It's roughly midnight, all the lights are off downstairs which means Grace's parents had gone to sleep already, respectfully so, they both had worked all day and were usually in bed before that time anyway. However, as she passes the staircase there is a sound, similar to glass breaking from downstairs in the living room. Then some stray groans and muffled yells. Grace realizes these are sounds of fear, terror and struggle.
She sneaks down the stairs. As she approaches the bottom section she peers around the corner to see a man, in all black clothing towering over her parents; her father bound with duct tape sitting on the couch, her mother in the grip of the man, sobbing and begging for her life; her father, desperately trying to get free, to get to his wife. She tries to unscramble her thoughts long enough to come up with a plan to get to a phone or to get outside, while distracted with her flurry of ideas, she steps down another step, as it squeaks under her weight she instantly regrets it.
The man's head whips around as he notices her standing there. He throws her mother down and chases Grace as she tries to get up the stairs. He pulls her into the living room by her hair, covering her mouth to mask her screams. He tapes her hands and feet and puts her in a chair forcing her head in the direction of her parents. He makes his way over to her mother again and pulls out a scalpel. He takes his time playing with her before pulling the blade across her throat, as Grace and her father both try to free themselves. The man steps over her mother's lifeless body and grabs her father by the throat. He treats him the same way as her mother; playing with his prey before putting him out of his misery, not before Grace and her father make eye contact one last time. The masked man rips the duct tape off of Grace's mouth and rubs his leather clad hand over where the tape had been, running his index finger over her lips.
"You don't have to do this." She whispers knowing that he is going to kill her just as he did with her parents. He runs his hand through her long, curly dark brown hair, and wipes the tears from her cheeks before cutting the tape from her wrists and ankles. He looks her over one last time before kissing the top of her head and leaving through the front door. She sits in the room for what seems like an eternity, frozen with fear, expecting him to come back at any moment. When he fails to return she does the first thing she can think to do, run.
At around midnight Jane is sitting in Maura's kitchen, after another tough case solved. They are drinking wine and discussing Maura's recent visit with her grandfather when Jane's phone vibrates. She sighs very audibly before answering with a roll of her eyes
"Rizzoli. What? Me? When was this? Okay, I'll be right there." Maura gives her a questioning look "That was the desk clerk, there's a young girl at the station, he says she won't say anything other than my name." Jane is confused but knows that this can't mean anything good
"I'll go with you" The two women leave the house as quickly as possible and get to the station, wanting answers.
"Where is she?" Jane asks as she enters the station and the clerk signals to a door behind him that leads to a conference room. When the door opens, Jane's eyes widen with recognition "Gracie?" She rushes over to the young girl who is staring straight ahead, eyes as wide as saucers, trembling uncontrollably. "Grace. What happened baby?" Jane asks again, still getting no answer "Grace?" She pulls the girl's chin in her direction. Grace, showing no emotion as she says only two words
"They're dead."
Jane leaves the room with Maura right behind her
"Jane, who is that?"
"That, that's my cousin, Grace." Jane is shaking her head, not knowing who is dead, how they died and why Grace is involved, but knowing she needs to find the answers to these questions before anyone else does. "I need to call Frankie. He needs to be here. We need to find out who she's talking about, what happened. Was she hurt? I didn't even notice; she looked okay. Scared to death, but not injured, right? She looked okay to you?" Jane is spitting ideas and words out as fast as they were coming through her mind. Maura places a hand on Jane's shoulder to bring her back to reality
"I'll call Frankie. You go back in there and see what you can get out of her, okay? It's going to be alright Jane." Maura says in a calming tone as she pulls her cell phone out of her bag. Jane goes back into the conference room and takes a moment to analyze Grace's condition. She is in her pajamas, the bottoms of her pant legs covered in mud and blood spatter on her arms, her face and matted in her hair. She doesn't have shoes on and her feet are cut up, her hair is disheveled and she is shaking. She is looking in the same spot she had been when Jane entered the first time. Jane walks over to her and kneels down to her seated level. She nearly whispers, as to not startle the girl
"Gracie, hey, Grace, what happened?" The younger girl turns to face the detective, with a distant look in her eye like Jane had never seen "You said someone is dead, who's dead?" Grace doesn't speak for a minute, unsure if she is able to, Jane doesn't think she is going to say anything until
"Mom and dad; he killed them." Grace releases heavy sobs and falls into Jane's grasp, Jane is certain of what she just heard but doesn't want to believe it. Grace's breathing escalates as she begins to hyperventilate
"Hey, hey, hey put your head between your knees, take deep breaths okay. Nice and easy. That's it." Her breathing begins to even out again as Frankie bursts through the door.
"Is she okay? What happened?" Frankie breezes past Jane and right over to Grace, he pulls her into a tight hug and rubs circles on her back, not even needing an explanation before consoling her. After they let each other go, Jane and Frankie leave the room. Once a good distance away from the door Jane begins to cry "Jane, what happened?"
"Someone murdered Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tony."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yes, that's what she said. We need to figure this out Frankie." He pulls his sister into a hug as they both try to figure out what to do next. "I'll call Korsak in, we have to solve this."
