Chapter Four
Regina awoke to find herself in the dark. Her mouth had something in it, it felt like cloth, her wrists tied tightly with rope, so much so that it really hurt. Her legs were bound too, though with her cast on it didn't hurt that leg as much as the other. She tried to squirm, but felt the ropes digging into her skin. She started to panic and cry. Regina just wanted to go home. Suddenly she heard loud footsteps and the creaking of the stairs. It was pitch black, so she didn't know how they could see in the dark. The person smirked in the dark, but it just seemed dark to Regina, she had something over her head that made it pitch black inside. The person grabbed a phone and called someone who would be very interested in the girl's wellbeing.
"I've got something that belongs to you." a man said, Regina could hear him well, her kidnapper was a man, someone she didn't recognize. "I beg your pardon?" the person on the other end said. "You know, she's such a cute little girl, you know, I wouldn't mind being inside of her." he replied. The person on the other end froze. "You have Regina?" they asked. Regina listened closely, she could hear the person on the other end, it was a familiar sounding man. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" the man on the other end said. The man took her head covering off and removed her gag. For the first time Regina could see, she didn't recognize the man who took her however, but she had a photographic and eidetic memory so she memorized everything with ease. The man put the phone up to her ear. "Talk girl." he told her. "Hello?" she said. Alan heard his daughter's voice. "Regina? Are you alright?" he asked her. "Daddy?!" Regina panicked as she started to cry.
The man took the phone away and placed the gag back on Regina before injecting her with something to make her fall asleep. He placed the bag over her head once more and Regina became unconscious. "If you so much as harm one hair on her head you will regret it." Alan threatened. He had become quite attached to the girl so quickly, even though he barely knew her. The man then laughed. "If you want to see her alive I suggest you do away with those threats. There is a place where kids tell ghost stories and girls bones are chilled. Find me there in one hour and maybe your kid will still be alive. If I hear sirens I'll kill her immediately, no cops." the man said before hanging up.
"What's going on?" A voice spoke out, it was his friend Denny. "Someone has Regina..." Alan said as he stood up. "If I call the cops he'll kill her immediately. He gave me a riddle, a place where kids tell ghost stories and girls bones are chilled." Alan replied. "There's this abandoned house that kids say is haunted, would be the perfect place to stash a kidnapped little girl." Denny suggested. "And what about the chilled bones?" Alan asked him. "We'll figure it out when we get there, I'll go get my guns." Denny said as he grabbed his guns and hid them on his person. They both left for the abandoned house.
Once they got there they had a look around. There was nothing on the second floor or the ground floor, however they did notice that there was an extension cord running into the basement. The door was locked so Denny shot the lock, they turned on the light and went downstairs. The extension cord ran to a deep freezer, where Alan had an epiphany. He noticed the freezer door was locked, but found an axe. He swung at the lock until it came off and opened it where he found Regina. She was freezing and her skin was starting to turn blue. She wasn't breathing, but she did have a pulse.
Alan begun CPR on her until she started to breathe, he then took of his suit jacket and wrapped her in it, bringing her close, trying to warm her up with his body heat. Just then they heard the basement door slam shut. Denny tried to open it, but something was blocking it from the other side. They were trapped, and Regina desperately needed to get to the hospital. Denny was trying to find some way to get the door open while Alan continued to try to warm his daughter up. "Come on Regina, wake up..." Alan said to her as he tried to wake her, however she wasn't waking, she was far too cold still. There were no blankets in the basement to place on her to get her to warm up. Alan knew what he had to do. He quickly grabbed his phone and called Jane.
"What is it Alan, I'm kinda busy." Jane told him. "If you're looking for Regina I've found her, but she's been stored in a deep freezer and I can't seem to get her to wake up, we're trapped." he explained. "How did you find her? What do you mean your trapped?" Jane asked him with a hint of worry in her voice. "I'll explain everything later, do you know that abandoned house the kids around town are always saying it's haunted? We're trapped in the basement, Denny says something is blocking the door." Alan explained. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Jane said before hanging up.
It took about an hour and a half with traffic, but Jane finally arrived with backup. They swept the place, but didn't see anyone, They quickly moved an old, heavy wooden bookcase that was blocking the door and Jane practically ran down the stairs, Maura following closely behind. "Regina?" Jane said as she ran over to her daughter. Maura noticed a mark on her neck where she had been repeatedly shot with a needle. Maura then found some needles nearby and took them as evidence to try to find out what she had been injected with. "Jane, she's been injected with something. We'll need to have these tested to find out with what." Maura informed her.
