Chapter Four

Woody felt his grip slightly tighten on Jordan's arm as he heard, whoever it was, stop outside the room. He stood frozen in place…neither he, nor Jordan made the slightest move. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing. The distinct jingle of a set of keys was what finally snapped him into action.

"Hide" he whispered urgently. At the same time he quickly pulled her into a corner of the room and crouched down behind the crates. He felt Jordan's hand grip firmly onto his thigh as the huge door opened with a load creak.

The man walked determinedly into the room, a crowbar in his hand. He threw his cigarette on the floor before opening the first crate. He looked inside, then let the lid fall back down with a thud before moving to the next one. He repeated the actions quickly as he opened each crate, moving towards them. Woody pushed himself and Jordan further into the wall. Jordan was so close that he could feel her shallow breath on his neck, and her warm skin through his shirt. Her fingers still had a death grip on his thigh. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the adrenaline running through his body… partly because of her.

The man continued moving closer to them. Woody silently prayed that he would stop.His prayers where answered when the man stopped, walked to the other side of the room, and started opening the smaller crates. Woody's body relaxed slightly and the hold that Jordan had on his leg was released. She took her hand away quickly as if she had just realized it was there. The man finally let out a quiet laugh of discovery. Woody heard him pick up one of the smaller crates and walk toward the door. They waited for the sound of the door closing…but it didn't come. That's when he saw it.

The man started walking slowly back into the room…Woody could hear his footsteps getting closer. He pulled Jordan closer and shifted them again so that they wouldn't be seen. Her hands silently went up to cover her mouth. She had seen it too.

Woody inwardly cursed for not having had grabbed his suit jacket earlier.

ooooooooooo

Garret paced up and down Trace as Nigel's fingertips quickly work on the keyboard. They were trying to find as much information possible on Jordan's victim. This was the only lead that they had at the moment, and they were going to squeeze as much out of it as they could. So far they had nothing new.

"Anything Nige?" He asked again for what could have been the sixth time in two minutes. Nigel let out a sigh of frustration.

"These things take time" he practically snapped "Contrary to popular belief, I cant just make the answers appear out of nowhere. It takes work, and skill…and a lot of time " He returned his attention to the computer in front of him…and Garret returned to pacing. They were both up tight. A missing Jordan and no leads was not a good thing.

"You know what…" Nigel said suddenly, his voice filled with frustration. "Do you think that maybe you could…you know…leave" Garret stared at him for a moment before nodding and walking out of the room. He knew how Nigel could get with his computers.

As he walked out the door, Lily rushed over to him. She had a pile of files held close to her chest and a coffee in her hand.

"Garret, have you heard from Mrs. Johnson. She said she was going come in for her husband's personal effects today" she asked in a hurry. Garret didn't mean to be rude, but he really couldn't help her right now. He had too many things to worry about.

"No Lily, I haven't" he answered. She looked at him in silence for a moment. She knew there was something wrong. She was a grief counselor…she was trained to notice these things. He was afraid that she was going to ask him about it, but thankfully she decided to leave it.

"Ok" she said "Well if she does could you let me know?" he nodded in agreement.

"Your daughter rang the morgue looking for you too." She continued "She said she had left a few message on your cell phone and that you should call her back."

"Oh" Garret said "Thanks Lily" He quickly whipped out his cell phone as she walked away. He listened to his daughter's messages and carefully wrote down the number that she had left him. He would have to call her latter when he had more time. What he heard next made his eyes widen. He quickly started walking back towards trace. Nigel needed to hear this. He knew that Woody would have called if he could. And he had.

ooooooooooo

Jordan saw the man pick up the jacket and look suspiciously around the room. The jacket didn't belong there and he knew it. Jordan held her breath as if she was afraid that he might hear her lung sucking in the air. She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he found them. The man took a few steps back and raised his hand to his holster. In the corner of her eyes she saw Woody instinctively do them same thing. The man backed quickly out of the room, all the time searching it for any sign of an intruder. He closed the door with a bang and Jordan could hear him securely turn the key in the lock. They weren't going anywhere. She heard voices outside the door and was able to just make out what they were saying.

"What is this?" Came one voice.

"I found it in the storeroom" came another "What do we do?" There was a pause. Jordan was sure that she would rather that question go unanswered.

"Just leave it for now. There's no way out of that room. We'll deal with it after we finish with business." Their footsteps could be heard, gradually becoming fainter, as they walked away.

She held her breath for a few more long moments, before letting it out slowly. This was bad…they were trapped…in a place they definitely were not supposed to be…and these people knew they were here. She had been in many sticky situations before...many that had almost gotten her killed. But this had to be by far the worst. She started to seriously regret getting Woody involved in this. She shouldnt have even suggested the idea.

"Damn it!" Woody yelled has he hit the door hard with his fist. The outburst caused Jordan to jump slightly. She hadn't even noticed that he had moved. She stood up from behind the crate and looked over at him. He hit his hand on the door again and cursed loudly.

"Stop it" Jordan snapped at him, more harshly than she had meant to. "They'll hear you" She didn't realized how stupid that sounded until after she had said it.

"They already know that we're here" Woody replied angrily "The guy took my jacket…my jacket Jordan."

"What…you can't possibly be blaming me for the guy finding you jacket?" Jordan's defensives went up automatically. She didn't even know if she had any control over them anymore.

"No…" Woody said quickly, his head snapping up and his eyes looking at her angrily "It's just…they know that we're here." He leaned his back against the door ran his hand through his hair. A gesture that all but yelled out that he was stressed.

"And I …I don't know what to do…I don't know what to do Jordan" He had almost whispered the last part, and this had sent a sick feeling of dread through her body. She had never heard that tone in his voice before. She watched him carefully as he walked over to the wall and slid down it to sit on the floor again. Great Jordan she said to herself as she watched a look of angst flash across his face. You've really done it this time.

Thanks to everyone for waiting so patiently. I know how awful it is to have to wait for chapters. I changed the rating in case of some violence that may be in future chapters.I'll try to get the next one up by Tuesday at the latest...hopefully.