Author's Note: Hey there! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews and story alerts. We're moving this on toward the rating M, as you can see from the end of this chapter. This is when we will start to explore Rizzles, which we've all come to love right? Hope you enjoy…..

Chapter 7

Maura felt her hand tighten around the door handle as she struggled to stand upright. Jane's gaze lingered just a few seconds before glaring back at Patrick Doyle. It wasn't until Jane's focus was elsewhere that Maura noticed Jane was holding a rather large black and white photograph. She angled her head to try to determine who was in the picture, but her efforts were futile as Jane lowered it to her side.

"When did you get this one?"

"Each one came about twenty-four hours before one of my associates turned up dead."

"So what you're telling me is that you've managed to get your employees killed within a day of getting one of these? That's an impressive record, even for you, Doyle." Jane's voice was irritated, more gravelly than usual, and Maura could instantly tell that her attitude was grating on Patrick Doyle's nerves.

"Jane," Maura tried to get her best friend's attention but her effort was futile.

"I didn't have anything to do with it," Patrick said, breaking out into a sweat as the conversation carried on. "Do you think I would actually kill two of my closest associates?"

"You tell me!" Jane threw the photo on the table and that was when Maura was able to get a clearer vision of the photo's subject. She suddenly felt light-headed as the reality of it being her sank in.

"Jane," Maura pleaded to get Jane's attention once more, this time raising her voice slightly.

"I'm obviously in no shape to kill someone, Detective!" Patrick Doyle started coughing as it became more difficult for him to breathe. Maura inched her way closer to him, but remained transfixed on Jane reading her facial expressions and body language. It was a unique combination of anger, sadness, and frustration. The combination was just as distinctive as the woman producing it.

"I can admit that you didn't shove an ice-pick through someone's chest," Jane conceded as she began to pace in front of Patrick Doyle and Maura. "It doesn't mean you aren't the root cause of this mess. And now they seem to be targeting your daughter and I've got no leads!"

"I can give you the leads." Patrick Doyle clenched his jaw as he engaged in a stare down with Jane. "I have some ideas of who would want to hurt me. I called you because I need you to keep her safe, not take care of my business."

"Are you trying to insinuate that I'm in danger and the next target for whatever is going on here?" Maura said panicking slightly at the thought.

"Each person has a tie to you, Doyle."

"You have a knack for stating the obvious, Detective Rizzoli," Patrick Doyle interrupted.

"Am I in danger?" Maura directed her question at Jane. "Am I the next target?"

Jane continued glaring at Doyle, ignoring Maura's please. When she spoke, her sarcasm was obvious making the situation tenser than it truly needed to be. "Are you losing control over your minions?"

Doyle stopped momentarily and then focused on Maura as he spoke. "I called you to protect her, not interrogate me about my business." Patrick Doyle bit his lower lip as he thought about that angle.

"Talk to me!" Maura's screaming drew Jane's attention to her as Maura began to panic. "Please tell me what's going!"

"You tell me, Dr. Isles," Jane shot back, instantly hurting Maura's feelings.

"That's not fair, Jane."

"Tell that to Sean Murphy and Michael Byrne. Oh wait, you can't because they're dead." Jane picked the picture back up and turned toward Patrick Doyle. "Tell me now who you suspect and why they're coming after Maura!"

"She needs protection," Patrick Doyle stated the obvious, annoying Jane even more. "She's not safe here and I can't protect her if someone is taking out my entire top…"

"Your top what?"

"I want you to keep my daughter alive and safe. I couldn't help my employees obviously, but I have to help my daughter. This picture leads me to believe that she's next, they likely know she's my daughter."

"We know she's likely the next target since they sent you her picture! What I want to know is why, and don't tell me it is because she's your daughter because the other two dead guys obviously weren't your spawn!"

"Can you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Maura straightened her posture as she stepped forward, refusing to be ignored.

Jane turned and focused all her anger at Maura with every bit of conviction powering the words as they came out of her mouth. "You want to be involved in the conversation, Maura? The smart thing to do would have been to start the conversation with me the moment he contacted you and you allowed him to involve you in this mess!"

