Lost and Found
Author Notes
This is set during the events on season 01 episode 16 (Lost and Found).
This is the third and last part of 'Love in the Boston PD' series; but if I think up any other storylines, I'll write more.
Disclaimer: I do not own Crossing Jordan or any of the characters. (If I did Winslow wouldn't have ever left).
Story
It was like something from the Twilight Zone.
I had just got in for work and I found my boss, Doctor Garrett Macy, humming.
"What are you doing?"
"Handing out assignments." – He gave me a file. – "Homicide in Dorchester."
"No, I meant that cheerful sound you're making with your mouth."
"My favorite thing. It's Coltrane."
"I have known you for 8 years, Garrett, never once I've known you to hum a happy tune."
"Go to Dorchester."
Then I figured it all out:
"Oh my God! You and Lily finally did it!"
I have to hand it to him; I never saw a man blush so much so fast.
I got to Dorchester and found out who were going to be my detectives for this case.
"Hey, Eddie. Woody."
"Hey, Jordan!"
"Cavanaugh."
They shared a strange look. I rolled my eyes at them. How can men be so blind?
"What've we got?"
Winslow was his normal 'I-must-pretend-I-have-no-emotions' self:
"Single gunshot wound to the back of the head, execution style."
"ID?"
Woody was also his normal 'giddy/awkward' self:
"Nope. No wallet, no ID, no keys, no nothing. And also? No witnesses."
"My guess I that the shooter took off through that alley over there." – Winslow pointed at one of the three possible exits.
I started to analyze the body:
"Small caliber." – I noticed needle marks on the dead guy's arm. – "Must've come here to score."
Woody pointed to a paper bag next to the cadaver:
"Or maybe he went grocery shopping."
Winslow put his latex gloves and helped me (This day just keeps getting weirder) take out everything in the bag.
"Milk."
"Oh, fuck."
Woody approached the guy he loves (I am not blind.):
"What is it, Eddie?"
We watched as he pulled a package of diapers from the bag.
"Oh, fuck doesn't even begin to cover this."
I found a squished beetle on the dead guy's shoes so I gave it to our entomologist, Bug, to analyze it. That was when I got a page from Winslow asking me to meet him down at the precinct.
So here I am.
"What's the emergency, Eddie?"
"No emergency, just thought I'd keep you in the loop."
"Since when you keep me in the loop?"
"Since I began trying to be a better person."
"So, where's the reason for that?"
"Out getting coffee."
I might've been a little surprised he said it out loud.
"Before you tell me the reason I'm here, tell me something. When are you gonna grow a pair and ask him out? I mean you like him, he likes you; what's the problem?"
That was the moment Woody walked in, saving Winslow from answering me.
"Hey, Jordan! Did Eddie tell you the good news yet?"
Winslow shook his head:
"Not yet, we're still exchanging barbs."
"Can I tell her?"
"Sure, Woody."
"We caught someone who's very good for the murder. He had the victim's wallet, the keys, everything."
"Name's Keith Walker, a small time dealer."
"Has he confessed?"
"Not yet, Jordan. He lawyered up."
Sigh. Don't they always?
"I ran the vic's prints and got a name. Chris Vanders."
"We did too. Small charges for possession of cocaine and heroin. Nothing else."
"Have you informed the wife?"
"A unit is picking her and the baby up."
Woody looked at his crush's frown in having to tell the widow that she was, well a widow; and decided to help him out:
"Eddie, why don't you check on our lovely guest?"
Winslow muttered thanks and left.
"You are so smitten! When are you going to get the courage to ask him out?"
Macy still is the champion in blushing, but Woody gets the second place.
At that moment a police officer knocked on the door and introduced Mrs. Vanders.
What is up with everyone being saved from answering my questions?
Mrs. Vanders was kind enough to tell us that her baby daughter was with her husband when he was killed.
Based on the squished beetle, which only lives in warm places, and on the green carpet fibers on his shoes, we were able to determine that one of the last places he went was this sleazy motel. Me, Mrs. Vanders, Eddie and Woody were all there to see if we could find the missing baby.
"So, does he ring a bell?" – Woody asked the man behind the counter.
"No. Get lost, kid."
Eddie gave me an evil look that said 'You are not seeing what I'm about to do.'
Winslow just lifted the guy by his collar and started to talk in that calm-I-am-able-to-kill-you voice:
"Listen here, you prick. That's my partner you're talking to, so here's a few tips: You don't call him kid. You will respect an honored detective like him. And you'll fucking answer his questions. Get it?"
The guy slowly nodded.
"Good. Now let's try it again." – Winslow let go of the man. – "Do you recognize the guy?"
"Room 207. He didn't pay last time so I had to lock the place up."
"Show us."
"It was a bust. The baby wasn't there. And you had to see, Lily, this guy insulted Woody and Winslow just became a knight in shining armor."
"What did he do?"
"He grabbed the guy by the collar and threatened him. I haven't seen Woody more lovestruck than he did at that moment."
"Did he look like a puppy?"
"Actually, yeah." – Lily started picturing him. – "You don't know how annoying it is! They're both in love with each other but neither of them takes the initiative. I swear, Lily, I'm this close to locking them in a supply closet with a box of condoms."
Nigel had approached me with the tox screen results.
"Your boy was clean. No drugs in his system. Hadn't touched them for at least a month."
"But he has needle marks in his arm."
"Maybe he was donating blood. It's 20 bucks a pop."
"Okay. What about the hairs in his body?"
"Six were his own but one of them belonged to a heavy user of heroin and cocaine."
"Any other markers?"
"It was a long red hair that belonged to a woman in her thirties."
Mrs. Vanders.
Woody called when they'd found Mrs. Vanders OD-ing on an alleyway. The drug dealer finally confessed to the murder, but Chris Vanders didn't have the baby with him.
I was laying down in Woody and Winslow's couch while Eddie did some paperwork and Hoyt read his crush's case journal.
"We're no closer to finding the kid."
"Hey, Eddie?"
"Yeah, Woody?"
"There wasn't a heater in the room. Or at least, you didn't write it in."
Winslow got up and walked over to Woody.
"That means that the bug couldn't have come from the room."
"Where could the baby be then, Winslow?"
I could see comprehension dawn on Eddie's face as the final puzzle piece fit in the puzzle inside his head:
"Old hotels like that have furnaces."
We made it out of the precinct when I realized I didn't have my car keys. They must've fallen onto the sofa…
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."
I went down to the furnace room apparently without making any noise.
Because when I got down there I saw Woody holding the baby while Winslow kissed him hard.
Let me tell you, I was pretty hot.
I climbed back up, then walked down making enough noise for them to notice me.
Back at the bar, Winslow and Woody were drinking beers side by side. (Dad had already apologized to Eddie, and Eddie knows I probably never will so…)
I clapped them on their backs:
"So, when were the two of you telling me you're doing each other?"
I grinned as Woody turned bright red and Winslow choked on his beer.
"I hate you, Cavanaugh."
"Nope. You adore me. That's why you two are telling me how it happened."
Woody nodded and Eddie grunted:
"Grab a seat."
I sat down and my father approached us.
"Want something, Jordan?"
"A beer, Dad."
After I received my drink, I listened to my two cop friends tell the story about their relationship.
It was a good day, all in all.
