"The Red Face of Fear" - Chapter 5
Title: The Red Face of Fear
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: PG13
Summary: Sequel to “Red Window”. With Lisbon back on the team, they continue to handle cases including those that pertain to Red John. Things are far more personal, emotional, and closer to home than they have ever been.
Warning: none yet
Chapter 5 - “You Cannot Escape the Past”
Author’s Note:
............................
““We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” - Charles R. Swindoll
CBI Headquarters
Lisbon wasn’t sure what to feel. They hadn’t even been able to fully explore the murder of the governor’s babysitter and here they were with another Red John case. So soon. It was all classic Red John. Just like the last murder. There was nothing to dispute. No hope for a copy cat wanting attention. This was Red John. She hadn’t told Jane yet.
Sighing, she stared at the picture of this new face drawn in blood on the wall of their newest crime scene. She knew it was wrong…silly even…but that face scared her to death. Before it had just been creepy and disturbing, but now there was a different connection. To her, this was like a warning torch telling them to turn around and go back the way they’d come. She couldn’t do that. This was her job. She was a CBI agent, they dealt with homicide. She couldn’t go back…what would she go back to? She needed her job. She wanted her job. She didn’t want to live without it. This was her life…though she knew that that was silly. There was more to life than how she lived it. She knew that, but she hadn’t been able to step beyond that. Not yet at least.
It was close by too. Only an hour away. She’d have to tell Jane…and the rest of the team. She looked out of her office window and could see Jane, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all sitting together chatting. Jane, she figured, was making some kind of joke since they all seemed amused by it (well not Cho, but when did she ever see him look amused?). It was good though; she just hoped that morale remained like that. Deep inside, she wanted to keep this from them, but she knew she couldn’t. They were her team and they all needed to work together on this.
Red John.
Lisbon dropped the photo of the wall with the crying smiley face painted in blood from their new crime scene. She allowed her face to fall into her hands and she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried not to think about it, but it was something that she couldn’t keep herself from thinking about. She was still working through it, though not with a shrink. That was really the last thing she needed.
There was a gentle knock on her door. She lifted her head to see Jane waving from the other side of her door. The window did make things easier to screen those who wished to enter her office. She motioned for him to enter. He’d been kind enough to give her space…but she couldn’t keep him away forever. She didn’t want to though, either. She’d honestly missed him.
“You okay?” Jane asked the minute the door shut behind him.
She nodded. “Just a headache,” she lied. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie.
“There’s another Red John case, isn’t there?”
Frowning, she nodded slowly. “San Francisco.”
“Not far.”
“No. Not far.”
Jane moved to sit across from her and Lisbon suddenly felt the need to make some kind of physical contact with him. Maybe it was just the need for reassurance that things were going to be okay. Even if it was the slightest reassurance that she would remain safe. Yes, she was a cop…an agent for the CBI…injury and death were both possible scenarios with her job description, but she wanted that sugar coating.
“Where’s Minelli?” Jane asked as he looked around.
“He’s with Hightower as far as I know,” Lisbon replied. She pushed the photos that they’d already received towards him. She knew that it wasn’t anything new to Jane. She was sure that more than anyone; Jane was the most familiar with these types of photos when it came to Red John. Lisbon had told him time and time again that when they finally caught Red John that she’d ensure that Red John saw the correct type of justice. That he’d get a trial… She was past that. Past all of it.
“Are we going to the crime scene?” Jane asked.
Lisbon noticed that his voice was quiet and calm. He’d briefly looked at the pictures and she’d wondered for a moment if he saw his wife in those pictures. “Yes,” she responded quietly. “As soon as Minelli gets back.”
“Do we really need him to chaperone?”
“Do you want me to be cleared once and for all?” she asked. Lisbon wasn’t too keen on the shadow, but she knew that right now it was necessary.
“I wouldn’t mind if you were confined to the office truthfully,” Jane told her.
