The shoe was high-heeled and blue. A shade only Maura Isles could pull off. Jane gripped onto it, twirling it back and forth in her nimble fingers, holding on as if it was a last life line to the woman she loved.
"One of the guys on her security detail just came to. He confirms it was officer Keller that took her," Korsak announced.
Jane snapped her head up as he entered the room. She sat at Frankie's desk, her eyes drifting back and forth between Maura's shoe that'd been left behind during her abduction and Frost's action figure next to her brother's computer.
"Any luck with the security footage?" Korsak asked.
He directed the question to Frankie and Nina who were suctioned to another computer.
"No. Keller managed to shut them all off before going down to the morgue."
It hadn't taken them long to realize Richard Keller had taken Maura when they arrived back at the station. The doctor's security detail was passed out, after the corrupt cop used a taser on them. Frankie and Jane quickly followed Grant Swindell's advice – and sure enough the officer who discovered Olivia's clothes at the scene four years ago, was none other than Officer Keller.
"We're still trying to figure out what car he's driving," Nina said. "It's a lot of street cameras but we'll find them."
"We have calls into his family, girlfriend. We'll have more information soon," Frankie added.
Korsak placed a gentle hand on Jane's shoulder. It was unlike her to stay so quiet.
"You okay?" he asked.
"If anything happens to her..."
"Nothing is going to happen to her, Janie," Frankie cut in before Korsak could.
"This is my fault," Jane whispered.
"You know better than that," Korsak said.
She squeezed onto Maura's shoe tighter. Images flashed through her head. Maura's green eyes, glistening in the morning light, staring at her as she woke up in Paris. The doctor's wide grin as Jane entered the morgue. The way her hands lingered on the former detective for longer than necessary. And her lips – her lips during every kiss, specifically the most recent embrace, haunted Jane's thoughts. Her heart thundered with anxiety and fear. The idea of losing Maura brought her to the brink of panic.
"We need you on this," Korsak whispered to her. "You need to stay strong Jane. We won't find her without you."
Still, she couldn't move. It'd never hit her like this before. Jane typically jumped into cases, even the most dangerous and precarious, with both feet. It wasn't the first time that Maura's life was in danger. But it was the first time that she represented more to Jane than just her best friend or distant crush. Now Maura was hers and she was Maura's. The idea that it'd been swiped away, and Jane may never get it back, brought her to a terrified standstill.
"Jane…" Korsak tried again.
She stared down at the blue shoe in her hands. It reminded her of Cinderella's slipper.
Suddenly it wasn't the images of the past that hit Jane. Instead, something she hadn't seen before. It was a future. A future with Maura. A smile on a wedding day. A squirming baby. A big house that was all theirs. Vacations, holidays, parenthood, retirement, growing old together. It was what Angela had wanted for her daughter all along. The very line that Jane hadn't dared to cross. The life that was just out of reach. And now that she could see it so clearly, Jane was determined to secure it.
"Come on, kid," her mentor whispered.
"He's going to need money," Jane said. Frankie and Nina looked over in surprise. The gangly cop rose to her feet, looking rumpled but resolute in her jeans and FBI polo shirt. "Let's look back over his bank records. We'll see if there's any large deposits – see if we can trace the money. That will give us our lead. Especially if Keller is part of some larger play like Swindell claims."
"Follow the money," Korsak nodded in agreement.
Jane clenched her fists with restored confidence.
"She's been gone less than an hour. We won't let him get far with her."
She jerked awake to the sound of a backfire. She screamed and flailed, unsettled by the blindfold around her eyes and the tape over her mouth. Maura could hardly sit up with her hands tied behind her back and unsteady metal beneath her. Her heart was racing and she continued in hysterics, bouncing and thrashing as she tried to move.
"Shut up! Shut up!" an angry male voice growled from a short distance.
He startled her and suddenly the hazy memories surfaced. She remembered being in her office. A uniformed officer shoved his way inside and drugged her. It seemed like a bizarre nightmare, but Maura was certain it had happened. She did her best to get her breathing back under control, though not being able to see made it difficult for her to settle down.
