Hey, guys. Thanks for supporting the sequel of Quit Playing Games With My Heart, I really didn't expect that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope that I can upload a new chapter frequently and that you'll like this journey as much as the previous one.

I'm grateful for your feedback.

Enjoy this chapter,

T73.

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I sit with Maura in my office and once again fly over the resume of my brother's new partner who should arrive any minute and then I first have to calm Frankie's temper again. I've been preparing for this all morning even if it doesn't take me much to make him shut up and accept the situation as it is.

Maura studies me intensely and crosses her legs which draws my attention to her. She's grinning because she knows that this movement keeps catching my attention no matter how busy I may be or for how long we have been married. "You suddenly don't seem so sure about your choice anymore."

I lean back in my chair and take a deep breath, clenching my jaw. "I know exactly how it feels to be set up with someone you don't know by heart, you don't know if that person is trustworthy, Maura. And I know my brother."

"He'll deal with it," she tries to assure me and smiles soothingly.

I nod slowly but frown deeply at the same time. I know that he will deal with it and that he'll get over it also. It's just the thought that Frankie's going to be mad for a while that's concerning me, and that he didn't have a say in my decision. I'm afraid that he'll think that I'm thinking that he isn't good enough for this job, or even worse, that I'll try to replace Nina.

I open my mouth to say something when someone is knocking on my closed office door and Maura and I turn our attention to it. We both know that it can't be Frankie because he's like our mother when it comes to closed doors that belongs to one of our relatives. It doesn't keep him from barging in.

Maura's looking at me and raises her brows before I say, "Come in."

The door opens and a young woman in mid-thirties enters my office. She is of average height, has dark brown hair cut short and dark brown eyes. She's dressed in a mid brown suit and a purple dress shirt. Somehow it seems that she is just as nervous as I am.

I lean back in my chair and furrow my brows. "How can I help you?"

The woman shifts her weight from one foot to the other and clears her throat. "I ... um ... I was requested, Ma'am."

My brows shot up now and I am about to growl low that the only woman in my family that should be called Ma'am is my mother.

"You must be Verena Nicacio." Maura jumps in and glares at me.

The younger woman takes a deep breath and nods slowly. "Yes, Ma'am."

My wife gets up to her feet and shakes Nicacio's hand with a smile. "I am Dr. Maura Isles and this is my wife Jane Rizzoli."

I make no move to shake the young detective's hand and keep a straight face. "Lieutenant Rizzoli."

Maura rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.

Nicacio raises her brows and glances at us both. "I know who you two are." She stops and swallows hard. "I mean, I think that everyone across the country knows who you two are."

I study her for a moment and quirk a brow which seems to make her more uncomfortable. I suppress the urge to laugh when Maura clears her throat and get up from my chair now. "You are supposed to come here in half an hour, I don't think that everyone is here already."

Nicacio blinks a couple of times and I can see that she wants to check her watch. "I ... I hate to be late. I think that's something I got from my mother."

I nod slowly and walk around my desk. "I put great stress on punctuality."

"You do," I hear my wife ask and I turn slowly my head to her.

"Yes, punctuality is the politeness of kings."

She's smirking at me and I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. I know exactly what she's thinking and that she actually is too polite to say it out loud in front of a stranger. I clear my throat and walk towards the door. "Come on, Nicacio, I'll show you around before everyone arrives."

Maura follows me with Nicacio hot on her heels and I can feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. "You are from Germany, aren't you?"

"Jane," Maura hisses and I look at her with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Born and raised in a town near Stuttgart, yes." Nicacio answers and I study her for a moment. "My mother actually is German, my father is a former soldier who has been based in Stuttgart."

I walk into the bullpen and glance long at the new detective. "So, this is where the action happens, usually, when you guys aren't in the field." I walk up to my old desk and trace its surface lightly with the tips of my fingers. "And this is going to be your desk from now on."

It almost seems as if Nicacio can almost feel that this desk is something special to me just like the one on the opposite.

I can't explain why Frost's desk hasn't been assigned to another detective or why nobody dared to sit at it until today.

Well, except for one time right after Frost's death. But that's water under the bridge now.

She takes a close look at the desk and frowns deeply. "Are you sure?"

Maura turns her attention to me and is grinning.

I take a deep breath and nod slowly. "I am." I look to the entrance of the bullpen as soon as I hear the voices of Frankie and Nina and prepare myself for a loud discussion.

It almost seems as if the two are discussing something that had come up during their breakfast and that amused both of them, but the laughter stops when Frankie sees the new face.

I clench my jaw and wait until my sister-in-law lays her eyes on Verena Nicacio. I clear my throat and say, "This is Detective Frank Rizzoli and Nina Holiday." I glance at my brother for a moment. "Frankie, this is Verena Nicacio, your new partner."

He stares at me like I've lost my head and steps closer to me. "My new what?"

It's Nina who says calmly, "Frankie." And it's her who's placing her hand on his back.

I don't flinch and I don't blink. On the contrary, I straighten my back. "You heard me right."

He steps closer to me and I frown. "Jane, I don't need a new partner. Nina and I are doing just fine," he hisses.

I hold his gaze and furl my brows. "Step back, Detective," I say warningly and the mood in the room changes immediately.