Sighing, Lisbon shook her head. “You and I both know that me being inside CBI wouldn’t stop Red John. It’s never stopped him before. He’s proven to us all, many times over, that he can get to any one of us if and when he wants to.” She shifted her gaze so that she was staring right at him. “It’s better that I’m in the field… For morale-“
“Yours or ours?”
“Both? Either? All?” she tried and then just shrugged. “If I stay here, Jane…then that means that he’s won. He’s won by keeping me from doing my job properly. I won’t let him affect me like that. We’ll take precautions, but I’m not going to just hide in my office while you and the team are out there investigating.”
“I know,” Jane said even quieter.
“Minelli’s coming,” she whispered as she moved a bit in her chair and picked up the file to look as if she were working on the case already. She watched from the corner of her eye as Minelli opened and shut her door. He looked irritated and even more so when he spotted Jane in her office.
“I thought you’d banned him,” Minelli said.
“Not yet,” Jane said.
“Yet, being the key word there,” Lisbon said, her words were serious, but the look she exchanged with Jane relayed her joking. She smiled a little. “So, are we ready to proceed up to San Francisco?”
“Hightower’s already cleared us to be lead on this case once we roll in,” Minelli said. “Inform your team.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Don’t call me that.”
. . .
San Francisco
The crime scene was pretty standard when it came to Red John. They’d ensured that it wasn’t a copy cat. Everything was perfectly in place. Jane had even seconded her declaration that they were definitely dealing with Red John. Though, she had almost wished that it were a copy cat…or something…something not Red John.
She found herself staring at the crying smiley face drawn in the victim’s blood on the wall. She’d seen too many of these… She’d drawn it herself with her own blood in the snow… Lisbon bit her lip and held back tears that had begun to form in her tear ducts. They desperately wanted to push forward, but she kept them at bay.
The persistent ringing and vibrating of her cell phone scared her enough to cause her to jump. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pulled the phone from her jacket pocket. She didn’t bother to look at the caller ID. “Lisbon,” she said as she put the phone to her ear.
“That’s not your name, Teresa…”
The voice made her eyes go wide and she struggled to keep a hold of the phone in her hand along with keeping her composure. Simon. Simon was calling her. He was in jail awaiting trial…yes, he had phone privileges, but where on Earth did he manage to get her cell phone number? “What do you want, Simon?” she asked as she turned her back to the face on the wall. She couldn’t bear to look at it, especially not when she was talking to Simon on the phone.
“I want you to come visit me,” he said.
She shook her head and it took her a moment to process that he wasn’t there. He couldn’t see her. “No,” she managed to get out. Lisbon really fought back the tears now. The memories that surfaced were not pleasant ones. “No… The next time you’ll see me is in court, when I’m there to tell them all about what you did.”
“I took care of you, Teresa. I cared for you. I protected you. I protected our family.”
“You twist things-“
“Come see me, Teresa…”
“No!” she yelled this time and then ended the call. She wiped her face. The tears had fallen even though she had desperately tried to keep them from doing so. Lisbon pulled in a deep breath and tried to focus on calming.
“Lisbon? You okay?”
The voice behind her belonged to that of Wayne Rigsby. She just nodded, not facing him. She couldn’t. Not yet. She was a mess. Maybe Hightower was right to question whether or not she was ready to be back on duty. “What have you found?” she asked slowly, purposely taking the time so that it came out clear and calm. She wiped her face again and reminded herself that she needed to calm down. This wasn’t going to help.
“Looks standard Red John,” Rigsby said. “Not sure if there’s a reason why he picked the victim. We’ll have to look more into her history and background back at the office.”
Lisbon nodded. “Thanks.”
“You sure you’re-“
“I’m fine,” she said and turned, but kept her gaze down. “Thank you, though, for your concern.”
Rigsby nodded before leaving her. Lisbon sighed and glanced back at the face on the wall. The intensity of the ability to reach out and actually touch the wall rather than it merely being a photograph brought back chilling memories, coupled with Simon’s voice made it unbearable. Maybe she couldn’t do her job? At least not the Red John cases… She didn’t know how Jane didn’t break down crying every five minutes while on one of these cases. He’d suffered so much more and she hated to think it, but he was holding things together far better than she was.