"You don't understand, Jane…."

"Sean Murphy had worked for me for almost fifteen years," Patrick Doyle began to elaborate on his organization; this was something that Jane was not going to miss. "He was one of my top employees, a trusted friend. Perhaps not my spawn as you put it, but closer to me than many."

"And Michael Byrne?"

"When I die of cancer, Detective Rizzoli, he was to take over my organization. Does that tell you how important he was to me? He was like my son."

"So you're suggesting that your enemies are knocking off the employees who were set to take over for you when you die? How do they know you're dying?"

"I don't know," Paddy Doyle was telling her the truth; Jane felt it in her gut. "But she's been here taking care of me on and off so they likely think she's close to me."

"This is your sick friend?" Jane was outraged. "You're keeping him alive?"

"I was keeping him comfortable," Maura said carefully.

"Which is a luxury his innocent victims never had!"

"I have never killed innocent people, Detective," Patrick Doyle was getting agitated himself.

"Please don't insult my intelligence, Doyle."

"And we both know if you had any solid evidence to even suggest a hint of my involvement in any murder that I would be dying in a jail cell right now. I need you to focus on protecting Maura while I figure out what's going on."

"My badge says detective which makes it my job to figure out what's going on!"

"I need someone who is capable and trusted by Maura to protect her. I'll figure out who is attacking my organization."

"And produce another body for me to deal with?" Jane was incensed. "No thank you, nobody else dies. You don't know that you aren't next."

"Which would be better than dying slowly every single day!"

"Why am I even talking to you about this? I finally have you in front of me, I need to arrest you."

"And risk Maura being killed while Boston's finest dig and not turn up anything?" Patrick Doyle was calling Jane's bluff. "I know you won't do that. Even you have to admit that your organization is rather inept with dealings on the streets."

"I can take care of myself." Maura refused to be cut out of decisions that involved her life. "I'm tired of you talking about me like I'm not even here!"

"You have no choice," Patrick Doyle shot back quickly. "This isn't up for debate, Maura."

"So, what? I'm going to have a police escort everywhere I go?"

Maura now understood why Jane left the crime scene and how she had managed to appear at Patrick Doyle's home. He had called her, a desperate move to keep Maura safe. She knew what was at stake for him involving the police. Likely, it would be a life behind bars if Jane had her way.

"If we have less than twenty-four hours before someone comes after her, I need to get things in place to keep her safe."

"She needs to be away from Boston," Patrick Doyle began to talk as Jane removed her phone from the holster and began to type a text. Maura guessed it was to Frost and Korsak; Jane was frantically typing as Maura's father began to talk once more.

"You don't get to be in charge here, Doyle," Jane scolded as her phone dinged to indicate an answer to her text. "I'm calling the shots including what happens to you."

Maura watched as her father struggled to stand on his feet and maintain his balance. He was weaker, in the short amount of time that they had been recently reconnected due to his illness, he had grown considerably weaker.

"Rizzoli," Jane answered her phone, walking away from both Maura and Patrick Doyle to allow herself some privacy.

"You're going to tell me who my mother is," Maura stated with conviction. "The fact that I can't likely take care of you anymore doesn't change our terms."

Patrick Doyle remained quiet, silently watching his daughter.

"Thanks to you I feel certain in saying that you've already cost me my friendship with Jane," Maura blinked back her tears as Jane approached them once more. "Can we talk?"

"Not now, Maura." Jane refused to acknowledge Maura's hurt look. This was neither the place nor time to have a conversation about her deception. "Korsak and Frost are coming." Jane looked directly at Doyle with such a hardened look that it stunned Maura into silence. "I gave them directions here and told them who I'm with. I expect them to be let inside without incident."

"I can arrange for that." Patrick Doyle struggled to walk inside and began talking as he journeyed toward his hospital bed. He sat on the edge, thankful for the resting place knowing he wouldn't have to get up for the rest of the day if he chose not to. He sipped the fresh water that was by his bed; a new straw and glass was a small, but welcomed, change.

