Sorry for the little wait, I was having trouble finding time to write it all, and I had some good stuff written at the beginning of the chapter, and then of course, the power went off, and my computer is so out of space the good old backup filing didn't kick in… but that's okay. Tell me what you think, please! And thank you a LOT to everyone who has reviewed!

CHAPTER 17

Twenty minutes later Jake rushed out of trace after a call from the chief. As soon as he was down the hall and had no chance of hearing their discussion, Bug and Jordan started their interrogation. "Nigel…" Bug started.

"What was that about?" Jordan interrupted him. Nigel looked up slowly. He was expecting this conversation, but he hadn't anticipated it to be right this second, and you could never prepare yourself for what you faced when Jordan was angry with you, or just confused by your actions. "Seriously Nigel, what's your problem with Jake? He's an okay guy, and you don't have to right to treat him like that. He's just trying to fit in and get a feel for his new job in a new city and he needs some friends." Jordan yelled at him after waiting and receiving no reply from Nigel after the first question.

"Okay. He just gave me a bad feeling… and I checked him out…"

"What did you find Nigel?" Bug asked, cutting straight to the point. Nigel wasn't sure what to say. He had found many things, but he wasn't quite sure where to start explaining.

"Nigel?" Jordan prompted, "What the hell did you find?" Nigel just looked at her, and then at Bug.

"I don't know where to being." He stated, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. Bug shook his head.

"Is it good, bad, irrelevant?" He asked, sensing Nigel's uncomfortable feeling and trying to make it a little easier on him. He and Jordan were basically double teaming him on the topic and having Jordan question you like that was enough on its own, he knew that.

"Mostly bad." Nigel told them, trying to hide his smile. He knew that when he found some more information, he would be able to prove himself right. Jordan's face softened a bit when she found that she may be wrong about Jake.

"Oh… well what exactly have you found?" She questioned him.

"Well… I'm not really sure. I did simple background searches on him education and background, and well, it looked alright at first, but after a little digging, I found out he's not the good guy we all thought we were getting to know."

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"Okay, this is a bit clearer now, but let me recap." Lily told Garrett, "So, Slokum is working with two guys, one of which you think to be Detective Jake, and they're killing people?" It sounded too crazy, and random. Why? It made no sense. Why would they want to kill people when they all had fair paying jobs, probably families…?

"Yeah. Well, they aren't just killing randomly. They're protecting something… some sort of secret, or maybe someone. I haven't figured it out yet anyway. The double homicide, Slokum arranged it, I'm sure, and Detective Jake must have something to do with it since he just joined the police force and was on the case. We have to find out who the first detective on the scene was… we need to get Jordan, Bug and Nigel involved. We have to tell them everything we know. If I tell them they will, well Jordan at least, just want to yell at me for an hour about why I left and haven't tried to come back yet, and we don't have time for that. You have to tell them Lily. We have to figure this out, and fast."

"I will Garrett, but why haven't you tried to come back, and how do you know all of this anyway?" Lily asked with a small smile, squeezing Garrett's hand once again. She was glad he had come to her with this information. It meant so much to her that he trusted her. Once they all figured this mess out, and Garrett was back things would be great!

"Well, I haven't tried to come back yet because of how I know all of this. There is one more person who is in on all of this that I know of. There is Slokum, Detective Jake I'm assuming, another police officer and a woman. I met her at a bar, and she had too much to drink, and started talking about Jack Slokum, and of course, I was all ears. She seemed glad to have someone to talk to, although Slokum seemed to have her quite scared. I took her home, and then drove to my place, thinking everything over. It all fit too well, Slokum finding all the things about me and the old case, me meeting the woman, losing my job, Slokum getting my job. It's all too ironic. We have to be careful, or someone, one of us, is going to get hurt. Maybe killed. We can't let that happen. Never, ever discuss any of this at the morgue, or anywhere near the morgue. Once Woody's out of the hospital which I'm guessing should be in a week or two if all's coming as well as I've heard, tell him too. He'll want to help, of course." Lily nodded in agreement. "Maybe even go to someone's apartment and talk about it. I wouldn't risk mentioning it anywhere, and to anyone other than Jordan, Nigel, Bug and Woody."

"I know, I know. I get it Garrett." Lily told him. She was really glad to see him, and he looked well, but he was sort of nervous, and a bit jumpy. She wasn't sure if she actually knew how dangerous this situation could be.