You have to stay calm. You have to stay calm or you'll die.
The doctor repeated the phrase in her head with the logic she was known for. She listened above her hammering heartbeat in her ears. She could hear traffic whooshing by. Tires moaned on concrete below. The cold metal wall she leaned against, moved unexpectedly, slamming her shoulder a few times.
She was in a car.
A van. A worker's van with an open backseat. She pulled in a slow breath. Her abductor was taking her somewhere.
Your chances of being found reduce greatly if you're taken outside the radius of where you were abducted.
Without thought, Maura started to flail again. She tried to get up to her feet, though that was irrational, and fell as the van hit a dip in the road.
"Stay down or I swear to God I'll kill you!" the man screamed at her.
Maura groaned as she rolled on the metal floor of the van. She'd landed on her hip during the fall. It now throbbed as she tried to sit herself back up. She needed to release her hands. That was her only chance. Maura attempted to pull her wrists apart but it only brought her pain. She grunted again, recognizing that her hands were held together by zip ties.
The van swerved, throwing her to the other side of the backseat. Tears sprang to her eyes in pain as she rolled onto her back. The unbearable feeling of helplessness hit her. She couldn't imagine how she could possibly find her way out.
Jane. Please, Jane find me. Bring me home.
Maura envisioned the woman's striking face, comforted by the idea of seeing her again. The chance to wake up to her one more time. While thoughts of Jane brought her hope, they also hit her with intense longing. More scared tears fell, dampening the cloth tied around her head.
"Oh fuck," the driver shouted.
A familiar sound blared above the traffic. Sirens. The sirens of a patrol car. Maura wondered how long she'd been unconscious. It seemed they'd found her in remarkably quick time. She braced for the van to accelerate. She wasn't out of danger yet. In fact, this may have put her at even greater risk.
"If you say a fucking word, I will kill you, do you understand?" the driver barked.
To her surprise the van was slowing down. She could hear gravel crunch under the tires. The siren sounded closer to them and suddenly the van came to a stop.
"I swear to God, I'll kill you. I don't care if that means I die too," the man hissed. "You stay still and quiet, or you won't see Jane again. I promise you that."
Even if she'd been determined to disobey him before, Jane's name on her captor's lips brought Maura to a standstill. The breath hitched in her throat. He'd managed to use her worst fear against her.
I have to see her again. I have to tell her.
The goal came to her with stunning clarity. She needed to tell Jane she loved her, and Maura would do anything to survive. She settled quietly against the side of the van, only able to listen in her blindfolded state.
"Good afternoon officer," Keller greeted.
He sat in the driver's seat, hands clenched around the wheel. He hadn't planned to stop, but he had less chances of making it out of a car chase than talking his way past a patrol officer. His years on the force gave him crucial insight. Obviously if just one cop was tasking himself with pulling Keller over, then he really had no idea who he was or what he was up to.
"Sir, do you know how fast you were going?" the officer asked.
"I'm not sure officer," Keller replied.
His gun was stored safely in a plastic holster beneath the steering wheel. He kept his gray eyes ahead, prepared to grab the weapon in one swift motion if his captive or the officer decided to do anything rash.
"You were going 70 in a 55," the officer replied.
Keller had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. In the backseat, Maura shifted uneasily, doing her best to not make a sound. Her bare feet were curled beneath her. It was unbearably humid out and sweat poured out of her in excess, rolling down her cheeks and neck, staining her green blouse. And yet even in the extreme heat, she shivered.
"Another driver called you in; said you were driving erratically," the officer continued. "Have you been drinking?"
Keller vigorously shook his head.
"No, no sir. I'll do the test right now if you'd like. I'm sober for seven years," he lied.
The young officer squinted into Keller's face, sun glistening on his warm cheeks. Cars sped by as he stood near the van's open window. They were forty miles outside the city, on a wide country highway, surrounded by nothing but farmland. The officer must have surely gotten the alert about the Medical Examiner's kidnapping, but he appeared unsuspicious of Keller thus far.
