Russian Roulette (5/16)
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
Part Five - Life and Death
The murder of Patrick Jane’s family had sent Lisbon and her team into a tailspin. True to Red John’s style, it had happened when she had least expected it to. However, that was all the more reason for her to grow concerned. How the hell was she expected to apprehend a criminal who always appeared to be so many steps ahead of the authorities? All things considered, she was still relatively wet behind the ears. She was new to this game and she knew it.
The more she thought about it, the more she believed that Virgil Minelli had taken a risk too far when it came to giving her, Rigsby and Cho the Red John case. And even if she didn’t feel woefully inexperienced, there was still the simple fact of manpower. There was still just the three of them on the team and despite her many meetings with Minelli, it wasn’t going to change any time soon. Budgetary restrictions, he claimed. They simply didn’t have the money to pay for another agent in the unit. When they proved their worth, when they had something to show for their efforts, then maybe he would be able to justify stretching the little money the CBI had in their direction.
In other words, he wanted her to close cases and a lot of them.
And if she could close Red John? Then that would have been all the better for them.
It was almost getting to the stage where she dreaded coming into work. Everything seemed like a monumental challenge. There were the attitudes of her fellow senior agents; they mocked her at every turn. They told her to quit while she was still ahead, that no woman had ever turned into a great cop. Gaining the respect of the general public seemed twice as hard. The inherent dislike of cops was always a battle ground, and then there was the simple fact she didn’t look like a cop either. And none of the cases seemed to fall in their favor.
At the start, Minelli had said something about Patrick Jane being able to consult for the unit. Even that would have been preferable to no help at all. However, since the murder of his wife and daughter he had gone off-radar. It was like he had practically disappeared from the planet, had never really existed in the first place. Now, two months after their deaths, she had pretty much given up hope of him ever returning to the CBI. What was the point if he wouldn’t even talk to them about the deaths of his family?
She stared at the case file and scowled. It was a strange one. Nobody needed to explain to her that Red John had gone off-MO for this one. Nor did they need to point out the obvious motive. It had been that damn talk show he’d appeared on, the one which she had watched with her brother and Jackson. Patrick Jane had gone on the show and allowed his ego to be stroked. As a consequence, he’d mouthed off and made a very powerful enemy for himself. Lisbon could easily have imagined Jane being advised to talk about anything but his work with law enforcement. She could even picture him having a meeting with Minelli, with her boss giving him a list of guidelines to adhere to. But because Jane currently wasn’t officially tied to their rules, he’d seen fit to play his own game.
And the cost, in Lisbon’s honest opinion, had been far too great.
The death of his daughter still haunted her. She was just a girl of six. There had been no need for her to die in such a brutal manner. The glassy eyed stare of the young blonde child still caught her off guard. Death didn’t usually affect her quite so much, but Lisbon knew why this one did. It was because it was Red John and because she was so young. Death was still death; the perpetrator had to be found whether the victim was five or ninety five. However whenever children were involved, even Lisbon had to admit that it hit her harder than usual. The need for justice always seemed that little more heightened.
At least she had Jackson to confide in, she figured. As he worked with the CBI, in the PSU, no less, that meant she didn’t need to worry about confidentiality quite so much. He knew the basic details about Red John, enough to keep up with her, at any rate. Jack listened with the patience of a saint; he understood how and why she grew so emotionally connected to certain cases. He’d already seen many a cop become especially passionate about solving a specific murder, and particularly those involving children.
Sometimes, he accused her of getting a little too involved in her work. He told her that she needed to detach herself from it, that it would be far better for her in the long run. Lisbon knew that Jack was talking sense, but she simply couldn’t help herself. Being passionate about her work was ingrained into her very being. It was something that she knew she couldn’t change. Naturally, she had fought back when it came to these accusations, and she’d spent many a night in tears as a consequence. The frustration of work, the annoyance with him, and the emotions coursing through her veins just needed an outlet.
And sometimes, she even thought that her work would drive a wedge between the two of them. That their disagreements, especially on the subject of work, would cause irreparable damage to their relationship. It surprised her just how passionate about it she had become already. And it also surprised her that, somehow, they always managed to piece things back together again.
It was like, she could try and push him as far away as she liked, but he was still coming back to her side, regardless. If that wasn’t a sign of love, then she didn’t quite know what was.
All she could do was at least try and work on breaking down her barriers. Only then would she be able to give him the relationship that he truly deserved.
xxx
Shortly after he had murdered Patrick Jane’s family, Lisbon had accused him of having no conscience.
Of course, she didn’t know that she was talking to Red John himself, but that didn’t stop the comments from getting under his skin. It didn’t stop the incorrigible itch developing in his fingers, the desire to reach out for a knife and show her just how conscienceless he truly was.