Jane paced the floor, glancing out the window to spot Korsak and Frost, but mostly to avoid Maura's gaze. After Maura had kept herself busy taking Paddy Doyle's vitals, straightening up the room, and ensuring he was comfortable, there was very little to do but stare at Jane and try to gain some normalcy in their relationship. She finished up by helping Patrick Doyle swallow his pain pills and settle in before she approached Jane.

"I was only trying to keep him comfortable. He was willing to give me my mother's identity in return, Jane." Maura placed her hand on Jane's arm as she spoke softly while Patrick Doyle rested.

"Just what a monster would do," Jane spoke to her directly, the first time since Maura had arrived at the house. "You actually trust him to give you that information? I thought you were supposed to be a genius."

"I have to know," Maura's voice was soft, sadness laced through it. "I can't expect anyone to understand how desperate I am to find my real mother. It's like I'm never quite complete in my skin not knowing."

"And you assumed that I wouldn't have understood." Jane walked the length of the room before turning to face Maura once more. "When we figured out who your father was, I understood! I worked my ass off to keep you safe, Maura. What hurts the most is that you didn't trust me to understand, you never gave me a chance."

"Jane?" Korsak's voice followed a soft knock on the front door. Jane looked out the window and saw Korsak and Frost standing near one another, cautiously holding onto their weapons to quickly pull them if needed.

"Hey," Jane opened the door and ushered them in quickly.

"What the hell, Jane?" Korsak's eyes were drifting from Jane to Patrick Doyle, lying down in bed, propped up by several pillows. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you…"

"Let's spare the pleasantries for the moment, Detectives." Patrick Doyle's persona instantly changed the moment someone other than Jane and Maura were near. "You have a job to do; Dr. Isles is in danger and we need to act quickly."

"Are you kidding me?" Frost's voice was a betrayal of his facial expression, which was collected. "You're a known criminal and you're trying to boss us around?"

"And we both know you won't do anything about that."

"Oh really?"

"Jane," Patrick Doyle sighed as he looked at Jane standing near him. "Perhaps you should remind your partner that if you actually had any proof of these so-called crimes I've committed you would have already arrested me when you got here and we'd be having this conversation in a holding room."

"Jane," Korsak looked between Jane and Maura trying to decide what exactly had transpired the last hour while he had been processing the crime scene. "What do we have?"

"Pictures have been arriving of people who end up dead approximately twenty-four hours later." Jane handed Korsak the photo of Maura. "Murphy's showed up here two days ago; there were two of Bryne, since one was pinned to Murphy's chest, and he showed up dead this morning. Maura's photo came this morning so if the pattern is followed they'll come after her soon."

The desperation of Jane's voice gave Maura hope that all was not lost since she obviously cared so much about Maura's fate. Although, the thought did occur to Maura that Jane was serious about her job and perhaps she would be just as dedicated to protecting anyone in danger regardless of whom they were.

"Detail following her, maybe station teams in the morgue and outside of her house?"

"Do I get a say in this?" Maura was desperately trying to regain control over her life, but the fact of the matter was that she had lost it the moment she aligned with Patrick Doyle.

"That could be a first step, but that will only get us so far," Jane responded. "We need to protect her and figure out who is behind it at the same time. If we don't get to the perp, we're just delaying their attempt and the longer that goes on, the more likely they'll get through. We're going to need someone else to help."

"We can talk to Cavanaugh."

"How do we explain why Maura is in danger?"

"Don't you think we can trust him to keep this secret that she's Paddy's daughter?" Frost asked.

"We'd have to explain how we came about that information," Jane argued back. "I, for one, don't want to offer up the information that we've known that little tidbit for over a year and knew a way to actually contact him too!"

"We can detail her though."

"What about Frankie," Korsak offered as a suggestion. "He can take a few shifts and then ask his friends if they can help out? We just won't tell anyone why there is a detail on Doc."

"That's a good suggestion, he can help out, but we've got to keep the interaction with her mimimal," Jane said.

"How do we go about solving who is behind this though?" Frost asked. "There isn't a lot to go on if Paddy Doyle isn't behind it."

