A/N: Hey All, I promise I have not let this go to inactive just working through my normal writer's block and time blindness. I still read all of your comments and have been working on getting this story fleshed out and finished for all of us. I am glad to hear so many of you are enjoying this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Like my first work in this series I have a few more chapters left to go then I think we will wrap it up for the next one. I hope you all are doing well :) Much Love - E

Chapter 8:

"Did you hear me alright?"

Agent Hargrove's voice sounded even more dramatic on the phone than it did in person. Maura closed her eyes and felt the frustration wash over her. She pushed a hard breath out.

"Yes, Agent Hargrove, I heard you just fine. I just don't understand how the federal government managed to lose a witness to a serial murderer and how you managed to not notice the very large personal bodyguard stationed with her was missing. That didn't strike you as a little odd?"

"Dr. Isles, please calm down-"

Maura felt Jane's body press against her back as she swiftly pulled the phone out of her grip.

"Don't you dare tell her to calm down Agent." Jane responded, her voice dripping with contempt.

"Look I don't know how you all operate in New York, but out here we at least try to put in some effort when it comes to protecting people. You didn't even know she had left the apartment!"

Hargrove remained silent, his voice wavering before deciding to not speak.

Maura turned to lean against the island as Jane paced slowly in front of her, the phone held up near her mouth. Jane stopped to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"You should be thankful I am on a case right now, otherwise I would be on the next flight out. We both know the chances of Mary making it out alive twice are low. The faster you find her the better, I will check in with Frost and see if he can get anything for us."

The line crackled, "Alright Rizzoli. Look for what it's worth, she's a fighter."

"And Callaway may as well be Luis Resto with the weight she can put in her punches."

Jane pressed the end call button before he could respond. Maura took her phone back and slid it on the counter next to her open laptop. She began typing emails out to the security agency she had hired. The man hired to protect Mary had been found in the alleyway beside the lounge, other than a concussion he would be fine, but she still wanted to check on him.

By the time she finished a knock was sounding at Jane's door, her eyes drifting over to see Jane waving her off.

"It's Frost Maur I texted him before calling Agent Hardass-"

Jane opened the door to a rushing Frost, his slender frame managing to snag Jane's shoulder.

"Uh come in, I guess." She mumbled, closing the door, and sliding the lock shut.

He came to a stop next to her at the counter muttering a quick hello to her as he slid his laptop free from the black backpack he carried.

"Before you ask no, I didn't find her, but I did find this. The recognition software has been running since you gave me those files." His voice sounding more excited with every key stroke.

The small screen filled with a data sheet full of numbers and screenshots. She peeked over to Jane who was staring confusedly at the screen. Looking back, she recognized them not as just numbers, but as coordinates. The photos showing various city blocks stacked high with concrete and steel only synonymous with the New York Skyline.

"Frost are you telling me that you narrowed down a location?" Jane questioned.

He nodded in return as he continued to drill down in his files. He finally settled and pointed.

"It's not exact, and it is in testing after all so please keep that in mind. These numbers here in the first column are the coordinates, the next is the neighborhood which those belong, and the final is the percentage of accuracy."

"The agents in New York were able to trace her cell phone to a lounge in Chinatown but it was dumped alongside her bodyguard. Footage captured her being helped by someone, but the cameras don't cover the sidewalk. Bouncer reported he saw two women get into a cab around nine and FBI is looking into that."

"Do you have that trace handy?" Frost motioned to Maura and her computer.

She nodded and pulled up the email from Agent Hargrove with a single attachment. Clicking it open she paused before sliding it to him.

"Barry, if we can plug in the location of the phone will the calculations you ran automatically update?"

"They should, why?"

She opened google and pulled up the Four Seasons geolocation. "Enter that too please."

"Maur, you're a genius!"

"Yes I am. However, I don't see how that is relevant!" She partially shouted as Jane kissed her on the cheek before dashing out of the room towards the closed off bedroom.

Maura turned back to the man who raised an eyebrow at her.

"She's about to do her gumshoe thing, I think. Those coordinates should give us two good triangulation points to work with. She'll want a secluded location, something with good ventilation and cold to keep body temperature low."

"Check for non-residential buildings Frost. Specifically warehouses and lofts." Jane practically yelled from the hall.

