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.
Happy 50th chapter and 2nd anniversary of when this all started! It's not over yet, we still have a little bit to go. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. Enjoy the update! :)
Just putting a trigger warning here, I mention rape in this chapter. There's no graphic description, but I figured I should let you guys know. If you can't read that part, skip the second section of the chapter.
I'm going to switch back to past tense, because my other stories are like that and it's just so much easier for me. After this chapter, I'll be going back through entire story and editing out the present tense words. Don't worry, nothing else will be changed but that. It'll take me a while to do that so try to be patient and I hope you don't mind the change :)
*cracks knuckles and blows the dust off this story* let's do this :D
When Dreams Become Reality Ch. 50
Jane and her brother walked through the door of the modeling agency, both of their eyes scanning the small crowd of parents and children for Richard.
He spotted the detectives first. The little bell signaling the door opening alerted him, so he naturally looked up from his desk to greet the customers. When Richard saw the look in their eyes, he felt his heart stop. He knew why they were there, so Richard casually pretended to look at something across the room and suddenly broke out into a sprint.
"Go around back to cut him off!" Jane shouted at Frankie as she began pushing past several frightened people, the younger detective out the front door within a second of the order. "Boston Police, out of the way!"
She still had the suspect within her sights, and knew he would have a hard time getting away with all the people roaming about. Still, Jane knew she had to act fast in case he would hurt someone. Just as Richard pushed down a little girl, who immediately started crying as a result, he kicked open the back door used for deliveries or an emergency exit only.
Jane was still a considerable distance behind, but once she was out of the sea of people, the long legged and fast woman was just inches away now.
She was about to grab the collar of his shirt when Richard suddenly collided with Frankie's fist, the suspect crumbling to the ground in immense pain.
Jane caught her breath as she laughed. "Nice job, little brother."
"Yeah well, you were just standing around. I had to do something." Frankie joked, getting out his pair of cuffs.
"Oh shut up, I was about to get him." She teased back. After Richard was hoisted up and read his rights, Jane smirked at him. "So, where were you off to in such a hurry? Got something to hide?"
"You won't believe me..." He spat out some blood that had dribbled from his nose to the corner of his mouth, clearly frustrated and upset. "So why should I tell you a damn thing? Just throw me away."
"Oh we plan to, but first we need to have a little talk back at the station. Come on buddy, let's go." Jane pushed his back, urging him in the direction of her car.
"Tell us everything you know or I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison." Jane calmly stated, relaxed in her chair while in interrogation with Richard and Frankie. She was waiting for the right moment to pounce, to get the man with his guard down.
"I didn't kill her."
She pretended to go along with it, for now.
"Ok... Who did? All the evidence points to you, so you better have a good case for yourself."
"I don't know who did it!" He cried, dropping the ice pack from his swelled nose that had stopped bleeding several minutes ago. "I only..."
"Only what?" Frankie narrowed his eyes in suspicion, noticing how Richard stopped himself so suddenly.
The visibly broken man sighed in defeat, deciding to go ahead with his confession. "I only slept with her. That's it, I swear."
"She was only 15." Jane nearly growled out in disgust.
He raised his hands in surrender, trying to explain himself. "I know it looks bad..."
"It is bad." Jane corrected. "You're a pedophile. What happened? Did you have sex with Audrey and kill her so she wouldn't talk? Or maybe it wasn't consensual. Is that why a young girl is lying on a cold slab in the basement right now?"
"No! I didn't kill her!" He cried again.
"You better have a damn good lawyer because you're going down for this. We have DNA, and we have security footage of you two arguing just hours before she was killed. How do you think that's gonna look to a jury?"
"But I didn't kill her!" Richard pleaded again. "Look... We had sex. Audrey started regretting it halfway through so I stopped. She stormed out of the agency in tears and I went after her. She goes on and on about saying she's gonna tell the cops I raped her. I got so mad I slapped her, then that Thai dude came out and threatened me. I decided to just walk away. I didn't want to get myself in any more trouble."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Which part?" He asked Frankie, who didn't look very happy with his story.
