Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the Crossing Jordan Characters and this is meant only as personal entertainment.

PART ONE

"Hey Bug." Nigel Townsend walked in, carrying a cup of steaming coffee. "Anything exciting this morning?"

"Depends on what you call exciting." Bug continued to look over various reports in front of him. "Got one so far today." He pointed absently with his pen to the covered figure. "Why don't you get a look at her before we start." He went back to reading, hearing the familiar sound of Nigel getting ready to start the autopsy.

"BLOODY HELL!" Suddenly Nigel shouted, causing Bug to jump and turn. For a moment Bug thought that Nigel was going to be sick, then the tall man rushed out of the autopsy room, knocking over a tray full of equipment.

"Nigel?" Bug tossed the file onto his desk, glanced at the woman on the table, just before he rushed after his friend. "Nigel?" He entered the hallway and saw Nigel heading for the exit. "Nigel what's wrong?"

"Bug." Macy stopped him from following Nigel. "What's going on? Where's Nigel going?"

"I don't know Dr. Macy. He looked at the body then took off." He glanced at his boss then worriedly toward where his friend ran.

"Okay. Get back in there." Macy ordered.

"But Nig…" Bug tried to protest but was stopped by Macy's hand touching him gently on the shoulder

"I'll check on him." Macy waited long enough to see Bug head back into the room dejectedly, and then he headed out to the parking lot to look for Nigel. For a moment he feared that the man had left the premises, but soon found that Nigel's motorcycle was still parked.

Sighing with relief, Macy continued to search for his employee. He found him soon enough, sitting on the ground holding his head and rocking. "Nigel." The man didn't look up at his name. Macy sat next to him. "Nigel, you scared the hell out of Bug." Nigel remained quiet, his face visibly pale. "You want to tell me what's going on?" His voice was soft; yet firm as Nigel only stared at his long fingers. "Nigel…"

"It's some sort of a bad joke." Nigel looked up, terrified. "It has to be some cruel joke."

"What are you talking about?" Macy felt confusion but urged Nigel to continue.

"I was just with her. She was laughing and full of life." He looked up at the older man. "She…I was just with her and we…." His breath began to hitch as he fought to keep from crying. "I'll call her. That's it, I'll call her, she'll answer and…"

"Nigel I don't understand. Are you telling me that you know the women…" Macy felt more and more concerned as Nigel moved closer to hysteria.

"She's not dead. We made plans for the weekend." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed frantically. Bringing it to his ear he listened for a moment. "Who's this?" His eyes filled with tears as he listened. "Woody? What are you doing with…" He disconnected the phone quickly, staring at it in horror. He looked to Macy for reassurance. "Dr. M, please tell me this is not happening."

"That was Hoyt answering?" Macy's eyes narrowed and felt a sudden sense of dread.

"Maybe she loaned her phone to someone." Nigel ran trembling fingers through his hair and he rambled senselessly. "That can't be her. We were supposed to go to Manhattan together." His eyes darted from side to side as he thought. "There had to be some kind of mistake."

"We won't know sitting out here." Macy stood up. "Lets go back in and find out. I'll go help Bugs and you can…"

"Please. I'll be fine Dr. Macy. I need to see if it is really her." He stood, trying to compose himself. "I need to see her and…"

"You can observe." He stopped Nigel from interrupting. "Until we find out who she is, you will simply observe. If it is who you think it is, and you were with her then there might be a conflict of interest."

"It's her Doctor Macy, I just know it." Nigel crossed his arms finally resigned to the face he saw on the table. "It's Christina."

"We'll see Nigel." They both jumped as Macy's phone rang. "Yeah." He growled into the phone, never looking away from Nigel who looked down at his feet. "I know." Macy rubbed the back of his neck as he listened. "No, he'll be here." He disconnected and placed the phone back into his pocket. "That was Detective Hoyt. He wanted to know why you were calling his vic's cell phone." Shaking his head at the situation, Macy gently guided Nigel back into the building. "He'll be down in about half an hour."