"Dr. Isles-Rizzoli?"
Maura snapped back into reality from her distracted state to find one of the criminalists looking at her questioningly. Wondering how long Chang had been standing there, she looked up at the nervous girl and gave her a weak smile.
"I'm sorry Criminalist Chang. I'm a little distracted today."
The diminutive woman didn't return the smile, but instead held out her hand, offering a file folder to Maura. "The tox screen came back on your John Doe. Dr. Benton told me to give the results to you."
"Oh yes. Thank you Criminalist Chang."
The woman gave a brief nod in response then turned on her heel and exited the morgue. Maura watched her go, wondering if the criminalist was always so serious. Perhaps she was intimidated by Dr. Benton. That certainly would be understandable, given his curmudgeonly attitude and short temper. Maura had, on more than one occasion, seen a lab technician reduced to tears by the old man.
Shaking her head, Maura opened the file Susie had given her and skimmed over the results. Not surprisingly, there were large quantities of methamphetamines in his system. This was the third body they had found in the past few weeks that was seemingly connected to the drug bust that Jane had been a part of. From what she had told Maura, the case was only growing more complex the more they investigated, and it was beginning to take its toll on Jane and the others in the narcotics unit.
Maura returned her focus to the body on her table. She had assisted Dr. Benton with the autopsy earlier and had been left to finish closing up the y-incision, which in her distracted state, had taken way longer than it needed to. Sighing, she bent over the body and finished the neat row of sutures.
After she had finished, she straightened up, stretching her aching back for a few seconds before wheeling the body back into the cold storage room. Next, she picked up her lab coat from the back of a chair and slipped it on, heading back to her office to get started on the paperwork from the autopsy this morning. But as she sat down at her desk, her mind again drifted to Leah.
It had been next to impossible to give that little girl back. Even though they had only had her for a short period of time, Maura had gotten extremely attached to Leah, and giving her back to the social worker a couple weeks ago had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do. A lot of tears had been shed- even by usually tough Jane. Maura couldn't describe the emptiness that had enveloped her in the weeks since, despite Jane's best efforts to comfort her. In addition, it had ignited a deep need within Maura to have a child, to become a mother, something that she hadn't been able to verbalize to Jane just yet. Maura could tell that Jane was also struggling to process her emotions and hadn't wanted to broach the subject of children with her just yet, especially since she had been quite clear about her feelings a couple weeks ago. But the feelings of loss and longing had been intensifying with the passing of each day, and were beginning to affect Maura's work and daily life.
She glanced down at the stack of paper on her desk. After contemplating it for a few seconds, she began to collect it into a neat pile and tucked it into her briefcase, along with her laptop. She tidied up her desk and slipped her lab coat back off, draping it neatly on the back of her desk chair. Maura didn't bother to change out of her black scrubs, but instead gathered up her belongings and exited her office, locking the door on the way out. She walked confidently toward Dr. Benton's office and knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" He grunted. "And what do you want?"
Maura opened the door and entered his cluttered office, not surprised to see him working on the daily crossword in this morning's newspaper instead of actually doing work.
"Sorry to disturb you Dr. Benton." Maura started. "I-I'm feeling a little bit under the weather, and just wanted to let you know I will be leaving early. I have the autopsy paperwork from this morning and will be able to complete it at home…if that's alright with you." She could feel the flush creeping across her face and chest as she waited for his response, hoping he wouldn't ask too many questions about the small lie she had just told.
Dr. Benton grunted and waved a hand in her general direction, not bothering to look up as he erased an answer on the crossword. Maura didn't feel like trying to decipher his indifferent response and decided to just take it as a confirmation. She backed out of the office slowly and shut the door behind her. She stopped in the lab to let the senior criminalist know she was leaving early in case anyone needed to find her, then headed back up to the lobby and made a quick exit.
