Chapter 10

Jane yawned.

Frankie had sent her a picture of Dr. Harris, along with information on his vehicle. She and Boris tailed him from the prison that day to his home, where it sat all night, unmoving. Although Boris slept for a few hours, Jane's eyes never left the house as the duo sat in her parked car nearly a block away. If this guy had anything to do with Maura's disappearance she was determined to find out about it.

With one eye open and one eye closed, Boris said, "I'm awake now. Why don't you get some sleep?"

"I'm fine," she told him as she watched him stretch and wake up. "Besides, it'll be dawn soon. He'll have to move. He'll either go to work or perhaps lead us to Maura, if she's not in that house right now."

Boris watched her for a moment. "This has to be extremely difficult on you," he noted. "It's one thing when you're in danger but it's another when it's someone you love and who loves you too."

Jane turned to him. "Been there yourself?"

"Yes," he replied. "It's one of the reasons I do what I do. I don't want anyone else to suffer the loss that I've had. So I do everything in my power to stop it. Like I said, I haven't lost one yet. And I'm not about to start now."

"I have to say, I find that oddly reassuring." Jane grinned.

Boris returned the gesture, but his smile slipped and he pointed out the windshield.

"He's on the move," he told her.

They both slid down as the car back out and then began to head towards them. Once the headlights had passed, they both sat up and watched him turn the corner. Only then did Jane start the car and put it into motion.

She followed a safe distance behind with the pair of them sitting in silence. Although they traveled for miles undetected, Jane was somewhat disappointed when he pulled directly into the prison.

"Well," Boris said, speaking first. "He's not home. What do you say we take a look around?"

"I need a warrant," Jane told him. "The downside is if I do that it'll arouse suspicion, especially if she's not there - that would put her in jeopardy."

"Yeah, you need a warrant..." Boris gave her a cat that ate the canary grin and then said, "But I don't."

"I can't ask you to do that," Jane told him.

"You're not asking. And I'm not working for you or the department. I was hired by Dr. Maura Isles. Let's just say I'm going to find her and demand payment for my services. All signs point that she's in that house."

"You could blow this entire investigation," Jane warned him.

"Not if I'm quiet," he countered. Jane still looked unconvinced. "I promise. Not a single thing will be out of place in that house. He won't even know I was in there."

"Boris…" Jane began frustration.

"Look, you said it yourself. We need to see if she's in that house somewhere. If you get a warrant he'll get wise that we're were on to him. Besides, you need to get back to work to see if they've learned anything new."

"Maybe I am sleepy - you're making sense."

"Call in a fresh unit to monitor his activities," Boris instructed. "Then drop me off back at the bar so I can get my car. If you learn anything, text me. I'll meet you at the headquarters later or I'll return with her. And before you start to argue, just say the word 'agreed'."

Jane sighed, "agreed." She then added, "only because I want her back. If this was a standard case-."

"There's nothing standard about this for you," he said cutting her off. "I get that. Now make the call for backup."

"God, you're such pushy man," Jane grumbled.

"That I am," he said proudly with a growing smile.

About an hour later, Jane was walking into the bullpen headquarters where she found the team looking a little angst.

"Nothing on Harris yet I assume?" she asked.

"He looks like a stellar guy at this point," Frankie mentioned. "I started thinking that maybe this is just all in my head - the dream, his name, sleep deprivation. You name it."

"No," Jane told him. "I think you're onto something, Frankie. I do."

"I do too because there's more," Vince told her. "We got another clue today." He motioned to Nina.

Nina pointed to the television screen as she spoke, "This time no candy bar. It's a Babe Ruth baseball card with 1:17-18 written on the front of it. The handwriting is confirmed as being the penmanship of Doctor..."

"Joseph Harris?" Jane asked.

"Maura Isles. There's also DNA on the card that matches hers on file. It's almost as if she spit on the card since it appears to be saliva, but that's not the important thing."

"There's more?" Jane asked.

"There's something else on the back corner that was written in tiny print."

"What?" Jane asked.

"It's hard to make out but it looks like...d-r-period-j-period-harris."

"Somehow she put his name on the card too," Jane said with a sense of pride.

"How did she get away with that?" Vince wondered asked.

Jane smiled. "Maura Isles is a genius."

They all grinned for a moment and then Jane asked. "Now the bad news...What does Ruth 1:17-18 say?"

Nina looked reluctant and Vince told her, "Go on."

"Let me preface this by saying, please don't wig out, okay?" Nina took a deep breath and continued. "Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and do so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her."

Vince cleared his throat. "Any idea what it means?"

"Yeah," Jane said, "two things. It means he knows that I'll go wherever Maura is – even the prospect of death won't keep me away. Plus, he really wants Maura and I together at the same place; at the same time... because he'd going to 'bury' us..."

"Jane," Frankie spoke up. "That could be just what he's counting on."

"Then we'll have to make sure we don't give it to him," she replied calmly.