Jane had spent the better part of her day texting her brother messages alternating between questioning and vaguely threatening. She had started off genuinely curious but if she was honest she kept it up because it was fun. She didn't get to give him as much crap as he deserved these days. She had to really milk every opportunity she got. Not that he responded, Jane assumed he had turned off his phone. Jane didn't mind nor did it stop her.

At some point in the afternoon, Frankie finally texted back. To the group, he confirmed that he would call shortly after 8 pm eastern. To Jane he sent two words: 'Sorry. Sleeping.' Jane huffed in annoyance. She hated when Frankie decided to take the 'high road' and not engage with her antics. It made the game less fun. Jane ordered take out after walking the dogs and watched some cricket before their call. She had to admit, it was an intriguing sport, though she suspected she would like it a lot less if it weren't for Maura and Dhar.

Jane was unsurprised when Maura called her first. 'Hey Maura,' Jane answered smiling at the camera. 'How was your day?'

'Hello Jane,' Maura replied, 'it was good. Exhausting but good.' Maura's face shifted to a pout, 'you promised to tell me what you learned but you didn't.'

Jane chuckled, 'I'm sorry Maur, I didn't get anywhere. All he said was sleeping.'

'Poor Frankie,' Maura said, 'he must have been working a case.'

Jane nodded, 'probably. So did you make it to the wall yet?' Jane wiggled her eyebrows.

Maura was saved from answering by Frankie's call.

'Hey guys!' Frankie greeted them. Nina, looking over his shoulder, echoed his hello.

'Frankie, Nina,' Maura replied with a smile not quite as wide as the one she greeted Jane with, 'it's lovely to see you.'

'Yeah, it's great,' Jane said grumpily, 'what's up with Rondo?' In truth, Jane was delighted to be speaking with the pair even if it was over a video call but she had a reputation as the older, grumpier, sister to maintain.

'Jane!' Maura chastised her.

'What?!' Jane replied in mock offence. Maura laughed and shook her head. Jane would have too but she had caught the wince Frankie had given and the look Nina had given Frankie. 'What is it Frankie?'

Frankie sighed, 'probably nothing.'

'Rondo came to see me this morning. I had just closed a case that kept us up for three days,' Frankie began, 'said he had a CI who had brought him some interesting information.'

'Frankie, I swear if you dismissed my best CI I'm gonna make the drive to hit you myself,' Jane said, her tone threatening. Rondo was a lot to handle, she knew that, but he hadn't failed her yet. His intel was always good, even if it required parsing through.

'I didn't Janie,' Frankie said, one hand thrown up in surrender.

'Just say it Frankie, she'll keep barking at you if you don't,' Nina urged.

'He said there's been some folk asking about you Maura,' Frankie said, 'he didn't give me much, just that they weren't from Boston.'

Maura laughed, 'of course there are people asking about me. I'm doing a half dozen interviews a day.'

Jane bit her lip. Rondo was brilliant. A bit on the crazy side but brilliant. Most people didn't see that though. They saw the dirty, black, homeless man and forgot about him. It was what made him so effective as a CI. He was effectively invisible to the world. 'Whose talking to Rondo about your book Maura?'

Maura's brows knitted together, 'that seems less than fair Jane. Rondo's a highly intelligent man. Is it really so odd to think he's a reader?'

Jane shook her head. She knew Rondo was a reader. She'd already pre-ordered Maura's book and put it on hold at the local bookstore in Boston for him. This was about perception. Jane knew Rondo was a voracious reader. How many people saw Rondo in his tattered, poorly washed clothes and thought 'I bet he's a reader!'

Frankie interrupted her response, 'Rondo said it was his CI being asked questions. Said the questions stopped when they found out that Paddy was your biological father.'

'Then it was probably gang related?' Maura asked.

'Maybe,' Frankie offered, 'but why would they stop once they found out you were Doyle's daughter if they wanted to get at Doyle?'

'Maybe they didn't want to cross Doyle himself. Maybe they're a rival gang. Or it's someone I put away.'

