Brother. Woody's brother Cal. Jordan blinked a couple of times as he
stepped closer. He stooped to look at her name tag.
"Cavanaugh? Are you Jordan?"
"Yes, yes and you must be Cal."
Cal's face softened slightly as he remembered talking to Woody about Jordan. At first he teased Woody about the chick named after a boy. But for the last few months, whenever Cal called, the only time he could hear a smile in Woody's voice was when Cal asked about her.
"He talked about you a lot."
Jordan wished she could say the same. But she never really asked Woody about his family.
"I hope it wasn't all bad" she said with a cheerless smile.
"No...never." His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "What the hell's going on here? Nobody will talk to me. What's happened Jordan? Where is he? Where's my brother's body?
Jordan didn't know what to say. Her logical mind was telling her to accept the fact that he was dead. But her heart was still refusing to.
"I wish I knew Cal."
Cal turned away from her his fists clenched at his side. He would love to hit something....anything. Instead he let out a yell that made Jordan jump back.
"DAMN HIM! Damn him all to hell for coming here to this Godforsaken city. And damn you for making it easy for him to stay."
Cal looked over her head and down the hallway toward where he knew they kept the bodies.
"Find him Jordan...I need to take him home."
"I will. I promise one way or the other...."
"Mr. Hoyt? Hi, my name's Lily."
Cal looked passed the shock-then-pity on the pretty blonde face. She looked kind. Almost too sweet to work in a place like the morgue. He was suddenly very homesick.
"Mr. Hoyt, why don't you come with me?"
Cal turned an apologetic eye to Jordan. "I'm...I'm sorry I blew up like that. It's just I haven't eat or slept....that's no excuse."
"This has been hard on all of us." Jordan pulled a slip of paper out of her lab coat and scribbled down her cell phone number and handed it to him. "If I hear anything I'll be in contact. If you need to talk...I'm here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bug almost tripped over the scattered crime scene photos when he tried to sit down at his desk. He grumbled as he scooped them up.
By the condition of the corpse he realized that he was looking at Hoyt. He scanned them all and then scanned them again.
"Hummmm"
He sat down at his desk and pulled out a set of verniers. He set the static end of the sliding rule on the photograph and took measurements of the bones presented by the missing flesh. He was still working studiously when Nigel sat down next to him.
"What have you got there, mate?"
"Take a look at this."
Nigel looked over Bug's shoulder and saw that he was working with the crime photos from the Hoyt case.
"You better hold those close to your vest. I was supposed to turn those into the government."
Bug gave him a look that questioned Nigel why he found them scattered across the floor, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.
"Look at this pelvis..."
Nigel picked up the photo of the body sitting in the driver's seat of the car. The lower half was ash but the bones were fully intact.
"What am I looking at?"
"Look at the ratio between the width and the separation of the bones."
Nigel looked closer and noticed the wide spread of the hipbones. If the body had not already been identified it would lead him to believe that the body was female.
"Unless, Woody was a little more than met the eye...I'd say we've got a different victim."
"He was sitting Bug. The weight of the upper body could have spread the pelvis in its fragile state. We can't make that determination from photos alone."
"Look at this..."
Bug showed him the composite measurements he took of the body comparing them to the size of the known dimensions of the frame of the car.
"I never thought I looked eye to eye with that jackass, figuratively or....... literally. This person was less than six foot. Probably around five-five maybe five-nine maximum."
Nigel picked up a magnifying glass and looked at eh the exposed extremities. The bones were thinner and shorter then he would expect for a person of Woody's size and ....gender. The skull presented high cheekbones and graceful forehead. His heart began to pound. The body couldn't be Woody. The skull had the classic angles of someone with Asian roots...not Midwestern milk feed stock.
"Bloody hell....... We need to take this to Macy"
~~~~~~~~
Garret sat at his desk reading through a pile of paperwork that needed to be signed. After he read the same line four times he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He should have talked to Howard when he asked him in. But he couldn't do it. They ended up talking about Jordan instead. Howard is concerned that she is not accepting Hoyt's death as a seasoned medical examiner should. He recommended that Garret try to talk her into going to the memorial service so that she could start moving on.
Garret didn't have the heart to tell him that he wouldn't be attending either. It was all he could do to blow smoke up Calvin Hoyt's ass, telling him that he'd contact him as soon as the FBI crime lab had completed their investigation. Garret ached as he watched the frustrated young man grasping at straws trying to figure out why the brother he loved and admired was violently murdered because of his supposed ties to the mob.
"Dr Macy, I think you had better look at this."
Garret glanced up to see Nigel and Bug standing in his doorway. He sat up when they handed him the crime scene photos from the bombing.
"How the hell did you get these?"