She headed out of the room and towards the outside world. She needed air. She needed to breathe. Lisbon felt like allowing the tears to burst again when she hurriedly passed Minelli, she’d seen his questioning gaze. She didn’t stop to answer it or explain. Lisbon wanted air and she wanted it now.
Stumbling out of the house, she made it far enough away before she collapsed on the lawn. Her stomach was clenching and her vision was blurred as her head spun.
“Lisbon!”
Not even caring to recognize the name, she tried to command her body not to do what she knew was coming. She allowed her eyes to close as her body purged itself. She felt her hair being moved back and a hand holding her physically. God she hoped it was Jane and she hoped Minelli was nowhere in sight. Though, she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to get off that easily. Her body tried to purge anything else and ended up with just a bit of stomach acid; she felt the tears streaming down her face against her will.
“It’s okay…” the voice said, calmly and soothingly.
She found herself being carefully moved to her feet. Her cell phone was still clutched tightly in one of her hands. Lisbon came face to face with Jane and she allowed herself to relax a bit. He was wiping her mouth with a napkin or tissue of some kind and though it made her feel a little like a child, she appreciated it. “I’m okay,” she said a little shakily. In truth, she now felt utterly weak. It was something that came with throwing up, not only were the nutrients purged from your body, but it was a physical thing as well that taxed the whole body. She felt sweaty and a little unstable.
“I know,” Jane whispered.
Lisbon’s eyes fell upon Virgil Minelli standing by the doorway to the house, staring at her. Her eyes lowered. “Oh no…” she whispered, this time not caring if the tears came or not. He was going to report her as unfit and she’d lose her job…maybe not the CBI but her place as leader of her team.
“I told her she shouldn’t have eaten that sandwich out of that vending machine,” Jane said.
She wasn’t sure if Minelli would even ponder believing that. Though, Jane could be convincing. She did have the whole fact that she hadn’t broken down at the last Red John crime scene in her favor. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Come on,” Jane said as he guided her down to one of their vehicles parked in front of the house. He purposely took her around to the side where Minelli couldn’t spy, that hadn’t been lost on her. It was a slow neighborhood street, so they could get away with having one of the doors open.
She allowed him to open the door for her and for the help remaining steady as she climbed into the vehicle. She sat, her body facing him as he stood there. “I’m sorry…” she whispered and forced the tears to stay back this time, she couldn’t look at him. She moved her gaze to stare at the random light pole down the street.
“Teresa,” he said quietly. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” He reached out handed her a water bottle. She accepted it. “They’re going to want to know what happened… I’d just stick with my bad sandwich story… Totally believable.”
Lisbon couldn’t help but smile in response. She closed the lid of the water bottle and set it aside. “It wasn’t the crime scene…at least not at first,” she told him. Holding up her cell phone, she really pressed the tears back. “Simon called me while I was in there.”
“But he’s locked up.”
“He still has phone privileges, though how he got my number…I have no idea.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to come see him…and then I looked at the face on the wall and it was like a flood of everything I’ve felt in the last couple of months…like it came rushing and crashing on me.”
Jane reached out and touched her face. He was gentle and it was comforting. His eyes met hers. “He’s not going to touch you. Not Red John. Not Simon.”
“I know,” Lisbon whispered and she half believed it. The phone sounded again and she jumped once again. She looked down at the number and recognized it from a few minutes ago. She just stared at it for a moment before it was snatched from her hands. She watched as Jane answered it.
“Hello,” Jane said.
She watched intently. It calmed her a bit to not be the one to handle him. She’d had enough of Simon; the possibility of Simon walking was the only reason she’d agreed to go into court when his case was called to trial in order to testify. It wasn’t something that she was looking forward to.
