A/N: Here is chapter 9, written by Celine!

Enjoy and review!

Chapter 9: Out Of Time

Hannahwas sitting on the seats in the waiting room, her arms around her knees and her chin laying on them, looking nowhere. He could tell she had been crying and she was still gripping a handkerchief.Bugsat next to her but she wouldn't face him. "You okay?"
"No." She sniffed. "It's my fault. I did it. As I did to her. I killed her too." Tears were rolling on her cheeks.
"Come on! You have nothing to berate yourself about. How could you have known it?"
"I begged my mom to go that shop and she died! I told them to go there, I didn't give them the choice and now…" Her voice broke and she didn't end her sentence.
"Han…" Bug put his arms around her, trying to comfort her. She let him do it. Under other circumstances she would have resist but she was feeling so weak at this time. The detective talked again.
"I'm sorry, I'm cursed. Everyone who gets near me ends up hurt."
"And what are you doing of all the joy you brought to my life?" Wanting to reassure her, he took her hand.
"Why did you leave?" She still wasn't looking at him but gripped his hand a bit harder.
"That's a long story. And I know I have every single fault in it." Then he told her his story, his guilt about his brother, his flight, the call, the depression. But he never forgot her. She finally turned over and met his eyes. She could tell he was worried about her and enjoyed the feeling knowing that somewhere there's someone who cares about her. When was the last time she felt that? It was a so long time ago… and it was him. She was about to say something when the elevator's door opened and two women rushed out.

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Meantime, the Chief M.E. was looking for Jordan, who was nowhere to be found and she didn't answered her phone. In fact, there weren't many people, it was 9.30 pm and everyone had left except the night staff and team working on the serial killer's case. The silence in the corridor wasn't relaxing as it usually was for him, tonight there was a palpable feeling of discomfort, maybe because of that case which was driving them crazy and anxious. And Jordan… Where could she be? He needed her on the last victim's autopsy and he knew she wouldn't have gone home without telling him, and with fortiori during a case like that. By the way, he hadn't seen the FBI agent for a while and she was pretty insistent for the autopsy to be done well and as quick as possible. He finally saw a shadow and hurried to catch it, hoping it was Jordan. He saw a woman at the end of the corridor.
"Lily."
"Hey Garret. What's up? You look like…" She stopped talking to hide the laugh that was coming out of her mouth and, seeing he wouldn't laugh, got a more serious attitude back. "You look worried."
"Have you see Jordan?"
"No, not recently. I was focused on the last rose victim's ID. William Haddmac. He was pretty hard to find. The house they found was his but not the garage. He used to be a military. I've got his mother on the line but she live at the other side of the country. Hasn't spoken to him for about 2 years. In fact she assumed he was dead during these years, and…" She hid a yawn with her hand. The day had been long, she was glad Kade had helped her. That girl had so much energy… untiring. Lily was exhausted.
"Go home and get some sleep, Lily." She nodded. "And if you meet Jordan, send her here in a missile, please."
"Okay. Good night Garret." She walked away.
"Good night." As an answer, she waved her hand.

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In another room, Nigel was working on a computer when Jess came in.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
"Nothing special, love."
She leant on the desk and put her amber eyes in his. "Do you call everyone 'love'?"
"No." He answered with a conspiracy look and came nearer. "To everyone but Dr. M." He said grinning. "Does it bother you if I call you 'love'?"
"No. But then, I'll have to give you a little name too."
"Don't!"
"To late Mr. Smile, I've already made my choice." She gave him a smile, which he returned to her.
"Alright. And what gives me the pleasure to have you here, love?"
"I just thought the place was a little… dead so I was seeking for someone to make it relive." She paused and made an unperceivable sigh that caught Nigel's attention.
"I don't have a sixth sense like you do but I have the feeling that something's worrying you…"
"Tell me, Mr. Smile, what do you really think about Dr. Macy not wanting Caroline and me out?"
"Haven't read my book yet, love? 'Nigel's how to survive in a morgue guide' chapter 13, page 666." He winked. "Know how to stay under the Macy's radar."
"I guess you're good at that."
"Are you kidding? I excel." They were both laughing.
Then Macy entered the room, hanging off his cell phone. "Nigel, I just got Bug on the line, they had something unexpected so I need to send someone else to B-21 warehouse. Take the 2 new girls with you and go there. He said some police around would be a good idea." He looked at Jess.
"I'll grab Caroline and I think Kade might still be here." And Jess left the room.
Macy came back to Nigel. "I'll get Sidney to finish what you were… what were you doing?"
"Nothing special, some check ups."
Garret gave him a skeptical look. "Anyway. Do you know where the hell is Jordan?"
"She left in a hurry, I don't know where she went. She almost ran into me. Is she in trouble? She didn't seem… normal."
"I hope not." He tried to be reassuring but he was being more and more worried.