Nigel smiled and said "I snagged a copy before the feds raided the place."
"Do you know how many regulations you are breaking by just making copies?"
"That's not the point. Bug found something very interesting...."
Nigel pointed out the scribbling Bug had made on the margins of the pictures.
"...and if you take a close look at...."
"Shut the door." Garret said cutting Nigel off.
Garret could feel a panic attack growing to match the migraine that was throbbing behind his eyes. He shoved the photos in the folder and tossed them on his paper riddled desk.
"For the moment I'm going to ignore the fact that you went against a directive and didn't turn over everything on this case. What you have here is pure speculation. You can not make these determinations by a two dimensional photographs alone!"
Garret rubbed his temples and pushed away from his desk.
"I know what this looks like. We need to let the FBI crime lab make these kinds of determinations. If...there is .....Shit. It's out of our hands. Just forget about this, both of you. Not a word to anyone especially Jordan. She's already taking everything hard enough as it is...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day of the memorial service came and went, with Jordan waiting for any word about the investigation and Garret watching in anguish as she met brick ball after brick wall.
If it weren't for her daily phone calls and some times visits to Agent Tillman, Jordan would have sworn there was no investigation at all. Tillman assured her that Woody's body would be released to the family as soon as they were done.
Days turned into weeks and Jordan turned into herself. She was there when Garret arrived in the mornings and stayed after he would leave for the evening. She was settling into a routine that scared everyone around her.
~~~~~~
"Jordan, as your boss I'm telling you to get out of here. As your friend I'm saying come have dinner with me."
Jordan smiled up at him. It was the third time that week Garret had asked her to eat with him. She knew he was just concerned.
"I already split a pizza with Charlie...maybe next time."
Garret could tell it was a boldfaced lie but he chose to let it slide. He knew she was at a vulnerable time. Her new found fragile acceptance of Hoyt's...death was tempered with the realization that she cared for him more than she wanted to. Garret could see it in her eyes whenever she thought nobody was looking at her.
"Then go home and get some sleep."
"I think I will. Good night Garret."
"Good, get your stuff...I'll walk you to your car."
Garret painted her into a corner. She really didn't want to go home. She would only pace her floors too afraid to face her dream-filled sleep.
Sometimes she would wake up to the smell of smoke and burned flesh. Other times she would wake up with her sheets wrapped tightly around her feeling the echo of a beard roughen check on the side of her neck and the sight of laughing blue eyes on the pillow next to her.
She grabbed her coat and met him by the elevator.
"Jordan, I want you to take a few days off and get out of town for awhile."
"That's a surprise. You hate it when I leave town."
Garret had to smile at her statement. "Usually when you leave town I get a call saying your incarcerated or being questioned. No, I'm serious Jordan; I think a few days away will do you good."
"Does this sudden need to get my out of town have to do with the opening arguments in the Cahill trial starting on Tuesday?"
It was the exact reason but he wasn't going to tell her that. Renee told him that Hoyt would be one of the first witnesses on the stand. He wanted Jordan as far away from town as he could get her until everything was over. Garret told himself it was for both her safety and her sanity, but the real reason was he knew she would never forgive him once she knew of his part in the whole charade.
Jordan was tempted. The idea of not having to be bombarded with the media circus that would be surrounding the proceedings sounded heavenly to her battered soul. Only she wanted to be there when they convicted the bastard that had more than once turned her life inside out.
"No, Garret I'm planning on staying right here in town."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours before the gavel was set to fall, the courthouse was already filled with the reporters and their cameras. Renee Walcott stopped briefly to speak to the press. Fielding the media was one of the least favorite parts of the job, but it was a necessary evil and she handled them efficiently. Security was tight tighter than normal. If that could be possible, she thought. The press questioned the US Marshal's very evident presence in every corner. Renee reassured them that the added security was necessary.
"Ms. Walcott! We understand there will be a surprise witness for the prosecution on the stand today...would you care to elaborate?"
"I'm not at liberty to comment on the case at this time. Thank you."
With that Renee made her way inside the closed doors of the courtroom. She let out a sigh as she noticed her staff busily setting up in the quiet room. A young bailiff looked at her.
"Are you alright ma'am?"
"I'm fine."
Renee straightened her jacket and put on her game face. She walked over to a secluded corner of the room. She didn't feel she owed Jordan Cavanaugh anything, but she did owe Garret a heads on what was coming. She pressed her speed dial. Garret answered on the second ring.
"He'll be on the stand sometime this morning."
His response was silence.
"I thought I'd let you know before we briefed the press. Oh and Garret, keep her out of my courtroom."
She heard a murmur and then silence as he hung up.
===============================================================
Don't worry about Woody's bind Shadowfax... He's just going to need some time and a little luck...You'll see in the next post. I need to retool a few things and I hope to have it up soon!