"Can I see your license and registration?"
Keller gave a relieved smile and nodded.
"Of course," he replied.
He'd prepared a fake identity and now felt in the clear as he reached for his glovebox. Before he could hand over the documents, a shriek filled the van.
The decision to scream had been impulsive. Impulsive and fearless like the woman she so admired. Maura knew she was risking her life the moment she belted out the yell but she believed it as her only opportunity to fight for Jane. It drove her every action.
"Help! It's Maura Isles! I've been abducted! Help me!" Maura pleaded.
Everything that followed must have occurred in twenty seconds.
The patrolman looked to the backseat in confusion, his intrepid eyes bulging at a dilapidated Maura Isles tied up. Keller wasted not a second. He pulled the gun out, expertly switched off the safety, and pressed it to the officer's forehead without a second thought. Not worried of the passing cars, Keller shot the man before he even had a chance to look back. Blood sprayed out the back of the officer's head, hitting Keller's face and the interior of the car. The patrolman instantly dropped to the gravel. Two cars flew by and the occupants swiveled their heads around in shock.
When Maura heard the gunshot, she steadied for impact. The doctor was certain the bullet was for her and shrank in fear. Jane's face flashed across her mind, along with all the two were about to miss. Maura was certain in her last breath, that she wanted to marry the former detective.
But the pain never came.
Just as quickly as she realized the bullet wasn't for her, the van was moving again. The tires' screeched as the vehicle pulled back out onto the main road and her body rocked against the door frame.
"Help me! Help!" Maura screamed again, though the van was reaching full speed and no one could possibly hear her.
"We're fucked! This is your fault!" Keller shouted maniacally. "I'm not going down like this! We're going to figure this out – I'm not going down like this! I'll kill you! I swear to God I will!"
The gun backfired and Maura shrieked. She heard a bullet hit the metal of the van and cowered at the terrifying idea of it ricocheting and hitting her. The fear rushed so quickly again to her head that she thought she might pass out. Her heart and body were in such a heightened state that she found herself dizzy and tired. She could only manage to lay down on the floor of the van, praying that Jane found her soon.
In a matter of twenty minutes, they'd tracked down their strongest lead yet. A lead that Jane felt embarrassed for not establishing before. Of course, in the heat of the circumstances, it was something she would have to process later.
For the last three years, Everett Corporation, one of the city's wealthiest contracting companies and responsible for most of Boston's skyline, had been making monthly payments of twenty-five thousand dollars to Richard Keller. The corporation also paid tuition for two students at the same private school Keller's children attended.
"I found a link to Grant Swindell," Nina announced.
She pulled up a file on her computer as Korsak, Frankie and Jane huddled around. It was a copy of Grant Swindell's commissary deposits.
"Two thousand dollars a month to Suffolk Correctional. All made by Terrence Parker, chief investment officer at Everett Corps."
"I already made a call to his office. Secretary says he's out of town and that those payments to Keller were for security consultations," Jane said.
"Why would a secretary know that information?" Frankie asked, looking over at her from the opposite side of Nina.
"Because she was fed a line in case it ever came up," Korsak said between them.
Jane nodded in agreement.
"I'll do what I can to track him down," Frankie said.
"Meanwhile, lets get a list of properties in a fifty-mile radius that Everett Corporation or Terrence Parker own. Anything that could be used as an escape or hide out. Vehicles, private planes…"
"Cop in Halifax just got shot!"
A spunky uniformed officer with her hair tied in a bun and a thick Boston accent breathed heavily as she made the announcement. She'd barreled through the door, cutting off Jane in her urgency.
"What?" Korsak and Jane barked at her.
"A cop…he pulled over a van off the highway. Guy shot him," she explained. "Dispatcher says they heard a woman screaming on the other end. They swear she said her name was Maura Isles."
Jane grabbed her phone and the service weapon off the desk in front of her.
