As always, thank you to everyone who has been reading! And to aurora151989, jj, and Cittycat17 - thank you very much for your kind reviews. It's so nice to know that people are still enjoying this. Just a few chapters left to go now!

Chapter 8

Woody's car was gone and the townhouse was empty when Jordan returned not long after her...conversation with Officer Stone. The pissed cop had finally agreed to not only pick up the doctor, but to get a search warrant for his home and office. It was a giant leap in the right direction, and Jordan was almost positive that this doctor would have a lot of interesting things to say when the heat was turned on him. Poor Holly. Sonders should rot in prison for the way he treated her.

Jordan swallowed back another wave of anger and set her spare key on the kitchen island by her purse. The back door had been unlocked, though, and she wondered where Woody had gone without locking the doors. Stone hadn't said anything about him being down at the precinct. Maybe he had just gone for a drive or something. She knew that he was furious with her, and she didn't really blame him. But damn it, she was angry, too! He'd had no right to go behind her back like that.

She turned around and leaned against the edge of the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. She was hurt more than anything, if she were honest with herself, and that made all of this even worse - that she cared so much and allowed him so fully into her life after all these years. That she had let herself trust him. Only to have the universe laugh in her face when she was finally beginning to feel happy.

But he told me the truth, that little part of her mind pointed out again. He cares about me also. That's all he was trying to show.

"Maybe he cares too much," she muttered, tilting her head back to stare listlessly at the speckled ceiling. She had thought she was ready to move forward with him, thought she was ready to move forward with her life in general. What if she wasn't? Woody wouldn't stick around if she pushed him away again. Not this time. Was she really willing to risk losing him forever?

No. She wasn't. It was time to let go and make this work. She deserved to be happy - they both did. As soon as he got back, she would talk with him. No anger.

In the scheme of things, calling her doctor was a pretty small mistake. Right? He would never do it again, she knew. Especially not once she spoke with him about it calmly. She also knew that he would never purposefully do something to hurt her, and that eased the pain in her heart a bit more. Woody would go to the ends of the earth for her; he had proven that over and over. It was time for her to finally give him just as much.

She shifted, noticing as she did that her legs were grimy from the saltwater she'd been standing in earlier. It was uncomfortable all of a sudden, and Jordan pushed away from the counter to make her way upstairs to the bathtub. When she got to the bedroom, though, she stopped short in surprise.

Woody's suitcase was upended on the bed, his clothes strewn everywhere. Jordan's eyebrows furrowed as she walked slowly over to the mess. This was odd - he was the kind of guy who folded his clothes as he took them off at night. Why had he left everything like this?

Confused, she reached out and gently picked up two of his shirts with the compelling desire to put them back the way they should be. But then - his holster was empty. His gun was gone. Worried now, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number.

There was a vibrating from beneath the clothes, and she cursed under her breath. He'd left his phone. He had gone somewhere with his weapon and he'd left his damned phone behind. She snatched the cell off the bed and flipped it open, hoping that maybe it could tell her where he had gone. Calls from her, calls from Stone, calls from Holly... She scrolled through quickly, wanting to find the most recent one he'd answered. There!

He'd answered a call from Holly about forty minutes ago. That must be where he was.

"Damn it, Woody!" she yelled to no one, throwing his phone back onto the bed and running out of the room to find her shoes.

Trying very hard not to panic, she pulled out her own phone again and called Stone. He answered on the third ring, and, not even giving him a chance to speak, she asked, "Have you already sent someone over to get Holly?"

"Not yet," the man told her slowly. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at him. "It's a small precinct, ma'am. Everyone is busy right now."

"Then get your own ass over there!" Jordan snapped, shoving her feet into her shoes and tying them quickly. "Or Jones, or anyone! The police need to be there, right now!"

"Hold your horses, Doctor Cavanaugh," he said, his words dripping with bitterness. "Someone will get there when they get there. Holly's not going anywhere."

"If Woody is dead because of your idiocy, his blood is on your hands."

