A/N: We're still in cliffhanger territory here, folks!
Jane hung up the phone, walking quickly back to the bullpen where everyone, including the 'suits' watching Hope were pouring through the video footage within a two block radius of where Cailin was taken. Jane nibbled on her lower lip considering what Maura and Aarna had told her.
'Nina?' Jane asked, the detective looking up at her with dark rimmed eyes glazed from staring at a screen. 'Can you do a search for all property in the Boston area owned by someone with the last name 'Greene' with an e?'
'Sure girl,' Nina said with a tired smile, 'it might take a little while to comb the files but its possible. Why?'
'Maura's interview with the step-daughter got her the last name Greene. A borrowed cabin in or near Boston,' Jane said running her hands through her hair. 'If it was borrowed, it might be enough for Russo to think it can't be traced back to him. Hell we probably couldn't trace it back to him without the kid.'
'Okay,' Nina said, spinning her chair around and beginning to type. Jane felt the eyes of the other detectives on her, none heavier than Korsack. She met his gaze knowing he could sense it too. They were close. 'Frankie,' Jane asked turning to her little brother.
'Yeah,' Frankie asked, 'what do ya need Janie?'
'Fruit museums,' Jane said, 'I need a list of every museum in Massachusetts that have anything to do with farming or fruit. Put the ones that overlap at the top of the list.'
'On it,' Frankie said, burying his head back in to the computer.
'Cruz,' Jane asked, 'the step kid said it was a dirt road by a lake. Can you get us everything you can on private and unpaved roads close to Lakes.' The agent nodded busying himself. Jane turned to his partner, 'Bennet, I've got a copy of the interview recording from the social worker, can you go over it see if we missed anything?' When the agent nodded, Jane sent a copy of the file to her.
'Noemi?' Jane asked.
'Yes ma'am,' Noemi answered.
'Can you display a map of bodies of water around Boston?'
'Easy,' Noemi said pulling one up and displaying it on the screen Frankie and Nina had been using as a case board.
Jane gestured to Korsack to come closer. He did, pulling on his glasses as he came. 'What are we looking for?' Korsack asked, his eyes already roaming.
'Bare foot lake,' Jane said staring at the map.
'Bare foot lake?' Korsack repeated with a raised eyebrow. 'You're joking,' Korsack said with a disbelieving chuckle. 'I've lived here a very long time, I've fished in nearly every watering hole there is. There is not a barefoot lake in Boston. There's not even a barefoot lake in Massachussets.'
Jane clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to work through the muscle pain that weariness always caused, 'don't you think I know that? No one names a lake barefoot lake.'
'Ma'am?' Noemi asked, eyebrows knitted together in confusion 'why are we looking for a lake that doesn't exist?'
'She's six Noemi. She's not remembering the name right but she's remembering something,' Jane tried to temper her attitude, reminding herself that she was still, technically, Noemi's instructor. Jane raised an eyebrow at Korsack, 'okay?'
'Maybe part of the name?' Korsack asked, sounding genuinely impressed, 'A foot lake. Maybe F-U-T?'
Jane grunted in acknowledgement, her eyes scanning. 'Can you zoom in here?' Jane asked pointing to a cluster of small bodies of water. Noemi did. Jane waved her back when none of the names matched. Over and over again, grid by grid. Jane's eyes were beginning to blur the blue and green.
'There!' Noemi said excitedly. She clicked, enlarging part of the map. 'Bare Hill Pond,' Noemi said pulling up a pond close to Harvard.
'Frankie!' Jane asked, 'got any museums in Harvard or Lancaster?'
Frankie, who had been mid-sip of coffee jumped, spilling coffee on his shirt. 'Shit. Uh, yeah.' Frankie clicked a couple buttons and a museum was displayed on the screen. 'Fruitlands Museum,' Frankie said, scrolling. He muttered as he read their about us page, 'Janie, they have a farmhouse too.' He clicked on a picture, displaying it on screen.
Korsack grinned, 'what're the odds? A bare lake and a fruit museum?'
Jane grinned back, 'I knew Maura would come through for us.'
'She always does,' Korsack replied happily.
'Cruz, Bennet, Holiday,' Jane asked turning to face the squad, 'you got anything.'
The three shook their heads, Nina spoke first, 'I can see if there's a Greene residence in Harvard or Lancaster but after I'm going to continue running the search statewide. Just in case we missed anything. Give me… twenty minutes?' Jane nodded. It made sense and covered their bases.
