Elizabeth had been at Katherine's bedside for just under an hour.
Now that she was wide awake, she was in pain from the surgery, but Katherine refused to press the button that would send opiates coursing through her veins. She needed a clear head."
"Look who woke up there," a voice sounded from the doorway, and Nick Simms walked in. Except for a fiberglass bandage on his left arm, he seemed fine.
"Nick," was all Katherine could get out as a smile spread across her face. His presence momentarily made her forget the pain. He came to the bedside and squeezed her hand. "They said you only have a chip on your ulna," she said, touching his cast.
"And a hairline fracture from there to the other side, or as they say in doctor's language."
Maura and Jane could see instantly that the two were connected by more than just their injuries."
Maura licked her lips while lowering her gaze so no one present would see the hint of her smile.
Jane raised a brow. "Okay. Now that the reunion is complete, maybe we can get back to the basics."
Nick let go of Katherine's hand again and cleared his throat. "Yes, ma'am," he said, but turned to Katherine. "I guess that bastard's been following you around for a while. Apparently, he thought your Jeep was the perfect vehicle to attack you with."
Katherine knew there wasn't much more to be said at this point. Whoever was trying to hit her had succeeded brilliantly. Then she thought about Nikki and Ashlyn and that the Anagramist was still on the loose. "What about the girls?"
"Protective custody," Elizabeth replied with a sigh.
"So they're safe then," Katherine said with relief.
Jane nodded slowly. "As safe as they can be. With Frankie and Nina at their house, surrounded by a dozen cops and five of our special forces with automatic rifles. There'll be two of them at his door, too, until we get this maniac."
Katherine struggled to hold back the tears that sprung to her eyes.
"You know Nick was just collateral damage," Elizabeth said now.
"I was in the right place at the right moment," the latter quipped.
"That only makes your safety hang even more by a thread, Kate," Jane said with a deep frown. "If the perpetrator finds out you're still alive, he'll probably try again. Your strategy of pissing him off with the press conference may have worked too well. We have to assume that's why he's targeting you."
It was the last thing Maura wanted to hear. "You have to find him fast."
"Mom, I can assure you that in addition to our two dozen detective strong investigative team, there isn't a cop in Boston who isn't looking for him," Elizabeth assured her, and Maura nodded slowly. "There are even cops who are off reporting for duty."
"The guy was a ghost, unfortunately," Nick said, addressing Katherine directly. "But now he's a ghost with fingerprints."
"What?" exclaimed Katherine. The news filled her with hope.
"Our wise guy got sloppy," Jane told her. "We got his fingerprints off a metal post at Ashlyn's school that he was leaning against. That's the good news. The bad news is they don't match anyone in our databases or the FBI's. That means he's never been arrested, and that in turn means the prospect of finding him isn't great."
"What else can you do?" asked Katherine, closing her eyes as the pain returned.
Elizabeth sighed again and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "The girls have provided our sketch artist with nearly identical descriptions of the son of a bitch. As soon as the pictures are done, they'll go out everywhere. Police, FBI, media. He's on the FBI's most wanted list. We're hoping someone will recognize him."
Katherine finally relented and pressed the button that would quickly bring her relief from the sharp pain in her back. "I'll help you any way I can, Ma," she said, before Jane's laughter interrupted her. "You think that's funny?"
"Kate," the captain replied, "I think you've sacrificed more than enough blood to this city and our police force over the years. More than most cops have in their entire careers." Now she grew serious again. "You always say you don't work for me, but I'm giving you an order anyway, and you're going to follow it. I'm putting you on medical leave. When I'm satisfied that you're feeling better, and only then, will I bring you back on board. In the meantime, I don't want to see you anywhere near this case. If you need any information, you call me. Got it?"
"Yes," Katherine replied reluctantly. "But I'll ask one more favor. I want to stay in the loop."
"As long as neither you nor the information leaves this room," Jane replied.
"Thanks, Ma."
"Don't thank me until we get this guy. And we're going to find him. I don't know how, but we will."
At that moment, the opiates kicked in, and Katherine fell asleep.
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Bright colors flooded Katherine's consciousness as she opened her eyes. When she saw more clearly, she realized they were flowers. Not real flowers, but the pattern on the gown worn by a very heavy nurse over white pants. The name tag identified her as Rita Grantz.
