I'm so sorry that it has been so long between updates. I started writing this a couple of months ago, and life just got in the way. Thank you for being so patient with me in this. I work a lot and finding time to write is really hard sometimes. And I would much rather put out a good chapter then rush and put out something I'm not happy with. So here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy. I'm going to put a trigger warning on this, since it's pretty dark. I've taken some liberties with the Hoyt storyline, but I think it works.
Thanks again for being patient. I promise it won't be like 2.5 months before the next update. Seriously :)
Jane pulled the unmarked cruiser over a block away from the location Peters had given her, the brakes squeaking slightly as she did so. Taking a quick look around the neighborhood, Jane cursed under her breath at the fact that it was already dark out, and put the cruiser into park. She grabbed her badge and phone off the seat beside her and pushed open the door, nimbly hopping out of the car and stretching to full height next to it. Jane shivered slightly as the chilly air and nerves hit her in full force, and she pulled her blazer more tightly around herself before reaching for the gun attached to her hip and readjusting it in the holder. With another deep breath, Jane scanned the numbers on the houses to her right, and started walking toward the house where Hoyt had supposedly been seen.
With every step Jane took towards the house numbered 1392, her heartbeat increased. Even though it was chilly outside, Jane could feel her palms becoming sweaty. She slowed to a halt two houses down, and took a moment to make sure that there wasn't anyone around. She briefly entertained the thought of calling Korsak and calling for backup, but then decided against it. She had a gut feeling that Hoyt was in that house and that Kacey Martin was still alive, and the longer Jane waited, the greater the danger was getting for everyone involved. And "everyone" now included Maura and the kids, and that was something Jane couldn't allow to go on for any longer. The images of her wife and children's faces flashed through her mind, and Jane shook her head to get them to pass. Drying her sweaty palms on the thighs of her slacks, Jane pulled her handgun from the holster and followed the sidewalk the rest of the way, pressed closely to the buildings as she went.
Jane stopped at the corner of the building numbered 1392 and looked up at the building. She didn't see any lights on inside the house. She stealthily made her way up the front steps and tried the front door, which turned out to be locked. With a quiet groan of frustration, Jane returned to the sidewalk and rounded the corner of the house into a small alleyway between the buildings. She was rewarded with a glow of light from one of the basement windows and then noticed a small stairwell that looked as though it provided access to the basement. Jane crouched down next to the window and tried to look and see if there was any movement inside. Unfortunately the window was too grimy to see anything, and Jane took a moment to decide on her next course of action.
With another couple of deep breaths to get in the right mind-frame, Jane straightened up and pulled a small flashlight from her pocket. Raising her handgun out in front, she propped the light up against the handgun so she could see where she was going in the dark stairwell, and took the first steps cautiously. She swept her hands back in forth in front of her, the beam of light illuminating the rickety stairs as she descended. As she neared the bottom of the stairs, a half-rotted door came into view. Jane could see light underneath the doorway, and she clicked off her flashlight and tucked it back into her pocket. With both hands now firmly on the grip of her handgun and her index finger against the trigger, she descended the last couple of stairs and nudged the door open with her elbow.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the sparse and dingy basement, Jane's gaze settled on a form in the far corner of the room. Jane's eyes widened when she realized it was Kacey Martin, bound and gagged, her eyes wide with fear and pleading for rescue. Jane brought her handgun up and scanned the rest of the room, then started towards the young woman. She had only taken a couple of steps when something struck the back of her head with a loud crack, and the world went black.
As she gathered up her belongings to leave after what had been a very long day, Maura pulled her phone from the pocket of her lab coat to see if Jane had responded to her text from a couple of hours ago. When Maura had learned she was going to be late in getting home, she had texted both Jane and Angela to make sure they were aware. Maura frowned when she noticed that Jane still hadn't responded, but quickly dismissed it, knowing that Jane likely had an extremely busy day as well, dealing with the Hoyt case. Maura slipped off her lab coat and draped it over the back of her desk chair. Gathering up her jacket and purse, she flipped off the lights and shut her office door. As she pressed the button for the elevator, she dialed Jane's number to see if her wife was still at work.
Maura stepped into the elevator, chewing her lip distractedly as she listened to the phone ring several times without an answer, finally going to Jane's voicemail. Maura listened to the familiar voice telling her to leave a message, and then pressed the button to end the call without leaving a message. Maura frowned again. It was very unlike Jane to not answer her phone, especially with all that was going on. Instead of getting off at the lobby, Maura continued in the elevator up to the homicide division, hoping to find her wife still working with Korsak on the case.
Maura stepped off the elevator, her heels clacking loudly on the linoleum floor in the mostly deserted hallway. She rounded the corner into the homicide division, her eyes immediately going towards Jane's desk. Her stomach dropped when she realized the desk was empty, and that Jane was nowhere in sight. And Jane's blazer was noticeably missing from the back of the chair, so that meant Jane had likely already gone home for the evening. Maura scanned the room to see if Korsak was there, but he was also nowhere to be found.
