Chapter 7

Jane sat staring at the note Maura had left for most of the morning. When she wasn't re-reading the note, she was looking at the baseball tickets. As hard as she tried she could not figure out what any of it meant. Nothing in the note from Maura seemed to explain why she was pushing Jane away. There seemed to be no explanation for what just caused Maura to run away.

"Think Jane!" she demanded to herself. "There are clues here. Take a step back and try to see the big picture."

Jane thought back to the last time she knew Maura was fine. Dinner, ten days ago. There was good conversation and no indication that anything was wrong. So, ten days ago things were good. That's a start anyway. Glancing back down at the note more of the time frame came into focus.

I was going to give you these tickets last week until- well that's not important.

Something happened last week that kept Maura from giving Jane the tickets. Last week was when Jane started to worry that Maura was avoiding her. When, though? Monday night was when she found Maura asleep in her office. That was the first time Jane had any concerns about Maura. So, something happened over the previous weekend as best as Jane could pinpoint. But what?

Family matters more than anything in this world Jane. Embrace the family you have and don't waste a minute of the time you could spend together.

Family. Jane leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and let out a deep, heavy sigh. The notion of family being at the heart of what was wrong with Maura wouldn't surprise Jane at all. Family for Maura had gotten complicated lately. But if family was the source of Maura's problems, sadly there were several options from which to choose.

There was the shooting, jailing and upcoming trial of her biological father who just happened to be a Mob boss. There was the identification of her biological mother and half-sister only to have both of them reject not only Maura but her kidney as well. There was even the injuries and recovery of Constance, Maura's adoptive mother, from a hit and run accident.

Yes, there were plenty of options about family. But, Jane now rubbed her temples trying to fight off a headache, Maura had talked to Jane about all of these issues. Multiple times and in great detail. As traumatic those incident had been for Maura, Jane was not aware of anything new that would have caused Maura to run. There had to be something Jane was missing.

Jane had checked with Cavanaugh and found out that Maura had requested an emergency week of vacation. Her cases were assigned to another medical examiner but Cavanaugh hadn't kicked up too much fuss since Maura had updated every case file before leaving. Her note stated she was going away for a week and not to try to find her. But how could Jane sit back and let Maura be alone when there was something wrong?

She leaned forward in her chair and touched the Red Sox tickets again. She was convinced that the tickets and the note attached had been obtained and written well before Maura got upset. But Maura made it a point to give the tickets to Jane.

Promise me you will take your brothers to the game.

Why, in the middle of whatever it was that Maura was going through would she give the tickets to Jane and also ask Jane to promise to still go? How on Earth could Jane enjoy a baseball game while all of this was happening? But, Jane had never denied Maura anything and she was asking her to still go to this game.

Grabbing her phone, Jane scrolled through her contact list and highlighted the name she was looking for. Her thumb moved across the phone and she hit send. She waited for the recipient to answer.

"Hey Jane, what's up?"

"Hey Tommy. What were you doing tonight?"

It had taken no time at all to get both Frankie and Tommy to agree to the baseball game. Both brothers had even professed undying love and devotion to their sister for the chance to see Sox and Yankees. Jane, however, had a hard time sharing their excitement. She was too worried about Maura to fully appreciate the chance to watch the game. Jane opted not to discuss Maura or her concerns with her brothers. She felt she owed it to Maura to keep everything quiet for the time being.

Before the start of the game, Jane tried to eliminate some of the family possibilities. She pulled the case status and jail reports on Patrick Doyle. A review of all the records showed no significant change in the status of Doyle's murder trial. Nothing indicated that there were any new developments. Jane even reviewed the visitor logs to see if Maura had any contact with Doyle but there weren't any messages or visits. So, short of one of Doyle's goons making a move on Maura, Jane was willing to rule out Doyle as the direct source of the family stress.

That left Maura's mothers. Jane was pressed to find a way to check into contact or issues with Hope or Caitlyn without directly speaking to both of them. It wasn't an option that Jane had completely ruled out but for the moment she was hesitant to walk that path. She could, however, attempt to reach out to Constance to test that possibility.

Jane got up from her desk and walked to the elevators. She got in and hit the button. As she got off the elevator she headed over to the Café to speak with her mother. Jane approached the counter and waited as Angela was finishing with a pair of vice detectives.

"Hi Janie. Are you in need of coffee?"

"No, Ma. I'm in need of a phone number. And I think you may have it."

Curious, Angela looked at Jane, "Whose number that I have would you need?"

"Constance."

Angela did a double take at that. She wasn't sure why Jane needed that number and she really wasn't sure why Jane was asking her and not Maura. "What's going on?"

"I just need Constance's phone number Ma. Do you have it?"

"Why aren't you asking Maura for the number?"

"Ma! It's a simple question. Either you have her number or you don't. I don't have time to play 20 questions with you right now." Jane immediately felt bad about the tone she had just used. She softened her tone looked up at her mother. "Sorry! I didn't mean to be snippy. Ma, please, do you have the number?"

Angela nodded. The look on Jane's face was one of pure frustration and not with Angela. Angela pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her call list. Finding what Jane wanted she handed the phone over and watched Jane key in the numbers.

"Thanks," Jane said as she handed Angela back her phone.

"Is everything alright with Maura?"

Jane, not too surprised at Angela's perception of the situation, sighed and gave the only answer she had.

"No Ma. Maura's not alright." She hit send on her phone and walked out of the Café leaving Angela to worry for both girls.