"Summer Days, Drifting Away …"
By William Griner
She could have called ahead and asked him to meet her somewhere besides the office. Yes, it was likely that he was busy; maybe he was even working a case with a member of his team. Face time with a California Bureau of Investigation agent was hard to come by.
If she had called, then it would have fallen to her to make the arrangements, and she worried how he might interpret the meaning behind any location that she chose.
Her hotel room?
Too forward, intimate.
Breakfast or lunch at one of the nearby downtown restaurants?
Too casual, given their shared history.
In the end, she had decided to risk wasting a trip this morning because the alternative was to call and get his voicemail and be forced to leave a message or to actually connect with him and hear him say …
She shook her head to clear it. Maybe, she told herself, running through the list of possibilities was just a sign that she did think about the future. Is this what maturity felt like?
An observant officer noticed her in the lobby and asked if she needed assistance. It wasn't like she would be allowed to just loiter on the first floor until she made up her mind to ask for access. She opened her mouth to explain her business to the officer, but someone called her name. A familiar face appeared, stepping out of the elevator a few yards away.
Grace Van Pelt, a member of the CBI team.
"How are you?" Van Pelt asked, and hugged her. It was disarming, and the flush of relief that someone in the office was happy to see her caused a lump to form in her throat. "You're here to see -?"
She nodded quickly.
"Is he expecting you?"
"No," she answered. "I was afraid that – "
"Let me take care of it for you."
Van Pelt disappeared momentarily, leaving her to stand alone again as agents scrambled to and fro through the lobby. When the agent emerged from around the corner, she held a visitor's pass that that she clipped to the other woman's lapel. "He's going to be so surprised," Van Pelt said. "Ready to go up?"
"Let me step in here."
She ducked into the restroom and stood in front of the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she touched her hair – shorter than he would remember, darker since she had stopped bleaching – then smoothed down her outfit – a tan dress, form-fitting but conservatively cut. She had selected this particular dress because she had thought it complemented her brown eyes, but now she wasn't so sure.
Van Pelt stuck her head in the door. "You two ready?"
The weight in her arms had become such a part of her that sometimes it took a moment to register that she was still holding the baby. "Yes, we're coming."
Van Pelt insisted on holding the baby on the elevator ride upstairs. When the doors slid open on the Sacramento building's second floor, she was struck by how little had changed since the last time she was here, when she had said goodbye.
Teresa Lisbon, special agent in charge, peered over the computer in her office when she saw the baby that Van Pelt was holding. Special Agent Wayne Rigsby, hard to miss even while seated at his desk, half turned and waved. Stretched out on a couch, eyes half closed but still alert to his surroundings, was the consultant, Patrick Jane. He smiled at her and continued his conversation with the man at the desk next to him, and when the man's head turned and she saw that it was Kimball Cho's profile, she gasped.
"Hey, Cho," Jane said, "what's going on with you and Summer?"
"Like any other season: more cases. Blame the heat if there's a spike in murder rates."
Jane cleared his throat and rose to a sitting position as the former Summer Edgecombe hesitantly crossed the floor. Maybe it was Jane's conspiratorial grin, or maybe it was a familiar perfume drifting his way, but Cho sensed she was there before she rounded the desk to face him.
"Summer?"
"Hi, Kimball. I'm sorry to disturb you at work, but – "
"Where is Marshall?" he asked, referring to Summer's husband.
All eyes in the office were on the pair now. Jane eased off the couch and moved toward Rigsby, whispering something in the man's ear. Befuddled, Rigsby followed Jane into Lisbon's office and closed the door behind them.
"He's on a business trip," Summer answered. "Look, I should have called first, but – "
"Are you OK?" Cho's face was as expressionless as ever, but if you knew him, especially the way that Summer did, you realized how much concern could be packed into three words.
She nodded. "I'm … everything is fine, Kimball. What I wanted …"
Summer motioned to Van Pelt, and the other woman walked over and tenderly handed the cooing weight on her shoulder over to the baby's mother.
"What I wanted," Summer continued, "was to introduce you to someone."
She adjusted the tiny package so that Cho could see the chubby pink cheeks, the blue eyes, fingers reaching reflexively to grasp. "Meet my daughter."
Van Pelt and Rigsby urged Cho to take Summer and the baby for an early lunch.
Lisbon told Cho that she and the team could cover for him if he wanted to take the day off.
Jane, after holding the infant and complimenting Summer on how beautiful her daughter was, returned to his spot on the couch. He stretched out and fixed his gaze on a spot in the ceiling.
The CBI team ended up covering for Cho, but not the way that Lisbon had intended. CBI Director Gale Bertram had requested that a member of the team conduct a follow-up interview in a high-profile corporate theft case; Cho volunteered for the assignment and took off alone. Lisbon escorted Summer into a break room on the second floor so she could feed the baby.
Summer, seated at a small table, pretended to be busy with the bottle so that she wouldn't have to look at the visibly embarrassed Lisbon.
