Big thanks out to my reviewers: Agel15, Kacie20, Sweet-Rush37, CryptedOut04 & whalersfan. Thanks so much for your reviews and praise! It means so much to me!

I hope you enjoy this next chapter and sorry it's kinda short, but it kinda had to split there.

Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan, unfortunately!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I managed to escape without having to hear one more person ask me how I was doing. I went straight to my apartment, taking note of the extremely conspicuous dark blue sedan parked across the street. I'd never understood why they thought they were being 'undercover' when the cars screamed 'undercover cop.' Maybe if they were in a beat up Pinto...

I entered my apartment and collapsed on the couch. I took all of the paperwork from the four cases and spread them out on my coffee table, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I'll find something new.

I don't. I go over every detail and make a list. There wasn't much.

We knew the killer is right handed. That narrowed things down, I thought. We knew that the knife used in each murder was from the victim's kitchen. Again, not very helpful. They were all murdered at different times; none of them had unaccounted phone calls or visitors. We had exactly one unidentified fingerprint which could have possibly been from the killer, but since it wasn't in any databases, it didn't help until someone was arrested.

Anger boiled inside of me. Anger and frustration. There had to be something, something that I just wasn't seeing. But no matter how many times I read and re-read, I still came up with nothing.

X

The loud ringing of my cell phone woke me up from a sound sleep. I sat up and rummaged, bleary eyed, through the papers on the coffee table. I found the phone and flipped it open.

"Yeah, Cavanaugh," I said groggily. My neck hurt from sleeping on the couch.

"Hi Jordan, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Oh, Andrew, hey," I said, trying to wake up. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was after eleven. I'd been asleep for about two hours. "No, no. You're fine."

"I just saw you on the news," he said.

"What?" I said, my heart skipping.

"Yes, there was a story about another killing from that Burke High Killer, some woman in Wakefield. They showed you outside the house with the police."

Jesus, I thought. I hadn't even noticed anyone filming. I thought the cops had kept everyone away.

"They said you knew the victim, that you went to make sure she was okay and you found her dead."

"Damn," I said.

"Is it true? That you've known all of the victims, that you're the lead ME on the case?"

"They said that?" I asked. Oh wonderful, I thought. Wolcott was sure to get her panties in a bunch over that being blasted on the news.

"Yes, they did. Is it true?" he asked. He sounded worried.

I sighed. "I'm not the lead ME, I'm assisting in the case," I said.

"And you've known all of the victims?" he asked.

"Yeah, I knew them in high school."

"Jesus, Jordan. Why didn't you tell me about this? I feel terrible, I've been asking you out like nothing was wrong..."

"It's okay, Andrew," I said as I got up and went to the fridge. I peered inside and saw nothing that looked appetizing. I'd been meaning to go shopping for a few days. "It's been good to get away from things for awhile."

He sighed. "Still, I'm so sorry, Jordan."

"Thanks," I said, waiting for the inevitable 'are you okay?'

I wasn't disappointed.

"Are you doing okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm just really hungry and have no food in my house. Want to come over for some late night pizza?" I asked impulsively.

"Sure, sounds good," he replied.

"What kind?" I asked.

"Oh, anything. Pepperoni is always good."

"Pepperoni. Okay, I'll get it ordered," I said. I gave him my apartment number and we hung up and I ordered the pizza.

X

The pizza arrived before Andrew did. I paid the delivery guy and he left. A minute later Andrew arrived and I buzzed him up. A minute later my cell phone rang.

"Jordan, what are you doing?"

"Uh, Woody? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Officer Lewis just called to say you just buzzed a guy up to your apartment. Who is it?"

"Woody, it's just a friend," I said irritably, glancing at the door. Andrew would be up any second and I didn't want to be arguing with Woody about him when he showed up.

"With everything that's going on I don't think it's a good idea," he said. "How long have you known this guy?"

I couldn't tell whether Woody was just jealous or if he was really concerned, but I thought it was more likely that he was just jealous. "Jesus, Woody. His name's Andrew Lloyd, he's an accountant. He's fine," I insisted. "Now, I have to go."

"Fine," he snapped and the line disconnected.

I sighed and fought the temptation to throw my phone across the room.

The doorbell rang then and I merely set the phone on the counter and opened the door.

"Hi, Jordan," Andrew said as I opened the door. He was holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. He handed me the flowers, and I looked down at them in amazement, trying to remember the last time a guy had brought me flowers.

I couldn't.

