Okay chapter 10! Somehow I always manage to type more then I want to but am unable to cut anything or shift things to the next chapter otherwise this story may go on forever. Anyway I assure you things are coming to the climax here soon. As always faithful readers thank you and enjoy!
Chapter 10: Emotions
The red and blue lights of the police cars stained the street as the sun started to sink lower in the sky. People had responded to the sirens, filling out the street beyond the blockade of police cars that had been called n scene. Inside the blockade uniformed officers scrambled to make sense of everything, trying to get everything in order, trying to take statements. Korsak and Frost walked swiftly through the front door of the Medical Examiners house, heading towards their partner and good friend. Ten minutes ago they had been at their homes throwing back a cold beer, than Korsak received the call from Jane. When he heard her crying he knew immediately something was really wrong. They hadn't been fast enough; Hoyt had made his move on Jane but had ended up taking Maura. Korsak knew Jane blamed herself for it, because of her Maura was in danger.
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I paced back and forth in front of the couch thinking of what I could do, how I could get Maura back safely. The cops that were milling around in Maura's house were starting to get on my nerves, they weren't going to find anything here they were only wasting valuable time. No one was letting me do anything to help forcing my stress levels through the roof. The entire time I had been waiting for Korsak and Frost to show up, we needed to come up with a plan.
"They won't let me help Korsak," I said angrily. "I should be out there doing something."
"There's nothing you can do right now Jane," Korsak told me. "What you need to do is sit down and tell me what happened."
"I don't know what happened Korsak!" I nearly cried. "I stayed late to finish a report and when I got back there was a broken glass and Maura was gone."
"Take it easy," Korsak said putting his hands on my shoulders. "Did you see anything?"
"No nothing," I said feeling defeated. "I don't know maybe five minutes after I got home and realized she wasn't here my phone rang… It was Maura's number but…"
Anger welled up inside me again as I thought back to the call, to Hoyt basically laughing in my face. Korsak waited while I tried to get a hold of myself, only once glancing back at Frost to tell him to go talk to the officer that had been stationed outside.
"But it wasn't her… Hoyt had used her phone to call me…"
"Alright Janie…" Korsak said sympathetically. "We'll do all we can to find Dr. Isles and take that bastard down… for the meantime Jane take a breather."
Just like that he left, leaving me alone watching two crime scene techs examine the scene in the kitchen. My thoughts were scattered one second I was thinking of how I could have changed what had happened, the next I was beating myself up over the idea that if I hadn't have stayed later at the precinct Hoyt wouldn't have taken Maura. Or he would have taken both of you, forcing you to watch as he killed her before finally putting you out of your misery. I couldn't sit here any longer just waiting allowing myself to think about what could have been done or what was going to happen I had to do something. My body moved towards the door before my brain was able to catch up and realize what I was going to do. Korsak and Frost were out with the uniform who was supposed to have been watching the house, that's where I needed to be.
Officers called to the scene stopped moving around as I passed by them, their eyes on me until I shot a glair at one of them, causing a chain reaction of them all looking away. Frost saw me before Korsak did when I finally reached the street and came over towards them. When Korsak finally did catch sight of me he reached out to grab my arm, but I immediately pulled away from him and moved in front of him so I was closest to the uniform by the patrol car. He stood there sweat dripping off his brown and his hands fidgeting with the keys in his hands. I could tell Korsak and Frost had been easy on him; otherwise the officer would have been shaking in his boots.
"Jane Officer Rice was the one assigned to guard duty tonight," Frost said watching me closely. "He said he saw Dr. Isles arrive home and nothing else until you got back."
"You didn't see anything," I repeated holding back the urge to punch him. "Two people break into my house and you don't see anything?"
"No," Officer Rice said shrinking a little. "I didn't know anything was wrong until I heard it over the radio."
"How in the hell did you not see anything!" I shouted slamming him into the car. "Charles Hoyt and his apprentice abduct Maura and you don't see anything?!"
"Jane stop!" Korsak ordered me.
