Jane flipped down her pilots as they walked out of the lobby the next day. Half of the vacation was over, and they still had no clue if Mr. and Mrs. Jolly were murderers. Her eyes darted to the sky which had been cloudless since their arrival and wondered if it ever rained in Nairobi. Not that she wanted to complain, but she was somehow getting bored with all the sunshine.
"I could never live in California or any other place where the sun always shines." she commented towards Maura who walked next to her. The blonde looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked the tall brunette who was wearing another pair of shorts, a polo and her sneakers today.
Maura herself was wearing some fancy dress and her purse dangled from her arm as she let Jane help her step into a jeep.
"I mean that I get bored by all the sunshine. I miss the clouds and the rain." Jane explained while she followed Maura through the small space between the seats to their usual spots. Today, they would visit a zoo. While waiting for the trip to start Maura was fumbling with her camera and Jane watched her in silence.
The blonde had been deceived when learning that she hadn't won the weekly photo contest and absolutely wanted to win it this week. "Well, I have to admit that I feel the same. Although my body can handle the heat and climate very well." She noted.
"Mine too, but that's not the point." Jane said while holding the docs huge purse open so that her friend could look for something. God, we are already behaving like a couple she thought and chuckled which led Maura to look up at her.
"What's so funny?" she asked. Jane was shy of telling Maura, so she shrugged. "Dunno, I am just happy." She said and it wasn't a lie. "That must be the sex. It leads to the production of…." Jane didn't hear the rest as their suspects walked towards their jeep and she was busy following them with her eyes.
"Do you think they did it?" Jane whispered to the doc, interrupting the googlemouthing. Maura followed Janes eyes to the couple and made a thoughtful face.
"I don't know. They look so sweet and innocent. I can hardly imagine them killing someone. But on the other hand, science proofed my imagination wrong quite often that I really don't dare to guess."
"You never guess?" Jane asked with a shocked smirk.
"Never!" Maura said strictly, pulling some sunscreen out of the purse. "Found it!" she exclaimed triumphantly and took the bag out of Janes hand to place it between her legs. Jane rolled her eyes.
R&I
Jane had been able to push her dark thoughts aside for a while. Thoughts like about why her mother wasnt calling back or missing Marcella. The feelings hit her out of the blue when she watched a woman carry a toddler over the street by passing in front of their vehicle.
A wave of sadness made her feel nauseous. She couldn't hear what Maura was saying but she noticed that the blonde stopped midsentence when seeing Janes pale face. "What if I never see Marcella again?" the brunette whispered.
"You will not lose her." Maura said.
"How do you know?" Jane snapped and the doc grabbed her hand.
"You're her mother, right?" her friend replied.
"I'm her adoptive mother." Jane stumbled and earned a puzzled look. "Its complicated." she added knowing that the confusion was coming from the fact that she had already told Maura that Gabriel was Marcellas biological father.
Maura looked pensive. "I know a good attorney." She tried to help but Jane shook her head. "I'm sure I cant afford him."
"But the Isles foundation can." A determined blonde stated.
"I don't know. Isn't it for people in need?"
"Aren't you in need Jane?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant people without money. I cant take that away from them." Tears threatened to fall, and Jane hid her face in her hands.
"The girl needs you." Maura said. "I can help you. Please Jane, let me help you." The determined voice turned into pleading. The brunette just shook her head. She wasn't ready for accepting that kind of help. Moreover, she just couldn't. Her pride forbid it to her.
She did what she had mastered to perfection over the years and changed into detective mode, pushing her worries aside which made Maura wonder. "I can't!" Jane said with gritted teeth and the doc dropped the subject.
Jane spend the rest of the day keeping an eye on Mr. and Mrs. Jolly. But the fear was nagging in the back of her mind all the time. What if she really never saw her baby again? By the end of the day she even pondered to take Maura up on her offer but her pride still forbid her to do so. Besides, she was Jane Rizzoli. She could handle her problems herself.
R&I
As soon as they were back in their room, Jane dialed Angela's number. "Ma, you cant keep my daughter away from me!" she yelled at the voicemail. She was furious about her mothers behaviour.
