Elements

"One of us has far too many clothes on," Toby said.

"Un uh," Cile giggled as she nibbled on his ear. "You're still on the clock, Professor. Get those quizzes graded and lesson plans finished before anything distracts you."

Toby chuckled before bending down and quickly kissing one of her exposed nipples, "Quizzes are all graded and lesson plans are complete. Why do you think I was going to allow the folding of towels to distract me?"

"While I am certain that I could be a better distraction for you than a load of towels would be," Cile moaned, "It will have to wait until after my next call. You know how long it takes for me to recover from you."

Toby kissed her forehead and said, "How about if I fold the towels and then get a start on our dinner? How does teriyaki salmon sound?"

"You're already done with your lesson plans?" Cile asked as she stood and picked up her discarded dress from the floor.

"Sure," Toby said. "Teaching the same courses for a couple of years means that the plans usually only need a few adjustments based upon the material covered so far in the semester. I just verify where we are in each course outline, review the number of hours available for the remaining material to be covered, and adjust each lesson plan accordingly."

"What about the chemistry courses that you got handed when Professor Gillette took that unexpected sabbatical?" Cile asked.

"I've been working off her lesson plans, so the same principles generally apply. It helps that she was one of my professors back in the day, so I am familiar with her pace."

Cile had finished putting her dress back on, "Okay then, you're free to assume the household chores for the rest of the day. What were you thinking of having with the salmon, which sounds wonderful by the way?"

The ease with which she and Toby had adjusted to living together hadn't surprised Cile. When they had returned to Southern California after Tyler and Katie's wedding, Toby had driven Cile home from the airport and never left. It had taken them a few weeks to get his things either moved, sold, or donated, but their life together had never faced the challenge of them living apart.

They had not discussed moving in together, they just did it as if it was preordained and expected. Similarly, decisions about finances, schedules, careers, and families all seemed to take care of themselves without Cile and Toby needing to expend any effort or significant time discussing them. The only topic of discussion that they had spent more than a few minutes on had been Toby's insecurity.

Cile thought it was interesting how Toby could sense the same bond between them that she did, yet still harbor doubts about her love and devotion to him. She knew in her heart that his insecurities were due to his logical brain questioning his emotional heart. He had devoted his entire life to the pursuit of logical answers, first in chemistry, and later in physics. When he couldn't identify a logical explanation for something, he questioned its validity.

"Toby, sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye or illogical to the brain," Cile had told him.

They had spent entire days lying in bed together discussing how illogical human relationships could exist and the need to trust feelings over logic. Cile had been naturally patient and attentive to Toby's insecurities, coaxing him to make subtle changes in his appearance that she knew would demonstrate to him how attractive he was to women. She had helped him recognize the flirtatious attentions of other women and helped him learn how to properly deflect their advances.

One Saturday, a few months after they had been living together, Cile had taken Toby with her to a charity event that included an auction as a fundraiser.

"I love you, Professor," she had said as they found their seats and reviewed the event program together.

"Are you going to bid on one of the bachelors during the auction?" Toby had teased.

Cile ignored his question and asked, "You still love me, right?"

"Of course," Toby assured her.

"For better or worse?" Cile asked. "You must know that I feel the same way about you. You do know that, right?"

Toby glanced at the floor before returning his eyes to meet hers, "God only knows why you do, but I do know it."

"Then to answer your question, yes I am going to bid on one of the bachelors in the auction. There is no way that I will be outbid on this guy. You're coming home with me tonight."

"Uh," said Toby, "I'm not registered for the auction, or am I?"

Cile nodded, then moved into his lap and said, "I want to prove to you just how attractive you are to other women. I am confident that you will be one of the highest bid upon men in the auction tonight. Toby, you are handsome, have an amazing physique, and exude a charm that any woman would take notice of. I know that you believe I see you through love-colored glasses and have never taken my compliments seriously, so tonight we'll let the money talk."

