Follow The Yellow Brick Road (10/11)
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine
“John, come on, answer your damn phone.”
She tapped her foot irritably as she pressed the cell phone to her ears. It wasn’t her work one; Lisbon wouldn’t dare give him that number. Unlike certain people she knew, she didn’t have that kind of bravado. Besides, it kind of felt like it would have been tempting fate if she had done so. No, instead she had bought herself a phone especially to use when contacting John. Whenever it wasn’t in use, she kept it firmly locked in her safe, along with the other items she didn’t want anyone else knowing about. Jane was right; it was a logical place to look for LaRoche’s deep, dark secret. After all, it was where she kept all of hers.
Annoyed, she slammed the device back down and glared at it as if it were at fault. She knew that there could have been any number of reasons for him to be unable to answer, but still she was annoyed. John always crept up on her when she least wanted it and least expected it and yet, when she wanted him, he was always virtually impossible to contact. Half the reason she had given him a phone last time she had seen him was for emergencies like this. And yet, it was proving to be a complete waste of time and resources.
Lisbon hadn’t been sleeping well since Madeleine Hightower had been named California’s Most Wanted, even above Red John himself. She wasn’t sure if she could hack another restless night and that was why she was running down the credit on her pay as you go cell phone. With Jane acting stranger than ever, she needed to know whether or not Hightower had been in league with John. If she had, it would have explained Jane’s behavior around the ex-Senior Special Agent. And if not, it meant that she had just become corrupted all on her own.
Not that Lisbon was in any place to judge and she knew it.
If her hunch was correct, then Lisbon knew she had every right to be concerned. How many cops within the CBI walls were under Red John’s thrall? She had always assumed that she was the only one, that everybody else was as honest as their intentions had been the day they signed up to join the Academy. How many more lies were wrapped within lies? And how come all these other moles and associates were expendable but she, Teresa Lisbon, was not?
She shook her head; she already knew the answer to the last one.
Reluctantly, she placed the cell phone back in the safe and locked it. There was only so many times she could attempt to call him without ending up furious with him and the world. Instead, she knew it was about time to go and at least try to sleep again. If she didn’t attempt to do so, then one day, she knew she would inevitably end up with sleeping patterns as bad as Jane’s.
xxx
“I’m going to do it. I’m going to turn myself in,” John said with a resolve that sounded like it couldn’t be shaken.
“Really?” Lisbon questioned, completely taken off guard. “Do… do you want me to…”
“No. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
Lisbon wasn’t sure whether or not it was kind of him to do that. If she arrested him, then naturally, it would make her career. However, the very idea of putting handcuffs around his wrists made her feel uncomfortable. Not because she would have been arresting him, but because of where it would inevitably lead. Once behind bars, she would never have an excuse to see him again. Even watching his execution, so that he wouldn’t be alone when he died, would be hard to justify to everybody else. It wasn’t the done thing for cops to watch those they’d caught be killed. Once the case was closed and handed over to the DA, that was it. They had done their job and it was in the hands of the lawyers to decide if they were guilty and if so, what their punishment should be.
“Don’t worry, nobody knows - or will know - of our connection. I’ve made sure of that.”
“Don’t you think I have too?” she answered back, annoyed that he didn’t believe she had the same foresight as him.
“Your mind doesn’t work like mine. Or Mr. Jane’s, for that matter. I see things that you don’t.”
“Whatever.”
“You don’t deserve to go to jail.”
“Don’t I?”
“No,” he said firmly.
They fell into silence. Lisbon glanced warily at the other patrons and the bar staff. None of them seemed to have overheard their conversation. They were just getting on with their lives and expecting that she and John were doing much the same. Just a couple, having a quiet drinking together, somewhere off the beaten track.
“Before I do stop, I have a favor to ask of you,” he said quietly.
“It seems like all I’m ever doing is handing out favors.”
“I know, and this is the last one. I promise.”
“Fine,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “What is it this time?”
“I don’t want you there when your team arrests me. Send Cho or Rigsby. Go stay with Ms. Hightower and her kids. You’ll be safe there,” he stated lightly and she nodded slightly in response. “I owe an explanation to Patrick Jane.”
