Once again, I have been writing like a maniac! I'm glad you guys like the quick updates, and I will continue to post quickly as long as my CJWB (Crossing Jordan Writers Block) doesn't hit!

Big thanks to: Agel15, pol, kacie 20 & Rinny J for the reviews and the constructive criticism. I really appreciate it!!!! Your reviews keep me motivated and the constructive criticism helps me to improve, I hope! :)

Anyways: onto chapter 9......

Disclaimer: I do not own the CJ characters, but Andrew and Jordan's friends are all mine.....!

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To my amazement I woke up early the next morning. I hadn't slept very well and thought for sure that I would sleep in. But I guess it was my nervous energy that woke me up before my alarm went off.

I rushed to get dressed and headed to work, stopping to get my regular cup of coffee. When I got to work I went straight to Nigel's desk, glad I could count on him to almost always be at his desk. It was kind of like he lived there

"Nige, I need a favor," I said abruptly.

"Good morning to you, too, luv," he said without looking up from whatever he was doing at his computer.

"Good morning Nigel. How are you today?" I said sarcastically.

"Well, now, luv, that's not exactly friendly now, is it?" he asked, looking up.

"NIGEL," I said between gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, Jordan, it's just such a shock to see you here at seven-thirty a.m. that I didn't know what to do."

"Nigel, please. This is serious. It's about the Burke High murders," I said.

Nigel immediately looked serious. "I'm sorry, Jordan. What is it, luv?"

"I need you to find these two people. I don't have any other information," I said, handing him a piece of paper with Darcie Williams and Shannon O'Brien's names on it. "They graduated from Burke the same year I did."

"Friends of yours, then?"

"Yeah."

Nigel studied the piece of paper. When he looked up his eyes were troubled. "You think they might be next?"

"I don't know, Nige. I don't know what's going on, but I want to try and find them and, I don't know, warn them or something," I said.

"I'll do what I can, but it may take awhile. You don't know if they married, then?"

I shook my head.

"Birthdays?"

I shook my head again. "Can't remember. But Shannon went to law school, she was a public defender."

His brow furrowed with thought as he looked at the paper. He looked up. "She'll be easy enough to track. I'll do whatever I can," he said. "I'll call you as soon as I find anything. Oh, and Jordan?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Does Macey know about this?"

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that," I said.

"Gotcha. I'll pretend I never asked." He paused. "And what about dear Woodrow?"

"He doesn't know anything, either," I said. "If I find anything, I'll tell him."

Nigel looked at me doubtfully but he didn't say anything.

"Thanks, Nige, I really appreciate it," I said. "I owe you a drink, okay?"

"I'll take you up on that," he said.

I walked out of the lab and went to my office. I had just settled down with some paperwork and my coffee when Garrett knocked on the door.

"Yeah, c'mon in," I said.

"Jordan, I have a case I need you to do. Man got hit by a car at a crosswalk, driver left the scene, and there were no witness', at least none that stayed."

More than happy to abandon the pile of paperwork I stood up and grabbed my jacket. I took the report from Garrett. "Got it, boss."

"Thanks, Jordan," he said.

"No problem," I said, remembering to grab my coffee cup as I followed Garrett into the hall.

"How are you doing, Jordan? With your friends' deaths, I mean."

I shrugged. "Fine."

He narrowed his eyes. The man knew me too well.

"I am, Garrett, I'm fine. I just want this asshole caught, you know?"

"I do, Jordan, but you look like you haven't slept in a week."

I held up the cup of coffee just as the elevator arrived. "That's what coffee is for," I said as I got in the elevator.

Garrett just shook his head as the elevator doors slid shut between us.

X

Back at the morgue a few hours later, I was just finishing up the autopsy on our as yet unidentified homeless man that had been hit by the hit and run driver when Nigel came into the room.

"I found one of your friends," he said, waving a piece of paper under my nose.

"Great, Nige. Thanks. Who'd ya find?" I asked as I ripped off my rubber gloves and threw them away. I stripped off my scrubs and threw them into a hamper and went to the sink to wash my hands. Nigel followed me around, reading from his sheaf of papers.

"I found a Mrs. Shannon O'Brien Shoemaker of Wakefield, Massachusetts. Married a Byron Shoemaker four years ago, has a one and a half year old son. Used to be a lawyer, left the bar not long after she got married. Is this her?"

Nigel held out a really bad copy of a Massachusetts driver's licence. I peered at it. "Yeah, that's her," I said. "How'd you find her?"

"That's my little secret, luv," he said smugly. He handed me the papers. "There's her address and phone number."

I gave Nigel a quick hug. "Thanks, Nige."

"What are you going to do?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm just gonna pay her a visit. You know, catch up with an old friend."

Nigel sighed.

"What about Darcie?" I asked.

"I'm still tracking her down. Williams is a popular last name, you know, and I haven't found one Darcie. Are you sure that's her first name?"

"I thought it was, but maybe it was short for something or was just a nickname. I don't remember."

"Well, I'll keep looking."

"Thanks a bunch, Nige," I said again.

"You're welcome, Jordan," Nigel said and left the room, heading in the direction of the kitchen.

I finished out the autopsy, took the paperwork to Garrett's office, which was empty, and went back to my office. I picked up my phone and dialed the number Nigel had given me. It rang about twelve times, but there was no answer.

"Damn," I grumbled, slamming the phone down.

Just then my cell rang. I picked it up. "Cavanaugh."

"Jordan, how are you?"

"Oh, hey Andrew. I'm okay, how're you doing?" I said.

"Oh, I'm doing well, thanks. Hey, what are the chances that we could meet for lunch today, or are you autopsying?"

"No, I just finished, and I don't have anything pending. Lunch sounds great," I said.

