Tangled Webs
Chapter 3
Rating: PG-13
The Crossing Jordan characters totally aren't mine ~ they belong to Tim Kring and Tailwind Productions.
Kaidlyn and her mom are my own creations and therefore they're mine.
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Author's note: Although I first introduced Kaidlyn in "Endgame," she subsequently appeared in person in "That Night" and in name in "Running." The timeline here basically follows after "That Night" and before "Endgame" though there will be some overlap and inconsistencies with "Endgame" ~ but since that one's so far from show canon now, we can just pretend, for the sake of this story, that it doesn't exist. :0)
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Eddie and Kaidlyn went to a simple Mexican restaurant to talk over her first day so far and plans for the rest of the internship.
"I hope this place is ok with you." He hadn't thought to ask, he just knew he was hungry and this was one of his favorites.
"Sure. I love Mexican."
"Good. I was really hungry and, well. . ."
"The tortilla chips and salsa that automatically come with the meal? Yeah. I know. It's great."
The server took their order and brought the chips and their drinks, then they got down to business. Well, sort of.
"So, you're Jordan's cousin."
"Yeah. I don't really know her that well, though. Mom and I always lived away."
"Just you and your mom?"
"Yeah, well. . . She was married for a while, but. . . I don't see him anymore."
"Oh. Ok." Eddie sensed that there was something else lurking below the surface, but decided to wait and let her talk when she was ready. After all, he'd just met her this morning. "So, Jordan said something about Kenya?"
"Yeah. Peace Corps."
"Wow! That sounds amazing."
"Yeah. It was."
"And you met Nigel before?"
"Yeah. When I had a killer lay over at Logan, I called Jordan and she came and got me and the three of us went to Uncle Max's bar for lunch. We've chatted online since. But. . . I'm not up here for romance. I'm up here to learn."
"I wasn't asking, but thanks for the heads-up." Eddie remembered all too well how protective Max had been about Jordan with the guys on the force. He could only imagine that Max would be as protective of his niece.
"No problem. So. . . Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What do you want to know?"
"Jordan seemed a bit cool towards you ~ not much, but a little. And she seemed a bit nervous that I'm working with you."
"You noticed that, huh?"
"Yeah. What's up with that?"
"Max was my first partner when I made detective."
"Oh. Ok. . . But. . .?"
"You don't know what happened with Max?"
"My mom said that he took early retirement. Or something like that."
"Yeah. Something like that. Kaidlyn, I don't mean to put you off, but maybe you should talk with your uncle about that."
"Huh? Oh. . . Ok. . ." Kaidlyn's mind was whirling, but the server arrived with their food, and she let it drop for the time being. There would be plenty of time to talk with Max later.
The rest of their lunch conversation centered around plans for the internship and things Kaidlyn was thinking about doing after graduation. She'd had some interviews, but not having any real experience made things a little hard. She was hoping that something would come out of this internship, even if it wasn't Boston. Though she had to admit, after her entire life with it being pretty much her mother and her, she was loving being around family and would have jumped at the chance to stay in Boston.
After lunch, they went back to the precinct so that Kaid could finish filling out the paperwork. Jordan called to say that the tox screen came back negative, John Mitchell was the victim of a massive allergic reaction to a bee sting. Jordan also reported that she had talked with Max and not only was she coming over for dinner, but he had ok'd Nigel coming as well. Paperwork done, Eddie drove Kaidlyn back to Max's house and dropped her off. When Kaidlyn got to the door, Max opened it to greet her.
"Was that Eddie Winslow?"
"Yeah. He's my supervisor."
"Oh."
"What? What's the matter with him? Jordan's chilly around him and seemed a bit bothered by me working with him. And now you. . .?"
"I just want you to be careful. Eddie can be a great guy, but. . ."
"But what? He's my supervisor. That's it!"
"That's good. But. . ."
"But what? You and Jordan don't seem too sure about me working with him. Why is that? I think I deserve some answers. After all, I've got to work with him for the next three months."
Max looked at Kaidlyn and sighed, "You're right Kaid, you do deserve some answers. Why don't you come out to the kitchen and help me with dinner. We'll talk there."
"Ok. . ." More puzzled than she was even two minutes before, Kaidlyn followed him out to the kitchen and sat at the table as Max worked at fixing dinner and started to talk with her about what had happened when he was on the force.
. . .to be continued. . .