Chapter 5

Thanks again for the reviews and your interest. They fuel my imagination, and keep me writing.

Jane looked up at Maura who was sill seated on the edge of her desk. "Maura, the system we're supposed to trust, it just backfired on us."

"What are we going to do?" Maura asked with genuine concern in her voice.

Jane lowered the tone of her voice, "You have uh, any patients Maura?"

"No, none; I'm all yours."

Jane mumbled, "Don't I wish."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing Maura." Jane refocused, "We're gonna catch whoever did this. You can start going over the files from Patterson's days as a public defender. I'll take the current stuff."

"But, Cavanaugh won't authorize any time for that."

"I'm off the clock, and you're not a cop."

Hours later, Jane's desk was littered with empty coffee cups and bottles of water. "Damn it Maura, we've got nothing No one in the neighborhood knew him. Even the people who shot his stupid ass commercials said he barely spoke. This guy had no friends. He had his practice, and his father."

"Jane, what about Nilda Sanchez? Look it says she was wrongly convicted because of Patterson, and assaulted while in prison."

Jane rubbed her forehead, "I saw that Maur, but Nilda died two years later….suicide."

Maura reached for Jane's wrist. "Jane, why don't we take a break?"

Jane rubbed her eyes. "Just a short one though. I'm going down to the vending machine for a snack. You want anything?"

"No thanks."

"K. Be right back." Jane took the back stairs, her mind struggling to find a lead anywhere. When she finally got to the vending machine, she swallowed hard and rested against the glass. She didn't hear the other woman approach her until she was within two feet.

"Hi Detective Rizzoli.'

Jane jumped at the voice that interrupted her thoughts. "Hi. Your ummm."

"Joanna."

"Sorry, I'm really just stressed right now."

"It's OK. I understand. Mr. Patterson had us working extra hours in the lab too." The woman smiled revealing a perfect set of teeth and a genuine likeability.

"In fact, I have to get home really fast. The home health care worker who stays with my mom leaves at 9:00, and the overtime is expensive."

The woman was quite young, and Jane couldn't imagine why her mother would need an aid. She raised an eyebrow. "Home health care aid?"

The tech suddenly looked very sad. "Yeah, she had a stroke last year. She can't be alone for too long."

Jane gave the woman a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."

Joanna breathed deeply, "Well hopefully it's only temporary; they expect her to make a full recovery." The woman smiled again, "Goodnight detective."

Jane smiled weakly, "Night Joanna."

Jane watched the woman walk away before feeding her dollar into the machine and making her selection. Jane thought about the lab tech as she mindlessly unwrapped a granola bar. She imagined how hard it must be for her; she knew the young woman's father had died several years earlier.

Jane thought, "Damn, and to have to pay for an aid on her salary, I thought my family had it hard." She suddenly dropped her granola bar a raced up the stairs shouting, "Maura! Maura!"

Dr. Isles had fallen asleep with her head resting on her folded arms that lay across Jane's desk. When she heard her name being shouted, she quickly got up from her seat to meet the detective who was practically skidding across the squad room floor.

The sleepy doctor responded, "Jane, what is it?"

"I was talking to Joanna, and I think I have a lead in the case."

"Oh Jane, you are tired. Joanna is a nice girl with absolutely no ties…"

"What, no Maura. She's not a suspect. She told me she has a home health care aid for her mom. Well Patterson's father, he has dementia right?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact he his condition has worsened since they transferred him to the nursing home." Maura quickly drew in a deep breath. "Oh, if Patterson was working, someone must have been taking care of his father while he was away."

'Yes! And we've got to find out who that is. At the least, he or she may have seen something."

Maura beamed, "Excellent Jane! Where do we start?"

We've got to look at everything from Patterson's apartment-checks written to an agency, a magnet, a business card, an emergency contact list-anything that may give us a lead."

"I'm on it."

If was half past midnight, and Jane was ready to give up. There was no indication from the records, or the neighbors that anyone helped with Patterson's father. Apparently, the lawyer was so unlikeable, no one paid him much attention. Jane picked up a stack of printed emails, and was about to toss them aside when one near the middle caught her eye."

"Maur look. It's a Craigslist add for someone to care for an elderly man with mild dementia. Will pay cash, and there's a name and phone number at the bottom. Can you make it out? His handwriting's worse than yours."

Maura slapped Jane's hand. "It says, Carmen Rodriguez, and that's a landline number."

