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expectantly at Audra, who had apparently been watching their exchange. "Why don't I bring Frankie by tomorrow afternoon so she can see what you guys have been up to with the new agency?"
    "Oh! Could I?" Frankie beamed.
    "Of course! You're in luck: we always have gelato on Fridays."
    As the pilot called for Audra's attention at the front of the plane, Natalie helped Frankie collect her belongings and took mental notes as she listed off her favorite flavors of gelato and preferred toppings. The pilot opened the hatch door and the plane was filled with the scent of fresh rain on the tarmac.
    "Your car has arrived, Misses Robertson," the pilot announced.
    Natalie glanced out the window as she helped Frankie slip on her shoes and noticed there was not one car, but two pulling up to the hangar. Audra glanced back at Natalie, a worried expression on her face, before climbing down onto the ground below.
    "Got everything?" Natalie asked, her attention still locked on the two cars outside. She watched as Audra approached one just as the rear passenger door opened and a blonde haired woman stepped out, pulling the lapels of her coat tight around her chest. Could it possibly be?
    "Aunt Caroline!" Frankie greeted as the blonde woman climbed in through the hatch door.
    "Kiddo!" She stretched out her arms and picked Frankie up, whirling her around the plane. "You're so big! How old are you now? Thirty two?"
    "No!" Frankie crackled with laughter.
    Natalie stood, the movement catching the blonde woman's attention.
    "Hi. I don't believe we've met," the woman greeted, her Frankie-free hand outstretched towards Natalie. "Caroline Robertson."
    Natalie smiled kindly to hide the shock of hearing the name Robertson, and shook the woman's hand. "Natalie Harlow."
    Caroline's brow arched above her crystalline blue eyes. " The Natalie Harlow?" Whatever the woman knew of her she hid it well behind a modest smile, revealing nothing - no judgment, no kindness or hatred. She was a Robertson and knew of Natalie. So was she another sister to Audra and Celine?
    "Caroline is my aunt," Audra clarified from her place at the hatch door, eyeing Natalie carefully.
    "It's lovely to meet you, Caroline."
    "You as well. I hope you don't mind me dropping in unexpectedly," she continued, turning with Frankie still in her arms to address Audra. "James is tied up with work at the Jacqueline so he asked me to come pick Frankie up."
    Audra glanced down at the gold watch on her thin wrist. "It's nearly midnight."
    Caroline exhaled a rushed breath from her mouth. "I know, right? He's spent every night this week working late. I've had to wake him up on the couch and send him to bed more than once."
    Natalie's face and torso went chillingly still. How on earth did Audra's aunt - of all people - know the details of James' late night behavior and sleep pattern?
    "All right, kiddo. Ready to go home? You must be exhausted." Frankie nodded her head before placing it on Caroline's shoulder, sleep threatening to take her once more. "Okay well, it was nice to meet you, Natalie. And Audra I'll see you in the office tomorrow?"
    Audra smiled politely and patted at Frankie's hair as Caroline disembarked and put Frankie in the waiting second car and departed, presumably to James' penthouse at The Jacqueline .
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
    "Thank you for the plane ride." Natalie set her purse and suitcase down in the darkened foyer and searched for a light switch. She wasn't yet used to the large condominium that served as both home and office. Her fingers found and flipped a switch and the living space was doused in ambient light no brighter than candlelight.
    "My pleasure. Well, almost..." Audra's smile was beautifully wicked in the low lighting.
    "Next time we'll make sure there isn't anyone around to interrupt."
    "Sounds like a plan." Audra leaned in and kissed Natalie's lips with tender affection, lingering on her bottom lip until it flushed with a fresh current of blood. "Good night."
    "Night."