Almost immediately, she choked slightly on her vodka tonic. John had been the one to request the meeting in a dive of a bar and Lisbon had immediately obliged. After all, the text message had come out of the blue. Lisbon had spent months - literally - attempting to contact him, to no avail. It had been getting to the stage where she was beginning to assume the worst. That he had gotten too cocky for his own good and somebody unknown had killed him. Or that a victim had managed to overpower him. There was also the idea that a rival, a new serial killer waiting in the wings to expose him - or her - self, had killed him off as their first victim. Whichever way, she had been toying with the possibilities of his death, as much as it hurt her to do so. Hearing from him again had been a blessed relief.
“You do?”
“Yes. I think he’s learned his lesson.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I don’t. There’s one thing - one person - he’s been fixated on all these years and you know it.”
“Exactly. He’s living a half-life. One that not even you can snap him out of and that’s saying something.”
She didn’t need John to tell her that one. In a way, she was glad that John had finally seen just how destructive his behavior had been on Jane. Instead of teaching him lessons in humility and honesty, it had only sent him spiraling down a path to losing his humanity. It may have taken longer than she had ever intended, but she was quietly pleased that John had finally seen the light. All Lisbon could do was hope that Jane would come to the same realizations too, but deep down, she knew that was less likely.
“Don’t flatter me.”
“Good grief, you can’t take a compliment, even now?”
“Is this really the time for jokes?” she said with a scowl.
“Life’s a game, Teresa, you need to lighten up.”
Lisbon let out a hollow laugh. If life was a game, she wasn’t quite sure which one. Possibly hangman, as that was reliant on making the right decisions to prevent your own death. And what with toeing the fine line between the law and a life of crime, it was certainly stressful enough to justify a game where the outcome was either life or death. Even now, she couldn’t be sure whether or not she would be one of the lucky ones.
It mostly depended on how John’s intended meeting with Jane went.
“Oh please. Are you sure about this?”
“As sure as I can be.”
“He might kill you. If I‘m not there…”
“You could say the same to him, I imagine.”
“I could,” she echoed, with a heavy sigh. “It shouldn’t have come to this.”
“I know. But it did.”
xxx
She was still reeling about the discussion she had just shared with John when she arrived back home.
Deep down, she knew that this was what she had always wanted. To be given that proverbial free pass, to be finally allowed to live her life as she truly wanted. Red John was no longer a noose around her neck, threatening to hang her out to dry at any given moment. It was (almost) over, albeit many years after it should have been. In theory, the burden should have been lifted from her shoulders. She should have felt happier, freer than she had done for almost the entirety of her adult life.
However, theory and reality never went hand in hand.
Lisbon understood the repercussions of what John had said to her. It was entirely possible that she also understood them better than he did.
Briefly, she wondered if she should hand herself in as well. Even though she had worked tirelessly in California for years and had solved many major cases, she still felt indebted to society. That was a feeling that she suspected she would never be able to shake unless she did something about it. And the only something that she could think of doing that would ease her guilt was hand herself over. Yes, she would lose everything she had worked hard to achieve. The respect of her coworkers, the comfortable lifestyle she had come to enjoy, the security and sense of power she wielded as a cop. But she also knew that the sacrifice could be worth it, for her own peace of mind.
Then again, John had effectively said he would die for her. She hated seeing him so despondent about life, especially considering he had always been one of the most intense people she had ever known. Lisbon had always suspected that he had somehow managed to live ten lives in the space of one; it was always the impression he’d given her. Not that he ever spoke about personal feelings after her father’s death. Ever since then, though close, they had also maintained their distance. And now, he just appeared to have had enough and yet been convinced she still had more to give. When she had met up with him, she had complained about being the one handing out all the favors, when really, this was the biggest one she could have ever asked of him.
Was she really willing to put herself in jail when he didn’t want her anywhere near one?
Lisbon shook her head slightly. She was being ridiculous. This was something she had been dealing with all of her life. It made little sense to have a crisis of confidence now, just because one of her dearest friends had given up.
xxx
She winced as she walked through the corridors of the CBI headquarters.
Her doctors had advised her to take at least another week off work, but she couldn’t wait. She needed answers and fast. Lying in bed and moping wasn’t exactly productive. If anything, it was making things all the worse. For a start, Lisbon was easily bored when she didn’t have something constructive to do. Then, there was the additional stress of nobody telling her anything but the bare bones about their cases. She even got the impression that they only told her the minimum amount of information simply to appease her. Instead, most people fobbed her off with tea and sympathy, which just infuriated her further. Just because she was injured, it didn’t make her an invalid who was incapable of doing anything useful.
