A/N: Another chapter for you guys. So glad our ladies are finally back. It won't be long now. I've almost finished this one, and I hope you like the way this plays out. Reviews are always apprectiated. Enjoy.
Jane and Korsak entered the back lot of Beauman Delivery Service to talk to Jerry Palmer's Former employer. Men are bustling back and forth loading trucks, getting them ready for their shipments. The detectives approach a man with a clipboard standing outside one of the truck bays, and flash him their badges.
"Boston Police, Sir. May we speak with the person in charge here?"
"Sure thing. Hey Carl." The man calls out to his boss. He looked to be about in his fifties, average height, sandy blonde hair, and a little stocky. He strided over to the detectives a little confused to be visited by police.
"Hello, I'm Carl Radnor. What can I do for you?" He asked shaking their hands.
"We're from Boston Homicide. We'd like to ask you about a former employee of your, a Jerry Palmer." Jane asked.
Carl pondered the name for awhile before he finally remembered.
" Uh...yeah. He worked for me a little over a year ago."
"Do you remember much about him?"
"Not too much. He didn't leave that big an impression. He was always really quiet and kept to himself."
"Can you remember if anything happened with him that was out of the ordinary?"
"No, nothing that was unusual about him. He came to work, and did his job like he was supposed to. Like I said, he didn't really talk to anyone."
"Hey, you guys said you were from Homicide?"
"That's correct, Sir." Jane told him.
"Jerry's not in some kinda trouble; is he?"
"We're not sure yet. We're still exploring all the possibilities."
"Well I hope you find what you're looking for. Sorry I couldn't be of much help."
"No problem. Thank you for your time." Jane told him.
Jane and Korsak made their way back to the cruiser. This case was growing increasingly frustrating. They didn't seem to be any closer to a lead, but Jane wasn't ready to give up on Jerry Palmer yet. She still had a gut feeling about him.
"You think he's involved; don't you?" Korsak asked.
"I have a feeling. I don't know why it came up, but I just don't know about him. I listened to his boss talk about how antisocial he was, and he just seems to fit into all of this." With that they both head back to headquarters to dig deeper into Jerry Palmer.
After meeting with Joey, Nikki walked into school with hope that she might have a bearable school day, but hope quickly faded when she saw Olivia sitting outside of school sobbing while Ty sat next to her with his arm around her. Jessie and Thereasa were outside as well. Nikki quickly rushed up to her friends and sat on the other side of Olivia, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Livi, are you okay? What's wrong?"
"He threatened me. He and his friends, they threatened my family." Olivia told her while still sobbing.
"Camren threatened you? What did he say?" Nikki asked.
Olivia continued to sob and wipe away tears. Her friend was obviously terrified, and Nikki was deeply concerned. Ty elected to answer for her.
"The asshole was giving her a hard time this morning, and told her ' Tell that sand nigger, payback's a bitch.' "
Nikki was angry and upset all at the same time, and couldn't do anything but wrap both her arms around Olivia, who leaned into her friend's chest. She was crying and coughing, barely able to get her words out.
"I don't know where we're supposed to do; they live right down the street from us. We have a ten year old boy in the house, and I don't know what I'd do if he got hurt. I'm so scared."
"Its okay, Livi. Nobody's gonna hurt your family. It'll be alright."
Nikki didn't know how exactly she could promise her that, but she felt so horrible, and had to tell her something.
"You have to tell your mom about this." Nikki told her. Olivia looked up at her, her eyes red with tears.
"You do too, Nikki. Please."
She'd been avoiding it long enough, but it was the truth. This has gone on too long, and Nikki felt anger take over. When she was being picked on, it was easier for her to bury the pain, but seeing a friend in trouble made her see how much this has to stop. The kids headed into school, and Nikki walked through the hallway until she spotted Camren and Maria. This time she wouldn't let fear cripple her, and she was ready to give them a piece of her mind.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?"
Camren was quite surprised to see this new found confidence in Nikki, but still interested to see where this would go.
"You must think you have the right to treat people however you want. What's your father done to you, huh? How long has he been filling your heads with such hatred?"
"At least we know who our father is." Maria told her.
Nikki was totally taken aback and once again felt defeated.
"Yeah you didn't think we knew about that; did you? That you mom had you at sixteen, and you daddy up and bailed. Do you suppose that's why she turned to women? Because your whore of a mother got knocked up, and no man would have her?"
