Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with Crossing Jordan. Never have, probably never will. I do own a 1964.5 red Mustang convertible, white leather interior, white top. I picture Garrett driving such a car.

Garrett...a man with a tortured past. So much is written about Woody/Jordan, Devan (Grrr.....) and Nigel, that I feel he gets neglected. So this story is about Garrett, mainly.

And if you're wondering about some of the other characters in here...Stevie, Katie, Kathy Leland....read Arsenic and Southern Grace first. That should clear things up a bit.

Oh, and I didn't write the lyrics to Off the Coast of Carolina, either. That credit goes to the great and wonderful Jimmy Buffett. If you've never been to a Buffett concert, put that on your to do list before you die....drink some Captain Morgan, put on a Hawaii shirt, and become a parrot head for a couple of hours. It will do your soul good.

From the bottom of my heart

Off the coast of Carolina

After one or two false starts

I believe we found our stride

And the walls that won't come down

We can decorate or climb or find someway to get around

'Cause I'm still on your side

From the bottom of my heart.

Chapter One

"Remind me why we are here again," Nigel said to Garrett, as they circulated around the singularly boring medical examiners and coroners convention.

"Networking, Nige, networking," Garrett said, nodding to a few acquaintances.

"Why?" asked Nigel, taking a beer from one of the passing waiters.

"I need another ME," answered Garrett, craning his neck to see over the top of the crowd.

Nigel swallowed hard. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"You mean is someone about to lose their job?" Garrett said, smiling at the nervous man. "No. But Devan and Peter have left. That's two short. And I don't need to remind you that your lovely wife, Stevie, is very pregnant with your son. I know she doesn't want to come back full time for a while and I don't blame her. So I need a new ME."

"And you're going to find one here?"

"Maybe."

"But these folks have lots of experience. They'll cost more than someone on a residency or fresh out of med school."

"I know...but, I can combine Devan's and Peter's salaries and afford to hire someone with lots of experience and hopefully a background in diving."

"Diving?"

"Yeah, underwater body retrieval. There's been several times we've needed someone with that experience in the past couple of years and had to wait on the PD or Navy. We need our own diver."

Nigel nodded. He understood that part. But to find a good, really good ME that also had underwater body retrieval experience....he wasn't sure how plausible that would be.

"Oh... look....there's Kathy Leland," said Garrett. "Kathy!" he called to the woman and waved.

Kathy made her way over to Garrett and hugged him. "How are you? I haven't seen you in forever. Boston holding you captive? And Nigel—how wonderful to see you, too. Are you taking care of my Stevie? How's she doing? And Katie....Stevie sent me her last school picture. Lord, she's growing like a weed! And in second grade already..."

Nigel hugged the woman. Kathy had been Stevie's boss and friend when Stevie worked as an ME in North Carolina three years ago. Stevie had come to Boston to help them with a round of arsenic deaths. She and Nigel had fallen in love, and that was that. Within six months they were married, and Stevie, along with her daughter, Katie, had relocated to Boston. Now Stevie was six months pregnant with their first child together – a son. "Stevie's fine...getting bigger everyday. Glowing....Katie's so excited. And I'm...I'm....."

"Overwhelmed?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Kathy laughed. "What about you, Garrett? You never come to these conventions...always send your staff. What brings you here? God knows it can't be the speakers....these things are as boring as hell."

Garrett grinned back at the woman. He wished he could hire Kathy, but she was chief ME for the state of North Carolina. She wasn't going anywhere. "I'm trolling for an ME, Kathy. I need to hire."

"Any specifications?"

"I can afford to pay for experience....so I want someone that has a good background in field work, is a team player, and is strong in trace and regular forensics."

"That shouldn't be too hard to find."

"And I need them to know something about underwater retrieval."

"A diver?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmmm. That does make it a little harder. But I believe I can help you. You going straight back to Boston after this convention in Nevada?"

"Nigel is...Stevie's beginning to be nervous with him out of sight for too long. I don't necessarily have to go right back."

"Can you come with me to Wilmington?"

"You know an ME in Wilmington? I thought all your ME's were in Chapel Hill."

"Not this one. She stays at the coast. She's done a lot of underwater retrieval...very good at her job?"

