Chapter 8

Miami- First trip

Nixon looked over at his travel companion. She had been staring out the window for the better part of an hour now. She hadn't moved a muscle. He didn't know her well but even he understood she had a lot going through her mind. He had unloaded very unpleasant information for the detective but he was more than impressed with how well she was holding it together.

He should have realized. Dean tried to tell him. He had said he had never met anyone quite like her in all his years of dealing with law enforcement personalities. And criminals for that matter. Nixon was slowly starting to get an idea of exactly what Dean had meant. Sure, he had read her file. He knew of the incidents and altercations Detective Jane Rizzoli had faced and survived. But what made the report didn't do justice to what she must have been through. How she had actually managed was never revealed in any report. And the detective never spoke of it to anyone. Nixon couldn't find a single interview she had given in her entire career.

He found that fascinating too. Federal law enforcement was all about the celebrity. The press. The interviews. The take down. Everyone was looking for the limelight in the FBI. That's how an agent made his career. Advanced through the ranks and up the government ladder. Nixon had spent years surrounded by field agents more concerned about headlines and spin than justice and doing the right thing. And he knew that included him as well.

His jacket was filled with commendations and high profile collars. And he granted each and every interview he could. Plus, he would admit to a select few he liked the notoriety. The celebrity. He liked the accolades of being called a 'hero'. It made him feel better about himself. Almost like if others called him that it just had to be true. But the detective sitting next to him had an equal if not better jacket than his own. Her reaction to that was the exact opposite.

Jane Rizzoli was different from anything Mark Nixon was used to dealing with. She didn't seek out praise or glory. In fact, from what he was able to see she shied away from it all. She never allowed her photo to run with any article in the paper if she was given the option. She had several pulled with some police pressure as well. She didn't give interviews. She never referred to other cases. And she stayed in the division she was currently in. Nixon had discovered that she was offered a promotion out of homicide but she had turned it down. That alone fascinated him. Who turns down a promotion?

He contemplated his limited interactions with the baffling detective as the jet worked its way down to Miami. From her refusal to shake his hand (twice now) to the questions she had as they spoke earlier, he could admit to himself he was intrigued. Nothing was as it appeared to be with her. And she had continued to surprise him. He should have expected her hesitation to shake hands. He knew about the scars on her hands. He figured it was a defense mechanism. It was the questions she asked that intrigued him more than anything to that point.

"It's clear by the file that you have more than enough evidence against Frank for multiple indictments." Jane started out the conversation after the jet had in the air.

"True. The USAG is confident in securing a conviction for conspiracy and drug trafficking."

"I assume then the USAG wants Frank's inside information more than his conviction."

Nixon nodded, "The USAG wants Montoya. Not a bunch of small timers. And Frank is a small timer."

"So is the plan to make Frank an offer? Testimony for reduced time?"

Nixon paused for a moment. "I'm not an attorney so I can't broker any deals for Frank. But I will say that the AG's office would be open to working something out."

This vague answer just served to piss Jane off. "So, it that what you meant by 'I'll be as truthful as I can be'? Really? You're choosing now to try and play semantics with me?"

Nixon was surprised by Jane's reaction. He then thought about what he said. It had been a PC answer. "Detective, I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that to me. Don't be. You didn't force Frank to do any of this. This isn't your fault. And look, I'm not trying to get Frank some deal better than what he should get. I'm not even sure he deserves to get any kind of deal at all. I was simply asking if the plan for him involves testifying."

Nixon nodded. "The AG's office wants his testimony but they, and we, want something else more."

Jane looked at Nixon for a minute. "The Boston distribution source."

He nodded. "Frank's testimony at trial would be helpful but it's not necessary at this point. We have turned others and Frank's knowledge of Montoya's activities is limited. His usefulness will come later for Ramos' trial. But the AG wants the Boston distribution source. And as we see it, Frank is the only person we have or could have who possesses that information."

"Do you need the name or do you need proof?"

"Both. We have virtually nothing on the Boston operation. Frank has done an excellent job of getting lost in Boston once he hits the city. We've never been able to get close enough to him to not lose him once he arrives in Boston. So we have no idea of when, where or with whom the drug exchanges occur. That's what we want."

"So you thought I could just what, knock on my father's front door, invite myself in for a cup of coffee and get him to agree to turn State's evidence. Is that the master plan?"

"Something like that, yes."

Jane smirked at that. At least that was an honest answer. "You may have seriously misjudged my influence over him."