Toby was certain that he would be a disappointment to Cile, but he played along. He suspected that Cile had one or two other women in on her scheme, but when his turn came to be auctioned off, almost every woman in the room joined in on the bidding. Cile just sat in the audience beaming her love at him while observing all the other women seeking to win him, and didn't even make a bid herself until the amount was fifteen hundred dollars and the auctioneer had said, "Going twice". Her winning bid of two-thousand dollars was more than a thousand dollars higher than any other man in the auction had reached.

After folding the load of towels, Toby removed his T-shirt before heading downstairs to begin preparing their dinner. The shorts he was wearing weren't nearly as enticing as the panties that Cile had greeted him with, but he was otherwise just as unclothed as she had been. This was a fact that wasn't lost on Cile as she saw him silently walk past her on the way to the kitchen.

"If I'm going to have to watch you while I am on my call, you had better hold off on dinner," Cile said in a sultry tone. "I will have a different appetite for you to satisfy first."

~~~

"Because fingernails grow about zero point one millimeter to zero point one five millimeter per day, we were able to estimate the timing of the insult, in this case, exposure to arsenic trioxide, that caused the Mees' line by measuring the distance from the cuticle to the leading edge of the Mees' line."

Doctor Beverly Laine was explaining the details of her examination of Vincent Barrow to Mackinac County Sheriff investigator, Nancy Koslowski. The actual autopsy would be performed after this update was complete, but the preliminary findings from the blood tests and physical examination confirmed that the cause of death had been arsenic poisoning as the EMTs has suspected.

"And you're estimating that the exposure began sometime right after the New Year?" Koslowski asked?

"Yes," Dr. Laine confirmed. "Sometime between one-hundred-twenty and one-hundred-fifty days ago."

"No clue yet as to how the exposure occurred?" asked the detective.

Dr. Laine checked the time before answering, "In the environment, arsenic is combined with other elements such as oxygen to form inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic in animals and plants combines with elements like carbon and hydrogen to form organic arsenic compounds. Inorganic arsenic compounds are mainly used in industrial applications. Organic arsenic compounds are used as pesticides, but humans generally get exposed to them by eating food contaminated with arsenic."

"Is there a chance that Mr. Barrow was purposely exposed?" asked Koslowski.

"There is no way of telling at this point," Dr. Laine said. "As little as two point five milligrams per kilogram of arsenic trioxide is a potentially fatal dose, and the victim has well over that amount in the blood samples tested. However, based upon the length of time that the exposure occurred over, and the organic versus inorganic nature of the poison, I would lean towards it not being purposeful."

"Okay," said Koslowski, "Let me just verify my understanding so far, and then I'll get out of your hair for now. The victim, Vincent Barrow, had been getting exposed to arsenic for several months, probably from his food, and that exposure eventually reached a level that killed him. Is that the sum of what you know right now?"

"That is correct," Dr. Laine confirmed. "I hope to be able to provide more specific details by tomorrow morning."

Koslowski handed the doctor one of her business cards and said, "Please call me when you have more information. I'll let you know what we find at the victim's home."

Dr. Laine slipped the card into the pocket of her lab coat and said, "While I expect that we'll find the source of the exposure to be something that was ingested, make certain that anyone going into the victim's house uses a portable respirator until we have eliminated the possibility that the poison was inhaled."

"Thanks for the heads-up. I'll let the deputy on the island know so he can prepare."

The doctor nodded and went back into the pathology lab while Detective Koslowski headed for her car in the parking lot. There would be plenty of time for her to discuss the case with the Sheriff on her cell phone while she drove back to St. Ignace.

She would let the Sheriff explain the situation to Joel Roberts on Bois Blanc Island. His desire to avoid all contact with her had been the impetus for Joel to take the lone position for the Sheriff's office on Bois Blanc. Although she suspected that Joel still had the engagement ring that she had refused to accept, and she missed him every day, she would respect his wishes as much as possible.

She sent a text message to the county dispatch office asking them to have Sheriff Kyle Abbott contact her on her cell phone. The call from the Sheriff arrived before she exited the hospital's parking lot.

"I received a message to call you, Nancy," the Sheriff said when she had answered the call.

"Yes, thank you, sir. Have you been informed of the death of Vince Barrow, the Forest Service Ranger on Bois Blanc Island?"

"Among other things, yes. He is the sixth death of a resident of the island reported today." Sheriff Abbott told her.

His voice then grew somber as he said, "Nancy, Joel Roberts is one of the six deaths. I know you two were once close. I'm sorry."

Nancy gasped and asked, "Has a cause of death been identified for any of the other victims?"

"Not as far as I know," Abbott said. "All were found in their homes with no apparent signs of injuries. We're putting a response team together along with the county fire and rescue..."

"Were all of them discovered by the same person?" Nancy interrupted.

"No, four of the victims were all members of the same church," said Abbott. "When they didn't attend church service yesterday, someone from the church went to check on them. Both husband and wife couples lived next door to each other in Pointe aux Pins. Joel was found when someone went to notify him of the deaths. What about this Vincent Barrow?"

Nancy explained about Barrow dying on the ferry and then detailed for the Sheriff what she had learned at the hospital.

"Arsenic poisoning?" said the Sheriff. "No idea of the source yet?"

"Not yet," confirmed Nancy. "Sheriff, if the other victims died of the same cause, the exposure level of the source must be pretty significant. The team preparing to respond needs to be informed of what they might encounter. You may want to send a Hazmat team onto the island first."

"I'll mention that to Chief Youngblood," said Abbott. "I think the Coast Guard might be able to assist us with getting a Hazmat team onto the island quickest. Are you still in Cheboygan?"

"I'm almost to Highway 23," reported Nancy. "I'm about ninety minutes from our office."

"Why don't you head over to the Coast Guard Station in Cheboygan?" said Abbott. "Their cutter Mackinaw is stationed there. I know that it has environmental response equipment on it, so I'll call ahead to see if they can meet our team in Bois Blanc and if you can tag along with them."

"I'm turning around now," Nancy said. Then she asked, "Sir do you know if the FBI has assigned anyone to Vincent Barrow's case yet?"

"I do not, but I can make a call to find out. Why?"

"I think we might be able to use their influence with the Coast Guard and other federal agencies if this turns out to be as significant as it's beginning to look," Nancy said. "If someone is allowing arsenic to pollute Bois Blanc Island, it's possible that the lake may also be affected. That's international, sir."

"We only have one death that has been confirmed as being caused by arsenic," said Sheriff Abbott. "I'm all for precautions due to that one death, but I don't want to raise any panic among different agencies until we know more. Let me try to get the Coast Guard team over to the island as quickly as possible and go from there."

She would get to the island today if she had to swim. She needed to see Joel's body to confirm that it was actually him.