"No one entered the premises from the front after the doctor went in," Officer Rice's voice was thick of fear.
"It was your job to check on her and make sure she was okay!" I shouted. "If you would have done your job she would be safe!"
"Jane that's enough, let him go," Korsak shouted grabbing me by my blazer and pulled me off of Officer Rice. "Rice isn't at fault here Jane. He did exactly what he was supposed to do."
"You seriously expect me to believe that?" I asked still shouting. "He has her Korsak that could have been prevented if he had done what he was supposed to do!"
"He couldn't have known that Hoyt would choose tonight to make his move on you," Korsak prompted. "No one could have known that Jane. I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but taking it out on your comrades is not the solution. Focus on Maura, focus on rescuing her from Hoyt."
It had taken awhile but I finally stopped seeing red and was getting back into focus, the realization of what had just happened hitting me hard. I was trying to hard not to blame myself for everything I ended up blaming someone else, someone who hadn't done anything wrong. If I had any hopes of getting to Maura in time I had to be able to control my emotions.
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'Come on Maura, we're going to be late!'
Maura groaned as the memory of Jane yelling at her for taking too long to get ready shimmered then disappear completely. The comforting sound of Jane's voice was replaced by a buzzing, almost a grinding from something like an engine, pulling Maura farther away from images of Jane and into a dark abyss. She slowly began to open her eyes to greet the dark that surrounded her. Panic instantly surged through her as she tried to remember what had happened and where she was. Her eyes continued to adjust to the dark while she started to feel around in attempt to figure out where she was. She soon found that she was in the truck of a car, and seconds after she realized that she remembered what had happened. Hoyt had come for Jane but she hadn't been home, instead Hoyt had taken Maura having his apprentice knock her out with Chloroform. Jane had been afraid something like this would happen Maura shared that fear but it hadn't been something she thought about. Maura was scared that this time Hoyt would win. She hadn't been right, but she hadn't been wrong either.
She didn't know how long she had been unconscious or how far they had gone all she could tell was the car was moving fairly slowly, no more than 45mph. The thought occurred to her she might still have her phone on her if they hadn't taken it. A small glimmer of hope presented itself as Maura shifted in the cramped truck so she could reach her phone, only to fade when her hand failed to find the phone where she usually kept it. For the first time ever she found herself regretting not letting Jane teach her self-defense (she knew basic things but they wouldn't help her with Hoyt). She went to plan B (whatever that plan may have been) and started feeling around for something she could use to defend herself. All she came up with was what she could only assume was a pipe. She held it close to her as she waited for the car to stop and Hoyt or his apprentice to come back to pull her out.
After what seemed like hours Maura felt the car pull to a stop before the engine went dead. She heard two doors open then slam shut almost in perfect sync; she waited for Hoyt and Joey, holding the pipe slightly away from her. It took a long time for the trunk latch to pop but Maura remained still, waiting for her chance. The trunk flew upwards revealing Joey but not Hoyt to Maura; she didn't wait she swung at Joey managing to clip him on the side of the head. Maura didn't even have the chance to drop the pipe when Hoyt stepped up to the car to rip the pipe from her hands and chuck it across the gravel. Joey was holding his hand to his head trying to keep the blood from his eyes the other hand he used to push himself up with help of the car. His eyes flashed with anger and a low growl escaped his throat.
"You fucking bitch," he snarled.
Maura was barely able to scream when Hoyt pressed the taser to her neck sending electricity shooting through her. She went limp almost instantly with the last thought before complete unconsciousness was of Jane.
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I sat at the far corner in Brick mulling over things in my head while Korsak and Frost worked without me. After my outburst earlier Cavanaugh had ordered me to be watched by someone at all times so I didn't do something stupid. No progress had been made at all in tracking down Hoyt and his apprentice. In most missing person cases the first 72 hours were critical Korsak and Frost had been at it for five hours already working from 7PM to midnight and were still moving forward running on almost no sleep. More than once they had suggested that I go crash somewhere and catch up on some sleep, but I couldn't every time I felt my eyelids get heavy something entered my mind waking me up completely. I needed to be on the top of my game if I wanted to save Maura, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a brake while Hoyt could be hurting her.