Lisbon had heard about Jane shooting the man suspected of being Red John within hours of waking from the general anesthetic. Naturally, that had been playing on her mind constantly and she had started trying desperately to call him from the moment she was back home. Unsurprisingly, there was no answer and she automatically thought the worst. It wasn’t the first time she had feared for John’s death, but this time around, there was a real and palpable threat in the form of Patrick Jane. She had never doubted Jane’s conviction to kill Red John, however much she had tried to convince him not to.
What had surprised her was that Craig O’Laughlin had been a mole for John. And not only that, but he had shot her. Admittedly, it hadn’t been a shot with the intention to kill, but that wasn’t the point. John had always promised her that he wouldn’t hurt her again, but like with Rebecca killing Bosco, O’Laughlin had only been acting on his instruction. This was why she hated all the secrecy and lies. If she had known that O’Laughlin was working for John, then she would have been more prepared for the shoot out. But then, she also would have worked out that John was nearing the end of his tether and beginning to give up. After all, he hadn’t personally killed another victim since those kids in Salinger Mill and kidnapping Kristina Frye.
Her nerves multiplied tenfold as she entered the elevator to head up to their floor. Once she alighted, Lisbon found herself having to head straight to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach. She hadn’t even realized just how unwell the situation was making her feel. But still, the next few minutes were going to give her confirmation of whether or not John was dead, it was only natural that it had some kind of effect on her. Lisbon also knew that if anyone had seen her, she could always have blamed it on the cocktail of drugs she was being forced to take to lessen the pain in her shoulder.
When she finally reached the bullpen, Van Pelt greeted her with a warm embrace. The youngest member of the Serious Crimes Unit looked pathetically sad, but there was little she could do about it. She had genuinely believed that O’Laughlin had fallen in love with her and that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Instead, she had helped shoot him to death in order to save their lives. Lisbon wished she could have something to say about the sorry situation, but words failed her. Then again, Van Pelt wasn’t in the mood for small talk and instead immediately handed her a manila folder.
Carefully, Lisbon sat down on the leather couch in the bullpen. Holding her breath, she flicked through a couple of witness reports before she got to what she was looking for. Photographs of the crime scene and the deceased.
When she saw it wasn’t John, she let out an inaudible sigh of relief. That meant he was probably still alive. Briefly, she wished she was alone, that she could laugh at the situation. Of course John wouldn’t have actually met Jane face to face. He always managed to find a loop-hole, one way or another.
xxx
Lisbon only visited Jane once while he was behind bars. He was cold and aloof with her, but it didn’t bother her too much. Jane seemed calm and at peace with himself. The emotions were foreign on his features and Lisbon wasn’t sure whether or not she liked it. She had grown used to the element of danger hidden behind Jane’s smile; it was half of the reason that made him so alluring. Not that she would ever admit that to anybody else; she sometimes had a hard time admitting it to herself as it was.
When he was bailed, he came straight back to the CBI headquarters. It surprised her that LaRoche had even allowed him within fifty feet of the building, never mind to actually consult on cases, considering he had a murder charge hanging over his head. Then again, it was also an ideal way to keep an eye on Jane, to make sure that he didn’t skip town or do anything stupid. She wondered what legal and political logistics Jane’s reappointment currently held, but quickly brushed them aside. It wasn’t her job to worry about things like that; all she had to do was catch criminals and that was it.
At first, she was pleased to have him around again. Lisbon had missed him, especially during her recuperation. The last time she had been injured on the job, Jane had made sure she had been well stimulated and kept her entertained. This time, all she had was paperwork from cold cases. At least it was in the past now and she was fully healed.
However, unlike her shoulder, her relationship with Jane was different. He tended to avoid her as much as he could, refused to make eye contact with her. Instead of bothering Lisbon in her office, he opted to spend time with the others in the bullpen. Even when working cases, he was different. For some reason, he was happy enough to stick to her boundaries and do everything by the book. He didn’t actively seek out trouble, nor did he bother to cause any. And yet, he always seemed to manage to have one eye on her, especially when she wasn’t expecting him to. That was particularly disconcerting.
She didn’t like it. Once again, it made her nervous. But equally, she knew it could have simply been the effect that jail had had on him. He’d spent longer in there than he had the first time around and places like that could change people. Her brother, Tommy, had been through the judicial system and came out a different person entirely. The last time she spoke to him, she’d discovered that he was working at the same care home where Joseph lived. At least one important person in her life had managed to come out right, in the end.
Somehow, when it came to Jane, she knew that was still a flaky argument, however.