“Yes, this is Patrick Jane,” he said as he looked up at her. “She’s here…”
For a moment, she hated hearing only half of the conversation, but then there was something peaceful about not knowing what Simon was saying. Though Jane wasn’t the most trustworthy person on her team in general, she knew that he wouldn’t do anything to endanger her, not when it came to Red John.
“I’ll give her the message,” Jane said before hanging up.
“So?” she said, she could hear that her own voice had returned to normal in the time they’d been there.
“He wants to see you,” Jane relayed.
“No.”
“He says he has a message from Red John.”
Lisbon covered her face with her hands. She didn’t want to go. It was the last thing in the world that she wanted to do. Especially now. But Simon could be a lead on both of her cases. A lead that they desperately needed. Though she had a feeling that he wanted her there for other reasons, there was still a possibility of getting some kind of clue. She didn’t want to go. She knew she had to though. She needed to do her job. Investigate all leads, no matter where they came from.
“He’s probably lying,” Jane spoke up. “Trying to get you there the only way he knows you’ll go.”
“I know.”
“So, you’re going to go?” he said, bending down a bit to look her fully in the face. When she nodded he touched her face again. “I’ll go with you.”
“Jane-“
“I am, you need someone there with you.”
“But-“
“Would you rather Minelli?”
“No.”
“Or Rigsby or Cho or Van Pelt?”
“No.”
“Then we’re settled,” he said after a moment.
She closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to go back to the crime scene. She needed to be working the case, both of the cases. Lisbon knew she needed to be able to handle things. Lips kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes to see Jane as he pulled away. She reached out and grabbed his arm, seeking the physical contact with him that she’d yearned for before. At first, it was something that just merely to stop him from moving, but then she allowed herself to press herself against him and wrap her arms around him in a hug. She needed it. She needed to be held. She needed to know that she wasn’t alone in all of this. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face into his chest. His arms took a moment to wrap around her. Lisbon was sure that it’d came as a surprise to him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“I’m always here for you, Lisbon.”
. . .
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: PG13
Summary: Sequel to “Red Window”. With Lisbon back on the team, they continue to handle cases including those that pertain to Red John. Things are far more personal, emotional, and closer to home than they have ever been.
Warning: none yet
Chapter 5 - “You Cannot Escape the Past”
Author’s Note:
............................
““We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” - Charles R. Swindoll
CBI Headquarters
Lisbon wasn’t sure what to feel. They hadn’t even been able to fully explore the murder of the governor’s babysitter and here they were with another Red John case. So soon. It was all classic Red John. Just like the last murder. There was nothing to dispute. No hope for a copy cat wanting attention. This was Red John. She hadn’t told Jane yet.
Sighing, she stared at the picture of this new face drawn in blood on the wall of their newest crime scene. She knew it was wrong…silly even…but that face scared her to death. Before it had just been creepy and disturbing, but now there was a different connection. To her, this was like a warning torch telling them to turn around and go back the way they’d come. She couldn’t do that. This was her job. She was a CBI agent, they dealt with homicide. She couldn’t go back…what would she go back to? She needed her job. She wanted her job. She didn’t want to live without it. This was her life…though she knew that that was silly. There was more to life than how she lived it. She knew that, but she hadn’t been able to step beyond that. Not yet at least.
It was close by too. Only an hour away. She’d have to tell Jane…and the rest of the team. She looked out of her office window and could see Jane, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all sitting together chatting. Jane, she figured, was making some kind of joke since they all seemed amused by it (well not Cho, but when did she ever see him look amused?). It was good though; she just hoped that morale remained like that. Deep inside, she wanted to keep this from them, but she knew she couldn’t. They were her team and they all needed to work together on this.
Red John.
Lisbon dropped the photo of the wall with the crying smiley face painted in blood from their new crime scene. She allowed her face to fall into her hands and she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried not to think about it, but it was something that she couldn’t keep herself from thinking about. She was still working through it, though not with a shrink. That was really the last thing she needed.