"I haven't been able to get a location on Dr. Isles' cell phone," Frost said aloud. "Hoyt must have turned it off; if he turns it back on we'll know about it though."
"He wouldn't be that stupid," I said lowly. "He has my number now he'll probably toss Maura's phone."
"It's still worth a shot," Korsak told me.
"Yeah I know… it's just… I'm just…" I rubbed my eyes. "How's the search going?"
"We had Frankie go with a few other officers to check out some of the other buildings, but nothing has come up yet," Frost told me.
"I bet he's happy about that," I said shaking my head to stay awake. "Did anyone find a shred of evidence at the house?"
"Two broken glasses, a jimmied lock, foot print in the wine, and what looks like foot impressions in the backyard," Korsak informed me flipping through his notes.
"One of those glasses was me," I told him. "I broke the empty glass that was on the counter when I realized she was gone."
"There's one mystery solved," Frost said attempting to smile.
"Yeah the unimportant one," I said lowly.
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A night sleeping in a chair using the desk as a pillow was never a night to catch up on missing beauty sleep. This was especially true when every half an hour the nightmares woke me up almost always causing me to fall out of my seat. By 9AM the next morning I was running purely on coffee and the need to take down Hoyt. Korsak and Frost had even pulled an all-nighter, not because they had too but because they cared about Maura too and they knew someone had to keep an eye on me. The surprising thing was even though I wanted so badly to put a bullet in Hoyt's heart I didn't have the energy to even attempt to track him down myself. Everyone's biggest concern should have been me dying of sleep deprivation- which was starting to look like a real possibility if I didn't start sleeping.
"Here Frost picked up an espresso from downstairs," Korsak said handing me a cup. "We could all use the jump start."
"When did Stanley start selling espresso?" I asked rubbing my temples. "I thought he hated this fancy shit."
"Guess he needed to bring in more cash," Korsak shrugged. "Listen Frost and I were going to go talk to the guy who sold medical supplies to Sutherland. Do you want to tag along?"
"Yeah I'll come, might as well do something," I nodded taking a large gulp of espresso. "Holy shit that's disgusting."
"Bet you're awake now," Frost's laugh carried from the far side of the office. "Come on I don't want the car to be towed."
"If your plan was to give me a caffeine rush you've succeeded," I said with a half-smile.
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The address that Drew Carroll had given us when we had gone to talk to him had led us to an old warn out building that his dealer supposedly lived in. Beyond the thick glass windows we were barely able to make out anything that lined the room, nor could we make out the man that sat behind a desk. The door was latched with a deadbolt on the inside forcing Korsak to resort to pounding on the door shouting for whoever occupied the space to open it. After a long minute of feverishly hitting the wooden door Korsak stepped back and shot a glance over at me.
"Guess he doesn't like solicitors," Korsak joked.
"Well he's not behind the desk anymore," Frost said pressing his face to the window. "Can't see him."
I took a step back from the door, down a step trying to see if there was any movement inside. There wasn't anything from the inside but from the alley way lining one side of the building a heavy metal door swung open and a man stepped out. The man took one look towards where I was standing, caught sight of the three of us and took off running in the other direction. I didn't waste any time as I pulled my Glock from the holster and started after the man leaving Korsak and Frost momentarily confused.
"Guys he's running!" I shouted over my shoulder as I sped down the alley.
"Hell," I heard Korsak groan.
There were heavy foot steps behind me without looking I could tell Frost was following me Korsak however was going in a different direction. I came around the corner that lead right onto the populated sidewalks but immediately caught sight of the suspect and continued after him. People dodged out of my way when they saw me waving my gun it was always heard to push through a crowd just by shouting you were with the police, people had the tendency to crowd closer when they heard police. I started to close the gap between us as he hesitated in which direction to take at a cross-walk. Then just as I was about to tackle him to the ground he kept running not once bothering to look over his shoulder.