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Jordan and Foxie reminded silent during the way to the hospital. The only word Jordan had been able to pronounce was 'hospital' and Foxie didn't question her anymore, feeling now the same fear as Jordan. When they arrived at the hospital and asked for their detectives, the receptionist directed them to the 6th floor, intensive care. Intensive care? The women were more and more scared, if that was possible. And that elevator which was so slow and had to stop at every floor! It seemed to be an eternity to reach the good one. Then they saw Hannah. The girl had scratches all around her body and her left arm was wrapped in a bandage. It was Jordan who talked first.
"Hannah! What happened? Where are Woody and Marcus?"
"I…" Her voice was barely audible so Bug finished.
"They're still with the doctor."
Since Cœurvay kept her mouth closed Foxie shook her. "What Happened?" She was shouting and a bit crying at the same time. But she grabbed a painful part so the only answer she got was a suffering expression.
"Let her go!" Jordan and Bug reacted at the same time.
Foxie stepped back and said in a whisper: "I'm sorry."
Then a door opened.
"That's Hoyt and Camerez's doctor." Bug said as someone left that room.
Foxie and Jordan moved toward that doctor and asked how Woody and Marcus were.
"I'm Doctor Wilson, I've just leave the two men but I cannot give information to everybody. Are you family?"
"Fiancée." The girls answered at the same time.
But Wilson was skeptical. "Easy to say, impossible to check. You could be reporters."
Then Hannah intervened. "I'm a detective, as well as the two men. And I can assure you these women are here for personal reasons. I called them."
"Right." The doctor searched for his words. "Mr. Hoyt isn't too badly injured. Now he's a bit knock out but he should set back on his feet soon. As for Mr. Camerez…"
The relief that had appeared on their faces when they knew Woody would be alright quickly vanished. The doctor's voice was grave. "Well, no vital functions were touched. He's still under anaesthesia but he should wake up soon. They were both lucky. They're in room #648 but they need peace. Now if you want to excuse me, I have some patient to visit."
"Thank You." When to doctor was out of sight, Foxie continued talking. "You all back off this case. I don't want anyone working on it anymore. I don't want more victims, so find a safe place and stay there until I settle this case by my own."
"Are you kidding? You really think we're going to sit on our asses waiting patiently? No way!" Then Jordan moved toward Cœurvay. "Now that we know that they'll be alright, are you going to tell us what happened?"

