Jordan made her way down the hill and into the ravine by the creek. She had gotten the call from homicide that the body of a jogger had been found by a couple of teenagers that had ditched school for the day. As she approached the yellow tape that blocked off the crime scene, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Jordan!" It was Ray.

"Hi Ray, what have we got here?"

"Lookin' for you to tell me. You're the medical examiner."

Jordan chuckled at him as she knelt down to examine the body. When homicide called and said she had been requested at the crime scene, she had assumed it would be Woody at the site. She was pleased that it was Ray, and not him. It had been a week since she had last been in his office and they hadn't talked since that day. Jordan had been disappointed at first, but realized as the time went by, it was probably for the better. The longer the wait, the less the awkwardness may be on her part. It was taking her a while to get the vision of Woody with another woman out of her mind.

"Hmm. Female, obviously, probably about between the ages of 25 and 30. Liver temp says she's been dead approximately 8 to 10 hours. No ID that I can see right now. We'll be able to tell more when we get her to the morgue and examine her."

"Was she sexually assaulted?"

"Can't tell yet. We'll run a rape kit back at the morgue."

"How soon will you know the results?"

Jordan looked at Ray for a moment. "Why the rush, Ray?"

"It just makes me mad....a young woman like this, out jogging, not bothering anyone, and she's murdered. She could be someone's wife or girlfriend. Definitely someone's daughter. It's just senseless."

"Well, we see a lot of senseless things in this business. Thought you'd be used to it by now."

"The day I get used to seeing something like this is the day I turn in my badge and my gun."

Jordan nodded with understanding. Inwardly, she was pleased. By the time most homicide detectives reached Ray's age, they were a little jaded and hard-nosed about the whole murder business. She was glad Ray's heart was still soft. "I'll rush the results for you and deliver them personally."

"Thanks, Jordan. We'll help you get her loaded up."

Jordan took the body back to the morgue and to run trace and begin the autopsy. By that afternoon, she had the prelims and making good on her promise. She gave Ray a call.

"Bertini."

"It's Jordan, Ray. I have the prelims. If you're in your office, I'll bring them over."

"Sure...that was quick."

"I told you I'd rush it..."

"Thanks. See you in a few."

Jordan quickly changed from her scrubs back into her jeans and a red shirt. She soon was at Ray's and Woody's office. She had no idea if Woody was in there at all...she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. Softly she knocked at the door.

"Come on in." It was Ray and Woody was no where in sight.

"Here's the prelims. She was sexually assaulted." She handed the reports to the detective.

"When will you have the finals?" he asked.

"Give me another day and you'll have everything you need. Including a trace on any DNA. Nigel's working on that now."

"Good. Thanks for rushing this, Jordan."

"No problem." Jordan noticed a picture frame on Ray's desk. It was one of those double hinged frames that held three pictures. In it were the pictures of three little girls that looked to be between the ages of ten and two.

"Cute kids. Are they your nieces or something?"

Ray handed her the picture frame so she could look at the girls more closely. "No," he said. "They're my daughters."

Jordan stared at the girls and then looked at Ray. "I can see the resemblance. You must be very proud."

"I am. They're my whole life."

"I couldn't help but notice..." Jordan said, indicating his ringless hand. "You're a single dad?"

"I'm a widower. Their mother died from cancer a few years ago."

Jordan was speechless. "I am so sorry...."

"Thanks, but we're doing okay."

On impulse, she said, "Look, if they need to talk to someone, I'd be glad to listen. I lost my mother when I was ten. Different circumstances, but I know how they feel. Especially the oldest one."

Ray stared at Jordan, startled at her admission.

"Thanks....I'll remember that."

"Well, I'd better get back. Need to finalize everything on your Jane Doe and see if Lily can somehow trace her to a missing person yet. I'll be in touch."

"Sure thing. Thanks, Jordan." Ray reached out and touched her arm. Just then, the door opened and in walked Woody.

"Oh. Hey Jo," he said giving her a surprised look. "Ummm... did you have something for me?"

"No," Ray said. "She had something for me this time. Found a Jane Doe in the park this morning. Jordan was the answering ME."

"I see."

"Look guys, I gotta run. I'll be in touch Ray." And with a brief glance to Woody she left and shut the door behind her.

"So she was the answering ME this morning?" Woody casually asked.

"Well, not exactly. I requested her."

"Look, there's something you need to know about Jordan Cavanaugh, Ray. If she gets almost any kind of unusual case, she will move heaven and earth to solve it. No mystery is too great or too small. She will obsess to the point she will drive you and everyone else to the brink of insanity to solve it – she'll do whatever she has to."

"That's what I heard. And that's why I wanted her. That type of dedication – heart, if you will – is necessary in finding out who killed this girl."

Woody was curious. "What happened this morning?"

Ray briefly filled him in and gave him the file that Jordan had brought in. "She certainly was thorough," Woody commented about Jordan's work, "and fast."

"She said she'd rush it for me. Could I ask you a question about Dr. Cavanaugh?"

Woody hesitated for a moment. "Yeah..."

"She said her mom died when she was ten. How?"

