Set post 7x13 Ocean Frank.
Jane is in DC and receives an urgent call from Maura in Boston, before all hell breaks loose.
This story Rizzles, just not romantic Rizzles (yet, key operating word being yet). It is all about helping friends in need – so just a different type of Rizzles for now.
ALERT: if you have not watched the show yet, there might be spoilers – I use references to things that happened across all seasons.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.
Text in italics are part of flashbacks in this story.
I am not a native English speaker, and I don't have a beta. So all mistakes are 100% mine.
Enough of disclaimers and warnings – read at your own risk. Reviews are always welcome.
Chapter 1
"Go away." Jane mumbled to whoever was heavily knocking on her door.
She barely recognized her voice. It sounded raspier than ever.
Maybe because of all the crying she had been doing in the past three weeks.
Maybe because she had not used her voice to talk to anyone in the past three weeks.
Maybe because she had been completely drunk in the past three weeks.
Or maybe it was a combination of the three things.
The heavy knocking continued.
Jane felt the pounding as if someone was kicking inside her head.
But she didn't bother to respond.
It didn't matter.
Nothing else mattered.
Maura was dead.
Someone had killed Maura.
(Flashback to three weeks before)
Jane's phone had buzzed on that Friday morning in the middle of a class. It was in silent mode, and she just caught a glimpse of the screen lighting up with Maura's picture, and then going off a few seconds later.
It was Maura.
Jane thought odd Maura would call instead of text during a workday, knowing Jane would be teaching classes, so she made a mental note to call Maura in the few minutes between classes as soon as this one was over.
It was less than a quarter of an hour later when the last cadet was walking out of the class, and Jane already had the phone on her ear.
"Hey, Maura, sorry, I was in the middle of a class. Whassup?"
Maura's answer was a sob.
Jane sat heavily on the chair by the instructor's desk and podium.
"Maura? What is it, honey?"
"Jane…"
"I am here… talk to me… What happened?"
"It is Hope… She has been murdered." Another sob.
For Maura not to call it a suspicious death, there must be evidence. Hope. Murdered.
"When?"
"Sometime last night." Another sob. "We were called in." Another sob. "But in identifying the victim, I had to excuse myself."
"I am so sorry, Maura, I really am... I am on my way, okay? Where are you?"
"Home." Another sob.
Jane had opened her computer and was scanning her screen for flights. She booked the first one she could find that would take her to Boston the earliest.
"I will land at 2.10PM and will go straight to your home, unless you tell me otherwise."
Jane continued typing. She put an emergency time-off request, sent a note to her supervisor, and cancelled the rest of the classes for the day.
"Maura?" Jane checked, unsure if she had been listening.
"I am here…" Maura's voice sounded small and strangled.
Jane was already jogging out of the building towards her car. She had an overnight bag on her car trunk – old habits die hard – so she could go straight to the airport.
"Have you already talked to Caillin?"
Another sob.
"Yes… She already knows. She was doing a semester in London. She is flying back to Boston tonight."
"I am really sorry, Maura." Jane placed the phone on the dashboard of the car, so she could speak hands-free while she drove.
"Maura?"
This one-sided conversation was killing Jane.
Another sob in response. Jane wanted to be there to pick up the pieces of Maura's heart, that Jane knew were spread all over the place.
"Have you notified MEND?"
"Yes. I called the clinic in Boston where I volunteer. They… They said they would notify the other clinics…"
"Who is working the case?"
"Frankie."
Jane breathed in relieve. She would call her brother immediately after hanging up with Maura. And she knew Frankie would handle this with the urgency it required.
"Who is the ME?"
'Please don't let it be Pike.' Jane prayed.
"Kent."
Jane breathed, relieved, again. Kent was competent. And he would know how to handle Maura.
"I will be there soon, okay? I am on my way to the airport."
Jane could hear the sniffing on the other side.
"Thank you, Jane…"
"Maura… Have you called my Ma?"
"Frankie called her, she was working at the Dirty Robber, but she is coming home to stay with me..."
"Good, that is good… I don't want you to be alone until I arrive there, okay? Maura… When did you last volunteer at MEND?"
"Two nights ago."
"Was Hope there?"
"She was leaving when I arrived. We talked briefly before she went home, and I started my volunteer shift." Maura sobbed.
"Did you notice anything different? Was she nervous?"
"No, Jane, everything appeared normal. Frankie asked me that as well."
Of course Frankie did. It was his investigation.
"We will find out what happened, Maura, and we will get justice for her."
Another sob. "No justice will bring her back, Jane." Maura sobbed harder.
"I know, sweetheart. I know… I am so sorry, so really really sorry… I am parking at the airport and the connection will be cut because I am going inside the parking garage building. I land in Boston at 2.10PM, Maura. Hang in there. I will be there soon. I love you."
"I love you too, Jane… I will be there to pick you up at the airport. 2.10." Maura said, before disconnecting.
Jane left the car, picked the parking ticket and her overnight bag, and jogged to the gate, phone again on her ear already calling Frankie.
"Jane! Thank God you called. Maura said she preferred to call you. Did she?"
"Yes, I just hang up the phone with her. But she is too shocked to tell me much... Can you please fill me in?"
"We were called for a suspicious homicide this morning, female in her late 50s early 60s. Maura arrived a few moments before I did. I arrived to witness Maura standing back in horror and running to the nearest bush to be sick. I ran to Maura first, concerned, since I never saw Maura reacting that way in any crime scene before, and that was when she told me it was Hope. I helped Maura up, and we immediately called in for Kent, since she needed to excuse herself from the case. I then approached the scene."
"Maura didn't even mention it was a suspicious death, Frankie. She told me it was murder."
"It is murder, Jane. Hope was shot in the back of her head, execution style. She was a few feet from her car."
Jane felt the rise of bile on the back of her throat. Maura having to see that was fucked up.
"Any suspects?"
"Nothing yet, Jane. Are you coming? Maura needs you. I called Ma to be with her until you arrive, but you know how to handle her better. She is devastated..."
"I am actually hanging up because I need to go through security, Frankie, I am at the airport. I will land at 2.10PM in Boston, and Maura told me she will pick me up there."
"And that will not be soon enough… Safe travels, Jane, I will see you here later then."
The flight thankfully had no delays, and Jane was counting the seconds to arrive. She knew Maura needed her now more than ever before. Jane stepped out of the plane, and got out of the arrivals area as soon as she could. She scanned the crowd and couldn't see Maura. She dialed Maura's number, but it rang, rang, and she got no response. She called again. Nothing. She had a bad feeling about this that began to creep up through her spine.
Jane's phone then rang, it was Frankie, and she stopped by one of the airport columns to talk to him.
"Jane? Did you just land?"
"Yes, I am leaving the airport. Catching a cab. Maura said she would pick me up, but she is not here and she not answering her phone."
"Jane… Wait at the airport, please..."
Jane knew something was wrong from the dejected and desperate tone of Frankie's voice.
"Frankie? What happened?"
"It is Maura, Jane." And her brother sobbed on the phone. Jane felt her knees grow weak, and she slid against the column, sitting on the floor. "They killed her too."