Jane slapped a folder down between them, the pages folded back to what Maura could tell was an autopsy report.

"This is Marcus Redding, found around two months ago in New York, Trinity Park to be exact. Dr. Rodgers over at the NYC Examiner's office was willing to send us a copy of the report when I requested it. She noted that there were abrasions along his back and legs consistent with being dragged. If she is there, she is doing it alone this time or with someone who's not strong enough to lift someone. She'll need space and privacy to transport a body."

Maura felt her heart swell with pride at Jane's attention to detail, and the mention of her long-time friend. The gumshoe detective really was her perfect partner, able to see things she couldn't.

"Alright I've got it running, should have a response by morning I'll let you know the details. Do you mind if I crash here? I want to run some other items through the program, but the drive back to mine would be killer."

Jane pulled the unmarked cruiser up to the quaint Victorian that served as James and Anne's getaway. She knew that the house she had seen in the photo had been sold years ago, but their upgrade here was flushed out with large garage around back. Google and the gossip pages that followed had helped narrow down the records to this home which the Brumfield's had purchased several years ago. The home was tucked neatly into the Back Bay which thankfully didn't take long to get to in the middle of the day sat surrounded by beautiful homes and a small park which she could see kids playing at.

Korask sat shuffling through the warrant paperwork in his lap next to her. Two additional police cruisers pulled up behind her and she nodded at her him before leaving to join the group that was forming at the curb next to them. With debrief happening swiftly, she checked her gun and badge before straightening the Kevlar to sit soundly.

Strapping her vest firmly around her waist she waited for the uniformed officers to make their way to her before leading the group up the short brick pathway. The ornately carved door held a heavy bronze knocker that she let fall several times before stepping back.

The door opened swiftly. Gretchen Sanders stood in front of them, arms cocked at the hip. A loose towel hung helplessly from her vice grip.

"Detective, I heard you may or may not be stopping by. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Her voice dripped with a bite strong enough to have Frost side eye her for the lead.

"Yes, I'm sure it was a member of the chambers that tipped you off so I think you can take a solid guess at why we are here."

Jane held her hand out to motion to Korsak who handed the plain warrant copy over to her. His smile hidden barely behind his beard.

"Ms. Sanders, on behalf of the Boston Police Department and the Circuit District Court we have a warrant to search the premises of both homes listed under the ownership of Anne Brumfield and the offices of W-B Industries."

His voice carried heavily through the air as she stared him down, the vein in her forehead twitching in distain.

Wordlessly she motioned them inside and Jane felt the smile tug at her mouth. The entryway was warm and inviting but she left it aside to move through to the garage. The back door gave way to a covered patio which she could see well maintained rose bushed peaking up from the edge of the house.

The white single door garage stood off center from the house with a small pea gravel path leading towards the gate that lead to the front yard. The small door that stood toward the back of the building was cracked open and she felt excitement course through her as she eased it the rest of the way open.

The smell in the room was familiar to her, oil and gas from working on cars smelled like summers with her dad. She could see the partially open tool box left on a work bench to the left of the room and followed the trail of oil back to a sheet covered vehicle.

Slipping her gloves on she edged around the room and pulled the dust covering off the newly painted motorbike. Letting the cover drop next to her, she bent over to examine the fender, the paint shinning proudly off in the light.

"Whatcha want to bet that our Ms. Assistant isn't so innocent Rizzoli?"

Korask had followed her in but stayed rummaging through the workbench. Between his thumb and index finger he held a pair of paint stained gloves.

She smiled up at him as she swiped a finger wrapped in cloth through the paint on the fender. Glossy black gave way into smeared blue and red as she held it up for him to see.

"You know I think criminals are getting dumber and dumber every day. Back when I was a rookie, they would just dump it in the harbor like everyone else."

Korsak gave a huff in agreement as his cell phone began to sing what Jane could only imagine was a chorus of puppies barking Beethoven's Ninth.

"Korask…"

She tuned him out as she made her way to the small ladder that led up to the loft that sat above them. Climbing up she could see enough room for spare boxes and tools. Crawling on her knees she began to sort through the open boxes, finding mostly old paperwork. As she shifted through them a small twinkle of light hit the back of her hand. Looking over, she could see the outline of a small object under the window that let in a small amount of light through thick dust.

