Ricochet (22/25)
Chapter Twenty Two
As Jane expected, the Sophie Miller investigation came to an abrupt halt. The death of Alex Nelson was mostly to blame for that. After all, it was inordinately hard to prove that somebody was a part of Red John’s inner circle. The only way that it would truly be possible to make such a claim and find proof was to get a confession and names from the serial killer himself. But of course, without even having a suspect list to work from, pinning him down was inordinately difficult. As a consequence, Lisbon had grown more stubborn and morose. Jane could feel her pulling away from him and there was nothing he could do in response. In reality, he knew that all he could do was wait for her to come back to him. However, there was no saying in how long that would take. It only served to depress him further; this kind of thing wasn’t meant to happen to them.
He knew she was using every spare moment to work on Red John. She could only be praised for that; if any member of his unit was going to blow open Red John and his inner circle, it was going to be Teresa Lisbon. Her mind could do things that others could only dream of; she was almost superhuman in a way. But also, underneath the strong exterior, an incredibly fragile woman was hiding. It wouldn’t take much to expose that either. Part of him was desperate to see her for who she really was. Jane knew he could cope with the darkness in other people’s lives; he had been through the worst and back again with his own family. Besides, he loved her through and through. When he said he would save her, he meant it.
For now, he was distracted, however. Everyone bar Lisbon had been forced to put Red John on the backburner while they focused on their more recent case. The one they were focusing on at the moment specifically was particularly gruesome. A twenty year old man named Nick Lapinskas had had his whole face burned off, using a simple trick of a canister of deodorant and a cigarette lighter. Ultimately, the poor man had never stood a chance. If he hadn’t died at the scene, the severity of the burns and subsequent infection would have stolen his life later anyway. Lapinskas had been unarmed at the time, with no chance of defense. It was painful to think that such a young man had met such an awful demise, but that was the nature of the world he had found himself in. He may have been new to gang culture, but that wasn’t enough to stop him from becoming a target. If anything, it made it all the easier because he was comparatively inexperienced due to the fact he was still green behind the ears.
It looked like an open and shut case. Rigsby had identified the accelerant and Van Pelt had discovered both the deodorant canister dumped in a nearby trash can. Meanwhile, Cho had been knee deep in investigations into the gang culture and facing the harrowing ordeal of burying himself back in his sordid past. The latter was especially useful, given Cho's links within the gang and the fact they still grudgingly respected him, in spite of becoming a cop. Even so, murders involving gangbangers were ordinarily shoved to the bottom of the pile and deemed irrelevant by law enforcement agencies. The law had no respect for them because they had no respect for the law. However, Cho was living proof that individuals could turn their life around. The 'Iceman' as he had been referred to by KS, the leader of the Avon Park Playboys, was practically unrecognizable when compared to his previous self, when he had been associated with them.
But in reality, Jane knew that the only reason this murder was being investigated at all was because the deceased was the mayor's son. Despite the fact his son had obviously fallen off of the tracks and signed up to join the Playboys, the mayor still had enough political persuasion in order to get the CBI working on it. Jane found the whole thing completely disinteresting though; the mayor was an odious fool who irked him. Besides, Cho seemed to very much have the whole thing covered. Jane, meanwhile, was much more interested in working out what the heck was going on with Lisbon.
Sophie Miller had been killed three months ago now. In the intervening time, Rigsby's bruises had healed, Red John had remained quiet and Lisbon's father had moved out of her home. But, unlike all that time where he had been suspiciously absent from her life, he remained in close contact with her at all times. Jane could see just how much it was stressing her out but he hadn't even had the opportunity to offer any assistance. She refused to acknowledge him in conversation in anything beyond a professional basis. That was what hurt the most; he missed her deeply and in every way feasibly possible. Although he still saw her regularly, it just wasn't the same. He needed that intimacy he had once shared with her. Jane had never had a serious relationship and instead had indulged in one night stands. Never before had he realized what it would be like to crave somebody who wasn't willing to offer themselves back. Understanding that she didn't have much to give was all well and good, but it didn't change how he felt. Something had happened, something had made her pull away and now, he knew that he had to find out what in order to rectify it. It had already been three damn months since they had last shared a proper conversation and he still hadn't gotten anywhere.
That was half the reason he had decided to let the others take charge in this case. Then it gave him the opportunity to work on the 'how do you solve a problem like Teresa?' issue. After all, this didn't just affect him but the whole unit. Even Minelli had noticed and he wasn't especially happy about the fact. Nobody liked it when team dynamics shifted significantly and they had endured two major changes in recent months. The first was the fact that Rigsby and Van Pelt had fallen into a romantic relationship, something that Jane absolutely refused to interfere with. He was pleased for their newfound happiness which had been borne out of Rigsby’s beating and besides, the ruling was ridiculous anyway. Then there was his and Lisbon's shared dilemma. At least he felt like that was something he could deal with; all he had to do was break down Lisbon's barriers somehow. That, he knew from personal experience, was a task far easier said than done.