"So what would make her leave her home port?"

"I think she's at a point in her life where I believe she would be willing to relocate...start over...embrace new challenges."

"What makes you say that?"

Kathy laughed. "I've know this ME since she came out of residency. We go back a long way. Let's just say life's thrown her a couple of really bad, fast, curve balls recently and she's ready to go into the outfield for a while."

"Yo, Jake.....what's up with this?" Dr. Lynn Howerton asked, holding up a spent shell casing.

"Did we over look that? Sorry doc," the young detective said.

Lynn shook her head....youth and inexperience. A lethal combination in any circumstances. She sighed. Some days she felt like she was training the rookies. She completed her initial field work and ordered the body to be loaded in the van and taken to the morgue. It had been a slow week...only two bodies and it was Thursday. Of course it was February and tourists were scarce in this North Carolina fishing town. Give it a few months and she'd be covered over.

Not that she would mind. Work would keep her busy....stop her from thinking so much. She pushed a blonde hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. Her hair was getting too long again. She'd need to call Terry this afternoon and schedule a cut.

She returned to her morgue and began the autopsy on the victim that was found in the park. She worked quickly and methodically. There was really nothing suspicious about the murder....just who was it that was killed? This John Doe had no ID, nothing. Dental records were trying to be matched. If she could find out who, then the police may be able to find out why he was killed. She was closing the Y-incision when she heard a familiar voice call out, "Lynn.....Suzanna Lynn Howerton."

She turned and nearly didn't believe her eyes. It was her "boss."

"Kathy...what in God's name are you doing here? Am I not doing my job or something?"

The older woman laughed. "Girl, you are fine... can't I just drop by and see how you are doing?"

"Well, since I know the last place you were at was Nevada, and that isn't quite in the neighborhood, no, I don't think that's why you're here. What's up?"

"Are you through for the day?"

"Pretty much."

"Want to go to Crawdad's for a drink?"

Lynn nodded. Evidently Kathy needed to talk. "Sure, let me get cleaned up."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to quit my job and move to Boston?"

"Let's just say I want you to consider it."

"Lynn took a long pull off of her Guinness. "I don't know, Kath. I've been in North Carolina most of my life."

"Yeah, except for the year they had to drag you kicking and screaming to New York to study and then the six months you spent in Greece getting over things....yeah, you've been here all your life."

Lynn smiled wryly. "I know. It would be hard to leave. But it would be somewhere new....away from everything."

"Look, you're at a point in your life you could do this and enjoy the hell out of it. You have no more strings tying you down here. Mark's in college, he doesn't care where you live now, he's on his own. As long as you've got the seafood chowder in the pot on the stove when he decides to visit, that young man is a happy camper. Give it a shot."

"I don't know....moving is a pain in the ass."

"I'll help you..."

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Kath? Have I done something wrong?"

"Good God, no. As your boss, you could stay until you wanted to retire, and I'd be fine. I can turn around and leave you in the office in Wilmington and know everything will be taken care of. But as your friend, Lynn, that's different. I see you lose a little more of that sparkle you have everyday. There's too many memories for you here and not many of them are good. Boston is a chance to for you to start over. Garrett Macy is a good man. They don't come any finer as bosses or men. He has a top-rated staff and the latest equipment. Stevie absolutely loves it there, despite the cold weather."

"Stevie has Nigel. She'd go anywhere he's at. That girl is crazy in love."

Kathy grinned. "Yeah...that's part of the reason they need you in Boston. Garrett recently lost two ME's due to their relocating. And Stevie's pregnant and due in about three months. She only wants to return to work part time after the baby is born. Garrett needs another ME – preferably one with diving experience."

Lynn sighed. Boston was a harbor town. And she did do underwater retrieval...very well....too well, in her opinion. Her size and stamina made her one of the best in the field, often outmaneuvering men not only in the mere mechanics of the dive, but the brain power behind it. However, it was a part of her work she hoped to eventually put behind her. It didn't seem like that was happening. "Let me think about it."

Kathy shot her a disbelieving look. "How long are you going to think?"

"I don't know...this is kind of sudden. When could I talk to this Garrett character?"

"How about now?"