"Maybe. But we see a window of opportunity here. The thing is we want to track the next delivery. To do that we need Frank. But our normal procedures would be to take Frank down and then offer up a deal. But if we go within 10 feet of him Montoya will know and there goes our chance at Boston. So we thought if you made the initial approach Montoya wouldn't know we were as close as we are."

"And if I try and he says no? What happens if he runs and tells Ramos or Montoya?"

"We feel it's worth the risk. If he does that then we are no worse off than we are now. But if he doesn't we have a chance to tie up the Boston end of all of this. The AG and my boss feel that trying to convince Frank to help is worth a shot."

"So all you want from me is a conversation?"

"Yes. We don't need you to make an arrest. We don't need you to gather any evidence. We just want you to talk to him. Explain how much trouble he is in and that there's a way out for him if he helps us. Truthfully, we were hoping having it come from you will make a difference."

"Again, you seriously overestimate my relationship with him."

"Perhaps. And I'm not one to judge family situations. But you aren't a federal officer. Your presence in his home won't unnecessarily tip off Montoya or Ramos. We know they both already know you are a cop. So is your brother. But you don't have jurisdiction in Miami. So we don't think they will react to you showing up to speak to dear ol' Dad."

"Why me and not Frankie?"

"Because Dean vouched for you and not your brother."

Again, Jane just smirked at that answer.

She never questioned the evidence. She never questioned Frank's actions. She didn't offer up any excuses for his behavior. She hadn't tried to explain Frank or try to change Nixon's perception of her father. She didn't even try to broker for some deal that would get Frank completely out of trouble. Nixon was definitely surprised by the detective. He really should have listened to Dean more closely.

R&I

Their first stop once they got off the jet was to head to the FBI field office in Miami. Nixon promised to get Jane to her hotel as soon as he could check in with his boss at the office. Jane seemed fine with that. They headed straight to the office once they got to Nixon's car.

"Nix, back so soon?" asked someone as Jane and Nixon walked down a hallway towards several cubicles.

"Gee Rogers, I'm touched. Who would have thought you would miss me?"

"I never said I missed you. It was finally quiet around here for a day. You can leave again if you want." The owner of the voice finally showed in an open doorway. He was about to continue to give Nixon a hard time when he caught sight of Jane and stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn't subtle. Even Jane saw his eye practically bugged out of his head.

Typical male idiot! Jane couldn't help but think.

"Nix, you are certainly keeping better company these days. I'm Special Agent Alex Rogers. Anything you need you come see me, alright sweetheart?"

Before Nixon could say a word Jane beat him to it. "Well, Special Agent Alex Rogers," she said looking at him from head to toe, "I highly doubt you could do anything I needed." She paused for just a second and looked him up and down again. "Very highly doubt that." And then she moved along down the hallway.

Nixon had to call on all his strength not to burst out laughing right there. It was a complete and total dismissal. It was perfect. Nixon heard the snickers and laughing of about four other agents that at least heard Jane blow off Rogers. He would relive that moment for months to come. But for now he had to quicken his pace to catch up to Jane.

Under his breath he spoke as he caught up to her, "I'm sorry about Rogers. He's the resident ass."

Jane couldn't help but think of Detective Crowe. "Every department has one. Or at least one anyway."

Nixon smirked and led Jane to his boss' office. They approached a door and he knocked waiting to be called in. "Come in."

Nixon opened the door and both he and Jane walked into the office. "Jane, this is Supervisory Special Agent Jonathan Sanders. Sir, this is Detective Jane Rizzoli."

Agent Sanders stood up and extended his hand for Jane. Nixon watched and wasn't surprised when Jane did not take the extended hand. To Sanders' credit, he didn't keep his hand out long and didn't seem offended when she wouldn't take it. Sanders had read Jane's file as well and know about the scars on her hands. How quickly he would piece it together Nixon believed it hadn't taken long.

"Detective. Thank you for coming all the way down. I assume by your presence you are agreeable to trying to help."

"I am willing to at least speak with Frank. I'm not sure if that will help you one way or the other."

Sanders nodded. "To be honest with you, I'm not sure it will work either. But I believe it is at least worth a shot."

"Are we all set then?" Nixon asked.

"It will be up to Detective Rizzoli," stated Sanders.

"Excuse me, but what will be up to me?" she asked feeling as if she walked into an ongoing conversation and was a little lost.

Sanders went to answer. "Two things actually. When you want to try to speak to Frank and whether you will wear a wire."

