Chapter 19

Jane stirred and lazily rolled over to stretch. She had slept hard and had a feeling she hadn't moved all night. She knew she was going to be a little stiff but was thankful for the sound rest she had gotten. As she stretched, she moved her left arm and hand over to where Maura should have been but the space was empty. She let her arm rest on the spot and it felt cold. Jane wondered what time it was rolled back over to get a look at the clock on the night stand.

7:14 flashed at her. Jane knew that was late enough that she should get up so begrudgingly she rolled up into a seated position. She rubbed her hands over her eyes and tried to shake off the rest of the sleep. She took in a deep breath and the first whiff of coffee attracted her attention. Almost hypnotically she got up to follow the aroma.

She staggered into the kitchen and found the coffee made and awaiting her consumption. She grabbed a cup and poured. She stood in the kitchen for a few minutes letting the sips of coffee start to work their magic on her overall level of alertness. Eventually, she made her way into the living room to look for Maura.

She rounded the corner and had expected to find Maura either in the living room or on the terrace. But she wasn't in either place. Jane looked around a few of the other rooms but didn't find her. "Maura?" she called out but was not greeted with any response.

She walked back towards the living room and sat down on the couch. As she glanced around the room, she eyes settled on a tri-folded document sitting on the coffee table. Jane had seen it once before, two nights ago. It was the lawyer paperwork from Phillip. Jane wanted to reach for the papers for a more thorough review. She paused for a second contemplating if she should overtly invade Maura's privacy. In the end, curiosity got the best of Jane.

As she flipped through the pages, anger started to build up within her. How could he do this to his daughter? Jane had never met the man so she only had what Maura and Constance had told her about Phillip Isles to work with. Until two nights ago she had thought he was a little distant and generally selfish with a history of putting his needs ahead of the family but Jane had assumed he loved Maura. Maura had spoken of him with love and care. He clearly had issues with showing affection but then again so did Constance.

But this? This was different. This was cold and cruel to disown his daughter without as much as a warning. Jane couldn't imagine how hurt Maura must have been when she was confronted with Phillip's dismissal. And again a wave of anger washed over her. Maura hadn't deserved any of this.

Jane flipped through the pages of the document. It was full of cold, legalize that made what it was intended to do seem normal, routine even. As Jane scrolled through the pages she was surprised by some of the content. There were paragraphs outlining the handling of Maura's trust fund and inheritance. There were paragraphs dealing with multiple real estate holdings with lists of which would stay with Phillip and which would be signed over to Maura. There were several paragraphs dealing with charities that Maura was part of the Board of Directors and how that was to be addressed.

Jane was stunned. Not at the money or property. Jane had long since assumed Maura was a very wealthy woman. She knew some wealth came from the Isles family but Jane also knew that Maura was wealthy independent of the Isles family fortune. What stunned Jane was how clean Phillip was trying to make the break. This is cleaner than most divorce settlements, Jane thought. Could it really be this easy for him? Did he just consider this a divorce, divide up property and charities and just simply walk away?

She was about to place the document back down when her finger flipped and exposed the last page up slightly and something caught Jane's eye. She flipped over all the pages to look at the last page. There was Phillip's signature about halfway down the left hand side of the page. But his signature wasn't what caught Jane's eye. She was staring at the signature of her best friend just opposite that of Phillip's. Maura had signed the papers. Jane just stared in disbelief.

"Oh Maura," Jane sighed.

Maura entered the apartment about twenty minutes later. She was in running shorts and a top and clearly had been out running.

"Hey, have a nice run?" Jane asked.

"You're awake? You were dead to the world this morning. I tried to wake you to see if you wanted to join me but I couldn't get you to even move. And yes, I had a nice run through the park."

"Yeah, I think I did a good job getting caught back up on some sleep. Sorry you had to run alone though."

"Don't worry about that. It was good for me. The endorphins from running help me clear my head." Maura made a move to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "Do you want breakfast?"