A while later after Korsak gets to the station, and they have figured out that it happened at their home, Frankie and Korsak go ahead to the scene to get started as Jane and Maura bring Grace up into one of the interrogation rooms.
"Okay Grace, we need to bag your clothes okay, sweetheart, you can put these new, clean clothes on after, but Dr. Isles is going to have to examine you for injuries." Grace keeps her eyes down but nods her head in agreement as she does as she's told. There are few injuries other than a cut on her scalp where a chunk of hair had been ripped out of her head, defensive bruises on her arms and legs and marks from the tape on her wrists and face. Maura collects the dried blood from the girl's body, and Grace dresses in the new clothes. She sits in the metal chair inside the interrogation room. Jane and Maura leave the room and go into the smaller room on the other side of the two way mirror.
"Anything?" Jane asks about the injuries
"Nothing telling, just defensive wounds, she fought hard. But we'll have to test the blood spatters, and the contents from under her fingernails in order to see if she got any of the killer's DNA." She lifts the bags of clothing "I'll send this to the Crime Lab and see if they can pull anything else from it, but we need to get her to talk."
"I know. It's just…" Jane shakes her head "so sad." Maura puts her hand on Jane's back as an attempt to comfort her friend
"I have to get to the crime scene, are you going to come?"
"I think Frankie and Korsak can cover it, I'm going to stay here. Maybe I can get something out of her if it's just the two of us."
"Okay, I'll get back as soon as possible." Maura exits the room, leaving Jane alone looking at the young girl whom she had helped raise, sitting in a place where she hoped she would never see her.
After tediously examining the crime scene, the detectives and Dr. Isles return back to the station, to find Grace in the same spot as when Maura had left.
"She hasn't said a word." Jane shook her head, "If we can't get her to talk…"
"Jane, just give it some time. She's in shock; I mean she found her parents' bodies; that's enough to scare anyone out of speaking." Frankie tries to reason with her, Frankie and Jane go back into the interrogation room and sit with Grace for a while longer
"You guys, have to ask me questions and stuff, right?" Grace finally says as she wipes under her eyes. "That's how this works?" She looks between her two older cousins and they nod sympathetically
"Yeah babe, that's what we have to do. I'm really sorry." Grace nods "Are you ready to do this now?" She nods again "Okay, we'll be right back." The two detectives leave the room to find Sergeant Korsak
"Jane, we can't be in that room with her, we're related. It could be seen as biased."
"She's not a suspect Frankie." Jane gets slightly defensive
"No, but she is our only tie to this case right now and if we don't go about this the right way, it could get taken away from us, and I know neither of us want that. So we can't be in that room." Jane knows he's right and asks the next best person to her or her brother to be in that room with her.
"Okay Grace, Sergeant Korsak is going to ask you some questions about what happened, alright? Don't be nervous, just tell the truth." Jane gives an affirmative nod "But me and Frankie can't be in the room with you, so I asked my friend Dr. Isles if she would sit with you for this. Is that okay with you?" Grace nods approvingly and looks up at Maura for the first time since she had arrived. She has gorgeous brown eyes that are filled with tears "okay, we'll be just outside when you're done." Jane kisses the top of her head and runs her hand through her hair as Grace jerks away from her touch and Jane backs away and raises her hands in the air "I'm sorry sweetheart."
Grace places her eyes back towards the ground and Jane shares a saddened glance with her brother. She walks to Maura who has been standing behind her in the corner of the room
"Protect her."
"With my life." Jane and Frankie leave the room as Maura takes the chair next to Grace
"Hi Grace, I'm Sergeant Detective Korsak, I'm just going to ask you some questions about what happened tonight, okay?" Grace lifts her glance to fall onto Korsak's face, he notices her stark beauty right away and realizes that she reminds him, nearly too much, of Jane, which makes this process ten times harder. "So can you walk me through what happened?" Grace gently clears her throat, knowing that her voice was going to tremble despite her best efforts to make it not.
"Um, it was around 12 o' clock, and I had just gotten out of the shower, and I walked past the stairway. I looked down and all the lights were off, so I figured my parents had gone to bed already. It isn't unusual for them to be in bed by 11 so I started back towards my room, just down the hall. Then I heard…" She pauses and takes a deep breath
"It's okay Grace, take your time."
"Then I heard glass breaking and something like mumbling, or that's what I thought at first, but then it turned into like a muffled scream. I could tell it was my mom. She sounded so scared. I knew it wasn't good so I started down the stairs to find out what was going on, to try to get to the phone. I stopped on the staircase to get a better look into the living room. That's when I saw the man. He was wearing all black, and he was pretty tall. He was holding onto my mom and my dad was bound with duct tape on the couch. I tried to think of a way to get out of the house or get to the phone to call 911 but I was distracted and I forgot about the squeaky step." Tears start to fall down Grace's face "The step I was supposed to fix with my dad, but I was too busy. I stepped on it and it made a noise. He saw me and before I could get up the stairs he pulled me back down by my hair. He bound me up with duct tape too and forced me to watch." She pauses again as she tries to gain her composure for this next sentence "forced me to watch him murder my mom and then my dad." She shakes her head "But the thing I don't understand is why he let me go." Korsak looks back towards the two way mirror knowing that Frankie and Jane are both watching
"He let you go? You didn't escape?"