"Hello," Nurse Grantz said, smiling. "I'm Rita, and I'll be taking care of you tonight. How's the pain?"
Katherine felt the discomfort from the surgery coming back. "Not so great," she said dazedly, reaching for the button that would give her another dose of morphine.
"Let me take your pulse and blood pressure real quick before you give yourself a shot," Rita said, pressing the button that inflated the mechanical blood pressure cuff on Katherine's right arm while she read heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation on the monitor above the bed.
"Where is everyone?" asked Katherine. The room felt empty.
"They went home at the end of visiting hours -" Nurse Rita began until Katherine interrupted her.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"1:30 a.m.," the nurse replied as air automatically escaped from the blood pressure cuff. "Everything looks good. Do you need anything else?"
Katherine felt dehydrated. "Can I have a drink yet?"
"Only ice chips," Rita said. "But Dr. Mecklin told me to get you on your feet."
"Now?" asked the doctor, who was too exhausted to even think about getting up.
"Yes, doctor," Rita replied respectfully. "And you know why."
"Because we don't want clots to form," Katherine said with a sigh. "All right."
Nurse Rita lowered the side rail and helped Katherine sit up very slowly.
"Ouch," escaped Katherine, and she contorted her face in pain.
Nurse Rita put hospital slippers on her feet. "Ready?"
"It doesn't get any better than this," Katherine replied. With the nurse's help, she stood up. Rita had slipped her meaty hands under her armpits, and her massive form blocked Katherine's view.
"Okay, dear, now hold on to the IV stand." Katherine obeyed, clinging to the stand with her left hand as Rita moved to her right side, revealing a view of the spacious room.
It was only at that moment that Katherine saw a man curled up on a couch of some sort against the wall ... fast asleep. "Nick?" she asked, though she knew for sure, seeing the cast on his left arm.
"I guess that's one of the cops guarding you," Nurse Rita said. "Come on, just a few steps out into the hallway if you can make it."
"I can make it," Katherine replied wanly, ordering her legs to shuffle forward, even as her eyes remained fixed on Nick's sleeping form on the couch. "How long has he been there?"
"He was already here when my shift started," Rita said. "There are two more outside the door, heavily armed. It's like they're expecting an invasion or something."
Katherine saw the cops as soon as she stepped out the door. As Jane had assured her, they carried automatic rifles with their handguns. They nodded at her respectfully, and Katherine waved back powerlessly, thinking she was unlikely to get far. In fact, she made it halfway down the corridor before declaring she'd had enough.
"You did great for your first outing," Rita said when they got back.
Katherine immediately checked on Nick, who was still asleep, even snoring a little. Seeing him lying here made her realize one truth: He wasn't just a cop guarding her, he wasn't just a friend and colleague. He was someone she felt a lot more for. "Leave us alone. Please," she said as Rita helped her back into bed.
"You know where the button is to call me, doctor. I'll be around."
It wasn't until the nurse had left that Katherine's tears flowed, she was overcome with emotion because he was here, because he was there for her. "I'm sorry because I got you into this," she began.
"I'm fine," Nick's sleepy voice sounded from across the room.
Katherine struggled to speak clearly. "You should go home," she stammered.
"No," he said, swinging his legs off the couch and standing up. "Until we catch this guy, I'm not going anywhere." He joined her at the bedside. "I'm fine, honestly," he continued, pulling a tissue from the box on the nightstand and dabbing away her tears before lowering the side rail of Katherine's bed.
"I've already had my first outing," she said softly.
But Nick had something else on his mind, she realized, as he settled down on the mattress. "I'll be fine," the detective assured her, stroking her forehead affectionately. "I belong right here at the moment." At the last sentence, he looked Katherine in the eye. She screwed up her face and slowly slid as far to the side as she could. He settled down beside her and held her free right hand. "How's the pain?"
"Better," Katherine replied. "So where do we go from here?"
Nick thought for a moment. "Now we make that son of a bitch pay," he said, moving his face closer to Katherine's. He hesitated a moment before bridging the final distance and kissing her.
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It was night when he woke up. Still sleepy, he threw the quilt aside, swung his legs out of bed, and slipped into his slippers because he didn't like the feel of his bare feet on the hardwood floor.
