A/N: It's update day, my loves! The reviews and comments and messages on this little story continue to overwhelm me - thank you, every single on of you that reads, share, likes, comments...it's incredible. In this update, April isn't quite gone just yet, and Jane discover somethings that flings her right back into her past. Enjoy!
A palpable sense of unease blankets Jane as she approaches the morgue, head down as she scrolls through the preliminary report that Frost had emailed her earlier in the day.
Today is marked by another body - another life taken at the hands of the perp that manages to evade their grasp. They'd tried so hard to keep their investigation under wraps, but Jane has no choice but to involve the rest of the unit, not bearing to see any more blood spilt because of their failings.
She'd set up a meeting with Cavanaugh for later in the day, after she's had a chance to brief Maura and Frost, hoping they can attack the situation together and share the inevitable brunt of blame that will no doubt come for attempting to keep their findings on the down-low so far.
Jane slips through the double doors to the intake bay just in time to see Frost barrelling back towards the morgue, hand pressed firmly to his mouth as he goes.
"That bad?" Jane asks and Maura turns, eyes lighting up when her gaze lands on Jane.
"He did exceptionally well to make it this far." She signs the paper on the clipboard she's holding as the body is unloaded, directing the technicians to wheel it in to where she can Frost bent over the sink, shoulders shaking as he vomits.
Jane crosses to her as soon as they're alone, one hand resting on the small of Maura's back as Jane presses a chaste kiss to her lips, cherishing the few seconds of the comfort and warmth Maura provides before they turn, moving to the morgue together.
"There's water in the fridge." Maura indicates to Frost and he smiles gratefully, taking off his blazer and shaking his tie loose before he retrieves a bottle, rinsing his mouth and then taking a long gulp.
"How's that dead fridge water taste? Refreshing?" Jane teases as he holds it in his mouth for a second, the colour draining from his face when he turns back to the sink, heaving loudly.
"Not funny." He manages and Jane laughs to herself, moving to thump him on the back playfully.
She waits until Maura is in her office, door closed as she changes into her scrubs before she dips her head to talk to him, thrusting tissues into his hand so he can clean himself up.
"We gotta talk to Cav. All of us. He's gonna want to know everything. We need to be smart about this, or all of our asses are gonna be on the line."
Frost groans, steeling himself against the mental sink. He spits, then wipes his mouth, turning his head to look in Maura's direction and then back at Jane.
"You know she won't lie."
"I don't want her to lie. Just...be a little economical with the truth."
"It doesn't take an idiot to piece it together. Same MO. Same weapon."
"Similar. Not same."
He sighs, cupping water in his hands and splashing it over his face before he stands and turns, stomach clenching as he tries to avoid looking at the body bag on the table in the centre of the room. He's about to respond when the office door opens and Maura enters, face already etched with concentration as she sets about her work, camera hanging about her neck as she adjusts the lights and unzips the black bag.
Jane joins her at the table, peering down at the body of the young woman, almost able to believe she's sleeping peacefully were it not for the deep slash across her throat. She's bathed in blood from the neck down, completely red aside from a small glint of silver that Jane spots embedded in the cut.
"Is that..." Jane begins, trailing off as Maura uses a gloved finger to slowly dislodge the locket necklace, holding it up for Jane to see when she's freed it from its fleshy prison.
"Oh god," Frost mumbles, turning his back to them. Jane regrets her taunting as she looks over the necklace for as long as she can bear, face twisting in repulsion at the bloody tissue Jane can see still clinging to the delicate chain.
"Was that in there on purpose?"
"No. The necklace likely slid into the laceration during the struggle to stem the bleeding. I've seen it before."
"That's...revolting."
Maura lays it on the tray next to a ruler, then snaps a picture before she picks it up again, carefully prying it open. She studies it for a moment, then holds it out for Jane to look at. The photos inside are hidden by crusted blood and Maura gently scrapes the surface, sending a small shower of red flakes flying, much to Jane's disgust. She leans back, puffing out a nauseated breath of air.
"You really gotta do that in front of me?"
"Well, I assumed you'd want to know what's inside. For the investigation."
"About that..."
Jane offers an apologetic smile, pushing herself to her feet. Maura eyes her suspiciously, then looks over at Frost and back to Jane, head tilted in question.
"We have a meeting with Cavanaugh in an hour. About this."
"I don't think I can get this done in an hour, Jane."
"Not this. The whole case. I...Frost and I, well..." She falters, turning to Frost and glaring at him. "Help me out here."