There was a gentle knock on her door. She lifted her head to see Jane waving from the other side of her door. The window did make things easier to screen those who wished to enter her office. She motioned for him to enter. He’d been kind enough to give her space…but she couldn’t keep him away forever. She didn’t want to though, either. She’d honestly missed him.
“You okay?” Jane asked the minute the door shut behind him.
She nodded. “Just a headache,” she lied. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie.
“There’s another Red John case, isn’t there?”
Frowning, she nodded slowly. “San Francisco.”
“Not far.”
“No. Not far.”
Jane moved to sit across from her and Lisbon suddenly felt the need to make some kind of physical contact with him. Maybe it was just the need for reassurance that things were going to be okay. Even if it was the slightest reassurance that she would remain safe. Yes, she was a cop…an agent for the CBI…injury and death were both possible scenarios with her job description, but she wanted that sugar coating.
“Where’s Minelli?” Jane asked as he looked around.
“He’s with Hightower as far as I know,” Lisbon replied. She pushed the photos that they’d already received towards him. She knew that it wasn’t anything new to Jane. She was sure that more than anyone; Jane was the most familiar with these types of photos when it came to Red John. Lisbon had told him time and time again that when they finally caught Red John that she’d ensure that Red John saw the correct type of justice. That he’d get a trial… She was past that. Past all of it.
“Are we going to the crime scene?” Jane asked.
Lisbon noticed that his voice was quiet and calm. He’d briefly looked at the pictures and she’d wondered for a moment if he saw his wife in those pictures. “Yes,” she responded quietly. “As soon as Minelli gets back.”
“Do we really need him to chaperone?”
“Do you want me to be cleared once and for all?” she asked. Lisbon wasn’t too keen on the shadow, but she knew that right now it was necessary.
“I wouldn’t mind if you were confined to the office truthfully,” Jane told her.
Sighing, Lisbon shook her head. “You and I both know that me being inside CBI wouldn’t stop Red John. It’s never stopped him before. He’s proven to us all, many times over, that he can get to any one of us if and when he wants to.” She shifted her gaze so that she was staring right at him. “It’s better that I’m in the field… For morale-“
“Yours or ours?”
“Both? Either? All?” she tried and then just shrugged. “If I stay here, Jane…then that means that he’s won. He’s won by keeping me from doing my job properly. I won’t let him affect me like that. We’ll take precautions, but I’m not going to just hide in my office while you and the team are out there investigating.”
“I know,” Jane said even quieter.
“Minelli’s coming,” she whispered as she moved a bit in her chair and picked up the file to look as if she were working on the case already. She watched from the corner of her eye as Minelli opened and shut her door. He looked irritated and even more so when he spotted Jane in her office.
“I thought you’d banned him,” Minelli said.
“Not yet,” Jane said.
“Yet, being the key word there,” Lisbon said, her words were serious, but the look she exchanged with Jane relayed her joking. She smiled a little. “So, are we ready to proceed up to San Francisco?”
“Hightower’s already cleared us to be lead on this case once we roll in,” Minelli said. “Inform your team.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Don’t call me that.”
. . .
San Francisco
The crime scene was pretty standard when it came to Red John. They’d ensured that it wasn’t a copy cat. Everything was perfectly in place. Jane had even seconded her declaration that they were definitely dealing with Red John. Though, she had almost wished that it were a copy cat…or something…something not Red John.
She found herself staring at the crying smiley face drawn in the victim’s blood on the wall. She’d seen too many of these… She’d drawn it herself with her own blood in the snow… Lisbon bit her lip and held back tears that had begun to form in her tear ducts. They desperately wanted to push forward, but she kept them at bay.
The persistent ringing and vibrating of her cell phone scared her enough to cause her to jump. She closed her eyes for a moment as she pulled the phone from her jacket pocket. She didn’t bother to look at the caller ID. “Lisbon,” she said as she put the phone to her ear.
