The Keepsake: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

told you, I’m new to Boston. I only got here in March.”
    “So you can’t think of anyone who might have stalked you? Stolen your keys? Anyone who might try to terrify you by putting a body in your trunk?”
    For the first time, Josephine’s composure slipped, revealing the frightened soul beneath the mask. She whispered: “No, I don’t! I don’t know who’s doing this. Or why he chose
me.
”
    Jane studied the young woman, begrudgingly admiring the flawless skin, the coal-dark eyes. What would it be like to be so beautiful? To walk into a room and feel every man’s gaze on you?
Including gazes that you don’t welcome?
    “You understand, I hope, that you’re going to have to be a lot more careful from now on,” said Frost.
    Josephine swallowed. “I know.”
    “Is there somewhere else you can stay? Some place you’d like us to take you?” he asked.
    “I think…I think I may leave town for a while.” Josephine straightened, as though heartened by having a plan of action. “My aunt lives in Vermont. I’ll stay with her.”
    “Where in Vermont? We need to be able to check on you.”
    “Burlington. Her name is Connie Pulcillo. But you can always reach me on my cell phone.”
    “Good,” said Frost. “And I assume you won’t do anything as foolhardy as hiking all alone again.”
    Josephine managed a weak smile. “I won’t be doing that anytime soon.”
    “You know, that’s something I wanted to ask you about,” said Jane. “That little hike you took today.”
    Josephine’s smile faded, as though she realized that Jane could not be so easily charmed. “It wasn’t a wise thing to do, I know,” she admitted.
    “A rainy day. Muddy trails. Why on earth would you want to be there?”
    “I wasn’t the only one in the park. That family was there, too.”
    “They’re out-of-towners and their dog needed a walk.”
    “So did I.”
    “Judging by your muddy boots, you did more than take just a stroll.”
    “Rizzoli,” said Frost, “what are you getting at?”
    Jane ignored him and kept her focus on Josephine. “Is there something else you want to tell us, Dr. Pulcillo, about why you were up at Blue Hills Reservation? On a Thursday morning, when I assume you’re supposed to be at work?”
    “I’m not due at work until one.”
    “The rain didn’t discourage you?”
    Josephine’s face took on the expression of a hunted animal. She’s scared of me, thought Jane. What am I not getting about this picture?
    “It’s been a really hard week,” said Josephine. “I needed to get outside, just to think. I’d heard the park was a pretty place to walk, so I went.” She straightened, her voice now stronger. More assured. “That’s all it was, Detective. A walk. Is there something illegal about that?”
    The two women locked eyes for a moment. A moment that confused Jane because she did not understand what was really going on.
    “No, there’s nothing illegal about it,” said Frost. “And I think we’ve pressed you hard enough today.”
    Jane saw the young woman abruptly look away. And she thought:
We haven’t pressed hard enough.

TWELVE
     
    “Who appointed you the Good Cop?” said Jane as she and Frost slid into her Subaru.
    “What do you mean?”
    “You were so busy making goo-goo eyes at Pulcillo, you forced me to play the Bad Cop.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Can I make you a cup of coffee?”
Jane snorted. “Are you a detective or a butler?”
    “What’s your problem? The poor girl just got the crap scared out of her. Her keys were stolen, a body’s in her trunk, and we’ve impounded her car. Doesn’t that sound like someone who needs a little sympathy? You were treating her like a suspect.”
    “Sympathy? Is that all you were giving her in there? I was waiting for you to ask her out on a date.”
    In all the time they’d worked together, Jane had never seen Frost truly angry at her. So to witness the fury that suddenly flared up in his eyes was more than unsettling; it was almost scary. “Fuck you, Rizzoli.”
    “Hey.”
    “You’ve got some real issues, you know that? What is it about her that ticks you off? The fact that she’s pretty?”
    “Something about her doesn’t add up. Something doesn’t feel right.”
    “She’s scared. Her life’s just been turned upside down. That’s got to freak a person out.”
    “And you want to swoop right in and rescue her.”
    “I’m trying to be a decent human being.”
    “Tell me