"We've been keeping the investigation quiet. He doesn't know they're related. This is related, right?" He points at the body and Maura twists to look between the two of them.
"I can't say for sure."
"Well make a guess Maura. Does it match the others?"
"Others? Plural?"
"When you were in New York we had a body exactly like this, and I...sorta asked Dr Moore to hold back a report, and I didn't...file it."
"You didn't file an autopsy report?" Maura asks, eyes wide and questioning.
"We, really. It was both of us. Right, Frost?"
"I was under duress." Frost replies and Jane scowls, shaking her head at him.
"From whom?"
He points at Jane and she jumps up, swatting his finger away quickly. She sighs, giving him a poke in the ribs for good measure and the crosses to the cabinet of medical supplies in the corner of the room, reaching up and feeling around until she finds the hidden report, pulling it down and holding it out sheepishly towards Maura.
She gasps, snatching it from Jane's hands and flicking through it quickly.
"Is this on the system?" Maura doesn't wait for an answer, leaning over to wake up her laptop. "Your silence speaks volumes. Precisely what do you plan on telling him? That you made me an accessory to your crime?"
"Crime? It's not a crime." Frost pales again at the word, yanking on his collar anxiously.
"Withholding important information from an active investigation? I shouldn't have to remind either of you that obstruction of justice is a charge in all fifty states."
"We didn't obstruct anything, we ju-"
"We need to go to Sean, right now. This can't wait any longer." Maura stands, placing the necklace inside the body bag and then zipping it shut. She tugs off her blue surgical gloves with a snap, balling them up and tossing them into the trash can.
"Where is Dr Moore?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Because, Jane, she's part of this." The annoyed tone to the way that Maura says Jane's name makes her wince and she unclips her cell phone from her belt, dialling April's number and holding it to her ear.
"She's not answering. Frost, you try would ya? Just get her in here." Jane tosses her phone in Frost's direction, then helps Maura transfer to body across to a cold locker, trying to figure out if she's really in trouble or not.
"Are you mad?"
"Yes. You shouldn't have done this, either of you."
"We just needed a little time to put it all together, before it's splattered all over the papers."
"I don't think that's a choice for you to make." Maura starts, then softens at Jane's worried expression, hand closing over one of Jane's and squeezing reassuringly. "It'll be fine. I'm sure he'll understand."
"I'm sorry."
"I forgive you." Maura smiles, closing the locker with a click and latching it shut. She takes hold of the folder and her laptop, tucking them under one arm as she leads them both out of the morgue.
"I can't get ahold of her. I left her a message." Frost hands Jane's cell phone back to her as they approach the elevators, eyes rolling when she immediately dials April again, stabbing her thumb against the button to hang up when it goes straight to voicemail.
"I told you, she's not answering. Should we wait?"
"No. We can loop her in later. Come on."
Frost and Jane slink behind Maura like schoolchildren on the way to the headmaster's office, attempting to align their stories through hushed whispers and hand gestures until Maura interrupts them, sternly demanding they stop. She strides to the door of Sean Cavanaugh's office, rapping loudly before she opens it and steps in, stopping so abruptly that both Jane and Frost crash into her, the three of them stumbling through the open door.
"Dr Moore. Lieutenant Cavanaugh ." Maura's strained greeting is accompanied by an immediate flushing of her neck and she takes a sharp inhale, hand thrusting out to steady herself against the desk.
"Perfect timing. Sit down. All of you."
The room is filled with the various sounds of chairs scraping and whispered greetings, and Jane purposefully chooses a seat between Maura and April, turning to murmur under he breath angrily in April's direction.
"Did we interrupt you ratting us out? Real nice of you.'
"I'm not ratting anyone out." April's hisses back at Jane, then leans around her to greet Maura politely with a small wave of her hand.
"Then how does he know?"
"I know," Sean interrupts Jane, towering over them as he stands behind his desk, looking at Jane accusingly, "because a little database housekeeping before Dr Moore leaves us flagged a missing report. I assume that's the one you're holding right now, Dr Isles?"
He holds his hand out and she passes it to him before she shrinks back into her seat, pinning her hands under her thighs so she doesn't start fidgeting.
"We're looking at a serial killer, and not one of you thought to mention it?"
The four of them sit in silence, Frost shifting nervously in his seat whilst Jane stares down at the floor, not knowing where to look. Cavanaugh flips through the report, then throws it down onto his desk with a slap that reverberates around the room.
"Who wrote this?"