Jane's reverie was quickly broken, however. Cho strode in through the open door, with a case file clutched between his fingers. Instinctively, he knew that this was good news: the Lapinskas case was moving forwards. Cho didn't take a seat, he never did, and instead, he stood directly opposite him and stared him straight in the eye. As unprofessional as Jane appeared at face value, Cho was the polar opposite and it was something that he both appreciated and found amusement in. After all, given their respective backgrounds most people would have believed that Jane would have been the resolute professional whereas Cho would have filled out the role of maverick nicely. But as destructive as the gang had been, the military had been constructive for Cho. He really had saved himself.
"We've got a lead in the Lapinskas case," Cho said, just as Jane expected him to. "We believe the mayor was responsible for his son's death in order to rid himself of the familial shame."
Briefly, Jane closed his eyes and brought back to sight the vision of Nick Lapinskas' blackened face. The manner of death looked like a typical issue of gangs running into one another and using whatever came to hand in order to kill. But, Cho and his fearless mode of investigation had seen straight through the deceit and lies and uncovered the truth. This was why, one day, Kimball Cho would make an exceptional team leader. He may have been very quiet but he understood people and that was far more important than anything else could possibly have been.
"Any evidence?"
"We got a warrant to search Mayor Lapinskas' home. Rigsby found a pair of black leather gloves and one of the victim's lighters in the trash can. It should be enough for an arrest."
“The mayor was the one who called it in. When did he suddenly become a suspect?”
“Two days ago,” Cho replied bluntly, much to Jane’s irritation. “The paperwork is there, on your desk.”
“Okay, you’re going to have to bring me up to speed on this one, Cho.”
Jane felt guilty for not keeping up with the case; he was the team leader and prided himself with knowing everything about the team and their goings on. Naturally, that included exactly what they were working on at any given time. Some people called it being overly nosy and overly invested in people’s working lives, those who didn’t understand his idiosyncrasies labeled it as being a control freak, but Jane was just interested. Besides, if he was a control freak, he had no idea what the heck that made Lisbon. Despite being ‘only’ a consultant, she still somehow managed to make it seem like she was the one in control of the both of them. He’d already lost count of the number of times people assumed their roles were reversed. It didn’t bother him though, if anything, he found it amusing. If it had irritated him, then he would have done something about it a long while ago anyway. Instead, he just chose not to see it as an issue. The same applied to Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship. Jane knew the team questioned why he hadn’t passed judgment on it, but in doing so would only make things worse. They were happy; it may have changed Cho’s relationship with Rigsby a little, but the team could easily work around it. His and Lisbon’s issues were the more difficult ones, meanwhile, and he was determined to intervene. But for now, it was going to have to take a back seat even though moments earlier, he had been determined to make it his first priority.
Mercifully, though, if Cho passed judgment on Jane's gaps in knowledge about the Lapinskas case, he didn't breathe a word about it. In spite of his occasional lack of professionalism, the team did respect him deep down and that provided him with a small comfort. It was funny how desperate his need for validation was, but he knew that was an innate part of him. He knew that regardless of the life he'd led, it would have always been there. But for now, that was all irrelevant. Jane listened attentively as Cho told him about how the case against Mayor Lapinskas had developed. It soon became clear to him that they were entirely correct. He didn’t even need to pass the theory through Lisbon to be sure; his team consisted of good workers, and they had followed their instincts. The warrant for the inept mayor's arrest was completely justified and all that was left was for them to go and pick him up.
“Great,” Jane said when Cho had made his concluding statement. “It’s your case; go pick him up. Take Rigsby with you.”
Cho didn’t answer; instead he stared at Jane haltingly. Initially, Jane wondered if Rigsby was the issue at hand here. After all, before the development of Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship, he had considered the arson specialist as being his partner. In reality, he still was. Van Pelt didn’t go out in the field too often; she was too inexperienced. And besides, she had always been good with computers and technology so she needed to be in the office to work effectively. That was half the reason Jane had chosen her as the new rookie; she filled in a gap in the team’s knowledge perfectly. Then, he realized why Cho was behaving so reluctantly. Rigsby wasn’t the problem at all; the two men were still friends and could still work as an effective partnership. Jane smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand in dawning realization and it was only then that he continued.
“I forgot. You’re picking up your father from the airport in two hours. He’s back after the trip back home to Korea.”
“Yes. Can I go now?”
“Yeah, I’ll deal with this.”
“What about Lisbon?” Cho suddenly blurted out when he reached the door.
“What about her?” Jane asked, acting oblivious. He knew exactly what Cho was implying and he didn’t like it much.
“You two are having problems. It’s affecting your work.”
“If you’re implying there’s something untoward going on between us, then you’re wrong Cho.”
“Even if there was, it’s none of my business, except when it affects the whole team.”
“I’m dealing with it,” Jane replied grimly, glaring at Cho irritably. It was unusual for his second in command to cross the line and it startled him considerably. “Go reunite with your father.”
