To my dismay, I found that Max's arrival had done nothing to help the situation I found myself in when I awakened, fully aware of Jordan's presence with me in the bed.

"Um, Jordan?  I'm just going to grab a quick shower before I get dressed."  A VERY COLD shower I added to myself.

"Ok.  You do that Wood."  Was it me or was she trying not to laugh?  "I'll give Garret a call and see what's up."

As I moved into the bathroom, all I could do was wonder at what would be said between Max and Jordan in my absence.  "JesusGodAlmighty that water's cold!" I thought to myself.  "Well, hopefully it will work.  And hopefully they're not plotting how to bump me off."

**********

"So, Jordan. . ."

"Dad, what he said was true.  NOTHING happened.  I just. . .  I got scared.  I. . ."

"Honey, I'm not as concerned about that.  You're an adult and what you do is your business. It's just way too easy to jerk his chains."

"Don't I know it."

"I wanted to talk with you about last night."

"What about it?"

"Why did you go to see Malden?"

"I know who he is.  Or, I guess was."

"What?"

"I came to the Pogue.  You and Woody were talking and never heard me come in.  I stayed just inside the doorway.  I heard you talking about the phone records.  I know he's James' father."

"Jordan, sweetheart."

"James had come to my apartment earlier.  He. . .he said that someone sent Jeffers to kill him.  That Mom was afraid of something happening to him, so she gave him your gun.  That he shot Jeffers in self-defense."

"But. . ."

"He said that his father must have been someone who would have been embarrassed by having him around.  We figured it was someone important.  Then I heard you and Woody.  Dad, I had to talk to him.  He could have held all the answers.  I. . .Dad, maybe you've given up your need for answers, but I can't.  I have to know what happened."

"I know baby.  And I realize that I made a lot of mistakes after. . ."

"Dad?  I know, but I'll survive.  Promise.  But, um, could we talk about that later? I should probably call Garret and get dressed myself."

"Want me to hang around?"

"If you want.  I don't know what he's going to say."

"Fine.  I'll stay."

"What was that about me being an adult and what I do is my business and all?"

"You and that memory."  Dad threw a pillow at me as I moved towards Woody's room.  "Oh, sweetheart?"

"Yeah?"

"Here. I almost forgot."  He tossed a duffel bag at me.  "I grabbed some clothes you'd left at the house a while back.  Figured you might not want to keep wearing the same clothes for as long as it takes them to inventory what they need to at your place."

"Oh, yeah.  Thanks Dad."

I went into Woody's bedroom and shut the door.  When I opened the bag, there were a couple of pairs of jeans and some tops.  I grabbed the red tank top and raided Woody's closet for a sweatshirt to take the chill off when we went outside.  I heard the shower cut off, and yelled to Woody, "Hey, do you have any rubber bands or anything?"

"Um, probably in the kitchen."

"Ok, thanks."  I needed to pull my hair back and. . .

"Jordan?  There's some hair stuff in the bottom of the bag."  Dad was laughing at my unusual inattention to detail.

"Oh.  Ok. Thanks."  I looked, and sure enough, a small bag with a brush and some hair elastics was tucked into the duffel.  I started to pull my hair back into a ponytail when I heard a knock on the door.

"Um, Jordan?  Are you dressed enough that I could come in there and get dressed?"

"Oh, sure Woody.  I can put my hair up somewhere else."  I opened the door to find him standing there in a towel, his hair damp and ruffled.  If only Dad wasn't there. . .  "Thanks for the sweatshirt." 

"Uh, no problem."  He shut the door behind him.

I moved to the kitchen and found Dad spreading peanut butter on half a bagel.  "I remember you liked these for breakfast and thought. . ."

"Thanks Dad."  I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I took the bagel and moved into the den to call Garret.  My pager was going off again.  "Ok, ok.  Chill out."

Garret picked up almost before I heard a ring.  "Hello?"

"Um, Garret. . ."

"Jordan, where the hell are you?"

"At Woody's."

"At Woo-. . .?  What?"

"Couldn't go home Garret.  It's a crime scene."

"Never mind. I don't even want to know."

"So, um, Garret?  Was there a reason you paged me?  Twice?"

"Yeah.  We've got something here at the morgue.  I wanted to give you a heads up."

"Is it bad?"

"Can you get down here?"

"Garret. . .?!?"

"I wouldn't say bad, but it's. . .intriguing."

"And you're not going to tell me over the phone?"

"How soon can you get here?"

"Hang on. . ."  I held the phone slightly away from my mouth and yelled towards Woody's door.  "Hey farm boy!  How much longer?"

"I'm almost ready.  Two minutes?"

"Can you give us about 10?  Five for farm boy to finish getting ready and five to get there?"

"Fine.  I'll see you then."

"Ok."

I turned to find Dad and Woody looking at me quizzically.  "I don't know.  He wouldn't tell me.  He said it's 'intriguing' but not bad."

"Alright.  Well, since my car's here and already on the street. . .  Do you think I can come along?"

"I don't see why not, Dad.  Come on.  We'd better get over there before he blows a gasket."

After a quick drive ~ Dad knows all the shortcuts ~ we got to the morgue.  As we stepped off the elevator, Garret met us and rushed us into the crypt, which was more guarded than I'd ever seen it.

"Garret, what's up with the security?  Who've we got in here?"

He led us over to the bank of drawers and slid one open.  He pulled the sheet down, revealing a face. "Look familiar?"

Woody, standing directly across from me, looked at the man blankly.  But I knew exactly who he was.  "That's Malden's driver.  I might have been out of it last night, but I'd recognize him anywhere.  This was the tick tock?"

"He was dumped outside the morgue.  Nigel found the body as he was coming in.  While we were dealing with moving him up here, someone tried to break into the crypt.  And they almost got away with a body."

"Do I want to know?"

"We found the drawer to Malden's slab open.  Looked like whoever it was dumped this body as a distraction and was trying to steal or harm Malden's body to hinder our investigation."

"But who would. . ."  I realized Dad had been silent since we entered the crypt.  I looked at him, wondering what was going on.  "Dad?"

"I know who this is."  He was looking down at the body Garret had pulled out for us to see.

"The driver?"  How the hell. . .?

"It's Patrick Cahill.  Kevin's son."