Chapter 7

"Holy shit!" uttered Cavanaugh. He was shocked. Did Maura just really tell him that she was the daughter of one of the most notorious Boston mafia kingpins?

"Excuse me?" he really was going to need that repeated for him.

Maura sighed. "The lab results prove that Colin Doyle was my half-brother. We shared the same biological father."

"Patrick Doyle," Sean said still not sure he was hearing this all correctly.

"Yes," Maura confirmed.

"The Patrick Doyle," Sean repeated as if maybe the answer might somehow change.

"Yes," Maura confirmed once again.

"Did you…." He started to ask but then realized that wasn't altogether fair of him.

"No, I did not know who my biological father, or my mother for that matter, was until two days ago. And I still do not know who my biological mother is," she added. "He won't tell me."

"You've spoken to him?" Sean was even more surprised. His Chief Medical Examiner was having conversations with a wanted felon. The conversation seemed surreal.

"On two occasions," Maura admitted. "The first time was here at the station when Patrick came to identify his son," she started.

"Patrick Doyle was in this building?!" Cavanaugh couldn't help the raised voice until Jane shh'd him immediately. He had practically yelled it.

"He checked in as a visitor using the name Selsi," Jane answered.

Sean was confused. "I've never heard that name before," he said. He knew a lot of the aliases Doyle had used over the years but that wasn't a name he was familiar with.

"It's my adoptive name spelled backwards," Maura pointed out.

"Clever," Sean replied as he thought about it. "But how the hell does a mafia kingpin waltz in and out of a police station?" he asked Jane not really thinking she had an actual answer.

"Someone had to help him," Jane pointed out. It had been something she was thinking about ever since she found Maura down in the morgue shortly after Doyle's visit.

"Son of a bitch," Cavanaugh mumbled.

"Language," Maura scolded. She had let his first cursing go without admonishing him given that she herself almost had that exact same reaction. But this time she couldn't help herself.

"Sorry," Sean genuinely apologized. Jane had to make an effort not to giggle. At least she wasn't the only person Maura did that to.

"He had to have had help," Jane said. There was just no other way that a wanted felon could get in and out of a police station without someone recognizing him. It wasn't too surprising that a mob figure like Doyle had insiders at the police station. Jane was fairly certain that every family had at least one or two contacts on the inside.

While Sean tried to wrap his brain around the idea that Paddy Doyle had been inside his station and no one had apprehended him he asked Maura another question. "You said twice. When was the second time?"

"He kidnapped me from the morgue two days ago," Maura had to admit.

"What the fu…" Sean started.

"Language," echoed both Jane and Maura before he could finish the word they all knew was coming.

"And keep your voice down," Jane cautioned. If there was an inside source in the station the last thing they needed to do was make any noise about Doyle.

"The man kidnapped you?" Sean asked. "My Chief Medical Examiner gets kidnapped from my morgue and I'm only now just hearing about this? What the hell Rizzoli?"

Jane knew he was going to be pissed. She didn't blame him. "We are trying to keep all of this quiet," she offered up. Korsak and Frost knew Maura had gone missing but that was it. And they thought it was just Doyle trying to get information about what happened to his son. They still didn't know Maura was related to Doyle.

"You keep things quiet from the rest of the station not from me," Sean stated emphatically. Damn it he was still the boss and you tell the boss about things like kidnappings. "Are you alright?" he turned to Maura suddenly concerned for her wellbeing.

"I'm alright," Maura reassured the lieutenant. "He only wanted to talk."

"He wants to know who killed his son," Jane answered for Maura. "He wants to handle the guilty party himself."

"I bet he does," Sean scoffed. The man was a ruthless, coldblooded killer. "And he thinks that you would help him?" he asked looking at Maura. Maura was one of the most honest people Sean knew. Clearly the man did not know his daughter at all.

"He's trying to manipulate her," Jane paused, "us," as she had almost fallen for the argument, "into believing he can keep Maura safe from the other families if he can send a message."

"Oh sweet Jesus," Cavanaugh uttered. It dawned on him just how much danger Maura was really in at that moment. "If they went after his son to get to him," he started.