Cho murmured his thanks before leaving for good this time. Jane scowled as he shut down his computer. It was very unlike Cho to comment on team dynamics; he was usually the one who chose to just get on with it and remain uninvolved. But then, Rigsby and Van Pelt were probably too involved with one another to notice and Lisbon was half the problem. Nobody else was going to comment and thus, Cho had felt like his hand had been forced. Even so, this wasn’t something he needed at the moment. His issues had already led to him feeling crippled with self-doubt and this only served to make things worse. Eventually, Jane shook his head, exited the office and headed straight towards the bullpen. Lisbon was going to come with him to make this arrest whether she wanted to or not.
As expected, she was huddled behind her desk and elbow-deep in paperwork. He had never met another consultant quite as diligent and thorough as she was. Usually, civilians didn’t care for the details, only for the crime-solving. But Lisbon wasn’t any old person and that was what made her utterly unique. Putting on an air of confidence, he strode over to her desk and sat opposite her. He smiled broadly, but she appeared to remain oblivious to his presence. Eventually, he resorted to snatching the file she had been studying with great interest and skimming over it. His heart sank when he realized that it was yet another thing to do with Red John. He shouldn’t have been surprised, really.
“Hey, I was reading that,” she complained and pouted.
“I bet you’ve read it hundreds of times before.”
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “So what if I have?”
“You’re wasting your time, Teresa.”
“I am trying to solve a case involving a notorious serial killer. If anything, you should be commending me.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to see it destroy you, either. It can happen.”
“I know what I’m doing,” she replied coolly.
“And so do I,” he answered back firmly and stood up once more. “C’mon, we’ve got a criminal to apprehend.”
“The Lapinskas murder?” she queried.
“Yes. I want you to come with me.”
“Is that an order?”
“It is if you want it to be.”
Lisbon rolled her eyes and fell into step as they walked to the elevator. “Fine.”
“Good girl.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped and slapped him lightly on the arm.
“I’ll have you know that’s battery of an officer of the law!”
“Yeah, and what are you going to do about it?”
“You’ve got me there,” he admitted quietly.
He didn’t want to offend her. Instead, Jane had only been trying desperately to recreate that easy flow of conversation that they had once shared. Although it was the closest they had gotten to the light-hearted comments of the past in a long while, it still felt a little forced. As far as Jane was concerned, it only highlighted how lost he felt since she had pulled away from him. He needed her and he knew that the feeling was reciprocated. The only problem was that Lisbon just wasn’t willing to admit to such a thing.
“Have you given Mayor Lapinskas fair warning about his upcoming arrest?” Lisbon asked to break up the silence once they were in the car.
“No, why should we?”
“Because he’s a public servant; doesn’t he deserve a little respect?”
“He also burned his son to death,” Jane reminded her quickly and she flinched visibly.
“I know.”
“If we gave him warning, don’t you think he would try to evade capture?” he reasoned and she shrugged her shoulders. “He’s a dangerous man with friends in high places. Besides, it’s a Saturday and his day off. At least the arrest is going to occur in the privacy of his own home.”
“I guess,” Lisbon eventually conceded and Jane smiled. It was the first time in a while that he had managed to persuade her that his course of action was the correct one to take. “And are you sure it’s wise to let Rigsby and Van Pelt work together like this? Their relationship is against CBI policy for a reason.”
“What is it with you guys today?” Jane questioned under his breath, but kept his eyes firmly on the road. “First Cho, then you…”
“What did Cho say?”
He could feel her eyes on him and he knew she was trying to work out what Cho had spoken to him about. Jane also knew that it most likely wouldn’t take her long to figure it out either. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It’s about me, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Jane replied. If nothing else, his sudden outburst had provided him with a lead in for the conversation he had wanted to share with her. Silently, he thanked both Lisbon and Cho for giving him the ideal opportunity to thrash out this problem. They were going to be sorted before they got to the Lapinskas residence. That was something he silently vowed to himself.
"Jane..."
"This problem we have, it's affecting the whole team."
"It's nothing to do with them; it doesn't matter so long as we are doing are jobs correctly. I'm behaving professionally."
"Are you?" Jane asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Cho noticed. He's not happy."
"Oh."
Again, they fell into that awfully uncomfortable silence. Vaguely, Jane considered stopping off somewhere so that he could tackle this problem head on, without any distraction. Then, he would be able to focus entirely on Lisbon instead of splitting his attentions between her and the road. But, if he stopped, that would give her the opportunity to leave him and their issues would remain unresolved. A moving car provided no means of escape and therefore, she had no choice but to talk or at the very least, listen to what he had to say. And besides, they needed to arrest Mayor Lapinskas tonight. If he was guilty - and it seemed fairly obvious that he was, unless it was just an elaborate frame job - then there was going to be a scandal regardless. But the man probably already realized that they were out to arrest him and the last thing they wanted was for him to disappear into the ether. A man with his connections could easily do something like that.
"Why have you pulled away from me? What have I done wrong? How can I fix it?”
