Chapter 11
"What the…." Jane grabbed the pillow Maura had used during the night and placed it over her head quickly. The sounds coming from the kitchen were familiar; she could easily make out the sounds of pots and pans. After all, she had lived in Angela Rizzoli's house growing up and lost count of how many times she was awoken by the same sounds. She could clearly make out Maura's voice humming, but the music she was humming to was something Jane could swear she had only heard in an elevator in a very upscale building in Boston.
Giving up on going back to sleep, Jane scratched her head after she stood and stretched; she hadn't had that much sleep, just enough to stiffen her lower back and shoulders. She yawned as she slowly opened the bedroom door, watching Maura move around the kitchen.
Jane wasn't surprised that Maura could cook; she had proven her skills more times than not. She was, however, accustomed to Maura having zero free time to use her skills and resorting to take-out when they would dine at one another's homes.
"I could sleep all day with this boring music playing." Jane couldn't help but smile when Maura turned around displaying a smudge of flour on her cheek.
"Did I wake you?" Maura began to whisk the ingredients in her bowl once more while leaning back on countertop to converse with Jane. "I'm just trying to make this a little bit more like home. When I cook, I listen to some of my favorite pieces of music."
"If this were like home we would be surrounded by Chinese takeout containers."
"That's your home, Jane," Maura smiled, thankful for the ease with which the conversation began to flow.
"That's right, I forgot. You prefer pasta with organic baby tomatoes and a side of face licking from Giovanni"
"We both know I put a stop to it before the face licking, Babe." Maura laughed as she emphasized her epithet for Jane used as an excuse as to why she couldn't date Giovanni. "I actually made you pancakes, although I'm not sure of my ability to make them into cute little animal shapes."
"To make it more like my childhood home?"
"Perhaps," Maura smiled and Jane instantly got lost in her piercing green eyes. "I'm trying to build upon our progress yesterday and offer an olive branch."
Jane walked over to the table that had been set with mismatched silverware. She had no idea how to comment on or receive the olive branch that Maura so bluntly declared as offered.
"My fork doesn't match my knife." Jane reverted to humor as her classic avoidance technique. "How on earth are you surviving, Dr. Isles?" she asked as Maura placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.
"My music calms my tension." Maura whirled around once more toward the griddle to pour her own pancakes with the additional batter that she had made from scratch.
"The same music that will have me falling face first into the syrup."
"Wagner?"
"No, Aunt Jemima." Jane smiled as she held up the plastic, female shaped bottle before soaking her pancakes in syrup.
"I meant Wagner puts you to sleep?" Maura flipped her pancakes and watched as the bubbles began to form once more due to the heat. "He is often regarded as one of the greatest composures of music in the Romantic period of classical music, Jane. He was best known for his elaborate use of leitmotifs."
"Just the use of that word makes me want to dive face first into a puddle of Aunt Jemima."
"Funny." Maura slid her pancakes off the spatula and placed them on a plate. She took the seat right next to Jane and carefully drizzled syrup onto her pancakes in a carefully constructed pattern.
What was this about romance? She's playing her version of sex music?
"I love the Romantic period of classical music," Maura closed her eyes as she held a dainty bite of pancake to her lips. "The stories were so rich in history and subplots."
"Just like the movies you make me watch that are rich with sub-titles."
Jane scraped the remaining syrup from her plate and licked it from her fork. She watched as Maura enjoyed her pancake, moaning as she slowly chewed.
Dear god she's moaning over pancakes.
"If you want it to be more like my home, we should be listening to my music. I only listen to this music when I'm stuck in an elevator."
"I'm sorry, Jane; I'm fresh out of Puff Daddy."
"P Diddy, Maura." Jane corrected her with a smile ignoring Maura's confused look.
"There's always the Grateful Dead," Maura suggested, instantly regretting her words when a cloud of disappointment came over Jane's face. The reference to the Grateful Dead was not intentional, but Maura instantly realized that Jane connected the musical reference to the day in her office when they discussed the difference between right and wrong. "I'm sorry; I'm not trying to be insensitive or cavalier about our current situation."
Jane stood and walked her dishes toward the sink. She quickly added dish soap to the water and watched bubbles take form. Her back was to Maura but she could feel her eyes on her, waiting for her to react.
"I'm not angry," Jane took a deep breath but continued to stare out the window above the sink. She wasn't about to face Maura at her most vulnerable. "I was….am…hurt. I didn't want to discuss it last night because I don't understand why I'm feeling this way."
