To Hell and Halfway Back Chapter 2
I don't own R and I.
Jane could feel the night air as it bit at her skin. It was a.m. hours, but too early too be morning and for some reason this bothered her. The night darkness suddenly seemed more ominous and almost challenging as she quickly made her way to her car. She wouldn't go anywhere, not just yet, just needed some space to put things into perspective. She sat down on the hood of the car allowing her body to relax into itself, just enough to regulate her breathing. She sensed Korsak approaching, but kept her eyes focused on nothing just in front of her on the ground.
"Could be a copycat." Korsak didn't believe his theory anymore than Jane did.
"It's him, it's his work." Jane mumbled the words not caring if she was heard or not. "Is Frost…"
"I've already got him checking on McFadden's status." Korsak interrupted Jane's line of thinking.
"It's him, I know it. I feel it." Jane pushed off the car, standing tall against the fear, anger and pure disgust that this man's name alone conjured up.
"McFadden got life. He did have two boys; one's a junior." Korsak again didn't believe what he was suggesting, but he didn't want to go back twelve years earlier anymore than Jane did. "Remember his signature was his initials and the number of the victim."
"So, you think this is his son? You think his son is taking up where daddy left off and the letters J. R. are just coincidental?" Jane agreed the theory was plausible, but she wasn't feeling it. She had learned over the years that her most effective weapon was her gut; cop instincts.
"I'm saying it's possible." Korsak watched as Jane's eyes followed Maura as she followed the now covered body out into the night air. "Come on, Jane. Let's get in there."
Maura's expression stopped Jane from following Korsak back into the house. "What is it?"
"Jane, I read about Duncan McFadden. He wasn't a murderer. All of his victims were alive when found." Maura's unasked question had been in the front of Jane's mind since she saw the signature.
"If this is him, he is now." Maura recognized Jane's tone and knew that her friend was in totally cop mode now, doing what she did best. She watched her slowly enter the house, lacking the usual Rizzoli swagger that Jane often walked with when she was ready to get down to business.
Maura watched Jane carefully as she looked over the inscription left on the thiry-five year old victim. The autopsy was complete, but Jane wanted to get another good look at the infamous signature. It was indeed McFadden's work as it was revealed he had managed to escape when the prison transfer bus he was in had been involved in a late night accident. It had happened twenty-four hours prior to what they now knew to be his first murder; tenth victim. Eleventh if Jane was included in the count.
The tension and exhaustion was clearly displayed in Jane's posture as she made her way up to the squad room and to her desk. She caught her head in her hands as her body dropped into her chair. She was tired, but she knew no amount of sleep would alleviate the unsettling that had consumed her entire body. She repositioned her self to lean back in her chair as Maura had pulled up a chair to her desk. Jane stared at her friend, wondering why she felt so lucky to know her. Maura had been her rock over the last year and she doubted the medical examiner knew just what her role was here with the Boston Homicide detectives.
"It was Korsak's case. Not mine, I was in uniform, bucking for detective." Maura nodded as she knew Jane would need to talk it out eventually. She sat patiently as Jane offered long pauses between her sentences. She wasn't searching her memory for these are the cases where you don't forget any details.
"I can't believe it took so long for prison officials to notify us of the accident and escape." Jane glanced over at Korsak who was engrossed in files; no doubt McFadden's.
"Jane?" Maura's voice brought Jane back to her story. Maura wasn't sure she wanted to hear the details, but knew she needed to if she wanted to be there for Jane.
"Nine women and girls had been abducted over the span of one year. Each one found, alive, just after another was reported missing." Jane looked into Maura's eyes briefly before lowering her gaze back down to her hands. "Each one had the same branding as our victim tonight. Only the letters were D. M. and they each had their respective numbers."
Maura again waited while Jane fleshed out her thoughts. "My partner and I were called to the scene of yet another abduction. This one a child. We were in the area, night shift." Jane rolled her eyes at the thought of having to pull the graveyard shift as part of her rotation.
Frost pulled up a chair next to Maura. Jane contemplated whether or not to share the details, but knew Frost was good for it. He needed to be armed with as much information as possible and Jane held that weapon for him.
"We immediately linked the abduction as part of the investigation. We handed it over to the detectives investigating, which included Korsak." Jane motioned with her head back toward Korsak who didn't seem interested in joining the group.
Jane returned her attention to her small audience, but Maura noticed she abruptly changed gears. It was if Jane was no longer talking to her, but to Frost.
"The search will be for somebody running or hiding. McFadden won't be hiding. He's deliberate in what he does, what he's doing. He's confident and secure. He doesn't make mistakes."
