Chapter 61

Woody arrived home from work and without thinking checked their delivery cubby. It was such a part of his usual after work routine it didn't occur to him how unlikely it would be for something to be there on a Sunday. However, this Sunday there was something in the cubby. He picked up the box and saw that it was addressed to Baby Boy Palmer with no return address or any delivery marks on it. This package had to have been put there by hand. It gave him a chill to think that Palmer had been this close to his family! Woody knew that given the chance AJ would protect Jordan and Riley with his life and that Jordan herself would not go down without a fight. But the element of surprise would certainly be on Palmer's side.

On the ride up in the elevator he wondered what he should do with the package. Should he open it himself to see what was in it before upsetting Jordan? Tell her and AJ that it had arrived and ask their opinion on what to do with it? Or simply throw it down the trash shoot, unopened? He was at their apartment door before he had come to a decision.

Entering the apartment he found AJ in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, but his wife and the baby were no where to be seen.

AJ saw Woody looking around and said with a grin, "Jordan is in the bedroom nursing Riley."

"Good, I have a dilemma. This package was downstairs waiting when I got home. I'm certain it's from Palmer and I didn't know how or if I should tell Jordan."

Taking the package from Woody's hands AJ saw the same things that he had in the elevator. "It doesn't feel heavy enough to have an explosive device in it, but just to be on the safe side, why don't you go to Jordan and keep her and the baby in the bedroom…"

"What do you think you are going to do?!" Woody interrupted.

"I've had some demolition training; I am the best choice to open it."

"How long ago was that?!" the younger man demanded.

Giving him a rueful look, AJ admitted, "When I was in the SEALS…about twenty five years ago."

"You don't think your knowledge might be slightly out of date? I can call the precinct and get the bomb squad here!"

"There might not be time for that. You don't know if it is on a timer or not."

"It's very unlikely because there was no way of knowing when we would pick it up from downstairs. It's more likely, if it is a bomb, that it would be set to go off as it is opened," Woody suggested.

"Then all the more reason for me to open it. Go and protect your family Woody. I will be careful," he instructed taking the package to the farthest corner of the kitchen.

Woody shook his head as he walked towards the bedroom. Jordan was just finishing nursing the baby so he sat down on the corner of the bed to keep his body between the door and his wife and baby. He kept her talking about her day and the preparation for their coming trip to Wisconsin until AJ knocked and then entered the room after they said, "Come in" in unison.

Handing the open box to Woody, because Jordan still held the baby, AJ said, "A gift arrived for the baby today."

"You checked it over good?" Woody asked.

"I did," was AJ's reply.

"Okay, what is going on you two?" Jordan wanted to know.

"We're confident the gift is from Palmer," Woody told her.

"What?! How?!" Jordan cried out, causing Riley to fuss a bit.

As the two men explained, Woody reached into the nest of tissue paper and pulled out a fancy baby rattle. The handle was made of silver and the rattle wasn't plastic, but some kind of expensive porcelain. On the face was painted, in a baby blue color, a picture of a teddy bear. However, it wasn't until Woody had the rattle high enough out of the box that Jordan could see the back of it that she gasped and clutched Riley closer to her. This caused Riley to start crying, but as AJ and Woody looked at Jordan for an explanation they saw she was crying too.

To be continued…