Everything and Nothing 9.
A/N- I apologize for the delay folks, I had a really great weekend. ;-)
"So you understand what I need you to do?" Jane checked again.
Rondo affected a confused look and shook his head uncertainly whilst rubbing at his stubble filled chin.
Jane pulled out another twenty, a resigned look on her face as Rondo's puzzlement vanished instantly and was replaced with that beaming smile.
"I know it Vanilla. You want me to be a spy, but you want me to help out the cops too, like a double agent." Rondo summarized.
"I just want you to help out the Detective I introduce you too and then keep me informed of anything they tell you about the case. We are not exactly synchronizing watches here Rondo." Jane quipped.
Rondo looked a little disappointed at Jane's downplaying of his part in this mission.
"I got it, I got it." He said quickly.
Jane looked once again around the corner that she and Rondo lingered on and this time she spotted the person she had been waiting for. Jane signaled to Rondo and stuck two fingers in her mouth to send out a loud whistle. A few people turned to look in their direction and one of them was Detective Allen.
Jane hurried toward the woman, with Rondo slightly behind her.
"Hey Red." Jane said, with a friendly smile that was only small part grimace.
Allen looked perplexed, she looked over her shoulder to see if maybe Jane was greeting someone else.
"Detective Rizzoli." Allen said, holding her leather satchel in front of her with both hands.
Jane shook her head. "Just plain old Rizzoli now." She reminded, struggling to maintain the already withering smile.
Detective Allen nodded uncomfortably and then looked questioningly at Jane and her grinning companion.
"Can I get a couple of minutes of your time Detective?" Jane asked, looking around quickly to make sure nobody else that she recognised was around.
Allen shrugged. "I guess."
Jane pulled Rondo back around the corner they had just come from, with Allen following.
"So." Jane said. "I hear you're still looking for the main suspect in the Whitemore case and I thought maybe I could help you out." Jane explained, slapping a hand on Rondo's shoulder.
Detective Allen looked dubious, all deep frown lines and raised brows.
"He might not look much." Jane admitted. "But this guy is a reliable CI. I trust him. And he can cover the whole of Boston in a few hours."
"What do you mean? How exactly?" Allen asked after a moment of silently looking Rondo over.
"It's like the Twilight Bark." Jane stated quickly. Now Rondo looked almost as puzzled as Allen. "You know...101 Dalmatians, the movie, with the dogs, you saw it right?"
Rondo and Allen nodded in unison.
"When the dogs are looking for the stolen puppies they use the "Twilight Bark." to get the message out all over London and the pups are found."
"Soooooo? He's the dog?" Allen asked.
Rondo nodded. "I am the Dogg!" he sang.
Jane shot him a warning look and he quietened. "He can help you find the guy. It's up to you. I just thought I would vouch for Rondo, offer you my contact. Make things easier for you. I was there when that girl was found. I don't want this man out there any longer than he has to be."
"And you are bringing this to me because...?"
"Look, I know we didn't exactly hit it off." Jane admitted. "Maybe I shouldn't have ...interfered in the investigation, but I just seem to have been dragged in here and I suppose...I am trying to make up for it."
Allen looked unconvinced. "You didn't want to take this to Frost?"
"I don't want to get even more involved and I don't want Frost or Mau...Dr Isles, feeling like they have to keep me in the loop. I don't want my friends to be put in an awkward position...you can understand that?"
Allen looked decidedly suspicious but like she may at least be considering some of what Jane was saying.
"I'll speak with him, see if I think he can really be of any use, but you will have to promise that this is the end of your involvement in this case." Allen said firmly.
"Absolutely. Whatever you think is best." Jane agreed quickly, nodding her assurance.
Allen turned back toward headquarters and crooked a finger at Rondo indicating for him to follow.
"Goodbye Rizzoli." She called over her shoulder.
As soon as she was out of earshot Jane mumbled "Bitch." to herself and was about to leave when she caught sight of Maura Isles making her way up the steps to the BPD building.
Maura was dressed in a lemon coloured skirt suit, with a black blouse beneath it and black seams and touches on the suit, the shoes had obviously been made for the suit and as usual she looked as if she had just stepped out of a magazine, perfect make up and shampoo commercial hair, Jane would swear she could smell it from here.
Jane felt her heart betray her as she was struck by the Doctors appearance, she knew that she was supposed to be leaving but she stood motionless and stared. Maura met Detective Allen at the doorway and the Detective smiled and held the door open for her colleague and was gifted with one of Maura's own heart-stopping smiles. Jane almost called out in order to shift Maura's attention from the Detective to herself but she suddenly realised that she wasn't meant to be here and she turned to slink away.
Xxxx
"So how is it going with the phones Detective Frost?" Allen asked as she returned from showing Rondo into an interview room.
