Fake it till you make it (Rizzoli & Isles)

Chapter 17: The Housewarming Party Part 2

Jane could feel the droplets running down her back. The Summers in Boston can be particularly brutal this time of year. She closes her door and heads for the pier. "Stand by check. Approaching the Pier now, no sign of Reid yet. Over"

Wearing a wire can be particularly nerve-wracking, but they need his voice on tape. Reid is facing away from Jane, his face to the ocean and his hands on the railing. "You picked an interesting meeting spot" Jane says as she comes to lean on the railing.

"Yes I... Find the view thought-provoking" Jane notices his eyes do not leave the rig in the distance. He has a focused expression mixed with something else. Guilt? No, sadness- and anger. "How so?" She asks. "You see that out there on the water?" Jane nods. "That's one of New England Drillings rigs. My father used to work on one just like it."

"He would come home maybe once every three months. He'd be so tired that he just slept for 18 hours sometimes. I would peek in their bedroom every few minutes, so excited that he's home you know?" Reid says with a chuckle.

"His hands had these calluses and always new blisters forming... He never complained but I saw the pain on his face. His bones ached all over, but he always made time for me. Even when I was little, he would wrestle with me... race me down the street." Reid says, smiling slightly.

Jane can't help but feel Reids' pain. He comes from a similar background of blue-collar workers, working from dusk till dawn to make ends meet. Her dad, however sleazy he turned out to be, would come home from a long day of plumbing and still tossed the ball around with her, Frankie and Tommy, asking them about their day. That was on the good days though, when he wasn't drinking himself into a completely different man.

"He sounds like a great dad. I'm sorry he passed" Jane says genuinely. Reid breaks eye contact and nods his head. "He was. He made me the man I am today. Never settle... and he taught me how important family is. Family is everything."

"I never thought he would die. Sounds silly but even as an adult I just knew he would live to be 90, surrounded by his grandchildren... He died of heartbreak, of that I am sure..." Reid clutches the reeling and speaks through slightly clenched teeth. "He gave his whole life for them and they-'' Reid stops and looks at the rig in the distance.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be piling this on you. You are an excellent listener Lauren." Jane shifts her weight, he was almost about to open up "I don't mind listening, Christian. And I agree, family... is everything"

"Although we are not here to talk about me. We are here to talk about you." Reid says with a smile. "I've seen what you can do behind the wheel. And I apologize but I ran a background check on the both of you" Jane acts surprised.

"Really, me and Sarah. Why?"

"I like to know who my neighbors are and you piqued my interest in the races. I think I may have something a little more challenging for you if you're up for it?"

Jane arches her eyebrow and folds her arms "Really? Well, I'd wanna know what I'm agreeing to, I take it it's not just another racing gig then?" Reid smiles. "No. Not just racing. That would be a big part of it. Getting away."

"I have a job. Planned to the very last detail. We would be relieving some people of something that doesn't belong to them in the first place and giving it to the people they stole it from"

"You want to steal something? Like a heist?" Jane asks. He's being rather vague, she has to get him to admit it on tape. "It's not really stealing if it doesn't belong to them but sure you can call it that. 32 million in diamonds, you would get a cut of course and the thrill of evading the police in a high-speed chase."