After Maggie had reported to Katherine and Elizabeth, the redhead had decided to turn her back on work for the day and seriously ask herself whether it had really been the right thing for herself and also for the rest of the team to continue to be a part of the investigative team during the case, or whether it would not have been the better decision to pull out of the ongoing investigation entirely at the latest after it had been established that the killer was preying on pregnant women.

Now, however, the realization was too late, and she had signed out of the office for the rest of the day and had gone to sit in her car to deal with Nikki and Ashlyn.

The two girls had been more than surprised that the ME had come through the front door of the house so early that the redhead had worried that Nikki or Ashlyn, or even both of them together, had gotten into something neither she nor Elizabeth could fit in time-wise. But the girls convinced her that Nikki and Ashlyn really wanted to play some Playstation before surprising their two mothers with a decent dinner, even if neither of them knew when or even if Maggie and Elizabeth would be home.

Maggie couldn't help but grin broadly and decided it was finally time to get involved in a typical family activity.

And so the three of them stood together in the kitchen, talking about this and that, and Ashlyn couldn't stress enough that she couldn't wait to stop being the family's baby. However, Ashlyn's hopes were abruptly nipped in the bud by Maggie and Nikki's reassurance to the girl that the new addition to the family didn't mean that Elizabeth's inordinate post-birth attention would be on the baby but rather focused even more on Ashlyn and Nikki to ensure that neither girl would go astray simply because there was another child in the house.

"Oh, nonsense," Ashlyn had laughed and rolled her eyes.

Nikki had furrowed her eyebrows in Elizabeth's style and lifted her shoulders with the corners of her mouth down.

Maggie had concentrated on chopping vegetables, only grinning.

Ashlyn had abandoned her anticipated task and sat on one of the chairs at the kitchen island.

"How was yours, Maggie," Ashlyn asked suddenly and without warning.

Maggie paused in her cutting and looked at the girl with a furrowed brow. "As you know, up until your mom and I got together, I've been childless, Ash."

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and looked at her with lowered brows. "I mean, you do have a little brother. Have your mom and dad focused even more on you to ensure you set a good example for Adam?"

"Ash," Nikki hissed suddenly.

"It's okay," Maggie replied gently, looking just as gently at the teenager. Then she put the knife aside and took a deep breath. "As you know, Adam and I didn't grow up in a sheltered family like Kate and your mom, or like you and Nikki."

"Right," Ashlyn said, making a face. "You've more or less been Adam's mom."

"Yeah," Maggie agreed, drawing her eyebrows together for a split second.

"The cooler version of a mom, though," Ashlyn said with a wide grin.

"I'm not so sure about that," the redhead replied.

"Yes, you are," Nikki said with an approving and convinced nod.

"You're just saying that because I let you guys get away with a little more than your Ma does," Maggie laughed suddenly, and the dark memory of her childhood when her parents were much more interested in themselves than in their two children, was pushed to the back of her mind again.

"No," Nikki replied, pausing for a moment. "Ma is cool, but you're a little cooler."

Maggie grinned broadly and licked her lips. "Well then. Thanks."

The casual atmosphere was abruptly interrupted by the ringing of Maggie's cell phone. She glanced at the display. She recognized the number. It was dispatch.

Nikki slumped her shoulders. "Work!"

Maggie bit her lower lip and rolled her eyes before accepting the call. "Ross."

"Good evening, Dr. Ross. Harper here. There's a Natalie on the line. She's anxious to speak with you."

Maggie's eyebrows drew together, and she looked at the two girls in turn. "Absolutely me?"

"Actually, Detective Rizzoli, but she's unavailable. She says it's about Christi"

An uneasy feeling spread through the pit of her stomach. "What about Detective Simms or Dr. Isles?"

"No word."

"What about the chief?"

"The chief is in an emergency meeting with the mayor and equally unavailable."

Natalie, Maggie thought. She knew from Elizabeth that Viola had recommended her because she knew Jacqueline and Christi a little better.

Elizabeth had given Natalie her business card and the BPD extension and asked her to call immediately if she thought of anything else.

Ashlyn stood up wide-eyed and walked around the kitchen island, automatically clutching Nikki's as if seeking support, just in case. "Ma?"

Maggie pressed her lips together and shook her head, closing her eyes for a second to convey that it wasn't the encouraging call from a hospital telling you to go to the hospital immediately because your loved one had been life-threateningly injured during a investigation.

Maggie took a deep breath. "Put her through."

There was a crackle on the line.

"Elizabeth Rizzoli?" asked the female voice on the other end of the line.

"This is Dr. Margaret Ross, the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Maggie noticed her pulse increase. "I'm Detective Rizzoli's ... Partner."

"I'm Natalie. Detective Rizzoli asked me to call her if -- I could think of details later. Can one of your guys come right away? I think I saw the guy! From the looks of it, he just gave jewelry to one of my colleagues."

