Unbeknown to Jordan, Greg Jankins was upstairs dousing the entire house in lighter fluid. His plan was to lure Woody to the house, show him that Jordan was alive in the basement, then force him to watch as the house burned with her inside. It was almost time. Woody Hoyt would be coming up the drive at any moment now.
xxx
Woody parked at the end of the long driveway that leads to the house where Jordan was being kept. He didn't want Jankins to know he was there yet. He carefully and silently made his way through the trees. He saw the house and crept closer. He peered in a window. There was no sign of Jordan. He walked all around the house looking in each window on the main floor, but still did not see any sign of Jordan. He lowered himself onto the ground and peeked into what appeared to be a basement window. It was dark with only a dim light, but he could make out a figure lying on a mattress. He couldn't see her face, but he knew it was Jordan. The window had bars on it so there was no way to get inside. Woody crept around to another window. No bars, but three boards were placed across it. Just as Woody was about to go looking for something to break the boards with, he was struck from behind and knocked to the ground. He woke up some time later and found himself tied to a tree with a thick piece of wood. Jankins stood a few feet away with a huge smile on his face.
"Lovely night for a bon fire, ain't it Hoyt?" he said.
"Why are you putting her through this? I'm the one you want. Let her go."
"Nope, sorry. See, I was content with just making you suffer, but now that I know she had a role in Lu's death, she needs to suffer too."
"Neither one of us had anything to do with it. You're a sick psychopath. You will never get away with this. We have your name, your whereabouts and proof that you killed Greco and kidnapped Jordan."
"By the time the police get here, it won't matter what they have against me. After Jordan goes up in flames, I will have all I need in the world and I can leave in peace."
"You're going to kill yourself?" Woody asked.
"Why not? What else do I have to live for? You took everything that mattered from me."
"What about me? Are you going to kill me too?"
"No, I think a worse pain for you will be to watch the love of your life die an agonizing death. Live with that for the rest of your life." Jankin's smiled again before he pulled out a match. "The whole house is covered in lighter fluid so it shouldn't take too long. Long enough for the fire department to not be able to save her, but not too long that she'll suffer….much."
With that final word, Jankins turned around and headed toward the house.
"Don't do this Jankins!" Woody called about in vain, but it was no use. Jankins was already inside. Moments later, Woody saw a small flame coming from the side of the house. Jankins returned and sat next to Woody.
"Let me out of here! C'mon, man, you can't do this to her!"
"Oh I can, and I am. Watch it burn, Hoyt. Watch it burn."
xxx
Detective Seely and Garret Macy drove up to the driveway that leads to the house.
"That's Woody's car," Macy said when he saw the vehicle parked off to the side. "Where the hell are the police back-up?"
"My guess would be Hoyt never called them. Otherwise they'd be swimming all over this area. Try calling Woody on your cell. I'm going to make my way up the driveway and call for back-up on the way." Seely said as he got out of the car and darted into the woods. Garret rang Woody's cell phone, but there was no answer. He couldn't just sit by so he got out of the car and took the same path Seely did up the driveway. Before they got halfway up, they could hear Woody yelling something at the suspect, but they weren't sure what was going on until they got closer and saw Woody tied to a tree and flames shooting out from the house that Jordan was in.
xxx
Jordan smelled the smoke before she saw it or felt the heat. She got down as low as she could on the floor to try and breathe the clean air. She knew that Woody must be here, but where was he? Was he hurt? Or worse? She could hear shouts coming from outside, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. Fear began to take over. It didn't take long before the entire basement was filled with smoke. Jordan began to cough and breathing became more difficult.
"Somebody help me!" she yelled. "Help!" but it was no use. Breathing was becoming more difficult. Her eyes, throat and tongue stung. She craved water and oxygen, but there was none to be found. As she began to drift in and out of conscience, she started to come to terms with the fact that she was about to die.