"All of it." The middle Rizzoli child replied. "You're telling me, she consented to having sex with you then changed her mind? Judging by the security footage it looks like you raped that young girl. The way she was crying... It doesn't add up to what you said. Your DNA will match the semen we found, and along with that we'll show the jury the footage. Not to mention you ran from us after lying about never seeing her before. Is the jury really going to believe your story? Or the girl who was brutally murdered by a sick rapist?"
This got Richard's blood boiling. He had had enough. The man slammed his fists on the cold metal table furiously, and screamed "I didn't rape or kill her! I'm telling you the truth!"
"Why should we believe you? You lied to us in the first place. If you came clean then, maybe things wouldn't be so bad." Jane pointed out, knowing her brother was getting him close to a confession. It seemed like Richard was breaking right before them, it was only a matter of time.
"I thought if I told you we had sex, you'd think I killed her... But I didn't. All I'm guilty of is sleeping with someone I shouldn't have. She seemed really lost and not knowing what to do, so I helped her."
"How the hell does that help her?" The brunette wondered, getting more disgusted by the minute.
"I said I could really launch her career, but she didn't have her parent's money or support to do that. So instead of money, I offered to take something else. She agreed to it, but as we started going... Audrey didn't like it too much. Complained that it hurt and she was gonna tell her daddy on me. And call the cops. So I hit her. But that's all I did to her. I went right back inside my business and that was the end of it. I heard from a friend that Audrey was killed, so if anyone came by I was gonna keep my mouth shut. We all know where that got me."
"It's gonna get you in prison, too."
"Ok big deal, you have my DNA. That's because we had sex... That doesn't mean I killed her. When did she even die anyway? I was busy the entire night, I couldn't have done it."
Jane and Frankie exchanged looks at this new information, the older of the two asking Richard "What do you mean busy?"
"I was drowning myself in a bottle of tequila at some hole in the wall of a bar... I thought the police would be coming for me, that I was ruined because of that damn girl. So I decided I have one last drink. Or 12... I was there until closing. 45th and Lexington, check with the manager. He had to shove me out at 3 in the morning. That's actually why I showed up a few minutes late to work, I was so hungover that I could barely move."
Jane stood up and tapped Frankie's shoulder, signaling that they needed to talk away from Richard. "Get comfortable, Dilmore. You're going to be here a while."
"Damn it..." Jane cursed with a frown after leaving the bar Richard claimed to have been in at the time of the murder. She and Frankie had gone there with his photo, showing it around. Unfortunately, Richard was there the entire time getting plastered. "We might be able to get him on sexual assault of a minor, but murder?"
"You think he could've hired someone?" Frankie asked helpfully, but his sister shook her head.
"No. Frost checked his financials, and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It's possible someone did it as favor to him, but I'm not so sure about that."
"What do you suggest we do?"
"Talk to the parents again... Something Richard said bothered me, I can feel it in my gut."
"You think one of them did it?" Frankie wondered, also thinking that the moment he spoke to the father.
"Maybe... Richard said Audrey told him she was going to tell her dad what he did to her, so maybe she did."
"It had to be after she went to BPD, though. The time stamps on the cameras fit with when she was killed."
"Right..." Jane agreed, remembering the footage she watched earlier that day for the millionth time. "They don't exactly have a solid alibi, just the maid saying they went to bed right as she was leaving. I'd bet a year's salary the dad slipped out after the maid was gone."
"Let's go take a ride." Frankie said, the two of them hopping inside of the car and speeding off to the home of Audrey's parents.
It only took them 10 minutes to get there, the location conviently a couple miles away from where the body was dumped. This thought was now at the forefront of their minds more than ever. Richard was looking like such a good suspect, they didn't put all of their focus on anyone else. If the father killed Audrey, his attempt to throw the detectives off the trail worked. But not anymore.
