Disclaimer - These characters are not my own. I am truly thankful to Janet Tamaro & Tess Gerritsen for creating such wonderful, rich characters with whom I hope to have many more good times! Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, critique in a respectable manner - I welcome it!

Chapter Three

Vince Korsak threw a brief glance in the direction of his once-partner, Jane Rizzoli. The handsome young woman sat, hunched over her desk, one leg tapping to an invisible beat. The woman's shoulders were tensed and Korsak watched as Frost approached, lifting a hand to place upon Jane's shoulder. Clearing his throat loudly, the older Detective caught Frost's attention and shook his head. Frowning, the African-American man looked from his partner to the older man and shrugged. Theirs had been a partnership Frost was still envious of.

"What'cha lookin' at, trooper?" Korsak spoke up then, from the safety of his desk. Startling Jane when her thoughts kept her from her surroundings was not, he'd learnt the hard way, the best of ideas. Rizzoli glanced up, expression somewhat vacant for a slight moment until she realized where she was and who had spoken to her.

"It just doesn't make sense. Carly Anderson," Jane rose, gesturing to one of the half-dozen screens firmly affixed to the brick wall. "Twenty-two, came from a middle-class and seemingly happy family. Parents knew she was expecting, as did the boyfriend. So why is she dead?" Jane asked, clenching her fists as she held the gaze of Carly's image on the screen. Quite pretty, with pale blue eyes and a warm smile, Carly wore her blonde locks short in the picture her family had provided. The happy image of the young woman did not quite match the beaten face of the woman in the autopsy images Maura had provided.

No, Jane thought to herself, the ones Maura had had some assistant run up to the squad room. Jane had anticipated Maura would bring the images herself, along with the final results of the autopsy she had conducted three days prior. In fact, between locating the young woman's family and throwing herself into the investigation, Jane could not recall the last time she'd shared a few minutes with Maura, let alone even seen the Medical Examiner for longer than a fleeting second or two. It was this reason, combined with the dead-end they'd encountered in Carly Anderson's case, that had Jane on edge, tenser than usual.

"We've interviewed the boyfriend, the parents, Carly's brother. Carly's older sister, Hannah, wasn't even in Boston at the time."

"Have we checked Hannah's alibi?"

"Checks out." Jane replied, scrunching up a piece of scrap paper from her desk into a tight ball, her knuckles slowly turning white. The Detective didn't seem to notice until Korsak gently covered her hand with his own and she released the ball of paper, watching it bounce across her desk.

"Relax, Jane. We'll solve the case." Korsak assured her.

"It's just so frustrating!" Jane declared, turning away from her friend, placing her hands upon her hips as she moved closer to the wall of screens, continuing to hold Carly's gaze. "No leads, Korsak. We've never had so little information." Jane pointed out. True, there had been times in the past where they had had scarcely a single lead to follow, but they had always managed to crack the case, sometimes at what felt like the very last minute.

"I may be able to assist you." Maura Isles' voice filled the squad room as the treacle-haired woman breezed through the doors, eyes shining brightly as a wide smile danced across her lips. Jane felt her heart practically skip a beat as she tried to smother the overly enthusiastic smile she felt cross her own lips.

"Tell me something good, Mar."

"The deoxyribonucleic acid is not a match to the sample I took from Mr. Dawson." Maura announced proudly, speaking of the deceased woman's boyfriend. "However, it is a partial match."

"Meaning?"

"The father of Carly's baby? Related."

"Joshua Dawson has a brother... Benjamin." Jane announced a moment after she'd snatched up the file from her desk. "According to Dawson, his brother's in and out of the country on business and was in... Bangladesh on the night of the murder."

"What say we double-check that, Rizzoli?" Frost asked, swinging into action as he shoved his arms into his trench coat.

"Wait! I'll need my medical kit!" Maura declared, causing Frost to throw a slightly confused look in Jane's direction.

"It's alright, doc, we got this."

"You'll need a sample from Benjamin."

"We can take one." Frost assured the woman. Maura's brows furrowed into a slight frown as she glanced over at Jane. Rizzoli inhaled deeply; she wanted nothing more than to take Maura with them to ask their questions but had recently been informed by Cavanaugh that there was no need to actively encourage the Chief Medical Examiner to continue to dance the line between what was and wasn't her jurisdiction. Rizzoli had wanted to slap Cavanaugh when he'd told her in no uncertain terms that taking the M.E with her so often was not only putting Maura at risk, but took the woman's valuable time and attention away from other pressing matters.

"You should probably sit this one out, Mar." Jane heard herself saying, despite what every fiber in her being hollered. The pained look, briefly filling those beautiful hazel eyes, hurt Jane more than she could have ever expected it, more than the gunshot wound she'd taken at the hand of Bobby Marino, more than anything she had experienced in her young life. Drawing in a shuddering breath, Rizzoli steeled herself and allowed only the smallest of reassuring smiles towards Maura, who stood dejectedly as she watched Frost, Korsak and Jane depart the squad room.

Benjamin Dawson's cheeks were red, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill at any moment. Rizzoli did her best to refrain from rolling her own eyes; the man was a grade-A performer if ever she'd seen one. Still, he professed he'd been in Bangladesh, an alibi that checked out. Jane didn't quite believe it was air-tight, but refrained from commenting as such. The evidence, however, did not lie and she had no intention of using what Maura had told them to her advantage.