"No doubt he did, though." Frost had learned of Jane's involvement in the apprehension of Duncan McFadden twelve years ago. He had learned that despite her inexperience at the time, she had managed to stop him, arrest him and end the terror on the city.
Jane seemed to ignore Frost's remark, but Maura knew she had heard him. She fielded Jane's glare as she continued. "Payback is a distraction. It adds an element of risk that wasn't in the mix before. His strategy is now determined by me; if I am indeed the intended target."
Jane looked from Frost to Maura and back to Frost. "Those initials weren't a coincidence, Barry."
Frost nodded, leaving his seat and returning to his own desk. "Jane what happened?" Maura prodded feeling she needed to know the reasons for Jane's demeanor on this case.
"We were assigned to door to door interviews, talking to anyone and everyone who was in or around the area at the time of the reported abduction. We were directed to a small duplex not far from the missing girl's home. Detectives were alerted, but all hands were on deck and we were still short-handed it seemed. Korsak was lead and delegated Williams and I to follow up on the lead." Jane smiled briefly as a thought interrupted her story.
Maura expression showed curiosity so Jane shared. "I had studied and felt I was more than ready for detective. Just waiting, you know, to take the test; to prove I was ready. Kind of like Frankie." Jane smiled at the thought, but it was quickly replaced with a serious glare. "Little did I know how not ready I was."
Jane cleared her throat after looking around at the detectives and officers milling around the squad room. "We followed up like instructed and knocked on the door, noises coming from the house had me jumpy. Rookie thing I guess." Another long pause, Maura didn't mind.
"We were greeted by who we came to learn was McFadden. He was pleasant, polite and otherwise charming. He looked nothing like I had pictured; he was good looking Maura. Almost like a movie star or something."
Maura smiled despite the turmoil she knew Jane was feeling.
"We asked if we could come in and ask him a few questions and he refused at first, but after a little coaxing stood aside as Williams and I entered the house. There was a noise from the bedroom and McFadden grew nervous. This of course made us nervous and Williams went to check out the source. I kept my eyes on McFadden who claimed his cat was clumsy and he was sure that was the source of the noise."
Maura knew Jane's story was about to get ugly as she braced for what she knew she would regret hearing.
"Williams called for me, and the sound of his voice made my heart start to race." Jane placed her hand against her chest telling Maura that Jane was feeling the whole experience simply by recalling it.
"I grabbed for my gun, but was on the floor before I new what hit me. I heard a gunshot and Williams scream. We didn't know McFadden had a gun, we didn't search him either. Everything happened so fast." Jane paused as her eyes glassed over.
"Williams had been shot in the leg and had hit his head on the way down. I thought he was dead, but I couldn't get to him before McFadden had me pinned. I couldn't move and the next thing I knew I was waking up to severe pain." Jane blew out a long breath, and Maura wondered if she would continue.
"I reacted out of fear, I guess. I head butted him and was able to get away long enough to get to his gun. I had no idea where mine was but I was able to get his and I cuffed him." Jane fought against the tears that threatened, she hated appearing weak and Maura knew this.
"Williams?" Maura knew Williams had survived because he was the desk clerk now downstairs. She just wanted to lighten things up a bit.
"He's okay." Jane realized Maura knew and she laughed slightly. Jane was always giving Williams shit for riding the info desk, but they both knew what the had managed to accomplish as a team that day.
"The missing girl was there in that apartment, but it was too late. D.M. 9 was engraved into her skin." Jane's voice dropped in volume and tone as she recalled finding the semi-conscious girl. She stood, motioning for Maura to follow her into the locker room.
"What wrong, Jane?" Maura found herself worrying about Jane more and more since she shot herself last year. She rarely complained, but Maura could tell she still felt the effects of that terrible day.
"Maura I know he is looking to get revenge. Cavanaugh will pull me from the case, eventually." Maura watched as Jane began to pull he shirt from her pants. She stopped briefly staring at Maura. "I'm not just the one who stopped him, I was the one that got away."
Jane took a deep breath. She lifted her shirt and lowered her pants enough to reveal the letter D that was scarred into her body. Just above her right hipbone. Maura's eyes took in the Jane's perfectly toned abdomen with alarm. She had seen the wound from her gunshot as it healed, but never had she noticed the scarring that lie directly underneath it.
"I was supposed to be D.M. 10." Jane's voice was deep causing Maura to look up to meet her eyes. "He didn't kill any of them, Maura. He probably wouldn't have killed me that day either. Not his M.0. But he killed this one. She's 1."
Maura's heart jumped at she now knew the extent that Jane would go to in order to put this maniac away; again.