Korsak slumped heavily on his chair, totally exhausted. He took in a large amount and number of breathes and coughed because they had became too much for his burning lungs. He wiped the salty sweats over his forehead with the blue handkerchief Kiki got for him. His eyes stared at their partner, Jane Rizzoli seated behind her desk opposite of him and he shook his head a little. A rather long sigh left his mouth as he dabbed the handkerchief over his wet eyelashes and beard from the sweats.
This whole morning, Korsak had been running around (running, not walking) chasing leads and suspects on their current case, meaning he was chasing after Jane as well as the female detective was way ahead of him in running. Even in driving, Jane's car literally flying across the street when they rushed to the suspect's places. With all seriousness, Korsak felt his lungs were going to burst. Why was it today the suspects they found all decide to run? Yes, 4 suspects and all dashed away at the sight of them. They caught all of them anyway, with all madly running and now they just finished questioning the latest runner which had alibi, in fact all the 4 suspects suspiciously had alibi but thrust their detective's gut feeling, those people weren't responsible for the murder of their dead victim downstairs inside a metal box in the morgue.
But cut the old man some slack for being so exhausted. He was almost 20 years older than the obviously fitter and younger female detective.
Coughing again and grabbing the water bottle on his desk, Korsak took a generous gulp. He nearly spitted out the water from his mouth after his second gulp almost draining the whole bottle when Jane shot up for the third times from her seat abruptly, sending the chair a meter away backward.
"Come on Korsak!" Within a few seconds, Jane already had all her things and grabbed her jacket from the chair, shoving the wheeled furniture under her desk in hurry before running outside the bullpen, went straight for the stairs since the elevator was full.
"Oh man. Here we go again." Korsak started running again after Jane. The two other men in their team followed suit, speeding as fast as they could muster.
1 minute before 8 this morning, Jane checked in and greeted Korsak who always arrived earlier than her and at that moment Korsak had foreseen the running and adrenaline from Jane's jumping feet even she was sitting. She arrived at the bullpen with a larger double espresso in her hand.
Even after all the running this morning, Jane just can't seem to stay still, feet always thumping on the bullpen's floor, fingers tapping on the desk while the other hand was holding a pen that its end was being chewed. More than once Jane had refilled her coffee, which adding more to her nonstop bubble of energy. This seemed like over caffeinated case.
"Korsak, he runs to the back!"
"Frankie, Frost, come on!"
They just slammed the break parking on the side road when their possible suspect who coincidentally peacefully watering his flowers on his lawn saw them and made a run for it. Jane already jumped action, sprinting with her boots while Korsak, still tired from his previous running activities, chose to jog that much more imitated speed walk after them. The first 100 meters, he stopped and bent his body, hands on his knees, panting.
He waved at Frankie who looked back at him to get him going and Frankie went after his sister on pursue for their suspect. Frost already close to the opposite side to block the way. Meanwhile Korsak decided to check on the house.
"Detective Korsak, you look fatigue. Are you alright?"
"Dr Isles, it is so great to see you! Are you looking for Jane?" The white haired man looked up, almost jumping to give the ME a good hug looking way too happy at seeing the doctor.
"Please say that you are looking for Jane." Frost peaked from the corner, shocking the good doctor.
"Detective Frost! Why are you two looking so tired today?" Maura wondered, seeing the drenched dress suits the detectives before her were wearing. Her head tilted to the side, thinking that the temperature both inside and outside today weren't supposed to causing this much of sweating. Those were like waterfall, talking about hyperbole like Jane always used.
"Maura, are you here to ask Jane for lunch?" Come Frankie joining them out of nowhere, this time startling all three of them.
Maura made a face when Frankie's sweats dripped down when he was leaning on the desk onto the papers there. She slowly pulled the paper away while Korsak patted the boy on his back.
"Okay Frankie, you are sweating too much kid."
"Doesn't look like you are better old man." Frost chuckled.
"Hyperhidrosis. In most cases, no cause can be found. It seems to run in families. There are primary and secondary hyperhidrosis."
"Oversweating." Maura clarified, motioning at the drenched outfit after receiving the usual blinking blank stares.
"Okay. Well, Jane, lunch?" Frankie blinked his eyes like kid was waiting on candy on Christmas.
"Yes, I'm here to ask Jane for lunch." Maura nodded hesitantly before looking around the bullpen for the lanky detective best friend of hers who wasn't there at her table. "Where is she?" She looked back at the trio.
"She goes to Nina for all the pawn shops addresses in the city. She wants to check all of them today. Today! I've been running all day for leads and suspects. We are out of leads, she drags us out to search every crook and nook at the suspect's neighborhood. We are out of suspect, she takes us to visit every places the victim ever going to, including an amusement park which the victim hadn't put even one of her foot at for the last 10 years."
The ME was listening with head leaned back a bit from Frankie's outburst through gritted teeth. So, that's where the sweats came from. Yes, yes the suspicious dead of a middle age woman from yesterday. Not really a brutal way of death, the woman only had a needle sized wound on the back of her thigh, small but Maura managed to see it. Jane must be really exciting for work today. There were days like this but this was brutal for the three gentlemen in front of her.
"We have been running all day. We are not as fit as Today's Janie, Dr Isles. We are really sorry but we need the lunch break. Please bring her with you. She would listen to you."
"Jane doesn't always listen to me." Maura brushed Korsak off.
Frost smiled. "She always listens to you. She might act like she is not but she does." There this one time, Maura asked Jane to wait for her at the Division One Café, even with her mother was there, Jane stayed until Maura came back for her, grumbling and all. She stayed because Maura asked her to.
That was just one example. There were many others that the three male detectives had witnessed from all these years and the ultimate conclusion they could draw from the ladies' relationship, Jane listened to Maura.
Just then Jane happily came out from BRIC with papers on her hands. She smiled brighter when she saw her best friend leaning against her desk and waving while on her way toward Maura.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"Are you going to join me for lunch? There is this escargot place that I am dying to try."
"Snails? No thanks." Jane pulled on her chair to sit down but Maura caught her on the arm and beamed her excellent puppy eyes accompanied of course by a pout.
"No, don't you look at me like that, Maura Isles. I've work to do and it is still early for snails." Jane protested.
Behind them, the three men were holding breath for Maura to success in bringing Jane for the lunch break, even for snails. Jane didn't like snails, no, she didn't hate it but she didn't like it. Just like she didn't like sushi.
"Dinner time is too late and I would be too tired to go. Then I would have to wait for tomorrow but there are always work that needs to be completed, so much deadlines to be met this whole week. And I would wait for longer time to go there till next week and the next week and the next week and the next week.."
"Okay, okay. Enough already." Jane gave in rolling her eyes while shaking her head. She picked up her jacket and grumbled. "The thing I do for you."
Maura's bright as the sun smile made Jane chuckled. "Come on you. Your snails are waiting, to be eaten and digested by a medical examiner."
"Escargot, Jane." Maura chastised as they made their way to the elevator and Jane had her hands linked at her back waiting, patiently for the elevator.
As soon as the elevator door closed again, the empty bullpen was having fireworks fiesta that came out from nowhere, actually they were under Frost's desk, the leftover fireworks from the last prank for Korsak on a one slow working day with mountain of paperwork to be typed.
"What do you think Frosty? Burgers at the Robber?"
"You're on!"
Three adult male detectives were slinging arms over each other's shoulders, side by side, swinging legs dancing while heading to the elevator while chuckling that they needed change of clothes before they can head for the Robbers.