Rather unexpectedly, Harry gently tugs on Boo's waist until she's standing between his knees with her body pulled flush against his. His mouth moves against hers as a new sense of gentle intimacy emerges. His fingertips dig pleasantly into her waist, moving her hips against his in a fluid pattern.
Before long, Boo finds herself unbuttoning the top clasps on his shirt so she can slide her palms across his chest. His skin feels marvelous against hers; so warm, soft, inviting. Like coming home to a cozy house after spending all day in the cold. His hands tangle in the ends of her hair and pull, tilting her head back so he can his mouth over her neck. His touch is unlike any other's before; his hands are rough, pushing and pulling on her hips, but his kiss is light on her skin, so gentle she almost doesn't feel it. Something about the contrast makes her crave him more.
But then she remembers where they are and why he's here: mere feet away, her front door still hangs open and five CSU workers are still galumphing about her house.
"Harry," she mumbles against his lips.
He hums in response, his hands running through her hair again before she ultimately pulls away.
"Sorry," she says rather breathlessly. "Now isn't really a good time, you know."
"Yeah, I know," he laughs awkwardly. His chest is slightly heaving and even in the moonlight, she can see his face is flushed like hers. "Got carried away."
"Can I stay with you tonight?" she asks in a small voice. Her hands rest on his chest, absently fiddling with the collar of his shirt. "They're going to be here for a while and I don't think I can sleep alone after what happened."
"Of course," he says immediately. "Whatever it takes to keep you safe."
Boo smiles to herself. She likes that he's so concerned with her safety but she can clearly handle her own.
"Did I tell you how I scared off the burglar?"
"No," Harry says hesitantly. "How?"
Her lips roll together and she chuckles. "I hit him in the face with a hammer."
Harry gapes at her for a brief moment before bursting into laughter. "You're lying."
"I'm not!" she laughs, despite how unfunny the truth of the matter is. "It was the first thing I could find and I had to get him out of my house somehow."
A crooked smile stretches across his face and he leans his forehead against hers, still laughing quietly. His breath washes over her, bringing goosebumps to her skin despite the warm air hanging around them. "You really aren't scared of anything, are you?"
She plays gently with his collar again. "Maybe I'm scared of one thing."
"What's that?" he breathes, hands resting on her hips. She peeks up at him from under her lashes and his eyes dilate upon meeting hers. She bites back a small smile and looks down again.
"Losing you," she replies, so quietly she almost doesn't hear herself.
He presses a kiss to the point of her jaw, directly under her ear. "Don't worry," he says with a ghost of a whisper. "It's you and me for good."
« • »
The following morning, Boo and Harry rendezvous just as the sunrise creeps across the still shores of Jack Creek Lake. By eight in the morning, they're huddled together at a corner table at The Little Bean, preparing to catch Harry up on Boo's interviews.
Carefully, Boo spreads her precious notes across the small, coffee-stained table. Harry leans in intently, brows drawn low and hands tucked under his chin. "This is where I'm at so far," she begins softly. "I talked to most of her immediate neighbors, at least the ones who were home. According to them, they don't know who called the police or why someone called so early. She barely left the house."
Harry gestures to one of the pages. "What about that?"
"Oh yeah, get ready for this," she says with renewed vigor. "At least two neighbors told me that they remember Hazel having a visitor the day before she died. Only one person though. Nobody mentioned seeing us there, so I guess that's good."
His concentration visibly deepens. "So if none of her neighbors saw us, we can guess it wasn't one of them watching us from across the street. I think we can still assume somebody was watching us at Hazel's though."
"I agree," Boo says, chewing on her lip. "That person probably saw me talking to her neighbors too. Whoever broke into my house knew what they were looking for. We put a target on Hazel's back, at least in some sense. I can't figure out who her other visitor was, but I guarantee they have something to do with her death as much as our visit did."
"Maybe she told them the same thing she told us," Harry conjectures. "About Damien and his involvement with Martha."
Boo shrugs and sits back in her chair.
Harry speaks again. "Do you think Nathaniel broke into your house?"
"The thought crossed my mind," she admits. "But he's too recognizable. And in any case, Nathaniel seems more the type to send someone to do his work than to get his hands dirty, you know?"
Harry nods dolefully. "Maybe another officer then."
"There's no way to find out. But in any case, we have other problems to consider." Boo pulls a photo of the aconite from the bottom of her note pile and hands it to Harry. "I think Nathaniel is the one who called nine-one-one, and I think he poisoned Hazel using this. He has motive, he probably had opportunity too."
"What is this?"
"A plant called Monkshood, also known as Aconite. It's a really powerful poison, doesn't show up in most post-mortem exams, and death is induced by either suffocation or-and get this-a heart attack. Sound familiar?"
A crease forms on his forehead, and Boo knows he's just come to a conclusion. "I've seen this before."
