A normal crime scene
Jane just arrived and Frost came to catch her up.
"It's a kinds of bar fight, there are several cameras in the bar but they didn't cover the area."
"Are there any witnesses?"
"NO. But we can't know it's a murder or accident. The bartender said he went to the bathroom found a gang tried to rape a girl. He came to stop that and let the girl leave then they two start to fight. According to the bartender, the body just fell over and the bartender found him dead and called 911."
"Well, let Maura do her job and where is the bartender?"
"He is in the car with Frankie and Jane", Frost seemed pretty upset.
"What?" Jane asked impatiently.
"The bartender's name is Allan Isles, he's , uh, he's Maura's little brother according to the profile."
Jane kept her mouth open for a while and said nothing. She was really shocked. How come Maura had a little brother she never mentioned before and get involved in a potential murder?
"Hey , Jane, don't worry ,we'll work this out. And I really don't think it's a murder."
"How do you find that, huh, Frost?"
"He's sleeping in the car", Frost said, "How many criminals you have seen sleeping while under custody?"
"Just get him into the HQ immediately, and no one, no one can tell anything to Maura, understood?"
"Yeah, consider it done." Frost then turned to the car and left.
Jane sighed and got into the bar. It is a totally messed up now. Maura was there checking the body, Jane managed to calm herself down and walked to her.
"What do you think, Mar?"
"I don't guess, Jane. But there's no fatal wounds so maybe an accident. I just need to run some test and I will give you the result later today." Maura was cute and careful as usual, Jane thought, that's good.
"Yeah, sure, see you later then."
Jane then asked for the tape that the cameras recorded and gave her card to the guy who owned the bar in case anything happen.
Back in office
Jane and Frost was in the interrogation room with Allan. All the Isles looked attractive, Jane looked at Allan and thought, well ,especially Maura.
"tell me what happened" Jane asked coolly as usual.
"I served at night usually. There was a girl who got a fight with her boyfriend and he left. She stayed for a while and went to the ladies' room. I noticed that the little moon followed her…"
"Little moon as Anthony Dinozzo, the body? " Jane asked.
"Yeah, he didn't like that name. And I know he wasn't a gentleman so I went to check her out. And he was all over the girl then, I managed to get the girl out of him and let her go. He was very mad. He pulled a knife out and waved at me. I got a cut and pushed him away. He seemed ok and wanna kill me. Then he just fell off."
"Do you know the girl's name?"
"No, she isn't a usual."
"Yep, I don't think so, either" Jane said sarcastically.
"I'm telling the truth. Who is supposed to ask a girl's name who just almost got raped? You can check the shooting camera tape."
"What a great idea. How can we never think of that？However it didn't cover the washroom area." Jane continued.
"If you check the tape there may be a girl a little undressed running out of the bar detective. I don't think she's in the mood for another round"
Shit. All the Isles are clever. Jane thought.
"Sorry to bother, a moment please." Korsak's voice in the room.
Jane and Frost went to the watchroom next door and hoped for some good news.
"What's up, Korsak?" Jane asked impatiently.
"I manage to have Dr Pike examined his wound. It fits the knife. And…"
"What the hell" Jane said, looking in the mirror. Allan seemed to fall asleep, again.
"I am going to that, Jane. I talked to the owner. He said that Allan had been working there for over a year. He seemed under debt. And he boxed underground for money, which can explain the bruises all over his body." Korsak explained.
"He go to study at day and work until midnight? The sleep right now makes much sense now." Frost said.
"Yeah. The owner seemed going along pretty well with the kid. He trusted him with the whole bar."
"Well, Frost, you check the tape. Korsak, let's go talk with the university see if…"
"Jane, I can do that myself. You can go to the morgue. Dr Isles knew about the Pike thing and seemed angry." Korsak said feeling a little guilty.
"Oh dear god." Jane sighed.
"Well good luck then."
The Morgue
Jane stood in front of the door, hesitating whether to knock or not. Maura is a sweetheart most of the time, but if she is angry, she can be scaring too.
"Detective Rizzoli, you wanna come in？" An officer asked with a report in her hands.
"En, sure"
"Dr Isles, this is the final report."
"Thank you". Maura turned back and saw Jane.
"Detective Rizzoli, What can I do for you?" Maura asked. The officer notice the embarrassment and left immediately.
Oh my gosh, with detective and Rizzoli in the same sentence, I am really done now. Jane thought.
"En, en , I am just checking if you find something new about the body."
"Oh that, I just finished the report an hour ago. It isn't a case. It's a heart attack. Based on the body figure and alcohol test, I can see it coming. According to a study, alcohol is …" Maura stopped when Jane hugged her unsurprisingly. How can she do that? I am pretty mad at her and the whole homicide team. Maura thought.
