Chapter Three

AWOL

"I need to file a missing person's report," Garret calmly announced to Roz Framus.

"Garret…how are you? God…I haven't seen you like….in forever," Roz said, standing up at her desk. What are you doing here?"

"I need to file a missing person's report," Garret repeated, not quite as calmly this time.

"A missing person's report…let's see…where is my paperwork? And how's Buggles this morning? I haven't seen him in a while, either. " Roz pushed some papers around on her desk until she found the right form. "Okay…and what are you trying to do today? Put the fear of God back in Abby one more time for not calling you this past week?" Garret's squabbles with his daughter were well documented. He had sometimes had to use strong armed tactics with Abby to get her attention and keep her on the straight and narrow.

"Abby's fine, Roz. She's in college now and seems to finally have her head screwed on straight…this report is on Jordan."

"Doc C? Aw, come on, Garret. Jordan's a big girl…just because she's a few days late coming in from vacation…no need to get your boxers in a knot. She probably had a few too many Mai Thais and is laid up on some beach sleeping it off…"

"I don't think so…she should have been back at work two days ago."

"Two days? That's not too bad…not compared to some of the things Jordan's done in the past. She's run before, maybe she's done it again, especially with things the way they are between her and…" Roz tilted her head towards the door where Woody was coming inside their office."

"That's just it, though Roz…I don't think she's run away. In the past, when she's run, she'll always call me after a day or two and let me know where she's at and that she's okay. I haven't heard a word from her the entire two weeks she's been gone…nor yesterday or today. It's been the obligatory forty-eight hours since I should have seen her and now I want to file a missing person report."

"Missing person?" asked Woody, coming over to his desk and catching the tail-end of the conversation. "Who's missing?"

"Garret seems to think that Jordan's gone AWOL," Roz said, handing the chief ME the form for him to complete.

"Jordan? Jordan Cavanaugh? Bug told me she had taken a two week vacation…did she not show back up for work?" Woody asked.

"No. And no word from her either," Garret said, completing the form and handing it back to Roz. "And something else that bothers me. Her tickets to St. Thomas…they were never picked up from the airline's counter at Logan. There was never any record of her boarding the plane."

"Did you report this?" Roz asked, her voice growing louder with alarm.

"Yeah, I did. But your DIC over missing persons said I needed to wait until now to file this report."

Roz looked over the report and began to scan it into the data base. "So you've sat back and waited?"

"Hell no. Nigel's been trying to track down anything and everything…there's been no activity on her credit card…she didn't show up at her hotel she had reservations in at St. Thomas…and no cell phone signals from her number at all…"

"I don't like this, Garret," Roz said, keeping her eyes on the computer screen.

"I don't either. It's not like Jordan to be this way…in the past, even when she's run, she's reported in…"

"Garret," Woody said, breaking in. "She probably got a wild hair up her ass to go somewhere else…do something different. That's the way Jordan is…I wouldn't worry too much." And God knows I have too much on my plate right now to take off looking for a run away Jordan that probably just wants attention.

"So you're just letting this go…like it means nothing?" Garret asked Woody, finding it difficult to believe that this man who at one time would have gone through heaven and hell to find Jordan was letting her unexplained absence pass so flippantly.

"No….if something pops up on the report, I'll be the first to act on it…I just mean that Jordan is known for her sometimes irrational behavior."

"And you are becoming known for being a self-righteous asshole, detective," Garret said as he slammed the door behind him on the way out.

Roz chuckled silently to herself as she noticed her partner run a hand down his stubble-lined face. "He's right, you know," she said, indicating Garret.

"That Jordan's missing?"

"That…and that you're becoming a self-righteous asshole. What's the matter with you, Woody?"

"Nothing that a couple of beers and a night with Lu won't solve."

Roz harumphed to herself as she finished entering Jordan's data. She prayed the ME was okay and was out having a good time and forgetting a certain detective. God knows she needed to…Woody was pressing hard for the jerk-of-the-year award. "So what case did you catch this morning?" she asked, trying to remain civil to her partner.

"A weird one. A girl was found on the outskirts of Boston, barely inside the city limits….she was murdered."

"That's not so weird. We're homicide detectives…we see that all the time…"

"Yeah, but it was the way she was killed."

"How was that?"

"She was beaten…badly….and ….and…" Woody paused, swallowing his own squeamishness.

"And?" Roz prompted, wanting her partner to get to the pertinent part.

"Her heart was cut out."

The days bled into each other. In the darkened house, Jordan wasn't sure if it was day or night, so she wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed, but she was pretty certain that her two week vacation hadlong been over. She just prayed that Garret, and to some degree Woody, wouldn't think she had run just to get away from her difficult circumstances. In the past, she had always at least called a few days after she left to let Garret know where she was at so he wouldn't worry. Jordan was hoping that Garret would take the fact that this time she hadn't contactedhim in anyway to heart and realize that something was seriously wrong.

The work in the house was hard…at least harder than she was used to. Jordan was used to being on her feet all day, but she wielded a scalpel, not a paintbrush for hours. And with little food, water, and sleep, some days even the smallest job took a monumental effort on her part. There were days when she was exhausted and dizzy…but kept her mind enough about her to try to figure out where she was at. She knew it was a big farmhouse…and an old one if the need for constant repairs were any indication. There were three levels and a cellar.

The first level was the "family room" where the women would assemble to listen to "John." Jordan had gotten familiar with several of the women who helped take care of her when she was too weak from lack of foodand water to go on – Sarah and Bethany being the primary ones. Jordan liked these women…they were kind to her. Under normal circumstances, they may have even been friends. The others she only saw but wasn't allowed to talk to.

The first level also had the kitchen and the dining room. The other two levels – one which was a converted attic – held bedrooms and bathrooms. The cellar …. Jordan wasn't sure what was in the cellar. No one went down there often and only if John had given permission.

And sometimes the women that went down there didn't come back. When Jordan had softly asked Sarah why this happened, Sarah hedged for a moment. "John has seen fit to move them to another house…" was the only reply Jordan received.

Eventually, Jordan was allowed outside for short stretches of time, but always closely watched. From here, she was able to tell that the house was out in the country somewhere in the rural part of perhaps Boston…perhaps not. She really wasn't sure where she was at. Her luggage was long gone, as well as the personal things she carried in it. As was her purse, her laptop, and her cell phone.

In short, she was cut off from the world…her world…a world she still thought about and desperately wanted to get back to…a world that was hers and she wasn't giving up for John or anyone. She may be weaker physically, but her mind was still just as stubborn as ever.

But she was nearly powerless against this group. She had no way to contact Garret or Woody….she had no way to let anyone know just how badly she wanted to get home.

Or how badlyher bodyached from the beatings. She had gotten beaten again for not painting one of the bedrooms fast enough. The beating was followed for several days with little food and even a smaller amount of water.

Jordan lay in the bed that night and prayed that somehow…some way Woody would find her. He always had in the past…but then again, that was when she was important to him and he wanted to look for her.

She wasn't so sure that was the case now. But surely if she didn't show back up to work…and they checked her apartment and found she had taken nothing….and that her bank accounts hadn't been cleaned out, he would suspect something…

Wouldn't he?