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"What, no door?" Caroline asked. She, Jess and Nigel were in front of the warehouse while Kade was making the perimeter safe with a police strip.
"There's a window over here." Nigel pointed.
"I know out killer is a psycho, but still, going inside through the window…" Caroline spotted Nigel's gaze so asked him. "What?" He mimed him raising her. "No, no, no. No way!" She was wearing a skirt. Jess came to rescue her.
"It is not worth while, I've found the door."
All three entered by the door Jess had opened and were quickly rejoined by Kade.
"Gee, that's a perfect place for a psycho." Caroline remarked.
"That's strange."
"What do you mean, Kade?" Three heads were looking at her.
"I don't know, it's just… this guy had been so clean until know, and there are no reasons for the victim to have this address in his pocket. The other one, okay, it was his, though it's a bit unusual to have a paper with the address of the house you had lived in for several years. But I don't see any reason for this one. So… I'm beginning to think it's not a coincidence if we found it… Does he want us here? And why?"
The others did not respond. Nigel broke the silence. "So, let's collect the evidences and catch this guy." The girls nodded and began to search the room.
"Umh umh, I've got something over here." Caroline was in front of the panels.
"Doesn't sound good, love. What is…" Nigel stopped talking as he saw what Caroline was looking at. The four people where stunned.
"Yep, definitely not a coincidence. This guy is playing with us. By the way, don't you think there's a strange smell?" Jess was stirring her nose. Something was wrong. Then the reality hit her. "Oh my god! Everybody grab as much as he can and goes outside as fast as possible. Hurry up!" That was said in a tone they didn't dare to dispute and they all obey. Jess goes to the tables and took all the stuff she could before rushing out of the garage.
Luckily they were at a reasonable distance when the building began to fire.
"Oh God!" Kade took her intercom. "This is Houston, we need immediate backup to warehouse B-21 in the South district. Killer may still be around. I repeat, we need immediate backup to warehouse B-21 in the South district."
"And what are we doing now?" Caroline asked.
"Go back to the headquarters and analyse what we recovered. I'll wait for the backup."
"The…"
"The Morgue." Nigel took the two other M.E. by their arms and led them to his care. "See ya later Kade."

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"What happened?"
"I… There was another rose body and in his pocket we found two addresses. Woody and Marcus went to one whereas I went with Mahesh to the other one. There we discovered that the killer knows everything about all of us, and that his first target was Marcus. I reached to their place and tried to join them but none answered to the phone. When I arrived there were unconscious on the floor and a man with a knife was about to stab them. We fought and then he lighted something and the room blew out. The next thing I remember was Mahesh telling me to hold on and firemen all over the place."
Bug continued. "When she left in a hurry I felt something was going wrong so I called a cab and went to the house too. I got there just to see the explosion and call 911. Then we ended up here."
"But why? Why? If he's after me, why doesn't he directly come to me?"
"Not painful enough. Don't you have any enemies?" Jordan suggested.
"Gee, that's the problem, I have thousands."
"It's my fault, I sent them there."
"Oh, stop with that, Han! You couldn't know. Since the killer was especially after Camerez he would have probably followed him. And if you didn't choose the warehouse, you wouldn't have figured out what he was about to do and they would have been stabbed."
"Do you think you'll be able to recognize the man if you saw him again?" Foxie asked, hoping for a positive answer. The detective nodded. "Good."
A nurse left room #648 and Jordan was in front of her before she could make a gesture. "How are they? Can we talk to them?"
"Mr. Hoyt and Camerez are awaked but don't stay long, they need to take a rest, though I think they'll be able to quit bed tomorrow."
"Thanks."
"Ring me if you need something." Then the nurse left and Jordan and Foxie went inside but Bug and Hannah stayed in the corridor. Bug looked at her.
"I had the impression that you wanted to tell me something before the two 'fiancées' came in…"

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Back at the morgue, Nigel had left the girls alone while he was informing Macy of what had happened. Jess, and Caroline had exposed what they saved from the explosion on a table. Maps, agendas, notebooks, photos… and clothes, toys… but girl's ones.
"So… killer is a woman?" Caroline asked.
Jess took a children book and opened it. "Charlotte, 1985.03. Charlotte is like Carrot, right?"
"Do you mean she's our man? So her speech 'he's after me blah blah' was for us to think she's the victim while she was killing more and more people?"
"As much as I don't like her, I don't think she's guilty. Intuition. Plus she was in the morgue when last victim was killed. But that…" She was pointing to the personal effects on the table. "That makes sense with her story : the killer is obsessed by her and had collected everything in connexion with her. Scary."
"The 'Charlotte' could be a coincidence." Caroline was not totally convinced.
"And what about this? A book with dried roses, her favorite flowers. And look at that inscription: 'Auntie's new rose specimens. 1996.' And…" A photo fell of the book. It was Foxie's. Jess handled it to Caroline. "Do you still think it isn't the Carrot stuff?"