"They'll come after me if they find out I'm his daughter," Maura finished the statement. That was the big fear. Maura was stuck in a situation in which she was close to becoming a pawn in a game of chess being played by rival mob families. It would be a complete disaster if word ever got out that she was Doyle's daughter.

"Holy shit," he muttered again. Neither Jane nor Maura admonished him that time. They all kind of agreed with that one.

"You said the hacker failed to get into the medical database?" Jane asked again wanting confirmation that no one had obtain records of anything. Sean nodded. "Then we are still ok," she said. "That's why Maura deleted the first set of lab results. It linked to her DNA sample that is on file. We blamed cross contamination."

"But the tests still exist," Sean pointed out. "There's a record of the deletion and what was run. Plus, Maura you re-ran the tests again and added a comparison to a 'John Doe #2'."

"That was Patrick's blood," Maura told Cavanaugh. "He offered me a blood sample so I could see for myself that he really is my biological father."

"That's even worse," Sean groaned. Both women looked a little confused so he tried to explain himself. "Someone hacked into our systems looking for information on Doyle. They wanted to look in Jane's case files and in the ME database. If they get into our system they are going to see that you deleted tests for this case and then re-ran tests plus added a new DNA sample for a comparison."

Both Jane and Maura still looked as if they didn't quite understand what his point actually was.

"They are going to want to know what those deleted tests showed," Sean said. "Plus, if they hack into our system again and actually acquire those tests, they are going to wonder how it was that you got a fresh sample of Doyle's blood."

"Shit," Jane mumbled and this time Maura was too stunned to admonish her for the utterance. Neither had thought about how they would explain how they got the blood sample from Doyle.

"Jane, if they ever get a copy of those tests they are going to realize that Maura is connected to Doyle in some way. A mafia kingpin does not just offer up a blood sample to the Chief Medical Examiner without a reason. They are going to want to know that reason and if they are good enough to get into the servers to find the deletions, they are going to be good enough to find that reason."

Sean was right. The minute Maura ran Patrick's blood for deliberate analysis against Colin's she pulled her connection to Doyle into the picture whether they had found her DNA profile or not. There was just no way they wouldn't question that blood sample and why Doyle had given it. If they had the ability to hack the server, there was no doubt in anyone's mind they would find the answers none of them wanted to get out.

"If they get into the system the next time," Sean pointed out, "they are going to be able to recover those deleted tests. You may have deleted the record from the file but it certainly still exists within the servers. Maura's DNA profile is on file. Patrick Doyle's DNA profile is on file. At this point everything is on file just waiting to be discovered."

"Shit," Jane mumbled again. She hadn't considered hackers trying to get into the server when she encouraged Maura to delete the first round of tests.

"Language Jane," Maura said still not able to help herself.

"What do we do?" Jane asked Cavanaugh. This was the woman she loved they were talking about. She had to protect Maura. It just couldn't get out that she had a connection to Doyle.

They were all quiet for a moment. This was more than any of them had thought they would have to deal with that morning. It was a lot to take in for all three of them.

"Do we know who tried to hack into the server?" Jane finally asked breaking the silence.

"I don't think so," Sean answered. "But to be honest with you I didn't ask a lot of questions when I heard about it. I can try to find out."

"Without anyone knowing why you need to know?" Jane asked. She didn't need it to get out that they were asking any questions about the attempted hacking.

Sean nodded. "I know the head of our IT security. We've actually known each other for years. I should be able to ask some questions and get some answers without it getting all over the station that I was snooping around."

The head of IT security for the police department was a man named Alex McKenzie. Sean had gone through the academy with him and McKenzie had been an officer for years. But as the proliferation of computers became the way of the world, Alex gravitated towards that and away from the streets. The man was extremely intelligent and as it turned out very gifted with an understanding of computers. He managed to forge a decent career within the IT department and today was in command of IT security for the entire police department. Sean was certain he could have a discrete conversation with Alex about the attempted breach and quite possibly get him to help out if they needed more information.

Maura looked at Jane. "Do you think it was one of Doyle's men just trying to find information on Colin's killer?" That would be the best possible scenario for them all as Doyle was clearly already aware of Maura's paternity and if it was him she wasn't in immediate danger.