"I understand this is a difficult time for you, Benjamin." Jane lathered as much sympathy into her tone as she possibly could. "You and your brother, you're close. Must pain you to see him so upset, right?" Benjamin lifted his head, meeting Jane's gaze.

"Carly was a wonderful woman, Detective Rizzoli, and my brother was very much in love with her." Interesting, Jane thought to herself.

"Carly felt the same way, didn't she?" Gotcha! Jane allowed herself to think triumphantly as she saw the doubt cloud Benjamin's eyes. Feeling confident, she stepped closer to the man who had graciously allowed them into his hotel room. "They'd been dating since high school, isn't that right? You've known Carly just as long, haven't you?"

"I... I introduced them." Benjamin declared proudly.

"And the hit it off, didn't they? Which was fine, until you realized you had feelings for Carly."

"I kept my emotions under wraps, Detective. What are you insinuating?"

"We know, Benny-boy. Carly's baby? Your baby." Jane announced, revealing the ace in the hole she'd been hiding. A range of emotion washed across Benjamin's face as the words the Detective had spoken settled in. The mask he had carefully put into place crumbled ever so slightly. Jane almost began to salivate, she just knew he'd break down and confess. Adrenaline kicked in as she took a step closer. "You knew the baby was yours. You knew Carly loved you. But you also knew it would break your brother's heart if he found out you two had been seeing one another behind his back."

"Joshua adores Carly. We were going to stop seeing one another, she was going to marry him!"

"Ah, so that's why you killed her." Jane declared casually.

"I did no such thing!" The sudden anger in Benjamin caught the Detective off guard, although not as much as the man rushing forward, knocking her aside.

"Korsak!" Jane cried out, watching the 6"2 Dawson brother knock her former partner aside with such force, the older man stumbled, falling and catching his head on the side of the wooden table beside the door. Korsak's grunt filled the room as his large hulk hit the carpet. Jane felt nothing but adrenaline continue to coarse through her as she hoisted herself off the carpet and to Vince's side, knowing instinctively that Frost would have taken up the pursuit.

"Go, I'm fine." Korsak muttered, blood trickling down his temple.

"I'm not leaving you." Jane replied hoarsely, an instant flash-back slamming into her, one of Korsak breaking into the basement where Hoyt had her pinned, by the hands, with scalpels. Jane had told him not to worry about her, to help the other victim the deranged serial killer had capture. Korsak had told her he wasn't leaving her. Coming back to the present, Jane stretched her body, snatching a towel from the hotel bed and folding it quickly before placing it against the gaping wound on Korsak's forehead, applying pressure. Unsnapping her radio from her belt buckle, Jane depressed the button and sent the call out for an ambulance as Frost appeared in the door frame, panting heavily.

"Lost... him..." Frost managed, struggling to catch his breath. The young man tried to stand upright and failed, leaning on his knee with one hand as he used the other to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Damnit, Frost." Jane cursed, glaring at her partner only for a moment before turning back to Korsak. The man seemed pale, his breathing labored and she frowned. "What's the ETA?" Jane snapped into the radio.

"I'm fine, really, I'm fine." Korsak's continued protests sounded weaker than before and she worried he would loose consciousness. Wanting to slap him, she clicked her fingers in front of his face instead several times, calling his name as his eyes swam up to meet her gaze.

Dr. Maura Isles carefully removed the medical jacket she wore when she loitered around the morgue, neatly folding the garment and placing it on the back of her office chair. With hazel eyes sweeping across the area surrounding her, she checked that everything was in its place, ready for the following day, or worst case scenario, any time between now and then. Satisfied that her work space was impeccable, the M.E clicked off the light as she carried herself to the elevator. Dim shadows cast across the cement flooring and, being the last to leave, Maura shifted closer to the stainless steel doors before her, willing the elevator to arrive faster.

"Absurd." Maura scolded herself. "Achluophobia is completely irrational." Still, she breathed a sigh of relief as the doors swung open. Riding to the main floor of Boston PD's precinct, she stepped onto tiled flooring and offered Officer Harley Smalls a polite smile. The officer dipped his hat in her direction, making a note on her clipboard.

Several hours had passed since she had delivered the news of the DNA results to Jane and Maura felt a soft twinge of hurt as she recalled how Jane had all but told her she was not welcome to join the team, despite the fact that she often did. As Dr. Isles approached her Toyota Prius, she made a decision; she would go to Jane's apartment and confront her. The M.E had missed her friend over the last few days but now could not help but wonder if the clear absence of Jane's presence was done purposefully. As she slid behind the wheel, her cell phone chirped, breaking her resolute concentration. Giving a short frown, she glanced at the screen, her expression softening instantly.

"Valerie?"

"Hi, Maura. You're not busy, are you?"

"I am, but I'm pleased to hear from you." Maura told her old friend honestly. "Are you well?"

"I can call back later, if you'd like?" Valerie suggested and Maura considered it for a brief moment. Perhaps now was not the best time to confront Jane Rizzoli, with her temper not in check. Maura's lacrimal glands could not be trusted in such a highly emotional state.

"No, please don't." Maura said then, giving her undivided attention to Valerie.

"I thought I'd check up on Bass," The veterinarian offered, "Maybe we could share a night-cap?"

"I would like that." Maura admitted. It would be nice to have Valerie's company, she thought. The arraignment was settled and she ended the call a short while later, quite pleased with herself. There, she thought, Jane Rizzoli. Take that.