"Oh god, Mar, I am so happy."
"What? And in case you don't know, I am really mad at you, Korsak and Frost."
"I'm sorry, Mar. We asked for Dr Pike because you are, en, are related to it."
"What?"
"We have a potential suspect at the scene. It's Allan Isles, your little brother."
"Oh my god" Maura was shocked.
"Relax, Maura. It's all fine now. He's the bartender there and tried to save a girl."
"But why did he work as a bartender? He has the full scholarship at BCU."
"Holy shit. His boss said he has debt and boxed underground for money."
"I want to see him right now, Jane. "
"Ok, but firstly, how come you have a brother I have never heard of"
Maura talked about the whole Alan story walking to the interrogation room. Alan is also adopted. But he seems different all the time. He is talented, attractive and good at sports. But he's also stubborn and don't get on well with their parents and her. On his 18th birthday, he just left without saying goodbye.
"I knew he went to BCU. But I am afraid to make it worse to go talk to him surprisingly. I thought he would do well. I mean, with his GPA and sport background, he can go to any university with scholarship. I can't imagine he have to box for money…"Maura said worriedly.
"Hey, come on. This is not your fault. But seriously, he went to university at 18?"
"Like I said, he's very smart with IQ of 138. Jane, I'm so sorry to keep it from you. It's just hard to explain."
"It's okay. Come inside and talk to him."
"No, I can't. Jane, could you ask him about the debt thing please? I'll go to the watch room."
"Fine. But it's your abuse of power this time."
In the watching room, Maura watched with tears in her eyes. Her little brother becomes thinner, taller and more mature.
"Allan, we checked your bank account and found it very interesting. Do you wanna explain?"
"I think it's irrelevant."
"Let me explain the situation for you, young man. You answer any question as detailed as you can and let's see if there's chance you walk free. Or you can go to prison this night." Jane had to play hard.
"Fine. I opened a finance company last year. It went really well at start. I use the client's money to invest and we share the profit. However, due to the crisis, it ended badly. And I had to pay for the loss according to the deal."
"Alright, you are a free man now."
"What's the hell is going on…" Alan said when Maura opened the door and came in.
"Hi sis", Alan tried to stand up but the cuff restricted him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought you were enjoying your university life…" Maura was always a little overprotective, well much overprotective.
"Hey, I'm fine." Alan massaged his hands which just got freed, "well, it's really nice to meet you."
Alan hugged Maura, "maybe we can go to dinner sometime".
"wait, are you leaving?"
"yeah i have to go to work and school" At the same time, Maura were staring at Jane with her beautiful eyes.
"you have to go with your sister or ..."
"or what?" Allan really doesn't like being threatened.
"or I'll have you in court because of boxing underground."
"Jane" Maura can't know what's a lie all the time."But Alan, please stay. We haven't met for 2 years. I miss you. Let's grab a lunch together at least. And I want to talk about you. If you has financial problems, I want to help."
"hey, I am fine. lunch without talk, or i am out"
"Deal". Maura smiled and grabbed Jane's arm, "let's go to lunch together."
"Hey, leave me alone, I don't want to get involved in the Isles reunion."
"Jane, you have to help me. I need to examine him to see if he has broken bones or something". Maura said quietly.
"Fine, I can enjoy a free lunch."
Lunch went well. They talked about news, work and school like families.
"Sis, thanks for the lunch."
"Come on, you need to visit my house and I have to examine you."
"Examine me for what? We had a deal."
"And I can break it anytime to have you in prison, go with us." Jane said jokingly.
It's not easy to see a baby brother you love with quite a number of bruises and cuts. Maura tried very hard not to cry out.
"Can you promise me stay out of it? It's so dangerous."
Alan felt guilty to let his sister sad. He didn't show his love much, but he wanted the best for her.
"Hey, don't worry. I'm a big boy now. Look, I really have to go. It's my shift, and there is probably lots of trouble since last night. It's really nice to meet you, and maybe we can go out again later."
Alan hugged Maura again then he turned to Jane.
"Thanks a lot, detective. See you soon."
"See you."
After Alan closed the door, Jane looked at Maura and found she was crying.
"Hey, dear, you alright?"
"I'm fine. Thanks, Jane. Would you mind to leave me alone? I really need some space."
"Sure, sure. Just call me or come over anytime you want, ok?" Jane totally understand Maura.
Then both Jane and Alan left, having no idea what a mistake they had made.
The bar
Alan really appreciated that the boss didn't fire him. But he knew he had to watch his back for a while now. Around 9 o'clock, there were only few people in the bar. Then a gangster walked to him, saying "come with me." Alan knew he's from the little moon team and he had to try to stay out of this.