Cruz spoke next, 'I'll overlay the known dirt roads near there but it's pretty rural there. I'm guessing half of the roads aren't even identified.'
Bennet spoke last, 'I still have 12 minutes to go through here,' she gestured to the recording on her screen, 'but I'm not seeing anything obviously missing.'
Jane tapped her foot thinking. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was twenty minutes too long. Cailin had been missing for hours. 'Korsack?' Jane asked, turning to her partner and friend, 'wanna take a drive?'
Korsack nodded, 'I thought you'd never ask.' He grabbed his jacket and keys, setting out toward the elevator.
'Janie!' Frankie called 'where are you going? You don't even have an address yet!'
'Nina said twenty minutes. It'll take 45 to get to Harvard. If we leave now, that's twenty minutes closer.'
'And what if she's not there? What if you're wrong? What if Nina pulls a completely different location?' Frankie asked, challenging her thinking.
Jane grinned, 'that's why you, Holiday, and the suits are staying here. If we're wrong, you go get her.' Frankie let out a frustrated sigh, throwing up his hands in defeat.
'I'll text you!' Nina called after her.
Jane waved, turning to walk away only to collide with the small, solid, angry form of Noemi Baccay. 'Recruit?' Jane asked with a raised eyebrow.
'Ma'am?' Noemi asked matching her tone.
Jane felt a tug in her heart. 'You're staying put Baccay,' Jane said, trying to put on her most authoritative instructor voice.
'You're mistaken. I promised Doctor Isles I'd watch your back. I can't do that from a squad room,' Noemi said in just as firm a tone.
'You're a rookie,' Jane countered, crossing her arm, 'you could get hurt out there.' That was the true crux of it. Jane had spent the last five months pouring every bit of herself in to Noemi Baccay. She'd taught her, cheered for her, gotten to know her. Even if this was exactly what Jane had trained her for, Jane didn't want to put her in danger. Jane cared too much.
'I'm your partner,' Noemi countered, mimicking Jane's stance, crossing her arms, 'you won't let me get hurt.'
Jane raised an eyebrow, 'are you defying a direct order from your instructor, recruit?'
'Yes,' Noemi responded, 'and I'm keeping a promise to a friend. Either you leave with me or you don't leave at all.' Noemi raised her eyebrow in a challenge. Jane looked at her recruit with a mixture of pride and exasperation. One day, Jane decided, she'd like to take that challenge. Even though Jane had a good several inches on the younger woman, Jane suspected Noemi could give as good as she got in the sparring department.
Jane sighed, throwing up her hands in the same way Frankie had earlier, 'fine! Let's go.'
A guffaw erupted behind Jane, following her out of the squad room. Shown up, by her own recruit, Jane thought. She'd never hear the end of it. In all of the commotion, no one noticed Hope slipping quietly out of the conference room and down the stairs after the pair.
Hope hurried down the stairs, racing to beat the elevator. That Jane was going after Cailin was obvious. What other reason would Jane have for leaving? And if Jane was going after Cailin then Hope was coming too. Hope broke in to a jog when she hit the lobby, running towards the two dark haired women. 'Jane!' Hope called.
Jane whirled on the spot turning to look at Hope. 'Hope?'
'Jane,' Hope started when she had caught up with the two women, catching her breath as she spoke, 'I'm coming with you.'
Jane frowned, 'Hope that's really not a good idea.'
'You're going after my baby, right?' Hope asked, imploringly.
Jane exchanged looks with the woman at her side, 'yeah. We think. There's a chance that she's there but there's a chance that she's not.'
'Then I'm coming with you,' Hope said, trying to walk past the solid woman.
Kind but firm hands stopped her, Hope looked up in to amber brown eyes, 'this is serious Hope. Dangerous. Cailin could be hurt. She could be dead.'
Hope flinched but she didn't back down, 'I'm aware. If she's hurt I'll treat her and if she's gone…' Hope let herself trail off. Could she handle it? Could anyone handle that?
Jane's face softened, 'I just need to know that you'll follow orders. There's a decent chance we're walking in to a hostage situation Hope. You might be able to see her and not get to her. If you try, it will put you, me, and every one else there in danger.'
Hope pulled herself up straighter, 'I've treated patients in some of the worst parts of the world. I've had to flee from insurgents and taken commands from soldiers. I can do this Agent Rizzoli.'
