Author's note: I'm sorry to keep anyone waiting for another chapter. I would love to hear any feedback.

Jordan was thankful that they were in the bar. She felt she might have control over the situation. So she was even more thankful that very few customers had came into the bar that night. In fact so few people had stopped in that she felt that there would be no harm in closing early for the night. So at 9 o'clock, she had sent her bartenders home leaving them alone to work with no immediate distractions.

The trio sat working in the corner booth with plenty of paper work to look through. Sifting through the files slowly and systematically one at a time they tried to look at every detail. Throughout the night Jordan kept a watchful eye on Alexis and on the door. So far she hadn't heard anything from Nigel. Not even so much as a message on her phone. And Alexis, thus far, had been all business. She was nothing but professional. They all sat in silence reading over the files, each making their own observations for comparison.

As they worked Woody caught himself watching Jordan. He noticed Jordan's unusual quietness. He knew that although she wasn't saying anything, something was brewing inside. He enjoyed pouring over cases with Jordan like this every chance he could get, and it was this reason that he wasn't going to mention anything to Jordan just yet. He also knew it had to do with Alexis. It didn't go unnoticed to him that Jordan had been watching her since she first arrived.

He glanced over to Alexis. As Woody watched her pour over the files he was taken back to years past, when they would work in each other's kitchens on their homework together. He remembered that she had actually taken advanced classes and often helped Cal with his english and literature class assignments. Alexis had always been very good at reading between the lines and analyzing the text. He smiled thinking about how many times she had actually read through his reports for classes, checking them for errors before he handed them in.

"I think it's time a break." Jordan said interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to the present. "I'm starting to get a headache." She raised her hand and rubbed her forehead. Alexis set down one of the files and reached into her bag and pulled out a small bottle.

"Aspirin." She said. "I always come prepared."

"Gee, I wonder were you got that from." Jordan said looking in Woody's direction. Woody just shrugged. She stood up and walked towards the bar to retrieve a glass of water.

"Actually, Woody's dad always thought that we should learn to be ready for anything." She smiled. "He was always trying to teach us something he thought would be useful. I remember a particular camping trip when we he took us up to some land near Rib Mountain."

"Ah, yes."Woody said turning towards Jordan. "Dad referred to it as a field test. He took Alexis, Alan, Cal and me into the woods and helped us set up camp. He showed us how to set up camp and then told us that we were going to take care of ourselves for a day. We had to start the fire and do the cooking. Then we had to find our way back out of the woods."

"Alan hated it." Alexis said laughing. "But Cal was right at home. I think he actually wanted to stay in the woods. Said that he would become a wild man."

"We didn't do too bad ourselves." Woody said.

"No, we didn't." She said. "I actually still go camping back home every now and then, although it has been a while. We should all get together and do it again sometime. A break away from it all would be good."

"Yeah, we should." Woody agreed easily. "And it would be good to catch up with everyone."

"Or you could just pick up the phone." Jordan said from the bar.

"Speaking of breaks," Alexis said. "I think we could all use a quick one." She slid out from the booth and peeled back her suit jacket revealing a simple white shirt. She closed her eyes momentarily and rolled her head from side to side. She then raised her arms above her head, first stretching then pulling out her hair clip, letting her long brown-red hair fall over her shoulders. Woody glanced at her as she did and he noticed a small flash of color on her skin.

"Is that a tattoo?" He asked grinning. She quickly dropped her arms and smiled sheepishly. She said straightening her shirt and sat in the booth once more.

"Don't you think we should be paying attention to the files, Detective?" Jordan said quickly walking back to the dark booth. "Could we please put off the old stories until we figure this out. What do we have so far?"

"Okay, so we know that none of the victims knew each other." Alexis said letting out an exhausted sigh. "They all contacted Connections for different reasons. All three had different results. They all had different individuals taking lead on each of their cases."

"All three women were found within a few hours of their deaths." Woody said "All of them were called in by the caller who remained anonymous. They were each found laying on their backs, arms folded. They were all strangled with the same type of rope. Each were found with their ID's and with a cryptic note."

"They all showed signs of struggle." Jordan continued. "All of them were killed somewhere else before being dumped in places that they could be found. We know that the killer was the same person because, the DNA from the blood and skin samples all match, but we have nothing that matched in the system. The only thing tying them together besides the way they were killed was the service." Jordan finished looking straight at Alexis. Alexis nodded her head.

"Then the key is A. K. Connections." Woody said. "Then that means that we have to look deeper than the files on these women." He reached for the files and lined them up side by side. "There has to be something within the files that links them together. Something that we missed." His brow furrowed.

Jordan looked over at Alexis. Her gaze was focused on something distant. "Jordan," she started, her eyes still focused on an invisible point. "You said that there were signs of a struggle. Does that mean that they struggled from start or only as they realized that they were going to die?" Woody looked up from the files.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Alexis?" He asked.

She looked up at Woody then at Jordan. "Okay let me ask you this. You said that Paula had left her hotel telling the clerk she was heading for a business meeting. The only business that she was in town for was to find her parents. When Lorna was found, was there any sign of forced entry?"

Woody shook her head. "None. The door was unlocked when the first officers arrived."

"And what about Miriam's home? Was there any evidence there that someone forced their way in?" Alexis pressed.

"No, we didn't find any and her granddaughter said that the door was unlocked and that the home was empty." Woody looked at her for a moment. "Alexis, are you saying..."

"The victims knew their killer." Jordan finished. Jordan looked at Alexis, amazed that she herself hadn't made the connection.

"Exactly." Alexis said nodding her head "I mean, why else would Lorna and Miriam let him into their homes. And they would have been comfortable with him and if they were in their own homes, they would have felt safe. They wouldn't know they were in danger until he attacked. Paula had no home here, but a hotel would have too many witnesses so luring her out of the hotel under the premise of discussing her parents would have been easy. She was so intent on finding them that she would have been focused on getting information." Alexis looked at Jordan. "So if the women knew their killer and if they would have trusted him enough to let him into their homes or to meet, it would be someone that they had met often before."

"If that was the case," she said letting out a long sigh, "and if their connecting factor was Connections itself, it would mean that the killer is someone who works for or with A.K. Connections."