Neither Jane nor Frost think that Melina Ross' murder was random.
"A park she visits all the time? Smelling like pot?" Jane ticks off the reasons on her fingers as they drive to the home of Melina's best friend. "On a park bench facing the street? If it was random…why not hide the body. Or if it was deliberate…why not take it with you? Or make a statement."
Frost makes a face, gripping the steering wheel. "You have been doing this too long, Rizzoli," he says weakly, muttering under his breath. "take it with you…seriously?"
Jane chuckles.
"So, how is Sofia dealing with her suspension?" Frost asks, and Jane's face darkens a little at the change of subject. "How long is it again?"
"A week," Jane sighs, "and she's not saying anything about it."
Frost whistles low, "And Isabelle?"
Jane shakes her head, "Clams are bigger talkers."
Frost chuckles, "Well, give it time, Jane…It's not like you're new to this whole, punching kids who deserved it thing."
Jane grins, "Yeah, but I was always yelling about why, wasn't I?"
And Frost laughs this time, "Yes," he says, still smiling as they pull into the driveway of a nice house with a two car garage. "Yes you were."
…
The best friend's name is Amaya Moore, and when she hears that her lifelong friend has been murdered in a park six blocks from her home, her hand jumps up to her collar, forefinger and thumb pinching the shirt there, like a nervous tic.
"Melina? NO!" She says, collapsing into her mother's arms and starting to sob uncontrollably.
Frost raises an eyebrow at Jane, coming to stand next to her in the small living room.
"We're very sorry for your loss, Ms. Moore," he says, and at the father's gesture, he takes one armchair and Jane takes another.
"Sh-sh-she was my best…best…friend," Melina sobs from her mother's arms, and Jane's face is nothing but sympathy.
"I'm so sorry, Amaya," She says gently, "Mr. and Mrs. Moore. I wonder…could we ask you a few questions?"
The father nods, though the mother looks wary. "She's just had a terrible shock," she says, and her arms encircle protectively around her daughter.
Jane tilts her head almost imperceptibly. "I understand you want to protect your daughter, Mrs. Moore, but anything she can tell us might bring us closer to finding-"
"I'll tell you anything you want to know," Amaya says, sitting up and wiping her eyes. "What do you want to know about her?"
Jane glances at Frost who leans forward a little, "You and Melina knew each other for how many years?"
"Since we moved here when Amaya was seven," The mother cuts in again. "They became best friends immediately.
Jane raises an eyebrow at the mother, but directs her question at Amaya again, "And you two are in all the same classes at school?"
Amaya nods, "Except Biology," she sniffs. "I'm in advanced." Her finger traces a path along her lip and then she drops her hands to her lap. "Who am I going to sit with at lunch?"
Frost waits a beat, before asking, "Was there anyone who would want to hurt Melina?"
"No," the answer is short and definitive. "She was popular. She was the most popular girl in our grade." Amaya begins to tear up again, "And she still hung out…with…meeee," she dissolves back into her mother's arms, and Jane casts a meaningful look at Frost.
"She was popular?" Frost presses gently.
Amaya nods, "She was popular and everyone loved her...and she didn't...she didn't even care."
"Is there anyone who was jealous of her popularity?" Jane asks quietly.
Amaya starts like she's been shocked, "No!" she says, eyes wide. "You couldn't be-be jealous of Melina," she says earnestly, and tears pool in her blue eyes again. "She was my best friend," she says and her emphasis makes Jane frown. "I'm very sorry," she murmurs, standing up. She hands her card to the father as he sees them to the door. "Anything you can think of," she says quietly, "please give me a call."
They start back down the walk to the cruiser, but barely get three steps before the father is calling them back.
"Detectives?"
Jane and Barry turn, eyebrows raised.
"The past week or so, Amaya and Melina stopped walking home together," he looks guilty as he says this, like he knows he's betraying his daughter's trust. "They got in a fight…I think over some of the people…I mean….things Melina was into…It tore Amaya up."
Jane nods, turning this information over in her mind. "Thank you, Mr. Moore," she says after a moment. "Very much."
He nods curtly and heads back into the house.
Jane looks pissed as they climb into the cruiser. "You thinking boyfriend?" Frost asks as he starts the engine.
Jane nods darkly. "Yep."
.
The days drag by slowly, without a break in the case. Sofia spends a miserable week in the morgue with the doctor, cataloguing fracture patterns, and an even more miserable weekend logging bullet hole reports with the detective, and when Monday rolls around, she looks thoroughly happy to be getting on the bus with her siblings, although Maura notices that she does not choose a seat next to Isabelle.
Her light haired child seems completely at a loss about her twins change in attitude. She'd tried over breakfast to engage Sofia in their favorite past time, making fun of Noah's outfit, but she'd been met with a steely sort of indifference.