Jane took Regina out of Alan's arms and into her own and tried to warm her up. "Regina?! Come on, wake up for mommy!" Jane said as she tried to tap her cheek a bit. Jane tried to pick her up, and although she was rather skinny, she still was ten. "I've got her." Alan said as he picked her up. They took her upstairs and an ambulance was there waiting for her. They placed many blankets on her to try to warm her up and even turned on the heat for her to try to help. Alan decided to ride with her while Jane drove her vehicle, agreeing to meet them at the hospital. Jane finally arrived and sat next to Alan. "Thank you...if you hadn't of shown up she might have died..." Jane told him.
"Believe it or not, I do care about her. She is my flesh and blood." he replied. "I know. You really aren't as horrible as you appear." Jane told him. "I know deep down, you do have a good heart." she added. They sat there talking for a while longer before Angela, Maura, and Frankie showed up. "How is she?" Angela asked. "We don't know anything yet. She has hypothermia, they're doing all they can to warm her and wake her up. "The syringes were filled with Lorazepam, unfortunately I do not know the dosage, but if it was low enough she should be fine, it wasn't anything poisonous." Maura informed them.
"Who would have access to syringes of Lorazepam?" Jane asked. "Doctors usually, which is why we ran the prints on the syringes." Frankie told her. "You're not going to like this Janie, but they matched a man known as James North, he was a doctor who was an apprentice of..." Frankie started, but Jane interrupted him. "Hoyt..." she said angrily. "I see, so that's how this is connected." Alan said. "Earlier he called me, I knew I recognized the voice. He was the client that Denny shot and I declined to represent. So he has a personal vendetta against both of us." Alan said. "Okay, he's still out there and until he is captured, Regina is not safe." Jane said. "I'll go look into it some more, see if I can dig anything else up." Frankie told her and he left. "Mr. Shore?" a doctor asked for, in fact, it was the same one as yesterday. "How is Regina?" Alan asked the doctor, Jane listened as well.
"We're warming her up and the Lorazepam that was injected into her has worn off, she's starting to come to, asking for you and her mother." the doctor said. "Can we see her?" Jane asked. "Of course, she got lucky, she's in the same room as yesterday, follow me." he said. Maura and Angela also followed behind them. When they came to the room, Regina was bundled up in blankets and had heat blowing in through a machine. She was still cold, but she was awake now and much warmer. "Regina?" Jane said as she ran over to her. "Mommy?" she asked weakly. "I'm here okay, you're alright..." she said, Regina started to cry and Jane sat next to her and tried to calm her down.
"Regina, thank god you're alright." Angela said as she came near Regina, but Regina backed away from her. "What's wrong Regina?" Angela asked her. She didn't want her grandmother near her, she thought she hated her and that's why she left her alone at the park. She thought what happened to her was her punishment and that she had done something wrong. "Mommy I'm so sorry..." Regina said to Jane. "For what?" Jane asked her. "For making grandma hate me!" she sobbed. "Regina, I don't hate you." Angela told her. "Yes you do, that's why you left me there all alone. That bad man took me as my punishment..." Regina sobbed. Angela stood there silently, she felt awful and needed to leave the room. She stepped out and sat down on a chair outside.
It took a while but Jane and Alan were eventually able to calm Regina down and she fell asleep. Jane stepped outside to confront her mother once she did. "She hates me..." Angela told her. "Ma, do you blame her? You left her at the park, and now she thinks you hate her and you had that guy punish her. Listen, until I can get Regina to think otherwise I think it's best you don't babysit her anymore. I'll think of something else, but right now you should just go home." Jane told her. "But Jane..." Angela tried to argue, but Jane was standing firm on this. Angela gathered her things and left.
Jane went back to Regina's room and sat with her. "Knock, knock." a voice spoke out. Alan looked at Denny and motioned for him to come in. Jane looked up and rolled her eyes. Though she did have him to thank for saving Regina's life, she didn't like to admit that he actually did good. "Denny I want to thank you, both of you for saving Regina's life. If you hadn't figured out that it was that abandoned house Regina might have frozen to death." Jane admitted reluctantly. "I don't let kidnappers get away with that sort of thing, not if I can help it." Denny told her. Regina started to wake up, having cried herself to sleep before thinking of her grandmother hating her. Regina noticed her father sitting beside her. "Hi daddy..." she said weakly. Jane was busy calling Frankie to tell him Regina's room number and that she wanted cops posted 24/7 outside of her door. "Hello Regina, how are you feeling?" Alan asked her.
"I'm cold still." she replied. "You'll be warmer soon enough. You have a visitor. Regina this is your Uncle Denny, he's a friend of mine." Alan said as he introduced them. "Hi..." Regina said. "Well hello yourself, I'm glad you're doing better." Denny said. "Thank you." she replied. He noticed how polite she was. "She's a cute kid Alan, she's going to be a little heartbreaker." Denny teased. Regina gave her father a hug and Alan hugged her back. He had only known her for a couple of days, but already he was attached to the young girl. She displayed Jane's looks and determination, while showing Alan's softer side and intelligence. Her hair seemed to be becoming as wild as her mother's. Alan figured that the people who took care of her must have been straightening her hair daily to keep it the way it was.