"I did, in Maura's absence," April admits quietly.
"You didn't think to check this after New York?"
Jane realises that he's talking to Maura and her head snaps up, ready to jump to her defence when April lays a hand on her forearm, interjecting softly.
"Dr Isles was not aware of the situation. This is not her fault."
"Is that true?" Sean asks and Maura nods a silent confirmation, thankful that April has the decency to go to bat for her, despite their differences.
"Who's smart idea was this?"
"Mine." Jane blurts, not wanting any of them to take the fall for what was originally her idea. "It was mine."
"You're lucky that I'm not suspending your ass Rizzoli. This is bigger than any of you think. Show them."
"What?" Jane questions, confused until April sits forward, retrieving a clear evidence bag from her medical bag and laying it on the desk in front of them.
It holds a single piece of lined notepaper, the handwriting immediately recognisable to Jane, even from afar. Panic shoots through her and she snatches it from the desk, staring down at it sickly.
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone left it tucked under the wiper of my car." April explains calmly, plucking it from Jane's grip and passing it to Frost who reads aloud.
"If a woman practises homos..." He stops, glimpsing at April and then back down at the note, continuing. "Practises homosexuality, having sex with another woman as with a man, both women have committed a detestable act."
"Leviticus, twenty thirteen, but modified slightly." Maura offers and April nods, allowing her to continue. "The genders and sentence structure has been shuffled, to reflect the situation."
"Well somebody go run it. This has gotta be him right?" She motions for Frost to go impatiently, nudging his knee with her own. "That's gotta be our guy."
"It's clean. I took it to forensics myself." Sean talks over Jane's scoff of disbelief and he takes the evidence bag, opening the top drawer of his desk and putting it inside, along with the crumpled folder Maura had brought with her.
"I oughta write every single one of you up." He looks between the four of them as Maura lets out a barely audible whimper of discomfort. "But I won't. You got forty-eight hours. That's all I can give you. Find him."
"Thank you." It's not what had Jane expected to hear but she grabs at the chance, jumping to her feet. She stands to the side as Maura and Frost step out, blocking the threshold with her arm to stop April from leaving.
"You okay?"
It's a question born from genuine concern and April shrugs tiredly.
"I've had much worse left on my windshield, believe me. I'm fine."
"We can arrange a watch, Sean?"
"I don't need babysitting." April laughs lightly, her worried expression betraying her bravado. "I have a flight out of here in three days. My name isn't tied to the case. It could have been left there by mistake."
"That's some coincidence, leaving it on the car of a…" Jane dodges around the word she wants to use, not sure if she should label out loud when April does anyway, taking the choice away from her.
"Of a homosexual?" She gasps dramatically at Jane's expression, then laughs as she continues. "A lesbian? My god. It's fine, Jane." She brings a hand to push Jane's arm down so she can step out of the door, calling over her shoulder as she goes.
"I'm a big, brave girl, Jane. I can take care of myself."
"What are their names again?"
Jane sits in the passenger seat of Frost's car as drives them to their destination, flicking through the finished autopsy report that Maura had printed out for her before they left.
"Esther and Amos Taylor."
They're on their way to do Jane's least favorite part of her job - delivering the devastating news to parents that their child is not only dead but has had their life ripped from them so cruelly at someone else's hand. She scans through the report quickly, fingertip smoothing over the words as she goes.
"She was twenty-four, Frost. Twenty fucking four. I can't wait to get my hands on the fucker."
"What did she say about the weapon?"
"Hold on let me translate…same distinct cutting pattern as the last two. High chance of it being the same blade. What does this asshole want? It's too close to be random. You sure you got everything from the scene?"
"I'm sure."
"No threatening letter? No disgusting, homophobic words carved into the wall or something?"
"Nothing, J."
Jane grunts, throwing herself back against the seat angrily.
"Something's off. I don't know what yet, but it is. Maybe her parents can shed a little light on her. We're here. It's the house at the end."
It only takes Jane twenty minutes to figure out what they were missing. She's sitting primly at the kitchen table of two of the most homophobic human beings she has ever encountered, eyes watering from the effort of not completely losing her shit.
"I warned her that something like this would happen, for her sins."
Abel Taylor is the broad, imposing head of the house, looming over his wife as she unloads a box of belongings into an evidence bag that Frost holds open for her. Both she and Frost had politely declined the offer of tea, neither of them wanting to stay in this overbearing, oppressive house any longer than they absolutely have to.
"When was the last time you saw Sarah?"
