Chapter Eight

Reflections in the Dark

In the pitch dark black of the room, Woody could no longer tell exactly where Jordan was. Tentatively he put out a hand and moved it until it brushed against what he assumed was her leg. "Jordan?" he asked.

"I'm…I'm right here," came her soft reply. Woody could tell by the tone of her voice that her breathing was shallow and she was fighting panic.

"Come here."

She moved away. "No…I'll…I'll be all right." She curled up in a ball in a corner somewhere along the side of the wall. If she could just manage to fall asleep in this small, dark space….she could deal with this…she could sleep away the hours until morning.

But it wasn't working. The feeling like she was alone…suffocating…trapped….back inside that coffin…wouldn't leave her.

Woody knew it, too. He couldn't see her, but he could hear her…the rapid breathing, her swallowing her tears…dealing with her fear the way she had dealt with it nearly all of her life. Alone. He reached for her to pull her close.

"No, please, Woody…I'll be fine. I just need to go to sleep. If I can just sleep, when I wake up, everything will be okay."

"Bullshit." He cradled her against him. "The last thing you need is to be alone right now." Instinctively, he framed her face in one of his hands and wiped her tears. "Anyone who had experienced what you did would have been scared out of their mind. And anyone that had been through what you have would be bothered by this situation." He sighed. "And it's my own damn fault for not remembering the locks and lights work on a timer system."

"Do you know what time it is?"

Woody checked his watch. "From what I can tell by the LED read out, it's nearly ten."

Jordan sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Woody pulled her closer. "Go to sleep, Jo. I'm here…and you know I won't let anything happen. You're safe. And in a little while, when you wake up, it will all be over with…and we can go home…eat a hot meal…shower…and get some real rest."

"Think Haley will let us have the day off?"

Woody chuckled. "We're taking tomorrow off if hell freezes over in the process."

He rubbed her back until he felt some of the tension leave her body. Propped up against the wall with her in his arms seemed right…oh hell, it felt right. And if this had happened a year ago, he'd have been the happiest man on earth.

Not because he would be holding a terrified Jordan in his arms. God, no. The last thing he wished on anyone was the type of fear that had its grip on her now and wouldn't let go. But they would be alone…finally…with no dead bodies, unsolved cases, ringing cell phones, or a thousand other things that kept interrupting their lives when they were together.

No…it would be just him and her in a small dark room with endless possibilities. He wasn't sure he would have made love with her here, but who knows? He had a feeling that Jordan was probably more sexually adventurous than he had given her credit for. There was the table… floor…chairs…and no interruptions until nine o'clock tomorrow morning. He shifted uncomfortably as he felt his blood flow south at his thoughts.

It would have happened…he was sure of it. But that was then and this was now. Seven months after he had kicked her out of his hospital room and told her he didn't want anything else to do with her. So instead, he was holding a frightened woman in his arms…although by her even breathing, Woody could tell she was asleep, even if he couldn't see her. He had never known Jordan to be this terrified over anything. The Digger case had obviously played with her mind more than he ever knew…hell…he had never heard her even mention it until the last couple of days.

Damn Haley for letting her help him with the case. He would bet any amount of money the FBI profiler never lost sleep over anything…except maybe making love with Jordan.

Woody winced at the thought. He knew he had moved on…along with his promotion came a larger salary and more prestige. He had been introduced to and dated some of the most beautiful women in Boston.

Part of his ego…his stubborn, male pride … had assumed that she hadn't continued with her life. More specifically, she couldn't move on because she was still in love with him. Yes…a tiny part of his manhood wanted to believe the words she had whispered to him months ago while he was in the hospital…Don't leave me…I love you… And he had wanted her to know how it hurt to be rejected…like he had been by her….time and time again.

But for her to actually be with another man? In ways that he had never been intimate with her? He never wanted to think about it…much less picture it in his mind…someone else's hands on her….her lips beneath theirs…another man making her feel things that he had never been able to….No. He never really had believed it would happen. Or at least the part of him that had remained in denial had never thought it would happen. That part of him always believed that they would find their way back to each other…stumbling along the way….but end up together.

Woody gently brushed her hair back and felt her snuggle closer to him, then jumped at his body's sudden reaction to her movement. Sweet Jesus, how was he supposed to survive this? His physical reaction to her closeness had not changed in all these months, even if everything else about him had. He guessed the primal in him had remained the same.

However, he realized she had changed completely. She dressed differently…worked differently…she was even wearing a new perfume. He could tell. But the inner change in her was the most fascinating to him. She was more feminine…softer….showing a side of her that Woody always knew was there, but she had been afraid to let anyone see…even him.

He sighed as he pulled her still closer and tried to get some sleep himself. Haley is one lucky son of a bitch, he thought as he began to doze off. He just sure as hell better not hurt her. I understand there is serious jail time involved for killing an FBI agent.

She was back in the coffin. She could feel it….the suffocating warmth….the stuffiness…it was difficult to breathe. She couldn't turn over…something was holding her down. She had lost the flashlight and the walkie-talkie…now Garret and Drew would never find her.

But Woody would. Woody had always found her and kept her safe. Maybe if she yelled one more time. She opened her mouth and managed to take a breath, but all that came out was a frightened whimper.

"Jordan…Jordan…wake up baby….you're dreaming. It's okay…I've got you. Woody's here…Jordan?" Woody gently shook her to fully wake her up. She sat up straighter, but he didn't relinquish his hold on her until he knew she was aware of her surroundings.

"What time is it?" she asked pulling away from him to stand up and stretch.

"Nearly eight-thirty." His arms had never felt so empty.

"I guess it won't be long now … until the door opens."

Woody nodded and stood himself, thankful that sleeping all night on the floor hadn't bothered his back like he thought it might. Jordan caught the movement of his hand massaging his lower spine.

"Oh, God…your back…I'm sorry….You should have laid down last night…are you okay? Did I hurt you? I am such a screw-up." Her voice carried all the tones of panic, remorse, and fear about him Woody could handle.

"I'm fine, Jordan. I've been healed for months. My back is probably as stiff as yours is but no worse. So relax. You needed to be taken care of last night, not me."

She lowered her eyes, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "Thanks…for everything…like I said, with Drew being here and being locked in this room…"

"It's okay. Flashbacks from stressful situations are common – more common than you think."

She nodded. At least he understood. She imagined he had relived his shooting more than once…so he wasn't raking her ass over the coals about her fears. And being in his arms one more time…even if it was for comfort only…added to her memories of him. One more she could tuck away and remember when she had a bad day.

"But there's something else you should think about."

Jordan looked at him expectantly.

"We'll be going back to work in the same clothes we left in yesterday…"

She knew where he was going with his train of thought. "But we'll have the box…"

"And given our history, how many people do you think that will convince that nothing happened between us last night…locked in a room…alone…no lights…?"

She shrugged. "Why should either of us really care? We know nothing happened….nothing could happen. You've moved on, I've moved on…we're two different people…"

"Don't you care what Drew thinks?"

She wanted to ask him why should that matter to her, when the door swung back open. It was nine o'clock…freedom and a shower beckoned, after a brief stop by her office.