"You have too?" she cries in disbelief. "I know I have, I just can't put my finger on where! I drove all up and down Jack Creek looking the other day but I couldn't find it."
Harry purses his lips and places the photo on the table. "That's because it isn't in Jack Creek. It's in Harrisford, outside the VA clinic."
"My God, you're right!" she groans in realization. "I must've driven past that building a dozen times and never even realized."
"Do you wanna go do a quick drive-by, just to be sure?" Harry asks. Boo nods and they quickly gather their things before heading to Harry's car.
The clinic is quiet; only a handful of cars are in the parking lot, but the front doors are thrown open to welcome in the warm summer air. Harry parallel parks across the street and Boo immediately spots familiar blue flowers lining the front gardens underneath the clinic's windows.
"You fucking genius," she mutters under her breath.
"Didn't Janet tell you that Calum had been staying with his grandfather a while ago?" Harry murmurs. Boo whirls to meet his gaze, her lips ajar in mild shock.
"Maybe that's how Nathaniel found out about the aconite."
A grimace passes over Harry's features. "There are at least two other members of that family who've acted strange around us. We can't rule out Janet or Calum."
"What reason would either of them have to poison Hazel though?" Boo muses. "Randall and Nathaniel were the ones who 'outed' Damien; Nathaniel was the one who blocked Nana's autopsy; and Nathaniel wasn't in the room when the church fire started. Anytime something's conveniently gone wrong, Nathaniel's been at the center of it. Why wouldn't he be behind this too?"
Harry shrugs in agreement before gesturing to a figure crouched in the garden, and Boo suddenly realizes it's a gardener. "Well, should we ask if any's gone missing?"
Boo is already unbuckling her seatbelt before his sentence even finishes. "Stay here," she instructs gently. "I'll be right back."
He gives her knee a reassuring squeeze and she exits the car, stepping into the warm blazing sun. The gardener's back is to her, but the sound of her sandals brushing through the trimmed grass is enough to catch their attention. An older woman kindly gazes back as Boo approaches, her heart racing as she draws closer to the flowers.
"Hi, doll, can I help you?" the woman asks.
"I was wondering if you could tell me about the flower you're planting," Boo says sweetly. "My nana thinks they're really pretty and wants to plant some at her house but we don't know the name."
The woman smiles. "It's got a few names I think, but 'round here we just call it Monkshood. They are a rather fascinating flower. Very beautiful to look at, but very dangerous."
Boo furrows her brow in faux confusion. "Dangerous?"
The gardener lifts her hands to display the thick pair of gloves her hands are clad in. "Monkshood is extremely poisonous, so it has to be handled delicately. Make sure your nana gets proper instructions from wherever she buys the flower."
"Oh," Boo hums. "So I guess you wouldn't want to see any of this go missing."
This elicits a soft chuckle from the woman. "Lord, no. One stalk of this is enough to do plenty of damage, so we have to keep an eye on it. Catalog how much we plant and maintain, things like that. But it sure is beautiful."
Boo glances down to where the woman is knelt over; a fresh pot of Monkshood is resting on the dirt, waiting to be planted. Next to the pot is a gaping hole in the dirt, where it looks like a plant was forcefully ripped from the ground almost completely. Only a few tendrils of white root remain snuggled into the soft dirt. A lump rises in Boo's throat.
"Thanks for all your help, Miss," Boo says hurriedly before rushing back to Harry's car. He waits in earnest as she closes the door, his eyes searching her face for answers.
"Well?" he presses after a moment. Boo turns her face to the window and watches the gardener as she returns to her meticulous work.
"She was planting a new bulb," Boo mumbles. "There was a hole in the dirt and it looked like something had been ripped out of the ground. It may just be a coincidence but you know how I feel about those."
Harry sighs deeply. "What now?"
A humorless laugh leaves her lips. "Good question."
"Do you still have my journal?"
Boo nods and fishes it from her bag before handing it to Harry. With one arm leant on the console, she cranes her neck in curiosity as he begins furiously jotting something down.
NATHANIEL -
Motive - Damien and Martha involved? Hazel knew too much?
Means - Aconite poison (H); Damien unknown, Martha unknown
Proof -
"Proof would be nice," Boo laughs humorlessly. "Hazel's connection to Damien is likely what got her killed. But we can't prove she was even poisoned without an autopsy."
"We don't necessarily have to prove she was poisoned, we just have to prove that there's enough reason for someone to want her dead," Harry counters. He hands back his journal, his face determined. "Same thing with Martha and Damien. Reasonable doubt is enough to get the proper authorities involved. I think we need to look more into what Hazel said about your grandmother's involvement with him. Did she ever mention anything about Damien?"
Boo shakes her head. "Nana never talked about him. I always found that strange, but I guess a secret relationship would be reason enough to stay quiet for so long."
welcome to night three of spooky week!! thank you so much for joining me on this journey and for reading dandelion, i hope you're enjoying the story so far :) see you again tomorrow for night four!