I own nothing Rizzoli and Isles

LET SLEEPING BLOOD LIE

Chapter 4 - The drop

Jane was going to make the drop. No-one wanted her to do it including her, but they had to reduce the risks of discovery in case one of the teenagers happened to be there for some reason. There was the very real and very scary possibility the real 'transporter' could have arrived at the house for the package and they had already have been made, that the 'boss' had already set them up to be captured or ... worse.

The drug unit was aware of all possibilities but it didn't reduce the risks any.

And being Jane she accepted the task as long as no-one told her Mother about it.

She had the package and the address with instructions.

"42.339134, -71.067876
Take the bus to stop 21158. Walk Plympton Street 115meters. Enter left between no.32 and 34. Red dumpster on the left in Alley behind building. Leave between 34 and 36. Walk to the end of road. Left on Albany to bus stop."

Maura is going to be on hand in case she is needed. Cavanagh didn't really have a choice about that detail, unless he wan't to explain to the mayor why a new medical examiner would be needed at BPD. Maura had a way about her, she got what she wanted.

The plan was to drop off the cash and pickup the drugs package in the dumpster as per the instructions, the Drug squad would attempt to follow the cash when it is picked up back to what they hoped would be a solid lead.

It was eerily detailed. And she had one shot at this.

The drop location is between buildings off of a one way street that Jane walks up, so it is likely if the person is in a vehicle they will travel the opposite way that Jane walks. The person picking up the cash could be on scooter or foot. There are several potential routes within the first block alone, meaning they can't plan ahead. They have to be mobile and fast. And they have no idea how long between the drop and the pickup.

The teams had snipers on the rooftops, and cars in the parking complex opposite the alleys. Undercover agents wandering the street and the adjacent street in case the exit was through the buildings back entrances on the North side. The only place they couldn't get too without raising a lot of suspicion was the alley itself.

Jane was extensively briefed the drive to South End, Maura was traveling with them to drop Jane off, she held Jane's hand trying to be as reassuring as possible. She would meet Jane back at the safe-house all going well. Jane had her mic on and earpiece in. Maura was saying something but all she could hear was Martinez screaming instructions to everyone.

She had just asked Maura what she said when they arrived at the bus stop. It was 2:35pm and Martinez was ordering her to get out, the bus was barreling down the road towards them.

It was both the shortest and the longest bus ride in her life. She was alone in an instant as she stepped onto the bus, away from the eyes of her friends, alone with her thoughts, her hands perspiring, her face stanch eyes fixed on the stop only 200 meters away, making the 200 meter bus trip also the shortest.
She gets off at the next stop, behind her the bus driver frowning at her confused.

She heads down Plymton Street, she is already hot in the extra layers of Kevlar vest. Its 2:52pm when she reaches the location and she waits till 2:55pm to enter the off street area.

She rounds the corner into the alley checking behind her, spots the red dumpster and heads towards it eagerly, this cannot be over fast enough.

She is already grabbing the package out of the bag as she heads towards it, she looks up too late, there's a hooded man with his hands in his pockets in the alley, it almost looks like he was waiting for her, his head is down but despite the shadow on his face she can still see the whites of his eyes disappear as he looks at her, she isn't late she know's this. Suddenly he is on her pushing her backwards into the wall, hard, and grabs the package of money but she clutches it tightly while trying to get her balance. He raises his arm over his shoulder in a fist and in slow motion the fist moves towards her face, she dodges it and he smacks the wall, instantly crying out in pain at the broken knuckles.

"Jane what's going on?" She hears Martinez in her ear. He heard the commotion and the yelling. She grabs his collars pulling him towards her as her kneecap flies upwards connecting with the very sensitive parts between the mans legs.

"I'm fine" she tells Marteniz before he sends in the troops and blows the drop. "I'm fine" she says again to herself.

She feels a searing pain in her side just above her hip and looks down. He was so fast with the switchblade that she barely recovered in time to fight him off again, this time it's her elbow to the side of his face. He stumbles backwards, glaring at her, trying to decide what his odd's would be in a third round.

He starts hobbling away from her deciding the odds maybe not in his favour and she gratefully bends forward supporting her arms on her knees trying to catch her breath.

"There's...a..." she tries to speak coherently "...guy...on..his..way out..."