"I'm sorry, Cho has been – "
"You don't have to apologize for him, Miss Lisbon. Deep down I knew this was a bad idea."
Summer's mouth twisted downward, and she was fighting back tears when Patrick Jane drifted into the break room. Seemingly oblivious to the two women and the baby, he rummaged in a cabinet over the sink and retrieved tea along with a teapot. Lisbon ignored the consultant reached over to allow the baby girl to clutch her finger.
"If you don't mind me asking," the agent said, "did you come all this way just so Cho could meet her?"
"There's more. I wanted to see if he would consider being her godfather. I didn't think it was right to ask over the phone, given that he hasn't even met her."
"Marshall was OK with you making this trip by yourself?"
Summer continued to avert her gaze from Lisbon. "He didn't like the godfather idea, so …"
"Does he know that you're here?"
Summer bit her lip. "He wouldn't be happy."
Jane was standing by waiting for his water to boil when Summer turned in her chair and called to him. "He respects you, Mr. Jane, so I was wondering if you would tell me the truth."
"About?"
"Whether he's still ashamed of me." Summer set the empty bottle on the table and then draped a blanket over her shoulder. She eased the baby into place and gently patted her back. "I mean, I've changed, I've tried to change and make something of my life, but the way Kimball and I met …"
Her voice trailed off. She didn't need to finish the story, because Jane and Lisbon were aware that Cho first encountered Summer Edgecombe when she was still a prostitute. Collared for the theft of a credit card, Summer saw those charges dropped when she provided useful information in a murder investigation. Cho had signed her up as a confidential informant, which had made practical sense given her contacts. She had suspected, and then was pleased to learn from Cho's lips, that he enlisted her help so he could keep an eye on her.
The CI business didn't last long. Like a teenager who refused to grow up, she took too many risks, placing her life in danger. After firing Summer, Cho enjoyed a brief fling with her – then had put her on a train to Seattle to stay with her sister. The last time Summer had seen Cho, she was pregnant and engaged to Marshall. He had helped her out of a bind again and then wished Summer well in her pending nuptials.
Summer continued. "Or maybe, I don't want to believe it, but maybe Kimball just can't love anyone."
"The Iceman," Jane said, referring to the nickname given to Cho in the days before the CBI when he ran with the Avon Park Playboys. "'If you want something done cold, get Cho.' Do you believe that?"
Summer sniffed, brown eyes clouding with tears. "No," she said quietly.
Lisbon asked, "So … what do you think is going on in his mind?"
"I don't know." The young woman's petite body shook, and her palm stroked the baby's fuzzy head. "I wish I did."
Summer eventually left the CBI headquarters to return to her hotel.
At the end of the day, Rigsby said a quick goodbye and checked out.
Van Pelt called Summer at the hotel and offered to babysit if the mother wanted to make plans for the evening.
Lisbon purposefully waited until Cho returned from his assignment and beckoned him to join her in the office with her door shut. She wasn't sure how to successfully broach the obvious topic, so she opted for the direct approach.
"Cho, as a supervisor, I have always tried to stay out of the personal lives of my team members."
He nodded. "I appreciate that, just like I appreciate it now."
"This one time," Lisbon said, "I feel like I need to play advocate."
"You really don't."
"The misgivings that you might have about Summer," Lisbon began, expecting the agent to interrupt. Instead of doing so, he crossed his arms and waited for her to finish. "In the past, she's been impetuous. She did questionable things out of boredom."
Cho's silence was maddening.
"However," Lisbon said, "I really feel that she turned a corner. You showed her that someone cared about her at a time when she needed it, and she wants you in her life. In the baby's life. That's why she came here today. It would mean a lot to her if you would put some thought into her request."
After a long pause, Cho finally said, "OK."
Shaking her head in frustration, Lisbon stood and prepared to leave for the night. Before she could pull on her coat, Cho had left her office and returned to his desk. He nodded politely as she moved past him on her way to the elevator.
The only other person left in the office was Jane, still stretched out and staring up at the ceiling. Cho stared at his computer screen a long moment. "You're the only one who hasn't weighed in."
"Correct," Jane answered.
"You don't think I'd listen to your advice?"
Jane closed his eyes. "Why would you need it?"
The consultant couldn't see it, but Cho smiled. Sighing, he switched off his computer and surveyed the empty second floor. When the other agents were here working during the business day, it all appeared so neat, so orderly. The reality was that each law enforcement officer assigned to the Sacramento office, covering 26 counties in this part of California, managed their case load with an intensity that bordered on manic. A juggling act, really, carried on each day.
Orderly on the surface.
Stress and chaos within.
Just like Cho.
Some Iceman, he thought.
He moved toward the elevator, but as the metal doors drew close, he stood there and stared at the metal doors. It was within the confines of this elevator, a world within the brick and mortar of the CBI building, that he had confessed his feelings for Summer. His lips, with a mind of their own, had found hers. Memories tended to be like people; once you let them in, they ran whichever way they wanted.