~~~

Didi Kleinhans studied the itinerary for the flights that would take her and Jules to New York that she had been researching for the past two days. She knew that Jules was not pretentious, but he wasn't a spendthrift either. There was one daily direct flight from Johannesburg to New York's JFK airport, but that option was considerably more expensive than if they were to choose a connecting flight through one of several European cities.

Taking the cost out of the equation, the duration of the trip with the two options was the next factor. She weighed which option Jules would prefer. The direct flight would take around thirteen hours and they would arrive in New York the evening of the same day. The connecting flights all took over twenty hours, many of which required an overnight layover.

She could easily book connecting flights through someplace like London, Amsterdam, or Paris - any of which would allow for them to spend the layover in a comfortable hotel. This option broke up the long journey on the plane but added another complicated hotel reservation decision for her to make.

Jules had never hidden his affection or his attraction towards her and she knew he realized that his feelings were reciprocated by her. However, Jules had always maintained a friendly, professional relationship out of deference to how their society would react to anything more personal between them and how this would affect her so much more than him.

He had the money, influence, and status that would shield him from any repercussions except being forced to terminate her employment. However, to the point that Jules had made when discussing their trip to America, once he had sold controlling interest in Cabot Geological to Anglo-American Mining, there would be nothing that would require his living in South Africa.