“That’s not your name, Teresa…”
The voice made her eyes go wide and she struggled to keep a hold of the phone in her hand along with keeping her composure. Simon. Simon was calling her. He was in jail awaiting trial…yes, he had phone privileges, but where on Earth did he manage to get her cell phone number? “What do you want, Simon?” she asked as she turned her back to the face on the wall. She couldn’t bear to look at it, especially not when she was talking to Simon on the phone.
“I want you to come visit me,” he said.
She shook her head and it took her a moment to process that he wasn’t there. He couldn’t see her. “No,” she managed to get out. Lisbon really fought back the tears now. The memories that surfaced were not pleasant ones. “No… The next time you’ll see me is in court, when I’m there to tell them all about what you did.”
“I took care of you, Teresa. I cared for you. I protected you. I protected our family.”
“You twist things-“
“Come see me, Teresa…”
“No!” she yelled this time and then ended the call. She wiped her face. The tears had fallen even though she had desperately tried to keep them from doing so. Lisbon pulled in a deep breath and tried to focus on calming.
“Lisbon? You okay?”
The voice behind her belonged to that of Wayne Rigsby. She just nodded, not facing him. She couldn’t. Not yet. She was a mess. Maybe Hightower was right to question whether or not she was ready to be back on duty. “What have you found?” she asked slowly, purposely taking the time so that it came out clear and calm. She wiped her face again and reminded herself that she needed to calm down. This wasn’t going to help.
“Looks standard Red John,” Rigsby said. “Not sure if there’s a reason why he picked the victim. We’ll have to look more into her history and background back at the office.”
Lisbon nodded. “Thanks.”
“You sure you’re-“
“I’m fine,” she said and turned, but kept her gaze down. “Thank you, though, for your concern.”
Rigsby nodded before leaving her. Lisbon sighed and glanced back at the face on the wall. The intensity of the ability to reach out and actually touch the wall rather than it merely being a photograph brought back chilling memories, coupled with Simon’s voice made it unbearable. Maybe she couldn’t do her job? At least not the Red John cases… She didn’t know how Jane didn’t break down crying every five minutes while on one of these cases. He’d suffered so much more and she hated to think it, but he was holding things together far better than she was.
She headed out of the room and towards the outside world. She needed air. She needed to breathe. Lisbon felt like allowing the tears to burst again when she hurriedly passed Minelli, she’d seen his questioning gaze. She didn’t stop to answer it or explain. Lisbon wanted air and she wanted it now.
Stumbling out of the house, she made it far enough away before she collapsed on the lawn. Her stomach was clenching and her vision was blurred as her head spun.
“Lisbon!”
Not even caring to recognize the name, she tried to command her body not to do what she knew was coming. She allowed her eyes to close as her body purged itself. She felt her hair being moved back and a hand holding her physically. God she hoped it was Jane and she hoped Minelli was nowhere in sight. Though, she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to get off that easily. Her body tried to purge anything else and ended up with just a bit of stomach acid; she felt the tears streaming down her face against her will.
“It’s okay…” the voice said, calmly and soothingly.
She found herself being carefully moved to her feet. Her cell phone was still clutched tightly in one of her hands. Lisbon came face to face with Jane and she allowed herself to relax a bit. He was wiping her mouth with a napkin or tissue of some kind and though it made her feel a little like a child, she appreciated it. “I’m okay,” she said a little shakily. In truth, she now felt utterly weak. It was something that came with throwing up, not only were the nutrients purged from your body, but it was a physical thing as well that taxed the whole body. She felt sweaty and a little unstable.
“I know,” Jane whispered.
Lisbon’s eyes fell upon Virgil Minelli standing by the doorway to the house, staring at her. Her eyes lowered. “Oh no…” she whispered, this time not caring if the tears came or not. He was going to report her as unfit and she’d lose her job…maybe not the CBI but her place as leader of her team.
“I told her she shouldn’t have eaten that sandwich out of that vending machine,” Jane said.