From the corner of her eye she saw how Maura lifted an eyebrow. The doc was sitting on the bed and read a book. After taking a deep breath Jane calmed down. "Its not fair to Marcella. Maybe she misses me." Now she was close to tears, but she stayed brave and swallowed them down. "Please let me talk to her." She almost pleaded before she hung up.
Then she dialed Frankie's number. But he didn't pick up either. Tired she decided to give up and slumped onto the bed.
"I can still talk to my attorney. I'm sure he can help you." The blonde said reaching for Janes hand. But the brunette wouldn't have it. She pulled her hand away and snapped: "And I told you that I can solve my problems on my own."
"Okay. Fine!" Maura snapped back and slipped of the bed. Jane watched with an open mouth how the doc threw a few things into one of her suitcases and walked out the door. "I will!" Jane yelled after her not understanding what had just happened.
She knew exactly what had happened to her though: she had lost control. Not being able to talk to her girl or hear how she was drove her mad. And the fact that Frankie hadn't picked up the phone made her think that he was also mad at her. And because of that she had chased away the only person who seemed to care about her right now.
Now she felt even more miserable and angry.
"What is it?" Jane snarked when the door to her room opened again – not even two minutes after Maura had left. Maura gave her a glare.
"We have another murder. I thought you might want to have a look." She simply replied to Janes question.
"Another murder? Who is it?" Jane jumped of the bed and walked towards her.
"I don't know yet. But the reception called me because they know that I'm a doctor for the dead. Their words – not mine." Maura scrunched up her nose to show her distaste in how she had been titled.
R&I
After a silent ride, they walked out of the steel cabin of the elevator to find a bunch of people hovering around the hallway. They were chatting so loud that Jane wondered why they hadn't heard the noise in the 7th story.
Mr. and Mrs. Jolly, their prime suspects were also among the crowd. Jane felt ridiculous thinking of them as such and greeted them friendly.
"Please let us pass. Mau.. I mean Dr. Isles is a doctor." Jane split the group in the middle like Moses had split the red sea to make it easier for Maura to pass.
"I'm afraid he wont need a doctor anymore." The elderly woman who had asked Jane if they were a couple a few days ago said. "You are too late to help him."
"Thanks for your help Mrs.? Uhm? But she's still a doctor." Jane said politely and not without pride. the woman who shook her head. "Mrs. Cane, please. He didn't come to dinner, so I went to see if he was all right. I knocked, but the door was just ajar. Therefore, I walked into the room. When I found him, he was already getting cold." The woman stated.
"So it was you who found him?" she asked while Maura was already on her way to the body on the bed.
The woman nodded. "Yes. He sits.. I mean he used to sit next to me at the table."
Jane thanked the woman and asked her for her room number to maybe interrogate her later. When she padded into the room she immediately noticed that the AC was running full force and she almost shivered because it was so chilly.
She stopped at to take in the scene. Jane always did this at every crime scene. Everything looked all right she thought. Nor ransacking, no signs of fight. Just a 75-year old man lying on his bed as if he had fallen asleep peacefully.
"Jane?" Maura's voice made her stride towards the bed where the doc was pointing to a small whole in the man's belly with her gloved fingers. "Where did you get the gloves?" the brunette asked while inspecting the spot Maura had pointed to.
"Some people carry around evidence bags and some gloves." The blonde made Jane smirk. "You don't say doc."
"I really don't want to be impolite, but you are standing in the light." Maura replied making a motion towards the door.
"You wanted me to come over." Jane huffed.
"Yes, to show you what I found and now I'd like to examine the body further for which I need light."
Jane gave her a wry smile and pulled her phone out of her pocket to turn the flashlight function on. "Is this enough light?" she asked. Maura shrieked. "Don't you have work to do?" she whispered fiercely at jane who glanced down to the body. "yeah, that's why I'm here." She emphasized the word here and motioned to the body.
"Well where I come from, detectives know there place. And as long as I'm examining it, its not close to the body." Maura snarked and mentioned the protocol.
