When he pulled up to the house, it appeared vacant and silent. When he knocked, Mrs. Jordan gave him the package. It escaped his attention at first.
However, something on the side of the box caught his attention as he was about to load the cargo. A nauseating sense of dread washed over him when he saw the handwritten words there, to the side.
A Specialist
Being a former military officer, Charles Gordon immediately saw something was up. His excellent observational skills were developed over the years of his training to detect the smaller nuances that most men would overlook.
But he would have to deal with something that day that would put him to the test. Few guys could have responded with the effort and competence he showed immediately.
The Battle
At the height of the battle, Gordon had been sent to Afghanistan when it was at its most virulent. He had witnessed events that permanently altered how he viewed the world.
He had witnessed some of his friends pass away, while others had never been the same after returning home. According to Gordon, over half of his fellow service members now experienced PTSD of some kind.
A New Job
He was one of the fortunate few who had returned home unharmed or with minor difficulties. He continued to scowl, though, each time the subject was brought up.
His work as a UPS driver allowed him to drive from home to home and make deliveries, which was very enjoyable to him at this point in his life. He was 55 years old. The situation had changed dramatically from when he had served in the Navy. Despite his best efforts, all that was about to change.
Good Relationships
The reputation Charles had built in Missouri was quite impressive. In the course of his work, he traveled across the county, making many new friends along the way. All of his packages' recipients knew his name, and he knew theirs - he prided himself on building special relationships.
But until a fatal day revealed the truth, Charles had a quality that his clients were unaware of.
A Hero
Missouri citizens were unaware that the UPS driver had the training and knowledge to protect them from any threat or risk, even putting his own life in peril if necessary.
They didn't realize how fortunate they were that the former U.S. Navy seal was watching out for them until it was nearly too late.
A Different Kind Of Pickup
When Charles was asked to pick up a parcel from a house in Franklin County, he had no idea what he was stepping into. Both the folks who lived there and the house were acquainted with him.
Mr. and Mrs. Jordan appeared to be a typical couple from the outside. However, one day, he found their behavior to be a little… unusual.
Very Peculiar
Immediately following the disturbing occurrence, he recalled another time when he had recently delivered a delivery to the Jordans' home.
He recalled getting out of the truck, making his way to their house, and banging on the door while holding the box. Something about the package immediately drew his interest and sparked his curiosity.
No Return Adress
An anonymous package was sent to the recipient: it was not addressed or labeled with the sender's name. A UPS package is usually collected from the sender's house and needs a return address for shipping; UPS does not allow anonymous shipping.
In the case that you don't want the recipient or UPS to know who sent the package you are sending, you can leave it at a UPS depot across the state. What would make anyone do that?
A Mysterious Package
The package also had a very thick appearance. The contents of people's parcels are generally uninteresting to Charles, but the contents seemed too bizarre this time.
In an effort to ascertain its contents, he shook the package in his hands. He could sense something tiny and hefty inside, but he was unable to identify it. The Jordans' door then immediately opened.
Mr. Jordan
A man opened the door; it was Mr. Jordan. Immediately, Charles tried to keep his composure, hiding the fact that he had been trying to guess the content of the package. That had been quite unprofessional of him.
He handed the package to Mr. Jordan. The man looked at both sides of the street before taking the package like he didn’t want to be seen. Then, he rapidly grabbed it with both hands and disappeared behind the closed door.
Puzzling
Now, what was that about? The whole episode made Charles feel like there had to be something fishy about that package. But what could it be?
Well, it was done. He just hoped he wouldn’t get into trouble. After some weeks, he completely forgot about that incident, but he remembered again as soon as he saw he had to deliver another package to the Jordans’ house.
A Quiet Morning
It had started out as a quiet, cold morning for Charles. He hummed as he plotted his route and wound his way through Franklin County, picking up and delivering the parcels he had been assigned.
When he reached the Jordan residence, he pulled up into the drive like he always did and walked up the front steps. He had no idea that he was walking into a living nightmare.
Waiting
Charles knocked on the door three times and waited the cursory five minutes before knocking again. Stomping his feet to keep warm, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Mr. Jordan’s pickup truck in the parking bay.
But he got no response. He didn’t hear a peep from inside the house either. What could be going on?
Silence
“Hello?” he yelled, “UPS.” Perhaps nobody was home after all. He scanned the porch for the parcel he was meant to be picking up. No package. Maybe they had called him by mistake?
But Charles was starting to feel uneasy. He could tell that something was very wrong. He was just about to turn and leave when he heard the front door unlatch.
Something Off
The door opened a crack, and an eye appeared. “Mrs. Jordan? I’m here to collect a package,” Charles explained. The door widened, and she stood there, smiling tightly. Then, Mr. Jordan stepped out from behind his wife and greeted Charles tersely.
