How Do You Heal A Broken Heart?
Back to the Desert. . .and Boston
Rating: PG-13
Recap. . . Without a full discussion, Woody has left Jordan and Boston to take a position with the Sunset Division. Max, Garret, Nigel and others are trying to help Jordan deal with her emotions about this ~ with Garret and Nigel in full big brother mode and Max in protective papa mode when Woody tried to call Jordan. In an attempt to integrate him into the Division as well as life his spirits, Owens takes him on a case out to a familiar spot. . .about a mile up on the dirt road short cut to San Quivera. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woody. . . Shit! Why of all places did it have to be here? Same damn stretch of road, same general location. . .I think. I wonder if there's any trace of. . .
"Well, well. Looks like someone tried camping out here a while ago."
"What?"
"Look, Hoyt. You can still see the fire ring. Whoever made that one knew what he was doing. Probably a boy scout in a former life or something."
"Yeah. Or something." I can't believe it's still there. I can't believe I'm here again. All the memories of this place ~ the dreams I've had ever since. Jordan's lips on mine. . .
"Hoyt!"
"Huh?"
"Where the hell are you? I've been talking to you for the past three minutes. You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm just. . ."
"Well, fine. Come on. The body's over here."
"Body?"
"Yeah boy wonder. You know that case we've been working? The kidnapping?"
"The homecoming queen who disappeared just after Thanksgiving?"
"That's the one. We think we found her."
We walked over to a site just behind some brush about 25 yards away from the spot where I'd built that fire. What we found were the badly decomposed remains of. . .somebody. Someone from the coroner's office was already on the scene taking their pictures and stuff. He looked up at us as we approached.
"Hey Owens. Who's the new guy?"
"Name's Hoyt. We just brought him here from Boston. He's good."
"Boston, huh?"
"Yes, sir. Wisconsin before that."
"I knew someone from Boston ~ I think she moved back there. She worked in our office until her problems with the chief got out of hand. This is exactly the kind of case she would have loved."
"Yeah ~ Jordan always likes to be the voice for those who don't have one anymore."
"Jordan? You know Cavanaugh?"
"Yeah. We. . .um. . ."
"Hey, I don't want to break up this little reunion, but we need to get to work."
"Alright, Owens. Just let me get a few more pictures ~ we'll share if that's ok. . ."
"Sure. The sooner we get her out of here the better. Don't want the press on this one before we know anything."
"Right."
"So, Hoyt. Your gut telling you anything about. . .? Hoyt!"
"Huh?"
"That fire ring you're so interested in telling you anything?"
"Just that I think I made the biggest mistake of my life and there's no way to undo it."
"What? What the hell are you talking about? Wait a minute. You looked a little green from the time I mentioned San Quivera. And that green look only increased from the moment we pulled off the main road. And now this fascination with the fire ring. Something you're not telling me that I should know here Hoyt?"
"It's just that. . . I've been here before."
"Here? Why the hell have you been here?"
"Back in late November, I caught a case in Boston that traced back to this area. I came out to investigate it and. . .um. . .Jordan ~ the woman I left behind ~ came out after me. She's the person the M.E. was talking about."
"The same one you left without saying anything to?"
"Yeah. We were headed out to San Quivera to talk to the vic's family when the 69 Caddy she'd rented broke down."
"Gee, can't imagine why it would do that out here in this dust and heat."
"Yeah. So we decided to wait until it was cooler in the morning and walk back for help. I'm the one who built that fire ring. To keep us warm. The first time she kissed me was right over there."
"Aw. Sweet story. It end anytime soon?"
"This guy came by and offered one of us a ride to get help, but he thought we were aliens. It was surreal, that's for sure. I went with him and she stayed behind because he said he only had room for one of us."
"And this was late November?"
"Yeah. The last week. Why?"
"Man is your woman lucky. A week later based on the timeline of the girl's disappearance and you might have left her in the wrong place at the wrong time. We think it was the first week in December that whoever did this brought her up here."