"Mommy, I don't wanna see grandma anymore..." Regina told her. "Regina, she doesn't hate you, but if you don't want to see her for a while, I won't make you. We'll just have to find you a new babysitter until school starts up." Jane replied. "I'll watch her until school starts." Alan offered. "Don't you have to work?" Jane asked him, raising her eyebrow. "Regina can play her game and spend time with me. Would that be so horrible?" Alan asked her. "Well..." Jane started. "Who's going to watch her when you're in court?" Jane asked him. "She can come with me." he told Jane. "Since I don't have much of a choice, fine. She can stay with you, but just until I'm off work, you know her list of allergies right? And what to do in case of a seizure?" Jane asked him. "You time the seizure, if it goes over five minutes then you call emergency services." Alan replied, he had done his research. "She takes her seizure meds in the morning when she wakes up and just before she goes to bed, I will give them to her most days, but if I'm not back then give her the nighttime medication." Jane explained.
Once Regina was nice and warmed up they allowed her to go home. The next morning Jane dropped off Regina at Crane, Poole, and Schmidt with her Switch and her seizure medications as well as an epipen. "Her medications are in her backpack, along with some snacks for her, remember no seafood, tree nuts or peanuts, if she does accidentally consume them then her epipen is in her backpack as well, get her to a hospital ASAP if she eats any of those things." Jane explained. "I have to go to work." Jane told her. Regina gave her a hug and her crutches fell, Alan picked them up and handed them to her once she was finished hugging Jane. "Be good Regina." she said before leaving. "Let's go up to my office." Alan told her as he walked with her to the elevator. He normally took the stairs, but with Regina's ankle being broken he had no choice but to take the elevator.
Once they arrived Regina took a seat and got out her Switch to start playing. Someone came into the office a few moments later. "Shirley, do what do I owe the pleasure?" Alan asked. Shirley looked at the girl sitting in a chair, playing her game. "Is she a client?" Shirley asked. "No, she is my daughter." Alan replied. Shirley stood there stunned for a moment, before thinking it was an elaborate joke. "You almost got me, who is she really?" Shirley asked him. "Is it so hard to believe that I would have a child?" he asked her. "Yes...yes it is." she admitted. "Regina, this is Ms. Schmidt. Shirley this is Regina." Alan introduced them.
Regina looked up from her game. "It's very nice to meet you Ms. Schmidt." Regina said politely. Shirley looked at Alan and then Regina and back to Alan again. "Well I do have to admit she does have your eyes." Shirley told him. "Anyway, I've come to talk to you about yesterday, where did you and Denny run off to?" she asked him. "I received a phone call from a former client, he kidnapped Regina and trapped her in a freezer in that one abandoned house that everyone thinks is haunted. Denny was helping me save her." Alan informed her. "Why didn't you call the police?" she asked him. "Because they told me if I did they would kill her immediately." Alan informed her. Shirley somehow came to the conclusion that Alan hired this girl to create an alibi for him so that Alan and Denny could take off doing god knows what.
"Bring a DNA test for the girl proving she's yours or return her to her parents Alan. You're lucky I don't put you on probation." Shirley said. "Would you like to talk to her mother to prove my story?" Alan asked. "Alright fine, give me her number, I will call and confirm." Shirley told him. Alan gave her Jane's number. She called "Rizzoli." she said as she answered the phone. "My name is Shirley Schmidt, I'm calling in regards to your daughter Regina?" Shirley asked. "Oh I can't believe this, I knew I couldn't trust Alan to watch his own daughter. Where is he? I'll kill him?" Jane asked her. "I just wanted to confirm that Regina was in fact Alan Shore's daughter." Shirley said to her. "Oh, yeah he's the father alright." Jane said in an annoyed tone. "Thank you for your time." Shirley said before hanging up. Alan handed Shirley a piece of paper. "What's this?" Shirley asked. She opened the paper where she saw a missing person's poster.
"Regina had been missing for ten years, I kept the poster, though I didn't know why." he said to Shirley, she figured this was too elaborate to be a stunt of his."Just so you know Alan, this is not a daycare." Shirley informed him as she looked at the girl. "Regina is very well behaved, she doesn't say much either, probably due to the conditions she lived in prior to Detective Rizzoli's rescue of her daughter." Alan informed her. "What conditions would those be Alan." Shirley asked him. Alan stood up and led her out of the office. "Her mother found her leg broken, she was beaten and raped after being molested for years, and if I ever see the people who did that to her I will take one of Denny's guns and shoot them myself." he told her in a whisper.
