Vanish

Here I am, Mila. Take a good long look at me. You can see that I’m alone.

After a moment, she settled onto a bench, feeling like the star of a one-woman stage play, with the lamplight shining down on her head. She felt eyes watching her, violating her privacy.

Something rattled behind her, and she jerked around, automatically reaching for her weapon. Her hand froze on the holster when she saw it was only the scruffy man with the trash bag of clanking aluminum cans. Heart pounding, she again settled back against the bench. A breeze blew through the park, rippling the pond, raking its surface with sequins of reflected light. The man with the cans dragged his bag to a trash receptacle beside her bench and began to poke through the rubbish. He took his time excavating treasure, each find a

Her cell phone rang.

She thrust a hand in her pocket and snapped up the phone. “Hello? Hello?”

Silence.

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m sitting by the pond, where you told me to wait. Mila?”

She heard only the throb of her own heartbeat. The co

She spun around and sca

He’s been listening.

“Hey,” Jane said.

The man instantly straightened. He began to walk away, the sack of cans clanking behind him.

She started after him. “I want to talk to you!”

The man did not look back, but kept walking. Faster now, knowing that he was being pursued. She sprinted after him, and caught up just as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Grabbing the back of his windbreaker she yanked him around. Beneath the glare of the streetlight, they stared at each other. She saw sunken eyes and an unkempt beard streaked with gray. Smelled breath soured by alcohol and rotting teeth.

He batted away her hand. “What’re you doing? What the hell, lady?”

“Rizzoli?” Moore’s voice barked over her earpiece. “You need backup?”

“No. No, I’m okay.”

“Who ya talking to?” the bum said.

Angrily, she waved him off. “Go. Just get out of here.”

“Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”

“Just leave.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He gave a snort and walked away, dragging his cans behind him. “Park’s full of crazy people these days…”

She turned, and suddenly realized that she was surrounded. Gabriel, Moore, and Frost had all moved within yards of her position, to form a protective circle around her. “Oh man,” she sighed. “Did I ask for help?”

“We didn’t know what was going on,” said Gabriel.

“Now we’ve blown it.” She looked around the park, and it seemed emptier than ever. The couple on the bench was walking away; only the kids with the guitar remained, laughing in the shadows. “If Mila’s been watching, she knows it’s a setup. There’s no way she’ll come near me.”

“It’s nine forty-five,” said Frost. “What do you think?”

Moore shook his head. “Let’s wrap it up. Nothing’s going to happen tonight.”

“I was doing fine,” said Jane. “I didn’t need the cavalry.”

Gabriel pulled into his parking space behind their apartment building and shut off the engine. “We didn’t know what was happening. We saw you ru

“He was just trying to get away.”

“I didn’t know that. All I thought was-” He stopped and looked at her. “I just reacted. That’s all.”

“We’ve probably lost her, you know.”

“Then we’ve lost her.”

“You sound like you don’t even care.”

“You know what I care about? That you don’t get hurt. That’s more important than anything else.” He got out of the car; so did she.

“Do you happen to remember what I do for a living?” she asked.

“I’m trying not to.”

“Suddenly my job is not okay.”

He shut his car door and met her gaze over the roof. “I admit it. I’m having trouble right now, dealing with it.”

“You’re asking me to quit?”

“If I thought I could get away with it.”

“What am I supposed to do instead?”

“Here’s a novel idea. You could stay home with Regina.”

“When did you go all retro on me? I can’t believe you’re saying this.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, either.”

“You knew who I was when you married me, Gabriel.” She turned and walked into the building, and was already climbing to the second floor when she heard him say, from the bottom of the stairs: “But maybe I didn’t know who I was.”

She glanced back at him. “What does that mean?”

“You and Regina are all I have.” Slowly he came up the stairs, until they were face-to-face on the landing. “I never had to worry about anyone else before, about what I could lose. I didn’t know it would scare me so much. Now I’ve got this big exposed Achilles heel, and all I can think about is how to protect it.”

“You can’t protect it,” she said. “It’s just something you have to live with. It’s what happens when you have a family.”

“It’s too much to lose.”

Their apartment door suddenly opened, and Angela poked her head into the hallway. “I thought I heard you two out here.”

Jane turned. “Hi, Mom.”

“I just put her down for the night, so keep your voices quiet.”

“How was she?”

“Exactly like you were at her age.”

“That bad, huh?” Stepping into the apartment, Jane was taken aback by how neat everything looked. The dishes were washed and put away, the countertops wiped clean. A lace doily graced the dining table. When had she ever owned a lace doily?

“You two had a fight, didn’t you?” said Angela. “I can tell just by looking at you.”

“We had a disappointing night, that’s all.” Jane took off her jacket and hung it in the closet. When she turned back to look at her mother, she saw that Angela’s gaze had focused on Jane’s weapon.

“You’re going to lock that thing up, aren’t you?”

“I always do.”

“Because babies and guns-”

“Okay, okay.” Jane took off her weapon and slid it into a drawer. “You know, she’s not even a month old.”

“She’s precocious, just like you were.” Angela looked at Gabriel. “Did I ever tell you what Jane did when she was three?”

“Mom, he doesn’t want to hear that story.”

“Yes I do,” said Gabriel.

Jane sighed. “It involves a cigarette lighter and the living room curtains. And the Revere Fire Department.”

“Oh, that,” said Angela. “I forgot all about that story.”

“Mrs. Rizzoli, why don’t you tell me about it while I drive you home?” said Gabriel, reaching into the closet to retrieve Angela’s sweater.

In the other room, Regina suddenly let out a howl to a

“Janie?” Angela’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Can you let me back in? I forgot my glasses.”

“Come on up, Mom.” Jane pressed the lock release and was waiting at the door to hand over the glasses when her mother came up the stairs.

“Can’t read without these,” said Angela. She paused to give her fussing granddaughter one last kiss. “Better go. He’s got the car ru

“Bye, Mom.”