CHAPTER TEN
A/N Sorry for the delay in replying to those who gave feedback on Chapter Nine and for posting the follow up. I had a 14 hour work day followed by a 16 hour day and then my got to spend a couple days with one of my sisters. I'll do my best to make this worth the wait though.
Jane stood just outside the autopsy room watching Maura and Candy complete the external exam of Special Agent Amanda Willows. A smile split her face as she watched the care and respect Maura gave the body.
As a rookie officer, she and the rest of her class at the academy had been sent to view an autopsy. The ME was by all accounts, a reputable and learned member of the medical community and the Police Department. He had given them a very thorough tour of the morgue and had performed a detailed autopsy on a 49 year old female bludgeoned to death by her estranged husband. Jane remembered his voice as being that of a professor ready to retire after many years of teaching. He sounded bored and ready to be doing anything other than dissecting a human being. In fact, the tone of his voice and the impersonal way he touched the body, made Jane feel he was using an anatomically correct mannequin.
"You plan on spending the day there?" Maura whispered causing Jane to start.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought. My very first autopsy viewing." Jane allowed her eyes to drink in the sight of Maura in her pressed black scrubs. She longed to remove the sterile cap and run her fingers through the soft curls hidden underneath the fabric.
"We just finished the external. Would you rather Frost or Korsak watch the post?" Maura captured Jane's left hand and linked their fingers.
Dark brown eyes locked onto concerned hazel. Jane took a deep breath and held it for a long minute before answering. "What I want, Dr. Isles, is to pull you in my arms and kiss you breathless."
Dimples embraced the lips Jane wanted to possess. Maura gave a throaty chuckle and pressed close to Jane's chest. She released a small moan As she felt Jane's arms slide around her waist and lock their bodies together. "While I don't think kissing me breathless is a good thing right before an autopsy, I do agree that a kiss is needed. I missed you so much, Jane! I was so scared when Captain Matthews called and explained. He asked me to speak with the other agents before leaving. I couldn't just walk out without a word, they deserved answers."
Jane unlocked her hands allowing them to roam Maura's back and hips. She felt Maura rock their bodies into a closer fit and gave a moan of her own as Maura cradled the back of her head and pulled her head forward sealing their lips. The feel on Maura in her arms and the taste of Maura on her tongue was almost enough to make her forgive Captain Matthews for not bringing Maura home the second Willows had been pronounced dead. She knew she should be in the Captain's office, or BRIC or out in the neighborhood gathering information, but the only place she had to be was right here in Maura's arms. Work could wait, the world could wait. She needed to reconnect and re-charge.
The overly exaggerated clearing of a male throat ended the kiss prematurely. With a muttered curse, Jane pulled away and pinned Frost with a death glare. "This better be more important that what you just interrupted." she growled still keeping Maura in her arms.
"Captain wants you and Frankie to go back to The Arms. Make sure nothing was missed. I get autopsy with the Doc." He had the decency to look away as Jane and Maura shared another quick hot kiss. "
"What about Chuck, who gave the news to his wife?" Jane asked her gaze straying to the double row of stainless doors. She knew the body of Chuck and the arms buyers waited for their turn under Maura's skilled blade.
"Korsak delivered the news. He said she was in bad shape. We got a hat going around to help with the expenses." Frost said his eyes also going to the body storage.
Maura gave Jane's bottom lip a soft nip and stepped out of Jane's arms. The second their bodies parted, she wanted to rush right back into those strong arms. "What about Dean?"
"Don't utter that bastard's name!" Jane snarled. If this gunshot didn't kill him, she might just do it herself. "Doctor said he'd pull through. Frankie's bullet was a through and through. Bastard will be sucking his meals through a straw."
"Agent Willows' lawyer delivered a box of sworn statements, video and voice recordings and other evidence proving that Dean was the arms dealer. She had knowledge of his activities and helped him set up this bogus assignment to separate the two of you. Nothing indicates she was involved in the deals though."
"So what does this all mean exactly? What do Jane and I have to do with Dean dealing arms?" Maura wondered. Her intellect could in no way connect their relationship with Dean selling weapons.
"That is what we still have to figure out." Frost rubbed his chin and admitted. "He refuses to give a statement, hasn't uttered a sound. His lawyer is giving the standard bullshit line."
"Charge him or cut him loose. What does his lawyer say about the evidence from Willows' lawyer?" Jane demanded. If Dean walked away free and clear, she would take matters into her own hands.
"Says, Willows was only trying to shift blame onto his client. Mouthpiece insists Dean was there undercover trying to get solid proof that Willows was the arms dealer. Claims all that stuff her lawyer sent over was manufactured. We got the guys in BRIC going over every line of every document, listening to every voice recording and scanning every second of video."
Jane pulled Maura close and gave her a deep kiss, one that left both of them blushing and Frost visibly uncomfortable. "I'll check in on you every hour on the hour. One of the three of you doesn't pick up, I'm back here in a flash." she promised.
"One hundred and forty-two rounds fired from inside the store and one hundred sixty-one outside. Wanna guess how many of those match Agent Willows weapon?" Frankie asked leaning against a badly damaged door frame.
Jane looked up from the diagram resting across her knees. She had been using the crime scene notes and photos to reconstruct the battle inside the now demolished store. Stifling a yawn, she scrubbed her hands over her face and mouthed the word "Zero."
"Give the lady a prize. Not one single shot matched her service weapon. Now for the bonus round question; how many match Agent Dean's?"
"Obviously the one that took Willows head partially off." Jane thumbed through pages detailing the weapons used in the shooting. "I'm guessing you're going to tell me the shotgun blast that killed Chuck was fired by our good friend Agent Dean."