"You lookin' for your wife?"
Maura startled somewhat, and then turned to find Detective Peters, one of Jane's colleagues, grinning at her from across the room. She flushed slightly and nodded.
"I haven't heard from her in a few hours. I am leaving and I wanted to see if she had already headed home. " Maura pulled her purse higher up on her shoulder. "But I can't seem to get in touch with her."
Peters shrugged and tipped back in his chair, with a grin on his face. "She's probably with Korsak somewhere. We might have located this Hoyt guy, so I think they were going to talk to the Lieutenant and see if they could bring the asshole into custody." He tipped his chair down so all four legs were on the ground and tipped his head to the side as if in thought. "Although…that was like, four hours ago, so she might actually have headed home by now." Peters shrugged again and turned back to his computer.
"Thank you Detective Peters. You should head home too, it's getting late." Maura said with a smile.
Peters raised a hand in acknowledgement. "No problem. Have a good night Dr. Isles-Rizzoli."
"You as well." Maura called over her shoulder as she exited the homicide division and headed back to the elevator. She hoped that Jane had headed home and that all of her fears would be for nothing when she returned home and found Jane waiting for her. Maura slipped on her jacket as the elevator descended to the lobby and buttoned it as she made her way towards the front door. For some reason, she couldn't put the apprehension out of her mind, and she pulled out her phone and tried calling Jane again as she made her way to the car. Once again, the phone went to voicemail, and Maura's unease only grew as she tried two more times to reach her wife. Maura wasted no time in getting into her car, and all but sped home to see if Jane was waiting for her.
As she pulled into the driveway, Maura was somewhat relieved to see the unmarked cruiser parked across the street from the house, meaning that an officer had been watching over their house all day. But as she scanned the driveway, Maura's heart began to beat faster as she realized that Jane's car was noticeably missing. Maura tried to quell the rising nausea she felt, and frantically dialed Jane's number again as she stumbled out of the car and jogged toward the back door of the house. There was no answer. With shaking hands, Maura managed to unlock the door and stumbled through to find Angela reading on the couch.
Angela looked up from her book with a smile on her face in greeting, but the smile faded when she saw the look of sheer panic on Maura's face. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but was cut off by Maura.
"Please tell me Jane is home!" Maura threw her purse down and started down the hallway to frantically search for her wife.
Angela quickly got to her feet and followed Maura. "No honey, she hasn't been home yet. I put the kids to bed about an hour ago and have been reading ever since. Is something wrong?"
Maura raised a shaky hand and raked it through her hair. "I don't know where Jane is." Tears started to burn in her eyes and she blinked them back. "I think something is wrong."
Angela's hand went to her chest in shock, and she looked at Maura questioningly. "What do you mean…you said everything was fine when you texted me earlier, just that you would be home late!"
Maura wiped her eyes and nodded. "I know…I just…I can't get a hold of her, and I just think something might be wrong." Maura could feel herself quickly becoming more panicked by the second and decided to see if she could get a hold of Korsak. As she dialed, she tried to reassure herself that she was worrying for nothing, and that there was a logical explanation for why Jane wasn't answering her phone. Korsak picked up after a couple of rings.
"Korsak speaking."
Maura shut her eyes tightly and hoped for the best, as she tried to keep her voice even. "Detective Korsak, its Dr. Isles-Rizzoli."
"Ah, Doc, what can I do for you?" Korsak sounded suspiciously like he had just woken up.
"I'm sorry to bother you Vince, but is Jane with you by any chance?" Maura gripped her phone tightly as she waited for Korsak's response.
"Uhhh…no, why? I left work early to grab some sleep and I haven't seen her since."
Maura's heartbeat increased exponentially at Korsak's response, and she suddenly knew that something was wrong. She struggled to remain calm as a million thoughts suddenly flooded her mind, remembering the conversation they had the night before about Hoyt coming after Jane. Maura's legs felt weak and she felt Angela's arm wrap around her shoulders to support her.
"Vince…I can't get a hold of her. She's not answering her phone. Detective Peters said they had a possible location on Hoyt and that he hadn't seen her since." Maura allowed herself to be led to the couch and she sat down next to Angela. "Vince, what if she went after Hoyt on her own?" Maura's eyes were burning with tears again. "Please tell me you don't think she was stupid enough to go after him without backup, Vince…please!"
Maura was thankful for Angela's comfort as she started to sob. She could hear rustling on the other end of the line and waited for Korsak's response.
When Korsak spoke, it was quiet, but firm.
"I'm gonna find her Maura. I'm gonna hang up with you and get Cavanaugh on the line. I'll call you back as soon as I know something. I'm sending more officers to your house. Stay inside and don't panic."
The line went dead.
Maura's tears started to flow down her cheeks as she slumped back against the couch and desperately hoped that Jane was okay.