As far as Red John was concerned, it wasn’t a lack of conscience that was his problem, but that he had too much of one.
He felt - he understood - everything. Having control over life and death itself had given him a deeper understanding of the world surrounding him. Deep down, he had half expected her to understand too. After all, he knew all too well that Lisbon had already had to kill in the line of duty. She knew what it was like to pull the trigger, to end a life. She’d had that level of control over somebody’s destiny in the past, even if she hadn’t wanted it, hadn’t craved it in the way that he did.
But she couldn’t extrapolate. Lisbon was bounded by morality, by religion and especially, by the law. Considering just how many shades of gray there were in the world, she still saw things in black and white. Murder was wrong. It had no deeper meaning than that. Oh, there were reasons behind it. Greed, vengeance, jealousy, romantic liaisons. Regardless of the reason, it was still that step too far. All life is sacred, she told him. All life is precious, all life has meaning.
As far as Red John was concerned, there was only one guarantee in everybody’s life. From the moment they were born, absolutely everybody was destined to die sooner or later.
All he did was speed up the process.
And there was always a reason behind his killings. It was an education, a learning curve. It taught relatives to understand just how important it was to make the right decision. He showed them that they should always have faith in the right people, and not to trust the ‘wrong ones’. That they shouldn’t play with things that they didn’t truly understand. That you don’t know what you had until it was gone. People needed to learn to look after precious things. They needed to nurture relationships while it was still possible. You never knew when they were going to end.
It was just that many of the people he educated learned that lesson when it was too late.
The relatives didn’t though. He always saw himself as educating them as much as he was teaching the victim themselves.
Patrick Jane was evidence of that. Unlike Lisbon, he had still managed to keep a close eye on the fake psychic. He knew exactly where he was, not that he was bothering to tell her.
Just because Jane had reacted in such an adverse way, it didn’t mean that other people no longer needed educating. That didn’t stop them from needing to learn to live, instead of simply existing. Lisbon was right about one thing: life most certainly was a gift.
But Red John knew that far too many people chose to squander it.
Like Lisbon. She had become so fixated on trying to excel at work - to apprehend criminals, himself included - that she had forgotten to live as a consequence. That was one of the many reasons he had selected her as a future victim. But he was playing the long game with her; it was the only way to make the payoff truly worth it.
To Part Six
Part Five - Life and Death
The murder of Patrick Jane’s family had sent Lisbon and her team into a tailspin. True to Red John’s style, it had happened when she had least expected it to. However, that was all the more reason for her to grow concerned. How the hell was she expected to apprehend a criminal who always appeared to be so many steps ahead of the authorities? All things considered, she was still relatively wet behind the ears. She was new to this game and she knew it.
The more she thought about it, the more she believed that Virgil Minelli had taken a risk too far when it came to giving her, Rigsby and Cho the Red John case. And even if she didn’t feel woefully inexperienced, there was still the simple fact of manpower. There was still just the three of them on the team and despite her many meetings with Minelli, it wasn’t going to change any time soon. Budgetary restrictions, he claimed. They simply didn’t have the money to pay for another agent in the unit. When they proved their worth, when they had something to show for their efforts, then maybe he would be able to justify stretching the little money the CBI had in their direction.
In other words, he wanted her to close cases and a lot of them.
And if she could close Red John? Then that would have been all the better for them.
It was almost getting to the stage where she dreaded coming into work. Everything seemed like a monumental challenge. There were the attitudes of her fellow senior agents; they mocked her at every turn. They told her to quit while she was still ahead, that no woman had ever turned into a great cop. Gaining the respect of the general public seemed twice as hard. The inherent dislike of cops was always a battle ground, and then there was the simple fact she didn’t look like a cop either. And none of the cases seemed to fall in their favor.
At the start, Minelli had said something about Patrick Jane being able to consult for the unit. Even that would have been preferable to no help at all. However, since the murder of his wife and daughter he had gone off-radar. It was like he had practically disappeared from the planet, had never really existed in the first place. Now, two months after their deaths, she had pretty much given up hope of him ever returning to the CBI. What was the point if he wouldn’t even talk to them about the deaths of his family?
She stared at the case file and scowled. It was a strange one. Nobody needed to explain to her that Red John had gone off-MO for this one. Nor did they need to point out the obvious motive. It had been that damn talk show he’d appeared on, the one which she had watched with her brother and Jackson. Patrick Jane had gone on the show and allowed his ego to be stroked. As a consequence, he’d mouthed off and made a very powerful enemy for himself. Lisbon could easily have imagined Jane being advised to talk about anything but his work with law enforcement. She could even picture him having a meeting with Minelli, with her boss giving him a list of guidelines to adhere to. But because Jane currently wasn’t officially tied to their rules, he’d seen fit to play his own game.