"That poor girl..." Shirley said before taking her leave. Regina didn't say anything, she just continued to play her game. A few moments later some clients came to speak with Alan, Regina just sat there quietly playing the game, trying to concentrate.. When the battery was about to die she looked for a place to plug her Switch in. Once she found a spot she plugged in her charger and then went back to her game. Soon she became hungry and Regina reached into her backpack and looked for the candy she had stashed in there. They were something she had brought home from Vegas, Barnett's Mega Sour Fizz Balls. Regina popped one into her mouth, they truly were the most sour candies out there. "What do you have there Regina?" Alan asked. "It's super sour candy..." she said with a grin. She offered one to her father and he tried it, it truly was sour. "They fizz in your mouth when you get to the center." Regina added. He didn't know how Regina could stand them. Even the fizz was sour, although not nearly as sour as the top layer of malic acid. The foam felt strange.
"Would you like another?" Regina asked him. "No thank you sweetheart, you keep them, they are far too sour for me." Alan replied as he swallowed the remnants of the candy. "How about we go get some lunch Regina?" Alan offered. "Okay." she said with a smile as she saved her game and put it in sleep mode so the system could charge. Alan stood up and helped Regina with her crutches and they left, locking his office door so the Switch wouldn't be stolen. He took Regina to his car and buckled her in the back before driving to a restaurant.
Once they got there they were able to get a table, the waitress groaned once she saw there was a kid, thinking she would be horrible, kids usually were. They were seated and Alan told her to try the milkshakes, so Regina ordered a vanilla shake. She also ordered chicken fingers and fries, but Alan had to ask something. "What type of oil is used to fry the chicken fingers and fries?" he asked her. "Why do you ask?" the waitress asked him. "My daughter is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and all seafood, I want to make sure none of this is used to fry her food or used in the same capacity as the seafood." Alan informed her. The waitress, thinking she would get her revenge smiled. "I'll go ask." she said as she went into the back. "What type of oil do we use to fry things, and is it used to fry the seafood?" the woman asked the cooks. "Peanut oil, and of course we fry the seafood with it." the cook said. The waitress came back and lied. "We use sunflower oil and the seafood doesn't touch the baskets, we also use clean utensils, we take allergies very seriously." the waitress lied.
Alan ordered his food and they waited for the food. When it arrived Regina sipped her shake and started to dig into her food. A few bites in she could tell something was wrong. She started to gasp for air, her face completely swollen by then. "Regina? Are you alright?" he asked her, watching her gasp for air. Her lips were starting to turn blue. Alan looked around for the backpack, grabbing the epipen from it and followed the directions before injecting it into her thigh. "Someone, call an ambulance!" he said as he tried to get Regina to be able to breathe.
"What seems to be the problem sir?" the owner came to the table. "I asked this one waitress what type of oil is used to cook the fries and chicken fingers and if the baskets came into contact with seafood, she assured me they didn't, but my daughter is now having an allergic reaction. Is the food cooked with sunflower oil?" he asked him. "No sir, we cook it with peanut oil, and we fry seafood in them all the time. Which waitress told you this?" the owner asked. "The young red head over there." Alan informed the owner. "I told him we used peanut oil and that we use it for the seafood all the time, but he still ordered it." the waitress lied. "Do you have security tapes?" Alan asked. "Yes we do. Do you want me to confirm what she said?" the owner asked. "Yes, I would like you to see her for the liar that she is." Alan said angrily.
The owner went back to view the security tapes and then came back out. "Tawny we talked about this! You outright lied to another customer's face! You're fired! You could have killed her! You might still kill her! She cannot breathe!" the owner yelled at her. "Oh so you're going to let another brat ruin this place? Screw you Tony, you can't fire me, I quit!" Tawny said as she threw down her apron and left. The EMT's finally arrived and took Regina to the hospital with Alan driving there himself. He planned on suing that woman and having her arrested for attempted murder. "Jane, there has been an incident. I took Regina out to lunch and the waitress lied about the oil they use to fry the food and whether or not it comes in contact with seafood. Regina had an allergic reaction. The waitress's name is Tawny Reynolds. I would like to report her for attempted murder." Alan told her. "Where is Regina?" Jane asked, very panicked about the whole thing. "I'm following them to the hospital." Alan said. "Damn it, at this rate she should just have a permanent room." Jane said. "I will be there soon." she added before hanging up. Regina's luck was so far very bad, she had been in and out of the hospital for various reasons over the past few days. Jane rushed to the hospital while she had Nina look into this Tawny Reynolds.