His eyes darken but he doesn't make the attempt to follow my order. On the contrary, he opens his mouth to contradict me, but then his phone starts to ring and he steps back reluctantly. He takes the device in his hand but holds my eyes.

It takes only a couple of sentences until he hangs up and turns on his heels. "I have to go."

I cross my arms over my chest because my brother is about to leave without Nicacio. "Frankie."

He stops dead but doesn't look at me. "What?"

I furl my brows and clench my jaw once more. "Take Nicacio with you."

Frankie looks at Nina and she nods slowly. "Fine," he growls but Nicacio hesitates. "Come with me."

Nicacio smiles tightly and follows him hot on the heels.

Nina smiles at me when she's about to head into BRIC. "He'll get used to it."

I nod slowly and smile back at her. "I know. It's just ... Neither of us Rizzoli does like changes very much."

She chuckles and nods. "I know."

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I have heard about the case the team has caught and that it could be one of the hardest they've caught ever since Korsak has retired and I got promoted because it's about a girl who hasn't even reached the age of a teenager.

That's the main reason why Maura said she didn't want to have Kent lead the forensic team in this special case, at least that's what she has texted me later that day. And to be honest, when I got to know that Frankie caught a child murder case I called our mother and asked if it'd be okay for her to watch Enzo for the rest of the day. Of course, she said yes.

These days I rarely work on cases anymore but have more to do with the political aspects of this job, but something told me that I finally should go back to my old self and trust my old instincts. I can't exactly say what it is that drew my attention to this case, besides that this is about a child.

I stand in the autopsy room and look at the lifeless body of the Latin American girl that cannot be much older than eleven with a deep frown. It's more than obvious that this little creature had been neglected and that she also suffered from deficiency symptoms. Frankie and Nicacio are silent while I glance at the body.

I clench my jaw and look at my wife. "Any signs of sexual assault?"

Maura's face is neutral but her eyes betray her. She's just like Frankie and me in some kind of emotional conflict. I can understand that every one of us is affected when there are cases in which are children involved, especially when you have children of your own, then it's even worse because these cases show you that some people are just monsters who stop at no one.

My wife looks at me for a second and shakes her head. "No, there's no evidence for sexual assault."

Thank God!

It's bad enough that such a young life has simply been wiped out, but if this unknown girl had also been raped before the murder ... That would have been a lot worse.

I take a deep breath and take a closer look at the slit throat, I don't have to ask my wife if that was the cause of death, it obviously is.

I furrow my brows as I hear someone clearing their throat and draw my attention to the newbie.

Nicacio clears her throat again and looks at Maura with a slight frown. "May I?"

Maura is marveled just like me and nods slowly while my brother crosses his arms over his chest. "Of course."

The young woman smiles briefly and approaches the autopsy table and takes a pair of latex gloves from a box. After she has put on the gloves, Nicacio carefully takes one hand of the dead girl in her own and turns the palm upwards. "I already noticed the calluses on her hands at the crime scene."

I am a little surprised about this statement and glance briefly at Maura. "So?"

Nicacio swallows hard and hesitates for a second before she says, "You don't get those calluses when you play guitar or violin, Lieutenant. You get them when you do hard physical work."

I stare at her and clench my jaw. Not because I am mad because of what she has said but because of the thought that this girl had been working as an adult even though she was just a kid. "You sure?"

She puts the hand back on the table and raises her brows. "My brother has been working on a production line of a car factory for more than twenty years. So yeah, I'm sure."

Okay, now I'm a little more impressed. I assumed that the children of a soldier would mostly follow the professional path of their father. Yes, I'm not always completely fair-minded and sometimes I'm ashamed of it. I mean, my mom has been a housewife and my dad was a plumber. Frankie and I, on the other hand, started a career in law enforcement. Tommy, too, in a different way before he revived the family business.

I nod slowly and suppress a deep, angry growl. The thought of such a young girl doing physical work is pissing me off. "Maura, how old is the girl?"

Maura hesitates a second and shakes her head as I scowl at her. "I estimate the victim's age to thirteen, fourteen tops. During my examination, I also noticed that victim must have suffered from a vitamin D deficiency."

Yeah, I figured as much. I cross my arms over my chest and turn my attention to Frankie. "Who found the body?"

He takes a moment before answering, "The body was found by a garbage man in a container. He immediately called 911 when he found the girl."

Disposed like trash. Nobody deserves that! Especially not such a young girl. I nod slowly. "Do we have a name?"

"Detective Holiday is working on that." Nicacio suddenly says and I notice that I almost forgot about her. "She's checking all of the missing reports, but we agreed that we're hardly gonna be lucky with that."

"Yeah," I agree and look at the young girl again. "Whoever she lived with, these people hardly will report her missing."

"We also must consider that she was homeless."

"Right," I say reluctantly. "I want you to find out the name of this girl. I don't want her to be nameless forever."

"We're working on it," Frankie replies and signals Nicacio that it's time to leave and to get to work.

I stay in the autopsy room and glance at my life for a long time. "You okay?"

Maura huffs and shakes her head. "No. You?"

I sigh heavily and shake my head. "No, not at all."