This upset Nikki who shoved him away from her while Thereasa who heard the tail end of the conversation came and pulled Nikki away. Nikki was angry and truly frustrated with the situation. She hated how she felt going to school every day, hated seeing one of her friends so distraught this morning, and especially hated hearing Camren speak that way about her mother. Nikki knew her mother loved her dearly, but there were still a lot of insecurities she had, and a lot of unanswered questions about her father. It was an issue she was sensitive about, and Camren knew just how to feed into that. Nikki's mind was going a mile a minute, and she wasn't sure she'd even be able to focus in class.
Back at BPD a tired homicide squad was digging up everything possible on Jerry Palmer. He was merely a witness before, but in light of new evidence he became a person of interest. Jane had a gut feeling about this guy after watching the gun store footage, and when she had a feeling she was usually right. Detectives were able to track down the address of his two year leased apartment in the south end of Boston. It seems any dealings needed to be made through this hate group were made through him, or at least this was the clue they were hoping to find, and finally be able to stop these people from hurting someone else.
School felt especially long for Nikki that day. She couldn't focus at all, as Camren's cruel words replayed over and over in her head. Nikki was driving home so upset she was in tears. She started off trying to keep her cool, but at some point she just didn't care anymore. Things had finally reached their boiling point, and Nikki couldn't hold on anymore. She walked in the house, her face red and tear stained. Jane and Maura were sitting on the couch when she got home, and both her mothers were alarmed seeing Nikki crying.
"Hey Sweetheart, what's going on? Come sit down, honey." Jane told her while Nikki took a seat between them.
The second Nikki sat down she just unloaded and started sobbing. Jane wrapped her arms around her while Maura rubbed the top of her head. Then Maura reached for some tissues for Nikki to dry her eyes. Jane kept a tight hold of her daughter while holding her hand and trying to get Nikki to calm down enough to speak up.
"Nikki honey, what happened? You can tell us. What's been going on?"
Nikki took a deep breath to center herself and finally confided in her mother.
"It's been so hard for me to be at school lately." Nikki cried while wiping away her tears.
"Why sweetie, what happened?" Jane asked.
"Some of the kids in school have been giving me a hard time about our family. About me having two moms. I've tried to ignore it, and try not to let it bother me, but I can't anymore."
Nikki started to cry again, and Jane hugged her tight and kissed her head.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't feel you have to ignore something like that. It's wrong for those kids to treat you this way."
"It didn't know what to do. After today I..." Nikki sighed covering her head.
"What about today, honey?"
"This one boy, Camren ...he and his sister pick on me the most. They knew about you having me at sixteen. I don't know how, but they knew, and ...he called you a whore."
Nikki cried while Jane kissed her forehead.
"Nikki, how long has this been going on?"
"A few months now."
"Does the principal know about this?"
Nikki just shook her head 'No', while Jane brushed an errand hair behind her daughter's ear.
"Baby, why didn't you tell me? I've been so worried about you. I wanted to be able to help you."
"I was afraid if I told on them it would make things worse. I'm afraid of them. They've been in all kinds of trouble before."
Jane took Nikki's chin in her hand and looked her in the eye as she spoke.
"Sweetheart, listen to me, okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise. This isn't going to continue; I won't let it." Jane told Nikki while kissing her forehead.
"You stay home awhile, alright. I'm going into school tomorrow to talk to your principal. We'll get something worked out somehow; okay?"
Nikki nodded and Jane kissed her daughter's head once more before stepping up to make some phone calls. Nikki turned toward Maura who wrapped both arms around her, and gently stroked her hair. Nikki had no idea where things would go from here or what would be in store for her once she returned to school, but she felt more relieved than expected finally confiding in her parents about what's been going on. Hopefully things could now start to be resolved, or at least become bearable.
That evening after dinner, everyone was turning in for the night. It was a quick and quiet dinner where Nikki didn't feel much like talking. She was emotionally drained from keeping this secret for so long on top of her day at school today, and it's all taken a toll on her. Jane was finishing her shower while Maura was in the nursery with Baby Gracie, rocking her to sleep. She looked down at her baby girl as her eyes fluttered shut, wondering what life might be like for her. Surely there will be people who will shy away from the norm, but when it came time for Gracie to attend school, more and more people will be accepting of a family with two mothers. Jane came in the room and kissed the top of her baby's head, while wrapping her arms around Maura.
"You think things will be different for her?" Maura asked Jane.
"I hope so." She answered while gently stroking her daughter's hair.
"I just hate to think of both of these girls going through this. It's not fair for kids to have to face such adversity."
Maura kissed Gracie's head before placing her sleeping form in the crib. She was safe here, at home with a loving family taking care of her, but she would soon grow up and unfortunately have to face the big bad world out there. Both Mommies held on to each other as they gazed down at their precious baby.