"What is going on with those two?" Jane whispers as their children disappear around a corner.
"I'm not sure even Isabelle knows," Maura says a little sadly, "But it's natural for twins to feel some separation angst as they begin to discover themselves more fully."
"Yeah?" Jane rolls her shoulders, "and what do your studies say about one twin becoming hostile and violent?"
"Oh, Jane," Maura says gently, "She's not…She's just…"
"Becoming her mother," Jane says sadly. "I'd hoped all the time she spent in you would soften her a bit.
Maura pinches Jane lightly, "You've spent time in me too Jane," she whispers, watching dark eyes widen, "and it doesn't seem to have softened you a ton."
Jane sputters, torn between amusement and embarrassment, and Maura sneaks an arm around her waist.
"We'll figure out what's going on, sweetheart," she says quietly. "They're just having some growing pains…that's all."
Jane sighs, "I just love them," she says, and her tone suggests that this is the greatest blessing and the greatest curse she will ever know. "I just want them to be okay."
Maura smiles, a little more in love than she was five minutes ago. "They are," she says, squeezing Jane's waist reassuringly. "They will be."
...
The break in the case comes on Wednesday. Jane has just gotten the bad news from Maura that the necklace recovered at the scene holds only Melina's blood and fingerprints.
"So she pulled it off her own neck? That doesn't make any sense," Jane says tiredly, running a hand through her hair.
"I'm sorry," Maura says sitting down in the chair by the desk, "I went over every inch of it."
Jane nods, "I know you did, Maur…What does it say again? The necklace?"
"You," Maura responds, her brow crinkling. "In script. It's quite beautiful really."
"And quite ambiguous," Jane breathes. Maura nods sympathetically.
Just then, Frost and Korsak burst out of the tech room on the side of the precinct, both looking triumphant.
"How much do you love me?" Frost crows, moving to hook his laptop up to the projector.
"Hey!" Korsak says grumpily, "It was my find!"
Frost looks incredulous, "You said you liked the TV show Alias, which gave me the idea to look for Aliases.."
"Right!" Korsak says, smiling at Maura. The doctor laughs.
Frost narrows his eyes, "Okay then, sir. Why don't you explain how we found Melina's secondary facebook account?"
Korsak's look of triumph falters a little bit, "okay…well we…using some advanced techniques…and…the google…"
Frost roars with laughter, "The Google?" he cries. "THE Google. Oh lord."
Korsak looks miffed, "you could show your chief a little bit of respect."
Frost laughs again. "My apologies, your highness."
Jane rolls her eyes, "Um, gentlemen…someone said something about a secondary facebook account?"
Frost nods, point at the projector as it comes to life.
"This facebook page is for Melina Ross," Frost says, pulling up the profile of their victim. "You'll see her profile picture is a school photo, she has all her activities listed, and some of her favorite books."
"The bible?" Jane scoffs, "Really? She's sixteen."
"Exactly," Frost says, "And all the pictures are just generic, single shots. The quotes are wholesome and vague."
Maura frowns. "She can't just be a good girl?" She asks indignantly.
Frost shrugs at her, "She could be, doc, but she's not." He presses a button and a new profile pops up, and its the same girl, but she's making a face, her middle finger up at the camera. "Say hello to Melina Malice."
"That's not even clever," Jane says, grimacing at the screen. "So this is her real profile? Any sign of the boy that tore up a friendship?
Frost nods, clicking away at his laptop, "Oh yes," he says, and he pulls up the profile of a tall dark haired boy, the beginnings of stubble on his chin.
"This is Jesse McNichol. High school senior...and total pot head."
Maura looks blank. "pot head?"
"Weed," Korsak fills in.
"Weed," Maura repeats... "Marijuana?" She looks back at the screen, "Ah, yes I see. His eyes."
Jane grins, "And the blunt in the foreground." She leans forward. "Okay, so Melina gets a new boyfriend and a new attitude... that sucks but it still doesn't mean he killed her."
"Truth," Frost says, "but this might." He pulls up a new screen and the detective and doctor are looking at a chat between Amaya and Melina.
Mel: You don't know what you're talking about
Maya: You don't. You're head's so far up your ass you can't see day light
Mel: My, this isn't about Jesse. This is about you and me. You have to trust me on this.
Maya: You're full of shit.
"Pleasant," Maura says.
"That proves the girls fell out," Jane says, "It doesn't prove he killed her," Jane says reasonably.
"Rizzoli's right," Korsak says, "You need more before you go after him."
Frost nods, "how about what he has written under 'life philosophy?'"
They all look around at the screen.
All my life I want money and power
respect my mind or die from lead shower
I pray my dick get big as the eiffel tower
so can fuck the world for seventy two hours
god damn I got bitches, wifey girlfriend and mistress.