"No, not really. I'm good with coffee for right now. Thanks."

"OK. I'm going to get cleaned up."

Maura made her way to the bathroom and started the water for the shower. Running did usually make her feel better. She could hit that runner's high pretty early into a run and that let her mind wander over the topics that would be unresolved. Currently, she had more than she could juggle. She wished the jog had gotten her to a place where she felt she had some resolution on at least a few issues but that wasn't the case. She couldn't seem to settle on much of anything over the past few weeks. She stepped into the shower and let the water wash over her.

While Maura was in the shower, Jane grabbed her cell phone and stepped out on the terrace. She made the first of two calls.

"Jane, how's Maura?" was the first thing from Frost. She smiled at the concern she heard in his voice. She was lucky to have him as a partner.

"Day to day right now. She has some pretty big personal issues to work through. But I think she'll be ok."

"When are you guys coming back to Boston?"

"That's completely up to Maura. I think we'll be here at least a couple of more days. Maura only took off a week when she left, so I assume she will want to get back to Boston in time for her to be back to work on Monday. But I'm not completely positive. How are things there? You and Korsak playing nice with one another?"

Frost chuckled. "We are fine. Don't tell him I said this, but I learn a lot from the old man. WE are still partners though, so don't you go running off on me permanently."

Jane smiled, "Oh, you can't get rid of me that easily. I'll be back when it's right for Maura to come back. In the meantime, I need another don't-tell-anyone favor."

"Name it."

"I need a current location on both Phillip and Constance Isles," Jane said and then released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"And you can't just ask Maura?"

"No, I can't. And I won't."

"Okay, I'll see what I can find out. Any general idea where to start?"

"Constance was in a rehab facility in Miami, Florida the last I knew but I don't think she is still here. I think she was released last week. Phillip has an office at New York University but I believe he was on a college speaking tour promoting his latest book. I thought he was out of the country but he was in Boston two weeks ago. I don't know if he went back on the road. Sorry I don't have more. I really need to know where they both are Frost."

"I'll get right on it. I'll call you when I find them."

"Can you just text me when you have it?"

"Ok. You really don't want Maura to know you are looking for them, do you?"

"She doesn't need to know this right now," and Jane left it at that. "Thanks Frost. I owe you a beer when we get back."

Jane scrolled down the phone and highlighted a name, hitting send. "Hey Ma."

"Jane! I've been waiting for your call."

Jane looked at the time. It was only 8:00 am. "Ma, I said I'd call every day but come on. It's only 8 am. You can't tell me you are already worried about us this morning."

"Don't you tell your mother she can't be worried about you just because it is morning. I am worried about you both and I will continue to worry about you both until one of you tells me what is going on!"

"I told you yesterday Ma, that will have to be something Maura decides to tell you or not," talking to her mother could give Jane a headache in no time flat.

"Well, how is she doing?" Jane's chest tightened a bit as Angela dropped the Mom-outrage and cranked up the Mom-worry in her tone.

"I think she is better today than yesterday. And that's all I can ask for right now. It's complicated and unfortunately there aren't any easy answers or solutions."

"Is she eating? Are you? Are you both sleeping?"

"Yes, we both are eating and sleeping. Ma, I promise we are both safe. "

"When are you coming home?"

Jane knew she had to give Angela something, "Maura is set to go back to work on Monday. I expect at this point that she will make that return."

Jane heard her mother sigh a bit of relief. Jane was pretty sure Angela was thinking they both might not be coming back ever. "Oh. Ok, I can work with that. See, that's all I needed to be told yesterday Miss Cryptic."

Jane shook her head. There was the headache. "Ma, really?"

"I'm just saying you could have told me."

"I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow. And I'll try to get Maura to call you to check in later today, ok."

That pacified Angela even more. "Don't you force her Jane! But I'm here for her if she needs me."

"Bye Ma."

Even with the headache, Jane was silently thankful to have Angela as her mother.