"It's a natural reaction to you feeling left out of a life decision by someone that you care about."
"My, we think highly of ourselves. Did I show you the secret handshake into the Jane- Rizzoli-cares-about-me club? It takes a lot to earn it, believe me."
Hide feelings with humor, classic, Jane.
"I don't need a handshake to know you care. And honestly, it goes both ways," Maura walked over to the sink and placed her dish in the bubbles allowing her hand to gently graze Jane's on the way out. "My decision wasn't meant to hurt you. I just hope you can understand why I did it."
"Blackmail isn't hard to understand, Maura."
Jane finished rinsing the dishes and sat down on the couch, opening the file on top of a rather large stack.
"The silence is deafening," Maura whispered from behind Jane before coming around the couch to sit next to her. "I want things to be normal."
"Someone's trying to kill you, Maura, that's not normal however much you want to wish it to be."
"If wishing doesn't work than what does, Jane?"
"Solving this case." Jane bit on the end of her pen, clearly deep in thought and barely registering Maura's words. When she withdrew the pen, she looked upward toward the ceiling as if it helped her find answers.
"Then I want to help, to show you that I sincerely am sorry that I made you feel like I didn't trust you."
"I know you want to return to see your father," Jane bluntly stated.
Why beat around the bush at what her motivation is?
"I'd like to meet my mother," Maura said defiantly. "I'm not interested in suddenly developing a relationship with my father."
Jane sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to ward off her already developing headache.
"I trust you to keep me safe, Jane." Maura placed her hand on Jane's tense shoulder. Maura saw Jane's jaw clench, obviously things weren't back to normal between them.
"Keeping you safe likely means taking your father down, Maura. I won't pretend that it doesn't involve me trying to bring him to justice."
Maura could sense that Jane was attempting to reign in her emotions. When she finally sat down next to her and saw the fear in Jane's eyes, she began to blink back tears.
"I think he needs to be brought to justice," Maura said quietly. She could almost see the walls beginning to erect inside of Jane Rizzoli as she leaned back into the couch. "I don't agree with his lifestyle and the things he's done, Jane."
"But you've helped him," Jane closed her eyes briefly to ward off her own tears. They were tears she couldn't even explain. "Instead of coming to us and letting us handle it, you helped him, Maura."
"May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far."
"So that's it?" Jane arched her eyebrow in disbelief as she ran her fingers through her hair. "You're offering some random quote in lieu of an explanation?"
"I'm merely trying to illustrate that not everything is crystal clear in the moment. If I could go back and involve you from the beginning before things spiraled out of control I would."
"I'm working on this case."
Maura clearly could read Jane's body language and facial expressions even without her research. Jane was signaling the end of the conversation.
Maura stood up, hesitating for a moment, before she grabbed one of her medical journals from the coffee table and ventured into the bedroom alone. Jane waited until she was certain Maura was out of the room before letting out the deep breath she barely knew she had been holding.
Jane's eyes pored over the first file; it was on a known rival of Paddy Doyle's and certainly a group that would love control over the docks. Jane made some notes in the margins and after reviewing three additional case files she decided on calling Frost.
"Hey there," Frost's voice was a welcomed distraction for Jane. She could tell that he was attempting to talk quietly so she opted for small talk to allow him to get to a more private location.
"I miss civilization."
"You should enjoy yourself, partner," Frost chuckled as he shut the door to one of the vacant interview rooms. "No traffic, no murders, no psycho ex-lovers trippin' out on PCP turnin' over cars..."
"Light week, eh?"
"Let's just say you've been missed."
"It's been like what, Frost, twenty-four hours tops?" Jane stood and quietly walked out the back door and sat on one of the wood piles she made the previous day. It was cooler than she thought and she instantly wished she had had the forethought to put on her jeans rather than keeping her pajamas on. "Anything break there?"
"Korsak has done most of the work on that one." Frost leaned back in the chair to begin updating Jane on Patrick Doyle's case. "We've got a few things, but we're under the gun here, Jane."
"Anymore vics?"
"One rather botched attempt at Paddy Doyle's fourth or fifth in command. This time there wasn't a picture sent to warn anybody, the lucky bastard escaped with a few scrapes and bruises. It seems Docs disappearance has upped the ante with these guys."
"What's Doyle saying?"
"Not much since Doc left." Frost rocked in the chair, a nervous habit he refused to try to break. "He's in a lot of pain, Jane. Korsak's been trying to get him to talk about his business; even he was shocked that someone went after another one of his guys so soon."
