Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rizzoli & Isles. The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen, Jan Nash, Janet Tamaro, and TNT. I am in no way profiting from this. It's just for fun.
Oh man... Things have definitely gotten worse. Hopefully Jane and the team will get to Maura in time! :0
Vengeance Without Borders Ch. 10
Jane and Cavanaugh both noticed that Raymond wasn't outside of the room, but figured he was out on patrol around the corner. So neither said anything as they entered the room where their family was.
The Sergeant's panic rose slightly after her eyes searched for Maura, not finding her within sight. She tried to remain calm, knowing that wherever she was, a guard would be with her.
"Where's Maura?"
"She went to the bathroom a few minutes ago. Raymond walked with her." Abby explained, alleviating Jane's worry some.
Jane nodded once, then replied "Ok. It's probably the one down the hall, near that nurses station. Cav, you stay here and update Gibbs."
"Where are you going?"
"Down the hall." She told her boss, tilting her head towards the door. "I'm gonna check on Maura."
"Take Tony with you." Gibbs said, suddenly cutting into the conversation. "It's not that far of a walk, but you never know what could happen. You've got a target on your back, too."
"Yeah, you're right..." Jane sighed slightly, agreeing with him. She then turned to DiNozzo, who was just getting out of chair, and asked "You don't mind do you?"
"Of course not. Let's go." Tony responded as he tossed the newspaper he was reading across the room, the reading material landing with a soft thud on a table.
Together, the pair walked out of the room, closing the door behind them as quietly as possible to not disturb the sleeping newborn.
"Are you doing ok, Tony?"
"Fine, why do you ask?"
"Well..." Jane trailed off for a moment, trying to figure out a way to word things without hurting or upsetting Tony. "Abby named the baby Kate, is that hard for you?"
"It actually isn't. Abby and McGee told me about them wanting to name the baby that if it were a girl, a while back, and I was ok with it. It's nice knowing Kate's memory will carry on like that."
"I know Maura feels the same way about it... She seemed really touched."
"Same here." Tony smiled sadly, but also didn't have a problem talking about his late girlfriend. He moved past his terrible grief a while ago with the help of family and friends, also finding it helpful to talk about Kate. "I just wish she was still here with us."
"So do I." Jane was about to say something else, but suddenly stopped in her tracks at an odd sight before her. A single tan high heel lied on its side, right in the middle of the hallway. She rushed over to inspect the footwear closer, and sucked in a sharp breath. "Maura."
"Shit..." Tony cursed, also recognizing who the shoe belonged to. He immediately pulled out his service weapon, looking around the narrow hallway but didn't see anyone.
Jane did the same, and ran to the bathroom where she hoped Maura would be. Busting open the door, the brunette shouted "Maura!"
She kicked opened the stalls, but saw nothing. Her panic from early came back and quickly grew with each passing second, completely terrified for her now missing girlfriend.
"Tony..." Jane nearly panted, her breathing starting to get ragged from deep worry. "Go get the others, now! Tell them Maura and Raymond are gone."
"Where is he, Korsak?! Where the hell did Raymond take Maura!" Jane shouted at her partner, her eyes wide with fear and desperation. She wasn't angry with him, far from it, but the last person Maura was seen with was his friend and maybe he would know something.
"I don't know! I've been calling his phone nonstop and he won't pick up."
"She was just taken in broad daylight... And I wasn't there to protect her. I gotta find her!" Jane yelled, looking as thought she were about to storm off by herself. The fellow Sergeant grabbed her shoulders roughly to keep her in place. With a stern voice, Jane said "Vince... Let go of me."
"Jane, calm down. You're gonna get yourself killed if you let your anger rule your mind like this. Just breathe... Take a deep breath, ok?"
She did as advised, closing her eyes for a second. After feeling her shoulders relax, Korsak let go of her.
"The hospital is on full alert. We're checking every room for them..." Korsak informed. "We'll find her, Jane. I promise we will."
"And what if we don't? I can't live without her..."
"You won't have to. Maura is a tough woman, she'll be ok until we get her back."
