Chapter 9
Maura awoke the next morning the same way she always did: with in immediate sense of disorientation, confusion, and generalized anxiety. Where was she? This wasn't her home- what was going on? Then the details of her new reality would slowly come back; she was in a motel, a warehouse, Paddy's apartment; she was on the run; Ferguson wanted her dead. Today, however, it took a moment longer for her to place herself- she was on a couch, not a bed, and there was someone with her… She jerked upright, fully awake and panicked. The sleeping figure curled up next to her groaned, reached up a sleepy arm, rubbed her eyes. Jane. Relief and happiness flooded through Maura, and she smiled as the woman squirmed, trying to bury her face in the sofa and away from the bright morning light cutting through the blinds, her loose hair curling in her face. Maura resisted the urge to smooth it back, behind her ear. She was not generally given to unsolicited displays of physical affection, but Jane seemed to bring it out in her, being so hands-on herself in the way she communicated.
Jane was squinting up at her, watching.
"Hey," Maura smiled.
"Hey," came the sleepy reply. "I guess we fell asleep? What time is it?"
"Seven," Maura responded after checking her watch.
Jane sat up, massaging the crick in her neck and rolling her shoulders. "I should've left last night- I could feel myself nodding off." She gave Maura a rueful smile. "Sorry, I should have woken you; you could have slept in a proper bed."
"Actually that's the most I've slept in a long time," Maura replied, and from Jane's smile she knew it was true for her as well.
They stayed awkwardly on the sofa for a minute, both unwilling to make the first move towards the start of the day, trying to draw out the seconds suspended in this early-morning timeless space before the realities and obligations of life reasserted themselves.
"Well, I guess I should go…" said Jane finally, still not making a move.
Maura nodded.
"Are you sure…" Jane began again falteringly. "Would you reconsider… coming with me? Going into protective custody? I'd feel better knowing you were out of here."
"No, Jane." Maura's voice was tender but firm.
Unable to resist, she reached out and her fingertips brush Jane's cheek. She heard the other woman's sharp intake of breath and pulled back quickly, but Jane caught her hand and surrounded it with both of hers.
"If there's anything I can do- anything you need…"
"Just do your job, Jane. Put Colin Ferguson behind bars for a very long time."
Jane nodded solemnly, eyes on Maura's, as if making a promise. She had no idea how much Maura was counting on that promise, on Jane's tenacity and predictability. She must follow the trail of evidence Maura had laid out and arrest Ferguson, not so that Maura could be safe, but so that she could carry out the rest of her plan. A stab of guilt caused her to pull her hand away and she stood, distractedly smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt.
"You'd better change, Doctor Isles," Jane teased as she slipped on her jacket. "You're looking a little crinkly there."
Maura grinned widely, partly at Jane's little jibe, but partly at the way she has addressed it. Doctor Isles. She hadn't been called that in a long time. It felt good. It felt right. It took the edge off the wretchedness of the situation, as Maura walked Jane to the elevator, to the exit, to the end of their brief reunion. At the last minute, Jane turned and pulled her close, wrapping her arms around Maura who clung back, then let go, stepping away. And then Jane was gone.
Maura took a steadying breath. Then she picked up her phone and called Steve to make sure everything was ready.
Jane's investigation continued to go the way Maura knew it would; the way she had planned it. First Jane would check in with Agent Dean to see what the surveillance team could tell her about Ferguson's whereabouts on the night of the officer's death. Agent Dean would tell her that they had lost Ferguson for part of the day, including the time of the murder, but FBI surveillance footage from earlier in the day would show Ferguson driving a car that matched the description the drunk had given at the crime scene- the same one that Maura, Steve and Connor had used to transport the officer's body.
Jane would take a team down to Ferguson's headquarters to question him. He wouldn't give them anything but they'd find the car parked on the street outside. A quick wave of a UV light would display the copious amounts of blood that had been splashed all over the back seat just hours earlier. An examination of the vehicle would show that the blood belonged to the murdered officer, and would also yield a partial but almost-complete fingerprint on the dash, on the back of the indicator- a spot that was often missed when criminals wiped a car of prints. It would be a match to Ferguson, and Jane would go back with a warrant to search his offices, finding the murder weapon which Connor had left there. Ferguson would be arrested by the end of the day on suspicion of murder. He might implicate Connor, but it was unlikely; Connor's involvement would only bring further unwanted attention to the reason for his lack of alibi- that he was up to his own illegal activities and needed the boy to create a diversion for the surveillance team. He would need to wait for a court date to have bail set, and it was the start of a weekend so that wouldn't happen til Monday, if there was anything available so soon. It could be up to five days before Ferguson was out on the streets again. That should be enough time for Maura to make her move.
Everything did go exactly as Maura had predicted. Jane gleefully slapped the cuffs on Ferguson, tossed him into a cell, and was just wrapping up to leave for the day, grinning from ear to ear and ready to dash straight to Doolin's to tell Maura the good news. She was barely able to contain her excitement as she repeatedly punched the 'down' button on the elevator, bouncing on the balls of her feet, counting through the numbers as the floors ticked by, bounding out of the elevator before the doors were even fully open, and then- She stopped dead in her tracks.
Someone was waiting for her in the lobby. Her mouth fell open.
"Casey?"