"Cavanaugh? Are you Jordan?"
"Yes, yes and you must be Cal."
Cal's face softened slightly as he remembered talking to Woody about Jordan. At first he teased Woody about the chick named after a boy. But for the last few months, whenever Cal called, the only time he could hear a smile in Woody's voice was when Cal asked about her.
"He talked about you a lot."
Jordan wished she could say the same. But she never really asked Woody about his family.
"I hope it wasn't all bad" she said with a cheerless smile.
"No...never." His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "What the hell's going on here? Nobody will talk to me. What's happened Jordan? Where is he? Where's my brother's body?
Jordan didn't know what to say. Her logical mind was telling her to accept the fact that he was dead. But her heart was still refusing to.
"I wish I knew Cal."
Cal turned away from her his fists clenched at his side. He would love to hit something....anything. Instead he let out a yell that made Jordan jump back.
"DAMN HIM! Damn him all to hell for coming here to this Godforsaken city. And damn you for making it easy for him to stay."
Cal looked over her head and down the hallway toward where he knew they kept the bodies.
"Find him Jordan...I need to take him home."
"I will. I promise one way or the other...."
"Mr. Hoyt? Hi, my name's Lily."
Cal looked passed the shock-then-pity on the pretty blonde face. She looked kind. Almost too sweet to work in a place like the morgue. He was suddenly very homesick.
"Mr. Hoyt, why don't you come with me?"
Cal turned an apologetic eye to Jordan. "I'm...I'm sorry I blew up like that. It's just I haven't eat or slept....that's no excuse."
"This has been hard on all of us." Jordan pulled a slip of paper out of her lab coat and scribbled down her cell phone number and handed it to him. "If I hear anything I'll be in contact. If you need to talk...I'm here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bug almost tripped over the scattered crime scene photos when he tried to sit down at his desk. He grumbled as he scooped them up.
By the condition of the corpse he realized that he was looking at Hoyt. He scanned them all and then scanned them again.
"Hummmm"
He sat down at his desk and pulled out a set of verniers. He set the static end of the sliding rule on the photograph and took measurements of the bones presented by the missing flesh. He was still working studiously when Nigel sat down next to him.
"What have you got there, mate?"
"Take a look at this."
Nigel looked over Bug's shoulder and saw that he was working with the crime photos from the Hoyt case.
"You better hold those close to your vest. I was supposed to turn those into the government."
Bug gave him a look that questioned Nigel why he found them scattered across the floor, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.
"Look at this pelvis..."
Nigel picked up the photo of the body sitting in the driver's seat of the car. The lower half was ash but the bones were fully intact.
"What am I looking at?"
"Look at the ratio between the width and the separation of the bones."
Nigel looked closer and noticed the wide spread of the hipbones. If the body had not already been identified it would lead him to believe that the body was female.
"Unless, Woody was a little more than met the eye...I'd say we've got a different victim."
"He was sitting Bug. The weight of the upper body could have spread the pelvis in its fragile state. We can't make that determination from photos alone."
"Look at this..."
Bug showed him the composite measurements he took of the body comparing them to the size of the known dimensions of the frame of the car.
"I never thought I looked eye to eye with that jackass, figuratively or....... literally. This person was less than six foot. Probably around five-five maybe five-nine maximum."
Nigel picked up a magnifying glass and looked at eh the exposed extremities. The bones were thinner and shorter then he would expect for a person of Woody's size and ....gender. The skull presented high cheekbones and graceful forehead. His heart began to pound. The body couldn't be Woody. The skull had the classic angles of someone with Asian roots...not Midwestern milk feed stock.
"Bloody hell....... We need to take this to Macy"
~~~~~~~~
Garret sat at his desk reading through a pile of paperwork that needed to be signed. After he read the same line four times he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He should have talked to Howard when he asked him in. But he couldn't do it. They ended up talking about Jordan instead. Howard is concerned that she is not accepting Hoyt's death as a seasoned medical examiner should. He recommended that Garret try to talk her into going to the memorial service so that she could start moving on.
Garret didn't have the heart to tell him that he wouldn't be attending either. It was all he could do to blow smoke up Calvin Hoyt's ass, telling him that he'd contact him as soon as the FBI crime lab had completed their investigation. Garret ached as he watched the frustrated young man grasping at straws trying to figure out why the brother he loved and admired was violently murdered because of his supposed ties to the mob.
"Dr Macy, I think you had better look at this."
Garret glanced up to see Nigel and Bug standing in his doorway. He sat up when they handed him the crime scene photos from the bombing.
"How the hell did you get these?"
Nigel smiled and said "I snagged a copy before the feds raided the place."
