Notes: Thank you to everyone has been reading and commenting! I've been trying to answer all of the reviews but sometimes I forget who I've answered and who I haven't so if I've forgotten you my profuse apologies. There have been some really good comments on this story so far and I greatly appreciate all of your feedback!
CH 10: Yellow Oleander
The speckled shadows of leaves dotted the granite walk of the path that led to the front door of an opulent house. Chris glanced from side to side at the perfectly manicured lawn and the expertly tended flowerbeds. Yellow, every last bud, bloom and petal…yellow. Marigolds and dandelions, closest to the ground, a sea of lilies and yellow irises behind, various smatterings of other types she didn't recognize and finally, lining the last few feet of the walk and flanking either side of the steps to the front door, gargantuan sun flowers. The monochromatic sea of botanicals cut a striking contrast and beautiful compliment to the deep red hue of the historic brick home. She stopped where the sun flowers began and reached up and ran a finger down one of the silky petals.
"You know, we don't really have time to stop and smell the roses," Jane chastised jokingly.
"Sun flowers," Maura's voice rang out from behind them, "actually, none of these are roses."
Chris smiled as Maura approached them, the morning sun igniting the highlights in her hair; she sparkled. Trite. She kicked herself on the inside; she was already smitten.
"Figure of speech, Maur," Jane shook her head and turned to the patrol officer, "What do we got?"
"Residence of Robert and Gwen Camp. Maid called it in," he pointed to the older woman standing with his partner by the squad car, "said she arrived at 8:30 for her regular Monday appointment but that the owners' dog was still loose in the house. The dog is always locked up when she arrives so she rang the doorbell and got no answer, called Mrs. Camp's cell and got no answer, when she walked to the front window and looked in she could see Mrs. Camp face down in the living room. Mr. Camp is also a no-show at his office this morning. We haven't been able to gain entry to the house."
"What do you mean you haven't been able to…" Jane's question was cut off.
"WHOA!" Frost tumbled back from trying to peak in the window as a massive dog slammed into the glass, foamy slobber and vapor from hot breath smearing across the pane as the dog barked and growled furiously at the ever increasing mass of intruders on his front lawn.
Jane swatted Chris on the shoulder, "Right up your alley."
"Do I look like Cesar Milan to you?" Chris deadpanned.
"Yeah," Frost laughed, "You're like the dog whisperer, Kelly, get on that. Looks like a big old teddy bear.
Chris walked around to the window and stood a few feet back, indeed the animal's full mane of fur and close-cropped ears did give his black and silver face a bear-like appearance, "That…I promise you, is no teddy bear."
"Eh, it's just a big old furry St. Bernard, you're not afraid of Cujo in there are you?" Jane laughed.
"It's not a St. Bernard, it's a Caucasian Ovcharka and the only way I'm going in that house is wearing a full bite suit and carrying a tranquilizer gun."
"A Caucasian what!" Frost laughed, "Yeah, I think I'll just wait for animal control, that dog doesn't sound too friendly towards my people."
Chris chuckled, "That dog wouldn't be too friendly towards any people but the ones that live inside the house. It's a notoriously aggressive breed, they've become somewhat of a fad amongst the elite as guard dogs and as a status symbol."
"White people," Frost mused shaking his head as he laughed.
Chris entered the morgue where Jane and Frost were already convened. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Camp were laid out on two tables, no outward signs of injury. Maura started with Mrs. Camp and had already cracked her chest as Chris approached Jane, files and a vile of blood in hand.
"They sedated the dog at the shelter and I processed him. I know you said there were no bite marks but we took some dental impressions just to be safe, brought in his collar though it's leather and studded so I doubt any prints can be pulled, swabbed his mouth so I have those in case he got a bite in on an assailant, and pulled a blood sample. The Camp's personal protection trainer has offered to take the dog, as the lead I told the shelter you'd sign off." Chris handed Jane the form and watched with fascination as Maura proceeded through the autopsy.
"Well, thank you Dr. Doolittle." Jane slapped a quick signature on the paperwork, "Ok, Frost and I will go interview the maid. Kelly, can you log the Camp's personals into evidence?"
Chris nodded and waited until Jane and Frost were gone before slipping on a pair of gloves, "Do you mind? I've never watched an autopsy."