"No." Frankie gave his sister a satisfied smile and joined her on the floor. "That was from the first DB inside the store."
"OK, Frankie, c'mon stop looking so damn smug and tell me." Kissing Maura in the morgue had only made her realize how much she wanted to just crawl in bed and ravage Maura until they were both satiated or dead themselves.
"All of the dead bodies from inside the store, were killed by Agent Dean. Looks like that brings his final score to eleven."
"Fucker wasn't taking any chances they would talk. My gut tells me we're missing something. What if there was someone else here? Not necessarily someone from the Escalades. Maybe a customer, caught in the mess or someone who worked here. Frankie, I think one got away?" Jane knew ten bodies other than Willows and Chuck waited for autopsy. "I think someone got out alive and we have to find him before Agent Dean does."
Frankie knew his sister well enough to know she would chew on the problem until she found a resolution. "Let's go over everything again."
"We know Dean set up the meeting here."
"The goons Rondo saw showed up for the meeting."
"Agent Willows was parked out on the street. Was she part of the sale too, or was she trailing Dean?"
"Funny you should ask," Frank grinned. He pulled his notepad from his pocket and flipped to a particular page. "Angelo, that owns the seafood shack called in a report about a man and woman having a fight in the parking lot. The same man and woman who showed up when Maura and the feds were having lunch with Frost."
"A physical fight, or just screaming cursing?" Jane asked for clarification.
"Angelo said the woman was pissed at being left to take a taxi and was demanding money. Angelo said he called it in because it looked like the woman wanted to draw her weapon."
"Dean slipped Willows to make his meeting with the buyers. How did she find him? No way she could have slipped a transmitter in the car with him watching. Doubtful she could have hidden one on his person either."
Frankie stared at the floor a minute then snapped his fingers. "She could have traced his cell phone. Frost says as long as the phone's on and the chip isn't removed…"
"So she had a contact at the bureau locate him. Did she go to confront him, or did she plan on getting a piece of the deal?"
"My money's on finding him. She was the first to call in back up." Frankie smacked his forehead and drew an imaginary light bulb above his head. "She told dispatch there were twelve individuals inside the store. So you're right. Someone out there knows everything that went down here."
Jane high fived her brother. Frankie truly was going to make an excellent detective. Someday. She lightly punched his shoulder. "Excellent, I'll make a detective out of you yet little brother. Now we just gotta find out who traced Dean's phone. And who was the lucky one that got away."
Maura finished the autopsy on Chuck and signed the release allowing his body to be picked up and taken to the funeral home. She didn't know Chuck very well, but had enjoyed teasing Jane by talking about how fit and in-shape the other Detective had been. She felt her heart breaking for Chuck's wife. How difficult it must be to sit at home waiting for your husband/wife to return after a day of putting their life on the line. She couldn't imagine the grief and loss when the door opened to reveal the Captain or another officer with news that the loved one wouldn't be coming home ever again.
"I promise you, Chuck. Jane and I will figure out what happened." She placed a gentle hand on the sheet covering his shoulder and gave a final goodbye. She walked into her office and stood looking with tear filled eyes at a picture of Jane, Chuck and her in the gym. Frankie was truly a good photographer. He had captured all three of them smiling and full of life.
"You OK?" Jane asking coming to stand just behind Maura, close enough to feel her body heat, but not actually touching.
"Oh Jane," Maura whispered turning and pulling Jane close. She buried her face in the familiar comfort of soft tan skin and breathed the scent she knew belonged only to Jane. "I just want to go home, crawl in bed and never let you out of my arms."
Jane pressed a kiss to the soft curls brushing her cheek. She lifted Maura's chin in one hand and used her other to wipe away tears sliding down Maura's cheeks. "I know Baby. Me too."
"I know I'm being selfish, Jane. It's just…" Maura sniffled and looked over her shoulder at the table where Chuck's body had lain. "I know your job is dangerous. Hoyt almost killed you. You shot yourself to … Bobby.." Maura stopped trying to be brave and let the tears fall.
"You have to believe that I want nothing more than to take you home and show you how much I love you." Jane's normally deep voice dropped even lower.
"I do. I know you love me, Jane. I do." Maura traced the lips she wanted to feel on her own with a proprietary fingertip. She could sense the question hiding behind Jane's concern. "We both have work to do."
"We do. But…"
Maura pulled away and walked to her office for a tissue. She removed the last of the tears and gave Jane a promising smile. "You came to ask me something. Sorry I de-railed your train of thought."
"One thing I never stop thinking about is you, Maura." Jane assured with a saucy wink. "But yeah, what can you tell me about Agent Rebecca Morris? You worked with her on the fake case right?" Jane had followed Maura into her office and was resting one lean hip against the corner of Maura's desk.
"Jane, if you have questions about Agent Morris, why not ask Frost?" Maura asked not able for once to allow rational thought to dominate her. She was still feeling the heady effect of Jane's arms and scent.
Pride filled her at dominating Maura's thoughts, she could ride this high for the rest of the night. Jane gave her a dazzling smile and asked, "If Frost wanted to know about me, would he ask you or Korsak?"
"Oh…I see." Maura blushed and began telling Jane her impressions of Agent Morris. She didn't feel it necessary to tell Jane how attractive she had found Agent Rebecca Morris or that the feeling was mutual. Attraction was one thing, but love was everything.
"You mentioned the other agents. I need their names. Gonna have Frost and Korsak help check them out. Someone tracked Dean for Agent Willows. We have to know who and what their connection is to this case."
"Simon." Maura said with absolute certainty.
Looking forward to hearing what you thought of this chapter J