"Do you know how many regulations you are breaking by just making copies?"
"That's not the point. Bug found something very interesting...."
Nigel pointed out the scribbling Bug had made on the margins of the pictures.
"...and if you take a close look at...."
"Shut the door." Garret said cutting Nigel off.
Garret could feel a panic attack growing to match the migraine that was throbbing behind his eyes. He shoved the photos in the folder and tossed them on his paper riddled desk.
"For the moment I'm going to ignore the fact that you went against a directive and didn't turn over everything on this case. What you have here is pure speculation. You can not make these determinations by a two dimensional photographs alone!"
Garret rubbed his temples and pushed away from his desk.
"I know what this looks like. We need to let the FBI crime lab make these kinds of determinations. If...there is .....Shit. It's out of our hands. Just forget about this, both of you. Not a word to anyone especially Jordan. She's already taking everything hard enough as it is...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day of the memorial service came and went, with Jordan waiting for any word about the investigation and Garret watching in anguish as she met brick ball after brick wall.
If it weren't for her daily phone calls and some times visits to Agent Tillman, Jordan would have sworn there was no investigation at all. Tillman assured her that Woody's body would be released to the family as soon as they were done.
Days turned into weeks and Jordan turned into herself. She was there when Garret arrived in the mornings and stayed after he would leave for the evening. She was settling into a routine that scared everyone around her.
~~~~~~
"Jordan, as your boss I'm telling you to get out of here. As your friend I'm saying come have dinner with me."
Jordan smiled up at him. It was the third time that week Garret had asked her to eat with him. She knew he was just concerned.
"I already split a pizza with Charlie...maybe next time."
Garret could tell it was a boldfaced lie but he chose to let it slide. He knew she was at a vulnerable time. Her new found fragile acceptance of Hoyt's...death was tempered with the realization that she cared for him more than she wanted to. Garret could see it in her eyes whenever she thought nobody was looking at her.
"Then go home and get some sleep."
"I think I will. Good night Garret."
"Good, get your stuff...I'll walk you to your car."
Garret painted her into a corner. She really didn't want to go home. She would only pace her floors too afraid to face her dream-filled sleep.
Sometimes she would wake up to the smell of smoke and burned flesh. Other times she would wake up with her sheets wrapped tightly around her feeling the echo of a beard roughen check on the side of her neck and the sight of laughing blue eyes on the pillow next to her.
She grabbed her coat and met him by the elevator.
"Jordan, I want you to take a few days off and get out of town for awhile."
"That's a surprise. You hate it when I leave town."
Garret had to smile at her statement. "Usually when you leave town I get a call saying your incarcerated or being questioned. No, I'm serious Jordan; I think a few days away will do you good."
"Does this sudden need to get my out of town have to do with the opening arguments in the Cahill trial starting on Tuesday?"
It was the exact reason but he wasn't going to tell her that. Renee told him that Hoyt would be one of the first witnesses on the stand. He wanted Jordan as far away from town as he could get her until everything was over. Garret told himself it was for both her safety and her sanity, but the real reason was he knew she would never forgive him once she knew of his part in the whole charade.
Jordan was tempted. The idea of not having to be bombarded with the media circus that would be surrounding the proceedings sounded heavenly to her battered soul. Only she wanted to be there when they convicted the bastard that had more than once turned her life inside out.
"No, Garret I'm planning on staying right here in town."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours before the gavel was set to fall, the courthouse was already filled with the reporters and their cameras. Renee Walcott stopped briefly to speak to the press. Fielding the media was one of the least favorite parts of the job, but it was a necessary evil and she handled them efficiently. Security was tight tighter than normal. If that could be possible, she thought. The press questioned the US Marshal's very evident presence in every corner. Renee reassured them that the added security was necessary.
"Ms. Walcott! We understand there will be a surprise witness for the prosecution on the stand today...would you care to elaborate?"
"I'm not at liberty to comment on the case at this time. Thank you."
With that Renee made her way inside the closed doors of the courtroom. She let out a sigh as she noticed her staff busily setting up in the quiet room. A young bailiff looked at her.
"Are you alright ma'am?"
"I'm fine."
Renee straightened her jacket and put on her game face. She walked over to a secluded corner of the room. She didn't feel she owed Jordan Cavanaugh anything, but she did owe Garret a heads on what was coming. She pressed her speed dial. Garret answered on the second ring.
"He'll be on the stand sometime this morning."
His response was silence.
"I thought I'd let you know before we briefed the press. Oh and Garret, keep her out of my courtroom."
She heard a murmur and then silence as he hung up.
===============================================================
Don't worry about Woody's bind Shadowfax... He's just going to need some time and a little luck...You'll see in the next post. I need to retool a few things and I hope to have it up soon!