'Maybe,' Frankie answered, 'like I said, Rondo didn't give me much. I just promised to pass the information along.'

'Thank you Frankie,' Maura answered with a smile, 'I'm sure it's nothing but I'm grateful to have you and Rondo looking out for me. Jane?'

'Can I call you in a few Maura? I wanted to talk to Frankie about something else,' Jane said.

'Oh,' Maura said looking shocked and skeptical, 'certainly. I'll talk to you shortly. Have a good night Frankie, Nina.'

'Bye Maura!' Nina called. She pressed a kiss to Frankie's forehead, 'I'll let you two talk as well. Good night Jane.' Nina walked out of screen.

'What's up Jane?' Frankie asked.

Jane was fighting to keep her emotions in check. It wasn't Frankie's fault, she reminded herself. 'How bad is it really?' Jane asked.

Frankie sighed, 'I don't know. It's odd for sure. Rondo thought it felt off and it makes me queasy too. But there's nothing to go on.'

'So find something!' Jane demanded, 'go back to Rondo. Go to his CI. Arrest him for loitering and make him tell you everything he knows.'

'Janie,' Frankie said softly, 'what's he going to tell us that we don't already know?'

'I don't know. How about a description? Or a car? Maybe a name?' Jane said hotly, 'we won't know until you do your damn job.'

'Woah! Hey!' Frankie shouted back, 'I am doing my job Janie. Tracking down every one who asks questions about a pop cultural icon isn't my job!'

'She's not an icon,' Jane yelled, 'it's Maura! It's Maura and her life could be in danger!'

Frankie sighed and spoke softer, 'you're right. It is Maura. And I promise I will try to get more information okay?'

'No it's not okay!' Jane yelled, less at Frankie and more at the whole situation, 'Maura is on the other side of the country and there's no one looking after her. No one!'

'That's not my fault Janie,' Frankie answered his voice still soft but this time Jane could hear the hurt in it.

'I know,' Jane yelled. She took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down a bit. 'I know,' she said softer, 'none of this is your fault. It's just… I thought we got away from all of this. I thought we were done being threatened and haunted. It's all just… coming back to me. Okay? But it's not your fault and I know you're doing your job. I do.'

'Thanks Janie,' Frankie said. Then, almost tentatively, he said, 'Paddy probably has people around the country.'

Jane stared at Frankie, 'you want me to put a jailed, dying, mobster in charge of protecting my girlfriend across the country?'

Frankie shrugged, 'no I'm just suggesting you let Paddy know what's going on. She is his daughter, so he's got some pretty compelling motivation and we both know that him being in jail doesn't mean he doesn't have resources.'

Jane hated that idea. Unfortunately, the only other alternative she could come up with was quitting her job and following Maura around as her personal body guard. Jane would do it in an instance but she was pretty sure Maura wouldn't allow it. 'Just go talk to Rondo, Frankie.'

'I will Janie,' Frankie assured her. 'Take care, okay? Don't let this eat at you.'

Jane considered making a snide remark but the look of genuine concern on her brother's face made her bite her tongue. He wasn't the target of her vitriol and she'd taken enough of it out on him in this conversation. 'You too Frankie. Tell Ma I love her and give TJ kisses for me.' Frankie nodded and hung up.

Jane hung up the phone and buried her head in her hands. She hated this. Jane always did better when she was the target. Maura wasn't helpless, Jane knew Maura could kick serious ass when she had to. Jane was the one who lacked courage. Seeing Maura hurt, knowing Maura was in danger, it broke Jane in an unbearable kind of way. Maura getting hurt, having to have surgery, that was why Jane took the FBI job. Sure she wanted to be safer. Sure she wanted her family to be at peace with her work. Mostly, though, Jane wanted to stop putting Maura in harms way. Jane had thought, hoped, that if she just went away, people would stop targeting Maura. Jane wanted to cry. She wanted to drive to Boston and hunt down Rondo herself. She wanted to catch the first flight to Seattle. Instead, she called Maura.

'Jane!' Maura's concerned face greeted her, 'are you alright?'