When Maura got home, she toed off her sneakers and placed her briefcase and purse on the dining room table. She had not even the slightest intention of starting the autopsy paperwork. She just wanted to be curled up in bed. Maura typed a brief message to Jane on her phone letting her know that she had left work early, and trudged up the stairs and into their bedroom. She closed the blinds and the curtains, blocking out the mid-afternoon sunshine and shimmied out of her scrub bottoms. Next, she pulled her scrub top off and slipped on one of Jane's BPD t-shirts and slid under the covers, relishing the feel of the cold silk sheets against her bare legs. Maura exhaled deeply as she settled into the bed and shut her eyes, hoping to slip into a dreamless sleep to escape from the barrage of emotions that she had been attempting to keep at bay for the past few weeks.
"Come on guys…let's go over it again. There's gotta be something we're missing." Jane said, tapping her pen on her desk in a random rhythm as she scanned the board propped up at the end of the room.
There was a collective groan from the other guys as they had already been at this for several hours and had yet to make a breakthrough.
The case involving the drug bust at the meth lab where they had found the body a few weeks ago had spiraled out of control. Jane's unit had quickly been drawn into a complex case, which now also included two other homicide victims. It seemed like the more they investigated, the more confusing and elaborate the case became. They had stumbled into a large methamphetamine distribution ring as a result of the drug bust at the smaller meth lab, and had been trying to get more information about the leaders of the ring to no avail.
Jane closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Where the hell is Martinez? -she wondered-He should be here helping us figure this out. Jane opened her bleary eyes and tried to focus them on the board once again, but her phone vibrated and she yanked it off her belt to see who wanted a piece of her. Taking a quick glance, she saw it was a text from Maura and opened it.
Jane- I wasn't feeling well so I went home early. I will see you when you get home. –M
Jane's brow crinkled as she frowned at Maura's text. Maura hadn't mentioned anything to her about feeling sick this morning. As Jane replaced her phone in the holster on her belt, she couldn't help but wonder if Maura had left early because she was still having trouble coming to grips with giving up Leah. Jane had struggled too after Leah left, but instead of wallowing in it like Maura, she had thrown herself into her work to try and forget about that beautiful little baby that could have been theirs.
"Hey Rizzoli!" Jane's head whipped up at the sound of Martinez's voice. He was standing in the doorway to the hall, with a look on his face that Jane couldn't quite read. "Lieutenant wants to see you." His eyes dropped to the floor, almost like he didn't want to meet her gaze.
Oh shit-she thought-Being called into the lieutenant's office pretty much means you're fucked. "Uh, yeah. Sure." Jane stood and ran a hand through her curls, hoping she looked presentable. As she headed toward Martinez, she tucked her shirt into her pants. Martinez ushered her down the hallway before knocking gently on Lieutenant Cavanaugh's door, receiving a muffled "Come in" in response.
They entered Cavanaugh's office and he gestured for them to sit down. Jane could feel the nerves fluttering in her stomach and would have preferred to stand, but sank down into one of the chairs by Cavanaugh's desk, glancing sideways to see Martinez sitting stiffly beside her with arms crossed defensively.
Cavanaugh cleared his throat and jumped right in. "So Rizzoli…Martinez says you have been working hard on this Southie meth lab case."
Jane nodded. "Yes sir. We've been working on it for three weeks now. As you probably know, the Homicide division has been working closely with us as well, trying to figure out the connections between the bodies and our drug ring." She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
Cavanaugh stood from his position behind the desk and placed his hands on the desk. "Look Rizzoli…I'll level with you. Martinez has kept me in the loop on this one, and you and I both know this case has stalled."
Jane opened her mouth to respond but then thought better of it.
"Which is why Martinez has suggested we send someone undercover." Cavanaugh continued. "We need to get someone in on the inside and figure out just how big this ring of thugs is."
Out of the corner of her eye Jane could see Martinez shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Cavanaugh straightened up and walked around to the front of the desk, leaning back on it and looking Jane right in the eye.
"We're sending you in undercover Rizzoli. Martinez has arranged the whole thing and will give you the details, but I wanted you to hear it from me. This assignment will be considered deeply undercover, and will be extremely dangerous. You'll need to stay alert out there Rizzoli."
