"Red Window" - Chapter 19
Title: Red Window
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own “The Mentalist” or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: R (to be safe)
Summary: Sequel to “Suffering is the Best Punishment”. With Lisbon gone, Jane leaves CBI to set out to find her and to kill Red John. He won’t let Red John kill his family again.
Warning: adult themes
Chapter 19 - “Christmas Painted Red”
Author’s Note: Happy Christmas Eve!!!!
Suffering is the Best Punishment Trailer - http: //www.megavideo.com/?v=Q581AW2H
............................
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.
Stones have been known to move and trees to speak;
Augurs and understood relations have
By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night?”
- William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
Ketchum, ID
The recon team took a lot longer than he’d expected. Jane had thought that they’d take ten minutes; the team took closer to an hour. He stood when everyone else did and made his way over to where Agent Clark and Hightower stood. He stood back with Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby.
“We started at the back where the isolated building is,” the recon leader said. He pointed to where it was on the property map they had posted. “The barn is empty, doesn’t look like it’s used often.”
“Did you test the blood?” Clark asked.
The recon leader nodded. “It’s definitely human, not animal. There’s a trail of blood that leads from the house to that smiley face. Whoever left it was most likely injured.”
“Can you guess from what you saw exactly how bad the wound was?” Hightower asked.
“I wouldn’t say bad, Ma’am, but I am recommending we have two ambulances and some EMTs standing by,” he said.
Clark nodded.
“Why?” Jane spoke up. If he thought it was just a minor injury then there was no need for so many ambulances. He could see having one on standby as a precaution.
“Please let me finish. I’ll explain it all,” the recon leader requested.
He was irritated, but Jane complied. Jane watched as Clark went off to use his phone to call in the medical help that was requested. So, he stayed quiet and waited for the rest to be explained. He didn’t want to be responsible for delaying their extraction.
“The garage is detached from the house. It holds a single car,” he said as he pointed to the building on the map. “No one’s in there. When we go to raid the main building, I suggest that we secure the garage door.”
Jane tried to stay patient. It wasn’t easy. He wanted to scream for the recon leader to get on with it. He wanted to know why they were ordering two ambulances. He wanted to know if they’d seen anything useful. He wanted to know if Lisbon was safe.
When we surveyed the house, we found the child in the front room watching television,” he said as he pointed out the room on the house plans that were posted. “This room,” he said as he paused. “It’s the one that has a weird red window pane. We found a smiley face on the wall along with a pile of towels and women’s clothing covered in blood piled on the dresser. No one is inside that room, though.”
Red window.
The house with the red window.
“This room with the red window,’” Jane spoke up. Red window. Lisbon had included that on a postcard. She was here. They were close. “Was the face draw in blood?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“It looked like pink lipstick,” he said and then continued. “The room across from it is empty too. There’s an adult male and female in the back room.”
“There an immediate danger?” Hightower asked.
“No that we saw. I just like to be prepared, Ma’am,” the recon leader said. “There was enough blood to be concerned. We didn’t see weapons, but like I said, we like to be prepared.”
“So, we’ll pull out the girl first,” Clark spoke up. “The recon team will go in first again just to ensure no one’s moved. Team one, you’ll be on extracting the girl.”
They’d been broken into teams while they’d waited on the recon team to return. Hightower was team one. He and the others made up teams two and three. They were to go in after Lisbon and Simon. But that meant waiting. Jane really didn’t want to play the waiting game. It felt horrible since they were so close.
But the blood nagged at him. The blood trail. The blood drawn face in the snow. The bloody clothing. The fact that they believed that the face drawn on the bedroom wall in lipstick gave him some solace, but at the same time the fear and dread welled up. He’d seen too many Red John cases. He’d seen the victims, not just from pictures but he’d stared down at their dead lifeless eyes as they stared back up at him. He didn’t want to go in there and have green eyes staring up at him in that same fashion.
He couldn’t bear it.
“We head up there in five minutes,” Clark said. “Recon team, you have a go to re-scout the main building.”
Jane watched as the recon team scurried off. He kept with the others. They were all putting on their vests and he found one being shoved at him. Jane took it and started to put it on. He was sure that it was just standard procedure. He wasn’t going to be carrying a gun, but technically they didn’t know if Simon had a gun or guns in there. The last thing they needed was for anyone to be shot.
“You okay?”