For a moment, just a moment, Jane wanted to fall apart. Tell her all of her concerns but Maura would probably just brush them aside. After all, Maura was sure it was nothing. Jane forced a smile, 'yup, just asking Frankie about Ma.'

'Oh, how is Angela?' Maura asked, her voice sounding some what skeptical.

'Good, probably, Frankie was busy working that case,' Jane said. It wasn't a lie, technically.

'Jane?' Maura asked, there was a soft hesitancy in her voice, 'are you okay?'

Jane forced her smile to widen a bit, 'of course, like you said, it's probably nothing.'

Maura was silent, her eyes flickering over Jane's face, 'you don't believe that though.'

Jane didn't let her face respond, 'I'm waiting for the evidence. I'll make a prediction then.'

'Is that what your gut says?' Maura asked, her lips pursed together.

'You don't believe in guts,' Jane replied.

'That's preposterous. Of course I believe in guts,' Maura replied, a slight tease in her voice, 'I've handled too many of them to not believe in them.' Jane's chuckle was a tad too late to be believable.

'It's probably just some let over paranoia Maura,' Jane said, 'you know, PTSD or some other kind of psycho-babble.'

'Do you really believe that?' Maura asked. Jane shrugged. Maura sighed, 'fine. You don't have to share with me, just know that I'm here for you if you want to talk.'

'Yeah, sure. I'm going to let you go to bed now. Okay? Love you bye.' Jane said hanging up quickly. Maura didn't even have a chance to point out that it was only 4:30 pm in Seattle.

Maura sighed, setting down her phone. She could handle the possible threat. She knew the publishing company had safety measures in place. Seattle was a long way from Boston, after all. What Maura couldn't handle was Jane shutting her out. 'Oh Jane,' Maura whispered, her heart hurting.


'Doyle! VIP call for you!' The prison guard at the door shouted.

Paddy Doyle looked up, surprised. He stood and walked slowly toward the guard. Paddy was always winded these days. He did his best to not show it to the other prisoners though. He could show no weakness. He followed as the guard escorted him to the phones.

'Agent Dean,' Paddy greeted, 'I hope you aren't calling to cancel on me.'

'It's not Dean,' a familiar gravelly tone came through the speaker. It was almost shocking to hear. Paddy wasn't sure he'd ever hear her voice again. He could think of only one reason she would be calling.

'Agent Rizzoli,' Paddy replied, 'is Maura alright?'

The agent barked out a harsh laugh, 'for the moment.'

Paddy didn't like the sound of that. He wanted to ask but they both knew this was a recorded call. 'I assume you're calling for a reason Agent Rizzoli.'

'Were you aware that Maura wrote a book?' Jane asked him.

'Certainly,' Paddy wheezed, 'I'm looking forward to reading it.'

'Were you aware that she is on a book tour around the United States at the moment?'

'I am,' Paddy replied, 'I try not to miss any of her interviews.'

'Good, though you should know you aren't the only one catching her interviews,' Jane replied. Paddy's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure if Jane meant she was also watching those interviews or if there was someone else interested. He didn't like that. 'I just wanted to make sure you knew what was going on in your daughters life. Want you to be able to keep an eye on her.'

'I'm always watching over her Agent Rizzoli,' Paddy replied. If he didn't know better, he would have guessed that Jane was asking him to protect Maura.

'Good,' Jane answered, 'I wouldn't want you to miss anything.'

'Neither would I,' Paddy murmured, 'she's amazing, that girl of mine.'

'She is,' Jane replied, 'I'm sorry for your illness, Doyle, for her.'

'Thank you Detective Rizzoli,' Paddy replied. Apparently he had missed something. Something alarming enough that Jane Rizzoli was risking her career to warn him about it. Paddy sighed. He had hoped his trouble making days were over. He really was too old for it but if Maura's life was on the line, he supposed he had a little mischief left in him after all. Paddy walked slowly back towards his cell, already making a plan. He'd have to make a few calls, starting with his Lieutenant in Boston. Someone wasn't passing along vital information and Paddy would find out why.