"You haven't done anything wrong," Lisbon whispered quietly but she didn't look at him. "I'm the problem."
"Teresa, you will never be a problem to me."
"It's not that..."
She didn't need to finish her sentence for him to be able to work out what the lingering issue was. Jane gripped the steering wheel a little more tightly and swallowed. When it came to Teresa Lisbon, the problems always started and finished with Red John. Jane knew and could understand why she would never feel safe again until he was safely locked behind bars, never to see the light of day again. Something had happened which triggered Lisbon into believing they had gotten too close. As a consequence, she had pulled away out of fear of something that might never happen. And he hated it. Her whole life had been under the control of her father. When her father had temporarily vanished, a serial killer had taken over that role. Lisbon had never been able to take control of her life for herself. That was something that he had been able to take for granted. All that thought succeeded in doing was make him realize just how unfair life had been on his consultant. And there was very little he could do to change her mindset.
"Red John," Jane breathed and Lisbon looked away.
It wasn't a surprise in the slightest that this was the crux of the issue. Lisbon spent the vast majority of her spare time working the Red John case and for good reason. It was, after all, the reason she insisted upon working with the Serious Crimes Unit. No other team would have suited her needs. Most victims of the serial killer would have been out for blood, but she insisted she merely wanted justice. Ordinarily, Minelli would have just turned around and refused, but somehow she had convinced him she was genuine. And Jane believed her too; he had to. Besides, he could see the honesty shining out of her eyes. He knew he didn't need to fear her murdering the serial killer in revenge for what he'd done to her husband and daughter.
But Jane, he knew that he would quite happily strangle him with his own bare hands, if he had half a chance to do so. The killer had blighted too many lives to deserve to live another day. And with every passing moment, he was destroying Lisbon. She didn't live; she just existed. And underneath the broken husk, Jane could see the passionate woman she once was. He had been so close to exposing it but then she had drifted away because he had taken a misstep. Now, he knew the only path to letting Lisbon be herself was to dispose of Red John in any means necessary. And once again, Jane was relieved that he had the law on his side. Not many other people who wanted to see the blood of a serial killer spilled could say that.
"You let him rule your life, Teresa. It doesn't have to be this way."
"You really don't get it, do you?" Lisbon suddenly snapped, anger flickering in her eyes. "People I know, people I lo- care about, they get hurt. I don't want to add your name to that list. Please, Jane. It's for the best."
He disagreed but that wasn't necessarily the most interesting part of her statement. Jane had noticed her stumble over a certain word and how she had immediately corrected herself. It was unlike her; in spite of her natural honesty, she still kept her cards close to her chest. She'd had to in order to convince people she was a psychic, despite her betraying eyes. And now, she used those same skills to stop herself from being hurt within the CBI. Jane had known from the offset that she didn't trust easily and that was partially because she didn't know how to trust herself. He desperately wanted to try and get her to open up more but it was too late; they had arrived at the Lapinskas residence and it was time to focus on the case in hand.
The sting to arrest Mayor Lapinskas didn’t go entirely to plan. It didn’t take long for it to transpire that the man had already attempted to flee; Lisbon was resigned to the fate of him escaping their clutches, but Jane had another hunch. He knew the mayor fairly well and it wasn’t the first time he had been involved in a case. Besides, he enjoyed his creature comforts a little too much for him to just drop everything and leave at a moment’s notice. While he requested that Lisbon call for backup, Jane started to investigate the house. Soon enough, he found a panic room installed in the cellar and after working through the top ten key codes, the door sprang open to reveal the supposedly missing mayor pointing a gun in his face. However, it didn’t take much effort to realize the thing had been decommissioned and therefore, was unloaded and the man was hauled away.
Even so, when he had passed over the man to Rigsby and reunited with Lisbon, Jane still found himself shaking a little.
“You okay?” she whispered softly as they sat in his car. He hadn’t even bothered to put the key in the ignition yet. Jane simply wasn’t ready to move.
“I’ll be fine,” he answered, but didn’t bother to add ‘which is more than can be said for you.’ Some things just didn’t need stating. “Why did you think he’d already fled the state?”
“The man killed his own son. He was spineless and only cared about saving his skin. Besides, he’s a politician; he has no soul. Why would he hang around and wait when he knew that the cops were after him?”
“True.”
“Besides, I did work the case, you know. Where have you been?” she asked.
“I’ve been following other leads and inquiries,” he replied.
“Which means you’ve been worrying about me,” she concluded.
He didn’t answer, but of course, she was right. Jane didn’t expect anything less of her. Thankfully, his need to reply was interrupted by the sharp ring of his cellphone. It was Cho; Jane frowned. He knew that his second in command would be tied up with his father for the rest of the day and therefore, he hadn’t expected to hear from him until at least the morning. Regardless, Jane answered it. At least Cho had gotten him out of an uncomfortable situation, if nothing else.
“It’s my father,” Cho said bluntly after Jane answered the call. “He’s been murdered by Red John.”