He looked up to see Van Pelt along with Rigsby and Cho staring at him. She was so concerned all the time. He appreciated it, but right now, he felt like everyone’s concern should be with Lisbon and Kaydance Millary. “I’m fine, thank you though, Grace,” he said as politely as he could manage. He knew his voice was quieter than normal, but he was thinking about what would be happening. He wasn’t really concentrating.
“He’ll be fine,” Cho said.
“In an hour, we’ll have Lisbon back and the girl. Two cases solved. And we’ll still have her back for Christmas,” Rigsby said. “I vote for getting home as soon as possible. We may be able to still get home for dinner.”
“No, the last flight out of here left about thirty minutes ago,” Cho said. “We’re spending Christmas in Idaho.”
“At least it’s a white Christmas?” Van Pelt offered.
“At least we’ll all be together,” Jane said. He thought that that was the most important thing. “Even if it’s Christmas spent eating Chinese food in a hotel room. We’ll be together and that’s what really counts.” And it was true. None of it was going to matter if they didn’t have Lisbon with them.
“You’re right,” Van Pelt agreed with a smile.
“Not sure about the Chinese,” Cho said.
Jane just smiled brightly at that. “Well, I think we’ll let Lisbon choose.” He didn’t care what they ate as long as they were all together.
The radio crackled to life. The recon team relayed that everyone in the house was still in the same rooms. Jane looked towards Agent Clark for the word for them to go. It was now. Now was the time where the waiting was finally over and they were going to go up to the house. He’d be just several yards from Lisbon.
“Let’s head up there,” Clark spoke up.
As Jane looked around, he noticed that everyone had vests on. They pretty much were all uniform. They were a navy blue with yellow letters that said FBI. He figured that it was more of a hassle for them to have to bring the ones that said CBI for the team when they were travelling by plane. You would think that you could bring on as many carry-ons being with law enforcements, but you still had to adhere to all of TSA’s and the airline’s rules. He thought that that was still kind of silly.
Though FBI or CBI or nothing. None of the yellow letters mattered. All that mattered was what they’d do next.
He kept close to his team. Hightower was much father ahead of them, but Jane didn’t care. She was there to make sure that Kaydance Millary got out without any problems and then that case would be done with. Hightower would be happy, possibly happy enough to ignore their infraction? Jane wasn’t sure. Technically, they were solving two cases and bringing an agent home and making a senator happy.
So, they headed across the highway and to the Callahan property line. They hit the snowy hill and Jane wondered if he was standing where Lisbon had at one point. He was relieved that at least it wasn’t snowing. He’d heard Clark discussing it. If it had been snowing, they’d apparently most likely have re-scheduled the raid. So, Jane was quite thankful that the sky hadn’t decided to dump fresh powder. Also, he really wasn’t enjoying the colder temperature.
Making it to the house was an amazing feeling. Jane’s stomach was knotting and worry was rising in him, but the recon team was standing by and team one was in place. It looked like things were going well enough. He stayed back. Back with his group. He wasn’t going to risk doing something he wasn’t supposed to and being dragged back to the mobile headquarters they had set up across the highway. He wanted to be there. He wanted to be there to see Lisbon and be there to help in any way he could. He was happy to know that at least they could both be seen. That there would be no looking for trap doors or hidden entrances.
They waited at the side of the house, teams two and three. Team one advanced and Jane could barely hear it when they opened the doors. Before he knew it, they were moving quickly back down the hill. Hightower was carrying a dressed up Kaydance Millary and she seemed to be covering the girl’s mouth. Of course, Jane figured that it had to be necessary. They couldn’t have her screaming and causing a scene. Simon could come out with a gun that they never knew about and agents and the child would be in danger. Lisbon could even fall into harm’s way. At the very least, the girl looked fine, just confused and upset. He didn’t blame her though. How could she not be confused?
So, he waited and watched as team one quickly disappeared back down towards where they came. He was sure that they were taking her to their temporary headquarters for safe keeping. That way she’d be out of the way and at the same time she could be looked at and talked to. How he wished that he could see Lisbon…his patience was wearing thin. He waited behind Rigsby and Van Pelt. Cho was farther ahead. He didn’t want to compromise anything, so he figured that if he stayed towards the back he couldn’t screw anything up.
Jane watched as they signaled and as everyone started to inch forward towards the door. He followed suit but really kept his eye on the others. He wouldn’t be a distraction or a liability. He’d be there for Lisbon once Simon Callahan was cuffed. He’d be there in any way that she needed him. He’d even leave if she asked. But now…now they were finally going to get Lisbon.
She was coming home.