"Ugh," Frost makes a face. "A perfectly good Kendrick Lamar song...ruined."
"That's a perfectly good song? Comparing genitals to Parisian architecture?" Maura sounds scandalized.
"How about now, Korsak?" Jane asks, spinning in her seat.
Korsak nods, eyebrow raised. "See if you can catch him at his hang out," he gestures to a picture Frost has pulled up of a bunch of kids in an abandoned boat house.
Jane stands, gesturing to Frost. "Yes, sir," she says grinning. "Will you pick up Levi from practice, Maur?"
Maura stands to kiss Jane good-bye. "Be careful," she says and Jane flashes her a grin, grabbing her jacket off the back of her chair.
"I'm always careful," she calls.
Maura rolls her eyes.
...
But as it turns out, there is no sign of the boys at the boat yard, and after hanging around for a couple hours, Jane has Frost drive her home.
"Do you think I should go to the school? Ask them what's going on with Sofia and Isabelle?"
Frost sucks his teeth, "Do you think they even know?"
Jane sighs, "If one of my girls was seeing someone like Jesse McNichol, I would want the school to call me and tell me."
"That's not the school's job. Kids are gonna date. Some girls are gonna date unsavory dudes. It doesn't all end in murder."
"Sofia punched that boy for a reason."
"You think he was messing with Isabelle?"
Jane sighs again, a deep sort of sigh she remembers her mother heaving. "I don't know," she says rubbing her eyes. "We told them they couldn't have facebook accounts until high school. What if they create alter egos."
"Well Isabelle won't. You'll ask her and you'll know immediately if she's lying."
Jane grins, "true. She's worse than her mother, isn't she."
Frost nods, "And Sofia... she's a good kid Jane."
"She's been acting like me," Jane says sadly, and her partner glances at her as he pulls up in front of her house.
"Yeah," he says quietly, putting the car in park, "Like I said. She's a good kid."
And Jane looks grateful for the space of a second, before she punches the younger detective on the arm.
Jane pushes the door to the house open on a fight. She can hear Isabelle and Sofia, both yelling, and her wife's voice underneath them, calm, trying to smooth the anger.
Noah is on the stairs, listening with avid fascination, and Jane has to snap her fingers to get his attention.
"Homework," she mouths at him, and he skitters away. Jane rounds the corner into the living room, where her daughters are squaring off.
"You're being ridiculous," Isabelle says, sounding just like the doctor. "I don't understand-"
"That's just it!" Sofia screeches, "You don't understand anything! You're retarded!"
"Sofia," Jane says and the dark head whips around to take in the detective. "Watch what you say."
Sofia is half crouching half sitting on the floor, her foot in held up as she tries to work the anklet thats there off of her foot.
"Its true!" She yells, and Jane glances at Maura, who looks mildly shocked. "She might be smart, but she doesn't understand anything I say about anything." Sofia turns on her sister, "I don't want this stupid anklet on anymore. I'm not your best friend and if I could, I would take back that we were even sisters!"
Isabelle's green eyes get a little wet. She looks at the doctor.
"Sofia," Maura tries gently. "Honey, I don't see why you can't just explain what's bothering you to your-"
But Sofia gives up on the anklet jumping to her feet and pointing at Maura.
"Because she's people stupid, just like you!" Sofia cries, and Maura's eyes widen. "But I'm not her keeper like Mama is yours. I won't explain the fucking world to her…I wo-"
But Jane advances on her daughter quickly, backing her into an armchair without so much as laying a finger on her, and Maura has never seen her look so fearsome. Never. Isabelle stands frozen, shock all over her delicate features. Maura gestures at her that she should leave the room. Isabelle cannot get away fast enough.
"Apologize to your mother," Jane's voice is deadly.
Sofia looks terrified. "I'm sorry," she says immediately, her eyes still on Jane.
"Look at her," Jane orders, and Sofia shifts her eyes too look at Maura. The doctor wishes she wasn't a little teary. She wishes she could look as though the insult didn't hurt her.
"Apologize to your mother," Jane says again, each word even and furious.
"I'm sorry, mom," Sofia says, quieter this time, hinting towards tears.
"She's not going to say it's alright," Jane growls, "because it's not." And Jane would never lay one hand on her children, but at this moment Sofia looks like she would choose a beating over the deep disappointment and anger in her mother's voice. "What you said to your mother. What you implied about your sister, and your parent's relationship…" Jane looks momentarily lost for words, and Sofia's eyes widen as she realizes the deeper implications behind her outburst.