"No sir, he let me go. He cut the tape off of my wrists and ankles and left. I thought it was a trick at first but when he didn't come back I made a break for it and ran straight here."
"Can you describe him to us? Hair color, eye color?" Grace shakes her head
"He was covered head to toe in black. He was even wearing a ski mask. I didn't look him in the eyes, I couldn't."
"No distinguishing marks?"
"He had long sleeves, gloves and long pants on." Korsak nods his head
"Okay Grace, that's all for now. Thank you" She nods her head as he leaves the room, and Maura looks at her
"You did great." She gives a weak smile "I'm so sorry about what happened." Grace can tell by the look in her eyes that she means it "Is there anything you need?" Grace could think of plenty of things that she needed, none of which Dr. Isles could provide, so she simply shakes her head
"No, thank you." Jane enters the room again
"Hey kiddo, great job." She takes Korsak's vacant seat and places her warm steady hand over Grace's cold and trembling one "You're going to come home with me tonight, alright?" Grace nods, where else did she have to go? "Alright, let's go."
The two women walk through the door to the decent sized apartment and are immediately greeted by Jo Friday.
"Hi Jo" Jane picks up the tiny dog and realizes she needs to go out for a walk desperately "I have to take her for a walk, you can stay here or come with me, it won't take long." She offers an option, knowing which one the girl will take. Grace shrugs and follows Jane out the door and back down to the street. By this time it is early in the morning and no one is around. The streets are still damp with the evening's rain and the only sound is Jo's claws clicking against the pavement. There is never this much silence when Grace and Jane are together and the severity of the situation begins to set in on both of them as they return to the apartment building.
"You can take my bed." Jane signals towards her bedroom
"The couch is fine." Graces says blankly
"You sure?" Grace nods again as she goes into the bathroom. She turns the faucet on before letting more tears fall from her burning, aching eyes. She splashes the warm water on her face and dries it aggressively with a towel before returning back into the living room where a makeshift bed has been made out of the couch. "Do you need anything else, are you thirsty?" She shakes her head as she wraps herself up in the large comforter and lies down on the couch "Okay, at least try to get some rest. I'll see you in a few hours." Jane retreats into her bedroom and shuts the door. Neither would admit that they shed many more tears before falling asleep.
There is a crash and yelling; the sounds of a struggle before someone shouting Grace's name, screaming at her to run. Before she can move someone grabs her by her hair and whips her backwards, forcing her down the stairs. She sees her parents struggling against their silver restraints, begging for the man to spare her. Her eye catches on the gleam from the scalpel. There are ear piercing screams from her mother as her limp, lifeless body collapses to the floor inches away from Grace's feet. She is frozen, unable to get to her father; she stares into his tear filled eyes as she sees the light fade from them, he blinks one last time before falling back into the couch cushions. The faceless stranger, who has a familiar scent, something she hadn't noticed before, but one she can't quite place, turns towards her and pulls the tape off of her mouth and she lets out a deafening scream.
"Grace!" Jane is shaking Grace to wake her from her hyper-realistic nightmare. She is sweating and shaking. Jane pulls her into a tight hug until she calms down. "Okay, it's okay. You're safe." Jane whispers comforting thoughts into her ear, trying to convince them both that this situation is even close to being okay. Grace looks at the clock and it is 7:45 A.M. She already missed the bus, as if she was really going to school today anyway. Jane is dressed in a similar outfit as the one she had been wearing the night before. "Are you okay?" Grace nods slowly "Okay, why don't you shower, I had Maura grab you some clothes from your house last night, your bag is right outside the bathroom door." Grace silently does as she's told
Inside the shower she inhales the steam from the hot water, rubbing the soap over her body, she feels numb. She scrubs at her arms and face, still feeling the blood spatters and the touch of the stranger who took her parents' lives; wanting nothing more than to forget. She grimaces at the feeling of shampoo getting into the cut on her head and tries to scrub the dried remnants of blood out of her chocolaty brown tresses.
After stepping out of the shower, she wraps the towel around her body, looking in the mirror noting the bruises that had worsened overnight. She pulled out the clothes that were picked for her, one of her field hockey jackets, some jeans, her vans and a tank top. She puts the clothes on and leaves the others given to her at the police station by the door, never wanting to see them again. Jane is waiting in the kitchen with a plate of scrambled eggs and a mug of coffee.
"You have to go to work now?" Grace sits at the counter but ignores the food in front of her, tending to the warm mug of caffeine. Jane nods and pushes the plate closer to Grace
"You need to come with me. I hate to ask you to do this, but we need to ask you some more questions."
Grace shrugs "Okay" She hops off the stool "Ready when you are."
The two arrive at the station and are greeted by Korsak and Frankie
"Hey kid, how you doing today?" Frankie pulls her into a hug as she shrugs. Jane pulls her brother aside
"Frankie, can you take Grace down to the café and see if Ma's persistence can get her to eat something, because I can't. I need to see if Maura got anything from the blood samples or her clothes."
"Okay." He signals to his little cousin "Hey G, c'mere. We're gonna go downstairs and see what Ma's got cookin'. C'mon." She follows him out of the room, leaving Jane and Korsak
"How's she doing?" Korsak asks with a sympathetic look in his eyes and Jane just shrugs and shakes her head "How are you doing?"