"What kind of car?" she asked.
"Black construction van," the officer breathed. "County, local police, everyone is all over it. Staties will be there soon…"
"What's the license plate number?" Jane cut her off.
"3-6-4, Whiskey Echo Charlie," the young woman said obediently.
"Nina, look up any properties connected to Everett or…"
"Already on it," Nina nodded, eagerly typing into her computer.
"Hey, Jane, hold on a second," Korsak cut in.
"What?" she snapped, securing the gun onto her waistband.
"You're not going at this alone. You don't know what this guy is capable of and we're an hour behind. Let's give this to County so they can track Maura down."
"No."
"Jane, it's in Maura's best interest…"
"I'm not letting anyone fuck this up. I will handle this," Jane growled.
"You're being ridiculous," Frankie snapped.
"Maura only has so much time!" Korsak put in.
"Nina, give me the addresses!" Jane yelled.
The analyst wavered, her finger hovering above the print icon. The young female officer at the door watched the scene in apprehension.
"Jane, you're emotional and you need to let the right people do their jobs. You're too close to this," Korsak whispered gently, raising an eyebrow at the end. "We all love her and want her back."
"Yeah? Not like me," she replied in a gravely tone. "Nina, I need those now."
The analyst quietly obeyed as the detectives squared off with each other. The papers loudly ejected from the printer and Frankie glared at his fiancée as she went to gather them.
"Don't do this Jane," he growled. "You're not even a detective anymore…"
"Oh screw you, Frankie! Both of you!" Jane barked.
She snatched the papers out of Nina's hand before the analyst realized what had happened. Jane looked to the young officer on her way to the door.
"Come with me," she told her. "What's your name?"
"Emily Owens," the officer said as she scampered after Jane.
"Okay. Your have a patrol car?"
"Yes," Emily stammered.
She'd heard of Jane Rizzoli and was in fact inspired to join the force by all the stories she'd read about the woman. Now she followed her in awe to the elevator, in no position to disobey, let alone respond to her idol.
"Alright, well, you're driving Officer Owens," Jane murmured.
...30 years later...
"Mom? I said how's Owen…"
Maura snapped out of her reverie, realizing that she'd been staring at her daughter across from her at the dining room table. AJ gazed back in concern, her long fingers clenched tightly around her fork. The young woman's looks sometimes struck Maura like a dirty trick. She looked so much like Jane it was as if the detective was back where she belonged.
"Mom are you okay?" James asked.
He'd been speaking to his mother for several minutes but she'd been unresponsive. James and AJ exchanged nervous glances. They'd unfortunately seen Maura like this before. Her eyes would go blank as she remembered one of the many horrors she'd seen over the years. When Jane was around, she'd tell the kids to go play or explain why mom need to take a day of quiet. As children, it'd scared them despite Jane's motherly assurances. But upon becoming older, along with their parents intensive requests to not join the police force, it was clear that something awful had happened. Something Maura or Jane would never be able to get over.
"I'm sorry," Maura finally said.
She pulled in a slow breath, nervously fidgeting with her cloth napkin. She gave her children a weak smile, attempting to prove she was okay. The three of them were seated at the massive mahogany table in the dining room. The lights were dim and a few candles flickered. Maura rarely used the space since the kids moved out. She'd gone a little overboard in her excitement, cooking a roast and various side dishes. The group was already through one bottle of her finest merlot.
"I was just thinking of work," she explained to them.
AJ frowned and looked down at her lap. James, the more patient of the siblings, grabbed onto Maura's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Maura loved all her children fiercely and equally, but she'd always shared a special connection with her oldest son. James' adoption had been unexpected. Alexandra was just nine months old when Jane found him, days old, during a case. The detective planned to give the baby to child services after his blood relatives gave up their rights. But Maura knew he was theirs. The moment she held the boy in her arms, before even being certain that they could take him in as their own, she knew James was their son.
