A/N: I'm back again. I think it's been less than a week...a new record for me. Slightly shorter chapter but with a bit of 'case' work included. Romance comes later...sort of.
FrenchKissingWoody: lol, I still can't get over your name...it's strange writing it out ;) Hey, you haven't updated in ages! Get your ass to a computer quickly! I'm missing my favourite 'teeth' story...Thank you for the review, as usual :)
astacia: Hehe...I like writing notes to reviewers...it makes me feel all...connected and stuff. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will.
Deception
Chapter 6: Somewhere In The Middle
In full light, the mansion seemed to glitter in the sun. Its old Victorian style mantels blended brilliantly well with the small veranda to the side of it. The large windows made of thick glass seemed almost impenetrable as each panel lay in perfect order to the one next to it. The magnificent wooden door stood solid before them both as the need to knock came into play. Before Devan could though, Woody placed a firm hand on her hip from behind.
"You sure about this?"
Smirking at his concerned whisper, Devan nodded. "I have the lock pick ready, just in case."
Rolling his eyes, Woody leaned in closer. "No, I meant are you sure you want to go back in?"
Devan bowed her head confusedly. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because we might find something…we missed last week."
Shrugging off his hand, Devan turned the door handle when there was no answer. It was unlocked. "I like intrigue."
"I know you do," Woody muttered under his breath.
It had been one week since…well, the couch. And they hadn't talked about it since…as usual. A relationship had to be built carefully, and not just on sexuality. Well, sometimes that was a good thing but in the case of their relationship…it had to be a delicate one. But strangely, though they hadn't known each other for a long time, it seemed they knew everything about one another. Maybe it was because they just connected…or maybe they were meant to be.
There was no need for lighting this time as the sun shone through the large glass windows. Devan looked around the hallway once again, this time inspecting the detail surrounding the staircase. It had been a while since the wooden floors had been varnished, and the paint on the walls was slowly beginning to peel, the edges revealing brown blotches of wood. They both walked up the stairs cautiously, aware that there might very well be someone there.
Woody called out, yelling across the hall. "Hello? Anyone home?"
There was no answer and Devan took another step…but stopped as something crunched beneath her heeled shoe. "Woody…"
The detective walked over to her, staring at what she held. "A key?"
Sure enough, a brass key lay in the palm of Devan's hand. "I wonder what's it's for."
Woody took it from her hand, studying it. "I don't think it's for anything inside of the house; the patterning is different than the lock hole on the front door."
Devan frowned playfully. "I thought that was my line."
Closing over his hand with the key firmly inside, Woody smiled at her look. "You don't have to be an expert at picking locks to know that much. Let's look outside."
The two reached the back garden, which was really nothing spectacular. There was a small fountain with a mermaid perched on the top of it spurting water from its mouth. There were fish swimming in the small pond at the bottom, but the actual water looked like it hadn't been cleaned out for a few weeks. A swooping willow tree draped over a dying vegetable garden in the far corner, while flowers grew steadily in the adjacent one. Then there was a shed…with flies swarming around it. Thousands of flies, it seemed, for there looked to be a black sphere surrounding the silver door handle. The shed was corrugated iron, with a curvy roof and slanted walls. It was oddly out of place and indeed strange to mingle with such a magnificent mansion.
Woody walked up to the door, swatting the flies away with a firm hand. He tried the handle, but the door wouldn't move. Then he tried the key…and it opened with a screech of metal-against-metal. The flies were quick to smarm into the shed, and as Woody picked his way through, he came to a dead stop. Beneath him lay the body of a woman…a middle-aged woman with brown hair and decaying features. He didn't need to look through her pockets; he knew who she was. Victoria Castlemaine.
Nigel paced inside of Devan's small office, waiting for the blonde M.E. to appear for him. He had been called in to help her and Woody with their case, now that they had a body to work with. He had been given the job of testing the DNA of Victoria Castlemaine and the blood that was found over two weeks ago in the park. It was a match; they were the same person.
Devan poked her head through the door. "Do you have a match?"
Nigel nodded while holding out several papers. "Yep. One and the same."
Taking the files, Devan sighed. "Ok. Jordan and I will get on to the autopsy. Thanks, Nigel."