"Better than her. She's barely said anything and I woke her up from what sounded like one hell of a nightmare this morning." Jane grabs her coffee "All I know is this is going to be one long road…" She heads downstairs to find Maura in the lab.
"Hey Maur, got anything?"
Maura looks disappointed "No. The blood samples are from her parents' arterial spray, no DNA in her nail scrapings and there are no foreign fibers on any of her clothing." Jane shakes her head
"No one is that good their first time out. This person must have experience. I'll have Korsak look through records to see if there are any cases similar to this one. Either this is a practiced serial killer or he had one hell of a teacher."
"Jane, we'll catch this guy." Maura tries to encourage her knowing there are never any guarantees in this job. "Oh and Jane… one more thing. There is no foreign DNA on the tea cup found at the crime scene." Jane stops in her tracks towards the doors
"What tea cup?" Maura is taken back, thinking that Korsak or Frankie would have told her about that already. She does not answer verbally but holds up a picture, of a tea cup, smashed to pieces, but it is apparent there is a yellow banner around the middle of the cup and Jane nearly passes out.
"Hey Ma" Frankie escorts Grace over to one of the tables in the café.
"Hey kids" She walks over to the table with two plates of bunny pancakes and places them in front of them both, Grace looks down at them and lets out a half smile
"Hey Aunt Angie" Angela pulls Grace into a hug and kisses the top of her head. She is the first person not to ask how she's doing and it is refreshing. She gets a sympathetic smile from her Aunt before she returns back to work. Frankie and Grace sit in silence for a few minutes before he decides to try to get her to talk, about anything.
"You still like coffee with your sugar?" He smiles at her as he pushes the sugar shaker over towards her side of the table
"Yeah thanks." Noting his sarcasm she pours sugar into her mug before taking a small bite of her pancake "So how long have you been part of homicide?" She strikes up a conversation, not wanting to talk about her parents or herself
"Uh, this is my first official case." His eyes sadden
"Talk about irony." He grabs her hand and starts to say something but she stops him "Don't. Okay?" Her tone isn't harsh and yet there is a firmness to it that tells Frankie not to interrupt "I know you're sorry. I know this sucks but saying it over and over again, isn't going to change the fact that it happened. It isn't going to make anything better… It isn't going to bring them back." She looks at him wanting to cry, but also harboring a hint of anger, which passes quickly as she realizes that he lost loved ones too. "I'm sorry." She shakes her head
"Don't be." He sips his coffee and they return to their comfortable silence as Jane and Maura enter the café "Hey, anything?"
"Nope." Jane shakes her head, her tone slightly giving her away to Frankie. She shoots him a look while taking the seat next to Grace, who moves closer to her. Jane runs a hand through her curls "Did you eat?" Grace signals to her plate with a few bites missing from the bunny's ears. Jane gives a knowing smile at her mom's age old bunny pancakes. "Not hungry?" Grace shakes her head as she looks past Jane noticing the other woman in the room
"Hi Dr. Isles." She tries her hardest to give a smile but it doesn't quite reach her eyes
"Good morning Grace" Maura smiles back at the young girl, wanting in any way to help her. Now that the two are sitting so close together the similarities between the girls are incredible and there is no doubt in anyone's mind that they are related. Maura has a hard time looking at the young girl, thinking how much pain she must be in.
"Hey Gracie, when you're done here we need you to come back upstairs with us so we can do another interview with you." Grace puts her napkin on the table and stands up
"Okay, let's do it." She lets out a heavy sigh as Frankie wraps his arm around her shoulder.
"Alright Grace, we're going to do something similar to what we did last night. This time though we are going to have you close your eyes, okay?" Grace looks with wide eyes at Korsak and then to Maura.
She is hesitant to close her eyes, because every time she does she sees blood, and hears the screams of her parents. She doesn't close her eyes and Maura senses her uneasiness and takes a hold of her hands. Grace's eyes lock into Maura's and she gives an encouraging nod, and Grace closes her eyes. Maura feels Grace's hands release some tension and signals for Korsak to start.
"Okay, we're going to walk through what happened last night and I need you to focus on not only what you saw, but what you heard, smelt, felt, anything else that you haven't told us yet that may help us find out who this man is." Grace nods her head with her eyes squeezed shut tightly. "Okay, whenever you're ready"
"Alright…" Grace shuts her eyes even tighter as she sighs deeply, dreading reliving the night before "It's dim in the hallway, and nearly pitch black downstairs. It's eerily quiet. Wait…" She pauses and sits up a little straighter, tensing her body again and Maura and Korsak both lean in a little further waiting for her to continue "there's a shuffling sound, but it's quiet like I almost wouldn't notice it, except right after that there's a shattering sound, like a ceramic plate or something." A silent tear slides down Grace's cheek "I start down the stairs, when I get closer to the bottom I can hear muffled shouting. It's my parent's voices."
"Do you hear any other voices?" Korsak asks gently, trying not to shake her out of her own memories. Grace pauses; her face strained like she is listening deeply.
"Yes, but it's a whisper, he isn't talking to anyone, more to himself, it sounds nervous or rushed."