…
TBC…
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own “The Mentalist” or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: R (to be safe)
Summary: Sequel to “Suffering is the Best Punishment”. With Lisbon gone, Jane leaves CBI to set out to find her and to kill Red John. He won’t let Red John kill his family again.
Warning: adult themes
Chapter 19 - “Christmas Painted Red”
Author’s Note: Happy Christmas Eve!!!!
Suffering is the Best Punishment Trailer - http: //www.megavideo.com/?v=Q581AW2H
............................
“It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood.
Stones have been known to move and trees to speak;
Augurs and understood relations have
By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night?”
- William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
Ketchum, ID
The recon team took a lot longer than he’d expected. Jane had thought that they’d take ten minutes; the team took closer to an hour. He stood when everyone else did and made his way over to where Agent Clark and Hightower stood. He stood back with Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby.
“We started at the back where the isolated building is,” the recon leader said. He pointed to where it was on the property map they had posted. “The barn is empty, doesn’t look like it’s used often.”
“Did you test the blood?” Clark asked.
The recon leader nodded. “It’s definitely human, not animal. There’s a trail of blood that leads from the house to that smiley face. Whoever left it was most likely injured.”
“Can you guess from what you saw exactly how bad the wound was?” Hightower asked.
“I wouldn’t say bad, Ma’am, but I am recommending we have two ambulances and some EMTs standing by,” he said.
Clark nodded.
“Why?” Jane spoke up. If he thought it was just a minor injury then there was no need for so many ambulances. He could see having one on standby as a precaution.
“Please let me finish. I’ll explain it all,” the recon leader requested.
He was irritated, but Jane complied. Jane watched as Clark went off to use his phone to call in the medical help that was requested. So, he stayed quiet and waited for the rest to be explained. He didn’t want to be responsible for delaying their extraction.
“The garage is detached from the house. It holds a single car,” he said as he pointed to the building on the map. “No one’s in there. When we go to raid the main building, I suggest that we secure the garage door.”
Jane tried to stay patient. It wasn’t easy. He wanted to scream for the recon leader to get on with it. He wanted to know why they were ordering two ambulances. He wanted to know if they’d seen anything useful. He wanted to know if Lisbon was safe.
When we surveyed the house, we found the child in the front room watching television,” he said as he pointed out the room on the house plans that were posted. “This room,” he said as he paused. “It’s the one that has a weird red window pane. We found a smiley face on the wall along with a pile of towels and women’s clothing covered in blood piled on the dresser. No one is inside that room, though.”
Red window.
The house with the red window.
“This room with the red window,’” Jane spoke up. Red window. Lisbon had included that on a postcard. She was here. They were close. “Was the face draw in blood?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“It looked like pink lipstick,” he said and then continued. “The room across from it is empty too. There’s an adult male and female in the back room.”
“There an immediate danger?” Hightower asked.
“No that we saw. I just like to be prepared, Ma’am,” the recon leader said. “There was enough blood to be concerned. We didn’t see weapons, but like I said, we like to be prepared.”
“So, we’ll pull out the girl first,” Clark spoke up. “The recon team will go in first again just to ensure no one’s moved. Team one, you’ll be on extracting the girl.”
They’d been broken into teams while they’d waited on the recon team to return. Hightower was team one. He and the others made up teams two and three. They were to go in after Lisbon and Simon. But that meant waiting. Jane really didn’t want to play the waiting game. It felt horrible since they were so close.
But the blood nagged at him. The blood trail. The blood drawn face in the snow. The bloody clothing. The fact that they believed that the face drawn on the bedroom wall in lipstick gave him some solace, but at the same time the fear and dread welled up. He’d seen too many Red John cases. He’d seen the victims, not just from pictures but he’d stared down at their dead lifeless eyes as they stared back up at him. He didn’t want to go in there and have green eyes staring up at him in that same fashion.
He couldn’t bear it.
“We head up there in five minutes,” Clark said. “Recon team, you have a go to re-scout the main building.”
Jane watched as the recon team scurried off. He kept with the others. They were all putting on their vests and he found one being shoved at him. Jane took it and started to put it on. He was sure that it was just standard procedure. He wasn’t going to be carrying a gun, but technically they didn’t know if Simon had a gun or guns in there. The last thing they needed was for anyone to be shot.
“You okay?”
