After double-checking that all the windows in Maura's house were locked and that the uniforms sent over weren't complete morons, Jane decided she had put off leaving Maura for long enough.
They had spent the morning enjoying a quick breakfast at Jane's before making their way back to Maura's. Jane turned out to be correct; the media frenzy had died down since yesterday. Nonetheless, Jane kept Maura close as they entered the house, shielding her from the stray reporters that had stuck around for another sound bite. In fact, she had found reasons to keep a hand or arm on Maura all morning. Whether it was giving her a small push during breakfast as Maura teased her or coming over to needlessly help her put on her zip up hoodie, she had found reasons to stay close.
Though Maura certainly hadn't seemed to mind. Jane felt her staying nearby the entire morning. Maura seemed more relaxed the closer in proximity she was to Jane. While sitting at Jane's counter having breakfast, Jane noticed Maura's knee would continue to accidentally bump into her own. She would apologize for the bump and then go on with her story, eagerly relating Jane's sleeping habits to those of a grizzly bear during hibernation. Jane smiled as she saw a flush return to Maura's cheeks while she excitedly explained the similarities. Jane had to bite her lip from spilling Maura's own take-over-the-bed sleeping habits. She happily went along with the teasing and in some places even pointed out some similarities Maura had missed.
"You forgot my insatiable love for honey."
Maura giggled at Jane's response.
"While Grizzly Bears do enjoy honey, they don't climb trees like Black Bears do. So your reasoning is a bit flawed." Another accidental knee bump. "Oops, sorry."
They finished their breakfast, and Jane stepped outside while Maura finished getting ready. Jane finally felt at ease once she had stepped out into the cool, autumn air. The slight breeze felt good against her cheeks. Jane closed her eyes, listening to the fallen leaves stir across the ground. She hadn't realized how much she missed the teasing. She missed her laugh even more.
"Oh, it's chilly!"
Maura grasped the front of hoodie she borrowed from Jane as she stepped outside, pulling it more tightly to her small frame. Jane smirked; the sweatshirt was oversized on Jane, so it practically swallowed Maura. Maura's hands were lost in a sea of fabric, the sleeves a good 6 inches too long. The bottom of the hoodie went down to her mid-thigh.
"Well you should be zipped up!" Jane beckoned her over with a nod of the head. "Come here."
Maura sheepishly stepped forward, pushing the sleeves past her elbows to make use of her hands.
"No, no" Jane said, reaching out her arms to grab the zipper. "I've got it."
Jane slowly began to zip the sweater up. There it was again. That familiar feeling of clammy hands and hot ears. Is it possible for your ears to sweat? Maura would be the only one who'd know. Jane was eternally grateful for the brisk, October weather - without it, she felt like she might pass out. She continued to zip the jacket up Maura's torso until she finally came to a stop right below her clavicle.
Realizing she had stopped for a few moments, staring at the hollow point as the base of Maura's neck, Jane quickly shot her head up to see if Maura noticed the pause. All she found was Maura looking back at her. What was Maura thinking? Jane swallowed thickly. Was that a look of... determination?
Flustered, Jane decided to break the moment. She grabbed the back of Maura's hoodie and pulled it over her head. The oversized hoodie fell past Maura's eyes.
Jane laughed. "There. Warm?"
Maura chuckled and lifted up the hoodie enough so that she could make eye contact with her.
"You know, a lot of people wouldn't put up with your abuse."
"So you tell me. But as we well know, you are not a lot of people. You're not even most people," she teased.
"Extraordinary, I believe it was?"
Another slow swallow. This was the first moment they had really brought up their conversation from last night. Jane smiled, trying to determine how to best tip-toe around the situation. She hated feeling so out of control.
"C'mon. You're going to be terribly late meeting Sergeant Korsak." Maura bumped Jane's elbow with her own, letting the moment die out.
"He texted me while you were getting ready," Jane explained, as they made their way towards the car, "Says he and Frost already have a handle on it, and that they would give me a hall pass on missing the tedious filing stuff. I owe them both a beer tonight. So I'll make sure you're settled and that the uniforms aren't entirely incompetent before I go."
Without thinking about it, Jane opened the passenger side door for Maura. Maura slid in, happy to have an excuse for Jane to stay a little while longer.
While Jane was outside talking to the uniformed cops who would be keeping watch in her absence, Maura slipped upstairs to get dressed. She carefully folded Jane's sweatshirt, mindlessly running a hand over the faded stain on the right side. She remembered that stain. It happened one of the first times Jane had invited Maura over to her apartment. Maura remembered knocking on her door, wracked with nerves. She could hear shouts and screams that she later found out was Frankie and Jane's father shouting at the TV.
Jane had opened the door, trying in a failed attempt to wipe off the salsa she had spilled moments before on her favorite sweatshirt.
"Hey Maura," she said with a grin. "Let me pre-apologize for my family."
Maura smiled back, at a loss for words. Within moments she had been given a warm hug by Jane's mother. It was astounding. A woman she had never met before suddenly showed her more warmth and affection than her own mother had ever shown. She smiled and sat silently, enjoying the general chaos that was the Rizzolis watching a Patriots game.
Maura shook herself out of the memory and turned to leave her room. She peered out the window in the hallway to see Jane finishing up with the officers outside. She suddenly felt a pang when she realized this would finally bring her and Jane's time to an end for the rest of the day.