Jane’s heart sank. It was a classic case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
To Chapter Twenty Three
As Jane expected, the Sophie Miller investigation came to an abrupt halt. The death of Alex Nelson was mostly to blame for that. After all, it was inordinately hard to prove that somebody was a part of Red John’s inner circle. The only way that it would truly be possible to make such a claim and find proof was to get a confession and names from the serial killer himself. But of course, without even having a suspect list to work from, pinning him down was inordinately difficult. As a consequence, Lisbon had grown more stubborn and morose. Jane could feel her pulling away from him and there was nothing he could do in response. In reality, he knew that all he could do was wait for her to come back to him. However, there was no saying in how long that would take. It only served to depress him further; this kind of thing wasn’t meant to happen to them.
He knew she was using every spare moment to work on Red John. She could only be praised for that; if any member of his unit was going to blow open Red John and his inner circle, it was going to be Teresa Lisbon. Her mind could do things that others could only dream of; she was almost superhuman in a way. But also, underneath the strong exterior, an incredibly fragile woman was hiding. It wouldn’t take much to expose that either. Part of him was desperate to see her for who she really was. Jane knew he could cope with the darkness in other people’s lives; he had been through the worst and back again with his own family. Besides, he loved her through and through. When he said he would save her, he meant it.
For now, he was distracted, however. Everyone bar Lisbon had been forced to put Red John on the backburner while they focused on their more recent case. The one they were focusing on at the moment specifically was particularly gruesome. A twenty year old man named Nick Lapinskas had had his whole face burned off, using a simple trick of a canister of deodorant and a cigarette lighter. Ultimately, the poor man had never stood a chance. If he hadn’t died at the scene, the severity of the burns and subsequent infection would have stolen his life later anyway. Lapinskas had been unarmed at the time, with no chance of defense. It was painful to think that such a young man had met such an awful demise, but that was the nature of the world he had found himself in. He may have been new to gang culture, but that wasn’t enough to stop him from becoming a target. If anything, it made it all the easier because he was comparatively inexperienced due to the fact he was still green behind the ears.
It looked like an open and shut case. Rigsby had identified the accelerant and Van Pelt had discovered both the deodorant canister dumped in a nearby trash can. Meanwhile, Cho had been knee deep in investigations into the gang culture and facing the harrowing ordeal of burying himself back in his sordid past. The latter was especially useful, given Cho's links within the gang and the fact they still grudgingly respected him, in spite of becoming a cop. Even so, murders involving gangbangers were ordinarily shoved to the bottom of the pile and deemed irrelevant by law enforcement agencies. The law had no respect for them because they had no respect for the law. However, Cho was living proof that individuals could turn their life around. The 'Iceman' as he had been referred to by KS, the leader of the Avon Park Playboys, was practically unrecognizable when compared to his previous self, when he had been associated with them.
But in reality, Jane knew that the only reason this murder was being investigated at all was because the deceased was the mayor's son. Despite the fact his son had obviously fallen off of the tracks and signed up to join the Playboys, the mayor still had enough political persuasion in order to get the CBI working on it. Jane found the whole thing completely disinteresting though; the mayor was an odious fool who irked him. Besides, Cho seemed to very much have the whole thing covered. Jane, meanwhile, was much more interested in working out what the heck was going on with Lisbon.
Sophie Miller had been killed three months ago now. In the intervening time, Rigsby's bruises had healed, Red John had remained quiet and Lisbon's father had moved out of her home. But, unlike all that time where he had been suspiciously absent from her life, he remained in close contact with her at all times. Jane could see just how much it was stressing her out but he hadn't even had the opportunity to offer any assistance. She refused to acknowledge him in conversation in anything beyond a professional basis. That was what hurt the most; he missed her deeply and in every way feasibly possible. Although he still saw her regularly, it just wasn't the same. He needed that intimacy he had once shared with her. Jane had never had a serious relationship and instead had indulged in one night stands. Never before had he realized what it would be like to crave somebody who wasn't willing to offer themselves back. Understanding that she didn't have much to give was all well and good, but it didn't change how he felt. Something had happened, something had made her pull away and now, he knew that he had to find out what in order to rectify it. It had already been three damn months since they had last shared a proper conversation and he still hadn't gotten anywhere.
That was half the reason he had decided to let the others take charge in this case. Then it gave him the opportunity to work on the 'how do you solve a problem like Teresa?' issue. After all, this didn't just affect him but the whole unit. Even Minelli had noticed and he wasn't especially happy about the fact. Nobody liked it when team dynamics shifted significantly and they had endured two major changes in recent months. The first was the fact that Rigsby and Van Pelt had fallen into a romantic relationship, something that Jane absolutely refused to interfere with. He was pleased for their newfound happiness which had been borne out of Rigsby’s beating and besides, the ruling was ridiculous anyway. Then there was his and Lisbon's shared dilemma. At least he felt like that was something he could deal with; all he had to do was break down Lisbon's barriers somehow. That, he knew from personal experience, was a task far easier said than done.