"Ah, detectives." Ted politely greeted as he opened the door. "Have you any news of my daughter's killer?"
"Actually, yes. We do. May we come in?" Jane smirked, almost unable to contain herself from slapping the cuffs on him right then and there. But she couldn't, not yet. She needed a confession and she was good at getting those.
"Of course, of course... Come in." Ted gestured towards the foyer that lead to a large living room filled with antique furniture. "My wife isn't home, she went across town to stay with her mother for a few days. This has been very difficult for her. I'm afraid we'll have to discuss this without her."
"That's alright, Ted. We understand. I can't imagine how you two must be feeling over this. We came by to let you know a couple things, and then we can let you grieve in peace."
Frankie nearly laughed, Jane was never that polite to a suspect unless she was trying to get something out of them. He remained silent unless spoken to, intent on watching Jane reel Ted in and getting a confession. Ted was the only other person who could've done it, now they had to catch him in a lie.
"Thank you. It has been upsetting..." Ted faked a sniffle, the faux crying so obvious Jane and Frankie nearly rolled their eyes at the sight. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, we ruled out someone... There's only one other person that could've done it, and they don't have a very good alibi. We're hoping they'll slip up somehow."
"I see." Ted looked away for a moment and sipped his warm tea, almost lost in his thoughts. "Do you have any other leads? Perhaps my wife or I could help."
"I think you've done enough, Mr. Cooke." Jane began, gauging his reaction. "I think Audrey would agree with me on that."
Ted nearly spit out his drink, eyes widening in surprise. "I beg your pardon? How dare you speak to me that way and mention my daughter like that. What are you talking about?"
Jane sat up a little straighter, and cleared her throat. "I'm saying you killed your daughter."
"That's preposterous, I would never!" Ted gasped, but the smug look in his eyes suggested otherwise. They dared Jane to test him. "What proof do you possibly have?"
"Your DNA was found on the body... You left a single arm hair. It was small, but enough to get a match." Jane cleverly lied, tossing out the bait.
"That's impossible, I wore a long sleeved shirt and jacket. How-" Ted's face froze, then scrunched up as he internally berated himself. He stupidly fell for Jane's trap.
"Hook, line, and sinker..." Jane reached around to her back pocket for the cuffs and turned Ted around to throw the cold metal restraints on. "You have the right to remain silent..."
As Jane and Frankie brought him out the house, Ted coolly tried to reason with them.
"I have money. I'll pay you whatever you want to keep quiet about this. My wife will leave me if she finds out I'm the one who did it."
"Oh how nice..." Jane fake laughed, and turned to her brother. "Look, Frankie. Now we can add bribing a police officer to murder. Man, you're not a good criminal are you? And your wife should know what kind of man she's married to, we'll tell her everything. We don't care what you think."
Ted wrestled with Jane as he was led to the car, making her stop so he could try to explain.
"You have to understand why I did what I did... My daughter was a trouble maker and it would've ruined the family's reputation we've built up for generations. I couldn't allow that whore to do that! And for what? A damn career in modeling that she was willing to fuck her way to the top for? Not in this family."
"Oh because having a murderer in the family is so much better than a model. Your daughter was just a little girl, who came to her father after a horrible experience wanting his support. She came to us, but was scared to talk. So she went to you, thinking she could trust you. All you did was make it worse... But you just made it a lot easier for us, you're going away for a long long time."
Jane shoved the murderer into the back seat, slamming the door on his face. She looked at her brother in total disbelief and threw her arms up.
"Can you believe him? Killing his own daughter for a ridiculous reason and having no remorse at all!"
"I wish I didn't believe it... But we've had this job for a long time. I'll believe anything at this point." Frankie grimaced as several memories of past cases played in his mind. "Come on, let's book this son of a bitch. I wanna go home."
"Yeah... Me, too." Jane was all too eager to get back to her wife.