The instant bonding, coupled with her own adoption, endeared them to each other. When the young, black boy of two white mothers became confused, it was Maura who explained that they were family. And when the boy proved a prodigy, making him even more different than he already was at a private nearly all-white school, it was Maura who guided him through the obstacles of being a child genius. So, it was certainly no surprise that James Angelo Rizzoli, followed in the footsteps of his mother by going to medical school and becoming a doctor.
"How's work going?" James asked, deciding to change the subject. He didn't want to linger on Maura's quiet episode so attempted to keep conversation light. Especially since things were already tense between his mother and older sister.
"It's going well," Maura nodded. "I enjoy my students, though I find them harder and harder to connect with. I don't know what they're talking about most of the time."
"Is Owen still on probation?" AJ cut in.
The question caused Maura to falter.
"He has a meeting with the review board in a few weeks," she answered sadly.
The topic of the youngest Rizzoli always brought a frown to Maura's face and that made AJ and James resentful. Since childhood, Owen, had been a wild card and challenge for his mothers. Between drugs in high school to DUI's and now a suspension from his teaching fellowship at Boston College, he'd struggled to find his way. It didn't help that Jane died when he was just eleven.
"Where's he staying?" AJ asked.
"With that same student that got him in trouble to begin with," James grunted.
"Jesus. Mom, if he's asking you for money…"
"Oh don't get me started, she's always giving him money…"
"Both of you; James, Alexandra, please don't," Maura snapped.
"Owen can't keep taking advantage of you," AJ insisted both irritated and protective of her aging mother. "You're the reason he got that job to begin with and he threw away the opportunity…"
"He got it on his own merit."
"He's ungrateful," James murmured.
"I don't know why you lie for him," AJ agreed.
"Like you two lie to me?" Maura asked. She hadn't meant to call out the kids and hated nothing more than fighting with them but she felt cornered. "I know what you're doing, taking a job in Boston, Alexandra."
AJ slowly looked to James. She wore a deep burgundy turtle neck that made her brown eyes look even darker in the dim light. He shook his head.
"James didn't say anything," Maura told her. "I just know you."
"I didn't want you to find out."
"What is the point of digging around the Denton case?" she asked coldly.
"For starters, it got mom killed," AJ said.
"Alexandra…"
Maura hated hearing the sentence fall from her daughter's mouth. She felt a tremble start in her hand. She hid it under the table in her lap, away from James' observant gaze.
"Talking about this will just upset her," James muttered to his sister.
"Don't act like I'm not here, Jamie. I've handled that case and much more, longer than the two of you have been alive," Maura growled. "Do not reopen it, Alexandra."
"There are still so many holes."
"It's closed and it's done…"
"And it still haunts you! You still drift off to this terrible place and you've refused to tell any of us about it," AJ said.
"Allie, lay off," James scolded her.
Maura did her best to keep her breathing under control. Suddenly her hip and shoulder ached. The same pain of the van that day. The gunfire echoed in her ears. And then there were his hands. Keller's hands tracing down her cheeks. Maura did her best to blink out of the flashback.
"I want to get whoever did this," AJ told her mother. "I want get anyone who had anything to do with mom's death. We all need it. We need closure. Maybe it would even help you, mom. Don't you want this finished?"
"It is finished for me," Maura said.
"Something horrible happened to you and ma. Why won't you talk to us about it? After all this time?"
"Because you don't need to know those things. And because it's over."
"It's not over for you," AJ whispered. "It still brings you all that pain. And there's more out there. I want to finish it; like mom would've wanted."
James looked nervously between his mother and sister. AJ waited confidently in her seat, staring past the fire at Maura. Her cheeks were rounder with age and children but she seemed more frail than ever before. Even behind the flawless make-up, comforting wrinkles, and curled hair tinted with gray, it was clear she suffered from deep, distant pain.
"I'll tell you," Maura said. She looked into AJ's eyes, again struck by the feeling that she was talking to Jane all over again. "Not tonight, I need time. But I'll tell you what happened. And maybe then you'll understand why I don't want you to do this."