"We've got strong girls here in our home. They'll be okay."
Jane kissed the back of her wife's head before going in to check on Nikki. She was lying awake as suspected. Jane made her way to the side of the bed, and sat down. Nikki looked up at her mother, and offered a sad smile.
"How ya doin, kiddo?"
"As good as can be expected, I guess." Nikki shrugged.
Jane brushed back her daughter's hair. She could immediately tell there was something else on her mind that she seemed to have trouble verbalizing. Finally Nikki looked at her mother and spoke up.
"Mom, these kids that have been hassling me, they've been giving Olivia a hard time too. Camren threatened Olivia's family."
Jane sat up immediately concerned.
"What did he say?"
Nikki could barely form the words they were so cruel and hateful. She opted to whisper the statement in her mother's ear, and Jane was instantly appalled.
"Does this 'Camren' have a last name?"
"Ames. I'm really worried about Livi, Mom. She was really upset today."
"Don't worry, honey. I'll make sure everything is taken care of. This will not continue."
"Thank you." Nikki uttered quietly.
Jane hugged and kissed her daughter goodnight, and braced herself to everything she wanted to say at school the next day, and address the apparent lack of discipline.
While Jane was planning to go to school this morning, Frost and Korsak left together to track down Jerry Palmer at his apartment. As the case progressed this man grew more and more suspicious with the low profile he'd kept at his previous job, and the security footage that portrayed a man clearly fitting his height and build. Finally the two detectives reached his apartment door and Korsak knocked.
"Jerry Palmer, Boston Police, open up."
They waited awhile, but there was no answer. Korsak knocked again, and still no response. Before long Jerry came around the corner, saw two detectives at his door, and took off down the stairwell. Frost and Korsak were soon after him.
" Police! Stop right there!" Frost shouted after him. Jerry managed to get down the street and around the corner before Frost caught up with him and pinned him against the wall cuffing him. Korsak took hold of the backpack Jerry was wearing.
" You have no right to do this! I didn't do anything!" Jerry protested.
" If you didn't do anything, then why'd you run away?" Korsak asked.
Jerry Palmer was brought back to BPD headquarters for questioning of his recent suspicious activity. He was placed in a chair in the interrogation room and shrugged out of Frost's grip. Korsak sat in front of him after having searched his backpack. Jerry merely glared at the table refusing to look up.
" This is a receipt from a gun store we have reason to believe sold ammunition to those responsible for the shooting at Rawlings Grocery several weeks ago. You wanna explain this?" Korsak asked him.
" So what? People are allowed to own guns in this country last time I checked."
" Last time I checked, most ordinary people don't own M16's. We have security footage of two men buying 5.56mm ammunition for that particular gun." Korsak told him as he showed Jerry still shots of the video. " This looks a lot like you." Korsak said while he pointed.
Jerry rubbed his hands over his face. He knew he was busted, and didn't know what to say next.
" Look, I...I didn't shoot anyone, okay. I was just a patsy."
Korsak leaned on the table looking directly into Jerry's eyes.
" I want a name."
" I can't. They'll kill me."
" Who's 'They'? Talk to me, Palmer. Give me a name."
" What's gonna happen to me if I talk?" Jerry asked timidly.
He wasn't the tough guy he'd been upon arrival anymore. Now he was truly scared for his life.
" You cooperate and tell us who these guys are, and we'll see to it that you remain unharmed." Korsak told him.
" There's this old closed down theater on 3rd street. They work underground. I was told to bring the weapons to him there, but I only saw the front door."
" Who was he?"
" He only gave me a first name. It was Steven. He was in all black, I didn't get a good look at him except for that he was white."
At last they had a location, and only a first name, but it was a start. Jerry would be detained while there was a warrant to search his apartment for anymore crucial evidence. Frost was at the computer looking up the closed down theater, and this 'Steven'.
Jane made her way purposefully down the hallway of the high school toward the principal's office. As she passed by, her gold detective's badge didn't go unnoticed by several of the students, and many wondered what was going on. Jane came through the front door of the office and up to a lady behind the counter, who looked up at her.
" May I help you, Ma'am?"
Jane was all ready to spout out her detective title, but at this time it was more important to be a parent, and not a cop.
" Yes hi, I'm Jane Rizzoli, my daughter is Nicolette Rizzoli. I need to speak to the principal."