Jane's reverie was quickly broken, however. Cho strode in through the open door, with a case file clutched between his fingers. Instinctively, he knew that this was good news: the Lapinskas case was moving forwards. Cho didn't take a seat, he never did, and instead, he stood directly opposite him and stared him straight in the eye. As unprofessional as Jane appeared at face value, Cho was the polar opposite and it was something that he both appreciated and found amusement in. After all, given their respective backgrounds most people would have believed that Jane would have been the resolute professional whereas Cho would have filled out the role of maverick nicely. But as destructive as the gang had been, the military had been constructive for Cho. He really had saved himself.
"We've got a lead in the Lapinskas case," Cho said, just as Jane expected him to. "We believe the mayor was responsible for his son's death in order to rid himself of the familial shame."
Briefly, Jane closed his eyes and brought back to sight the vision of Nick Lapinskas' blackened face. The manner of death looked like a typical issue of gangs running into one another and using whatever came to hand in order to kill. But, Cho and his fearless mode of investigation had seen straight through the deceit and lies and uncovered the truth. This was why, one day, Kimball Cho would make an exceptional team leader. He may have been very quiet but he understood people and that was far more important than anything else could possibly have been.
"Any evidence?"
"We got a warrant to search Mayor Lapinskas' home. Rigsby found a pair of black leather gloves and one of the victim's lighters in the trash can. It should be enough for an arrest."
“The mayor was the one who called it in. When did he suddenly become a suspect?”
“Two days ago,” Cho replied bluntly, much to Jane’s irritation. “The paperwork is there, on your desk.”
“Okay, you’re going to have to bring me up to speed on this one, Cho.”
Jane felt guilty for not keeping up with the case; he was the team leader and prided himself with knowing everything about the team and their goings on. Naturally, that included exactly what they were working on at any given time. Some people called it being overly nosy and overly invested in people’s working lives, those who didn’t understand his idiosyncrasies labeled it as being a control freak, but Jane was just interested. Besides, if he was a control freak, he had no idea what the heck that made Lisbon. Despite being ‘only’ a consultant, she still somehow managed to make it seem like she was the one in control of the both of them. He’d already lost count of the number of times people assumed their roles were reversed. It didn’t bother him though, if anything, he found it amusing. If it had irritated him, then he would have done something about it a long while ago anyway. Instead, he just chose not to see it as an issue. The same applied to Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship. Jane knew the team questioned why he hadn’t passed judgment on it, but in doing so would only make things worse. They were happy; it may have changed Cho’s relationship with Rigsby a little, but the team could easily work around it. His and Lisbon’s issues were the more difficult ones, meanwhile, and he was determined to intervene. But for now, it was going to have to take a back seat even though moments earlier, he had been determined to make it his first priority.
Mercifully, though, if Cho passed judgment on Jane's gaps in knowledge about the Lapinskas case, he didn't breathe a word about it. In spite of his occasional lack of professionalism, the team did respect him deep down and that provided him with a small comfort. It was funny how desperate his need for validation was, but he knew that was an innate part of him. He knew that regardless of the life he'd led, it would have always been there. But for now, that was all irrelevant. Jane listened attentively as Cho told him about how the case against Mayor Lapinskas had developed. It soon became clear to him that they were entirely correct. He didn’t even need to pass the theory through Lisbon to be sure; his team consisted of good workers, and they had followed their instincts. The warrant for the inept mayor's arrest was completely justified and all that was left was for them to go and pick him up.
“Great,” Jane said when Cho had made his concluding statement. “It’s your case; go pick him up. Take Rigsby with you.”
Cho didn’t answer; instead he stared at Jane haltingly. Initially, Jane wondered if Rigsby was the issue at hand here. After all, before the development of Rigsby and Van Pelt’s relationship, he had considered the arson specialist as being his partner. In reality, he still was. Van Pelt didn’t go out in the field too often; she was too inexperienced. And besides, she had always been good with computers and technology so she needed to be in the office to work effectively. That was half the reason Jane had chosen her as the new rookie; she filled in a gap in the team’s knowledge perfectly. Then, he realized why Cho was behaving so reluctantly. Rigsby wasn’t the problem at all; the two men were still friends and could still work as an effective partnership. Jane smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand in dawning realization and it was only then that he continued.
“I forgot. You’re picking up your father from the airport in two hours. He’s back after the trip back home to Korea.”
“Yes. Can I go now?”
“Yeah, I’ll deal with this.”
“What about Lisbon?” Cho suddenly blurted out when he reached the door.
“What about her?” Jane asked, acting oblivious. He knew exactly what Cho was implying and he didn’t like it much.
“You two are having problems. It’s affecting your work.”
“If you’re implying there’s something untoward going on between us, then you’re wrong Cho.”
“Even if there was, it’s none of my business, except when it affects the whole team.”
“I’m dealing with it,” Jane replied grimly, glaring at Cho irritably. It was unusual for his second in command to cross the line and it startled him considerably. “Go reunite with your father.”