"Stop!" I shouted after him.
I stayed on his heels the entire time as he dodged through the ever growing crowd of people. Frost was falling farther and farther behind as the chase continued towards what I thought was the second block. As we neared the end of the block the man looked as if he was about to run into an alley when he abruptly turned towards the street and ran into traffic. Without thinking I spun on my heel to follow him, not wanting to allow him the chance to escape. I really wish I hadn't, the next thing I knew the hood of a car knocked my legs from under me sending my body slamming into the front windshield before violently throwing me to the ground. Around me the world was spinning, people where shouting and horns were blaring at me and other cars that had stopped. My head started to pound and my ears began to ring, but I managed to stand and raise my gun in the direction I had been heading in a half-attempt to stop the fleeing man.
My vision kept swimming in and out of focus as I stood there. After a minute longer of searching for the suspect I let my arm drop to my side the gun growing heavy in my grip. The man Drew Carroll had lead us too had gotten away; it was useless to try and pursue him farther when I couldn't see straight. I slid my gun back into its holster while leaning into a nearby car for support feeling uneasy. My focus shifted to making sure I wasn't badly injured; I didn't feel any broken bones in my arms or legs the only injuries I most likely sustained were cuts and bruises and possibly a concussion.
"Jane! Jesus Jane are you alright?" Frost asked running over to me. "What the hell happened?"
"I almost had him…" I muttered under my breath. "That damn car came out of nowhere."
"You aren't looking to hot Jane," Frost said taking a hold of my elbow. "Maybe you should sit down and wait for the EMT to get here."
I didn't argue I didn't have the strength too. The cold metal bumper of the car scrapped at my back as I slid down to sit on the asphalt. I don't know how long I sat there with Frost standing over me and Korsak still MIA, but suddenly I heard a siren. It was hard to make out from where I sat looking up over the tops of cars however I could see the red and white lights of the ambulance flashing attempting to maneuver through the traffic caused by me. The throbbing in my head hadn't dulled much instead it had increased with the growing screech of alarms produced by the ambulance. Finally after what seemed like forever the sirens stopped as the large red and white box they called an emergency vehicle came to a stop two cars away from where I sat. Two medics – one male one female – jumped out of the vehicle the woman jogging over to me, the man throwing open the back doors and pulling out a medical bag.
Suddenly I found myself being poked and prodded by both of the EMT's as they checked for internal bleeding, broken bones, concussions and any other type of injury. The male medic propped my chin on his thumb and forefinger lifting my head enough so he could look into my eyes easily. He pulled a pen-like thing out of his pocket (something I realized was a penlight) flashed it into my eyes moving it back and forth up and down testing my response. I pushed his hand away as my vision finally started to clear, not wanting to concern myself with any farther pointless testing.
"Get off me I'm fine," I told him.
"You just ran into traffic and managed to get hit by a car Jane," Frost reminded me shaking his head.
"Yeah I did and I'm fine," I assured him. "I've been hit before when pursuing a suspect."
"Not by a car," Frost said to jog my memory. "A bat yes, swinging door yes, car no…"
"Can you tell me your name?" the female medic asked ignoring Frost and my argument.
"Can you tell me yours?" I asked smartly. "Detective Jane C. Rizzoli, Boston Homicide, badge number Victor 825. That good enough?"
"Your friend seems to be alright," the female medic said to Frost. "She may have a minor concussion, so just keep an eye on her. Detective Rizzoli I'm sure you're use to small cuts and bruises, you'll be sore for a few days but you can go back to work."
As the two medics packed up and left I turned to Frost grinning like a fool.
"I think they only did that because they didn't want to deal with me," I laughed.
"Jane- I don't want to deal with you," Frost smiled and offered me a hand.
"Where's Korsak?" I asked surveying the area around us.
"Couldn't tell you," Frost shrugged. "Probably taking a nap somewhere."