"Shit."
"Yeah. Well. . . Hoyt?"
"Yeah."
"You're good ~ real good. And I want you out here in this division. I really do. But man, you gotta settle these ghosts one way or another."
"What do you mean?"
"This location's got you spooked. You flinched when the M.E, started talking about ~ Jordan, was it?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, take a week or so and go back to Boston. Talk with your woman. Get things straightened out with her one way or another. I'll cover for you. I want you out here, but I want you 100% with us. You're no good this way. You'll end up getting someone seriously damaged in a physical way."
"But I. . ."
"Hoyt, if you want the job here you've got it. But you've got to get this straightened out. It's affecting your work, and I'd wager money that it's affecting hers as well." He looked towards the guys collecting evidence from the scene, "Hey guys? Can you handle the collection? The heat's kind of getting to Hoyt and I'm gonna run him back into the air-conditioning of town."
They said they'd take care of it. Owens drove me to my new apartment where I threw some things in a bag while he called and made flight reservations. He dropped me at LAX with instructions to keep him posted on things. I got checked in and went to wait for my flight.
Flying back alone was bizarre. The two previous times back to Boston, I'd had Jordan with me to keep me company. It's one hell of a long flight if you're on your own. In some ways it felt good to be going back to Boston ~ I needed to talk with Jordan. Leaving the way I did was not cool, and I knew that even if she was trying to hide it, I'd hurt her badly. I didn't relish the thought of how I was going to get to her. Odds were I was going to have to get through Garret and/or Nigel and/or Max ~ and the thought of any one or any combination terrified me.
Finally, after being alone with my thoughts for way too long, the flight landed. I headed for the courtesy desk to find a motel room, then caught their shuttle and got settled in. It was late, so I just grabbed some food from the vending machine and went to my room to try and sleep. I'd deal with how to get to Jordan in the morning. . .after I'd hopefully gotten some sleep.
. . .to be continued. . .
Recap. . . Without a full discussion, Woody has left Jordan and Boston to take a position with the Sunset Division. Max, Garret, Nigel and others are trying to help Jordan deal with her emotions about this ~ with Garret and Nigel in full big brother mode and Max in protective papa mode when Woody tried to call Jordan. In an attempt to integrate him into the Division as well as life his spirits, Owens takes him on a case out to a familiar spot. . .about a mile up on the dirt road short cut to San Quivera. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woody. . . Shit! Why of all places did it have to be here? Same damn stretch of road, same general location. . .I think. I wonder if there's any trace of. . .
"Well, well. Looks like someone tried camping out here a while ago."
"What?"
"Look, Hoyt. You can still see the fire ring. Whoever made that one knew what he was doing. Probably a boy scout in a former life or something."
"Yeah. Or something." I can't believe it's still there. I can't believe I'm here again. All the memories of this place ~ the dreams I've had ever since. Jordan's lips on mine. . .
"Hoyt!"
"Huh?"
"Where the hell are you? I've been talking to you for the past three minutes. You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm just. . ."
"Well, fine. Come on. The body's over here."
"Body?"
"Yeah boy wonder. You know that case we've been working? The kidnapping?"
"The homecoming queen who disappeared just after Thanksgiving?"
"That's the one. We think we found her."
We walked over to a site just behind some brush about 25 yards away from the spot where I'd built that fire. What we found were the badly decomposed remains of. . .somebody. Someone from the coroner's office was already on the scene taking their pictures and stuff. He looked up at us as we approached.
"Hey Owens. Who's the new guy?"
"Name's Hoyt. We just brought him here from Boston. He's good."
"Boston, huh?"
"Yes, sir. Wisconsin before that."
"I knew someone from Boston ~ I think she moved back there. She worked in our office until her problems with the chief got out of hand. This is exactly the kind of case she would have loved."