"That would be our best option," Jane answered. "But we can't just assume it was him. It may have been whoever is responsible for killing Colin. They could be looking for more information about Patrick." Jane still had no clue who had murdered Colin outside of the fact she was sure it was one of the Boston families.

"That's the first thing we need to figure out," Sean said. "We need to know if it's Doyle or one of the other families."

All three nodded in agreement. Now the question remained how they would go about doing that.

"When…" Maura started up was interrupted by Jane.

"I think the best thing Maura and I can do is to try to solve Colin's murder. If we can figure out who killed him that may just give us the identity of who is behind the hacking attempt if it isn't Doyle." Jane stopped Maura from speaking because she knew what Maura was about to tell Cavanaugh. As honest as she was being with Sean she wasn't willing to tell him they had a means of contacting Doyle. Not at this point in time anyway.

"I'll get in touch with my contact in IT and see if I can learn anything about the source of the hacking attempt," Sean said. They should have time to investigate the attempt by now. "In the meantime, I highly recommend that you two keep all of this between yourselves."

Maura and Jane both agreed. They had planned on bringing Korsak and Frost into the loop but Cavanaugh had called them into his office before they could say anything. At this point, both could leave them out until they really knew what was going on. If the hacking attempt had just been Doyle, there wouldn't be a need to share anything.

They both stood and headed out of Sean's office after he promised to let them know later in the day what he found out about the hacking attempt.

Maura waited until they were at Jane's desk before she mentioned being cut off by Jane. "Why did you cut me off in there?" she asked.

"You were about to tell Cavanaugh about the phone," Jane said as if it was self-explanatory.

"How'd you know that?" she asked.

"Because I know you," Jane replied. "Maura, I don't want Cavanaugh to know about that cell phone."

Maura was about to say something when Korsak and Frost walked back to their desks with coffee, including cups for Jane and Maura, in hand.

"What did Cavanaugh want?" Korsak asked.

"He heard about what happened to Maura," Jane answered before Maura would have to. "He just wanted some details and to see if Maura was ok."

Jane looked at Maura and didn't miss the look on her face. Jane knew they would be having a long, serious conversation about that cell phone and what they would do with it. They just wouldn't have that talk at the station.

R&I

Cavanaugh couldn't believe that his morning started out with being told that the medical examiner for whom he had a great deal of respect was the biological daughter of an Irish mob boss. That's just not something he ever thought he would have to deal with.

He felt bad for Dr. Isles. He had no idea what she must be going through having just learned who her father was. Nobody's family was perfect but this was beyond the typical level of dysfunction. This little piece of family history had an added bonus of putting her life in danger.

He knew Rizzoli would do everything in her power to protect Maura. He was well aware of their friendship. Although neither ever said anything he often wondered if their feelings for each other ran deeper than friendship. Sean didn't make it a habit to stick his nose into the personal lives of his detectives, but he worked at the same station as those two did and he certainly wasn't blind. He'd seen the looks exchanged between the two and he'd always been aware of how they interacted.

He didn't know much but he knew Maura held a special place in Jane's life. Maura was allowed to do and say things to Jane that no other person, including family, was allowed. He'd never seen anything quite like it before. Jane had always kept everyone at a distance. She had people in her life. She wasn't a loner. But no one ever really got in close to her. No one except Maura.

He didn't blame her. The life of a cop was always a tough, lonely one. You just couldn't see the things they had to see on a daily basis and not have it affect you. But with Jane, there was always extra baggage. She carried around with her what she had experienced with Hoyt and that pretty much set her apart from the rest of the department. No one else had ever had to live through the things Jane had lived through. He had often been convinced that that it been anyone other than Jane that person wouldn't have survived what she managed to survive.

But Maura seemed to break all of the rules when it came to Jane. She broke through Jane's defenses as if they weren't really there. She was allowed to touch Jane's hands when not a single other person was allowed to do that. She could get Jane to do things no one else would ever even think to ask her to do. And perhaps the most amazing thing Sean was aware of was the fact that she could get Jane to listen to her. Rizzoli had a stubborn streak a mile long but if Maura asked for something, Jane did it whether she wanted to or not.