"Hey," I said with a smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," Andrew said and he leaned down and kissed my cheek as he walked in.

I ignored the kiss and went to get glasses for the wine. I put on some music and we sat on the couch eating pizza and drinking wine. After two glasses I stopped, not wanting to be hung over the next morning.

"No more?" Andrew said as he poured himself another glass.

I shook my head. "Thanks, but no. Gotta work tomorrow," I said. "Don't you? I thought you had to be to work really early."

"Not tomorrow. I'm visiting clients but not until the afternoon."

"I see," I said. "So what is it you do exactly?"

"I'm an accountant. I do taxes, audits. All that fun stuff," he said with a grin.

"Oh. Right on," I said with a smirk. "Sounds like lots of fun."

Andrew laughed.

We sat and ate and talked until I started yawning.

"You look tired," Andrew said, leaning towards me and running his fingers up my arm. "I guess I should get going," he said softly.

He was looking at me expectantly and suddenly I was extremely uncomfortable. I thought suddenly that he was probably expecting something more than just pizza when I asked him over.

Oh shit, I thought. I pasted on a smile and said, "Yeah, ya know, I have work tomorrow."

He stared at me and for just a second I saw an unreadable emotion flicker in his blue eyes. Disappointment? Anger? I wondered. He smiled easily, though. "Okay, I'll get going then." He stood up and I followed him to the door.

"Thanks for the pizza," he said politely and I thought his voice sounded just a bit cooler than it had been when he first arrived.

"Sure. Thanks for the flowers," I said. We stood there awkwardly for a minute, and then he gave me a hug. I stood stiffly in his arms, feeling a sudden unreasonable feeling of discomfort. I chalked it up to my aversion to anything emotional.

I shut the door behind him and heaved a sigh of relief. I wrote off my weird feelings to the fact that I was extremely tired. It had been a long day.

Five minutes after Andrew left my phone rang again. I picked it up.

"Cavanaugh."

"Jordan it's me."

"Hi Woody," I said as I collapsed onto my bed.

"I was just...."

"Checking in on me?" I asked.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said with a sigh.

"I'm fine Woody. I'm just tired. I'm going to get to bed."

"Okay," he said and there was an awkward pause. "Good night."

"Yeah, good night," I replied. I flipped the phone shut and barely had the energy to turn the lamp off before I fell asleep.

X

I slept in the next morning, until after ten o'clock. I slept straight through my alarm and didn't wake up until my cell phone rang.

"Cavanaugh," I said groggily.

"Jordan. Are you okay?"

I looked at the clock and leapt out of bed. "Garret, shit, I'm sorry, I slept in!" I said as I rifled through my closet trying to find something to wear.

"It's okay, Jordan. But no one had seen you and Woody was worried. He was on a call and couldn't go by your apartment."

"I'm surprised he didn't just have his little friend outside my building come up."

Garrett made a strangled noise almost like a laugh. "Jordan, he's not trying to make your life difficult. We're just concerned about you.

I sighed. "I know, man. I'm just...edgy."

"Really," Garrett said. "And when aren't you?"

I ignored that. "I'll be in as soon as I can," I said.

"Why don't you just take the day off Jordan? You've had a lot going on, why don't you just take a break?"

"No, I have stuff to do," I protested.

"It's up to you, Jordan, but it's okay if you don't want to come in. By the way, I saw you on the news last night."

I groaned. "Wonderful. Heard from Wolcott yet?" I asked.

"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon."

"I'm sorry, Garrett. I didn't know they were filming, and I haven't talked to anyone, I don't know where they got their info," I said.

"No problem Jordan," he said. "I know you wouldn't talk to the media. I'm sure they just found out. I'll take care of Renee."

"Thanks Garrett," I said and we hung up.

I threw on a pair of cords and a sweater and headed to work. Halfway there my phone rang.

"Cavanaugh," I said, wedging the phone between my ear and shoulder so I could shift.

"Jordan, luv, I have something for you."

"Nige! Did you find Darcie?" I asked.

"Indeed I did, luv. Miss Anna Darcella Williams."

"Oh, man, Nige, you're a genius. I'm almost there, I'll see ya in a few."

"Righto luv," he replied and hung up.

It looked like I was going to be taking Garrett up on that offer of some time off. I didn't know where Darcie was but there was no way in hell I was taking any chances. As soon as I had that address I was going to find her. I would not let what happened with Shannon happen with Darcie.

((thanks for reading and please please review!!))