Of course as Frost and I moved out of the middle of the street the unmarked police car we had taken to talk to the Carroll's distributor pulled up to the curb. Not only was Korsak in the front seat but the suspect was in the back seat a snarl on his face and hands cuffed behind his back. He rolled down the window and flashed a grin at Frost and me.
"Idiot ran right into the car," Korsak told us. "All I had to do was cuff him."
"Where the hell did you go?" I asked leaning down to speak eye to eye. "You were gone long enough for the EMT's to check me over and leave."
"What happened?" Korsak asked.
"Oh you know I just became best friends with a windshield," I replied with a shrug. "But I'm fine, let's just get back to the station and question this asshole. We've wasted enough time chasing this idiot."
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I stood propped against the one way mirror in the interrogation room keeping to myself while Korsak hammered the suspect (who had given us the name Harris but nothing more) with questions. Harris had stayed fairly calm and quiet after we had removed his handcuffs and thrown him into the chair. He was intent on maintaining his innocence but he was slowly wearing down, giving certain things that would give us means to charge him with at least fraud and possession of controlled substances. I really wanted to push him on the matter of Charles Hoyt and Connor Sutherland, but every time I moved forward Korsak would hold up his hand telling me to wait.
"Look buddy I'm a licensed doctor I have all the permits I need to have possession of those drugs," Harris said for the hundredth time.
"We're still checking up on those," Korsak said. "But just because you can legally have those substances it's still illegal to sell them to people."
"What proof do you have that I've been illegally selling them?" Harris asked crossing his arms across his chest.
"Connor Sutherland led us to you," Korsak informed him, giving the impression Sutherland was still alive and in our custody.
"That security guard that helped that Surgeon guy escape?" Harris inquired with a confused look. "That son of a bitch sold is implicating me now?!"
"We never said that," Korsak reminded him. "But now we can connect you to him."
"Damnit…" Harris realized he had messed up.
His entire demeanor changed, his shoulders slumped and his face became grim. He started to get this guilty look that most suspects got when they had been caught. At least that was true for the ones that felt remorse for what they had done or had been dragged into something without even knowing.
"Why don't you help yourself out and come clean," Korsak advised him. "You'd be doing us all a big favor."
"Why the hell would I do that?" Harris asked glaring at Korsak.
This time Korsak let me come forward and speak, if he wouldn't give us what we needed when we asked maybe a pissed off cop would sway him to talk. I place my hands firmly on the table and leaned forward to get closer to Harris.
"I suggest you do what Detective Korsak had advised you to do," I told him.
"Screw off," Harris became defiant.
"Look Harris I've had a really bad week and I could care less about you," I told him. "I mean because of you I was hit by a car, so I'm pretty pissed. Not to mention this 'Surgeon guy' has my best friend and is probably torturing her. I suggest you start talking."
"What do I care?" Harris asked snarling.
"Because I have nothing to lose if something were to happen to you in custody," I threatened him.
"She isn't serious?" Harris asked looking at Korsak for help.
Korsak sat back in his seat and shrugged; he was getting tired of Harris. It wasn't like I would actually do something to him, but I was getting close to slamming his face into the table and making him talk.
"Fine, fine whatever you want," Harris said throwing his hands up.
Korsak tossed him a pen and pad of paper, meaning for Harris to write down what he knew after he explained it to us. I wouldn't get to stay and listen to him; Korsak wanted me to go home and rest. Even though I really didn't want to sleep while Maura was forced to endure the same terror I had gone through I just couldn't function any longer if I didn't get some sleep. I left just as Harris started explaining what he knew.
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Maura had no more strength to fight, no more energy to shout, and no more tears left to shed. After what she believed was only a day of being taunted by Hoyt and basically tortured by Joey she found herself beat. She didn't know how long Hoyt would keep her alive or how long it would take Jane to rescue her, but her hope was already starting to dwindle. In the back of her mind she realized this is what Jane must have gone through in that brief hour Hoyt had had her. Jane was strong and a fighter, able to take a large amount of pain before folding – if she ever did fold – Maura however wasn't like Jane; she had never had to deal with a situation this bad. She started to wonder how Jane did it and how even after she had been beaten down and almost killed on several occasions managed to go back to work the next day.