Smiling at her, Nigel put his hands in his back pockets. "Keep me posted."
Devan nodded and after smiling a quick goodbye, headed towards the body in autopsy, hoping Jordan hadn't begun without her. She hadn't. Though what she had down was lain Victoria onto her back, revealing a gaping exit wound left by the murder weapon. Devan cringed at it.
"Wow. Went deep, didn't it?"
Jordan nodded with an open mouth. "Sure did. It's the shape of an arch…or hook, or something. Definitely not a knife."
Devan walked over to the table. "Yeah. I looked through her clothes and there was a hole right through her shirt. Didn't look like a knife wound."
Jordan looked down at the messy wound. "Judging from this, it couldn't have been more than
a foot in length, though nothing smaller either, since it went right through her torso."
Devan nodded and closed over her eyes in thought. "I have an idea."
And with that, Devan whirled out of the room, disappearing down one of the halls. Jordan was left to stare after her.
"What's new," she muttered.
Devan walked quickly towards the recreation room…and was met with a dazed Woody. The two stopped close to one another, both slightly flustered at the tension. Their faces were inches apart and both could feel the other's breathing fan over them. They stood that way for a long moment, before they realised they had been walking in opposite directions. With a slightly sheepish look, Devan excused herself quickly before walking into the room Woody had come out of. Without looking back at her, Woody walked in the direction Devan had just come from.
Finding Jordan tracing Victoria's body with a blue laser, Woody stopped. "What's up?"
Jordan sighed and switched off the monitor. "The wound doesn't match any weapon I've ever seen. It's like a hook…or something curved from the middle upwards. Sort of like-"
"A banana?" Devan walked through the swinging doors, revealing in her hand a ripe, yellow banana.
Woody smirked. "Is that for me?"
Devan ignored him but gave him a look. "I'm not suggesting that Victoria was killed by a banana, by any means, but something resembling one did."
Woody rubbed his chin with his hand, then stared at Devan. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If it involves a goat in any way," Devan smirked, "then, yeah."
"Ok," Woody walked up to the door. "We're just here to tell him about Victoria's body being found. Right?"
Devan nodded from beside him. "That's the plan. See how he reacts."
Knocking loudly on the glass panel, Woody inhaled deeply. "I can do that."
"Good," Devan nodded slightly, giving him a coy look. "At least you're not rough all the time."
Woody stared at her as the door was answered by a curious Adam Moore. Moore then looked flustered as he realised who it was knocking on his door. "What do you want?"
Clearing her throat, Devan gave the man a sincere look. "We've found Victoria Castlemaine. She turned up dead at her mansion."
Eyes turned from green ones to blue ones as Adam Moore just stood there, his body twitching slightly with his eye movements. Not a single word was spoken for several moments as the shocking news seeped into him. Tears welled up, but refused to fall out of the rims of his eyes. Instead they just remained, cooling in the light afternoon breeze. At last, the man moved to the side of the door, his hand open and gesturing towards his living room.
"Come in."
Devan looked to Woody and they shared a silent thought before they walked through the open door. Familiarity struck them both as they walked down the hall and into the living room, each sitting down on the single couch…then both of them shifted slightly so that they were a fair distance apart.
Woody began with a serious voice. "Mr. Moore, Victoria was found with a stab wound. We don't know what the murder weapon was," his eyes flicked towards where the goat's horn had hung on the wall and found it not there, "but we do want to find whoever killed her."
Turning from Woody to Adam Moore, Devan took a shaky breath. "We need your help, Mr. Moore."
"Call me Adam," he croaked in a barely audible voice.
"Adam," Woody's eyes probed the man's. "Can you tell us where you were the night Victoria Castlemaine was murdered?"
Adam nodded slowly, drawing a sharp breath. "I was there, at the park. Victoria called me that afternoon, saying that she had something to tell me. She chose the time and place, I just had to show up. We hadn't seen each other since my wife, Kathleen, left me."
Woody nodded, gesturing for the man to continue.
