Chapter Two: Help That Hurts

Jordan woke up with a jerk. She listened carefully, but couldn't hear anything more. Then the sound came again, a loud banging. She made a noise between a whine and a groan—someone was knocking on her door.

The person knocked again, louder this time. Jordan forced herself out of bed and onto her feet. She moved cautiously toward the door, half afraid of who was out there. Another set of pounding started, this time in her chest.

Cautiously, Jordan looked out the peephole. She gasped in surprise. She yanked open the door and nearly shouted, "Nigel, what are you doing here?"


Just beyond the window, the man cursed under his breath. He knew that everything had been going too smoothly. There was no way he wanted another person to get involved. If just the Cavanaugh girl ended up dead, it wouldn't look so bad. She was a fugitive, after all. But killing someone else along with her? That was begging for more attention.

Still, this could be remedied. From the window, the entrance into the room wasn't visible. He quietly slipped inside and slunk across the room. He crouched down into the corner between the bed and the bathroom wall. He'd wait until she told whoever was outside to leave. Then when she came back to her bed, he'd fire. She wouldn't even know what hit her.


"Jordan!" Nigel exclaimed, pulling her into his embrace. "Thank God I found you!"

But Jordan pushed away, irate. "Why are you here? How did you find me? You need to leave—I can't involve you in this!"

"No, Jordan," Nigel replied. "You are coming with me; we're going home."

"Are you kidding me?" she cried out. "You know I can't go home. If I do, I'll never find out what happened…Lu will find me…I'll go to jail. No! I won't go home with you Nige. How could you ask that?"

Nigel looked at her with a pained expression. "Love, don't you understand? You're in too much danger here. The police…bounty hunters…hitmen. Everyone has been up to their eyeballs in worry. You don't have a choice, Jordan. I'm taking you home."

"No, you're not!" Jordan yelled back. "I'm fine on my own! I don't want to go to prison…can't you understand that?" She was frantic now.

"Yes, Jordan! Yes, I understand that!" Nigel argued back. "But I'd rather you be alive in prison than dead on the street!"

Jordan didn't answer. She folded her arms and looked at the floor.

"Love," Nigel started, quieter this time. "This has been running us all ragged…you the most, I know. But nothing—nothing—is worth your life. You have to come back with me. You have to turn yourself in. You can't risk getting killed." He put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

She saw his fear and his grief, but couldn't bring herself to give in. "I can't, Nige," she whispered. "I just can't…if I don't stay here, no one will ever find out what happened…I'll never be cleared…I can't…"

"That's not true Jordan. It's not. Dr. M, Bug, Lily, myself…even Woody, we're all pulling for you. We're looking at every angle and under every rock. We're not going to let you down. But you have to let us do the work, not you. We'll find out what happened, I promise."

He drew her into a hug once again, this time holding on tighter. Jordan's whole body was tense, and she shook her head back and forth vehemently. "Don't do this, Nigel…please," she said faintly.

Nigel sighed. "I have to, love," he answered hoarsely. "As much as it hurts me to, I have to."

With that, he released her partly. One hand wrapped securely around Jordan's upper arm and he pulled her out of the room. He paused long enough to grab her bag, and then dragged her down the hallway. Jordan fought, protested, and pleaded. But for once, Nigel didn't listen to her…he didn't back down. As they left the building and he forced her into his car, he kept repeating to himself that it was for her own good.


Back inside the hotel room, the man cursed loudly in frustration. He should have just killed them both. Angrily, he raised his gun and fired a bullet into the headboard. Then he launched himself back out the window and ran down the street, into the night.