"Okay. I know, I'm sorry, it's just… I can't imagine what I'd do if you… anyone got hurt." He told her. They paid and got up. Lily pulled Garrett into a hug.

"I've missed you so much!" She told him with a smile. He held her tight, and nodded. He had missed her, and everyone at the morgue, more than he ever thought he would. Being away really made him realize how much he loved them all. He couldn't wait until this whole ordeal was over, and he was back with them… It would be soon… at least he hoped it would.

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"But what exactly did you find?" Bug asked. Why did Nigel not want to tell them whatever he knew? It made no sense, it seemed as if he had been right, and they had been wrong, and that there was something bad about Jake that he and Jordan didn't know, but why wouldn't he tell them.

"Nige, please. I'm begging you, just tell us." Jordan pleaded. She wondered what could be so bad that Nigel didn't want to tell her and Bug.

"I will… but I shouldn't here. It's too risky. I'll tell you later, when we're not in the morgue, alright?" He more or less told them. They sort of nodded, confused, and got back to work. A few minutes later, with no leads on anything, and still no IDs on the victims, they decided they had to take a break.

"I've heard you're busy tonight Bug." Jordan said with a smile as they headed toward the break room.

"Busy? Do you have a date Buggles?" Nigel joined in, more than happy to let Bug be the center of attention for a while.

"Yes, I have a date." Bug said trying to keep from smiling. Jordan loved seeing him and Lily so happy. She couldn't believe that they were actually going out, but they were, and they were happy, so she was glad. And, it wasn't like she wasn't happy herself anyways. She couldn't wait to see Woody again!

"Do you have a date tonight too Nigel?" Jordan joked. Nigel glanced over at her.

"Are you kidding?" He laughed.

"Well, would you be interested in joining me to visit Woody at the hospital?"

"Wouldn't I be intruding on your date with Woodrow then?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow and a mischievous smile. Jordan returned the look.

"No you would not. He hasn't talked to anyone other than Lily and I for the past week Nige, come on, please come?" Jordan begged. He almost burst out laughing at the sight. Bug just shook his head and sat down, watching how the little scene played out. They all knew that Nigel would go; everything around here just had to be so dramatic. But, as long as Jordan and Nigel were going to leave him alone for the moment, he let his thoughts drift to Lily, and their date that night. He wasn't sure where they were going yet, Lily had mentioned a few places, but he had been too caught up in her eyes to remember exactly what she had said. That seemed to be the way it was when he was with her. He forgot about everything else in the world. Work, his cases, his problems, anything that was on his mind just vanished. The only existence he could acknowledge was her. Her eyes, her smile, her hair, everything about her. The way she smelled, the way she laughed… She was the most amazing woman he had ever met, but it wasn't like he hadn't known that for a long time. It seemed like he had been in love with her forever, and he knew he always would be. The only thing he resented was the resemblance that was starting to form between his and Lily's and Jordan and Woody's relationships. Both couples worked together, both him and Woody had fallen for the girl practically the moment they laid eyes on her and had gotten more and more crazy for her ever since. Both had taken forever to pass the 'friends' stage, but he hoped, and sort of knew, that he and Lily wouldn't linger at the friends and past friends borderline very long. The kisses they had shared yesterday had told him that, the way they looked at each other had told him that too. He didn't think Lily was quite as complicated as Jordan was either, which he had to admit was a bit of an advantage. Jordan was one of his best friends, but he couldn't imagine trying to get her to like him… well in a way, he could, since he had heard a million times about the process it took from Woody and Jordan. He didn't even want to think about that right now. He let his mind drift back to Lily, and he imagined their date that night. He hoped everything would work out alright in the end…

"Bug!" Jordan was almost yelling now. Nigel walked across the room and gave Bug a not so soft punch in the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Bug asked defensively shaking his head, and holding his arm.

"Sorry!" Nigel told him with a laugh, "We needed you back on earth with us Buggles! You were daydreaming… again…"

"Oh, come on you two!" Jordan said, pushing them out of the room with a laugh. Slokum shook his head. He had been watching through the window. They didn't know anything yet. They would have talked about it, or at least acted less playful, like they had all the time in the world. He was surprised Jordan hadn't commented on his lack of disciplinary action for their longer and more often than necessary breaks, but he couldn't be happier. They could only work on a case for so long, and the less time they took on it, the better. He knew they would never figure it out… but if he was so sure about it, why was he watching over them like this, and why was he so paranoid?