He held his wife close and ordered her to give the UPS driver the package. But as she did, something in her eyes told Charles that something just wasn’t right.
Trying To Tell Him Something
In the brief moment when Mrs. Jordan handed him the package, she mouthed something to him, but he couldn’t quite catch it.
She looked nervously at her husband to make sure he hadn’t seen her, and then her eyes widened. She was trying to tell him something. But why couldn’t she say it in front of her husband?
The Clues
Charles took in her appearance as best he could before the door was hurriedly slammed shut again. All the clues were there. Her hair was disheveled, and she had dark rings under her tired eyes.
And her eyes... they were pleading with him to do something. She looked like a frightened animal. And the way that Mr. Jordan had held her close... There was just something he didn’t like about it.
Brushing It Off
He was concerned at first but tried to shrug the feeling of worry off. Maybe he was being paranoid. After all, what his clients did behind closed doors wasn’t any of his business.
Maybe the couple had had an argument. That must be it, he reasoned, before walking back to his truck. But when he put the parcel in the back, he saw what she had been trying to tell him all along.
The Message
“Call 911” was scrawled on the side of the box, on the side that she had carefully kept facing away from her husband as she handed it to him. His heart began to race, and a metallic taste crept up his throat.
He glanced back at the house and saw Mr. Jordan watching him coldly from the window. He instinctively knew that he had to act like nothing was wrong – or it would all be over.
Pretending It Was Alright
Charles climbed into his seat slowly and deliberately as if he was in no hurry to get away from that place. He felt Mr. Jordan’s eyes burning a hole in his back as he rolled away.
It took all his self-control to resist the urge to speed out of the driveway. But when he rounded the corner and out of sight, he pulled out his phone and slammed the numbers in.
What’s Your Emergency?
He heard the reassuring voice on the other end of the line: “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”. Then, he explained everything to the operator... the parcel, Mr. Jordan’s behavior, and Mrs. Jordan’s frightened eyes.
The operator listened intently before sending out the sheriff’s deputies. But they had no idea what was really happening in that house. Nothing could have ever prepared them for it.
Mobilizing
The team prepared for every eventuality. They weren’t sure if they were dealing with a robbery or much worse. From the information Charles had given them, they assumed the couple was being held, hostage.
But they were all so very wrong. Like a well-oiled machine, they mobilized and raced to the scene. Everyone knew that time was of the essence.
Swarming The House
In less than 10 minutes, authorities were swarming the house on Willow Ford Road. Franklin County Sheriff’s Sgt. T.J. Wild led the operation. They stormed up the front steps and called.
Mr. Jordan seemed like he had been taken by surprise. Now, the truth was about to come out. And it was far more unnerving than what anyone could have expected.
He Slammed The Door
But he refused to cooperate with the authorities, slamming the door in their faces. He didn’t know that this was the worst mistake he could have made. Now, it was on for real.
Now that they knew that what was going on had everything to do with Mr. Jordan, they weren’t about to take it lying down.
Calling Backup
Sheriff’s Sgt. T.J. Wild checked Mr. Jordan’s records and discovered that he had been arrested before. They also feared that he had a weapon inside the house.
Realizing that the situation may have escalated beyond their control, they decided to call backup. They weren’t going to take any risks, so they brought out the big guns. They called for the SWAT team.
Surrender
Mr. Jordan quickly realized that his best option was to surrender, which, thankfully for him, he did before the SWAT team arrived. Mrs. Jordan and her 3-year-old son were taken to a place of safety.
But it was only when officers took Mrs. Jordan’s statement that the truth about what had happened in that house came out.
Hailed A Hero
And thanks to Charles, Mrs. Jordan was released from a harrowing situation. “We are grateful this UPS driver with more than a decade of service followed protocol when he saw a customer in distress and contacted authorities after he saw her message to contact 9-1-1,” the company said in a statement.
“Our drivers are very familiar with their routes and are trained to be aware of their surroundings and respond to requests for assistance.”
The Plan That Worked
According to Mrs. Jordan, her husband had snapped. He held her captive for 15 hours in the home they shared. When she tried to leave, he refused to let her.
He threatened her, and she had reason to believe that her life was in danger. So she did the only thing she could think of – she wrote a note on the parcel for the UPS driver.
Saved The Day
James Jordan was promptly arrested and charged. He was held in Franklin County jail with bail set at $100,000.
"The charges stemmed from actions that occurred in the home with the female victim prior to the arrival of the delivery service who noticed a message for help written on a package he was to pick up," Franklin County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. If it weren’t for the quick-thinking UPS driver, the situation might have been a lot worse.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.