And the cost, in Lisbon’s honest opinion, had been far too great.
The death of his daughter still haunted her. She was just a girl of six. There had been no need for her to die in such a brutal manner. The glassy eyed stare of the young blonde child still caught her off guard. Death didn’t usually affect her quite so much, but Lisbon knew why this one did. It was because it was Red John and because she was so young. Death was still death; the perpetrator had to be found whether the victim was five or ninety five. However whenever children were involved, even Lisbon had to admit that it hit her harder than usual. The need for justice always seemed that little more heightened.
At least she had Jackson to confide in, she figured. As he worked with the CBI, in the PSU, no less, that meant she didn’t need to worry about confidentiality quite so much. He knew the basic details about Red John, enough to keep up with her, at any rate. Jack listened with the patience of a saint; he understood how and why she grew so emotionally connected to certain cases. He’d already seen many a cop become especially passionate about solving a specific murder, and particularly those involving children.
Sometimes, he accused her of getting a little too involved in her work. He told her that she needed to detach herself from it, that it would be far better for her in the long run. Lisbon knew that Jack was talking sense, but she simply couldn’t help herself. Being passionate about her work was ingrained into her very being. It was something that she knew she couldn’t change. Naturally, she had fought back when it came to these accusations, and she’d spent many a night in tears as a consequence. The frustration of work, the annoyance with him, and the emotions coursing through her veins just needed an outlet.
And sometimes, she even thought that her work would drive a wedge between the two of them. That their disagreements, especially on the subject of work, would cause irreparable damage to their relationship. It surprised her just how passionate about it she had become already. And it also surprised her that, somehow, they always managed to piece things back together again.
It was like, she could try and push him as far away as she liked, but he was still coming back to her side, regardless. If that wasn’t a sign of love, then she didn’t quite know what was.
All she could do was at least try and work on breaking down her barriers. Only then would she be able to give him the relationship that he truly deserved.
xxx
Shortly after he had murdered Patrick Jane’s family, Lisbon had accused him of having no conscience.
Of course, she didn’t know that she was talking to Red John himself, but that didn’t stop the comments from getting under his skin. It didn’t stop the incorrigible itch developing in his fingers, the desire to reach out for a knife and show her just how conscienceless he truly was.
As far as Red John was concerned, it wasn’t a lack of conscience that was his problem, but that he had too much of one.
He felt - he understood - everything. Having control over life and death itself had given him a deeper understanding of the world surrounding him. Deep down, he had half expected her to understand too. After all, he knew all too well that Lisbon had already had to kill in the line of duty. She knew what it was like to pull the trigger, to end a life. She’d had that level of control over somebody’s destiny in the past, even if she hadn’t wanted it, hadn’t craved it in the way that he did.
But she couldn’t extrapolate. Lisbon was bounded by morality, by religion and especially, by the law. Considering just how many shades of gray there were in the world, she still saw things in black and white. Murder was wrong. It had no deeper meaning than that. Oh, there were reasons behind it. Greed, vengeance, jealousy, romantic liaisons. Regardless of the reason, it was still that step too far. All life is sacred, she told him. All life is precious, all life has meaning.
As far as Red John was concerned, there was only one guarantee in everybody’s life. From the moment they were born, absolutely everybody was destined to die sooner or later.
All he did was speed up the process.
And there was always a reason behind his killings. It was an education, a learning curve. It taught relatives to understand just how important it was to make the right decision. He showed them that they should always have faith in the right people, and not to trust the ‘wrong ones’. That they shouldn’t play with things that they didn’t truly understand. That you don’t know what you had until it was gone. People needed to learn to look after precious things. They needed to nurture relationships while it was still possible. You never knew when they were going to end.
It was just that many of the people he educated learned that lesson when it was too late.
The relatives didn’t though. He always saw himself as educating them as much as he was teaching the victim themselves.
Patrick Jane was evidence of that. Unlike Lisbon, he had still managed to keep a close eye on the fake psychic. He knew exactly where he was, not that he was bothering to tell her.
Just because Jane had reacted in such an adverse way, it didn’t mean that other people no longer needed educating. That didn’t stop them from needing to learn to live, instead of simply existing. Lisbon was right about one thing: life most certainly was a gift.
But Red John knew that far too many people chose to squander it.
Like Lisbon. She had become so fixated on trying to excel at work - to apprehend criminals, himself included - that she had forgotten to live as a consequence. That was one of the many reasons he had selected her as a future victim. But he was playing the long game with her; it was the only way to make the payoff truly worth it.
To Part Six