"But he knows who are his enemies." Jane faced Doyle to speak directly to him. "Who has the biggest beef with you, Doyle, and why?"

"I told you I would handle this part of the investigation, Detective," Paddy Doyle crossed his arms over his chest in defiance.

"And I told you that you aren't running things here!"

Jane stopped yelling when her phone vibrated in its holder. She looked at the called ID and recognized Frankie's phone number scrolling across the screen.

"What's up, Frankie?"

"Where are you?" Frankie asked as he stepped over a broken picture frame. "Dr. Isles isn't answering her phone either."

"She's with me, what's going on?"

"Ma called," Frankie looked at their mother sipping a cup of coffee on Maura's couch. She was shaking and clearly upset. "Someone broke into Dr. Isles' house and guesthouse."

"When?"

"Don't know," Frankie answered. "I was on beat patrol when they called for unis to come and rope off the area. It's bad, Janie, tons of shit broken."

"Take Ma back to my apartment now, Frankie," Jane caught Korsak's knowing gaze. "Stay with her there and I'll explain when I get there."

Jane closed the phone and focused her attention on Maura, who was eagerly waiting to be informed on what was happening.

"Someone broke into your house and trashed your place."

"Is Angela ok?" Maura felt completely out of control once more.

"She's fine; she's heading to my apartment to wait there."

"It's starting already," Patrick Doyle said. "She can't go back there; she's not safe there."

Jane swung around, ready to verbally blast Doyle.

"He's right, Jane," Korsak ran his fingers through his hair as he considered their options. "This is just getting bigger and bigger already." He paused and then faced Jane with a gleam in his eye. "I've got an idea; there's a place I know that's way off the map. We'll get her there."

"They'll know she's gone."

"As long as they don't know where she is, who cares?"

"How will we explain it?"

"How much vacation do you have, Doc?" Frost asked drawing Maura into the conversation.

"Too much," Maura politely smiled.

"She can take vacation," Korsak pointed to Frost. "Can you get online and make it appear that she's got some plane ticket to Tahiti or somewhere that she would go?"

"No problem, Korsak."

"We'll also need you to get us three pre-paid cells so we aren't using the ones we have. We have to assume that they know everything at this point."

"Why three?"

"Me, you, and Jane," Korsak looked at Frost like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"What about Dr. Isles? How is she going to communicate to us?"

"Jane," Korsak said exasperated. "She needs protection and Jane's the best. Janie, you need to get packed. When you get close to being done, Frost and I will arrange transportation and I'll give you the address."

"I need to be here, Korsak! I can't help figure this out if I'm not here!"

"And Doc isn't safe unless she's with someone that can keep her that way." Korsak looked at Doyle. "This guy and I will become best friends, trust me on that one. We're going to get real close and talk about his organization and who might want a piece of him. You worry about Maura, I'll worry about Doyle."

"I'll worry about getting the shit we need before you leave," Frost said as he finished making his list. "What do we need to do to cover that Jane is gone though?"

"She won't be," Korsak said. "She'll stay with Doc but also needs to be seen occasionally by Cavanaugh and others to throw the scent off. We'll deal with that when she's packed."

"So you're scurrying me off to some secluded location to hide me?" Maura wanted to ensure that she understood. "And I am supposed to, on a dime's notice, arrange a replacement for me so I can pretend to take an extended vacation to Tahiti?"

"It's the best way to protect you, Maura." Doyle immediately felt better knowing Maura would be protected by Jane.

"So Jane and I will be staying in this out of the way location alone?"

"That's the plan," Korsak said. "And Frost and I are going to work the angles here with Daddy Dearest to get to the bottom of it and get you guys back here."

Maura was thankful that Jane would be accompanying her; she felt safer already. Yet she knew Jane was angry with her, but the initial awkwardness between them would eventually pass and she'd be able to explain why she hadn't told her about Doyle before this all happened.

"Jesus Christ," Jane said putting her head in her hands, knowing she had no choice but to protect Maura in the middle of nowhere. She was angry; but mostly frustrated that she wouldn't be working the angle of Doyle but babysitting, even if it was her best friend. "Let's get this show on the road. We don't have much time."