He looked at the alarm clock next to the bed. It was after two in the morning. He had been asleep for thirteen hours, and after the exhaustion that had built up in the previous twenty-four hours, he would certainly need more sleep. But for now, he needed information. He needed to know.
He walked over to his desk and randomly hit a key on his laptop to bring it to life. Then he sat down and scoured the news to find out something about the fate of his targets.
He didn't have to look long. Dr. Isles and Detective Rizzoli were both under protection. The shooter had escaped. Rizzoli's daughters were in an unknown location, presumably under police protection in case their kidnapper tried to kidnap them again.
He laughed. He had never targeted the girls. In fact, not even the other cop named Simms. All right, he'd aimed too low on the first shot and hit her in the abdomen. But if Simms' arm hadn't been in front of the bitch's head when he fired his perfect second shot, the bullet would have gone right into her brain. She would have had a split second left at the end of her life to realize that he had won. That she was beaten.
By someone much better than her. Much more intelligent.
But he was just as happy to continue the game. In fact, maybe it was better that way. Because now he would see how strong she actually was. Whether she could rise above the misfortune he had created. The stolen Jeep. The kidnapping of Elizabeth Rizzoli's daughters. The wounded Nick Simms. Did she love him?
What if Simms died? Could she survive that?
He couldn't wait to see. He had gone to such lengths to find out, had gone so far. Had taken so many risks himself, proving his strength every step of the way. Just as he was ready to execute Rizzoli and her two brats. In fact, it would be even better. To see that bitch Isles suffer before he finished her off. But next time, not from a distance, he decided. Next time he would look her in the eye as he plunged the knife into her chest and let her drown in her own blood, as he had done to Rosa Castillo. Savoring the sight of her in the last twitches of death.
He got up and went to his masterpiece, the crossword puzzle. It was almost completely filled in. However, he knew he had to wait now. He couldn't risk killing one of those subhumans right now. He would see the bitch again soon enough, and as much as he would like to strike immediately, he had to have the patience to take his time.
Because patience perhaps required more strength than anything else, right?
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"I got an A on my math test!" shouted Ashlyn with glee as Elizabeth entered her parents' home with Katherine and Nick in tow, dragging a rolling suitcase behind her.
"Then I guess all that tutoring at the hospital helped," Elizabeth said as the girl hugged her aunt, who frowned slightly. "Careful," Elizabeth admonished her daughter, gently disengaging her arms from Katherine's middle. "They just removed the clips from the surgery this morning."
Ashlyn looked like she was about to start crying. "Did I hurt you?" she stammered.
"Oh no," Katherine assured her. "After three weeks of only seeing you from my hospital bed, being here with you is the best medicine ever." She pressed a kiss to Ashlyn's forehead. She was indeed glad; convalescence after the gunshot wound had proven to be a rocky road. Three days after the surgery, her fever had suddenly spiked massively, revealing an infection that gave Katherine an extra week in the hospital and for which she was pumped full of antibiotics. Dr. Mecklin, her doctor, would have kept her for a fourth week if Jane hadn't intervened and offered her old room in the house so she wouldn't be alone while she fully recovered.
Katherine wanted to decline the offer so as not to be a burden to anyone, but her big sister would not allow it. And her daughters, both of whom had received math tutoring from Katherine at the hospital and had also been staying with their grandparents, were supportive of their mother.
"You took care of us," Nikki had argued, "now it's our turn."
At Ashlyn's greeting, Katherine realized she had made the right decision. Meanwhile, Nikki had come out of the kitchen wearing her apron and hugged her gently.
"Hi, sweetie," Katherine said with a smile.
"Your room is ready," Nikki replied, "and I'm about to help Grandma with dinner."
Elizabeth eyed Nick skeptically before saying, "I'll take your suitcase upstairs."
"Let me help you -"
"Forget it," Maura's voice rang out from the kitchen. "You get some rest. Everything will be ready in half an hour."
Katherine rolled her eyes and Nikki hurried back to the kitchen with a smile, leaving Katherine alone in the hallway with Nick.
"They really love you," he said, putting an arm around her.
"The feeling is mutual," Katherine replied. "So, everything okay at work?" Not a peep had been heard from the Anagramist the entire time she was in the hospital.
