Chapter Four

It hit him hard, then…right between the eyes. Jordan hadn't run to get away from him….Jordan had left Boston to protect the case against the mob…and to possibly protect him. Swallowing hard, he barked at Cal, "Where is she? Do you know where she is? Damn it, Cal, answer me."

"Look, Woods, I'm being completely honest with you. I have no idea where she's at. None. But I can try to find her. And when I do, I'll let you know immediately."

Woody ran his fingers through his hair. "Are you sure you can find out where she is?"

"Yeah. I still have my connections…."

"Don't do anything that might get her hurt…"

"I won't. I'll find out what I can and either bring her home to you or take you to her."

Woody sighed. Deeply. "I still don't know if I can trust you, Cal."

"I know. But you can with Jordan. I don't want anything to happen to her. She means too much to you…and I know for a fact that you mean the world to her. If the mob threatened you…by forcing her to either leave or not testify in order to keep you safe, she would do what she had to in order to keep you alive."

Woody felt his anger at Jordan dissipate…melt away into nothing…as another feeling took its place. Fear. A cold, sickfear that something could happen to her. Had happened to her. "How soon can you know?" he asked Cal, his mouth having trouble forming the words.

"Give me a few days."

"Okay…but you promise she won't get hurt….and you'll bring her home?"

"You got it, bro."

Jordan tried to calm her fears and think logically. But it was hard to be logical when the person you loved was put in jeopardy because of you…and what you knew…and what you had.

Jordan's world had tilted upside down and sideways. And now it was spinning backwards. The time she had alone in Rhode Island only compounded the problem as the whole Albanian mob situation just got uglier…and her life and the lives of the people she loved just became more precarious.

She had talked to Garret last night. He told her about Woody….how on edge he was….how angry he appeared to be at her. "I told him you were on vacation, but he's really pissed at you … he wants you to call him."

"I can't do that…"

"I know. Do you want me to relay some kind of message to him?"

"Just tell him I'm okay…"

"Will do."

And she was okay…sort of. She missed Woody more and more each day. The memories of his touch…his voice….his eyes … played and replayed in her dreams at night. And now, with her world closing in on her while she stayed in Rhode Island until the trial, her recollections of him were the only thing keeping her sane.

She had been counting the days until the trial. Until she could return to Boston and be with him…tell him why she had to leave and hope he understood that she left because she loved him and wanted him safe. That she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if anything happened to him.

But now, her circumstances had changed yet again, as more test results were produced. She may not ever be able to return to Boston and he may never know why…The fears she had kept bottled up inside her for the past two months were threatening to erupt when the doorbell rang.

Cautiously, she went to the door. She had phoned Nigel, but he would not have had time to make it to Rhode Island since that morning. Wondering who it could be, she warily checked the peephole of the door. Her mouth dropped as she opened it. "Cal…." She began.

"May I come in?"

She nodded and opened the door a little wider. He came into the small living area and his eyes caught on the paraphernalia on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Oh my God," he said. "You're not…"

She nodded. "Yeah. I am. I'm pregnant."

Cal ran his fingers through his hair…a gesture so reminiscent of Woody that Jordan felt tears come to her eyes … as he listened to her story. "This really complicates things, Jo," he said. "Badly."

"I realize that…"

"You think you know who you're dealing with now….with this Albanian mob. But you have no idea how ruthless they can be. If they find out you're pregnant with Woody's baby… that will be something they can hold over your head the rest of your life. And don't think they wouldn't manipulate it for their own advantage."

Jordan nodded. "I know."

Cal sighed. "Does my brother have a clue that you could be carrying his child?"

"I don't think so. I mean, we only … it was just one time…"

"So I gathered when I talked to him," Cal said wryly.

"Woody sent you here?" Jordan asked in astonishment. She had assumed that Garret may have on some off chance asked Cal to stop and see her…or perhaps the mob was manipulating him…or just maybe Cal was checking up on her for his conscience sake.

"In so many words, yes. He's worried about you. And now he has even more reasons to worry about you."

"He can't know. He can't find out."

"It's his child, Jordan. Yours and his. Don't you think he has a right to know?"

"Not now….I have to try to think for everyone…if the Albanian mob finds out about my baby, they may try to take it…kidnap it to manipulate me." Her hand went protectively across her abdomen. "Or they may try to take me now, pregnant, to coerce Woody or anyone else connected with the case not to testify." She paced….trying to think carefully…and completely. "I can't let anyone know. Not the mob. Not Walcott….and not Woody." She said the last name with a whisper. Woody would never know how much that hurt her. She was carrying his child…a fact that should have filled her with joy…not the fear that nearly broke her heart. A fact that she knew would also have made Woody happy.

But he must never know he had a son or a daughter by her. As a matter of fact, he and their baby would be better off if she never returned to Boston. The mob would have thought they had won…and leave her child and Woody alone.

"I can't go back," she said suddenly to Cal.

Cal sank down on the couch and sighed deeply. "No you can't. If you do, not only will your life be in danger, but so will Woody's and the baby's."

"I'm going to have to disappear."

"I'm afraid so. For good. If the mob finds out about the child, they will never leave you alone. You, the baby, and Woody will always have to live looking over your shoulder…fearing that they could come after you. And they would, if they felt like they needed to."

"Then there's only one person I know that could erase me….make me disappear."

"Nigel?"

She nodded and picked up the phone, trying one more time to get in touch with Nigel Townsend.