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Macy couldn't wait for Jordan anymore, the autopsy had to be done. She'd better come with a good excuse when she'll condescend to be here. He had done the autopsy and found the same as for the other victims: nothing to be traced. Then he examined the clothes, nothing. The last hope was in the grass sample. Nothing unusual in the composition, no nuclear or radio activity, nothing that could bring a lead. Except maybe that it was a bit too concentrated in manure but it could come from anywhere. He was about to give up when he noticed a little movement under the microscope… There were some very small bugs… and Bug wasn't here. Damn. Oh wait, didn't he installed an automated search program for bugs? Yes he remembered, but he didn't understood how it works. Thank God Nigel entered the room at that moment.
"Hey Dr. M., you are not going to believe what happened."
"Later Nigel. You helped Bug doing that program, right? Can you explain me how it works?"
"Sure." Nigel took place in front of the computer, did some manipulations with the keyboard, put the sample in place and launch the search. It didn't take long to get the answer. The bugs were unusual and develop only under special factors. The computer was now searching the areas that respond to all the criterions. Four areas were twinkling on the screen.
"Looks like we finally have something." Garret couldn't help smiling.

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Jordan and Foxie were now in front of the two beds on which Woody and Camerez were lying. Jordan spoke first.
"Never scare us like that again!"
The men thought the same thing. Us? Meaning Jordan and Foxie? They just couldn't paint the two together.
"What, no flowers?" Marcus noticed. "You're visiting two convalesced men and you don't bring them flowers?"
Foxie answered him. "Sorry, we didn't have the time. But next time you want to be a convalesced man, warn me."
Then Dr. Wilson came in. "Sorry to interrupt, I forgot some papers. Ah, I see your fiancées finally reached you. I'll be back for you later." Then he left. Marcus and Woody exchanged a look. Fiancées?

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"Do you want to ear the good news, girls?" Nigel was very exited by what Macy had found.
"Do you want to ear the bad news, boy?" They gave him an agenda explaining all that the killer did to them.
"Oh, man!"
"Well, there might be prints but at least we have enough samples to do a graphology expertise. You know those people who looks if you close your 'o' when you write and deduce things about your personality and things that happened to you. Scary. But I tried and the guy said incredible things about me and all were true. What?" Caroline and Nigel were looking at Jess rather amused.
"You did a graphology expertise of your own writing?"
"What did he say about you?" Nigel was getting interested.
Jess stick out her tongue to him.
Nigel was skimming through some papers and stopped at one in particular. "Wow."
"What?"
"Jessminder Stanford, 24. India. New York. One sister, one brother. Ex-US Marine. Fashion victim. Love joking, gold and earth colour, drinking Sake, eating Sushi, reading Agatha Christie's books, painting, karate, singing in karaoke bars and listening to 'I'm a bitch'." He looked at her to see her out of words, the mouth open. "Lost her boyfriend. Hates spiders. Breast size…"
"GIVE ME THAT!" Jess was very angry.
Caroline looked above Nigel's shoulder. "That's not written." But a very upset Jess left the room.
"Jess!" Nigel went after her, leaving Caroline alone. He found her in the corridor. "Jess, I'm very sorry, I never meant to offend you. Look, we can forget the breast…"
"It's not about the breast." Her voice was very sad but she did the hardest to avoid the tears that were coming to her eyes. "It's about my dead boyfriend." She sighted deeply. "He was a Marine too and died in combat."
"Oh, Jess, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"
"It's okay." Another sigh. She looked at the floor.
"You can cry." He tried to comfort her.
"Marines don't cry."
"You're a M.E. now."
"Can I have a moment alone?"
"I don't think it's a good idea to stay alone…"
"Please."
He nodded. "Sure. But if you change your mind, I'll be around." As he was going back to the room were he had left Caroline, he didn't see the little smile that had appeared on her lips with his words.

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He was running out of time. What happened? His timing was perfect. In fact, everything was perfect until that brunette surprised him in the house. He should have made the warehouse burn as soon as there was someone inside. Instead of that, he had chosen to scare them, letting them knowing what he was doing and having fun watching them becoming crazy. He shouldn't have waited to stab them. Now, one had seen his face and when he wanted to back up and destroy the evidences in the warehouse they still had been able to get them. Maybe Boston wasn't a so great idea after all. Oh well, he still had a plan…