"It's been over a year. Abel…we asked her to leave, shortly after we discovered her…wrongdoings."
At least she's got some decency, Jane thinks to herself as she stares up at the father, stare returned with a determined, unwavering one.
"There's no room under my roof for that kind of ungodly behaviour, and there was certainly no room in our hearts."
"We weren't close," Esther adds quickly, dumping out the few personal items that Frost didn't want to take into the trash can next to her. It's a move that causes Jane's jaw to drop and she sucks in a loud breath, turning to pull her best get me the fuck outta here face at Frost.
"I think we've got all that we came for. Thank you for your time, Mr and Mrs Taylor. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.
He pats Jane on the shoulder and she rises, following him out of the house. They're almost at his car when Esther appears, darting across the perfectly manicured lawn towards them.
"I'm sorry, for Abel. We had our differences, but Sarah was a good girl before someone led her astray."
Jane's hands curl around the evidence bag, crackling it loudly and Frost steps between them in an instant, turning Esther back towards the house, muttering his thanks and sympathies as they go.
It takes the entire ride back to Maura's house for her to calm down enough so that she can speak without screaming.
"That was..."
"Mind-numbingly awful. The way they just threw out her stuff..."
"Oh don't get me started. Fuckin' trash."
Jane stares out of the window towards the house, noting Maura's Prius parked in the driveway. She's home earlier than Jane had expected and she smiles despite her bubbling anger, unclipping her seatbelt and climbing out of the car.
"I don't know about you but I need a drink after that. Wanna come in?"
"You know what? That'd be nice. Thank you. Maura won't mind?"
"Nah. C'mon."
Jane unlocks the front door, letting Frost in ahead of her as she locks it behind her, peeling off her black blazer and boots and before she joins him in the kitchen, heading directly to the fridge and retrieving two bottles of beer. She drops the bag of Sarah's belongings on the counter, then pops the caps from their beers, sliding once across the worktop to Frost, then clinking hers against its rim.
"To Sarah."
"Sarah." Frost agrees, taking a swig and rolling the bottle between his hands thoughtfully. He perches on a bar stool, letting out a long sigh.
"You think we should be looking at them?"
"Her mom and dad? No. God-fearing, heartless bullies yes, but killers? I don't see it."
"Maybe there's something in that." He nods at the bag and Jane jumbles the contents around through the clear plastic with her hands, trying to see if anything jumps out at her. Nothing catches her attention aside from a thick, leather-bound journal and she sets her beer down, grabbing a pair of dishwashing gloves and sliding them on, much to Frost's amusement.
"What? Prints. I'm gonna make you take it and have it checked."
She opens the bag carefully, retrieving the journal and unwinding the paracord that holds the contents inside. A bunch of photos and notes fall out and she searches through them until she finds what she's looking for. She turns the same group picture they'd found in Olivia's belongings towards Frost triumphantly, then stares at it again, confused.
"Why would she have this? She's not in it. And her name wasn't on the lists of camp grads."
"I don't know. Maybe she knew one of them."
Jane shuffles through the other photos until she spots a face she recognises, tapping the polaroid of Sarah grinning into the camera, arms wrapped around another girl.
"I've seen this shirt before. Look, Frost." She points at the unnamed girl out towards the edge of the group photo, dressed in the same faded band shirt and jean shorts, face turned out of shot.
"It might not be her. Girls share clothes, right? It could be any of them."
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
Jane skims through the diary quickly, eyes dancing over the cursive handwriting. She's reading a passage to herself when Maura breezes in, walking over to Jane and kissing her cheek softly. It's a simple gesture that neither of them thinks anything of until Frost's face reddens and Jane rolls her eyes at his apparent embarrassment.
"Relax, Frost. Don't make it awkward."
"I'm not! It's...cute. You look good together."
"Thank you, Barry." Maura smiles, striking up a conversation about his day as Jane quietly reads, scanning page after page until she lands on what she's looking for, heart pounding as she zones in the neat, looped handwriting at the bottom of the page.
Her hands tremble as she closes the journal and slides it away, breath heavy as she tries to push it from her mind, not wanting to bring it up in front of Frost or Maura.
It's a nauseating feeling that stays with Jane, long after Frost has gone home for the night and she lies awake next to Maura, staring up the ceiling as she recites the small paragraph in her head, already knowing she won't be able to forget it.
I can't believe she's gone. I can't believe I lost her. I've never loved anyone like I loved her, and now she's dead. I can't believe they killed her.