Chapter 10
Jane could barely focus at work the next day. She was tired because she and Maura had spent a few hours "relieving each other's stress" the night before, and also distracted because that "stress relief" had been amazing. When she first got to work, she just slumped at her desk and stared at the picture of Maura she had taped to her computer monitor, until Frost snapped her out of it. He had noticed her staring dreamily at Maura's picture and was snickering at his desk, so Jane wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him.
"Stop fighting, kids. We have a shooting to investigate," said Korsak sternly, but Jane could tell he was amused.
In a way it was nice to have a standard shooting to focus on that day instead of agonizing over their sadistic serial killer, but interviewing witnesses took until mid-afternoon, so Jane wasn't able to have lunch with Maura. When they finally got back, she planned to go down to the morgue to get a glimpse of her beautiful girlfriend, but Susie surprised her at the elevator.
"Detective Rizzoli," she said nervously, "have you heard from Dr. Isles? She said she was going by her-your house on her lunch break, but she never came back, and she's not answering her phone. Has she been with you?"
Jane felt like her entire world was crashing down around her. Without a word, she turned around and ran back out to her car.
She tried Maura's phone several times on the drive home, but it always rang and rang and then went to voicemail. She turned on her siren, only turning it off when she reached the block where they lived. Maura's car was there. That means she's home, she thought absurdly, even though she knew perfectly well that Maura would never just go home for lunch and stay there. She went in the front door and called Maura's name, but only Jo Friday appeared. Jane walked quickly around the house, her heart thudding in her chest. Everything was exactly the way she had left it that morning. There was the couch, where they had been cuddled up drinking wine just last night; and the kitchen, where Maura and Ma often cooked together; and the dining table, where so many Rizzoli family gatherings had taken place.
Maybe she's upstairs, thought Jane. Maybe she was really tired and she decided to lie down for a bit, and she's zonked out. She'll be so horrified when I wake her up and she sees what time it is.
But their bed was still neatly made with those purple satin sheets Maura liked. The closet was empty too, and the guest room, and the yoga room. Jane went back downstairs and tried Maura's phone again. This time she heard a very faint buzzing. She followed the sound to the back door and slowly opened it, already knowing what she would find.
Maura's purse, phone, and keys were lying on the ground outside the back door.
And Maura was gone.