To Part Eleven
“John, come on, answer your damn phone.”
She tapped her foot irritably as she pressed the cell phone to her ears. It wasn’t her work one; Lisbon wouldn’t dare give him that number. Unlike certain people she knew, she didn’t have that kind of bravado. Besides, it kind of felt like it would have been tempting fate if she had done so. No, instead she had bought herself a phone especially to use when contacting John. Whenever it wasn’t in use, she kept it firmly locked in her safe, along with the other items she didn’t want anyone else knowing about. Jane was right; it was a logical place to look for LaRoche’s deep, dark secret. After all, it was where she kept all of hers.
Annoyed, she slammed the device back down and glared at it as if it were at fault. She knew that there could have been any number of reasons for him to be unable to answer, but still she was annoyed. John always crept up on her when she least wanted it and least expected it and yet, when she wanted him, he was always virtually impossible to contact. Half the reason she had given him a phone last time she had seen him was for emergencies like this. And yet, it was proving to be a complete waste of time and resources.
Lisbon hadn’t been sleeping well since Madeleine Hightower had been named California’s Most Wanted, even above Red John himself. She wasn’t sure if she could hack another restless night and that was why she was running down the credit on her pay as you go cell phone. With Jane acting stranger than ever, she needed to know whether or not Hightower had been in league with John. If she had, it would have explained Jane’s behavior around the ex-Senior Special Agent. And if not, it meant that she had just become corrupted all on her own.
Not that Lisbon was in any place to judge and she knew it.
If her hunch was correct, then Lisbon knew she had every right to be concerned. How many cops within the CBI walls were under Red John’s thrall? She had always assumed that she was the only one, that everybody else was as honest as their intentions had been the day they signed up to join the Academy. How many more lies were wrapped within lies? And how come all these other moles and associates were expendable but she, Teresa Lisbon, was not?
She shook her head; she already knew the answer to the last one.
Reluctantly, she placed the cell phone back in the safe and locked it. There was only so many times she could attempt to call him without ending up furious with him and the world. Instead, she knew it was about time to go and at least try to sleep again. If she didn’t attempt to do so, then one day, she knew she would inevitably end up with sleeping patterns as bad as Jane’s.
xxx
“I’m going to do it. I’m going to turn myself in,” John said with a resolve that sounded like it couldn’t be shaken.
“Really?” Lisbon questioned, completely taken off guard. “Do… do you want me to…”
“No. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
Lisbon wasn’t sure whether or not it was kind of him to do that. If she arrested him, then naturally, it would make her career. However, the very idea of putting handcuffs around his wrists made her feel uncomfortable. Not because she would have been arresting him, but because of where it would inevitably lead. Once behind bars, she would never have an excuse to see him again. Even watching his execution, so that he wouldn’t be alone when he died, would be hard to justify to everybody else. It wasn’t the done thing for cops to watch those they’d caught be killed. Once the case was closed and handed over to the DA, that was it. They had done their job and it was in the hands of the lawyers to decide if they were guilty and if so, what their punishment should be.
“Don’t worry, nobody knows - or will know - of our connection. I’ve made sure of that.”
“Don’t you think I have too?” she answered back, annoyed that he didn’t believe she had the same foresight as him.
“Your mind doesn’t work like mine. Or Mr. Jane’s, for that matter. I see things that you don’t.”
“Whatever.”
“You don’t deserve to go to jail.”
“Don’t I?”
“No,” he said firmly.
They fell into silence. Lisbon glanced warily at the other patrons and the bar staff. None of them seemed to have overheard their conversation. They were just getting on with their lives and expecting that she and John were doing much the same. Just a couple, having a quiet drinking together, somewhere off the beaten track.
“Before I do stop, I have a favor to ask of you,” he said quietly.
“It seems like all I’m ever doing is handing out favors.”
“I know, and this is the last one. I promise.”
“Fine,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “What is it this time?”
“I don’t want you there when your team arrests me. Send Cho or Rigsby. Go stay with Ms. Hightower and her kids. You’ll be safe there,” he stated lightly and she nodded slightly in response. “I owe an explanation to Patrick Jane.”
Almost immediately, she choked slightly on her vodka tonic. John had been the one to request the meeting in a dive of a bar and Lisbon had immediately obliged. After all, the text message had come out of the blue. Lisbon had spent months - literally - attempting to contact him, to no avail. It had been getting to the stage where she was beginning to assume the worst. That he had gotten too cocky for his own good and somebody unknown had killed him. Or that a victim had managed to overpower him. There was also the idea that a rival, a new serial killer waiting in the wings to expose him - or her - self, had killed him off as their first victim. Whichever way, she had been toying with the possibilities of his death, as much as it hurt her to do so. Hearing from him again had been a blessed relief.