Just as Jane smiled at his reassurance, Frankie approached the two of them.
"Korsak... I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but we... We found Raymond."
"Found? So he's ok?" Korsak wondered, but the grim look on the young detective's face told him otherwise. "How?"
"His throat was slashed. Doctors tried their best to revive him, but..." Frankie trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence.
"Son of a bitch." Korsak cursed, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. His knees trembled beneath him, so Jane had him sit down on the floor. He slid down against the wall, collapsing onto hard tile as grief overtook him.
"Vince, I'm so sorry..." Jane apologized, feeling a tremendous amount of guilt and sorrow. She may not have known Raymond well, but Korsak knew him for almost 40 years.
"He survived a brutal war... Shot in the damn chest and lived to talk about it. I never thought Ray would die like this. Oh god... What am I gonna tell his wife and kids?" He sobbed, clearly devastated. "I should've been with him. I should've..."
"Hey... Stop that. This isn't your fault." Jane calmly assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulder in a tight hug. "None of us knew they were in the building."
"Exactly! I should've patrolled the area with him, and maybe we would've caught Ian's men... Now he's dead and we have no clue where Maura is."
"I have an idea of where to start looking." Frost announced, just now joining the group in the hall outside of Abby's room. The three of them look at the detective expectantly, so he explained "A private plane landed at LaGuardia a few hours ago, it came from Stad Van Hitte."
"David." Jane growled through her teeth. She stood up and asked her friend "Do we know where is he now?"
"No, but I think I know where he might be. He had a cab waiting for him at the airport, I called the company and asked where David was taken to and they said it was a hotel. There's a chance he still might be there-"
"What the hell are we still doing here, then? C'mon, let's get going!" Jane cut in, eager to leave. "Frankie, stay here with Ma and the others. I'm gonna take Frost and Gibbs with me."
"I'm going, too." Korsak announced, discreetly wiping away his tears as he got off the floor. They all looked at him, surprised he wanted to leave. "I want to do this for Ray. He was my friend and a good man."
"Are you sure you can do this?" Jane asked, wanting to make sure he was thinking clearly. The conversation mirrored the one they had only minutes ago, the roles now reversed.
"Yes. Now let's get David and show him that nobody messes with this family."
Maura fought with her abductors every step of the way, until they became so frustrated with her that one of Ian's men knocked her unconscious with the butt of his gun. Once she was out cold, the kidnapped woman was tightly bound with duct tape on her wrists and ankles so she wouldn't be able to get away later.
The man who took Raymond's place outside of the bathroom carried her body and shoved her into the trunk of their car, while Ian and another man kept a look out. The man disguised as a police officer then got into the driver's seat, while Ian plopped into the passenger side and the other climbed in the roomy backseat. The henchman pulled out of the spot beside the hospital building, not going fast to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
Unfortunately for Maura, no one was around to see any of this take place. Ian had been watching them all closely ever since they left the house, monitoring their patrols and timed it perfectly to grab her. It was sheer luck for him and misfortune for Maura that she picked that exact moment to use the bathroom.
When she woke a few minutes later still in the trunk, she had a pounding headache. Maura tried to touch the area to see if there was any bleeding, but discovered she was restrained.
"Oh no..." She whispered, her lips trembling as she started to cry, her claustrophobia setting in. The frightened doctor instinctively tried to break the tape, but it was too strong for her. She then began to nibble on the silver restraint, grateful that her mouth was at least free.
Maura felt the car stop, and froze her actions, paralyzed with fear. The engine was still running, and she could faintly hear male voices coming from inside the car.
"Just go through the damn light!" Someone shouted with annoyance, but she couldn't tell who the voice belonged to. "We don't need to be out here longer than necessary."
"Yeah, so we can get pulled over? What are you gonna tell the cops about the broad in the trunk, huh?" Another voice asked with annoyed sarcasm. "What a dumbass..."
"You want me to smack the back of your fucking head? Don't get me angry."
"Both of you shut the hell up and relax. We've got enough time... It's only been 10 minutes, they probably don't even know she's gone yet. We're in the clear."