So he knew Jane was going to move Heaven and Earth to protect the ME. Given the fact that he was now in a position to know more about Maura than anyone else, besides Jane, knew, it was up to him to help Jane keep the ME safe. He would do what he could. For Maura's sake as well as for Jane's.

He left his office and ride the elevator down into the 'pits' which was what everyone called the basement level of the station where all the servers and IT equipment seemed to be stored. He hadn't been down in the pits for quite some time. If he was lucky, he'd catch Alex at his desk.

He got off the elevator and made his way towards the office he knew belonged to Alex. He hadn't been stretching the truth when he told Jane he had a good contact in IT security. He'd known Alex for 30 years and he considered the man a true friend. So he wasn't too surprised that Alex broke out into a large grin when the man looked up from the computer screen when he heard the knock on his door.

"Sean!" Alex proclaimed seeing the man standing in his doorway. He hadn't seen Sean for a few weeks.

"Alex," Sean greeted with an equaled smile. Theirs had always been an easy friendship. "How are you?" he asked not wanting to dive right into what he needed to talk about.

"Good," he said and motioned for Sean to enter into the office and have a seat. "Things here are a little crazy at the moment but good."

"How's Cindy?" Sean asked inquiring after Alex's wife.

"Awry as ever," he said with a smile. "How are you?" From the look on his friend's face Alex was certain this wasn't a pure social visit.

"I'm fine," Sean answered. "Do you have a couple of minutes?" he asked. He wasn't sure how busy Alex was.

"For you," Alex remarked, "I think I can spare a few. What's up?"

Sean sat quietly for a few moments. He wasn't even exactly sure how to go about asking Alex any questions without running the risk of perhaps saying more than he should.

After a few moments of silence Alex spoke. "Sean, you do realize that this whole conversation thing works a whole lot better when you actually talk, right?" He had been kidding but when Sean only slightly smirked Alex got the sense that whatever Sean needed to talk about was something extremely serious.

"Can I talk to you about something," Sean started. "Off the record?"

Alex had known Sean for 30 years and in that time the man had never asked him such a thing. "Off the record?" he asked a little curious by what Sean meant by that.

"I need some information from you but I'm not exactly sure it's information that you can, or will for that matter, give to me," Sean said trying to slowly lay the groundwork on what he needed to ask.

"You can ask me anything," Alex offered up. "If we tread into territory which I'm not allowed to discuss something with you I'll certainly tell you." That was the best he could offer his friend in that moment.

"Can you keep this conversation between us?" Sean asked.

This, too, hadn't been anything Sean had ever asked him in the years they had been friends. He immediately know there was something serious going on. "Sure," he answered and had meant it.

"If I told you it was absolutely imperative that I find out who was behind the attempted server breach would you be able to talk to me about that?"

"Which one?" Alex asked. The station experienced about 6-7 attempted system breaches a month.

"The one that just happened the other day," Sean said. Looking at Alex he seemed to realize that didn't quite narrow it down. "The one that targeting the medical examiner's database," he added.

Alex's eyes lit up slightly when Sean identified that attempted breach. It was what he had been personally working on for the last two days. That specific attempt had been the furthest into the servers a hacker had gotten in almost two years. It was also the one in which everything he had been able to discover to that point had disturbed him greatly.

Not willing to answer Sean's question yet he asked a question of his own. "Why would that be imperative?" He knew Sean to be an extremely level headed man. He wouldn't be asking something like this, with the look he still had on his face, just for the sake of curiosity. Whatever reason he had it was a damn good one.

"Someone's life may depend on it," Sean answered honestly.

Given what Alex had already found about the attempted breach, he couldn't even say he was surprised to hear that. He paused long enough to really take in his old friend. After a minute, he stood up and walked around his desk towards his door which he proceeded to close. He then took a seat next to Sean.

"I think you need to start at the very beginning," he said. He had a feeling Sean was about to provide him with some answers to his own questions about what happened with this security breach. Something in Alex's gut told him that Sean was about to provide him with an understanding as to why he could link the external system breach to a source inside the station.