“You do?”
“Yes. I think he’s learned his lesson.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You don’t?”
“No, I don’t. There’s one thing - one person - he’s been fixated on all these years and you know it.”
“Exactly. He’s living a half-life. One that not even you can snap him out of and that’s saying something.”
She didn’t need John to tell her that one. In a way, she was glad that John had finally seen just how destructive his behavior had been on Jane. Instead of teaching him lessons in humility and honesty, it had only sent him spiraling down a path to losing his humanity. It may have taken longer than she had ever intended, but she was quietly pleased that John had finally seen the light. All Lisbon could do was hope that Jane would come to the same realizations too, but deep down, she knew that was less likely.
“Don’t flatter me.”
“Good grief, you can’t take a compliment, even now?”
“Is this really the time for jokes?” she said with a scowl.
“Life’s a game, Teresa, you need to lighten up.”
Lisbon let out a hollow laugh. If life was a game, she wasn’t quite sure which one. Possibly hangman, as that was reliant on making the right decisions to prevent your own death. And what with toeing the fine line between the law and a life of crime, it was certainly stressful enough to justify a game where the outcome was either life or death. Even now, she couldn’t be sure whether or not she would be one of the lucky ones.
It mostly depended on how John’s intended meeting with Jane went.
“Oh please. Are you sure about this?”
“As sure as I can be.”
“He might kill you. If I‘m not there…”
“You could say the same to him, I imagine.”
“I could,” she echoed, with a heavy sigh. “It shouldn’t have come to this.”
“I know. But it did.”
xxx
She was still reeling about the discussion she had just shared with John when she arrived back home.
Deep down, she knew that this was what she had always wanted. To be given that proverbial free pass, to be finally allowed to live her life as she truly wanted. Red John was no longer a noose around her neck, threatening to hang her out to dry at any given moment. It was (almost) over, albeit many years after it should have been. In theory, the burden should have been lifted from her shoulders. She should have felt happier, freer than she had done for almost the entirety of her adult life.
However, theory and reality never went hand in hand.
Lisbon understood the repercussions of what John had said to her. It was entirely possible that she also understood them better than he did.
Briefly, she wondered if she should hand herself in as well. Even though she had worked tirelessly in California for years and had solved many major cases, she still felt indebted to society. That was a feeling that she suspected she would never be able to shake unless she did something about it. And the only something that she could think of doing that would ease her guilt was hand herself over. Yes, she would lose everything she had worked hard to achieve. The respect of her coworkers, the comfortable lifestyle she had come to enjoy, the security and sense of power she wielded as a cop. But she also knew that the sacrifice could be worth it, for her own peace of mind.
Then again, John had effectively said he would die for her. She hated seeing him so despondent about life, especially considering he had always been one of the most intense people she had ever known. Lisbon had always suspected that he had somehow managed to live ten lives in the space of one; it was always the impression he’d given her. Not that he ever spoke about personal feelings after her father’s death. Ever since then, though close, they had also maintained their distance. And now, he just appeared to have had enough and yet been convinced she still had more to give. When she had met up with him, she had complained about being the one handing out all the favors, when really, this was the biggest one she could have ever asked of him.
Was she really willing to put herself in jail when he didn’t want her anywhere near one?
Lisbon shook her head slightly. She was being ridiculous. This was something she had been dealing with all of her life. It made little sense to have a crisis of confidence now, just because one of her dearest friends had given up.
xxx
She winced as she walked through the corridors of the CBI headquarters.
Her doctors had advised her to take at least another week off work, but she couldn’t wait. She needed answers and fast. Lying in bed and moping wasn’t exactly productive. If anything, it was making things all the worse. For a start, Lisbon was easily bored when she didn’t have something constructive to do. Then, there was the additional stress of nobody telling her anything but the bare bones about their cases. She even got the impression that they only told her the minimum amount of information simply to appease her. Instead, most people fobbed her off with tea and sympathy, which just infuriated her further. Just because she was injured, it didn’t make her an invalid who was incapable of doing anything useful.