"So I showed up at eleven thirty, and it didn't take me long to find her. She was standing by a tree, the tree in the photo you showed me," Moore flicked his hand to Woody. "She looked unwell, sickly almost in the pale moonlight. She told me she had leukaemia and was dying. I couldn't believe it. I started yelling at her, asking her why she didn't get treatment when she had the chance. She said it was because she wanted to die naturally, and when God told her to."
"What happened then?" Devan folded her arms over her chest.
Adam Moore stared into her eyes, his own as hollow as the wind. Something flickered in them before it faded quickly. "I left. She wanted me to leave. She wanted freedom."
Woody looked down fleetingly before glancing into Moore's eyes. "You didn't kill her?"
Those eyes continued to stare forward, the lids never closing over to blink. "No."
Lily stared at the front desk, which was occupied by no one but a stranger. Someone she didn't recognise, but felt immediately attracted to. His copper hair fell across his face mysteriously and his light blue eyes scanned over the desk, impatience warily creeping into them. Looking left and right, Lily could see no one coming to this man's rescue, so…why not her?
"Can I help you?"
The man looked over and locked his eyes with hers in a gentle smile. "Yeah, you can. I'm Nathan Spalding and I'm looking for Devan Maguire. I was told she works here."
Lily nodded. "Uh, yeah. I'll just go get her for you."
Nathan smiled his appreciation and flashed perfect teeth. "Thanks…?"
"Lily. Lily Lebowski."
"That's a beautiful name, Lily," Nathan dug his hands deep into his coat pockets.
Lily's smile widened. "Thank you."
Turning around, she exhaled silently and walked towards Devan's small office. She crossed Jordan on her way and waved a quick greeting before turning a corner. Opening the door, she found Devan leaning against her desk and Sidney talking to her seriously. The blonde looked up and smiled when she saw Lily.
"Lily, what's up?"
Giving her a smile, Lily breathed in deeply. "Gorgeous guy at the front desk for you. Says his name is Nathan."
Devan's smile disappeared suddenly, fear rising in her eyes. "What?"
Lily frowned, confused. "Do you want me to get rid of him…?"
Devan shook her head fiercely. "No, I'll go. Thanks."
Both Sidney and Lily stared worriedly after her, exchanging curious looks. Sidney was the one to break the silence. "What was that about?"
Lily shook her head distantly. "I have no idea."
Devan rounded the corner…and stopped in her tracks when she saw him. His long copper hair falling freely down his face, his blue eyes reaching hers and smiling. His amazing build was carefully hidden behind his decent clothes, however she hadn't forgotten how developed he had been. He lifted up a hand to wave and amazingly she found hers following suit.
When she reached him, he embraced her in a long hug, which she accepted willingly. It had been almost a year since she had seen him. Taking in his scent once again, Devan realised just how much she had missed him.
"Devan," he smiled when he carefully broke the hug. "It's good to see you."
Devan couldn't help smiling back. "Good to see you. It's been…"
"Forever," Nathan finished her sentence for her. He always could do that.
"Yeah," she breathed. "So what brings you to Boston? Last time I saw you we were both in Washington."
Nathan nodded sombrely. "He wants to see you again, Devan. He misses you."
She knew whom he was talking about and suddenly her eyes turned cold. "There's not a chance in hell I'm ever seeing him again. Not after what he did last year."
Nathan sighed, understanding. "He really has changed, Devan. You should see him now…"
"I don't want to see him," Devan cut him off angrily. "I don't even want to speak of him again. I don't know how you could stay with him after what he did."
Bowing his head and sighing again, Nathan curled an arm around Devan's waist and drew her in. "He's my brother. I had to."
Devan frowned and looked to his neck. "So…you chose him over me. Doing what I did, making the biggest mistake…"
Nathan nodded once. "You're right. Your biggest mistake was choosing him over me, and that cost you. But you learned from it and you left before he could hurt you anymore."
Devan laughed ironically. "That still didn't stop the six months of pleas and phone calls."
Brushing Devan's newly straightened hair from her face, he gently smiled. "But you beat him, didn't you. He left you alone after that."
"Until now," Devan frowned again, pulling back from Nathan's embrace.
Nathan dug his hands into his pockets. He did that when he was nervous. "He just wants to talk, that's all. Sort some things out. Anyway, I should get going. I don't want to hold you up."