Jane's vision swam as she struggled to open her eyes. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and she immediately shut her eyes tightly as waves of nausea and pain wracked her body. The ground was cool and damp underneath her, and as she tried to move slightly, she quickly realized she was unable to. Jane cracked open one eye and waited for the dizziness to pass before glancing down and realizing she was bound. Another wave of dizziness struck with a vengeance, and Jane could feel the world going dark again. She tried to fight it, but darkness overtook her once again.
When Jane regained consciousness once again, she was unable to tell how much time had elapsed. She slowly opened her eyes in the dim light and waited for the throbbing in her head to subside a bit before turning her head slightly to the side. Her vision blurred again and she groaned and shut her eyes and waited for it to pass. Her eyes opened again several moments later and eventually focused on another form lying across the room. Jane's mind was foggy and she tried to remember how she had gotten into this situation, but all she could remember was the panicked look in the woman's eyes. The woman who was now lying across from her, bound in an identical fashion.
"H-hey." Jane rasped. "It's g-gonna be o-okay." Her body was wracked with another series of shivers, and her teeth chattered uncontrollably. "We're gonna g-get you outta h-here."
Footsteps sounded on the floor beside her and Jane turned to see where the noise was coming from. When her eyes finally focused, Jane realized she was looking at the leering face of Charles Hoyt.
The serial killer knelt down beside Jane, a smirk fixed on his face.
"Well Jane, I'm glad you could join us. We're going to have so much fun."
Hoyt ran a finger down Jane's cheekbone and she shivered under his touch. The man straightened up and turned away, walking over to a workbench several feet away. As soon as his back was turned, Jane struggled against her bonds, frantically trying to free herself.
"You know, Jane, I didn't think you were going to find me." Hoyt called over his shoulder. "But I'm glad you did."
Jane craned her neck to see what Hoyt was doing as she continued to struggle to free herself.
When Hoyt turned back to her, the dim light gleamed off the set of silver scalpels in his hands. The smirk faded from Hoyt's face and he stared at Jane intently. "I think it's time we got down to business." He looked positively menacing as he took a few steps toward Jane and knelt down beside her. The scalpels gleamed again, and Jane's stomach turned at the thought of what he might do with them.
"Get away from me you sick son-of-a-bitch." Jane growled through clenched teeth.
Jane's words caused a disturbing smile to cross Hoyt's face and he moved to roughly straddle her. Jane squirmed and writhed, but the man's weight proved too much for her. Hoyt roughly grabbed her chin and bent close to her, his sour breath ghosting across Jane's face as he breathed heavily.
"I'm glad you decided to play my little…game….Jane." Hoyt released his grip on her face and dropped the scalpels next to her head with a metallic clatter. Jane watched as he ran an index finger down the handle of one before picking it up. "How about we begin?"
Without warning, Hoyt grasped the scalpel in one hand and with a vicious downward thrust, speared it through Jane's right hand and into the floor. White- hot pain seared through Jane's body and she cried out as she struggled to remain conscious. She tried to buck Hoyt off, but any movement intensified the pain to a level Jane never knew existed. Jane groaned again and fought against the bile rising in her throat. She blinked several times as tears burned in her eyes.
Hoyt chuckled and picked up a second scalpel. "That was fun, wasn't it?" He twirled the scalpel deftly between his fingers. "How about we do it again?"
With another vicious thrust he stabbed the scalpel through Jane's left hand, again pinning it to the floor as he had with the right. Jane roared in pain before the pain became too much and the world went dark for a third time.
Jane's chest was heavy and she struggled to breathe. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself face to face with Charles Hoyt once again. Her hands were still pinned to the ground, and she was in unspeakable pain. Jane gritted her teeth against the pain and tried to fill her lungs with air. Her body shuddered uncontrollably, and after the past few years of living with a doctor, Jane knew her body was going into shock. Jane turned her head slightly and the sight of her palm, slick with crimson blood, was truly grotesque. Jane turned back to face Hoyt, who was still staring at her with an eerie smirk.
"I'm glad you're awake Jane." Hoyt said quietly. "Because we're about to get to the best part."
Hoyt twisted slightly, his knees pushing into Jane's ribs, and picked up the remaining scalpel. He bent down, and Jane could feel the cool metal against her neck. The images of his victims, with carotid arteries severed, came into Jane's mind. The idea of bleeding out in front of this sick serial killer was quickly becoming a reality for Jane, and she suddenly could sense that the end was near. Hot tears started to flow down her cheeks as she realized she would never see her wife or children again, and she choked back a sob.
"N-no…please…" Jane gasped out. "I'm….sorry…Maur…"
Hoyt pressed harder with the scalpel, and Jane could feel the tip break the delicate skin at the side of her neck. She shut her eyes tight and waited for the inevitable, when suddenly a shot rang out and the weight on her chest was lifted.
Jane opened her eyes to see Hoyt slumped over next to her, a crimson stain spreading quickly over his shirt. She craned her neck and saw Vince Korsak standing at the bottom of the stairs, with smoke rising from the barrel of his gun. Jane closed her eyes in relief and allowed herself to fall back into blessed unconsciousness.