Lisbon had heard about Jane shooting the man suspected of being Red John within hours of waking from the general anesthetic. Naturally, that had been playing on her mind constantly and she had started trying desperately to call him from the moment she was back home. Unsurprisingly, there was no answer and she automatically thought the worst. It wasn’t the first time she had feared for John’s death, but this time around, there was a real and palpable threat in the form of Patrick Jane. She had never doubted Jane’s conviction to kill Red John, however much she had tried to convince him not to.
What had surprised her was that Craig O’Laughlin had been a mole for John. And not only that, but he had shot her. Admittedly, it hadn’t been a shot with the intention to kill, but that wasn’t the point. John had always promised her that he wouldn’t hurt her again, but like with Rebecca killing Bosco, O’Laughlin had only been acting on his instruction. This was why she hated all the secrecy and lies. If she had known that O’Laughlin was working for John, then she would have been more prepared for the shoot out. But then, she also would have worked out that John was nearing the end of his tether and beginning to give up. After all, he hadn’t personally killed another victim since those kids in Salinger Mill and kidnapping Kristina Frye.
Her nerves multiplied tenfold as she entered the elevator to head up to their floor. Once she alighted, Lisbon found herself having to head straight to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach. She hadn’t even realized just how unwell the situation was making her feel. But still, the next few minutes were going to give her confirmation of whether or not John was dead, it was only natural that it had some kind of effect on her. Lisbon also knew that if anyone had seen her, she could always have blamed it on the cocktail of drugs she was being forced to take to lessen the pain in her shoulder.
When she finally reached the bullpen, Van Pelt greeted her with a warm embrace. The youngest member of the Serious Crimes Unit looked pathetically sad, but there was little she could do about it. She had genuinely believed that O’Laughlin had fallen in love with her and that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Instead, she had helped shoot him to death in order to save their lives. Lisbon wished she could have something to say about the sorry situation, but words failed her. Then again, Van Pelt wasn’t in the mood for small talk and instead immediately handed her a manila folder.
Carefully, Lisbon sat down on the leather couch in the bullpen. Holding her breath, she flicked through a couple of witness reports before she got to what she was looking for. Photographs of the crime scene and the deceased.
When she saw it wasn’t John, she let out an inaudible sigh of relief. That meant he was probably still alive. Briefly, she wished she was alone, that she could laugh at the situation. Of course John wouldn’t have actually met Jane face to face. He always managed to find a loop-hole, one way or another.
xxx
Lisbon only visited Jane once while he was behind bars. He was cold and aloof with her, but it didn’t bother her too much. Jane seemed calm and at peace with himself. The emotions were foreign on his features and Lisbon wasn’t sure whether or not she liked it. She had grown used to the element of danger hidden behind Jane’s smile; it was half of the reason that made him so alluring. Not that she would ever admit that to anybody else; she sometimes had a hard time admitting it to herself as it was.
When he was bailed, he came straight back to the CBI headquarters. It surprised her that LaRoche had even allowed him within fifty feet of the building, never mind to actually consult on cases, considering he had a murder charge hanging over his head. Then again, it was also an ideal way to keep an eye on Jane, to make sure that he didn’t skip town or do anything stupid. She wondered what legal and political logistics Jane’s reappointment currently held, but quickly brushed them aside. It wasn’t her job to worry about things like that; all she had to do was catch criminals and that was it.
At first, she was pleased to have him around again. Lisbon had missed him, especially during her recuperation. The last time she had been injured on the job, Jane had made sure she had been well stimulated and kept her entertained. This time, all she had was paperwork from cold cases. At least it was in the past now and she was fully healed.
However, unlike her shoulder, her relationship with Jane was different. He tended to avoid her as much as he could, refused to make eye contact with her. Instead of bothering Lisbon in her office, he opted to spend time with the others in the bullpen. Even when working cases, he was different. For some reason, he was happy enough to stick to her boundaries and do everything by the book. He didn’t actively seek out trouble, nor did he bother to cause any. And yet, he always seemed to manage to have one eye on her, especially when she wasn’t expecting him to. That was particularly disconcerting.
She didn’t like it. Once again, it made her nervous. But equally, she knew it could have simply been the effect that jail had had on him. He’d spent longer in there than he had the first time around and places like that could change people. Her brother, Tommy, had been through the judicial system and came out a different person entirely. The last time she spoke to him, she’d discovered that he was working at the same care home where Joseph lived. At least one important person in her life had managed to come out right, in the end.
Somehow, when it came to Jane, she knew that was still a flaky argument, however.
To Part Eleven