The deputy was good-looking, he supposed. The man’s hair was darker than his own but styled similarly. His dark blue eyes looked down at Natalie with kindness and familiarity. Together they made an attractive couple. His stomach knotted as the jealousy flared. He realized that he should never have stayed away from her for so many years. He’d only been back in her presence for a few hours, and he was already feeling possessive.

Fuck.He pulled himself out of his musings and turned to talk to his brother, desperate to shake off the jealousy.

Graham and David were poring over possible places to start their search when two large SUVs pulled into the lot, and five of his best Nighthawks plus Lauren spilled out. “I guess Lauren filled the guys in on what we were doing,” David said as the men joined them.

“Thanks for coming guys.” He gave them the sitrep as the townsfolk prattled on around them. He could hear snippets of their conversations. The same conversations people always had about the Nighthawks. Most of the talk centered in awe and wonder.

He was used to the chatter about him, but it had become ten times worse since the Nighthawks had rescued the actor six months ago. That had given them national attention, and his face had been plastered on all the major news networks for days. Graham had been forced to break his own rule about news interviews so the speculation about him and his Nighthawks would die down. He cringed even now, thinking about that interview.

Natalie seemed oblivious to her neighbors’ fascination with him as she spoke quietly with a young couple. He was thankful for that. He didn’t want her thinking he was some stupid, superstar celebrity. As he spoke to his men, Natalie led the couple over to him.

“Graham.” She lightly touched his arm to get his attention. Of course, all that did was intensify his awareness of her and the warmth her tiny hand on his arm generated. “This is Milly and Daniel O’Donnoll, Lucy and Colin’s parents.”

“We can’t thank you enough for this.” Daniel, who wore a Lake Haven Fire Department t-shirt, grabbed Graham’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. “When Diane called us to tell us the Nighthawks were coming to help, well, we could hardly believe it. But here you are! All of you,” He gestured to the group of men. “Thank you so much.” Mrs. O’Donnoll, who was clutching her husband’s arm for support, also shook his hand but could only squeeze out a quick “Thanks” past her tears.

Thankfully, Lauren arrived and drew the parents away. A wiz with family members, she had worked for the Red Cross when he first met her. They had often worked the same disasters and had struck up a friendship. Graham eventually convinced her to leave the Red Cross and come work for him, and he’d never regretted a minute of it. She had a way with people that was nothing short of miraculous.

After sending his men off to search key locations he thought the kids might have wandered to, he went to his truck to grab his gear. Natalie met him there. “Anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“Well,” he mused. “I usually employ the buddy system with the Nighthawks, but I seem to be a man short. Wanna be my buddy?”

Her entire face lit up, which was fascinating to him, and just as it had twelve years ago, the blood in his body shot south at an alarming speed.

“Absolutely!” she answered, reaching up to throw her long dark hair into a ponytail. He watched as she lifted her hair up, mesmerized by the smooth skin of her neck. He imagined what it would be like to place his mouth there.

Fuck.Twelve years and he still couldn’t stop fantasizing about her.

Snapping himself out of his reverie, they set off in the direction of the ruins he had noticed on the satellite image map. He kept his eyes glued to the trail, looking for any evidence of humans passing nearby recently. Anything from overturned brush, broken branches, or footprints left in the dirt to a scrap of material snagged by a twig could indicate someone had walked through the area.

Determining if it was the children was the trick. There was no real way of telling if any of the signs his tracking skills spotted was from the missing kids. It was a weekend, which meant there was a chance that plenty of hikers had been in these woods recently, but Graham figured most of them would stick to the marked trails. Would the children do the same, or had they veered off the trail and been unable to find their way back?

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