The Keepsake: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

through, whether Frost was willing to or not.
    “You aren’t the only one who’s surprised,” said Jane. “Dr. Robinson had no idea. You should have seen his face when I told him she’s a fraud. If she lied about something as basic as her own name, what else did she lie about? She took in a lot of people, including her college professors.”
    “But not you. You saw through it.”
    “I just got a funny feeling about her, that’s all.”
    “Cop’s instinct.”
    “Yeah. I guess.”
    “So what the hell happened to
mine
?”
    Jane gave a laugh. “A different instinct was operating. She’s pretty, she’s scared, and wham-o. The Boy Scout wanted to save her.”
    “Whoever the hell she is.”
    They still did not know the answer; what they did know was that she was not the real Josephine Pulcillo, who had died twenty-four years ago when she was only two years old. Yet years later, that dead girl managed to attend college and graduate school. She managed to open a bank account, get a driver’s license, and land a job in an obscure Boston museum. The child had been resurrected as a different woman, whose true origins remained a mystery.
    “I can’t believe I was such a moron,” he said.
    “You want my advice?”
    “Not particularly.”
    “Call Alice. Tell her to come home. That was part of the problem, you know. Your wife’s been gone and you got lonely. You got vulnerable. A pretty girl wanders onto the scene and suddenly you’re thinking with a different brain.”
    “I can’t just order her to come home.”
    “She’s your wife, isn’t she?”
    He gave a snort. “I’d like to see Gabriel try telling
you
what to do. That wouldn’t be pretty.”
    “I can be reasoned with and so can Alice. She’s been visiting her parents way too long and you need her back. Just call her.”
    Frost sighed. “It’s more complicated than that.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Alice and I—well, we’ve been having problems. Ever since she started law school, it’s like I can’t talk to her. It’s like nothing I say is worth listening to. She spends all day with those smart-ass professors and when she comes home, what’re we supposed to talk about?”
    “What you did at work, maybe?”
    “Yeah, I tell her about our latest arrest and she asks me if police brutality was involved.”
    “Oh, man. She’s gone to the dark side?”
    “She thinks we
are
the dark side.” He glanced at her. “You’re lucky, you know? Gabriel’s one of us. He gets what we do.”
    Yes, she was lucky; she was married to a man who understood the challenges of law enforcement. But she knew how quickly even good marriages could fall apart. Last Christmas, she’d watched her parents’ marriage collapse over dinner. She’d seen their household destroyed by one stray blonde. And she knew that Barry Frost was now standing on the threshold of marital disaster.
    She said, “My mom’s annual neighborhood barbecue is coming up soon. Vince Korsak will be there, so it’ll be like a team reunion. Why don’t you join us?”
    “Is this a pity invitation?”
    “I was planning to ask you anyway. I’ve invited you before, but you hardly ever took me up on it.”
    He sighed. “That was because of Alice.”
    “What?”
    “She hates cop parties.”
    “Do you go to her law school parties?”
    “Yeah.”
    “So what the hell?”
    He shrugged. “I just wanna keep her happy, you know?”
    “I really hate to say this.”
    “Then don’t, okay?”
    “Alice is kind of a bitch, isn’t she?”
    “Jesus. Why’d you have to say it?”
    “Sorry. But she is.”
    He shook his head. “Is there anyone who’s on my side?”
    “I
am
on your side. I’m looking out for you. That’s why I told you to stay a million miles away from that Josephine woman. I’m just glad you finally understand why I said it.”
    His hands tightened on the wheel. “I wonder who she really is. And what the hell she’s hiding.”
    “We should hear back about her fingerprints tomorrow.”
    “Maybe she’s running from an ex-husband. Maybe that’s all this is about.”
    “If she were running from some creep, she would have told us that, don’t you think? We’re the good guys. Why would she run from the police unless she’s guilty of something?”
    He stared at the road. The turnoff to Chaco Canyon was still thirty miles ahead. “I can’t wait to find out,” he said.
             
     
    After merely ten minutes of standing in the New Mexico heat, Jane