"Jane, that was Frost over at the Brumfield's apartment. Looks like Anne wasn't in but they started processing, he's got all the medication from their on its way to Susie for processing."

Jane hummed her agreement as she made her way down to him awkwardly. Landing with a soft thud as she jumped the remaining steps, she turned to face him.

"You know I think I would like to have a little chat with our window and her assistant."

The gold necklace swung easily from her hand as she tossed it to him. The small G.S. + A.B. sparkled in the light as he held it up to squint.

Maura looked up from the glass tubes that had begun to sample to see Susie pushing through the door to the lab. The testing of the medication found in Anne Brumfield's cabinet hadn't finished yet, but the women looked almost excited to see her.

"Dr. Isles, I apologize if I am interrupting, but I think you need to see this."

She pulled a thin red folder from the stack and flipped open three pages displaying fingerprint analysis.

"The outside of the bottle that the victim contained only his fingerprints and DNA, correct?"

Maura nodded and reached for the report.

"That's correct, why?"

"Well, this morning at the track I went to refill my own bottle and realized that if you are in a rush and gripping the lid just right, your hand is going to grip onto the inner ring."

The woman gave her a sly smile as she turned the page.

"Anne Brumfield's prints were on the inner edge, which would not be unusual if not for Detective Frost's interview notes."

She removed the top file which Maura knew were the homicide departments standard filing folder. Susie scanned the page in front of her and pointed to a line.

"Here" she cleared her throat before quoting.

"Ms. Sanders noted that all housework is completed by either her or the staff on duty. The day of Mr. Brumfield's murder, Ms. Sanders states that she had seen Mrs. Brumfield to her normal appointment with friends at Per Noi Trattoria for dinner. After dropping her off she remained at the apartment until notified for transport by Mrs. Brumfield."

Maura could see the timestamps that corroborated this, and the receipts from the restaurant.

"Ok, but she still could have accessed it by accident."

Susie flipped another page, "When asked where Mr. Brumfield kept his workout equipment, G.S. maintained that he kept it in the trunk of his car at all times. Mrs. Brumfield owns several of her own sets throughout the home."

"Let me call Jane-"

She heard the small beep of the Gas Chromatography machine as it finished its cycling. The report began to print to the department printer a few feet away and she moved to grab it from the tray.

"Susie, do you know what the retention time for Anne Brumfield's anxiety medication are?" She questioned as she ran through the data on the sheet.

"For those it would be somewhere around the change of 15′16′ isomer, why?"

She leaned over the table between them to hand her the report.

"I ran samples for the medicine sent over by Detective Frost, they are 21'23' isomer. Which correlates to our control group, the Flunitrazepam found in the water bottle."

They both looked over to the bright orange bottle sitting in its evidence bag. Maura turned to give her an excited high-five.

"Susie, remind me to submit you for a raise at the next departmental budget meeting."

She took the reports as Susie returned to the lab computer to finish her duties. Making her way back to her office she closed the door behind her and lowered the blinds. Making a quick call to Jane and scanning the files over to her email, she let herself meditate for a few minutes.

Head tilted back she began breathing steadily, counting from 100 back to calm her thoughts. Frost had secured a handful of leads on locations to which Jane had sent back out this morning before the coffee had even finished brewing. There was something nagging her though and she couldn't find the source.

If Callaway had wanted to go after her and Jane again why leave Boston? At almost 250 miles away, it wasn't exactly a quick trip to pop in and out of. If she chose New York because of Mary, then why drag them back into it, why not just kill her and move on. Logically she knew compulsion was a completely different level of mental instability that rarely made sense, but nonetheless here she was taunting them from states away.

Her teeth began to worry at her lip as she began to spin her ring in an attempt to regain her counting.

"You know I don't think I've ever seen you bite your lip like that."

Jane's smooth voice startled her as she looked over to see the woman standing amused in the doorway.

"Jane please, knock."

Jane raised a hand and comically laid three drawn out knocks to the doorframe. Closing the door behind her, Maura watched with an irritated glance as she aimlessly sprawled in the guest chair in front of her desk. A small smile was replaced with what she knew from the furrowed brow was worry.

"What's the matter Maur?"