She wasn’t sure if Minelli would even ponder believing that. Though, Jane could be convincing. She did have the whole fact that she hadn’t broken down at the last Red John crime scene in her favor. “Thanks,” she whispered.
“Come on,” Jane said as he guided her down to one of their vehicles parked in front of the house. He purposely took her around to the side where Minelli couldn’t spy, that hadn’t been lost on her. It was a slow neighborhood street, so they could get away with having one of the doors open.
She allowed him to open the door for her and for the help remaining steady as she climbed into the vehicle. She sat, her body facing him as he stood there. “I’m sorry…” she whispered and forced the tears to stay back this time, she couldn’t look at him. She moved her gaze to stare at the random light pole down the street.
“Teresa,” he said quietly. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” He reached out handed her a water bottle. She accepted it. “They’re going to want to know what happened… I’d just stick with my bad sandwich story… Totally believable.”
Lisbon couldn’t help but smile in response. She closed the lid of the water bottle and set it aside. “It wasn’t the crime scene…at least not at first,” she told him. Holding up her cell phone, she really pressed the tears back. “Simon called me while I was in there.”
“But he’s locked up.”
“He still has phone privileges, though how he got my number…I have no idea.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to come see him…and then I looked at the face on the wall and it was like a flood of everything I’ve felt in the last couple of months…like it came rushing and crashing on me.”
Jane reached out and touched her face. He was gentle and it was comforting. His eyes met hers. “He’s not going to touch you. Not Red John. Not Simon.”
“I know,” Lisbon whispered and she half believed it. The phone sounded again and she jumped once again. She looked down at the number and recognized it from a few minutes ago. She just stared at it for a moment before it was snatched from her hands. She watched as Jane answered it.
“Hello,” Jane said.
She watched intently. It calmed her a bit to not be the one to handle him. She’d had enough of Simon; the possibility of Simon walking was the only reason she’d agreed to go into court when his case was called to trial in order to testify. It wasn’t something that she was looking forward to.
“Yes, this is Patrick Jane,” he said as he looked up at her. “She’s here…”
For a moment, she hated hearing only half of the conversation, but then there was something peaceful about not knowing what Simon was saying. Though Jane wasn’t the most trustworthy person on her team in general, she knew that he wouldn’t do anything to endanger her, not when it came to Red John.
“I’ll give her the message,” Jane said before hanging up.
“So?” she said, she could hear that her own voice had returned to normal in the time they’d been there.
“He wants to see you,” Jane relayed.
“No.”
“He says he has a message from Red John.”
Lisbon covered her face with her hands. She didn’t want to go. It was the last thing in the world that she wanted to do. Especially now. But Simon could be a lead on both of her cases. A lead that they desperately needed. Though she had a feeling that he wanted her there for other reasons, there was still a possibility of getting some kind of clue. She didn’t want to go. She knew she had to though. She needed to do her job. Investigate all leads, no matter where they came from.
“He’s probably lying,” Jane spoke up. “Trying to get you there the only way he knows you’ll go.”
“I know.”
“So, you’re going to go?” he said, bending down a bit to look her fully in the face. When she nodded he touched her face again. “I’ll go with you.”
“Jane-“
“I am, you need someone there with you.”
“But-“
“Would you rather Minelli?”
“No.”
“Or Rigsby or Cho or Van Pelt?”
“No.”
“Then we’re settled,” he said after a moment.
She closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to go back to the crime scene. She needed to be working the case, both of the cases. Lisbon knew she needed to be able to handle things. Lips kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes to see Jane as he pulled away. She reached out and grabbed his arm, seeking the physical contact with him that she’d yearned for before. At first, it was something that just merely to stop him from moving, but then she allowed herself to press herself against him and wrap her arms around him in a hug. She needed it. She needed to be held. She needed to know that she wasn’t alone in all of this. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face into his chest. His arms took a moment to wrap around her. Lisbon was sure that it’d came as a surprise to him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“I’m always here for you, Lisbon.”
. . .
TBC…