Didi herself had no strong family ties or other obligations that would prevent her from leaving the country, although she would not be as favorably viewed as an immigrant by many countries as Jules Cabot would be. She had surprised herself with how hopeful Jules' ideas had made her and trusted that if they were to commit to one another, Jules would ensure that everything worked out for them.

The offer that Jules had made to move her into a condo closer to his house was another new twist for Didi to contemplate. While he had presented it as a solution that would make her commute to his house shorter and her residence more secure, Didi had seen a hidden message in his expression that she recognized as a desire for them to be able to spend even more time together due to her living closer. Well, if Jules truly wanted the two of them to be closer, she wouldn't offer any resistance. She had her own suggestion that she would present once they had their travel plans locked down. Didi felt like a lepidopterist set free a thousand butterflies inside of her stomach in anticipation of this discussion with Jules.

Didi printed out the flight options and saved the reservations without actually booking the flights. She had just picked them up from the printer when Jules rejoined her in the office and took a seat at his desk. Didi placed the printed flight itineraries in front of Jules before he could get distracted with another task.

"What did you decide on?" Jules asked as he studied the printouts.

Didi took a seat at her desk and said, "I haven't yet. I have them reserved and held, but not booked. You have more experience with long journeys such as this, so I wanted your opinion on whether the non-stop flight would be better than breaking the trip up into two segments. You know, is one option better for jet lag or anything? If we do break it into two segments, I think I would prefer to spend the night in a hotel rather than catching a connecting flight within just a few hours of arriving."

"As anxious as I am to have you alone in a hotel room away from any restrictions," Jules said, "my preference would be for us to take the direct non-stop flight."

"Then that's the one that I'll book," Didi replied. "I am also anxious for us to be alone without restrictions."

She so badly wanted to know what it felt like to disappear into Jules, and never have to say goodbye.

Jules and Didi stared at each other for several seconds. There were some unspoken communications taking place that Didi finally understood. She rose and walked to the double doors of the office, closed and locked them. It was not uncommon for the two of them to meet in private, so Sara Jenkins, the gossipy live-in housekeeper would not find it odd that they were alone behind closed doors.

When Didi turned to return to her desk, she saw that Jules had moved over and taken a seat on the large sofa in the room. Even without him patting the spot beside where he was sitting, Didi understood the expectation was that she should join him on the sofa. She kicked off her shoes before sitting beside Jules and folding her feet beneath her legs and turning to face him.

Before Jules could speak, Didi leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips and said, "I'm grateful that you know."

"Know what?" Jules chuckled, "That you love me?"

Didi simply smiled broadly and nodded at his response. She never doubted that Jules recognized her feelings, but hearing him verbalize it eased the butterflies in her belly a bit.

Jules' expression took on a more serious look as he asked, "Do you trust that I love you enough to make the necessary changes in our lives that would allow us to be together?"

"Dearest Jules, of course, I do. I haven't thought of anything else beyond the hope you have given me since you broached the subject. I want us to be free to love each other completely and for eternity."

"No further concerns about me selling controlling interest in the mining operations?" he asked with a grin.

Didi shook her head and then laid it on his shoulder, "Not once I realized that it was the only business tie that would require you to maintain residency in South Africa and not owning it would allow you to live anywhere you wanted..."

"Allow us to live anywhere that we wanted," Jules corrected her.

Didi nuzzled her lips against his neck, lightly brushing them against his stubble as she said, "I'll be happy anywhere that we can be open and free in expressing our love."

Jules had to shift in his seat to relieve the discomfort. Didi had always affected him in ways that no other woman could have ever hoped to replicate, but her warm lips against his neck was more physical intimacy than they usually shared and his body was reacting to his growing desire for her. Didi felt his shift and smiled to herself.

Without asking permission, Didi unzipped his pants and began trying to extricate his growing erection from its confines. Jules just watched her eyes as she gently pulled his erection out of the zippered opening and then released her hand.