1000 Miles From Nowhere
---- CHAPTER FIVE ----
---- Three Days Later, Boston, MA ----
"Please Nigel."
"Nothing."
"Alright." Garret felt his shoulders drop as he headed back down the hallway towards his office. It had been three days since she popped up in Oklahoma City, and he was verging on becoming a walking zombie. His nights had become more and more sleepless as Jordan remained silent. This was not what he needed right now. At all. He grabbed his jacket off his couch and flicked off the lights in his office. In the dim light from the hall, he just stared at the guitar, it's slick surface reflecting the light into his eyes. "Jor...where are you?" He muttered aloud before pulling the door shut and walking back towards the elevators. "Nigel, go home." He called behind him as he pressed the button and turned around.
The lanky Brit leaned back in his chair and looked down the hall at Garret. "I will."
"Now, Nigel." Garret shook his head.
"You can't make me." Nigel called back and then rolled his chair into the hall. "I'm not going home until I get another location."
Garret felt his shoulders drop even lower. "We'll find her tomorrow. Just get some sleep if you aren't going to go home. Crash in my office if you have to."
"I will Dr. M." Nigel nodded and then rolled back into his station, flicking on a rock cd and turning it up, blasting the music through the halls.
Garret sighed as he stepped into the elevator and leaned back as the doors slid shut. Tonight was going to just be another sleepless night.
When he reached his house, Garret went straight into his bedroom and changed out of his work clothes, then collapsed on the bed, running his hands over his face and head. He was nearing his breaking point. Nothing was making any sense anymore. He could barely see straight, and he swore that he had lost at least five pounds from his lack of eating. She was family to him...the only real family he had, and he couldn't find her. And that scared him.
"Jesus Jor, you know this messes with all of us. Why do you do this?" He yawned and sunk down on the bed as he felt his eyelids grow heavy. "Just come home Jor. We need you. I need you to come home. Please Jor..." He muttered softly before slipping into a sleep which was to be plagued with nightmares.
--flash--
"Doctor M. I have another hit."
"Where is she?"
"In the crypt."
--flash--
"No."
Her body. Cold. Battered. Bruised. Dead. Ice cold.
"No. She's not dead. She's just missing. She ran and left."
--flash--
"I don't care. Find her yourself Doc. I'm done with her. I'm done. I'm done. Find her yourself Doc. Yourself."
"I know you're probably mad at yourself for not stopping me." Her voice. Her voice in his head. "Mad at yourself for not stopping me. You didn't stop me."
--flash--
Her body. "Mad at yourself. You didn't stop me." Her voice.
The Y-incision. The knife. No blood, just skin. Her body. So cold. "No."
"She's dead Dr. M. We didn't find her in time."
Her voice. "Mad at yourself."
Woody's voice. "Find her yourself. I'm done. Find her Doc. Yourself."
Her voice. "You didn't stop me." Her body. Battered. Bruised. Dead. Ice Cold.
"You."
--flash--
"No!" Garret bolted upright, his scream cutting through the dark room, his chest heaving, lungs panicked, body shaking in a cold sweat. Tears ran down his face as he panted, trying desperately to catch his breath and shake the image of Jordan's lifeless body from his mind. "She's not dead. She's alright, she's just in a quiet period. She's alright. She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead." He continued to repeat it over and over to himself, trying to steady his nerves.
---- Same Time, Phoenix, AZ ----
"Charge it."
"Name the room will be under?"
Jordan hesistated for a moment, until an idea struck. "Garret. Garret Townsend."
"His relation to you, Miss...Cavanaugh?"
"My best friend." She smiled slightly as the man behind the desk swiped her credit card, waited for it to be approved, then smiled and handed her a room key.
"Welcome to Motel Six, Phoenix. Room 318." He entered information into their computers.
"Thanks." She pocketed the key and her card, then headed out of the lobby. If Nigel and Garret were smart, they'd find her.
---- Boston, MA ----
Garret nearly jumped out of his skin when his cell phone rang. He shot his eyes to the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. He hadn't fallen back asleep, too afraid to after his nightmares. He reached for the phone, and had never been so happy to hear any three words in his entire life.
"She's in Phoenix."