With that, she hung up and sprinted from the house. She only hesitated for a moment upon remembering that she didn't have a car. Two blocks to Karen's house; she could run that in her sleep, and since Stone was outright refusing to be of any help...

He's going to be okay, she thought forcefully, hating how helpless she felt as her feet pounded against the pavement. He'll be okay.

After what felt like far too long, she reached Karen's home. Unlike Holly, her friend had a large house with a generous yard and a stereotypical white picket fence. Woody's car was in the driveway. Slowing enough to go unnoticed, Jordan crept in through the gate and up to a front window. Heavy curtains had been pulled closed over it to block out the bright sun, but there was just enough of a crack to see through at the bottom. No movement inside, and the only light came from what was likely the kitchen at the back of the house.

Very quietly, Jordan made her way around to the back yard. There was a small porch, and a set of French doors that led into a bedroom. Another door at the far end was cracked open. The kitchen. She couldn't hear anything, and that made her nervous.

Knowing how dangerous this was but not caring, she tiptoed to the open door and looked inside. Holly wasn't in there. She pushed the door further open by a hair, craning her neck to find anything else. It was a large kitchen - two ovens, a wood-paneled refrigerator, large counters, and an island. And there, on the floor on the other side of that island, she could just see two feet.

"Woody!" Forgetting to watch herself, Jordan ran into the kitchen and knelt at his side, heart pounding so fast she felt ill. He was facedown on the floor, not moving. "Oh, my God - Woody!" She pressed her fingers to his neck, desperately searching for a pulse. She found it - thready, but there. No blood, either, so just the sedative to get him down. Starting to shake, she carefully rolled him to his back and touched his face. Holly hadn't hurt him, but, remembering the high amount of xylazine she had found in Paul, Woody had been given far too much. Enough to kill him if he wasn't taken to a hospital fast enough.

"Woody, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" She cupped his cheek, turning his face toward her as she leaned close. "Come on..."

His eyes briefly fluttered open, but he wasn't able to focus on her. "Jo...?"

"Yeah - yeah, I'm here. Jesus," she muttered, her gaze roaming wildly around the kitchen. She needed to get him out of there.

"My leg," he breathed. "She shot something into my leg. Karen..."

And then she saw the other woman, sprawled on the floor by the sink. Woody had obviously been trying to get to her when he fell. Jordan quickly crawled over to her and grabbed her wrist. "She's alive." Not willing to waste another second, she snatched out her phone and dialed 911.

"We need an ambulance - and the police - at 1430 White Oak Drive," she rushed to say as soon as the call went through. They were running out of time, and she still didn't know where Holly was. "There's an officer and civilian down. Tell them to hurry."

"I've put your request through," the dispatcher told her calmly. "You will have help very soon. I'm going to need you to stay on the phone. What's your name?"

"Jordan," she answered distractedly, scooting back to Woody and checking his pulse again. He was fully unconscious. She patted his cheek with the palm of her hand, trying in vain to get a response. "Hey, Woody! Open your eyes!"

"Jordan," the woman on the other end of the line said, "everything will be all right. What happened?"

"I, um - I'm not sure. I just found them." She moved her fingers back to his neck, worriedly counting the beats of his heart. "He's dying," she cried desperately into the phone. "She overdosed him on a tranquilizer, there's nothing I can do to help! He needs an ambulance!"

"Help is coming -"

"Who are you?"

Jordan started, her head shooting up to find Holly standing in the large doorway. She closed the phone and dropped it to the floor, raising one of her hands before her in a show of peace. "I'm Jordan, Holly. You know me. We just met a few days ago. Remember?"

"No." Holly slowly shook her head. She looked terrible, and so, so frightened. "What do you want with me? Why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you, Holly," Jordan whispered, her fingers still at Woody's neck and silently counting the beats of his heart.

