Family Business (Joe, Jordan, Thugs)

[hail-st-joseph.livejournal.com]

After seeing how very tired his son was, Joe had offered to have Aislinn stay in London for the week while Julian and Damon just focused on studies. And to his immense surprise and relief, Julian had agreed. Joe knew the decision hadn't been easy for Julian, and he had taken a very long time to say goodbye to his daughter before leaving on Sunday afternoon. But he would see her again in a week. And Joe would call Julian every night to let him know everything was alright.

Lavinia always took care of Jaida during the day, and on Monday morning, Joe dropped off Jaida and Aislinn so they could spend the day with his mother. It was then that he realised he had forgotten his briefcase. One extra baby bag and he was forgetting what he needed to work. With a self-aggravated sigh, Joe headed back home to grab his briefcase.

The moment he walked in the door, Joe knew something wasn't right.

The door wasn't locked, which meant that Jordan was still home. She shouldn't have been. And the phone in the entryway was unplugged as if someone didn't want it to ring. Joe didn't call out for his wife, instead he snuck into the living room where he found his wife of twenty years being pushed to the sofa by a man he didn't recognised.

Filled with instant rage, Joe rushed forward and he grabbed the man by the shoulders, yanking him off Jordan. Joe was a big man and his opponent was not. There was no contest. "What the fuck?!" Joe threw the man into the wall and then he extended a hand to his wife to help her up. Desperately, he was trying not to think of that winter morning when a man had followed his mother into their home and tried to rape her. Please, God, tell me I got here in time.

The man Joe had thrown had smashed his face into the wall, and when he turned around, he was wiping blood from his lip, a growl twisting his expression. "Directing your anger at the wrong person, Mate," the man hissed. "She invited me."

Joe turned to look at his wife, who was hiding behind him. That this intruder didn't know, was that Joe had known Jordan for so long that he could tell in an instant whether or not she was telling the truth, just by looking into her eyes. And where a comment like that may have sown a seed of doubt in another man's mind, it didn't work on Joe. He saw all he needed to in an instant of looking at his wife's face and then he rounded on the intruder again. "Bullshit! What the fuck are you doing here!"

"There's more than one." Jordan's hands tightened around Joe's elbows and she tried to pull him away from the man who had attacked her while pulling his mobile out of his pocket at the same time.

"What?" Joe understood a moment later when the man in front of them pulled a gun out of his pants, wow, that's dangerous and he pointed at both of them.

"Put the phone down. That's right. Kick it over to me. Good." Then he turned his face upwards and yelled to someone upstairs, "Come on, G! Hurry up!" And then he smiled wolfishly at Joe and Jordan, his face a mask of danger.

"What do you want?" Joe's heart was in his throat now, and his hands were raised slightly to try to keep the peace. He was staring down the barrel of a gun and it was terrifying. "What do you want here?" He felt his wife's trembling body behind him and he fervently hoped he was blocking her off completely with his own body as a shield.

"What do you know about Peter Kemp?" The man asked, and Joe looked so confused at that, that the man looked worried for a moment. "Don't you work for Peter Kemp?"

Joe glared at the man and he didn't move a muscle or breathe a word.

"It hardly matters. In a few minutes we'll have everything we need anyway."

Joe was putting things together. The man in front of them had an unmistakable Russian accent. He was willing to bet the man upstairs did too. They wanted to know about Peter. Joe would have bet money that they were from Little Moscow.

A moment later, the man known as 'G' joined them, carrying Joe's computer. "It's all encrypted," G faced his comrade. "We'll just have to take it with us."

"Wait!" Joe stepped forward, but the gun was still on him. There were hospital files on that computer... "What do you want to know?!"

"We're very interested to know where this Mister Kemp gets his finances." The intruder smiled at them again. "Don't bother with the fucking computer, G." The man stepped forward and he pressed the gun into Joe's jugular as he reached for Jordan.

"No!" Joe grabbed for his wife, but the man pulled her away and now the gun was at her throat. Was this really all over where Peter got his fucking money?! "Please! Please don't hurt her!" He stood frantically on one side of his living room while some beast held a gun to the neck of his heart and soul. "Please... All I know is that Peter inherited his money."

"Joseph!" That had come from Jordan.

"Honey, please..." Joe licked his lips frantically. His eyes flicked over to the two men. "Why...why is that important?"

"It's not. We happen to know someone who is very interested in this hospital of his."

Ah. Of course they were. "W..what do you want to know?"

"What kind of institution is it?" G asked. "You know...what do they treat?"

"It's a hospital." Joe grumbled. "They treat sick people."

"You goin' to be a smart guy? You'll be a smart guy with a headless wife." The gun was pressed more firmly into Jordan's neck and she gasped. Joe felt like he might choke to death just watching it.

"No! Look, I don't understand what you want!" None of this made any fucking sense. He didn't understand how organised crime worked, how was he supposed to understand what these men were after?

"We'll make you a deal. You tell us how to get into those accounts and we'll let your wife keep her pretty little head."

Joe could see they were serious. And he wasn't about to let them kill his wife in front of his eyes. He could fix this. Once they left, he could fix this. "Alright. Please...let my wife go and I'll tell you."

"Fuck that. Write it down. G, give him a fucking pen and paper!"

Joe avoided Jordan's eyes as he wrote down passwords and account numbers and various other details. Silently, he passed them to G and he gave the other man a significant look. "I did what you asked."

"I think we should take your wife with us. Just until we're sure you didn't lie."

"No!" Joe started forward and then his world exploded in pain, starting at his thigh and echoing all over his body. He fell and seconds later, Jordan landed on the floor next to him. He heard running footsteps and the door slamming... They were alone.

Jordan's arms were around him and she was trying to prop him up, but it all hurt too much. "Joe, sit p, goddammit, I have to look at you!"

Joe did his best, biting into his lip so hard he drew blood to keep from screaming. He felt Jordan unbuckle his belt, but there was nothing sexy about it. She pulled his trouser down with a little help from him, and she immediately ran for clean rags to quell the bleeding. "It's just a graze, thank fuck. Hold that, Joseph, I need to call the hospital."

"Tell Peter..." Joe said, feeling dizzy with the pain. He did as Jordan asked though, holding the rags to the wound that would have made him a castrati had it been a few inches to the left. "T...tell him.."

"Let's make sure you don't die in out living room first." Jordan ran for his mobile and she dialled the hospital. After she was sure they were on their way, she pushed his sweaty hair off his head. "It's going to be alright, Honey."

"Got here...just in time..."

Jordan gave him a rueful smile. "I went for the eyes because he commented on the baby pictures. He wasn't...it wasn't anything like what it looked like. He was actually defending himself..."

Joe felt like his world was greying, but he reached out to find his wife's bloody hand. "I love you. Jordan. I love you."

"I know, Joe." Jordan leaned over to kiss him as the sounds of sirens grew nearer. "I know. I love you too. Just hang in there. It's all going to be okay."