"I didn't-" she begins, but Jane puts up her hand, and Sofia might as well be mute. They stand there for a moment, Sofia trying to regulate her breathing, and Jane barely breathing at all, her anger making her still and silent, like a jungle cat. The silence stretches. Sofia fidgets. "I said I was-" she begins, but her tone is almost whining, and Jane will have none of it.
"Enough," she says, and her voice is rough and uncompromising, and Maura cannot think of a single person who would dare contradict that tone. "Are you going to tell us what is going on?" Jane asks lowly. Sofia looks at her feet. "Are you going to let us help you, or are you going to continue to suffer in silence and lash out at the people who love you?"
There is no answer, and if Sofia were looking up, she would see Jane's face crumble for a second, see the way that she looks scared and worried and close to tears, just for the space of a second.
But Sofia is looking down at her feet, and so only the doctor sees this.
Jane waits another beat, and her face hardens again. "Apologize to your mother."
If this request coming a third time confuses her, Sofia doesn't show it. She looks up at Maura. "I'm sorry, Mommy," She says quietly.
Maura nods, "I know you are."
"Give me your phone," Jane says, and the dark haired teenager obeys without question. Jane slips it into her pocket. "Go do your homework," she says, and Sofia doesn't need to be excused twice.
Jane watches her up the stairs and hears the door to the twins bedroom close before she turns to her wife.
"Maura," she says quietly, and there is an entire speech in the way Jane says her name.
"It's alright Jane," Maura says turning away. "I know she didn't mean-"
But Jane has crossed the room to hold her before she finishes her sentence, and the doctor leans into the embrace and allows herself to cry for just a moment.
"You are amazing." Whispered into her hair, and the answer to several foolish questions she'd been trying not to ask.
Maura shakes her head, "It's alright," She whispers into Jane's collarbone, "It's not…an inaccurate statement anyway, Jane. I am…inexperienced in the art of reading social situations…and even though she is much better adjusted than I was at her age," Maura pauses, thinking of her daughter, "Isabelle does seem to be a little lacking in that department…doesn't she?"
Jane shakes her head, holding Maura tighter. "She is kind and open sweet, and if she is naïve, it is in the best way possible. Alright?"
Maura wraps her arms around Jane's waist. "I'm very glad you're my keeper, if someone has to be."
She feels Jane tense and then relax, using her forehead to push and Maura's until she's looking up into gentle brown eyes.
"We keep each other," she says quietly, and it's the perfect, Jane thing to say, twisting the word to make it like family.
"She's not cruel, Jane…She didn't mean those things…she's-"
"Scared," Jane finishes. "She's really scared of something…"
"Do you think someone's going after Isabelle? Do you think that's what's happening?"
Jane shrugs, pulling away and sinking down onto the couch, "If that is what's happening, going to Isabelle won't help, because," she pauses, looking up at Maura.
"She doesn't know," Maura nods, coming to sit next to her wife. "It's quite awful, you know." she says quietly, and Jane doesn't respond, just offers an arm for Maura to fold into. "Thinking that everything is going alright and then realizing that people have been laughing at you for months," Maura shakes her head, pressing closer against the warmth of the body next to her, "In Portugal, my classmates used male pronouns to address me for almost two weeks, until the teacher asked if all American boys dressed as I did."
It is a testament to how strong their love is, that Jane does not even smile.
"I thought they were my friends," Maura says, a little thickly, because she is remembering the way that the realization had felt like free falling off of a cliff. "I was blissfully unaware for a while, though."
Jane squeezes her gently. "I love you." All she has to offer.
"And if you had been there, you would have tried to protect me," Maura says, resisting the urge to arch her back, as the detective begins to play with her hair. "Sofia loves Isabelle. She's trying to spare her."
Jane huffs irritably, "But from what, Maur?"
The doctor shakes her head, "I don't know, sweetheart. But she felt the need to punch a boy in the face."
"A threat?"
"An admirer?"
Jane looks deep in thought, and then she seems to give up. They sit for a moment in silence, and then Jane's phone buzzes. She picks it up.
"Rizzoli," she says, and Maura looks at her watch. 6:45pm. "Where?" She kisses the side of Maura's head, "I'm on my way."
She stands, "They picked up McNichol for graffiti," she says and Maura stands with her, nodding.
"will you be home for bedtime? Even Levi comes down to listen to this one." In place of singing, the children have opted to be read to, and even though they now have three high school age children, none of them miss a couple chapters before bed. "It's Watership Down," Maura says.
Jane hugs her. "I'll be home for bedtime. Tell Fiver and Hazel to wait for me."
Maura grins. "Remember what matters most, Jane Rizzoli," she says quietly as her wife descends the steps to the sidewalk.
Jane looks around at her, and her signature grin evident in the fading light and Maura doesn't need to be an expert at reading people to know what that smile means.
Best Friends Forever Pt. I