"I'll be there in ten minutes." Garret hung up immediately and jumped out of bed, quickly getting dressed and heading for the morgue.
Once he got there, he bolted down the hall to Nigel's office, and was slightly out of breath from bolting across the parking lot through the snow and down the hall.
"Dr. M.?" Nigel looked up at Garret and raised an eyebrow. "You alright?"
"Fine. Where is she?" He motioned at the computer.
"I was waiting for you to draw it up." Nigel turned around and clicked on the dot. "Motel Six, Phoenix Arizona. Room 318...registered to a Mr. Garret Townsend." He paused for a minute. "It's her card, but our names."
Garret shook his head. "She knows we're tracking her, I think she's trying to tell us she's okay and that her card hasn't been stolen or something." He hoped that was the case. They both sat there in silence for a moment, before another dot popped up on the map. Garret raised an eyebrow and looked at Nigel. "California?"
"San Diego..." Nigel squinted his eyes and clicked on the dot. "What the bloody hell?" The two of them scanned the information that came up, then Nigel looked up at Garret. "Credit card. Beachhouse. One week stay. Says she plans to check in tomorrow."
Garret thought for a minute. This was serious, the next step would be a two week stay, or an apartment in a city on the coast. He didn't give a damn that he was acting a little neurotic - this was Jordan he was talking about. Neurotic was everyday life with her. He thought for a minute, before he knew what he had to do. "Get me on a plane."
"Garret? What?" Nigel looked up at his boss, and noticed the nearly posessed look he had in his eyes. "Garret." He snapped his fingers in front of Garret's face. When he was just met with a glance, he looked at him closely. "Have you slept at all the last few days?"
"A little." At least it wasn't a lie.
"Nightmares as well, huh?" Nigel leaned back in his chair. "I've got them too."
"Get me on a plane to San Diego."
"Only if you go sleep for at least six hours."
Garret looked at Nigel and then nodded. "I'll be in my office." He turned and then looked over his shoulder. "I want to be in California by midnight."
"You will be. Go sleep." Nigel waved his hand at Garret as he walked away, before turning back to his computer and starting to pull up flight information.
Garret walked into his office, shut the door and pulled the blinds, turned off the lights, and went to sleep on his couch.
---- Six hours later, Boston ----
Nigel walked down the hall, avoiding looks from the staff as he cautiously knocked on Garret's door, envelope with e-Tickets in hand. He knocked again when there was no answer, then gently wiggled the handle, raising an eyebrow when the door opened. He quickly slipped inside and took a look at Garret's sleeping form on the couch. "Dr. M."
Garret groggily rolled over and looked up at Nigel, then sat when he saw the envelope in his hand. "When's my flight leave?" He stood up and held out his hand.
"3:49 from Logan, you arrive in Dallas at 7:19. You get on another plane at 8:35 and arrive in San Diego at 9:44 pm. I've made reservations for you at a hotel near the beachhouse, and there's no return ticket. I didn't know how long you wanted to stay, but call me and I can handle it." Nigel handed him the envelope and looked at his watch. "It's only ten. You've got time to go home, pack, shower, whatever." He looked at Garret for a long minute. "Bring her home?"
Garret shook his head. "I can't do that. I'm just going to go, tell her that there's people here in Boston who miss her more than she can imagine, and leave the decision up to her."
"What?!" Nigel's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."
"She needs to be happy Nigel. No matter if it's here or in California." Garret grabbed his keys out of his pocket. "I'll be back in a few days." Without another word, he turned to leave, but stopped dead in his tracks. "I get a two bag check limit, right?"
"Right."
"Good." Garret turned around and picked her guitar up off the stand, placing it carefully in the case and locking it.
"Garret...no. You take her that and she'll stay."
"She needs to be happy." Garret picked up the guitar case and looked at Nigel. "I'll be back. I'll call you tomorrow morning to get room information. Keep me posted if there's any hits anywhere else." He nodded and then left.
Nigel stood in his office for a moment, before heading back to his computer, to keep up the search.
TBC
A/N: Sorry this update took longer than expected. RL issues got in the way, but six should be along by the beginning of the week. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think, reviews are appreciated. Thanks!