Jane's heart started to thunder in her chest as Cavanaugh spoke. She and Martinez had tossed the idea of an undercover operation around a few days ago, but had agreed to table the idea for now, until they had come up with some more solid leads. Or so she thought, anyway. This was happening too fast, and she apparently had no control over the situation. She swallowed thickly and looked up at Cavanaugh.
"When will the assignment start?" She asked, trying to remain calm in front of Lieutenant Cavanaugh.
"We are hoping as soon as possible, but it will take another day or so to get everything set up." He replied. "Look, I have a meeting with the governor in fifteen minutes so I need to go." He pulled his suit jacket off a coat rack and pulled it on before holding open the door. "Martinez will brief you Rizzoli. Do good work out there okay? Stay safe." He gave her a reassuring pat on the back as she exited the office.
Still in a state of disbelief, Jane followed Martinez down the hall into his office. As soon as the door clicked shut, something snapped in Jane and she let loose.
"What the hell was that Rafael?" She growled. "How the hell did our little chat the other day about maybe putting together an undercover op turn into sending your most junior officer deep undercover?" She crossed her arms and waited for a response.
"Come on Jane…it wasn't like that." Martinez responded. "This is all happening because of pressure from Cavanaugh and the brass to get this case taken care of."
Jane groaned in frustration. "So you just happened to throw my name out there as the best person for this assignment? Without even talking to me first?"
Martinez rubbed his eyes tiredly before finally looking her square in the eyes. "Look Jane…I recommended you because I think you will be the best." He held up a hand as Jane rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. I think the fact that you are relatively new to our department will be beneficial, since you haven't come into contact with a lot of the dealers out there yet. And to be honest, the fact that you're a woman won't hurt either. People are more likely to trust a woman."
Jane still couldn't believe this was happening. Every cop wants to go on a big undercover assignment in their career, but now that it was finally happening to her, she wanted nothing to do with it. It seemed like pretty bad timing, especially with everything that had happened with Leah.
Jane exhaled in defeat. "So tell me what this all means Rafael. Do I even have a choice?"
Martinez regarded the woman before him, looking up at him with her jaw muscles clenched. He took a deep breath and launched into the details. "You are under direct orders from Cavanaugh, so no, you don't have a choice." Jane's eyes widened and she leaned back in her chair.
"Like Lieu said, this is going to be a deep undercover operation, which means limited contact with the outside." He cleared his throat nervously before continuing. "And with your wife." Jane's eyes flashed in anger as realization set in. "I'm sorry Jane, but since she is involved in the homicide investigation she could compromise your cover if you are seen with her."
Jane leaned forward with her head in her hands. She tried to take a few deep breaths and calm down, as this was quickly spiraling out of control. "So you're basically forcing me to go undercover, but I also can't have contact with my wife while I'm undercover? Goddammit Rafael!"
Martinez moved cautiously towards Jane and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We are working on securing an apartment for you that you will stay in during the assignment. We are going to give you a prepaid phone to use in your dealings with those you come into contact with." He paused and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. "And Jane?" She looked up at him and he could see the anger still present in her eyes. "Cavanaugh ordered me to tell you that under no circumstances should you have your personal cell phone with you during this assignment, but if you happen to have it on you and want to talk to your wife in the privacy of your own apartment, I certainly won't hold it against you." He raised an eyebrow and watched as some of Jane's anger dissipated.
Jane's brain was working in overdrive as her thoughts swirled and she struggled to figure out how she was going to tell Maura about this.
"Why don't you head home and think it over Jane. We can do our official brief tomorrow." He smiled tentatively at the tense brunette hunched over in the chair. "And I figure, you probably want to spent as much time with Maura as you can…right?"
Jane nodded slowly and got to her feet.
"Jane…I know this is a lot to process. It's your first big undercover, and I know it's all coming as a shock to you. Just know that I think you are gonna do just fine." He placed his hand on her shoulder again.
Jane took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She opened the door and walked numbly to her desk. She collected her things in silence and headed home to break the news to her wife.