He looked up to see Van Pelt along with Rigsby and Cho staring at him. She was so concerned all the time. He appreciated it, but right now, he felt like everyone’s concern should be with Lisbon and Kaydance Millary. “I’m fine, thank you though, Grace,” he said as politely as he could manage. He knew his voice was quieter than normal, but he was thinking about what would be happening. He wasn’t really concentrating.
“He’ll be fine,” Cho said.
“In an hour, we’ll have Lisbon back and the girl. Two cases solved. And we’ll still have her back for Christmas,” Rigsby said. “I vote for getting home as soon as possible. We may be able to still get home for dinner.”
“No, the last flight out of here left about thirty minutes ago,” Cho said. “We’re spending Christmas in Idaho.”
“At least it’s a white Christmas?” Van Pelt offered.
“At least we’ll all be together,” Jane said. He thought that that was the most important thing. “Even if it’s Christmas spent eating Chinese food in a hotel room. We’ll be together and that’s what really counts.” And it was true. None of it was going to matter if they didn’t have Lisbon with them.
“You’re right,” Van Pelt agreed with a smile.
“Not sure about the Chinese,” Cho said.
Jane just smiled brightly at that. “Well, I think we’ll let Lisbon choose.” He didn’t care what they ate as long as they were all together.
The radio crackled to life. The recon team relayed that everyone in the house was still in the same rooms. Jane looked towards Agent Clark for the word for them to go. It was now. Now was the time where the waiting was finally over and they were going to go up to the house. He’d be just several yards from Lisbon.
“Let’s head up there,” Clark spoke up.
As Jane looked around, he noticed that everyone had vests on. They pretty much were all uniform. They were a navy blue with yellow letters that said FBI. He figured that it was more of a hassle for them to have to bring the ones that said CBI for the team when they were travelling by plane. You would think that you could bring on as many carry-ons being with law enforcements, but you still had to adhere to all of TSA’s and the airline’s rules. He thought that that was still kind of silly.
Though FBI or CBI or nothing. None of the yellow letters mattered. All that mattered was what they’d do next.
He kept close to his team. Hightower was much father ahead of them, but Jane didn’t care. She was there to make sure that Kaydance Millary got out without any problems and then that case would be done with. Hightower would be happy, possibly happy enough to ignore their infraction? Jane wasn’t sure. Technically, they were solving two cases and bringing an agent home and making a senator happy.
So, they headed across the highway and to the Callahan property line. They hit the snowy hill and Jane wondered if he was standing where Lisbon had at one point. He was relieved that at least it wasn’t snowing. He’d heard Clark discussing it. If it had been snowing, they’d apparently most likely have re-scheduled the raid. So, Jane was quite thankful that the sky hadn’t decided to dump fresh powder. Also, he really wasn’t enjoying the colder temperature.
Making it to the house was an amazing feeling. Jane’s stomach was knotting and worry was rising in him, but the recon team was standing by and team one was in place. It looked like things were going well enough. He stayed back. Back with his group. He wasn’t going to risk doing something he wasn’t supposed to and being dragged back to the mobile headquarters they had set up across the highway. He wanted to be there. He wanted to be there to see Lisbon and be there to help in any way he could. He was happy to know that at least they could both be seen. That there would be no looking for trap doors or hidden entrances.
They waited at the side of the house, teams two and three. Team one advanced and Jane could barely hear it when they opened the doors. Before he knew it, they were moving quickly back down the hill. Hightower was carrying a dressed up Kaydance Millary and she seemed to be covering the girl’s mouth. Of course, Jane figured that it had to be necessary. They couldn’t have her screaming and causing a scene. Simon could come out with a gun that they never knew about and agents and the child would be in danger. Lisbon could even fall into harm’s way. At the very least, the girl looked fine, just confused and upset. He didn’t blame her though. How could she not be confused?
So, he waited and watched as team one quickly disappeared back down towards where they came. He was sure that they were taking her to their temporary headquarters for safe keeping. That way she’d be out of the way and at the same time she could be looked at and talked to. How he wished that he could see Lisbon…his patience was wearing thin. He waited behind Rigsby and Van Pelt. Cho was farther ahead. He didn’t want to compromise anything, so he figured that if he stayed towards the back he couldn’t screw anything up.
Jane watched as they signaled and as everyone started to inch forward towards the door. He followed suit but really kept his eye on the others. He wouldn’t be a distraction or a liability. He’d be there for Lisbon once Simon Callahan was cuffed. He’d be there in any way that she needed him. He’d even leave if she asked. But now…now they were finally going to get Lisbon.
She was coming home.
…
TBC…