"I am making some headway." He offered, sounding somewhat unsatisfied. "I got in to Sophie's phone right away, she obviously wasn't very security conscious, but then I don't think she used the phone for much other than making calls so it doesn't give us a great deal of information."
"That makes sense." Allen nodded. "She had to change her number so many times and then she started to just leave the cell at home a lot so that she couldn't be bothered. Her house mate said she used the computers at work more, to email through the day. What about Adler?"
"He is a little more interesting, he used his phone for everything, business and personal, email, twitter, skype, text messages. There is a lot to go through but I am finding some strange gaps already where it looks like information may have been removed"
"By him or someone else?" Allen posed.
"Difficult to tell." Frost admitted. "I'm working on it."
Allen stood for a moment watching Frost's fingers moving across the keyboard, she wondered if she should mention the meeting she had just had with Jane. Allen had already gathered that both Frost and Maura were friends of Jane and the woman had just confirmed it but Allen trusted them both as colleagues, so why did she feel like Jane was somehow testing her? Maybe she was being paranoid and Jane was really just trying to help.
Frost raised his head questioningly as he found the Detective still standing there.
"I have a CI in interview room one, just going to see if he has any information on Harris' whereabouts?" Allen told him as she backed away.
Frost nodded. "Okay."
Xxx
Jane had returned to her new business premises and lost herself in loud music and manual labor. She found the decorating and the setting up of this place to be very gratifying and it even managed to distract her from thoughts of the case and Maura for a few hours.
Jane only checked her phone a handful of times and when she found no message from Maura she knew that the Doc was playing this all the right way. Jane had clearly indicated that she needed some space and yet this time she wasn't sure that she really wanted it.
As it grew dark and with an hour before Jane was due to meet up with Rondo she took to the street and walked the old familiar path around the unforgiving streets where she had lost everything in a single moment. Down by the place she had first spotted Daniel that night, the night she had killed him, to the alley where he had abandoned his car and into the building she had pursued him to. Tonight Jane didn't go up to the roof, there was nothing to see that she hadn't seen a thousand times before and she could picture how it looked, how it felt up there, without another visit. Jane shivered and huddled into her coat as she moved on.
She headed back along the road down which Daniel had driven before she had stumbled into his path that night. All the way to the house that had been that of the friend Daniel had visited earlier in the evening. The "friend." who was pretty much just Daniels dealer, had given a statement to say that Daniel's judgment had not been impaired that night, that he had been completely happy and normal as he left the house.
That friend no longer lived in the house, it was empty at the moment, nobody lived there, although Jane had seen many different people going in and out of there late at night. The friend had somewhat gone up in the world since Daniel's death and the investigation around it. Jane had tracked him down to a condo on a much nicer side of town. Most of the people who had been involved in the case were untraceable now, transient young people who had quickly disappeared. The only thing that seemed not to have escaped that night was Jane herself, wandering these streets like a ghost trying to find some missing piece, a final clue that could explain the way her life had gone, something to exonerate her, something that could turn back time.
Xxxx
Jane finally made it to Jewel's place and could here Rondo's excited voice before she had even gotten past the young women at the door.
"Vanilla!" He called, as he turned to see her standing there. "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" Jane shot brashly.
"They got him!" Rondo threw his fist into his palm. "Bam! They took him down!"
"You found him?" Jane looked doubtful.
"Vanilla. You doubted Rondo? The minute they told me who they thought the guy was and then they showed me his picture, I knew it. This guy had been and moved himself into a little place on the wrong side of town, walking around all hood up and drawing attention to himself. Nobody care who you are down there but it don't mean they don't notice. I was there on account of a friend of mine who used to look out for my cousin..."
"Rondo. Just tell me. They got him?" Jane erupted impatiently.
"Sure did! That Cherry Lady you introduced me to, she nearly wet herself with excitement when I recognised the dude. By the way, I don't know why you all hating on her, she's alright." Rondo said.
"You were there when they took him in?" Jane asked quickly, trying to keep Rondo on track. She really hadn't believed he would be very helpful, she thought at best she could get a little information from him on the case.
"I was, he made to run at first, but in the end he came quietly, no where else to go." Rondo nodded. "He was shouting that he didn't do it, he wouldn't hurt her. All that stuff." Rondo rolled his eyes unsympathetically.
Jane sat herself down on the nearest seat, needing to mull things over. It seemed a little easy to her, was the guy an idiot? He obviously hadn't hidden himself very well, which maybe indicated that he hadn't planned to do what he did that day.
"So, you glad you got old Rondo on the case now, huh Vanilla?"
Jane looked up at the proud man, almost strutting in front of her.
"Sure." She told him. "You did great Rondo."
Yet Jane couldn't deny the feeling in her gut that told her that this wasn't over yet.
XXX
A/N- Thank you for reading, I will try not to get distracted by weddings and women before I post again. xx
