Chapter 21

Now he had to go and tell Jordan that his mother was on the way and if she gave him any trouble about it, he was going to be sure and point out that it was all her fault! If she hadn't called his mother she wouldn't be on the way to Boston!

Woody was very surprised when Jordan, rather than being upset that his mother was arriving to help out with the baby, was instead relieved.

At work on Monday, the staff looked on in stunned silence as Jordan brought in the left over baked goods from her Saturday cook-a-thon. The reaction turned to shock when she told them she had made everything herself. Needless to say, they were very cautious about trying anything even though it all looked good.

Lily, the ever loyal friend, bravely reached out for the first item and sighed in delight when the red velvet cupcake she tried was delicious. After that it didn't take long for the others to choose something as well. They were soon singing her praises.

Woody heaved a sigh on Monday morning when he called over to the lab to find out that his request was still fourth down on their list. He was told that they might have something for him that afternoon.

He was reading through another one of the old cases when his phone rang. The lab had gotten a hit on the fingerprints of John Doe 23865. He was a Marine Captain, Kellson Manors.

A light went on in Woody's head…a Marine killed August 21st, 1968…thirty six years ago…Holy Fu…Fudgecicles!

Sometimes the wheels of the government grind slowly, but there is the occasional instance when the opposite is true. When Detective Woodrow Hoyt put in the request to have his unidentified body's fingerprints checked against all databases, it flagged the military one that allowed his identity to be found.

The fact that this particular Marine had been reported missing by his wife thirty six years ago was also noted and a call was put in to Colonel Sarah Mackenzie who was reviewing the old case file.

Knowing the Admiral's connection to Boston, and the fact that he and Meredith had just ended their engagement, Mac was hesitant to go and ask him if she could travel to Boston to try and resolve this old case. She really wanted to give some closure to his wife that had waited all these years for news of her husband.

Taking a deep breath she headed to his office determined to see this case through. Moments later, she was standing in front of his desk presenting her case, "So you see Sir, they seem to have found his body in Boston and I would really like to go up there to see if I can get some answers."

AJ looked up at her, all the memories of his trip to Boston running through his head and then the image of Meredith in her bedroom with her Professor. It didn't slip his mind that Mac was the one that had introduced them. All that took seconds to play through his mind as he answered her, "See if this can't be settled with a phone call and then if not you can go as long as you take care of any pressing current cases first."

"Yes Sir! And thank you Sir! I am sure Mrs. Manors will be happy to finally have some answers to what happened to her husband."

"You're welcome Colonel, dismissed." He sat there for a moment after Mac had left his office and then reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a wedding invitation LaVon Trask had invited him to her wedding to Max Cavanaugh, the brother of his ex-fiancée. He had wondered what she was thinking when he first got the invitation, but then he noticed a small hand written note that was not a part of the formal invitation.

LaVon had written; 'AJ, I know you would not want to come to the wedding if Meredith was going to be in attendance. She called Max a week ago and said she would be spending the entire summer in Spain and wouldn't be able to make the wedding. She shipped a gift along with another apology so I hope that you will come since she will not be here.'

AJ took out the RSVP card and wrote 'one' in the attendance box and put it in his outgoing mail stack.

To be continued…