Maggie's heart was pounding up to her throat. "Is there any way you can hold him until a patrol car gets to you?"

"I don't know --"

"Then engage him in conversation, Natalie. Until I get there with my b !" She ended the call and headed for the front door.

"What's wrong?" Nikki stopped her wide-eyed stepmother.

Maggie grabbed her jacket and keys and then turned to the teen. "Call your mom, Jane, Nick, and Kate ... Over and over ... Until you reach one of them. And then tell them that there was an emergency with Natalie. And ... that I'm on my way to the Velvet Pearl."

"Shouldn't we --" Ashlyn wanted to know, her eyes wide.

"Just do what I say," the redhead abruptly interrupted her. But then she took a deep breath. "Please." She wanted, NEEDED, to be in place. To make sure nothing happened to Natalie. She put the phone back to her ear. "Where is he?"

"At the Velvet Pearl right now."

What else had Katherine said about regional killers? Jack the Ripper was one of those ... And the BodyCounter, too, perhaps? "I'll try to get there with my colleagues as soon as possible!"

"You'd better take some backup with you."

"I was going to anyway."

She walked toward the front door and paused, turning to Nikki and Ashlyn and taking a deep breath. "I love you guys," she said instinctively, as she always did before leaving the house. No matter how urgent the mission was, there just had to be time for that.

"I love you too," Nikki replied while holding her cell phone, apparently texting Elizabeth.

"Love you too," Ashlyn murmured while holding her phone to her ear.

xxx

Maggie had been driving in disregard of all traffic rules. Northbound. Beautiful, classicist houses held their own among ugly, boxy new buildings, but today, it was a desolate area. Otherwise, there was nothing here. A gas station in front. A man sullenly turned up his coat collar and exited his car to fill up. On it an advertisement for some computer chips illuminated with neon lights.

Nothing else.

No man. But no BPD, either.

She called dispatch. "Where is Detective Rizzoli or a patrol car?"

"We still haven't been able to reach Detective Rizzoli. A patrol car should be with you soon."

"They should be on the scene by now!" barked Maggie, hanging up the phone in annoyance. Then she called Natalie. "Where is that guy? Is he still at the Velvet Pearl?"

"He's coming out now," Natalie said.

Damn it, Maggie thought. It's now or never. She made another call. "Where the fuck is that fucking patrol car?"

"It should be there any minute."

"Any minute is not now. Hurry the fuck up!"

Rain fell to the earth, breaking in the light of the streetlamps that cast their dull glow on the road. The ME got out of the car. Cell phone in hand. Waited. There would be repercussions with those lame-ass colleagues, and she'd have a bone to pick with Elizabeth, too. Dark clouds and the evening sky reflected in the puddles.

She stood at the corner. She would try to create a distraction until Elizabeth or another cop finally arrived.

She saw the brothel. The taped windows. The pink hearts blinking below reflected melancholically in the puddles. The hearts joined the heavy clouds drifting lazily across the sky, reflected in the puddles. Where the hell was this guy?

Once again, she reached for her cell phone and dialed Natalie's number. "Where is he?"

"He's walking out right now. You should see him any minute."

"I don't see him yet."

After a few seconds, Maggie pressed another call. "Where the hell is BPD?"

"Two more minutes, Doc."

"Two minutes!" Two minutes wasn't right away!

Maggie stared at the entrance to the Velvet Pearl. Nothing. Glanced to the left. No BPD.

"You're waiting for BPD?" Suddenly, there was a voice behind her.

The redhead turned around. Dimly saw a man. A hood on his head. Something shimmered in the backlight of the street lamp. A pair of glasses could be possible.

At that moment, she felt a fist in her face. Hard. As if the man had something in his hand. A pair of brass knuckles. Or even a roll of coins.

The force of the blow was enormous. On the nose, on the mouth, on the cheekbone.

Suddenly.

Without warning.

Mercilessly.

Not too hard, but hard enough to knock her to the ground.

Maggie hit the wet asphalt. Her and something else. Something had fallen out of the man's pocket. She instinctively grabbed it. Grabbed what was lying there.

"Fuck," the man hissed. "Give me that!"

Maggie gripped all the tighter.

And then he kicked.

Kicked Maggie in the stomach with all his might. Twice.

The redhead made no sound. The air was pumped from her lungs. An explosion of pain hissed inside her, filling her as if she were being poured out with boiling lead.

Then she heard the sirens.

Heard the man's footsteps rushing away.

She held her belly. Her abdomen.

Felt the wetness. The wetness of the rain.

And there was something else.

Wet, too.

But warm.

She groped with the last of her strength. It came from below.

Saw it briefly in her hand.

Dark. Red.

She saw blood.

Her own.

Then, she lost consciousness.