"Funny thing actually…, it's the same where I come from. But I don't care, I always assist the preliminary examination." Jane said unimpressed.
"God, I swear, you can be so stubborn. Sometimes I would like to…" Maura said in such a low voice that only Jane could hear it. Jane smiled. "What Dr. Isles?" she asked teasingly. Maura who caught the banter snorted playfully.
"Would you still come back to my room tonight?" jane whispered, now turning shy. "Even if I'm a stubborn idiot?"
Maura briefly looked up from the body and Jane saw her tilting her head with a chuckle. "I think I might be able to arrange that." She finally said accepting Janes subtle apology. "So, lets just do what we have to do. The earlier we're done the earlier we can move on to more pleasant things."
"See, I told you that they were a couple." Mrs. Cane said to the others who were all standing around the doorframe. Janes and Maura's eyes met, and both rolled with their eyes.
When Mrs. Cane went on to say: "Look just how sweet they are." Jane gave Maura a look that said that she would take care of the situation. She turned of the flashlight app and send all the elderly people back to their rooms in the same voice she used when Marcella refused to go to bed. It was sweet but full of authority.
"I'm impressed." Maura said once she was back at the bed and everybody else was gone. "Well done." The blonde added lifting her eyes to give Jane an appreciative look.
"I think we're done here. He is dead indeed. But it's going to be hard to determine the time of death because the climatization has been helping to cool down the body faster than it usually would have."
"We have last seen him when getting off the jeep around 4pm. It is almost 9pm now, which means that he could have died somewhere in the last five hours." The brunette thought out loud hoping for Maura to give a guess.
"you know that I never guess Jane." Maura made a serious face.
"Maura!?" Jane whined and almost stumped with her feet.
"Okay. But I'm not responsible if its wrong. I'd say he died pretty soon after coming into his room. Otherwise the body temperature wouldn't be so low."
"4:30?" Jane tried to trick her again, but Maura didn't fall for it a second time.
"I know what you are doing. You are saying a time, so that I say: no, it was then and then. Forget it Jane! I'm not falling for it." Maura chuckled at Janes pout. "Kay then." The brunette knew when it was time to give in and so she did.
R&I
Frankie called her back when it was past midnight in Nairobi.
"He moved out of the house Jane. He's got a flat at Quantico. I just want to give you a heads up, so you are prepared when you come home." Frankie told her right away, meaning Gabriel. He sounded uncomfortable when giving her the information.
Janes grip around the phone tightened so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Where is Marcella?" she asked because she had to know. There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then a sigh.
"She's with him. He took her to Quantico, Jane. I'm so sorry." This time, Jane couldn't hold back the sobs which were forcing their way out of her.
"No, no!" she said. "He cant do that!" she whimpered.
"Janie." Frankie's voice was strong. "He's not going to be able to have her alone. We all know that. He might have been the one who brought her to bed most of the nights when you were at work. But never could he do it without calling you. You were there all the mornings or when she was sick. Why? Because he couldn't handle it. He will bring her back next week at the latest. Just try to stay reasonable. I know that its hard. But you can do that. I know that you can do that!" he emphasized the last sentence.
"I'm going to fight for her!" Jane suddenly said fiercely.
"I know, Janie. And you wont have to fight alone. Okay? Tommy and I are here for you. And I'm sure that Ma will come around too."
I'm going to kill him Jane thought after hanging up. I'm going to kill that son of a b***!
She only realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud when Maura's sleepy voice said: "No, you are not going to kill him. He's not worth it. Now, come to bed."
The blonde's hands reached for her and pulled her tall body gently back into bed and Jane let it happen when Maura became a big spoon, pushing her body close to Janes. "Now, sleep! Doctors orders." The doc chuckled.
"I'm not a hugger nor a snuggler!" Jane protested just out of habit. But in reality she liked Maura's soothing embrace.
"I know. Now sleep!" Maura left Jane speechless as Jane realized that Maura had just applied her technique which she had used to shoe the crowd away earlier. She grunted in protest and then snuggled deeper into Maura's arms with a grin. If she had had eyes in her back she would have seen that her friend was grinning too.