"No, you're not!" she suddenly snapped, stepping forward with wide eyes. "The Rabbit sent you! I can't go back to him!" Her hands tangled in her hair to tug at it furiously. Stands of it fell to the floor and she began to shake her head. "I can't, I can't, I can't! They want me..."

Jordan watched her warily, trying to listen for sirens. None could be heard. "Who is the Rabbit? What - what does he want?"

Tears started to stream down Holly's face. "I didn't want to hurt him!" she wailed, digging her nails into her scalp in agony. "But he made me!"

"Who, Holly?" Woody's pulse was slowing dangerously. Where is that ambulance?

"The Rabbit, the Rabbit! That Rabbit - in the white coat..." She shook her head back and forth again, gaze roaming around the room, unfocused. "Gave me... He gave me... To use on the Walrus. But I didn't want to! I didn't want to!" Her hands fell from her hair and dragged down her face. "The vials... He told me that it would all stop if I used them - it would stop if I stopped the Walrus. The Rabbitsaid that - it would stop. Rabbit in the white coat. I want it to stop! Make it stop!"

Jordan watched as she began to pace around the island, pulling at her hair again until it was stained with bright red blood. A startling thought occurred to her, and she swallowed, trying to think of a tactful way to go about this. "Is he your doctor, Holly? Is your doctor the Rabbit?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Rabbit in the white coat." Holly nodded so fervently that one of her earrings fell out. "He gave me - gave me - needles, for the Walrus. Told me to - to inject him. Everyone. And then, then...then I had to -" She broke off and made a wild swinging gesture with her hand, coming to slam it violently on the countertop. "Dead. Dead, dead."

It took great effort not to jump at the sound, and Jordan took a quick breath, hoping she could stay calm long enough for help to arrive. Woody's gun was on the counter by Holly's hand, much too close for comfort. "Is this...is the Rabbit your newdoctor? The one you started seeing six months ago?"

She just nodded again and turned away, muttering something unintelligible to herself.

So it really was the doctor's fault. And if Holly was to be believed, he had even given her the sedative to use on her husband, all the while planting vicious thoughts into her head as she got worse and worse. What in the hell was he playing at?

But then Holly spun around again and her wide, frightened eyes landed on the gun. Jordan's heart all but stopped when the other woman snatched it up and pointed it shakily at her. "Why are you here?" she asked again, voice rising. "What do you want with me?" She tried to take the safety off, but her hands were trembling far too much to manage it.

"I want to help you, Holly," Jordan pleaded, raising one hand before her again and keeping the other firmly pressed to the dying pulse in Woody's neck. No, God - please no."I just want to help you, that's all."

"You can't help me..."

There was a real fear in Holly's eyes. She slowly began to lower the gun, but whether that was because she was losing the strength to keep it aloft or because she was no longer wanting to pose a threat, Jordan did not know. "They'll come after me!" she cried, stumbling backwards and hitting the edge of the counter. The gun fell from her limp hand and clattered loudly to the floor. "I know too much. He told me too much. They'll come after me - they'll kill me!"

"No one is going to kill you, Holly. I won't let that happen."

A fait wail could be heard in the distance, and Jordan almost sagged in relief. The police - and the ambulance. Help was coming; they were almost out of this dangerous mess. Woody was going to be okay. He had to be okay. Just keep her talking...

"Did he tell you why? Did your doctor tell you why you needed to stop the...the walrus?"

"He knew too much, too," Holly breathed, her gaze darting every which way around the room, seeing invisible threats all around her. "The Rabbit…needed me to make him stop before…before he…"

She did not have a chance to finish before the police came barging through the front door and tore through the house. Holly screamed and fell to her knees, hands tangling in her hair again as she began to rock her upper body back and forth.

"Don't hurt her!" Jordan yelled as an officer reached out to grab the shaking woman off the floor and handcuff her. Holly was wailing, her voice starting to crack, and it took three more police to drag her out of the room. Four EMTs rushed into the kitchen as they left and immediately began to start treatment on Woody and Karen.

Jordan jumped back out of their way. All she could do now was wait.