Cho murmured his thanks before leaving for good this time. Jane scowled as he shut down his computer. It was very unlike Cho to comment on team dynamics; he was usually the one who chose to just get on with it and remain uninvolved. But then, Rigsby and Van Pelt were probably too involved with one another to notice and Lisbon was half the problem. Nobody else was going to comment and thus, Cho had felt like his hand had been forced. Even so, this wasn’t something he needed at the moment. His issues had already led to him feeling crippled with self-doubt and this only served to make things worse. Eventually, Jane shook his head, exited the office and headed straight towards the bullpen. Lisbon was going to come with him to make this arrest whether she wanted to or not.
As expected, she was huddled behind her desk and elbow-deep in paperwork. He had never met another consultant quite as diligent and thorough as she was. Usually, civilians didn’t care for the details, only for the crime-solving. But Lisbon wasn’t any old person and that was what made her utterly unique. Putting on an air of confidence, he strode over to her desk and sat opposite her. He smiled broadly, but she appeared to remain oblivious to his presence. Eventually, he resorted to snatching the file she had been studying with great interest and skimming over it. His heart sank when he realized that it was yet another thing to do with Red John. He shouldn’t have been surprised, really.
“Hey, I was reading that,” she complained and pouted.
“I bet you’ve read it hundreds of times before.”
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “So what if I have?”
“You’re wasting your time, Teresa.”
“I am trying to solve a case involving a notorious serial killer. If anything, you should be commending me.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to see it destroy you, either. It can happen.”
“I know what I’m doing,” she replied coolly.
“And so do I,” he answered back firmly and stood up once more. “C’mon, we’ve got a criminal to apprehend.”
“The Lapinskas murder?” she queried.
“Yes. I want you to come with me.”
“Is that an order?”
“It is if you want it to be.”
Lisbon rolled her eyes and fell into step as they walked to the elevator. “Fine.”
“Good girl.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped and slapped him lightly on the arm.
“I’ll have you know that’s battery of an officer of the law!”
“Yeah, and what are you going to do about it?”
“You’ve got me there,” he admitted quietly.
He didn’t want to offend her. Instead, Jane had only been trying desperately to recreate that easy flow of conversation that they had once shared. Although it was the closest they had gotten to the light-hearted comments of the past in a long while, it still felt a little forced. As far as Jane was concerned, it only highlighted how lost he felt since she had pulled away from him. He needed her and he knew that the feeling was reciprocated. The only problem was that Lisbon just wasn’t willing to admit to such a thing.
“Have you given Mayor Lapinskas fair warning about his upcoming arrest?” Lisbon asked to break up the silence once they were in the car.
“No, why should we?”
“Because he’s a public servant; doesn’t he deserve a little respect?”
“He also burned his son to death,” Jane reminded her quickly and she flinched visibly.
“I know.”
“If we gave him warning, don’t you think he would try to evade capture?” he reasoned and she shrugged her shoulders. “He’s a dangerous man with friends in high places. Besides, it’s a Saturday and his day off. At least the arrest is going to occur in the privacy of his own home.”
“I guess,” Lisbon eventually conceded and Jane smiled. It was the first time in a while that he had managed to persuade her that his course of action was the correct one to take. “And are you sure it’s wise to let Rigsby and Van Pelt work together like this? Their relationship is against CBI policy for a reason.”
“What is it with you guys today?” Jane questioned under his breath, but kept his eyes firmly on the road. “First Cho, then you…”
“What did Cho say?”
He could feel her eyes on him and he knew she was trying to work out what Cho had spoken to him about. Jane also knew that it most likely wouldn’t take her long to figure it out either. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It’s about me, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Jane replied. If nothing else, his sudden outburst had provided him with a lead in for the conversation he had wanted to share with her. Silently, he thanked both Lisbon and Cho for giving him the ideal opportunity to thrash out this problem. They were going to be sorted before they got to the Lapinskas residence. That was something he silently vowed to himself.
"Jane..."
"This problem we have, it's affecting the whole team."
"It's nothing to do with them; it doesn't matter so long as we are doing are jobs correctly. I'm behaving professionally."
"Are you?" Jane asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Cho noticed. He's not happy."
"Oh."
Again, they fell into that awfully uncomfortable silence. Vaguely, Jane considered stopping off somewhere so that he could tackle this problem head on, without any distraction. Then, he would be able to focus entirely on Lisbon instead of splitting his attentions between her and the road. But, if he stopped, that would give her the opportunity to leave him and their issues would remain unresolved. A moving car provided no means of escape and therefore, she had no choice but to talk or at the very least, listen to what he had to say. And besides, they needed to arrest Mayor Lapinskas tonight. If he was guilty - and it seemed fairly obvious that he was, unless it was just an elaborate frame job - then there was going to be a scandal regardless. But the man probably already realized that they were out to arrest him and the last thing they wanted was for him to disappear into the ether. A man with his connections could easily do something like that.
"Why have you pulled away from me? What have I done wrong? How can I fix it?”