Heavy footsteps coming from the stairs brought Maura's attention to the door, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Hoyt stepped through the door his gaze falling on Maura instantly spreading a grin across his face.
"Joey informed me that Jane got into an accident today," he said. "She ran into traffic and was hit by a car while pursuing a suspect."
Maura's heart sank- Jane had to have been hurt, probably enough to have her sent to the ER. She found herself more worried about Jane then about herself, something typical of her.
"Don't worry Dr. Isles she's alright. At least for now…"
"Don't you dare touch her," Maura grew fierce.
"You're in no position to make threats," Hoyt said smiling. "By tomorrow evening I'll have Jane and will finally be able to finish what I started… you on the other hand…"
Maura felt dread creep up on her; whatever Hoyt did to Jane she would be forced to watch before she herself fell victim to him.
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I was half way home when my cell rang, the caller ID reading Unknown. Most of the time I would just ignore unknown numbers, but for some reason this time I answered it.
"Detective Rizzoli," I answered.
"It appears your investigation hasn't progressed any farther," the man, who I recognized instantly as Hoyt, said. "I would have thought you would be cutting every corner to save poor Dr. Isles."
My grip on the phone tightened almost to the point I thought I might break it. Words were forming on the tip of my tongue but I was unable to form a sentence.
"I assure you she's still alive, but time is ticking Jane…"
In the background I could hear a woman shouting, pleading with someone who wasn't Hoyt. Even though I couldn't make out the words I knew it was Maura and she was shouting at me but not loud enough for me to understand.
"I'm getting closer Hoyt," I said in a low growl. "The next time you hear my voice will be when I kill you."
"You seem so damn sure of yourself," Hoyt said harshly. "Do you really want to risk the doctor's life like that just so you can have your revenge?"
"She isn't a part of this Hoyt," I warned him.
"She wasn't, but because of you she is," Hoyt informed me. "Tick tock Jane, you're running out of time."
The line went dead just as I was about to farther argue with him. My blood started to boil again causing me to slam my fist into the dash board. Hoyt was toying with me, getting as much pleasure out of my suffering before he finally came after me. I had to work faster.
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Almost an hour after Hoyt had called I found myself standing in the front entrance of the house face to face with Casey. He supposedly had been passing by and had stopped to check up on me and make sure I wasn't about to do something I would regret. I didn't believe him for a second – tomorrow Korsak would get an ear full about this. Nevertheless Casey followed me into the family room and took a seat on the opposite side of the couch from me. Neither of us said anything for a long time it was easy to see Casey was trying to work things out in his head to comfort me but he knew it would be pointless. Maura was his friend too and even though they hadn't known each other for long they cared about one another mostly because they had me in common.
"Are you guys any closer to finding Hoyt?" he finally asked.
"Not really, we've managed to narrow down the places he could be holed up at but so far nothing has panned out…" I replied dryly. "But after that call today I may see Hoyt sooner than I hoped."
"What call?" Casey asked, lost.
"Hoyt," I replied shortly.
"Christ Jane," Casey shook his head. "Are you sure you should be alone?"
"I'm ready for him if he comes after me," I said. "My priority is getting Maura out of there unharmed."
"Even if it costs you your life?" Casey pushed.
"Even if it costs me my life," I repeated.
Casey sighed as he leaned back into the cushions. The case of the matter was closed, there wouldn't be any farther discussion and Casey knew he couldn't stop me.
"I know I can't change your mind," he said.
"And you won't," I confirmed.
"At least let me stay here for tonight so you're not alone," he offered.
"Go ahead; maybe I'll sleep with you out on the couch," I agreed. "Just don't get any ideas."
"I'm here for you, not for me," he said.
"You're a good guy Casey," I said lowly. "I appreciate that you've stuck with me through everything…"
Casey smiled slightly before patting my knee and giving a reassuring squeeze. I could always count on his support.