"Yeah ~ Jordan always likes to be the voice for those who don't have one anymore."
"Jordan? You know Cavanaugh?"
"Yeah. We. . .um. . ."
"Hey, I don't want to break up this little reunion, but we need to get to work."
"Alright, Owens. Just let me get a few more pictures ~ we'll share if that's ok. . ."
"Sure. The sooner we get her out of here the better. Don't want the press on this one before we know anything."
"Right."
"So, Hoyt. Your gut telling you anything about. . .? Hoyt!"
"Huh?"
"That fire ring you're so interested in telling you anything?"
"Just that I think I made the biggest mistake of my life and there's no way to undo it."
"What? What the hell are you talking about? Wait a minute. You looked a little green from the time I mentioned San Quivera. And that green look only increased from the moment we pulled off the main road. And now this fascination with the fire ring. Something you're not telling me that I should know here Hoyt?"
"It's just that. . . I've been here before."
"Here? Why the hell have you been here?"
"Back in late November, I caught a case in Boston that traced back to this area. I came out to investigate it and. . .um. . .Jordan ~ the woman I left behind ~ came out after me. She's the person the M.E. was talking about."
"The same one you left without saying anything to?"
"Yeah. We were headed out to San Quivera to talk to the vic's family when the 69 Caddy she'd rented broke down."
"Gee, can't imagine why it would do that out here in this dust and heat."
"Yeah. So we decided to wait until it was cooler in the morning and walk back for help. I'm the one who built that fire ring. To keep us warm. The first time she kissed me was right over there."
"Aw. Sweet story. It end anytime soon?"
"This guy came by and offered one of us a ride to get help, but he thought we were aliens. It was surreal, that's for sure. I went with him and she stayed behind because he said he only had room for one of us."
"And this was late November?"
"Yeah. The last week. Why?"
"Man is your woman lucky. A week later based on the timeline of the girl's disappearance and you might have left her in the wrong place at the wrong time. We think it was the first week in December that whoever did this brought her up here."
"Shit."
"Yeah. Well. . . Hoyt?"
"Yeah."
"You're good ~ real good. And I want you out here in this division. I really do. But man, you gotta settle these ghosts one way or another."
"What do you mean?"
"This location's got you spooked. You flinched when the M.E, started talking about ~ Jordan, was it?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, take a week or so and go back to Boston. Talk with your woman. Get things straightened out with her one way or another. I'll cover for you. I want you out here, but I want you 100% with us. You're no good this way. You'll end up getting someone seriously damaged in a physical way."
"But I. . ."
"Hoyt, if you want the job here you've got it. But you've got to get this straightened out. It's affecting your work, and I'd wager money that it's affecting hers as well." He looked towards the guys collecting evidence from the scene, "Hey guys? Can you handle the collection? The heat's kind of getting to Hoyt and I'm gonna run him back into the air-conditioning of town."
They said they'd take care of it. Owens drove me to my new apartment where I threw some things in a bag while he called and made flight reservations. He dropped me at LAX with instructions to keep him posted on things. I got checked in and went to wait for my flight.
Flying back alone was bizarre. The two previous times back to Boston, I'd had Jordan with me to keep me company. It's one hell of a long flight if you're on your own. In some ways it felt good to be going back to Boston ~ I needed to talk with Jordan. Leaving the way I did was not cool, and I knew that even if she was trying to hide it, I'd hurt her badly. I didn't relish the thought of how I was going to get to her. Odds were I was going to have to get through Garret and/or Nigel and/or Max ~ and the thought of any one or any combination terrified me.
Finally, after being alone with my thoughts for way too long, the flight landed. I headed for the courtesy desk to find a motel room, then caught their shuttle and got settled in. It was late, so I just grabbed some food from the vending machine and went to my room to try and sleep. I'd deal with how to get to Jordan in the morning. . .after I'd hopefully gotten some sleep.
. . .to be continued. . .