Jane's voice was low and achingly sweet, her body relaxed as she braced her elbows on the desk and ran her hands through her hair.

"I don't know. I mean I know, but it doesn't make sense to me." She huffed, a strand of her honey blond hair falling back into her eyes. "I just don't understand this cat and mouse game Callaway is playing with us. You've mapped cold cases all though out the country that tie back to her, then suddenly, she pops up in New York and is targeting me and you again? Why, and why not come back to Boston if she wanted to kill us."

Jane leaned forward resting her forearms on her knees, hands clasped, the smooth white of her dress shirt pulling up slightly on her wrist.

"Well, I was thinking about that. You and I were never her original targets. I mean she's the Ripper, right? Her targets we those that match Jack the Ripper's original victims, you and I were the only ones she felt were worth of her time as opponents. Her clues and gifts were a form of toying with us, if she wanted to kill us, she would have had several chances to in the beginning."

Maura watched Jane's hands fly around as if to spin the web of her theory in the air. They dropped suddenly as Jane paused.

"Shit, Maur. I think we are looking at this wrong. The original case was her copying Jack, but she's likely killed a dozen other men and women none of which were even a blip on local PD radars."

Maura leaned back and folded her arms across the smooth silk blouse she had found in Jane's wardrobe earlier that morning.

"You think her escalation wasn't due to impulse control but on purpose? To draw us out?"

Jane nodded, "Exactly! It would explain why she targeted you again in New York and staked out long enough to snag Mary again."

A small swoosh rang through the office drawing their attention to Maura's laptop perched on it's stand to the side of her monitor. Maura flicked her gaze over to see Agent Hargrove's email pop up on the small screen. Her eyes flew over the screen as Jane waited patiently for her to finish.

"It appears Agent Hargrove was able to use Frost's coordinates to locate a garage near where the taxi driver dropped them off. They are scouring the area for security footage to see if they can figure out a make and model. "

Jane nodded and stood, tugging her shirt back into place and fixing her duty belt.

"I am going to head up and fill Frost in on that. I want to see if his program can give us something more substantial to work off."

Maura stood smoothing her black skirt before rounding the desk to pull the detective into a quick kiss. She wrapped her arms loosely around Jane's neck as she felt the soft grip of Jane's hands pull her in. The kiss was short, but the hug Jane pulled her in was even better.

She felt her body relax into the smooth motion of hands running up and down her back as she buried her face in the crook of Jane's neck.

"You promised me that you would protect me at any cost," she kept her voice as to not take away from their intimacy. "But you know I would do the same for you, my darling."

Jane smiled against her cheek and pulled away slightly to press a long kiss to her forehead.

"I have no doubts about that Maur."

Grace twirled the coffee stirrer between her fingers as she looked around the bustling diner. It was just past 10 am, but Emma's Breakfast was swarmed with tourists and families heading out to Quincy for a last minute weekend getaway. The waitress, a scrawny kid with a dirty apron, set down a stack of fluffy strawberry topped pancakes on the counter in front of her.

Tucking into the massive platter, she managed to swallow a few bites before a paper ruffled next to her. The portly man that had been sitting next to her laid down his paper and stood to move to the back of the restaurant.

Glancing down she saw the face of Jane Rizzoli starring back up at her. The words curled around her tongue as the pancakes were quickly forgotten.

Hero Cop or Coward?

Heather Green, Bostonian Times Guest Correspondent

Pancakes forgotten, she threw a twenty dollar bill on the counter and pushed pass the small group being sat behind her. The man flapped his arms slightly as she strode past him, his paper clutched tightly under her arm, but she paid him no mind. The paper was nearly two weeks old anyway, he wouldn't miss it.

The silver Camry waited for her at the end of the shaded lot, the overcast day making it even easier to slip around the back. The trunk opened to the adjacent building shielding Mary's body from view. Grace leaned in to check the small IV bag attached to the top of the inter cavity.

The little contraption hadn't been a thought until she knew what she wanted to do. The mixture of morphine and IV fluid would keep her knocked out for a few hours yet, which is more than she needed. Satisfied with the mixture and with the tightness of her bindings she threw the paper next to her and lowered the trunk.

She smirked as she pulled onto the highway. By the time the idiots with the FBI figured out the apartment she had she would be miles away and just about finished with what she came here to do.