"We can do a reverse lookup." Jane pulled out her laptop and began typing furiously. "OK, got it Maura. She lives within walking distance of the Patterson's apartment. I'm gonna run a background on her."

Maura rolled a nearby chair over and sat next Jane. As Jane conducted the search, Maura leaned her weary head against Jane's shoulder. The detective smiled and enjoyed the closeness as she continued to run the data.

"Look Maura, Carmen Rodriguez, age 24, married with a daughter, she's the only child of one Roberto and Nilda Sanchez!"

"She couldn't have been older than seven when her mother went to jail, and about nine when her mother committed suicide. If she's involved, it's probably taken her this long to track Patterson down."

"Jane, we still don't have a weapon. You and Robbins are the only detectives here. We should wait to question her. Perhaps we'll get a lead on the weapon."

"I think if Carmen were gonna bolt, she would've done it already. The credit card check shows she bought groceries yesterday, and paid the rent today, and spent a 100.00 at Cathy's Curtain's."

"Nice work Jane. Can we get something at the diner before we call it a day?" Maura smiled, and Jane couldn't deny her.

"Sure Maur, let's go." Jane donned her long black trench coat, and waited for Maura to put her jacket on and collect her things.

As soon as they hit the sidewalk Maura Asked, "Can we walk? It's such a nice night."

"Sure, we can."

Jane offered the doctor her arm, and Maura gladly accepted. They crossed the street and were on the sidewalk, a block from the diner, when a Vespa jumped the curb. A teenager talking on his cell while riding was fast approaching. Jane's reflexes kicked in; she grabbed Maura, and pressed her against the brick façade of a building as the rider passed close enough for Jane to feel the handle bar brush her back. As the driver sped away, Jane was about to hurl an insult at him when she saw the look on Maura's face.

Maura was still pressed against the building by Jane's body. A nearby streetlight illuminated her face that had gone pale. Her eyes were wide, and her pulse rapped on the side of her neck. Jane was preventing her from sliding down wall by tightly holding her arms.

"Maura, you OK? That asshole."

Maura still couldn't speak; she simply nodded and placed her hand on Jane's chest just below her collar bone. Jane looked down at her frightened features, and an electric shock went down her spine. She pressed a little closer, and lowered her head until she was kissing Maura. It couldn't have lasted longer than five seconds, but it was enough to leave the women breathless.

When they broke the contact, Jane looked down at her startled friend. "Come on; let's get you a glass of water and something to eat."

An hour later Jane had Maura pressed against the wall again, only this time it was in the doctor's entryway. Jane was kissing her firmly and Maura responded with equal enthusiasm as Jane began to slide the doctor's jacket off.

"Jane, I want this, I want you so much, but can we slow down please? It's been a taxing few days, we're going to have a rough day tomorrow, and if we continue, I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

Jane's chest was heaving, "I don't think you could if you tried, but I understand. Jane placed a final kiss and a nip on the doctor's throat before pulling away.

Jane plopped on the plush couch, still trying to get her breathing under control. She crossed her arm and placed it across her face shielding her eyes from the light. Maura joined her, leaning her head on Jane's shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"That was some amazing detective work Jane."

"Thanks Maur, and thank you for helping."

Maura's voice filled with pride, "You're welcome Jane."

"Well, we still have to find the weapon, and who knows, maybe Carmen didn't do it."

"But it's a lead Jane." Maura looked at where her arm circled Jane's body. The edge of the darker woman's shirt had ridden up, revealing the scar. Maura rubbed her thumb over it, and Jane could hear Maura quietly choke up.

"What is it, what's the matter Maura?" Jane sat up to look at her friend's face.

"Jane, I would never ask you to stop being a cop. It defines you, just as being a medical examiner defines me. I know the odds of you ever getting seriously hurt again are small, but when I think about that day, and what could have happened. It scares me to death.'

Jane hugged Maura close to her, "I know. It's OK. I did something that I would do again to save those I care about, but like you said, the chances that I would have to are slim. You've got to trust that I'm going to be careful, and trust that we're all going to do our jobs as safely as possible. I know it's hard, and may take a while, but we can work it out. I mean there's always risks, but we can't let them control our lives. If we did, we'd never accomplish anything."

"Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Jane knew it wasn't possible, but she felt as if her whole body were smiling. She hugged Maura tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too Maur."