"We're going to have to take this one family at a time," Jane said.
"I don't honestly know if we have time for that. We've got to get as much from him as we can as fast as he can. Before he starts into whatever hallucinating he's going to go through."
"Who said he would hallucinate? Someone can't possibly know that."
"He said Doc told him."
"Has he said anything else about her?" Jane bit the tip of her thumb nail slightly before venturing into exactly what she wanted to know. "Is he going to tell her who her mother is, Frost?"
"If he plans on sharing any information on her mother, rest assured it will be with her directly. He won't say shit to me or Korsak on the subject. In fact, he's trying to cut us out of everything claiming he can handle it on his own."
"He's dying right?"
"Seems like it," Frost confirmed. "He certainly is in a lot of pain and takes a lot of meds to try to control it."
"I'm going to have some questions for him. I need you to get over there and let me talk to him on your phone."
"Anything I need to know about ahead of time?"
"He's got so many enemies, Frost, it's hard to know where to start," Jane admitted. "If I talk to him I'll know more; get that gut feeling ya know?"
"How's Doc holding up?"
"Shockingly well," Jane fired back, instantly feeling bad about her tone of voice. "You'd think she could care less that she's in danger."
"Maybe she just feels safe with you?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm trying not to speak."
"Why would you do that?" Frost said raising his voice an octave for good measure. "Now is the time she needs her friends the most; you're her BFF."
Jane smiled at the humor in Frost's voice teasing her about her relationship with Maura. It was a running joke between her, Frost, and Korsak. Most times, Jane had a witty retort about her relationship with the ME, but at the moment she found herself confused and somber about the topic.
"Is Korsak with him now?"
"Roger that," Frost said. "These phones are ancient so he'll have no problem answering it."
Jane hung up and quickly called the other number programmed in her phone. She could hear in Korsak's voice the frustration she also felt; dealing with this case was maddening.
"Hey, Jane," Korsak said as he stepped away from Patrick Doyle's bed. "How are you gals doin'?"
"We're fine; I need to talk to Doyle."
"I'm not sure you'll get anything out of him. He's in and out, Janie."
"Well hand him the phone and let's see if he's in."
Jane waited a moment before hearing Patrick Doyle's voice come across the line. She had heard it, of course, when he had called her cell phone after he was shot. He had, at that point in time, the audacity to tell her to take care of Maura. Now he had put her in a position where Jane had no choice.
"I need to talk to you." Jane skipped all pleasantries knowing Patrick Doyle would appreciate it.
"How's my daughter?"
"Alive." Jane wasn't in the mood for sugar coating the obvious. "No thanks to what you've involved her in."
"I didn't know they would mistake her for my heir apparent. She hadn't been around me that long, Detective Rizzoli."
"Long enough that you put her in danger, Doyle."
"Can I talk to her?" Jane was surprised at the sound of desperation in Patrick Doyle's voice.
"When I'm done talking to you," Jane shot back. "The sooner we solve this thing the sooner we can come home and then you can call her on your own time."
"You're obviously mad."
"Who's after Maura?"
"I'm working on it, Detective, you just keep her safe."
"I'm working on it, Doyle. But you owe me some answers, and I know you've been digging around yourself."
"You know that we both want the same thing right?" Patrick Doyle closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing through the pain. "We both want her safe."
"No, we don't want entirely the same thing. See, I wouldn't blackmail someone I claimed to love to get what I wanted. I wouldn't hold the one thing that matters most to that person over their head."
"And is it blackmail if I plan on telling her once it's safe to do so, Detective?"
"Save us all the trouble and tell her now." Jane knew Patrick Doyle wouldn't take kindly to her suggestion.
"Do you truly think we're all that different, Detective?"
"Oh you bet I do." Jane was determined in her conviction.
"Do you remember the big break in your career?" Patrick Doyle paused, despite knowing that Jane wasn't going to provide him with her acknowledgment. "It was in 2001; three major drug dealers were shot in the chest. Likely one of them in the very same spot they pinned a medal on yours for killing those three men that fateful day. I've always admired you for that."
"What does this have to do with Maura and keeping her safe?"
"You wage your war on drugs your way, I'll do it mine."
"Are you trying to tell me that you're waging a war to clean up the streets despite the fact that your docks import drugs?"
"Last year I made a decision, Detective Rizzoli." Jane could hear the anguish in Paddy Doyle's voice and closed her eyes to settle her nerves. "There was a rather large shipment of drugs coming into the docks. The word on the streets was that it was targeted at some of the….higher upstanding educational facilities…."
