Thank you to all of you who have been waiting patiently for this update. Work has been crazy the past few weeks and I have been picking up a lot of overtime. Naturally, as a result, I have not had much time to write. But here is the next chapter. It's a bit of a cliffhanger, and I think we all know where this story is headed, so buckle up.
Also, thank you to all of you who voted for me in the Rizzles Awards. I came in as a runner-up, which is still pretty awesome. Thanks for reading, and thanks for being patient with me. You guys are the best. Seriously.
Things were quiet and the mood was tense in the Isles-Rizzoli household the next morning. Jane felt as though Maura was avoiding her, which wasn't a surprise given Maura's emotion-filled outburst last night. As Jane fumbled her way through the morning routine on very little sleep, she found herself desperately wishing that this nightmare case would be over soon. Jane kept sneaking glances at Maura as she picked at her breakfast, watching as her wife prepared Jack's lunch and packed it in his lunchbox. Jane could easily see the stress on Maura's face, even though Maura was trying to disguise it as she chatted with Jack.
Tessa banged her hands on the tray of the highchair, demanding another spoonful of rice cereal. Jane tore her gaze away from watching Maura and turned back to her grinning daughter. She quickly scooped the last spoonful of cereal into the baby's waiting mouth as her phone buzzed loudly on the table. Jane quickly scooped the remnants of the cereal off of Tessa's face with a chuckle, and checked to see who the text was from. It was from Korsak, and Jane quickly scanned the message.
Might have a lead on a suspect. Get here ASAP.
Jane sighed and put the phone back on the table. She was glad that after being stumped for so long on this case, they might finally be getting somewhere. Especially since this was now personal. Jane wiped her hands on a napkin and plucked Tessa from the highchair, heading into the kitchen to tell Maura she needed to leave. Jane attempted to wipe the remnants of breakfast of Tessa's face as the baby squirmed away from her. Tessa screeched loudly and turned her face away from Jane to avoid another swipe of the wet cloth. Jane huffed in frustration and looked up just in time to see Maura with a small grin on her face.
"What? Are you amused by this?" Jane asked. "Think you can do any better?"
Maura shook her head, but the grin stayed on her face. "She does the same thing for me."
"Well, I'm glad I'm not getting any special treatment." Jane replied dryly, finally managing to wipe Tessa's face clean, before passing the baby off to Maura. "Korsak just texted me and I need to get into work ASAP. He thinks we might have a suspect."
Maura's grin faded and she shifted Tessa so she was holding her on one hip. "Well, you should probably get going then."
"Do you want me to drop Jack off at school on my way?" Jane reached up to pull a travel mug out of the cabinet and glanced over her shoulder at Maura.
Maura shook her head. "No….I can do it. It sounds like you should get there as soon as you can."
Jane paused as she filled up her mug with coffee. She really didn't want to leave Maura and the kids at home by themselves, even if it was only for a short time. Jane knew that the officer was still on duty outside their home, but that didn't do much to ease Jane's worry about the current scenario. Jane chewed the inside of her cheek in worry as she finished filling up her mug.
"Promise me you'll be careful as you leave with the kids?" Jane asked quietly. "If anything seems strange I want you to call me or Korsak right away, okay?"
Maura nodded. "Of course." She looked up at Jane with a worried look. "You be careful too."
Jane leaned over to kiss Maura's cheek. "You know I will." Jane straightened up and grabbed her keys off the counter. "I'm going to check in with Sampson before I leave. I'll have him do a quick sweep of the property before you head out with the kids. Can't be too safe, right?"
"Mhmm." Maura murmured in agreement, her gaze not fully meeting Jane's.
"I'll see you at work." Jane gave Maura a quick peck on the lips and kissed Tessa's forehead before heading out of the kitchen. "Text me when you get there so I know you made it safely."
"I will." Maura called in reply, watching as Jane pulled on her blazer and boots before disappearing down the hallway. As she heard the faint noise of the backdoor shutting, Maura couldn't help but feel a strong sense of unease about the day ahead. Maura blew out a shaky breath and looked around to see where Jack had run off to. Pressing her lips to Tessa's forehead, she tried to steady her fluttering heartbeat. Maura took a few deep breaths and resumed the process of getting the kids ready for the day.
Jane took another sip of her cold coffee and leaned forward in her chair as Korsak pulled up the information of their potential suspect. The lab had been able to pull a partial print off the card on the flowers, which was a bit of a surprise. So far, the serial killer had been meticulous, not leaving a single trace of forensic evidence, but it seemed like he or she had finally slipped up. Something about this seemed strange to Jane, almost like it was intentional, as if the serial killer was trying to bait Jane. A face flashed onto the large screen in front of them.
"Charles Hoyt. Age fifty-two. We think this is our guy." Korsak pointed to the photo. "The partial print was a ninety-percent match. And he's got a laundry list of prior offenses, so I think we might finally be on the right track."
Jane's eyes stayed glued to the screen, taking in the picture of the man. Charles Hoyt stared straight at her, his eyes with a chilling gleam in them. On his face was a half-smile, which seemed to taunt her. Jane finally pulled her gaze away from the photo and focused on Korsak once again.
"What do we know about the guy?"
Korsak handed her a small packet of papers. "Ex-military with a dishonorable discharge, has several priors for stalking, aggravated assault on three separate women, and most recently has been a suspect in a rape trial in the western part of the state. He's a slippery son-of-a-bitch though, and he went off the grid a couple of months ago."
Jane flipped through the papers one by one, trying to glean as much information about Hoyt as she could. From what she could tell, they were dealing with a very dangerous person. Jane shuddered to think that this guy had claimed her as his next target.