Korsak and Maura exchange a questioning look "What do you mean?" Maura uses the same gentle tone
"Like he's talking himself through something, like he's trying to get himself to focus. He has my mom held by her wrists, and my dad is tied up on the couch. I try to move down the staircase, trying to figure out how to get to the phone, or to a neighbor's house but I step on the squeaky step. He throws my mom down and he runs towards me, he's tall so it doesn't take him too long to get to the stairs and he grabs my hair and my neck and drags me into the living room." Grace is fully immersed in the memory of the night before and she is breathing shallowly and grasps Maura's hand even tighter.
"It's okay Grace, take your time." Korsak shoots a glance towards the two way mirror, in hopes to ease the other two detectives' minds
"He forces me into a chair, one that isn't usually in the living room, like he knew I was there, but if he knew I was there why didn't he come get me?" She shakes her head, starting to come back to reality
"Shh, Grace, it's okay. What happened next?"
"He tapes my mouth and my hands. He holds my hands a little too long, his cologne smells really familiar, but I can't place it. He goes back to my mother and pulls out a scalpel."
"A scalpel?" Maura's voice is surprised but remains even
"Yeah, it looks brand new, sharp, unused. He takes his time; he cuts both of her hands and then her neck." Grace swallows around the lump in her throat. "Then he does the same thing to my dad." She has a steady stream of tears running down both of her cheeks. "Then he comes over to me, I-I tell him he doesn't have to do it, he doesn't have to kill me…"
"What does he do, Grace?"
"He, um, he, uh cuts the tape off of my hands, and he… He runs his hands through my hair and kisses my head… then he leaves."
"He didn't say anything to you before he left?" Grace opens her eyes again for the first time since the beginning of the interview
"No, that was it." Maura frees a hand to wrap an arm around Grace, who surprisingly doesn't shrink away but welcomes the contact.
"Okay Grace, believe it or not, you have given us a lot to work with." Korsak gets up to leave and signals for Maura to follow, but notices the look on Grace's face, dejected and miserable "You did." He reassures her "We're going to do everything we can to find this guy. Hang in there." She nods her head
"Thank you Sergeant Korsak." Maura sits with Grace for another moment, as she gets up to leave Grace's soft voice stops her "Dr. Isles?"
"Yes?"
"What's going to happen to me?" She fiddles with her hands "you know… now that my parents are gone." Maura returns to her seat and places a hand on either of Grace's knees.
"I'm not going to lie to you, sweetheart… I don't know." She shrugs and sweeps a piece of hair out of the young girl's face. "But we're going to make sure you're safe and nothing is going to happen to you, alright?" Grace shrugs
"It's just that… this guy is still out there. What if he changes his mind? What if he comes back for me, decides he made a mistake?" Grace's face remains calm but her eyes and rigid body language give her away; reveals her nervousness and anxiety. Maura remains calm and answers in a soothingly reassured voice
"I know he's still out there and we are working really, really hard to find him. As for your safety, we have detectives and police officers watching over you at all times, not to mention Jane and Frankie are always around and nothing is going to happen to you. As hard as it is, try not to think about him. He doesn't deserve to take any more of your time; he has taken too much from you already. We will try our hardest to make this man pay." Grace nods her head again, at a complete loss for words
"Thank you Dr. Isles, thank you so much." She hugs the doctor feeling an admiration and thankfulness towards the doctor that she did not have when they entered the room
"Please, call me Maura."
After exiting the interrogation room, Korsak signals towards Jane and Frankie "I think we have a little more to work with, don't you?" Jane nods her head and looks one last time towards the young girl sitting with her best friend, when she hears the words coming out of her mouth
"What's going to happen to me? You know… now that my parents are gone." Jane's knees nearly buckle underneath her. Although she knows that Grace's heart is breaking over losing her parents, she also is so fearful of what that means for her future "What if he comes back for me, decides he made a mistake?" The terror on her face is striking and Jane wants to burst into the room and wrap her into a hug but waits with bated breath to hear Maura's response, after watching Grace nod through Maura's statements she knows that the young girl has been reassured, at least for now.
We will try our hardest to make this man pay
"You're damn right we will." Jane whispers under her breath before leaving the observation room.
"I don't know how but Hoyt is behind this." Jane says abruptly while walking towards Frankie and Korsak
"Jane, we don't know that yet." Frankie says putting a hand on her shoulder
"How the hell else do you explain the tea cup, the cuts on the hands, the scalpel. They all lead to one thing… Charles Hoyt. Everything Gracie said, it all sounded so familiar; the set-up, the murder method, the-the fear." She tries to continue but is cut-off by Frankie again
"Jane…" He nods towards the door where Maura and Grace are entering
"Hey kiddo!" Jane tries to fake enthusiasm as her mini-me walks into the room, she wraps her in a hug and whispers into her hair, to ensure no one else can hear "You did great in there. You're amazing, kid." She can feel Grace smirk into her shoulder and nod her head, and that is all the reassuring she needs that she will, someday, be okay again.
