Jordan squinted at the sun, now beginning its ascent over the city of Boston. Eight hours. Woody had been in that store eight hours. The negotiators had talked with the robbers several times. They had not relented on their demands. Indeed, they had grown more threatening. FBI snipers were being put into place.

Somehow the media had learned of the situation and it was quickly becoming a circus. Jordan could see the television trucks and numerous reporters from the back seat of the squad car. She could hear their helicopters buzz in the air. In the midst of all of this chaos, she saw Nigel. He was talking with the officer in charge. Making his way over to her, he opened the car door and slid in beside her, pulling her into a hug.

"How you doing, love?" A gentle inquiry, but one Jordan had heard too many times in the last several hours.

"Not good Nigel. I know the police and everyone are doing their best, but it's not good enough."

Nigel pulled her closer. "He's going to be okay. You've just got to give them time. Woody's a smart guy. If he can figure a way out of this, he will."

Jordan nodded.

"Want to get out of this squad car and walk a bit? Maybe get some breakfast? Some coffee?" Nigel's voice echoed the concern of some of the police officers. Jordan hadn't budged since she arrived at the crime scene.

"No. Sure as I leave something will happen. I'm not hungry, but coffee would be great."

Nigel slid out of the car and went to fulfill her request.

Hunger. Another significant need. Jordan sat back and stretched her legs as much as she could, thinking back to the first time Woody had cooked her supper at her apartment. Spaghetti. They were working on the SickBoy23 case at the time. As a matter of fact, it was one of the first cases they were on together and it turned out to be a pretty sick S&M experience. At the time, she hadn't been so impressed with Woody, but she was with his cooking. A slight smile crossed her face. It was during that case he wormed his way into her heart.

She was posting an e-mail, hoping to lure the perpetrator into their trap. Woody had helped with the e-mail while cooking his "famous" spaghetti sauce. Bringing some over to Jordan for her to sample, she had to agree – it was really good. But that wasn't the only thing simmering that night. Underneath the working atmosphere in her apartment was the beginning of a very subtle sexual tension bubbling between the two. She knew it and so did he. She had walked him to her door when he got ready to leave, knowing for certain he wanted to kiss her good night and knowing for certain she wanted him to. But the reply email from SickBoy23 had interrupted the moment. Woody left her apartment quickly, to set up the trap. She had gone unkissed, but the sexual tension between the two had been kicked into second gear. Indeed, it was now running in third or fourth and sometimes in overdrive. A significant fact, for sure.

"Here you go love," Nigel said, as he slid back in the backseat of the car, handing her a Venti Starbucks. "This should keep you pumped for a while. It has a double shot of expresso."
==================================================
His back aching from sitting on the floor all night, Woody made an attempt to stretch the kinks out of it without drawing attention from his captors. If it had just been him in the store, he would have long ago tried to escape. But he couldn't put the woman and her son in jeopardy. So he was waiting it out – waiting for his fellow policemen to force his captors' hands.

Woody had always wanted to be a cop – from the time he was a young boy. He had never wavered from the desire. The lure of working in a seemingly adventurous position held his interest. Guns, car chases, catching the bad guys – these were all part of the job description that kept him going. What the job description didn't include was working with a "hot" ME like Jordan.

The attraction between them had been strong, from the beginning. But he had nearly counted himself out when he saw the way an assistant DA was looking at her. However, the gods were working in his favor that day. She was chewing the DA out. Woody still didn't know what the guy had done, but was eternally grateful the DA had screwed up. It left the door wide open for him.

He could also remember the exact minute he had decided to try to walk through that door. It was during the S&M case. He, Jordan, and the police had set the trap for the alleged perp at the Pogue. Jordan was going to be the bait – a fact he wasn't comfortable with, but was overridden by her – not for the last time. When she showed up at the bar and took off her coat, that was it for him. Clad in a low-cut red dress with spaghetti straps and a slit up to her thigh, Woody reacted like a typical male. He nearly howled with desire. The only thing that had restrained him was that Jordan's father, Max, was sitting with him. If Jordan had any idea how many times she showed up in that red dress in his dreams, he was sure that she would blush. A significant fact for him...that he had fallen for a woman that was as beautiful as she was smart.

Woody glanced at the clock on the store wall and sighed, wondering just how long it would be until he could hold her again.

=======================================

"Okay, Dr. Cavanaugh, we need you to get out of the car and move away from the store. We have snipers in place and we don't need you anywhere near the possible line of fire," the senior officer at the scene told her.

Typically, Jordan dug in her heels. She wasn't going anywhere, thank you very much.

"Dr. Cavanaugh, we can't do anything else until you move. And the longer this thing goes on, the worse it could get. Please. Just move into the police station – it's just right across the street."

"Come on, Jo. You know you have to. You can watch and wait from there. And you'll probably be more comfortable," Garrett said. He had remained with her from the early morning hours. It was now past noon. The police had the roads blocked around the store. Negotiations were not going well. The FBI snipers had been placed on the surrounding roofs.

"I'm not going. At least until the police will see if they will let me talk to Woody."

Garrett conferred with the officers. "Okay, Jo. They're going to see if the robbers will let Woody come to the phone."

A few minutes later, a phone was placed in Jordan's hand. "Keep it brief and to the point," the officer said. "And no funny stuff. It could endanger everyone's lives."

"Woody?"

"Yeah, Jo, I'm right here."

"Are you okay?"

Woody laughed. "As well as can be expected, given the circumstances."

"I'm right outside..."

"I know."

"They're making me move across the street – I can't talk long."

"We'll talk when this thing is over."

Jordan swallowed hard. No one knew when and how this situation was going to end. The possible outcome was not one she wanted to think about. It could have significant consequences. "Please be careful. Don't do anything ...." She didn't want to say stupid, but Woody knew what she was trying to say.

"I know...don't do anything that could get me hurt."

"Yeah."

"Jordan, if anything happens to me, the internal affairs lawyer has all my stuff ..."

"Don't talk like that," Jordan said, struggling to keep her voice from breaking. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I've got to go now, Jo."

"I love you, Woody."

"I know."

And the line went dead.