"Sorry, dude. I have to work right now, maybe later."
The gangster seemed having expected that, then he showed a picture in his cell to Alan."How about right now?"
Alan saw the picture. Those monsters! Maura was tied in a chair. Alan said nothing, following the gangster. Then he looked back at his boss to make sure he knew what was happening.
"Hey, hurry up." The gangster pushed Alan hard.
Alan sat in the car, thinking how he could save Maura. Those gangs are easy to angry, proud and cruel. Hopefully they would let her go when they saw Alan. The car stopped in front of an old factory.
There were lots of people in the room with a same tattoo in the room which makes things worse. Alan saw Maura sitting there helplessly. He forced him to face with the leader instead of running to his sister. The leader was Moon's litter brother. Clearly he wanted to revenge.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to suffer and die slowly."
"I'm already here, just let her go."
"No, no", he smiled,"I think you'll suffer more when she is watching. " Maura just cried with a towel in her month and wished Jane can come here.
"Come on, I'm the one to punish. Just let her go."
"Hey, relax. I am a gentleman, she can leave when I am done with the fun."
"30 minutes, maybe? It's gonna destroy your reputation, you know, if you threaten a woman without a reason."
Alan realized he may do something wrong when he got a punch in the stomach. It was so painful that he had to bend down. The leader held his hair and said "my brother's death isn't a reason? One hour and I'll let her go. And we can focus on you."
Alan felt a little relieved that Maura was kinds of safe.
"Deal." Alan showed his hand.
All the gangsters began to laugh, but the leader shaked his hand and suddenly he broke Alan's index finger. Alan shouted and fell on ground. Maura tried to stand but got nothing.
The gangsters laughed again. When the leader signed, they began to put punches and feet on his body. Alan tried to use his arms and back cover his main area and wondered when this gonna end.
"STOP". The leader said and looked at Alan.
Only 10 minutes passed. Alan was already unable to stand up on his own and started to cough. What's more, every cough hurt.
"Put him on the chair and let's do something else."
Alan felt lift up and down rudely. He opened his eyes and found Moon walked to him with a knife.
"He used the same knife last night, right?"
Alan didn't know what's to answer.
Pah. Moon slapped him so heavily that he fell off again.
"Answer me"
"Yes"
"Show me the cuts."
At the same time, Korsak, Frost and Rizzoli had arrived to the bar. The owner called Korsak ASAP.
"Where do you think they may take him?"
"I don't know, not so far. I guess, an old factory, basement kinds of thing"
"Gee, Maura still don't pick up the phone. God"
"Maybe they take her too?"
"What, you saw her?" Jane asked worriedly
"No. Just Alan didn't leave until he showed him a picture on his phone."
"Oh my god. Frost, can you locate their phones right now？"
"Sure, one second."
"Jane, Maura's phone is at her house. Alan's is ten miles away. "
"Common, move."
Alan pulled his sleeve slowly to delay the time. And the leader was really impatient. He threw the bandage away.
"See, it fits. I am gonna leave a permanent one here." Then he cut Alan right at the old wound. Alan struggled but nothing changes. Now he can hear his blood drop on the ground.
"Everyone freeze! NYPD" Jane managed to have the backup immediately.
She untie Maura and hugged her. "Everything is fine. I'm so sorry."
Alan was unconscious lying on the ground. Then they got him an ambulance, Maura and Jane went with him. "Relax, he'll be ok."
Alan felt comfortable but painful in a extend. He hadn't slept well over half a year. Then he opened his eyes and saw Maura sleeping by the desk holding her head in her left hand. He began to remember what happened when he saw the bandage on her wrists. He felt pretty bad about it.
"Hey, you're awake" Jane said softly."How do you feel? Do I need to wake her up?"
"No, I am fine. Let her sleep. Thanks for saving me and my sister."
Right then, Maura's head slipped and she began to count on Alan's chest. Jane saw Alan's face knowing that he's trying his best not to scream. she wakes up Maura.
"Hi, you are awake. You feel alright?"
"I'm fine. Look, I'm really sorry to get you involved."
"It's not your fault., dear"
"How long have I slept?"
"2 days"
"Shit, I can't miss my exercise again. I have to go to school now." Alan tried to get up and the pain forced him in bed."Ouch"
"Alan, you need to stay in bed to rest."
"But I may get kicked out of the team and lose my scholarship."
"Hey buddy, relax. I talked to your couch, he's happy to give your another chance when you come back." Jane said.
"Oh my god. Thanks."
"Well, we better have it settled right now. I don't think you can live in that area anymore. So I want you to move in with me and stay out of boxing." Maura sounded serious, "Alan, you had better agree. Or I will punch you right in the wound right now."