"You haven't done anything wrong," Lisbon whispered quietly but she didn't look at him. "I'm the problem."
"Teresa, you will never be a problem to me."
"It's not that..."
She didn't need to finish her sentence for him to be able to work out what the lingering issue was. Jane gripped the steering wheel a little more tightly and swallowed. When it came to Teresa Lisbon, the problems always started and finished with Red John. Jane knew and could understand why she would never feel safe again until he was safely locked behind bars, never to see the light of day again. Something had happened which triggered Lisbon into believing they had gotten too close. As a consequence, she had pulled away out of fear of something that might never happen. And he hated it. Her whole life had been under the control of her father. When her father had temporarily vanished, a serial killer had taken over that role. Lisbon had never been able to take control of her life for herself. That was something that he had been able to take for granted. All that thought succeeded in doing was make him realize just how unfair life had been on his consultant. And there was very little he could do to change her mindset.
"Red John," Jane breathed and Lisbon looked away.
It wasn't a surprise in the slightest that this was the crux of the issue. Lisbon spent the vast majority of her spare time working the Red John case and for good reason. It was, after all, the reason she insisted upon working with the Serious Crimes Unit. No other team would have suited her needs. Most victims of the serial killer would have been out for blood, but she insisted she merely wanted justice. Ordinarily, Minelli would have just turned around and refused, but somehow she had convinced him she was genuine. And Jane believed her too; he had to. Besides, he could see the honesty shining out of her eyes. He knew he didn't need to fear her murdering the serial killer in revenge for what he'd done to her husband and daughter.
But Jane, he knew that he would quite happily strangle him with his own bare hands, if he had half a chance to do so. The killer had blighted too many lives to deserve to live another day. And with every passing moment, he was destroying Lisbon. She didn't live; she just existed. And underneath the broken husk, Jane could see the passionate woman she once was. He had been so close to exposing it but then she had drifted away because he had taken a misstep. Now, he knew the only path to letting Lisbon be herself was to dispose of Red John in any means necessary. And once again, Jane was relieved that he had the law on his side. Not many other people who wanted to see the blood of a serial killer spilled could say that.
"You let him rule your life, Teresa. It doesn't have to be this way."
"You really don't get it, do you?" Lisbon suddenly snapped, anger flickering in her eyes. "People I know, people I lo- care about, they get hurt. I don't want to add your name to that list. Please, Jane. It's for the best."
He disagreed but that wasn't necessarily the most interesting part of her statement. Jane had noticed her stumble over a certain word and how she had immediately corrected herself. It was unlike her; in spite of her natural honesty, she still kept her cards close to her chest. She'd had to in order to convince people she was a psychic, despite her betraying eyes. And now, she used those same skills to stop herself from being hurt within the CBI. Jane had known from the offset that she didn't trust easily and that was partially because she didn't know how to trust herself. He desperately wanted to try and get her to open up more but it was too late; they had arrived at the Lapinskas residence and it was time to focus on the case in hand.
The sting to arrest Mayor Lapinskas didn’t go entirely to plan. It didn’t take long for it to transpire that the man had already attempted to flee; Lisbon was resigned to the fate of him escaping their clutches, but Jane had another hunch. He knew the mayor fairly well and it wasn’t the first time he had been involved in a case. Besides, he enjoyed his creature comforts a little too much for him to just drop everything and leave at a moment’s notice. While he requested that Lisbon call for backup, Jane started to investigate the house. Soon enough, he found a panic room installed in the cellar and after working through the top ten key codes, the door sprang open to reveal the supposedly missing mayor pointing a gun in his face. However, it didn’t take much effort to realize the thing had been decommissioned and therefore, was unloaded and the man was hauled away.
Even so, when he had passed over the man to Rigsby and reunited with Lisbon, Jane still found himself shaking a little.
“You okay?” she whispered softly as they sat in his car. He hadn’t even bothered to put the key in the ignition yet. Jane simply wasn’t ready to move.
“I’ll be fine,” he answered, but didn’t bother to add ‘which is more than can be said for you.’ Some things just didn’t need stating. “Why did you think he’d already fled the state?”
“The man killed his own son. He was spineless and only cared about saving his skin. Besides, he’s a politician; he has no soul. Why would he hang around and wait when he knew that the cops were after him?”
“True.”
“Besides, I did work the case, you know. Where have you been?” she asked.
“I’ve been following other leads and inquiries,” he replied.
“Which means you’ve been worrying about me,” she concluded.
He didn’t answer, but of course, she was right. Jane didn’t expect anything less of her. Thankfully, his need to reply was interrupted by the sharp ring of his cellphone. It was Cho; Jane frowned. He knew that his second in command would be tied up with his father for the rest of the day and therefore, he hadn’t expected to hear from him until at least the morning. Regardless, Jane answered it. At least Cho had gotten him out of an uncomfortable situation, if nothing else.
“It’s my father,” Cho said bluntly after Jane answered the call. “He’s been murdered by Red John.”
Jane’s heart sank. It was a classic case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
To Chapter Twenty Three