In fact giving her title was of no need as the woman noticed Jane's badge, and paged Principal Healy, alerting him of her arrival. Moments later she was escorted to his office. Upon entry Jane was greeted by the principal, and another man sitting in front of his desk. He was introduced as Camren's father, Raymond Ames who coincidentally was called into school that morning concerning an incident with Camren.
" Please, have a seat, Detective."
Raymond raised an eyebrow at the mention of her title.
" Detective huh? Seems affirmative action has really worked to your advantage, Ms. Rizzoli."
Jane felt the heat rise up in her body, and immediately wanted to slug this guy. She knew his addressing her with 'Ms.' was a deliberate dig at her. Before Jane could respond Principal Healy intervened.
" Now folks, let's not make this more heated that it has to be. We're here to discuss the issue at hand. It seems there's been an ongoing feud between your children."
" My daughter came home sobbing yesterday, Mr. Healy. I'd say it's much more than a feud at this point." Jane rebutted.
Mr. Ames merely chuckled in a condescending manner, smoothed out his button down shirt, and turned to face Jane as he spoke.
" Well now, I've spoken to my son about the situation, Ms. Rizzoli, and from what I understand it seems your girl is blowing things out of proportion."
" Really, how is that?" Jane snapped back, trying to curb her anger.
" Quite frankly, the way she represents herself among her peers, she really brings the ridicule upon herself."
The principal tried to intervene and calm the situation, but Jane was already on fire, and she cut him off before he could say anything.
" What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
" Coming to school dressed like the Devil Himself. I can only guess it comes from being exposed to such a deviant lifestyle."
" And just what is wrong with my lifestyle?!" Jane spat out, already standing with her hands on her hips.
It was all she could do to keep from punching this guy out. It was evident from the attitude of this boy's father where his son learned to be so hateful. It only made Jane's heart ache more for Nikki having to face this everyday at school. Principal Healy stood up hoping for this not to turn ugly.
" Alright now, let's just calm down and take a breath. We can discuss the best way to handle this."
Jane hadn't heard any of it, and was focused on the adamant and arrogant pastor, who didn't seem fazed at all by the seething detective.
" You think I can't be a good parent just because I happen to be married to a woman? My daughter may have two moms, and she may look a little different, but she's a good girl, and your kids have no right to treat people the way they do!"
Jane was almost yelling at this point while the thrust a finger in Raymond's face. Now it was his turn to be indignant.
" You think my son deserved what he got today? You should see the bruise on his face." Raymond argued, both of them now standing.
Principal Healy raised his voice to put an end to this.
" Hey, ho! Everyone just sit down, and lets discuss this like adults!"
Both parents huffed out a breath as they took a seat.
" Now clearly a shouting match isn't going to get us anywhere. Mr. Ames, it is my understanding that this is not the first time something like this has happened with Camren. Several people have complained about harassment and racial slurs from both of your children. It's not something I will tolerate here, and it's certainly not something that should be tolerated by you."
" Shouldn't my children feel entitled to their own opinion?"
" A difference on opinion is one thing, Mr. Ames, but we have a zero tolerance policy against prejudicial comments or threats made against other students. You should be ashamed for allowing this kind of behavior."
" So what's going to happen?" Raymond asked feeling a little embarrassed for being chastised.''
" Well first off, I've looked over Nicolette's schedule, and I plan on transferring her out of any classes with the Ames children to avoid any possible confrontation. I've also granted her a week off of school."
" Thank you." Jane nodded.
" And as for Camren, Mr. Ames. After all that's gone on, and the fight that happened in the cafeteria, I'm suspending him for two weeks."
" What! You're not going to do anything about the boy who hit him?!"
" He's been suspended too, Mr. Ames. I suggest you take your son home, and sit down with your children and discuss how to better treat people. If there are any more incidents like this one, you can trust that there will certainly be legal action. Do you understand?"
" Yes Sir." was all Raymond could say as left the office, shoulders slumped.
Principal Healy turned toward Jane having regretted such circumstances to have taken place.
" Detective Rizzoli, I truly do apologize for all your daughter had to go through. I feel terrible that she'd been afraid to come to anyone."
" Thank you Mr. Healy. I think in time she'll be okay."
Jane left the office still calling down from that heated confrontation, but also relieved that Nikki now had hope. As she headed out she caught a glimpse of Raymond Ames and his son. The bruise on his left cheek stood out a bright purple, and it didn't seem to dampen the boy's spirits. Jane wondered who could have been the one to deliver as she imagined a much deserved blow. While passing them, Camren looked up at her with a smirk on his face. This kid was a cruel little punk, and admittedly Jane was glad someone hit him. She shook herself off, and made sure to call home and check in before she headed out.
TBC