"You should've seen it, Maur..." Jane grumbled to her pregnant wife, both of them relaxing on their couch at home later that evening. "He knew we were on to him, and that we didn't have any proof to catch him. Smug asshole."
"I know, my love..." The blonde comforted her. "But my clever, badass detective was able to get him anyway."
Jane had to smirk at that, nuzzling further into Maura's neck as they cuddled closer. "Your smarts is rubbin' off on me, that's all. So it's really you that got him."
"Let's just call it a team effort? I'm too tired to argue right now." Maura teased, and Jane could sense the fatigue in her voice.
"You ok?"
"I'm nervous about tomorrow..." She admitted. "We have a check up and find out the sex of our baby. I've been stressing over it all day."
"Honey, there's nothing to stress over. He or she is perfectly healthy, everything is going to be fine. Trust me." Jane lovingly assured, which helped ease Maura's discomfort some, but not completely.
"I do... But how can you be so sure? I'm almost 40, pregnancies past age 35 can be rather difficult."
"Hey, look at me." Jane tilted Maura's face up so their eyes met. "I know the risks, we both did going into this. But the doctor assured us, you're healthy enough to carry a baby at this age. You're probably the most healthiest person on this planet. Hell, you could have a healthy baby at 100 and nothing would go wrong. You're fine, and our baby is fine."
Maura was still nervous, but felt a little better. In an attempt to distract herself, she joked "A baby at 100 years old?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "If you want to have a baby with me at 100 years old, I wouldn't care. Although I think our kids would mistake us for grandparents..."
"Oh god... Grandparents." Maura looked horrified at the word. "Please tell me that's not going to be for a very long time."
"Definitely not. Girl or boy, no dating until they're in their 30's..."
"That's a little extreme, don't you think?" Maura giggled, fully relaxed and in Jane's soothing embrace.
"Hell no!" Jane laughed to show she's not entirely serious. "No kid is gonna be good enough for ours... We need time to make sure they find the right one. I can't tell you how many lousy relationships I've been in, all of them ended disastrously. I don't want to put our kid through that."
"I love how protective you are, you're already a great mother... But I think 30 is a little too old to start dating, how about we just cross that bridge when we come to it?"
"Oh alright..." Jane faked a groan for Maura's amusement. "But when that day comes, you can bet anything in the world I'll just so happen to be cleaning my gun when their date walks through our door."
"Sure, sure..." Maura pretended to agree, but wouldn't let Jane scare some poor teenager like that. "Maybe we can just get Paddy to intimidate them?"
This made Jane laugh so hard, she nearly fell off the couch. "And I'm the protective one? Damn, nobody messes with Mama Maura!"
"That's right." Maura joined in the laughter. After it died down a few moments later, she glanced at the clock. "It's getting pretty late. What do you say we head to bed? We've both had a long day and I need as much sleep as possible before our appointment tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, I'm beat..." Jane yawned loudly as she stretched. She stood up, reaching out to Maura to help her onto her feet. Getting up wasn't so easy for Maura these days, despite only having a small bump she was so drained from doing the smallest of tasks. Even frequently having to sit down at work, which luckily didn't interfere with case work. The Medical Examiner silently hoped that this part of the pregnancy wouldn't last. "How about a massage to help lull you to sleep? I know you've been really sore lately, so I could use one of your special lotions."
Maura looked at her gratefully, the idea of a massage was pure heaven to her. "That would be lovely, thank you."
"No need to thank me, now come on. Let's get those clothes off." Jane grinned deviously with a wink, chasing Maura into the bedroom.
So it really was the father after all... Poor kid. At least our team got her justice though. Things should be calming down a bit now, we'll be focusing on baby stuff. :)
Is it a boy or a girl? Leave your guesses in the reviews and find out if you're right in the next chapter! :D
Happy Halloween! Have a great one. I know I will, it's my favorite day of the year :)