Maura looked up, the low hung autopsy light caused her eyes to gleam behind protective glasses; she smiled, "Not at all. With no visible wounds I performed scans that you can see on the monitors there for any signs of non-apparent trauma. There aren't any. So, I'll examine the victims' internal organs and collect samples to send to Tox."
"Do you suspect poisoning?" Chris leaned over the body a little further as Maura removed the heart.
"Mmm, unlike Jane I don't listen to my intestines…I don't guess. Some types of poisoning can be conclusively shown in a Tox screen others cannot. We'll just have to wait and see. A list of potentially poisonous items found in the house could help narrow and define our screens, however," Maura looked up, "You're doing remarkably well for your first autopsy."
"I was in Iraq, remember. I've seen worse than this."
Right. Maura nodded, "My mother called this morning. She has two tickets for the Pops' outdoor summer concert series tomorrow night and she can't go. Would you care to join me? Perhaps, dinner beforehand?"
Chris smiled, "I'd love to. Do you always do this though? Flirt over a dead body?"
Maura raised an eyebrow, "Where else am I going to do it?"
"So…what are we looking for," Jane nibbled on the edge of her pen as she walked through the Camp's back garden.
"I've got all the pills from the house," Frost called out as he trotted over to her, "didn't find anything else suspicious inside."
Chris pulled out her iphone and began surfing the internet as she walked, "What about toxic plants? Mrs. Camp was an avid gardener, member of the Boston Botanical Society, even grew her own fruits and vegetables."
Jane cocked her head, "Wouldn't she know what plants are poisonous then?"
"Besides," Frost added, "there's hundreds, I don't know, thousands of different kinds of toxic plants right? We take a sample of every plant in this garden and Tox will take weeks."
"There may be hundreds, or even thousands of different types of toxic plants, but how many of them are yellow?" Chris motioned to the sea of yellow flowers.
Jane walked up and peered over her shoulder, "Good point," she pointed to Chris' phone screen, "narrow that search to yellow toxic flowers."
Chris glanced from her phone to each plant as she passed by, back to her phone, to the next plant, to the phone, "HA!"
"Got something?" Jane and Frost hurried up behind her.
"Thevetia peruviana." Chris pointed at a set of small tree-like bushes that lined one side of the greenhouse, "Yellow…oleander!"
Maura giggled and Chris smiled, enthralled with the woman sitting across from her, the color of her eyes and how long she'd let someone stare into them before looking away. Maura tore her eyes away from Chris only when the waiter returned with the check; she signed it and slid out of the booth, her fingers dancing along the top of Chris' hand that had snaked around her back and come to rest on her hip as they exited the restaurant.
Her small clutch began to vibrate and Maura fished through it to retrieve her phone, "Dr. Isles…ok, thank you very much," she hung up, "That was the lab, tox results came back, there was no yellow oleander present in Mr. or Mrs. Camp's systems."
"Damn," Chris sighed, "back to the drawing board."
"Back to the drawing board, tomorrow," Maura countered, lacing her fingers together with Chris' as they approached the outdoor concert, "tonight, good music and even better company."
"Is it difficult to find an apartment with a police K-9?" Maura asked as they walked down the hall of Chris' floor.
"It can be, but the Chief and our Captain are very helpful in providing us references and working with the property managers. Wine?" Chris asked as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Please." Maura reached down and scratched behind the ear of the German Shepherd that sniffed curiously at her feet. If his broken and unsteady gait wasn't enough to give away his age, his once black muzzle and characteristic black saddle pattern had washed out to a faded grey.
"That's Kelso," Chris handed Maura a glass of wine, "he was my father's last partner. My brother kept him while I was in Iraq and then I took him."
Maura took a sip of wine as she approached the Malinois ensconced on a cushy dog bed in front of the fireplace.
"That's Mik," Chris informed her as she sat down on the sofa and watched Maura kneel in front of the dog.
The dog hoisted himself up to inspect Maura eliciting a surprised gasp as she could finally see the side he had been lying on. Large patches of fur were missing from the right side of his face and his eye socket was sunken where it had at one time been stitched shut after losing the eye. A large scar stretched from behind where his elbow would be to his chest. Maura ran her hand along the scar before moving to join Chris on the sofa. She glanced down at Chris' scarred knee and placed her hand over it as Chris watched Mik hop to the kitchen towards his water bowl.
