Jeff Shelby - Thread of Hope

I was exhausted and wanted to go back to the hotel. The previous night with Lauren had drained me-both physically and emotionally. Seeing Chuck had emptied the reserves. I knew that returning to my old life would take a toll on me, but I had underestimated exactly how large the toll would be.

But Chuck had filled in a couple of tiny blanks for me and I didn’t want to lose the momentum of having small pieces fall into place while the thoughts were fresh in my head. So I stopped at a gas station, grabbed some coffee, made a phone call to Gina and headed back to Rancho Santa Fe and the Jordan estate.

Caffeine and adrenaline had my hands bouncing on the steering wheel as I was buzzed through the gate. I drove slowly up the winding road, formulating what I wanted to do. It was entirely dependent upon whether or not Gina had arranged what I'd asked for.

As I crested the top of the road and pulled into the circular drive at the front of the home, I could see she’d done exactly what I’d asked.

She was sitting on the steps of the Jordan home, along with Jon Jordan and my escorts from the first day, Hanley and Boyle. Jordan was pacing slowly behind her and Hanley and Boyle were perched on either side of her. They stood when I shut off the engine. I bounced my hands off the wheel one last time and got out.

Jordan came down the steps immediately. “What the hell is going on, Tyler?”

I came around the car and didn’t say anything.

Hanley and Boyle slid into protective spots next to Jordan. They were about five feet from me. Gina stayed on the steps, watching.

“I asked you a question,” Jordan said, his face flushing.

I stood there, silent.

Boyle took two steps toward me and pointed a finger at me. “Hey. Are you…”

I grabbed his wrist, pulled him to me and brought my knee hard into his crotch. His mouth opened, but no sound came out and he sank to the ground. I bent his wrist straight back, felt it snap and dropped it.

Hanley came up fast on my left, but I was ready. I stepped into him, blocked a punch and pivoted around him. I locked my arm tight across his neck, under his chin and wrapped my left arm tight around his head, as I spun us back to our original position.

Hanley beat on my arms, but there was no strength behind the punches. Gina stood behind Jordan, making no move to come forward. I stared at Jordan as Hanley’s punches stopped hitting my arms and his body went slack. I held him up for another moment, making sure he was out, then dropped him to the ground.

I hadn’t exerted much effort, but I was breathing hard, sweat soaking my back. My hands were shaking and I waited a moment until they stopped.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jordan asked, glancing over his shoulder at Gina.

“You sent them after Chuck,” I said. “They were the ones that put him in the hospital.”

I didn’t need to see his reaction to know I was right. I’d pegged them from the moment they showed up at the high school. I’d placed Matt and Derek on my suspect list as well, but sitting with Chuck at the hospital that day, I knew that two high school boys weren’t capable of inflicting the kind of damage Chuck had suffered. Jordan had sent his two goons to do a job and they'd gotten it done.

Boyle rolled over on the ground and tried to sit up. I planted my left foot and drove my right foot into his jaw. His head snapped back and thumped against the ground.

Gina moved down the steps behind Jordan and I held up my hand. “Don’t, Gina. Or I’ll put you on the ground next to them. I’m done fucking around.”

She stopped and stayed behind Jordan.

I moved my eyes back to him. “Our deal has changed.”

He glanced at his men on the ground, then back at me. “What?”

“Deal’s changed. You’re gonna drop the charges against Chuck. Right now.”

Anger fired through his eyes. “The hell I am.”

“You’re gonna do it. Gina’s gonna drive you down to Coronado, you’re going to go into the station and you’re going to drop the charges.”

The anger flared hotter. “We had a deal, Tyler! We…”

“Had,” I emphasized. “Had. You tried to kill my friend, though you neglected to tell me that part when I signed on for this. So we had a deal. You still want me to find your daughter, you’re going to go drop the charges. Now.” I looked past him at Gina. “Olivia inside?”

Gina nodded.

I focused on Jordan again. “I’m going inside to speak to your wife while Gina takes you to Coronado.”

Jordan’s anger was fully aflame now, his hands balled into fists so tight it appeared they’d been glued that way.

“And before you say something stupid, let me lay it out for you,” I said, stepping closer to Jordan. “You refuse, I’m going right from here to the cops to tell them it was these two assholes that laid him out. Chuck’s awake and he I.D.’d both of them. No one is dumb enough to think they did it without your knowing, so you’ll go down with them. And I won’t spend another second looking for Meredith.”

Jordan stood there, rigid, furious, unsure what to do. I let him think it out for himself. I knew that dropping the charges was no guarantee that he’d leave Chuck alone. In fact, I was certain he might make another run at him. But dropping the charges would buy me some time to demonstrate to him that Chuck hadn’t done a thing to Meredith other than attempt to help her.

“What have you learned about Meredith?” Jordan asked through clenched teeth.

“A lot,” I said, walking past him toward the house. “But I won’t share a single thing with you if you don’t get your ass in a car with Gina and go to Coronado.”

“You work for me. I hired you.”

“I’m working for Chuck,” I told him. “And Meredith. That’s it.” I stopped on the steps next to Gina. “I’m going inside to talk to your wife. If you’re out here when I leave, entire deal is off and I go to the cops. And you can find your daughter yourself.”

Jordan stared at me, no doubt wishing he could get his hands on me. That would’ve been a mistake on his part. I held his stare.

Gina descended the stares and whispered something in Jordan’s ear, her hand under his elbow.

I went inside the home, leaving Jordan to make his decision.

Olivia Jordan was sitting on a leather sofa in an expansive living room littered with expensive furniture. She wore jeans similar to the ones she wore the first time I’d met her and a red blouse with a wide collar and silver buttons. Her legs were crossed, the boot heel of the top leg bouncing as she paged aimlessly through a magazine.

She glanced up when I came into the room and tossed the magazine on the sofa next to her, impatience and irritation mixing in an ugly way on her face. She held up a hand. “Here I am. Waiting for you as ordered.”

“You were a hooker,” I said, sitting down in a chair across from her.

The impatience and irritation disappeared quickly, replaced by embarrassment. “What?”

“You fucked men for money.”

She was rattled, throwing her eyes toward where I’d come from, probably wondering if her husband was coming in behind me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Seriously? That’s how we’re gonna play this? I’m gonna tell you the truth about your past and you’re gonna just sit there and try and look bewildered?”

She blinked her eyes rapidly, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“In Vegas,” I said. I picked up a marble coaster from the table next to me, rubbing my fingers along its smooth surface. “I don’t know if you were doing it elsewhere, but you were doing it in Vegas for sure. Don’t know if your husband was a client. Maybe that’s how you two met and…”