Body Double: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

to her feet and moved soundlessly down the hall to the front door. Paused there, wondering how easily a bullet might penetrate that wood. She eased toward the side window and glanced out to see Ballard standing on her porch.
    With a sigh of relief, she opened the door.
    “I heard about Van Gates,” he said. “Are you okay?”
    “A little shaken up. But I’m fine.”
No I’m not. My nerves are shot, and I’m drinking alone in my kitchen.
“Why don’t you come in?”
    He had never been inside her house. He stepped in, closed the door, and eyed the dead bolt as he locked it. “You need to get a security system, Maura.”
    “I’ve been planning to.”
    “Do it soon, okay?” He looked at her. “I can help you choose the best one.”
    She nodded. “I’d appreciate the advice. Would you like a drink?”
    “Not tonight, thanks.”
    They went into the living room. He paused, looking at the piano in the corner. “I didn’t know you played.”
    “Since I was a kid. I don’t practice nearly enough.”
    “You know, Anna played too . . .” He stopped. “I guess you might not know that.”
    “I didn’t know that. It’s so eerie, Rick, how every time I learn something new about her, she seems more and more like me.”
    “She played beautifully.” He went to the piano, lifted the keyboard cover, and plunked out a few notes. Closed the cover again, and stood staring down at the gleaming black surface. He looked at her. “I’m worried about you, Maura. Especially tonight, after what happened to Van Gates.”
    She sighed and sank onto the couch. “I’ve lost control of my life. I can’t even sleep with my windows open anymore.”
    He sat down, too. Chose the chair facing her, so that if she raised her head, she would have to look at him. “I don’t think you should be alone here tonight.”
    “This is my house. I’m not going to leave.”
    “Then don’t leave.” A pause. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
    Her gaze lifted to his. “Why are you doing this, Rick?”
    “Because I think you need watching over.”
    “And you’re the one to do it?”
    “Who else is going to? Look at you! You live such a solitary life, all by yourself in this house. I think about you alone here, and it scares me, what could happen. When Anna needed me, I wasn’t there. But I can be here for you.” He reached out and took her hands. “I can be here whenever you need me.”
    She looked down at his hands, covering hers. “You loved her, didn’t you?” When he didn’t answer, she looked up and met his gaze. “Didn’t you, Rick?”
    “She needed me.”
    “That’s not what I asked.”
    “I couldn’t stand by and let her get hurt. Not by that man.”
    I should have seen it from the beginning, she thought. It was always there, in the way he looked at me, the way he touched me.
    “If you’d seen her that night, in the ER,” he said. “The black eye, the bruises. I took one look at her face, and I wanted to beat the shit out of whoever did it. There aren’t many things that’ll make me lose it, Maura, but any man who hurts a woman—” He took a sharp breath. “I wasn’t going to let that happen to her again. But Cassell wouldn’t let go. He kept calling her, stalking her, so I had to step in. I helped her install some locks. Started dropping by every day, to check on her. Then one night, she asked me to stay for dinner, and . . .” He gave a defeated shrug. “That’s how it started. She was scared, and she needed me. It’s instinct, you know. Maybe a cop’s instinct. You want to protect.”
    Especially when she’s an attractive woman.
    “I tried to keep her safe, that’s all.” He looked at her. “So, yes. I ended up falling in love with her.”
    “And what is this, Rick?” She looked at his hands, still grasping hers. “What’s happening here? Is this for me, or for her? Because I’m not Anna. I’m not her replacement.”
    “I’m here because
you
need me.”
    “This is like a replay. You’ve cast yourself in the same role, as the guardian. And I’m just the understudy who happened to step into Anna’s part.”
    “It’s not like that.”
    “What if you’d never known my sister, if you and I were just two people who’d met at a party? Would you still be here?”
    “Yes. I would be.” He leaned toward her, his hands tight around hers. “I know I would be.”
    For a moment they sat in silence. I want to believe him, she thought. It would be so easy to believe him.
    But