"Trust fund kids."
"Who have the money and the means to get in and out of trouble quite well," Jane offered.
Patrick Doyle found promise in that he and Jane were agreeing on even a small point. "It's my docks; I run them. I don't dabble in drugs, Detective, especially not when they're targeted at kids."
"What kind of drugs?"
"Opium," Patrick Doyle smiled at Jane's silence. He could imagine that Jane began to connect some of the dots on her own. He certainly found her more capable than her colleague whom he refused to talk to under any circumstances.
"So someone is bringing in opium to convert it." Jane began to pace outside near her stacks of wood
"It's much easier to bring in opium and then convert it to morphine and heroin once it gets here."
"Lesser sentence and easier to fly under the radar," Jane agreed.
"Plus cheaper to buy when it's in the opium poppy form, the seeds are almost damn near impossible to detect if shipped correctly."
"How did you know the shipments were coming in?"
"I have ears on the streets."
"So you ordered a hit on the importer," Jane followed his logic easily. "Who was the importer?"
"That's not what's important, Detective. I can take care of my own dirty laundry."
"So they want to get even with you over a shipment or two gone bad?" Jane asked, not so clear on Doyle's innuendo.
"If it were that easy it would be over," Doyle paused and then decided that if Maura trusted Jane with her life, it was time to offer a bit more to the stubborn detective. "They want control of the docks. Opium is child's play, Detective Rizzoli. Do you know where it comes from?"
I'm sure Maura would know and would be able to recite the exact locations and how it's grown.
Jane looked inside to see the empty room she had stepped away from; clearly Maura wasn't there to supplement her knowledge at this moment.
"Legally it's grown in India and some parts of Asia, but illegally, it is grown in Pakistan. The border between India and Pakistan is often blurred when it comes to their crops. Pakistan doesn't grow it like India for medicinal purposes; even though now I'm thankful for any help I can get."
"So someone is after Maura that has ties to Pakistan?" Jane suddenly felt sick to her stomach. "Are you telling me that you're mixed up with terrorist shit, Doyle?"
"I obviously don't have ties to those organizations, Detective, but you can see why I need Maura kept safe while I go digging to find out who among the Irish families here does."
"Why take out your organization?" Jane's tone was demanding, unyielding regardless of how tired Patrick Doyle had grown throughout the conversation.
"Because we won't let the docks go. They need control of the docks to control what gets shipped in. You're doing your part, Detective, I'm doing my own despite the monster you think I am."
"And what happens to Maura while this showdown happens between you and whatever other crime family is jockeying for the docks? You plan on living up to your end of the bargain?"
Patrick Doyle began to mumble, it was clear to Jane that she had exhausted her time for the day and would be stuck spending her time writing down notes to chat with Korsak and Frost later. She sighed when someone handed Korsak his phone back signaling the end of her conversation.
"Korsak, I've got some leads to start with. I need to jot down some notes so when you get back to the station call me with Frost and we can circle back."
Jane hung up the phone, clearly not as optimistic as Korsak had been about their leads. Jane had known that Korsak had been excused for the conversation; it was obvious that Doyle was insistent upon dealing only with Jane. She wasn't sure of the intent behind it, whether it was her relationship with Maura that had given her the 'in' or some sort of dysfunctional respect he had for her.
Jane ventured inside, grabbing a pen and paper from one of the files and beginning to jot down her discussion with Doyle. The significance of her leads was heavy; the implications of the news were disastrous. Jane blinked back tears as she finished her notes and checked the time to ensure she had a few moments.
I owe her the truth, even if it scares me to death.
Jane walked into the bedroom to find Maura in bed, with her head propped up on a few of the bed pillows. Her eyes were closed and the medical journal she had taken to read was draped across her lap. Her hair had fallen over her face, shadowing a small part of it.
Jane eased herself onto the corner of the bed, the lump in her throat rising as she thought of the implications of her news. She had known Maura was in trouble; Jane had no idea how deep the trouble went until moments ago.
Jane pushed Maura's hair off her face causing Maura to stir. When Maura opened her eyes, she saw the tears threatening to spill over from Jane's eyes. She sat up straight and reached out for her friend.
Please don't ask me. Please don't leave me, Maura.
"Jane, what's going on?"
Jane couldn't speak but simply leaned her head to the side when Maura's palm came up to touch her cheek gently.