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.
Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.
Chapter 4
Jane moved to the kitchen, and then took the things to the kitchen on Maura's side of the apartment, where the day-to-day stuff was stored.
She texted Maura: "Don't forget socks and underwear. And PJs."
"Got it." Came the quick reply.
While Jane waited, she fired up her computer, and searched the news for anything happening in the past ten days in the DC area.
And sure enough, there she found the news. Liz had mentioned it had happened at night, five days ago. And the following morning the news, without too much emphasis, mentioned a couple who had been found shot in their home in the neighborhood Liz had given Jane as her address. There were no pictures, or names, just the comment from neighbors that claimed not to know the deceased, saying "they kept pretty much to themselves". There was no word of a missing girl. And the victims were not identified by name.
About half an hour later, Jane heard her name being called, and moved back to her bedroom.
"Yes, Liz…"
"Is Dory back already?"
"Not yet. But why don't you roll yourself in a towel, put another towel in your hair, and come out? Then you can sit and wait for her with me."
"Okay…"
Jane heard the slosh of water as she got off the tub, and after a few minutes Jane assumed she had used to dry herself, she came out of the bathroom, the oversized towel wrapped around her slim torso, and a hand towel wrapped around her head.
Jane smiled gently to her.
"Who are you and what did you do to Liz?" Jane teased. A clean Liz looked even prettier than before.
Liz blushed and smiled.
Maura chose that moment to enter the door.
"I am home!" she greeted.
"In the bedroom." Jane responded, knowing Maura would follow the sound of her voice.
"Sorry for taking so long, there was a line to pay. I picked a few things for more immediate needs, and we can go shopping so you can choose what you want, okay?"
"Thank you, Dory."
"Dory, why don't you help Liz to pick her clothes and store the rest? I need to make a phone call." Jane asked Maura, who nodded. Then Jane turned to Liz.
"Liz, Dory is a doctor. So before you get dressed, please let her check if there is anywhere you've been hurt these past few days? She has bandages and creams and medicines if you are hurt."
Liz nodded, and Maura nodded too, understanding Jane wanted her to do a one over on Liz just to make sure she was really fine.
Jane moved to the other side of the house, picking her phone. Instead of dialing the number Liz had handled her from the Witsec agents, Jane sighed and dialed Dean's number.
"Jane…"
"Hi Dean…"
"Is everything alright?" Jane calling on a Saturday evening was suspicious, to say the least.
"Yes… Well… I think so…" She was not sure how to begin, and she didn't want to say much on the phone.
"Are you home?"
"Yeah…"
"I will be there in thirty minutes, does that work for you?"
"Yes, thank you…"
She was glad Dean could pick up from her tone that she needed to talk in private.
Jane walked back to the bedroom.
"Are you decent already?" she teased, before crossing the door.
"Yes, I am all set." Liz offered, walking to the door.
Jane was impressed by the transformation. Jane could see Maura had helped combing Liz' hair, and had braided it. Liz was wearing a clean pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt, and clean flipflops on her feet. And she had brushed her teeth.
Jane extended her hand, formally. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Liz."
Liz chuckled in response, but extended her hand and shook Jane's hand.
"It is nice to meet you too, Jane."
Maura came with the dirty clothes, separating them – Jane knew they would be likely evidence, although after five days Jane suspected any evidence had been contaminated by the dirty of living outdoors.
"Let me show you the apartment." Jane offered, giving Maura some time.
Jane explained the two apartments were connected, walked with the girl through both sides, and finally invited her to sit on the sofa.
Liz almost sunk on the comfortable sofa, and she sighed, happily.
"Are you okay?" Jane asked, chuckling.
"I have not sat in anything this soft since… since I left home…" Liz said, lowering her eyes, suddenly sad.
"Living in the streets is rough… Are you hungry?"
"Not yet, thank you."
"Listen… I called a friend of mine, to ask for his advice in this situation. He is also FBI. But because you have not chosen to trust him, I want you to stay with Dory while I speak with him, okay?"
"Okay."
Maura didn't need to ask to know who the friend was. Dean.
When the doorbell rang, Maura motioned Liz to follow her, and moved to Jane's bedroom, that was the farthest from the room where Jane would talk to Dean, closing the connecting door between the apartments.
Jane opened the door.
"Hey… You got me worried." Dean offered, closing the door behind him. "Is everything okay?"
"It is, with us… But we seem to be a magnet for trouble..." Jane smiled, shaking her head. "Please have a sit." Jane invited, civil. "And thank you for coming up on a Saturday…"
"Of course, Jane. I was in town. Tell me, what's up?"
"What happens with a kid in Witsec if their parents die?"
"Oh God, are you or Maura expecting?" he opened his eyes wide.
"No…" Jane sighed. "It is not us. But imagine there is a family, dad, mom, teenage kid, under Witsec. Parents are killed. Kid survives. What happens to the kid?
"It is hard to say. From what I know, it depends if the kid was a witness originally – and if the kid witnessed who killed the parents. If the kid was not a witness originally, and didn't see who killed the parents, they will likely go to the regular foster system. If you said teenage, likely will be in a teen shelter until they turn eighteen and can fend for themselves on their own, since adoption of teenagers is not common with so many babies and toddlers available. If the kid was a witness to the original crime, or to the killing, them they will continue to be in Witsec, but in one of the few teen shelters manned by Witsec, until they turn eighteen and can be in Witsec as normal witnesses would themselves."
Jane was digesting what Dean said.
"Will you tell me what happened, Jane? You are beginning to get me worried…"
She picked her computer, and showed Dean the research she had done about crimes in the past week.
"I think I saw this on the news last Monday or Tuesday…" he said, knotting his eyebrows. Then he turned to her. "Are you saying this couple was in Witsec, and they had a teenage kid, not mentioned in this article, that survived?"
"I might be telling you that…" Jane offered, non-committal, and Dean rolled his eyes.
"Will you ever fully trust me?"
"You keep behaving well and I might." Jane offered a truce, in a half-smile.
"Let me see what I can find about this for you. In the meanwhile, just be careful. You know you have your own witness to protect."
"Thank you, Dean." And she kissed him on the cheek before he left.