Three days later, there have been no breaks in the case but the team is far from giving up on it just yet. Even though there have been no leads, that also means there have been no threats towards Grace which is helping Jane and Grace sleep a little easier. Grace's nightmares are just as bad as ever but she has gotten much better at hiding them. She has yet to go back to school and there is no push for her to return as she is doing her work at home and refuses to fall behind. It is a weeknight, Maura, Jane and Grace are all at Jane's apartment; the television is on quietly turned to a day old hockey game and the conversation has settled on a comfortable silence.
"Oh, it's time to go pick up the food." Jane says as she gets up followed by Maura "You ready kid." She turns to Grace who is half asleep, wrapped up in a big blanket on the end of the couch. All she gets in response is a mumble "Gracie?"
"Jane why don't we just let her be? We'll only be a few minutes." Jane gives Maura a concerned look but then loosens up
"Yeah okay, we'll be right back." The two women leave the apartment and walk towards the restaurant.
Grace stirs from her nap to a knocking on the door. She looks at the coffee table and sees a note from Jane
G,
Me and Maura went to get the food, be right back
J
She grabs the note and starts towards the door "What did you forget your keys again Jane?" She smirks as she opens the door, before she can get anything else out, there is a hand over her mouth and a hand in her hair and it all seems too familiar.
Ten minutes later Jane and Maura walk into the apartment "Sorry it took so long, the line was outrageous." Jane places the bag on the coffee table and notices that the blanket is still on the couch but Grace is not "Hey kiddo?" She walks through the apartment and there is no sign of Grace "Maura, she's not here." Jane is trying to keep her panic in check
"Jane come look at this." The note Jane had written is crumpled on the floor
"Maura is that…"
"Blood."
The same man, in the same outfit has Grace tied to a chair, completely restrained. She struggles against it and he places a hand on her head
"Please, why are you doing this to me?" Hot tears are streaming down her cheeks and she pulls; her arms sore and tired already. Without saying a word he leans in close and the familiar scent wafts through the air again and it suddenly clicks, her eyes widen with recognition "Charlie?" The man pulls the face mask off and reveals a knowing smirk
"Hey baby, miss me?" And before she can reply, the boy she confused for a man, shocks her behind the ear with a stun gun and she blacks out from the pain.
Frankie, Korsak, Maura and Jane are all at the original crime scene, looking around Grace's room for any evidence that could point to someone wanting to hurt her. Frankie is looking through her computer and Korsak is looking through the pictures that are on display on her walls and inside her photo albums
"This doesn't seem right; looking through her things." Jane stands in the doorway with her arms crossed, tears stinging her eyes but refusing to fall, not in front of her co-workers
"Jane I know this is hard but we need some idea of who we are looking for." Maura tries her best to comfort her but it is hopeless. Jane will not be able to calm down until Grace is back with her and she knows she is okay
"Hey Jane, do you know who this kid is?" Frankie points to a picture on the computer screen of a young man with his arm around Grace, huge smiles on both of their faces, Jane simply shrugs
"Doesn't look familiar." She looks through the pictures of the two teenagers until she finds a picture of the two kissing "She has a boyfriend?" Frankie turns to Jane with a look of pure surprise
"She didn't tell you?" Jane once again shakes her head "I'll look through her social networking sites and see if I can find him, try to get a name."
"Okay, thanks Frankie." Jane walks off and starts looking around the room, a room she had been in many times before while babysitting. It had changed over the years; instead of dolls and stuffed animals covering the room, it is now filled with posters, college pamphlets, text books and electronics. Jane's gaze falls on a BCU pamphlet and she picks it up "It's not fair. She wants to go to college more than anything." Jane smirks at the thought of someone wanting to be like her "She wants to major in criminal psychology; she always said she wants to help me and Frankie stop the bad guys." Jane shakes her head and tears instantly start to fall out of her control as she looks into Maura's concerned green eyes.
"She will, you guys will beat this bad guy. She will come back and she will go to college. She's a bright girl… smart enough to stay alive until we can find her."
Grace finally comes to. She looks around to gain a better understanding of her surroundings and realizes she's in a basement. Her vision is cloudy and it's dark, but it is definitely a basement. She's alone. Her mind instantly starts running through a list of ideas of how to get out, how to break her bindings. She hears no movement from upstairs which means she is in no danger for the moment. She can't think of anything. She can't even focus on one thought at a time her head is pounding so badly.
"Jane." Frankie's tone of voice is extremely serious as he walks towards his older sister
"Yeah Frankie, what do you have?" He slaps a piece of paper down on her desk
"Nathaniel Hoyt. That's this punk's name. He has a record a mile long; auto theft, gang affiliations, arson and…"
"And what Frankie?" Maura and Jane hang on to the end of his sentence, dreading the words to come out of his mouth
"…Assault and battery and sexual assault charges." Jane's stomach drops
"Oh God."
"Yeah but get this…"
"That isn't all of it?"
"Afraid not… On all of his social networking sites and even on some class rosters he goes by Charlie."
"Charlie Hoyt. Are you kidding me?" Jane's head begins to spin slightly, at the thought that there is another one of him and that this time, he has her baby cousin.
"Charles is his middle name."
"Could Hoyt be Nathaniel's father?" Jane thinks of all of the possibilities "Oh God."
