Chapter 10

"Jane, your hunch was great! We recovered documents from the BU gym that Ashwin and Frank's mysterious visitor on various occasions was Steve Rushmore, Blake's partner from Vietnam. I also found footage from the security camera that shows him hovering close to Ashwin and Frank," Frost laid out papers in front of Jane, when she walked in.

"Great! Have you brought him in for questioning?" Jane quickly scanned the documents on her desk.

"…Waiting in room D-12. He's all yours," Frost smiled, looking up at Jane from his desk. "Have fun!"

"Lucky me!" Jane smirked at Frost as she walked out.

A quick walk to D-12 usually meant passing by the Medical Examination room, where Jane would step in to update Maura on her day, but this afternoon, she took a longer route to banish any thoughts of Maura's absence from the precinct. But she couldn't help a stabbing sense of loss from weighing on her heart.

"Mr. Rushmore," Jane sat down before a pudgy middle aged man with reddened skin showing signs of wear. His forehead bore wrinkles and what appeared to be battle scar sat just above his left eye.

"So they send a lady bait for questioning," he scowled, "this should be easy."

He had as though provoked a wounded animal. Jane soft expression changed immediately and her glower caught him off guard, "before you delude yourself that you'll be running through the fields picking wildflowers this afternoon, Steve Rushmore, I suggest you bear in mind that I have evidence of your involvement with Ashwin Sharma and Jason Blake's murder that could put you behind bars for a long time."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, lady!" he retorted, looking slightly confused.

"You will now: white phosphorous is a nice little vocabulary between you and your veteran buddies. You made it a point to warn Frank from revealing your secrets from Vietnam, frightened him off easily…" Jane's offensive was brutal and intimidating. "But Ashwin wasn't as easy, was he? He wanted Blake to know, to clear his name... Guess what? You messed up. You may have killed the possible bearers of evidence, but you didn't manage to destroy the evidence itself!"

"How did you...how did you manage to get hold of my pictures from Mai Lai! " Steve sputtered in shock, "His camera had been destroyed!... His stupid son Frank recovered the film, but I couldn't find it…."

"So you went to their gym lockers," Jane continued her onslaught.

"I didn't want to kill that Indian kid," Steve yelled, "…but Frank had told him too much and he wanted to go to the authorities! And he turned out to be Blake's son!"

At that moment, Frost and Frankie walked in and cuffed a flustered and disoriented man who had just confessed to his crime.

"Good work, Jane!" Frost smiled as he walked the dumbfounded Vietnam veteran out. "See you tonight."

Jane smiled back but her adrenaline rush wore off instantly at the thought of the farewell party that awaited her that evening.

When she was walking out of the precinct, she ran into a sprightly Cavanaugh. "Good work Rizzoli. That was some astute observation and research. This was a big case, you've just rewritten history. Congratulations!"

She absent-mindedly shook his extended hand. "Thank you, Cavanaugh," she nodded, looking beyond the police chief toward distant thoughts and recollections, with only blurry fragments of the case at the back of her mind.

Angela had outdone herself in throwing Maura an elegant, but homely farewell party. When Jane arrived, there was a low hum of conversation and she could hear Korsack's loud laugh. Two rows of paper lanterns lined the ceiling and there were flowers on tables, both paper ones and real ones. A bright, colorful banner read in bold letters: "We will miss you Maura!" This was Angela going all out and Jane knew her mother would miss Maura.

Jane's eyes searched among the close group of family and friends for the one face that had occupied her thoughts all day. After her performance, the night before, she was embarrassed to meet Maura's eyes but couldn't look away once she found her. Maura stood with Frost and Frankie describing something with animation; she wore a dark olive silk top that hugged her arms but fell loosely at her hips and white skinny jeans, her smile brought out her dimple. She exuded beauty and warmth, standing casually talking about something probably complicated.

"Janie!" Angela gushed, rushing over to Jane. "This has turned out so nicely…" she switched mid-sentence as she came closer to Jane, "...you didn't get a chance to change?"

Angela's exclamation brought Maura's attention to a slightly disheveled Jane in her purple v-neck and dark grey jacket with rolled up sleeves, loose black curls cascading over her shoulders. Jane looked away the moment their eyes met and they continued talking to the different people around them.

Jane couldn't drink that night because she was Maura's designated driver but further away from her, Maura drank her glass of red wine rather quickly. Even though she didn't speak to Maura, Jane caught a hint of sadness on Maura's face, her smile was dimmer and it didn't brighten her eyes. The only glint there was a trace of the wine.

This is stretching longer than I expected but I promise to keep updating as long as I continue getting your gracious reviews! :)