'Alright Dr. Martin,' Jane said with a nod, 'you can come.' The woman next to Jane raised an eyebrow at Jane, a smirk on her face. Hope wondered if she would say something. 'Come on, Noemi, it's her kid,' Jane said in exasperation.
'You better not let Maura know,' the woman, Noemi, said with the hint of teasing in her voice.
Jane paled slightly, looking conflictingly at Hope, 'god she's gonna kill me for putting all three of us in danger.'
Hope shrugged, walking past the woman to climb in the back seat, 'best to tell her after then Jane.' Vince looked at her with surprise but said nothing as she buckled up.
Jane groaned as she climbed in to the front seat. Noemi slid into the back with Hope. Vince raised his eyebrow at Jane. 'What?' Jane shot back, 'you wanna make a comment old man?'
Korsack chuckled, raising his fingers in defeat, 'me? Nope, not me. I'm good.'
The drive was quiet. Tense. Hope supposed she could have done something to alleviate that but it was taking everything inside her to hold herself together. They'd been on the road for nearly ten minutes when Jane's phone began buzzing.
'Rizzoli,' Jane said her eyes flicking up at Hope in the mirror. 'Yes, Agent Bennet I have her with me.' Jane paused, letting the other woman speak. Hope could hear the other agent speaking quite loudly and seemingly quite angrily at Jane. At last, Jane interrupted her, 'she followed me Bennet. I didn't take her anywhere-' Jane was cutoff. 'What? No! No we aren't having some clandestine meeting with Doyle. We're on our way to find her daughter.' Jane's tone was harsh, annoyed. 'Fine. Follow us. That was always the plan but no we aren't waiting for you.' The woman hung up. Hope felt guilty for getting Jane in trouble. She hadn't meant to give Bennet and Cruz the slip. She just… couldn't let them stop her. It was different. Jane didn't say anything to more her. Hope was grateful.
'Maura says they've just left Maryland,' Noemi spoke to the quiet car. 'Should I tell her… anything?'
All eyes went to Jane who bit her lower lip, running a hand through her hair, 'yeah,' Jane said at last, her tone particularly gravelly sounding, 'tell them to drive safe.' Noemi nodded, texting back. Jane met Hope's eyes, 'you said to tell her after right?' Hope smiled and nodded, that she had. It was better Maura focused on getting here. They would deal with the consequences after.
An eternity was spent watching snow covered trees pass by before all three phones buzzed. 'Nina got us a location,' Jane said, pulling up her GPS. 'She says its not exact because its a forrest cabin on a couple of acres but its something.'
Vince looked at the GPS nodding as he traced the route, 'we're on track. Should be there in 15 to 20 depending on the snow. So what's the game plan Jane?'
'We arm up and find the cabin,' Jane said, 'evaluate the situation and then we handle it.'
Noemi cleared her throat, 'if google maps is right, I found the cabin.' She passed her phone up to Jane.
'There's the dirt road, we'll have to park pretty far back to avoid giving ourselves away. Hike in on foot.'
'Got it,' Vince said, 'it's been a while since either of us worked a hostage situation.'
Jane sighed, 'Frankie, Nina, the suits, and a whole contingent of officers are twenty minutes behind us. We can handle twenty minutes. Do you have your medical supplies doc?'
'Yes,' Hope said, clearing her throat to speak more loudly, 'I always do.'
'Bring 'em,' Jane said meeting Hope's eyes in the mirror, 'you'll stay behind us. Understand?' Hope nodded, she wasn't new to crisis situations and she knew better than most that disobeying a commanding officer's orders could create chaos. Silence reigned again. Vince turned off his headlights as he turned on to the start of the dirt road, pulling off to the side.
The four of them climbed out of the car. Hope shivered. While she had thought to grab her winter gear and was wearing her boots, she had not anticipated a quarter mile hike in rural Boston in a storm. Vince opened his trunk, pulling out vests and weapons. Hope peered in to the darkness. Cailin was somewhere beyond those trees.
'You're lucky I hold on to my personal gear,' Vince said as he cinched the belt around his waist before pulling his jacket back on. Jane grunted in acknowledgement. In another situation might have laughed at the way the two women swam in the vests of the much bigger man. Instead her eyes routed her back to the trees. Hope could hear the faint clicks of metal as the three of them handled their guns. 'Here ya go Doc,' Vince said pressing a tire iron in to her hands.