"We're all walking on eggshells," Nick said, leading her up the stairs to her room. "Not only because of the search for this madman and because we're waiting for him to show up again, but also because of the personnel changes under the new Chief of Police. Rumor has it that the captain is being promoted past a few people to Chief of Detectives."
Katherine looked at him in amazement. All this time, her family and Nick had avoided talking about work, and thus they hadn't brought up Jane's supposed impending promotion. She knew this could be good news or bad news. "What would that mean for my sister?"
Nick shrugged. "I don't know. The captain has repeatedly said she'll take care of Liz as long as she can." He looked at the doctor, then pulled her into his arms.
She thought she felt her heart leap, and it made her think of how, as long as she had lived, her heart had beaten in its own rhythm every second. Steady. Predictable. No matter what she did or thought, and without her being aware of the reliable contraction of the muscle in her chest. Then a new thought occurred to her. Is that my heart or my twin's?
Katherine realized it didn't matter. Somehow it comforted her to know that she had shared her mother's womb for a short time with another living being. Perhaps this comfort enabled her to share her life with someone again.
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Sitting across from Dr. Galloway in her mentor's office, Katherine was relaxed for the first time. Otherwise, she always went to therapy with a defensive attitude, afraid she might say something that would trigger a harsh reaction from this woman she respected so much. Now she was at peace with herself, which she found odd given that and the shocking news of her twin.
Your mother told me about the chimera, said. How do you feel about it?
I'm sad in a way, Katherine said honestly. I wonder if it was a boy or a girl and what he or she would have looked like. Katherine sat back. All the DNA was there, the egg had the potential to grow into a person but then it didn't happen. It's like I lost someone I knew -.
It's hard to grasp with the mind, said. Knowing that one part of you is different from the rest and that you've literally absorbed your twin.
"But it explains so much," Katherine replied. "This pushing and tugging that I've always felt, the inability to make up my mind."
Galloway looked at her for a long moment and nodded slowly. "Like, for example, about your feelings for Detective Nick Simms?"
Katherine lowered her gaze briefly. "Yes. But I know how I feel about him now." She closed her eyes and imagined his brown eyes. "Knowing my twin has set me free. The battle inside me is over." She opened her eyes again and saw the other woman smile.
"You can return to your patients as soon as you feel able. And Walt Bates is also waiting for you to resume classes with him."
"I'm ready," Katherine said firmly. "If I don't get back to work soon, I'm going to get even crazier than I already am."
"As long as it doesn't stress you out."
"Not moving on with my life would stress me out a lot more," Katherine replied, standing up. And although she still felt a tension from the procedure, she also felt lighter, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was the weight of a lifetime.
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The very next morning, Katherine was back in class with Professor Bates, who was as eager for her account of events as the six students who sat hunched over, oblivious to their cell phones and laptops. "I can't tell you very much more than what was on the news," she began, "because when the perpetrator is found, the police and prosecutors want to be sure of certain details that only the perpetrator can know. In case someone makes a false confession because they want to be considered a notorious killer. It's all been done before." She looked at her students in turn: Cory, Kara, Miguel, Wesley, Justine, and Leslie. "But let me say," she continued, "that I hope none of you ever have to go through such an experience. And now I'm going to answer your questions as best I can."
All hands went up except Professor Bates', and Cory didn't wait to be called on. "Why do the police call him the Anagramist?"
"That's one of the things I'm not allowed to talk about," Katherine replied with furrowed brows. "But the reason will become clear soon enough. And if you make use of your imagination, I'm sure you'll come up with your own theories. Which, of course, I can neither confirm nor deny."
"Let's take down a few bullet points on the board," Professor Bates suggested, and Katherine was about to get up, but the professor put a hand on her shoulder. "Not you, doctor, you still need to take it easy." He let his eyes wander over his students. "Kara, Wes, help us, please."
The blond girl and the handsome young man obediently stood up, walked over to the plastic board and each took a pen from the tray.
"Very good," Bates said, determined to help Katherine through her first day back after the mandatory break. "We don't want you to work too hard, Doctor, so what do you say you just tell us in order what you've experienced."
Katherine gratefully began to give the timeline of events Kara noted in purple: the stolen Jeep, the kidnapping of her nieces, the bomb threat in the Jeep, the shooting of herself.