"Did we find Kacey Martin yet?" Jane asked, wondering if the missing girlfriend of their latest victim had been found yet.
Korsak grimaced, and shook his head. "Nothing yet. We've got several officers combing the conservation land where the last two women were found."
Jane sighed and tossed the stack of papers onto the closest desk. "Well, let's get started and dig up more on Mr. Hoyt, shall we? Let's nail this bastard Vince."
Korsak grinned and flopped into the chair next to her. "That's the spirit Jane."
They were just getting started when Jane's phone chimed, indicating that she had a text message. She was relieved to find that Maura had made it safely to work, and that Tessa and Jack had both been dropped off without incident. Jane immediately felt more peaceful knowing that her family was safe for the time being, and placed the phone down onto her desk so that she could focus her efforts on finding Hoyt.
The day passed quickly as the homicide team started to make some headway on the case. Korsak gave up mid-afternoon and headed home, as he had been up since the early morning hours when he had been called about the partial print. Around 4pm, Jane stopped to take a break and to grab another cup of coffee. She headed down to see if Maura was available to join her for a quick break, but was disappointed to find that her wife was currently busy and unable to get away for a few minutes. Jane headed back up to the lobby and grabbed a fresh cup of coffee. As she made her way up the stairs back toward the homicide division, Jane took her time, trying to extend her break a little longer. She paused to stretch out her neck and back before pushing the door open and heading back to her desk. As Jane set the coffee down on the corner of her desk, something caught her eye. A Polaroid picture had been propped up on her keyboard. Jane frowned and reached out so she could look at it more closely.
"Who put this here?" Jane asked, to nobody in particular. "Did anyone see who put this here?"
As Jane examined the picture, she could make out what looked like their missing victim, Kacey Martin, hands and feet bound with duct tape and lying on her side in what appeared to be a basement. The young woman's face was streaked with tears, and Jane could see the extreme fear all over Kacey's face. Jane studied the picture for several seconds, and turned it over to see if there was anything on the back. Her heart jumped into overdrive when she saw the all-too familiar writing of Charles Hoyt scrawled across the back of the photo.
You'll never find her. You can't win Jane. I won't stop until you're mine.
A wave of nausea hit Jane hard, and she dropped the photo back onto her desk with shaking hands. Jane bent over and put her head in her hands, trying to even out her rapid breathing. She had broken out in a cold sweat at this point, and swallowed back the bile that was rising in her throat. Jane squeezed her eyes shut, but all she could see was Charles Hoyt leering back at her. She opened her eyes and took a few shaky breaths, glancing over at the picture once again.
Hoyt was baiting her.
Jane was able to calm down some, and willed her brain to focus on pulling as much information from the picture as possible. If this photo was taken today, it meant that there was still hope that Kacey was alive. Jane glanced around the room for a few seconds, debating whether or not it would be worthwhile to involve another detective in studying the photo. She knew that the more people that she involved, the more likely word was going to get back to Maura that she had received another threat from their serial killer. She wanted to call Korsak, but knew that he would likely be fast asleep at home at this point. Jane hesitated for a few more seconds, and then decided to bite the bullet.
"Hey Peters, can you take a look at this? I got another threat from our suspect."
Detective Peters looked up in surprise from his computer, and immediately stood and crossed the room to Jane's desk. Jane passed the photo to him and he scrutinized it, frowning as he did so.
"Man, this guy is gonna get it when we finally catch 'em." Peters growled. He studied the picture for a few more seconds. "You know, it's a little hard to make out for sure, but it looks like she might be in a basement in East Boston. My brother is a contractor out there, and I've helped him out on a bunch of projects. The style of basement definitely matches…I dunno…" Peters trailed off, passing the picture back to Jane.
"Yeah?" Jane squinted at the picture again, trying to focus on the background.
Peters nodded. "I can't say for sure, but I would start there. I can try and see if we have any hits on the BOLO that we put out this morning. I'll start in East Boston and see if we have any reports of a person matching Hoyt's description." He headed back to his desk and started typing frantically on his keyboard, searching through the database.
Jane put the picture on her desk and picked up the packet of papers on Hoyt again. She could feel like they were close to a breakthrough, and wished Korsak was here to help out. Peters was good, but Korsak was the best.
"Shit. I think I've got something." Peters called over his shoulder.
Jane stood up and headed over to his desk, peering over his shoulder at the screen.
"A patrol officer in East Boston filed a report ten minutes ago claiming that he witnessed a guy who matches Hoyt's description going into an abandoned building." Peters said excitedly. "We might have something here Rizzoli."
Jane clapped the detective on the shoulder. "Did the officer give an address for the location?"
Peters scrolled down, scanning for the information Jane requested. "Looks like 1392 Everett Street, East Boston."
"Great work Peters!" Jane clapped her co-worker on the shoulder again and grinned. "We're gonna get him, I can feel it." She headed back to her desk and grabbed her blazer and pulled her gun from the desk drawer.
"Where are you goin'?" Peters looked at her quizzically.
Jane picked up her keys and straightened up. "I'm, uh…gonna go tell Cavanaugh so we can put together an operation to bring Hoyt into custody." She secured the gun and holster on her hip before slipping on her blazer.
"Good plan." Peters grinned at her. "I'm in on the operation if you need some extra guys."
Jane returned the grin. "You betcha. I owe you big time Peters." She yanked her hair up into a ponytail as she exited the room. The grin on her face turned to a determined look as she bypassed Cavanaugh's office and headed toward the back entrance. Jane's jaw was set in resignation as she entered her unmarked cruiser and headed in the direction of East Boston. She was going to take down Hoyt, once and for all.