Grace is still sitting in the basement when she notices a tea cup sitting on the edge of an old coffee table. There is an old, disgusting couch, with pillows on it. She shuffles herself and the old wooden chair over to the couch and manages to knock the cup onto the carpet. She uses her legs which he forgot to tie up to put the cushion on top of it. She stomps down as hard as she can to shatter the cup, it works on the third try and she struggles to get a shard large enough to cut through the tape. She manages somehow to get it into her grasp and pushes as hard as she can to shove the broken glass into the adhesive bindings. She is about halfway through the tape when she hears the door at the top of the stairs swing open and footsteps on the stairs.
"Shit." She tries to get back to where she was before he left but it is no use, he is down the stairs too quickly
"Gracie" his voice has a mocking tone to it "I knew you were smart baby, that's just one of the things I love about you." He grabs the back of the chair and slides it over the concrete floor "but I never thought you would ever use your smarts to get away from me. Isn't that what you said? You love me and we'll be together forever?" A single tear rolls down Grace's cheek at the memory of the first time they had said I love you to one another, and with her silence he gets angry "YOU THINK I CAN'T SEE IT? YOU THINK I'M BLIND? I see the way you look at the other guys at school. Gracie, baby I know that you've been feeling distant and I know that you have been trying to get away from me… But that's fine because I only needed you to love me until I could put my final plan into action. Until my adoptive parents went away for the week and I could get you here all by ourselves. So I could take my time finishing what he started." He rips the tape off of her mouth
"What who started?" She wishes her words didn't sound so weak, she wishes there was some venom behind them but there is just sadness and defeat
"My father… My biological father. Charles Hoyt." Her eyes widen at the realization and he releases an eerie grin "For a smart girl you can really be so stupid, Grace. I would have thought you would've figured it out by now, or at least that your cousin would have warned you about people like me." He slaps the tape back over her mouth "Now Grace, we're gonna take a little ride."
We're heading over to the Rice household, Nathaniel's adoptive family." Jane tells Maura on the way out "We'll keep you posted."
They bust through the door of the house "clear!" is yelled throughout the house
"No sign of them." Jane finds Frankie "This can't be happening Frankie." She shakes her head again while observing the house, until she notices a note on the counter
To Detective Jane Rizzoli,
Well done. I congratulate you on getting this far. My father and I have a saying 'If you can't finish something, entrust an individual to finish it for you. Never leave anything undone'. So, that is exactly what I'm doing. I am attending to some unfinished business for my father.
See you soon,
Charlie Hoyt
"That little bastard." Jane slams the note back down on the counter before re-reading the note
"Unfinished business… unfinished business… What the hell-" Jane's mind instantly goes to her memories of all of the places she had encounters with Hoyt; her apartment, the jail, the hospital, the field where she shot him. "That's it! I know where he took her." They drive as fast as they can to the outer part of the city near the train tracks; blaring the sirens.
He had used the stun gun on her again in order to get her into the van. They take a sharp turn and she rolls into the side of the car which causes her to become alert and awake. Her mind scans her surrounding area. She can hear him humming to himself in the front, as if she weren't there, like he wasn't doing anything wrong. The most terrifying part of this is that she knows he doesn't see anything wrong with what he's doing; it all makes perfect sense to him. She feels the jolt of a quick stop and the interior lights turn on as the driver's door swings open. She braces herself for him to open the back doors of the van but there is no sign of him for quite a while. All she can hear is the sound of her own heartbeat and her rapid breathing. After another few minutes that stretch on like hours, the double doors of the industrial work van fly open as he jumps inside.
"Gracie, wake up baby, it's time to finish what we've started." He sounds cheerful, like the way she's always known him "Let's go baby." He starts to pick her up to get her out of the van and she does the only thing she can think to do which is kick and flail, anything so he can't hold her. It's no defense against his strength; he gets a hold on both of her ankles and drags her out of the vehicle, causing her to hit her head on an old trailer hitch. She winces at the pain but is too focused on getting out of his grip
"Now, now Gracie… You need to calm down. This is going to be an enjoyable experience… Savor this moment because once it's gone, it's gone and neither one of us can ever get it back, right baby?" This causes another idea to pop into her head, to play up that mindset, in hopes that someone would come.
All she had to do was make him 'savor' this moment for as long as possible. She bats her eyelashes a few times and nods affirmatively at him, and this seems to relax him
"Good girl Gracie, I'm glad to see you're finally seeing things from my perspective." He rips the tape off of her mouth and runs his hands through her long curly hair
"Charlie, you've been right all along… You deserve to have me here; all to yourself." He nuzzles her neck and takes a deep inhale "You were right." There is a sharp object at her throat almost immediately "You were right." This time it is just a whisper as she prays that he doesn't want this moment over already, that he doesn't grow bored, she prays that someone is coming for her. He runs the scalpel along her sensitive, smooth skin and he hums to himself.
"Say it again baby?"
"You were right, baby, you deserve what you're gonna get."
"Okay Maura, yeah meet us there, Okay bye. Alright Frankie, it's right up here on the right. Turn the lights and siren off. We don't want to spook him." Jane prepares to jump out of the cruiser, they pull up behind a large, blue industrial sized van with tinted windows, and they all know they found her.