Despite the loud engine and the sounds of traffic around them, Maura instantly knew who this third voice belonged to.
It was Ian's.
"Stay calm, Maura... Just stay calm and maybe you have a chance to get out of this." Maura murmured to herself, and resumed tearing away at the tape with her teeth. She was able to rip it right down the middle, and after a brief struggle, Maura freed her hands.
The blonde brought her knees to her chest, and reached down to the tape that held her ankles together. She wasn't sure how she could rip it from that angle, so Maura looked around the dark trunk for anything sharp.
Beside her head was a few empty bottles of water and some plastic bags. They appeared to be empty as well, but she searched anyway. Using her hands to feel around inside since it was pitch black, Maura grabbed hold of something sharp, inadvertently cutting her palm.
"Damn it!" She cursed, wincing in pain. Maura gently pulled out whatever cut her, and squinted in the darkness to see that it was a large rusty nail. The tip of it wet with her own blood. She ignored the sight and used the nail to cut away at the tape around her ankles. Once it started ripping, she was able to pull the tape completely off.
'Finally... Now I can move. Maybe when they open the trunk I can hit them and make a run for it. I just hope someone will be able to help me.' Maura thought to herself, sticking the nail between her fingers and making a fist.
That was her only weapon and she was more than prepared to use it. Maura didn't exactly have an escape plan except to run, hoping that she wasn't in the middle of nowhere. Wherever she was being taken, Maura was relieved no one else was with her. She couldn't bare the thought of that.
Several minutes later, after turning corners and stopping at the occasional light, the car came to a stop. Maura knew they reached their destination when the engine was turned off.
When she heard doors slam and footsteps getting closer and closer to the trunk, Maura adjusted her grip on the nail, ready to stab at whoever was there.
The trunk popped open, the brightness of the sun temporarily disorienting Maura's vision. When she opened her eyes, she saw Ian pointing a gun at her.
"Someone's been a bad girl..." Ian said, making a tsk like sound and took the nail away from Maura, tossing it aside. "We're going to have to teach you a lesson."
"W-what are you going to do to me?" Maura stuttered out, trying to move but was cornered in the trunk with nowhere to go.
"I told you. We're going to have some fun together..." He grinned, and signaled to his men to grab Maura as he put away his gun, not finding the captive threatening in any way.
She screamed as she was being hauled out and was slapped across the face in response, her cheek instantly reddening.
"Quiet!" Ian ordered. "You keep that up and I'll give you something to scream about."
"Let me go! Please!" She begged, struggling to get out of the strong grips but to no avail. "If you don't, Jane is going to come here and kill all of you. You'd be wise to get out of the city while you still can."
"Oh, Maura... Why would I do that now? I haven't gotten my revenge yet."
"So you are going to kill me?"
"Yes, but first I want you to feel the same pain of losing a loved one that you forced me to deal with." Ian told her, referring to his brother that Maura shot and killed nearly 2 years earlier. "Here's what's going to happen... We're going to call your lovely girlfriend, Jane. She's going to come here to try and save you. Alone, at my instruction. Then you'll watch as I slowly and painfully torture her until she begs me to kill her. After I do, you're next."
"That's never going to happen."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Ian replied with a cocky tone, displaying a smug grin that Maura wanted to punch right off of his face. "Boys, take our guest inside and make her feel at home."
"Yes, sir." Both men happily answered with menacing smiles on their faces, dragging Maura across an alley and into what appeared to be the back of an old bar.
As she was a being brought in, Maura tried to look for a street sign or even an address. All she could see was a few brick buildings and weeds sticking out of the ground everywhere, but not much else. She had absolutely no idea where she was at. Even if she did, Maura wasn't sure what good the information would do. She didn't have access to a phone, so she couldn't call for help or warn Jane of Ian's intentions.
'Oh dear... How am I going to get out of this?'
Poor Raymond... Korsak will definitely not let his death go. If the team finds David, it won't be a good day for him. But on the somewhat bright side, Maura is still alive. Hopefully her rescue goes well!
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave your thoughts and predictions in the reviews! :D