Jane was quiet for a minute. She first looked at Nixon but delivered her answer to Sanders. "As for when to speak with Frank, the sooner the better. I want to get this over with and I'd like to get back home. As for the wire. No. I will speak to Frank. But I will not be a party to having him incriminate himself. Don't ask me to."

Both Sanders and Nixon nodded. Sanders knew he had to ask and wasn't surprised by Jane's answer. "Fair enough. Nix, why don't you see that Detective Rizzoli gets settled at her hotel. We can meet again in the morning and Detective if you think it best we can arrange for you to see Frank tomorrow."

Nixon and Jane headed out of Sanders' office. Nixon stopped at his desk long enough to pick up a few messages and then turned to Jane. "Come on, I'll get you settled. We can stop for dinner if you would like."

Jane shook her head. She wasn't in the mood for the company of a stranger. "No, thank you. I'll get something from room service later if I get hungry."

Nixon was a bit disappointed but understood. "Fair enough. Let's go."

R&I

Where are you? M

In Miami for a few days. J

Is everything ok? M

I'll catch you up when I get home. J

Call me if you need to talk. M

Jane didn't type back an answer.

R&I

She never even tried to sleep. She knew it would be pointless. Still too much going through her mind about everything and now to be at the dawn of seeing Frank for the first time in two years was keeping her head in overdrive. So much had happened and not just in the last two days. There were so many things Jane had discovered about her father after he left she had never really had a chance to deal with. But she was now going to be staring it all down face to face with a man she felt she no longer knew. She doubted if she had ever known him at all.

Nixon picked her up at exactly 8:00 am. His only attempt at casual conversation wasn't met with open arms by the detective so he didn't push it further. He couldn't even begin to imagine what all of this was like for her. They drove to the field office in silence.

Soon Jane found herself back in the office of SSA Sanders. It was just Sanders and Nixon in the office. Sanders was the first to speak.

"I can't tell you what to say to him. I don't even know if this will work. But it's worth a shot." He paused and looked over at the detective. "We think his place is watched by Montoya's men. We can't risk getting too close at this point but we think you can get in without causing a stir."

"Is the location wired?" Jane asked.

"We don't believe it to be."

"So you are fine if my conversation about all of this occurs inside the house?"

Both Nixon and Sanders nod their head. "We don't believe there is electronic surveillance and it would be best if you limited the number of people who saw you interacting with Frank."

"How am I getting there?"

Nixon answered this one, "We have a rental car waiting outside with a GPS unit programed with his address. Just following the prompts and it will take you to him."

"Detective, you and I haven't talked about what the AG is willing to do for Frank if he agrees to help us," Sanders started.

"Excuse me, but that's not my business. I'm not really going to get involved in all of that. Frank got himself into all of this and he can handle his own affairs if he chooses to try and get out of it. I don't want to know any of those details."

Sanders was taken a bit by surprise at that but let the conversation go. He reached into his desk and pulled out a cell phone handing it to Jane. "If Frank agrees to help give him this cell phone. It has Nixon's number programmed. We will take care of everything else."

Jane took the phone and nodded. "Anything else?"

Both men shook their heads. Nixon stood up and handed Jane a set of car keys. "It's the blue Nissan out back. The address is in the GPS unit already."

R&I

Left turn.

Right turn.

Drive straight for 8.6 miles.

Jane dutifully followed the orders of the voice from the dashboard GPS. She was utterly lost. And not just from being in some unfamiliar city. As her car got closer, the anxiety Jane felt grew more intense. She was dreading the impending confrontation with Frank. But before she could rethink her decision she heard the voice.

"Arriving at destination on right."

She was there. Wherever there was. She finally took the time to look around at her surroundings. A trailer park. All seemingly run down. Including the one she now stopped the car in front of. She sat in the car staring at the trailer in front of her. Was this really where Frank lived? Was she really about to get out of the car and have it out with him? Steeling herself more with the desire to be at the end of this conversation than at the beginning, she exited the car and walked up to the side door of the trailer.

She knocked and waited.

Her heart dropped into her stomach when she heard movement inside and the door start to open.

"Jane?"

"Pop."

She wasn't terribly surprised when the door was shut in her face. What surprised Jane was her reaction to Frank shutting the door on her. She took a step back, took a breath and proceeded to kick open the door. She then walked in passing a stunned Frank.

"We need to talk Pop. Whether you want to or not. We are going to talk."