"Really?" he asked, sounding excited. "Good! What are you in the mood for?"

"Hmm," I said. "A nice big hamburger sounds great."

"Have you ever been to Top?" he asked. "It's a great little brew pub that has killer burgers."

"I know where it is, but I've never been there," I replied. "That sounds great."

"Meet you in half an hour? That work for you?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then," I replied. I closed the phone and set it on my desk. I stared at the sea of paperwork crowding my desk and sighed. Every time I put it off, the more papers piled up. But I didn't care.

I took my jacket and went in search of Dr. Macy. He and Bug were in an autopsy.

"Hey, Garrett. I'm going to lunch, then I have some errands to do, is that okay? I'll be back later."

He gave me a speculative look. "Does this have anything to do with the Smith case?" he asked. "You're not going to the house are you?"

"No, I'm not going to the Smith house. And no, it doesn't have anything to do with the Smith case." Not directly anyways, I thought.

"Okay. See you later then."

"Right," I said and hurried out of the room. I barely had enough time to meet Andrew at Tap.

X

I walked into the noisy pub, looking for Andrew's blonde head, when I saw him waving from a booth next to the window.

I slid into the seat across from him. "Hi," I said.

"Hey, Jordan. It's good to see you," he said with a grin.

He really was good looking, I thought. He was wearing a pair of khaki's and a button down shirt, no tie. His long hair was loose and slightly damp. The combination of the long hair and the dress shirt gave him a sort of biker-businessman look.

I realized I was staring and quickly picked up a menu, holding it in front of my face to hide the flush that was creeping across my cheeks. When I returned to normal I set my menu down.

"So whatcha having?" he asked.

"I'm thinking the Bacon Ranch burger," I said.

"Good choice. I'm going for the Bleu Bacon burger," he said.

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't like eating mold," I said.

He laughed at that. The waitress came up for our drink order.

"I'll have your house ale," Andrew said.

"Root beer for me," I said.

The waitress smiled and went to get our drinks.

"Root beer, Jordan? I'm shocked," Andrew said.

"Well, I'm on the clock you know," I said. Then, thinking about that, I said, "What about you, don't you have to go back to the office?"

There was a slight pause. "Well," he said easily, "I was thinking of playing hooky the rest of the day. Catch a movie or something. Think I could talk you into joining me?"

"I can't, I have work to finish up," I said.

"That's too bad," he said.

"So you said you grew up in Rhode Island?" I asked a little while later as the waitress brought our burgers.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Did you live there your whole life? What brought you to Boston?"

"Yeah, I lived there my whole life. Just moved here a while back, because of my job," he said.

"You like it here?" I asked.

"I do. It's a great town. Are you a native?"

"Yeah, I grew up here. Spent some years moving around after college," I said. "I just came back here from L.A."

"I've never been to the west coast," he said. "What's it like?"

"It's a lot different from here. More laid back, more relaxed. I didn't like it."

"I wouldn't imagine you would," Andrew said. "You seem pretty....I don't know, like you're always on the go."

"Yeah, I'm a little high strung," I admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"I guess not. I just, I don't know....I have a hard time letting things go," I said before I realized what I was saying.

"Hmm. Like what?" Andrew asked curiously.

"I don't know, just stuff," I said. "It's nothing."

"Well, it had to mean something," Andrew said softly.

I shrugged. "I don't know, like at work. I can't leave a case unsolved. It drives me crazy. I just have to work at it and work at it until I figure it out."

Andrew looked at me intensely. "Like it consumes you?" he asked.

"Exactly," I agreed.

"I know what you mean," he said.

Suddenly the conversation was getting way to personal. I laughed, trying to lighten things up. "And what's so consuming about being an accountant?"

Andrew laughed. "I wasn't talking about my job."

My interest piqued. "What then?"

He shrugged. "Just life," he said lightly and abruptly changed the subject and told me about his sisters and many nieces and nephews.

When we finished eating I looked at my watch. Wakefield was at least a half hour drive, and that was if there was no traffic. I didn't want to be too late getting back, so I said, "I hate to eat and run, but I have an errand to do before I get back to work, so I should get going."

"No problem, I understand. But one of these days we're going to go to a movie," Andrew said.

I smiled as I pulled my wallet out of my purse. "Okay," I said as I dug through my wallet for some cash.

"Put your money away, Jordan," Andrew said. "I'm buying."

"I have money," I said. He'd paid every time we'd gone out and my feminist side was kicking in.

"I know. You can pay when we go to the movie," he said.

"Okay," I said.

"I'll walk you out," Andrew said. He put some money down and walked with me outside. It had clouded up again and looked like there would be more rain.

"Thanks for lunch, Andrew," I said.

"You're welcome," he replied.

We stood there awkwardly for another minute when he leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips.

It was over and he was saying goodbye and walking off before I recovered from my shock. I managed a feeble wave and headed to my car. I shoved all thoughts of kisses and Andrew out of my head. I had more important things to worry about than Andrew's kiss.

It was easier said than done, though, as I sat in slow moving traffic on my way to Wakefield. I turned the music up full blast, but even that didn't help.

It had been a quick, nice, respectful kiss. Maybe too quick to judge. But I knew I hadn't felt any of the same emotions that I had felt when Woody had kissed me out in the Mojave Desert.

Stop thinking about Woody, I thought. He's probably regretting he ever initiated that make out session. It was boredom, nothing more, I told myself ruthlessly. Look at how he's acted since then, like he can barely stand being around me.

Right. And the way you've acted ever since that night has nothing to do with the way he's been acting, right? said that little voice inside my head. The one that I tried to ignore as much as possible.

I turned the music up another notch and sang along very loudly to an old Cars song,

((thanks for reading and please review and tell me what you think!!!))