Chapter Three

Seattle was just as cold and snowy as Boston was…and rainier than Jordan ever imagined.

Seattle. That was where Nigel finally had put her…although not without a few stops in between. First, she had stayed in Rhode Island. Tiny little state…easy to over look. She had stayed there until the trial. Until other "circumstances" had taken over.

After leaving Woody that morning, she had gone home, packed her favorite CD's, some clothes, her laptop, her guitar, and met Nigel at the curb at six o'clock sharp. He had hurriedly put her things in a borrowed van and drove like the Devil himself was behind them….into Rhode Island and to a safe house. He had helped her get settled in…and turned around and left her….but not without the promise that he and Garret, and more than likely Rene', would be in touch. Meanwhile, she would be fine there. Nigel had people watching out for her. Just try to relax and get some rest, was his advice.

Not very likely. Not when she had the feeling that the Albanian mob knew everything that was going on. She held her breath and tried to have somewhat of a normal life there, but missed her morgue family…and Woody even more. She hated she had to leave him like she did that morning, but had little choice. She just hoped that as the truth played itself out, that he would understand, forgive her….and still love her.

"Have you seen Jordan?" That was the question of the day…the hour…for Woody.

When he woke up the morning after they had made love…after the night he had made her his, she was gone. She's run again, was the first thought that went through his mind. She still wasn't ready for that kind of intimacy. So he laid low the rest of the day…waiting until they both had some time to really process what had happened between them. She had come to him. She asked him to take her to his bed. He had the most incredible night of his life…feeling her hands on him…her response…the soft words spoken to each other…

And then he woke up in a cold bed, alone.

What had gone wrong? She ran…but why? After two days of hearing nothing from her, Woody decided to find out. She wasn't answering his calls on her cell phone or apartment phone…and his messages to her office went unanswered. So on the pretext of delivering some files, he strode into the morgue one afternoon, finding his way to her office.

Only to find it dark and locked.

Undaunted, he retraced his steps and found Nigel. "Where's she at?" he asked abruptly.

"Who, mate?" Nigel replied, looking engrossed in some tests he was running.

"You know who. Jordan. Where is she?"

"Not here. She's taking a few days off."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Not a clue, Woodrow."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

Nigel looked up from the computer screen. "I'm really not sure. Macy should know. I just heard she had to have some time off and took it."

Woody nodded and left. It was three more days before he could corner Garret. "Where's Jordan?" he asked the chief ME, when he had finally tracked the man down in trace.

"Jordan? She's taken some time off, Woody."

"How long?"

"Several weeks…she's got five years worth of vacation coming…she could conceivably take a month or longer off and it would be fine."

"You'd let her stay gone that long?"

"If she asked for it, I'd legally have to give it to her, Woody."

Woody sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. She was gone…she hadn't run, but she was gone for a while. She left the day after they had made love. What did this mean? Tentatively he hedged another question at Garret. "When did she ask for the vacation time?" he asked.

"Do you two have a case together I don't know about? Because if you did, I believe she's gave Nigel and Bug all the information on those."

"No. It's not that," Woody snapped back at the older man. "I need to talk to her. Tell me, when did she ask for the vacation time?"

Garret hesitated for a moment. The dark circles under Woody's eyes and the way he was holding himself told the ME that Woody was on the edge….worrying and wondering about Jordan. He hated to do this, but it was for Woody's own good…and protection…and Jordan would want him safe. "She called me early Tuesday morning. Said something personal had come up and she needed the time off immediately."

Tuesday. The morning after…how could she? Woody felt the anger began to rise in his chest and spread. A cold anger…he wasn't just mad…he was furious. "Will you be talking to her?"

"I don't know."

"If you do, could you tell her something for me?"

"Sure…."

"Tell her to call me…"

"I can't make any promises, Woody. She was upset when she left…I don't know if she'll call in or not."

Woody nodded. "She was upset?"

"Yeah. Said something about needing some time to think things through."

So now she decides she needs time to think…after the fact that they had spent the night together. After the fact they had been intimate….after the fact they had made love.

After the fact that now she had completely stolen his heart and then once again, stomped on it. He turned on his heel and strode out of the morgue. She would have to call him. It would be a cold day in hell before he called her.

When it rains it pours…and for Woody, it was monsoon season. He had no sooner discovered that Jordan was gone when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it and flipped it open, holding out hope that maybe it was her and that maybe she had a change of heart…had thought things through and was ready to apologize, or at the very least, explain herself, and come home.

No such luck. The caller ID bore a Kewuanne area code. It was Cal.

Woody's blood, which had been at a slow simmer over Jordan, now raged into a full, rolling boil. How dare his brother call him after everything Cal had put him through…endangering Jordan's life….Woody's reputation as a detective? When Cal had left Boston after the raid on the Albanian bar, Woody didn't want to see him again. At least anytime soon. And certainly not now. "What the hell do you want?" Woody barked into the phone.

"Hello to you, too, bro. Just thought I'd call and apologize one more time and see if you had the good grace to forgive me yet."

"Not a chance, Cal. How much do you owe this time and who do you owe it to?" Woody asked, bitterly remembering that ever since Cal had come back into his life, things had begun a downward spiral.

"Hey, man. I don't owe anybody anything. I'm being honest. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. I'm in Gamblers Anonymous. I'm working on being a better person….I'm working on being like you. I just called to say I'm sorry….really sorry…one more time."

"Whatever," Woody said, making his way back to his office from talking to Garret.

"Yeah… I've tried to call Jordan and apologize to her again. I've tried her apartment and cell phone….I've left five or six messages at her office and I can't get in touch with her. Is she with you?"

"Jordan? No. Why ever would you think that?" Woody ground out angrily.

"Well…I mean….when I was there, it was pretty obvious she had strong feelings for you…you're a lucky man, Woods."

"Had being the operative word, Cal."

Cal stopped talking for a beat. "You mean you two had a fight?"

"I mean she's walked out on me. She left Boston on vacation. No one's sure when she's going to come back and no one knows where she's at. Or at least no one is telling me."

"What? What happened?" After the conversations he and Jordan had about Woody, he couldn't imagine the woman he truly believed would be his sister-in-law would walk out on his brother.

Woody didn't know why he told Cal. Months later, when he reflected on the situation, he still wasn't sure. Was it because they had confided in each other all their lives? Was it because Cal was the one person other than Jordan that truly knew him and understood him?

Or was it because Cal was at the right place at the right time when Woody needed someone to pour his heart out to? Woody wasn't sure. He just knew he told Cal everything….how Jordan had been so engrossed in a case they hadn't really seen each other much for a couple of weeks…how she showed up at his apartment and wanted to stay with him…all night…and then how the next morning she was gone. She had left Boston and him with no warning and no explanation. Finally, after emptying his heart and freeing his soul, Woody took a deep breath and waited for his brother to make some kind of barbed remark…a sarcastic comment…some sort of "I-told-you-so" declaration.

Instead, Cal was uncharacteristically quiet, ... thinking about all the scenarios he was afraid to process running through his mind. Then, in nearly a whisper, he asked his older brother, "Are you sure she's run from you, Woody? Or do you think maybe she ran for some other reason….some other reason that would make her leave you?"