"The medics were able to get him stabilized. They airlifted us to Germany and the vets there took it off. He gets around very well on three legs actually," Chris explained, letting her fingers run over Maura's hand and up her forearm, "the eye causes the most problems with the loss of depth perception. It can take him awhile to adjust if I move furniture around."
Chris turned to face Maura and pulled her into a kiss. Maura shifted closer and wound her fingers through silky copper locks of hair as her other hand rested on Chris' side. A slight moan escaped Maura's lips as Chris' tongue parted them, skimming across the tender flesh, nipping at it. Soon Maura was leaning back pulling Chris down partially beside her, partially on top of her.
"I've been wanting to do that all night," Chris whispered as their lips separated slightly. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her way down Maura's cheek as fingers traced abstract circles and swirls around her back. Her tongue darted out and licked a light trail up Maura's neck followed by kisses of growing intensity under her ear.
"God," Maura moaned as she dug one hand into Chris' back, the other sliding up and over her shoulder and down a strong muscular arm. She had to admit to having a thing for beautiful arms and Chris' were toned and muscular but not overdone. Maura flushed as she entertained the thought of those arms pinning her down to the bed. Her skin tingled as a hand ran up her side and over her ribs but stopped just below her breasts before jumping to her cheek, caressing it and then guiding her lips into another flurry of heated kisses.
"Hey," Chris whispered softly, pulling away from the kiss as she smiled looking down into Maura's lustful eyes.
"Hey," Maura wrapped her arms around the strong body half on top of her, she sensed that Chris was pulling back and she didn't want to lose the contact. It felt so good.
"It's late, I need to walk the dogs and we've got to go back to the drawing board on the tox screens tomorrow," she could tell Maura was disappointed as she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, "stay with me tonight?"
Maura nodded as she strained upwards to once again capture the lips hovering so close.
"I have sleep clothes in the top left dresser drawer, wear whatever you want. The dogs won't take long," Chris begrudgingly lifted herself off the sofa and slipped on a pair of old loafers that were resting by the door. Maura giggled at the sight of the stunning redhead, slightly tousled hair, arousal flushed skin, black cocktail dress and tan sling back loafers as she ushered the two dogs out the door.
"Comfortable?" Chris asked, smiling at the image of Maura in one of her tank tops and a pair of silk boxer shorts.
"I enjoy the literal play on boxer shorts," Maura mused glancing down at the pajamas with their boxer dog pattern.
Chris laughed, unzipping her dress with her back to Maura and letting it fall, catching it at the last second with a lifted foot, which brought the garment to her hand. She retrieved the hanger from the closet doorknob and hung the dress, glancing over her shoulder, which caused Maura to look away embarrassed at having been caught staring.
"If I didn't want you looking at me I wouldn't have changed in front of you," Chris joked as she turned and walked towards the dresser pulling on a tank top before deftly removing the black strapless bra she was wearing.
"You have exceptionally well sculpted latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles in your back," Maura laughed under her breath as she tracked Chris' movement to the bed.
"That may be the first time a woman has ever said that to me," Chris giggled sliding under the covers.
"I appreciate a well taken care of body," Maura mumbled as she hovered over Chris before tasting her lips again.
"So do I," Chris added in between kisses, "and yours is stunning."
She's going to be the death of me, Chris thought, she wanted Maura so badly, but it wasn't right yet, there was still something hanging over them.
She cupped that gorgeous face with those perfect lips and those bright eyes that were quickly working her towards physical insanity and gently pushed it back, "Believe me," she rasped, "I want you, God, I want you, but…" she couldn't tell her the real reason, "…tonight we should get some sleep, get this case solved and this weekend we're both off, let's spend it together?"
Maura smiled and nodded and started to pull away but Chris' arms wrapped around her and held her close, guiding Maura to rest her head in the crook of her neck. Chris hummed as Maura exhaled and her breath tickled across her chest. She let her hand stroke up and down Maura's arm, fingers ghosting over a delicate wrist and weaving in and out of Maura's playful attempts to take hold of it until Chris finally relented, her hand squeezing around Maura's as they both drifted off to sleep.