Devan perked up suddenly. "I'll give you my address. Come by sometime whenever you're around."
Nathan nodded while Devan scribbled on a piece of paper. "I'm here for four weeks, so I'll be sure to drop by."
"How is Devan?"
"Doctor Maguire? How should I know?"
Woody whistled at the memory. Jordan knew something about his relationship with the blonde doctor and it clearly was upsetting her. And that suited Woody just fine. Not that he really wanted her to suffocate from jealousy, but after three years of set-backs and rejection, he was relieved to know that he could turn the tables this time. Jordan was finally seeing that, although he still had feelings for her, she didn't come first with him anymore. No, that position had been filled by Devan Maguire.
Rounding the final corner, he found her office door wide open. She was there, standing over her desk and burying her thoughts in papers. Typical. Well, he just had to take her mind of work…
Silently creeping up behind her, he slipped his arms around her waist and drew her in, kissing her neck once. She didn't look up from her desk but Woody heard her breathe in deeply. He whispered gently to her, "Are we alone?"
She turned around and placed her arms around his neck, smiling distantly. "Yes."
It was late and Devan was working the graveyard shift. But…they were going to relax and not work. Woody leaned down and kissed her lips. She returned the kiss, but broke it several seconds later. She looked Woody in the eye seriously.
"We're supposed to be doing work," she said gently.
Woody nodded. "Yeah, serious work." He kissed her again.
Again, she broke away. "Then let's do it," she paused as she looked at his smirk. "The work."
He licked his lips. "Oh."
Slipping her arms down from his shoulders, Devan turned back to her desk and sat down on her chair, reading over more notes. Placing his hands into his coat pockets, Woody ventured towards the back of the office, which became a small laboratory with a few benches and draws. He stalked further into the lab and didn't hear the knock on the open door.
"Doctor Maguire?"
Devan looked up at the voice. "Emmy, hey."
Emmy peeked further into the office, probing Devan's eyes. "I was wondering if you were done with those reports for Doctor Macy…?"
Devan glanced at her papers before gathering them up in a bundle. "Um…yeah. Can you run them to his office for me?"
A voice from the back of the office rang out. "Hey, did you know there are floating rats in here?"
Devan cringed at Woody's…strange question, Emmy raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, but they're not for us, Woody."
Woody came out from the darkness of the shadows. "Oh…hey, Emmy."
"Detective Hoyt," Emmy replied shyly.
Devan handed the notes to the other woman. "Thanks, Emmy."
When she was gone, Woody gave Devan a scathing look. "I thought you said we were alone."
Devan sighed. "By alone I meant Jordan's not here."
"Oh," Woody smirked. "So, who else is here?"
"Emmy, of course," Devan replied distantly, "Sidney, though I don't know why, and a few of the night staff. Haven't you ever seen those rats before?"
Woody shook his head. "Nope."
Before Devan could respond, her phone began ringing. "Yellow?"
Woody smiled at the playful greeting while Devan immediately straightened when she heard the voice on the other end.
"Mother, hi," Devan quickly raised her eyebrows in Woody's direction. "How are you?"
The voice on the other end replied casually. "Good, Honey. What are you doing?"
"I'm at work," she flashed a smirk, Woody cocking his head to the side. "Doing work."
When Woody laughed, a question was raised immediately by Devan's mother. "What was that?"
Devan quickly moved her phone into her other hand and held it up to her other ear. "Um, the dead guy coming back to life. So why are you calling?"
The senior Maguire was quick to respond. "I'm here in Boston for a few weeks, just wondered if we could catch up sometime?"
Devan nodded, though she knew her mother couldn't see her. "Sure. Listen, can I call you back tomorrow morning, I'm kind of busy right now."
"Sure, Honey."
After saying a quick goodbye, Devan closed over her phone. She gave Woody an apologetic look, while he just stared at her.
"Mother?"
Devan shook her head. "Don't ask."
Woody walked over to Devan and drew her in. "Ok, I won't. But I will order the Chinese."
Nodding, Devan shrugged off Woody's grip on her waist. "And I," she walked over to the open door, "will close the door."
A/N: Just a quick note, remember Nathan ok. He's important...