Charlie has cut slashes in Grace's neck, chest and arms. He is lying on top of her, pinning her down to the dirt and it is clear that she has given answers to his incessant questions that he did not agree with, there are bruises already forming on her cheek and around her right eye
"You know baby, it has been really fun, but it seems you've distracted me from my work. I knew that would happen; you're so beautiful how could I not be distracted? I can't help myself." He runs his hand under her shirt and on her torso "But, I have one very important job left to me by my father; take care of you and then your cousin, Detective Rizzoli." At the mention of Jane's name Grace starts to struggle again, he grabs her throat and pushes down "STOP IT! Stop! You know I have to do this! YOU KNOW!" He stands up and pulls out a gun.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON!"
"Jane!" Grace's head whips around to see Jane, Frankie, Korsak and a few other officers with their guns drawn, then she feels the familiar hand in her hair and suddenly she is standing, with a gun pushed firmly to her temple
"Detective Rizzoli…Jane. You showed up." At that moment all of Charlie's attention is focused on Jane, his eyes locked into hers, so much that he doesn't notice her hand signal to order officers around the back side of the van to get a better shot on him
"Yeah Charlie, I did. I came just for you… and your father. I got your note. I know all about your job and I respect what you have to do." Jane moves closer to the boy without breaking eye contact with him, she keeps her voice steady as she holsters her gun. "I know what you have to do. But how's about we make a little deal, okay?" Charlie's eyes narrow "Now just hear me out, you take me right now, but you let Grace go. How does that sound?" She regrets the words that come out of her mouth as soon as she says them
"WHAT? NO! THAT'S NOT THE PLAN! THAT WAS NEVER THE PLAN!" He starts pulling on Grace and holding her tighter but becomes so irate that he moves the gun away from her head slightly. Jane can hear Grace's whimpers of pain and fear but continues to stay focused and keeps her eyes on the young boy. "Detective… You can't come in here and try to-to-to change the plan, you j-just CAN'T!" He lets out a nasty, maniacal laugh "For that, not only is Grace gonna die, but we get a live audience! How does that sound Gracie? Huh baby? Sound good?" He kisses her head and raises the gun back towards her but before he can pull the trigger a shot rings out and he drops to the dirt, releasing Grace from his strong grip. She struggles to get up and runs directly into Jane's embrace, releasing heavy sobs.
"Grace! Shh… it's okay baby, I've got you. I've got you. He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore. Shh…" Jane runs her hand through the young girls hair, being weary of her multiple injuries and then rubs soothing circles on her back as they rock back and forth on the ground.
The ambulance and a few other squad cars pull up quickly a few minutes later. Jane leads Grace over to the ambulance
"They've gotta look you over okay, I'll stay with you but you-"
"No." Grace looks terrified as she grips tighter to Jane's hand "I want Maura to do it."
"You want Maura to…" She trails off; it makes perfect sense that she would trust her more than these strangers, especially the men. "Okay, we'll wait for Maura, as long as someone looks at you, you have a head injury and a lot of cuts." Grace nods her head. Her eyes are open wide and looking back and forth rapidly. She looks in all directions at all the sounds and strangers and Jane doesn't know what to say so she wraps an arm around Grace who falls into her hug.
"Maura!" Jane calls over to her a few minutes later, when she realizes that she finally made it onto the scene. "Can you check Grace out? She won't let anyone else touch her. She's asking for you specifically."
"Of course." The two women approach the young girl who is still sitting in the back of the ambulance. "Hey Grace." Grace barely acknowledges her existence and they can tell she is a thousand miles away and therefore try not to disturb her too harshly "Grace?" At the mention of her name again she turns her attention to the Medical Examiner "Hi sweetheart, I'm going to take a quick look at you okay?" Grace nods in silence again as Maura examines the wounds on the back and front of her head and then analyzes the scalpel cuts on her throat, chest and her arms. "You need stitches, a lot of them." Maura places a hand on the young girl's cheek but then pulls her into a hug. Grace is shocked at first but at the contact of someone who truly cares, just like Jane, she begins to cry again, Maura stays there with her for a while, trying to soothe her. After her tears subside Jane speaks again
"You have to go to the hospital."
"No… please, Jane don't make me go." She wraps her fist around the collar of Jane's blazer "I don't wanna go." Tears roll down her paled cheeks
"You have to go but I'll be right there with you, come on babe; let's go." She lifts Grace up into the back of the ambulance.
At the hospital Grace has been given 38 stitches on various parts of her body, she has an IV in her right hand and she is still visibly shaking. Jane, Maura and Frankie are standing on the other side of the glass looking at the young girl
"The poor thing, she's been through more than anyone should have to go through and that's just in the last week." Frankie puts a hand on Jane's shoulder.
"I know Jane, but she's so strong, she's gonna get through this; we'll all get her through this."
"Why don't you two stay with me tonight?" Maura speaks for the first time since arriving at the hospital
"Yeah, maybe that will make her feel safer." Jane grabs Maura's hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze before entering Grace's room "Hey kiddo." Grace barely looks up "How are you feeling?" The girl shrugs and Jane can't help but see the much younger version of Grace, when she would throw temper tantrums and then refuse to speak, until she would tickle it out of her, too bad that wasn't the cure anymore. "We're going to stay with Maura for a little while okay?" Grace nods her head again, refusing to meet her cousin's eye line.