"Man, what a hell of a trip," Miguel said when she finished.
"And almost my end," Katherine replied. "I got lucky."
"Are you afraid he might still come after you?" asked Justine.
"The police aren't taking any chances," said Katherine. "There are two heavily armed policemen outside our door, and as long as they follow my every move, my answer is, no, I'm not afraid."
The class burst out laughing, which made Katherine grin.
"Why do you think he targeted your family?" wanted Leslie to know.
"Serial killers like to get into people's psyches, especially the people who are hunting them," Katherine replied with a slight frown. "This gentleman probably thought that if he hurt my family, he would hit me. He failed to do either."
"I have a question," Professor Bates said. "When you got up on stage at that press conference where the police publicized that there was a serial killer at work, was that on you? Or did the police want you up there?"
"Both, basically," Katherine replied. "I wrote every word that Captain Rizzoli said, and she wanted me up there."
"Did you want to be up there yourself?" asked Wes Phelps.
"No, not at first," she admitted. "And then I figured if I offered myself as bait and pissed the guy off enough, maybe he'd make a mistake. As it turns out, I was right -" She broke off, as she was about to say too much. "Of course, I can't tell you what mistake that was," she added.
Kara's hand went up. "Do you call him the Anagramist because he communicates with you through anagrams?"
Katherine paused. It was a tricky question. If she said yes, she risked compromising the investigation, even if the killer's nickname had already leaked out shortly after she was shot. And if she answered that she wasn't allowed to say that, it was no different than if she had said yes.
"Accepts ho finer," Cory Mathis said suddenly.
"What?" returned Katherine, too surprised to hide her shock. "How in the world could you know?"
"Maybe he's the killer," Justine Hu scoffed. "He certainly looks like one, doesn't he?"
"Shut up," Cory shot back, turning his laptop around to face Katherine. "It's right here, on Crime Time News."
Katherine read the article and realized it couldn't do much damage; it contained only one of the anagrams. After all, the story had been picked up by other news outlets, and it was only a matter of time before it became common knowledge. She would have to call Nick or Elizabeth and let them know if they didn't already know. But what would she have to lose now, and here? She looked to Wes Phelps at the blackboard. "Wes, can you please write those words down?"
"Sure," Wes replied immediately, turning to Cory, "Can you repeat the words?"
"Accepts ho finer," Cory said.
Wes wrote it on the board with a black felt-tip pen.
"Do the police know what that means?" asked Cory.
"I don't know," Katherine kept her voice unusually low. "But more importantly, does this website know?"
"It doesn't say," Cory admitted.
"Why don't we try to solve it ourselves?" said Kara.
The students proceeded to look up anagrams for Accepts ho finer.
"Anyone else?" asked Katherine, who had just gotten halfway to her feet when she suddenly felt dizzy and sank back into her chair unchecked.
"Are you all right, Kate?" asked Professor Bates as Wes and Kara both dropped their pens and rushed to her side.
"I think I just need a glass of water," Katherine replied. "Maybe I should slow down a little after all."
Bates took the cue. "Okay, that's it for today," he told his students. "We'll see you again next week." As the students packed up and headed out, he turned back to Katherine. "Do you want me to walk you to your office?"
"No," Katherine replied with a faint smile, "it's over again. And I do have my police escort in case I need help. I'll just sit here for another minute, and if I could have this glass of water -"
"Coming right up," Bates said, practically running out.
She was about to make another attempt to get up when she heard a squeak from the blackboard. She startled and jerked her head around. Wes just went to wipe off the board what he and Kara had written.
"Stop, wait," Katherine said, wanting to make sure she was telling Nick and Elizabeth everything correctly. "Just leave it there. I'll copy it down quickly and then clean it up myself."
"Whatever you say, Dr. Isles," Wes replied, taking his jacket and backpack and leaving her alone. "I hope you feel better soon," he said on his way out.
Katherine resisted the urge to get up, she knew she had better wait until Bates was back with the water before she tried. She also knew she'd better not clean the board because the movement could harm the healing wound. Therefore, she pulled out her cell phone and took several pictures of the board. I'll copy it later,' she thought, and Bates can wipe the board clean.