Breathe Jane breathe

"He hasn't got...the package...It's not him..."

"Are you ok, Jane?" Martinez asks again his concern coming across the radiowaves.

"Yeah...yeah...He...attacked me...I'm ok though."

"What was he doing in there with you?"

"Don't know..." Jane leans against the wall using her other arm to touch her side where he cut her. She hisses at the pain.
Martinez doesn't hear her as he is barking orders for the assailant to be detained the moment he is out of the hot zone.

Jane stumbles towards the dumpster, one hand on her hip the other the package. She struggles to get the top open and has to stand on an upturned bucket to get her torso over the side where she could see a shiny parcel. She drops the cash and grabs the drugs and heads South-east on Plymton Street, careful to walk as normal as possible so no one knows she's hurt.
Her part is done. Now it's the waiting game and then the hunt will be on. She sits on the bus kicking herself, that was embarrassing, really embarrassing, she was sure the cut wasn't that bad but damn she should it coming. She gets off the bus at the next stop and climbs into her waiting car, and drives the short drive to the safe-house.

As it turned out the guy in the alley wasn't involved in the deal. He was someone that lived nearby and had noticed the constant consistent activities and figured there must be something of value in the packages coming and going.

It was obvious at that point that these drug deals were not being done by very smart people. Same drop locations, same times of day, same days of the week...it wasn't a well oiled well thought out operation. But at least they hadn't been made. It wasn't great news for the drug unit who was hoping to catch a ring near the top of the food chain, but who knew where this might lead.

The runner entered the alley 15 minute after Jane left. They seemingly just appeared, possibly from a back door and entered the one way street heading north-west towards Harrison ave.

They followed the fit young male runner, he was pretty sly and had backtracked twice to try to loose any tails...but he wasn't sly enough. Two teams followed him as he arrived at a storage warehouse six blocks away. Several moments later he exited out the other side without the bag and wearing a different outfit.
They kept a tail on him. And a few blocks away he stopped by the coffee lounge for a coffee.

The warehouse was now standing between them and the drug trafficking outfit they assumed was inside. And hopefully one step closer to solving this homicide.

The warehouse itself had no markings, no indications of any type of what went on inside. They had already researched the location and found the owner of the lot was a very rich man, or at least he appeared to be, although suspiciously he only seems to have history dating back 5 years. And the tenants were varied with mostly fake names and addresses.
A name to pin it on was unlikely.

Stupid stupid stupid

She doused the cut in alcohol from the first aid kit the moment she got back inside her room, hissing as it stung. She wrapped it well to stop the bleeding and cleaned up the blood and put on some fresh clothes, Lay down on her cot to rest. It hadn't looked bad, it had stopped bleeding anyway. It was just a little itchy and tender. She tried to sleep for awhile.

The cocaine was at the lab being compared to what was in Hamish's system and the Drug Team was working on raiding the warehouse. She had nothing to do for the next few hours anyway.

Maura came in a bit later that evening and lay down gently beside Jane.

She noticed Jane flinch as she touched her side.

"Are you ok?"

Jane wrapped an arm around Maura "I'm great", she smiled, "I'm so glad that is over and hopefully I don't have to do anything else like that."

Maura smiled liking the idea of Jane not being in danger "I hope so too." A soft crease crosses Maura's face, "You smell like alcohol, Jane."

Jane laughs.

Maura turns to Jane and leans in very close to her, studying her friend, her eyes, her pupils, her breathing. The tension builds between them as they stare at each other silently.

Finally Jane pulls back, confused. For a moment she thought Maura might have been going to kiss her and somehow she wasn't appalled at the idea, but she hadn't.

Instead Maura whispered, "I was so worried about you today, I'm glad you were ok. I can't wait for this to be over so I can stop worrying about everyones safety." Her lips curl up in a soft smile enjoying the moment that is so safe.

Jane resolves not to add to Maura's worry by giving her a reason and instead rubs Maura's arm, "You don't have to worry about me Maur'." Smiling softly at her friend she envelopes her in a hug ignoring the pain in her side. They lay there enjoying the quiet and the peace between them, the tension missing. Eventually they both fell asleep

...to be continued...
thanks for the reviews :)
yes my punctuation was a bit slack last chapter, sorry, I think i've fixed it . I will try to check them better before posting in future - it's hard cause I get super excited to put the next one up