'What?' Hope asked looking down at the long metal in her hands.
'Just in case,' Vince said with a reassuring smile and pat to her shoulder that had the opposite effect on Hope.
'You okay?' Jane met her eyes, a swirl of emotions there. Hope nodded, tightening her grip on the iron. Jane nodded, 'got your medical supplies?' Hope nodded, holding up her purse which always had a basic emergency field kit in it.
'I'll take the left,' Vince said, sweeping out in that direction of the road, walking along the tracks.
'I'll go right,' Noemi said walking that way.
'I guess that leaves us on point,' Jane said to Hope, 'stay behind me.' Hope did her best to follow a few feet behind the detective as she swept the road. Hope tried to make out anything in the darkness in front of them. Any pinprick of light. Any sign of her missing daughter.
They had been walking long enough for Hope to feel the ache of the cold in her bones when Vince signalled them over. The four of them huddled together for warmth as they looked at the phone Vince held. 'We should be right on top of it,' Jane said her teeth chattering.
'It's google maps,' Noemi retorted, her own voice shivering, 'it isn't an exact science.' Noemi zoomed in to see the road. 'Sergeant Korsack is correct, we need to go left.' So they went left. Jane and Vince in the lead, Hope and Noemi in the rear. Just as Hope felt like running screaming in to the night they broke through the trees to see a pair of cars parked in front of what appeared to be a barely standing cabin. Hope gasped, grabbing for something, anything to hold on to. Noemi's bicep ended up being the thing she grabbed.
'It's okay Doc,' Noemi whispered softly, 'we're gonna find her.' Hope nodded in thanks, gulping down the tears threatening to spill.
The foursome approached the cars. 'Tracks,' Jane whispered pointing to the clear path in the snow, 'I only see one.'
'Recent,' Vince said looking at the powder on the ground, 'at this rate, others might have been covered in the last half hour.'
'Going in,' Noemi supplied, 'none coming back out.'
'No windows on this side,' Jane whispered, 'I'm guessing the tracks lead to the door though.
'We're gonna have to split up and go around,' Vince offered.
'Okay,' Jane said, 'you two go around back. Doc and I will follow the tracks.' The pair nodded, though neither looked particularly happy about it. Hope didn't blame them, she wasn't the person she wanted backing Jane in a fight.
Jane lead them on a slow creep forward, following the tracks to the cabin wall. Jane peeked around the corner before quickly ducking back in to hiding, 'shit.'
'What?' Hope whispered.
'Single male at the doorway. Just standing there looking in,' Jane responded.
'Did you see Cailin?' Hope asked. Jane shook her head.
Hope had just opened her mouth to reply when she heard a familiar voice call out 'what's it gonna be Russo?'
Jane's eyes went wide, her head swivelling between Hope and the corner she was peaking around. 'What the hell is Paddy Doyle doing here?'
Hope shook her head, she didn't know but she could guess. Paddy was here for her because he knew Hope couldn't lose another baby. Hope wasn't a particularly religious woman but she found herself thanking the Lord for that stubborn man's love. Hope inched around Jane, poking her head around the corner. There he was, backlit by firelight. How many iterations of this man did she know? How many times had she traced the lines of his body? How many times had she mended his broken flesh? Even in near darkness she knew a fighting stance when she saw one. Paddy Doyle was fighting for her.
Hope heard a second voice speaking inside, muffled. Paddy shouted back in to the room, 'send the girl out to tie me up. Then she can walk away.' A second muffled reply. And then Hope's heart stopped. Cailin was there. Mere feet away. Jane grabbed her around the middle, holding her from running and Hope bit her lip hard to keep from crying out. Whatever Paddy was doing, Hope knew better than to interrupt. Hope watched in anguished torture as her youngest sobbed, wrapping a rope around the man she knew only as her mother's lover. The muffled voice spoke again, this time closer sounding, as though he were moving to the door.
'Get out of here,' Paddy muttered urgently, 'my keys are in the ignition. Go.' Cailin hesitated and Hope wanted to scream at her to run. To get out of there. 'Go,' Paddy said gruffly checking her away from the doorway with a shoulder. And then her baby was running toward her, eyes wide with panic. Pulling away from Jane's grasp, Hope did the only thing a mother could. She stepped out in to the open, arms held open wide. A shot pierced the quiet of the night just as Hope caught her baby girl.