"Her mother was murdered. They never found her killer."

Ray let out a low whistle. "Man, of all the horrible things...."

"Yeah," Woody ran his hand down his face. "Jordan's spent a lot of her time trying to solve the crime...but nothing yet. Why'd you want to know?"

"She asked about my girls. When I told her their mom died a few years ago, she offered to talk with them – said she knew how they felt, especially the oldest."

This time it was Woody's turn to be surprised. Jordan had never offered to talk about her mother's death to any kids before. He never even knew Jordan remotely liked kids. He could never picture her with them....

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Returning to the morgue, Jordan continued to work on the Jane Doe most of the rest of her day, carefully finishing trace and doing the rest of the autopsy. So far, she knew how the young girl died – a blow to the head that stunned her and followed up by asphyxiation. Now everything relied on Nigel and his DNA magic. She snapped off her latex gloves and went to change back into her jeans. She was more than ready to go home. It had been too long of a day. First Ray's revelation about his daughters and then Woody pretty much dismissing her at his office. She was afraid that Woody had moved on – he was seeing Marcy, Mandy, whoever. She had really blown it this time. She had finally succeeded in pushing away the one person she really loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Sighing, she pulled her hair up with a scrunchie into a messy bun. No need in trying to impress anybody, after work she was just going to the grocery store. The weatherman had said there was a snow storm headed to the greater Boston area. If she was snowed in she wanted to make sure she had beer and coffee and Haagan Daz chocolate ice cream – the three basic food groups.

"Hey Lily," Jordan said, as she passed by the grief counselor's office on her way out, "Any luck on our Jane Doe?"

"Sorry, Jord. Nothing yet. I've got calls into missing persons and the area universities. Just to see anyone is missing there. It's just a waiting game right now. Her prints came up empty."

"Thanks for trying. Maybe we'll have better luck on Monday. Take care of yourself and have a good weekend. Stock up for the snow."

Lily laughed. "Yeah, you too, Jordan."

Jordan left in her SUV and went down to the local supermarket. Pushing her cart down the aisle, she suddenly pulled up short. There, in the cleaning supplies section, was Ray and his girls. "Hi," she said, wishing she had put a little more effort into her appearance.

"Hey," said Ray. "Put that down, Lisa," he said to his youngest, who was trying to dust her sisters with a feather duster.

"So these are your girls?"

"Yep, this is the whole Bertini circus. The youngest there is Lisa, this is Shannon'," he said, taking his middle daughter by the shoulders, and my responsible oldest one over there," motioning to a shy-looking girl with long, dark hair, "is Elizabeth."

"Hi guys," Jordan said, bending down to take the hand of the youngest girl. "My name is Jordan. I'm a medical examiner and I work with your dad."

"Is a medical examiner like a detective?" asked Shannon.

"No, a medical examiner is like a doctor, sort of," said Elizabeth.

Jordan grinned at the oldest girl and held her hand out to her. "That's right. Where'd you learn that?"

"My dad tells me about some of his cases, sometimes," she replied.

Turning to Ray, Jordan asked, "Are you ready for the snow?"

"That's why we're here....milk, eggs, cereal, soup, and laundry detergent. Can't have a snow storm without them," he laughed.

"After we get groceries, we're going to Starbucks to get hot chocolate," said Shannon. "Would you like to come?"

Jordan smiled. Suddenly there was nothing she wanted to do more. "Sure. I'd love to, if that's okay?" she asked Ray.

"That would be great."

"Let me finish getting my groceries and I'll meet you there – it's the Starbucks that's across from the morgue?"

"Yeah....we'll see you there in a few."

Jordan quickly finished her grocery shopping and drove over to the Starbucks. Ray and his girls were at a table waiting. Jordan ordered a hot chocolate and went to sit with them. For the next hour, she laughed and talked with the girls, thoroughly enjoying herself with them – especially Elizabeth. She reminded Jordan so much of herself at that age. Long dark hair, dark eyes, and older than her years. All too soon she looked out and saw big, fat snowflakes falling from the sky. "Look guys, here it comes," she said.

Ray got up and told the girls to grab their coats. "We need to go before the roads get really bad. Thanks for coming, Jordan. It's been a great evening." He held out his hand to Jordan.

Jordan took his hand to shake it. "Thanks for letting me come, Ray. I had a blast." She hugged the girls and lingered a little longer with Elizabeth. "Hey, if your dad will let you, maybe you and I could go shopping one Friday afternoon and then we could have a slumber party at my apartment."

Elizabeth's eyes shone. "Oh, that would be wonderful!"

"I'll check my calendar and as soon as the storm leaves, we'll do it."

Jordan drove home and hauled herself and her groceries up to her empty apartment. After putting them away, she popped open a beer and plopped down on the couch, propping her feet on the coffee table and clicking on the TV. The weather bulletin said the snow was coming -- six to eight inches worth. Wearily, Jordan sighed. She was glad she had the weekend off – at least she didn't have to deal with driving in the snow unless she wanted to. And with coffee, beer and Haagan Daz, who would want to go anywhere?