When has she become so needy? Every moment away from Jane felt wrong. Her body seemed to seek Jane's out like a magnet. This is not who she was. She had always prided herself in being an independent woman. Though mostly due to necessity, she still was proud that she knew how to live a happy and fulfilling life without depending on anyone else. Now she felt like a mess. How many times had she broken down the last few days? How many ways did she find an excuse to have Jane nearby? Would this sense of paranoia ever step?
Maura brought a hand to her face, embarrassed by her actions. She felt like a child. How was she going to handle the rest of the day is she already felt a pull towards Jane when she was right outside?
Maura's head turned as she heard the door open.
"Hey Maura?" Jane called out, "I'm getting ready to head over to the precinct."
Maura walked down the first few steps. She wanted nothing more than to fall into Jane's arms, but she stayed at the top of the stairs.
"Bye, Jane. Thank you for securing the officers while you're out."
"Oh - uh - alright, "Jane stammered. She stood there dumbly, waiting for Maura to come down the stairs. When she realized Maura had no plans to, Jane ran her fingers through her unruly hair, and put a hand on the door knob. "See you later. Do you want me to grab you if we head to the Dirty Robber later? If you're feeling up for it?"
"That would be nice. Thank you."
Jane hesitated. She certainly had expected a bigger goodbye. Was it wrong that she so badly wanted to protect Maura that she found herself upset when Maura showed that she was strong and independent?
"You're sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Jane. I'm fine. I'll see you tonight."
And with that, Jane watched Maura turn around and head back up the stairs, leaving Jane to show herself out.
Jane drove to work on autopilot as she re-ran the morning's events in her head. What exactly had gone wrong between checking the locks and going outside? Maura's entire demeanor seem to have shifted. Had she done something wrong? Or had Maura finally put his fear behind her, and didn't need Jane to protect and console her anymore? It was such a stark contrast to breakfast.
Jane shook her head and decided to focus on the task at hand. Martinez. He was the reason for Maura's uneasiness. Stopping him would return things back to normal.
Frost and Korsak had been sifting through the background checks on each of the officers in their department, reporting that they had found no red flags so far. Jane leafed through Martinez's file. Spotless, of course. With all his years undercover, Jane expected nothing less. Rather than waste her time looking through the other officers, Jane set off to find Lieutenant Cavanaugh. He would be the only one with answers on Martinez.
As she pushed back her chair and slapped Martinez's file on the desk, Korsak stopped her.
"Jane," he warned, "You need to be careful. You know the kind of enemies you can make by accusing one of our own."
"Yeah, only if I'm wrong."
Korsak gave her a look. "Watch yourself."
Jane made eyes with Frost, who nodded in agreement with Korsak. "It's just a hunch right now, Jane. We don't have anything tying him to Doyle."
"Yet."
Jane approached Lieutenant Cavanaugh's office and rolled her shoulders. She knocked and almost immediately heard Cavanaugh beckon her in.
Jane had chosen her words with care, attempting to avoid anything that could be considered an accusation.
"So if the prison guard says that someone is in BPD working for Doyle," she continued, "I think we would want to check the drug unit first, given Doyle's influence on the drug market. It sounds like he's put someone here since he's gone into prison and can't watch over her for himself."
Cavanaugh raised his eyebrows at that last comment.
"And, sir, I certainly don't want to needlessly point fingers, but Detective Martinez joined right at the same time. And given his under cover work..."
Cavanaugh took a moment before raising his head to face Jane.
"Rizzoli. I can't have you stirring up anything, alright? You need to be discreet. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll get you the files you need on Martinez, but you'll have to give me sometime. I don't want to draw any attention to this."
"Yes, of course, sir. Thank you."
Jane exited his office and returned to Korsak and Frost with a new fervor. They spent the rest of the day reviewing documents. She still considered it pointless, but she enjoyed joking around with the guys, and it was nice to do something mindless while she waited for Cavanaugh's report.
"When did Cavanaugh say he'd get it for you, Jane?" Frost asked, typing away on his computer. It was nearly 5:00.
"I don't know. He told me not to rush him, but I figured he'd have gotten it by now. What's up with that look?"
Frost pushed his monitor towards Jane and Korsak. "Should we be worried?"
Jane saw Cavanaugh's picture staring back at her.
"What are we looking at?"
"I was sort of fooling around, trying to see if I could view a few of the higher personnel files."
"Yeah, Cavanaugh started in the drug unit, just like most of us. So what?"
"Look again."
Jane scanned the details on the computer screen. She felt her heart begin to race as she saw Doyle's name. Once. Twice. Five times.
Jane turned towards Korsak, stricken with fear.
"Is this true? Have we seen him all day? I haven't seem him since this morning!"
Korsak rubbed his forehead. "Sean did do some undercover work for a while. Yeah, I think he did blend into Doyle's crew, but so did a lot of us."
Jane barely heard him. She had given Cavanaugh everything. She told him about the dirty cop, that Maura was home with two officers, and then she had given him the entire fucking day to get out completely unnoticed.
Jane grabbed her blazer from the back of her chair and left without a word, hurriedly punching Maura's number into her phone. Please pick up, Please pick up...
By the fifth ring, Jane was in a sprint, racing towards her car. No answer.