Head down, Cho changed course and took the stairs.
Summer thought she knew who had knocked on the hotel room door until she checked the peephole.
"Mr. Jane?"
The CBI consultant stood in the hallway with his hands in his pockets. He studied the young woman's face and smiled warmly. "You were expecting someone else."
"Well …"
Patrick Jane's eyes, which seemed to take in everything, looked beyond Summer into her room. "If I interrupted something, I apologize."
Summer, casually dressed in old jeans and a T-shirt, ushered her visitor inside. The suite's other tiny resident lay stretched out on a pink blanket, eyes fluttering as she yawned. "Just fed her," Summer said. "I was about to get her to sleep and then catch up some schoolwork."
Motioning toward the infant, Jane said, "Do you mind?"
"No, go ahead."
Jane expertly lifted the baby, supporting her head, and sat down in the chair next to the window.
"You're here to talk to me about Kimball, I guess."
"Not exactly – "
"I feel like I know you pretty well from the way he went on and on."
"Really?" Jane said.
"He respects you," she answered. "That's saying something. He told me you cleared cases, but he never mentioned what you did before consulting with the CBI. Were you like a psychologist or therapist?"
"Actually, I made a living as a psychic."
"Oh, good." Summer, now sitting on the edge of the bed, drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Someone I can talk to."
Jane positioned the baby so that her head rested against his shoulder and she could see her mother. Clearly comfortable, she yawned and closed her eyes, drifting off.
"Marshall travels frequently?"
"Not too often," Summer answered. "He hated being away when I was pregnant. He likes to take me along, and I like going 'cos, you know, I didn't get to go places when I was a kid."
"Sounds like a good man. That's why you feel guilty right now."
Summer blinked, and her mouth opened. "We would have a fight if he knew I came here."
"Are there many arguments?"
"Only when I bring up Kimball."
"I see," Jane said. "He doesn't want Cho to be the godfather."
"No, it's not that exactly. See, Marshall doesn't know about what I used to do, and I never talk about it, and –"
Jane said, "He's not sure where Cho fits in."
Summer nodded. "And how can I explain without … you know. Mr. Jane, am I wrong not to get into all that with my husband?"
"Of course not." Grinning, Jane said, "I'm sure there are things in his past he'd like to forget. Old girlfriends and such."
Summer giggled, high-pitched like a schoolgirl, and the baby stirred against Jane's shoulder. He placed his hand on her back and patted gently, rhythmically, until she closed her eyes again.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, Summer. It looks like you're making the most of yours."
"I'm trying. I never finished school and … it's embarrassing, 'cos Marshall is such a smart guy, but I'm working on my GED. I'd like to do work with computers one of these days."
"The future," Jane said, "is wide open."
Summer shifted on the bed and bit her lip. "And I feel like the whole reason I have a future …"
"Cho opened your eyes?"
Summer's eyes filled with tears. She reached over to the nightstand and plucked a tissue from a box, dabbed at her cheeks.
"Here's what you need to understand about Cho," Jane said. "He cares for you, that hasn't changed."
"Funny way of showing it."
"Listen, it's not easy being where he is. Cho is a transition guy. He came into your life at a time when both of you needed each other. You nurtured each other. At some point it was time to move forward, and that's what you did. Do you believe that Cho wants you to have the best?"
"He was so protective." Summer smiled conspiratorially, giving a hint of the girl she once was. "Can I tell you this, Mr. Jane? As much as I love Marshall, if it had been Cho to walk through that door tonight, well …"
"Do you think Cho would want to put you in a predicament where you hurt your relationship?"
"Of course not." She sighed heavily. "I guess I never thought about it that way. Thanks, Mr. Jane. Kimball was right about you."
Satisfied that the baby was asleep, Jane eased off the chair and moved toward a pack-and-play that Summer had set up for her. As he was about to hand the child over to her mother, Jane paused and cradled her one last time.
"Goodnight, little one," he whispered. "You are safe, you are loved, and you are wise."
On his way to the door, Jane stopped and turned back to Summer. "One last thing," he said. "All this time, we've just been calling her 'the baby.' I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but what did you name her?"
"Cho actually suggested the name for a girl. He never explained why, but he said that Charlotte Anne was special." Summer shrugged. "I always assumed it was from a member of his family."
Jane had turned back around to leave. Summer couldn't see his face, for which the CBI consultant was grateful. He could contain the sobs until the door closed behind him, but his cheeks were already wet with tears. Summer had thought that he came here to help her sort out things with Cho. Maybe it was sorted out.
Truthfully, he had just wanted to hold the baby and see her off to sleep.
Something he could no longer do for his daughter.
Tracking down the correct number was no problem for Cho. The CBI administration might frown on an agent using its resources for personal reasons, but then again, Cho felt sure he could keep a secret. It was early in the morning, and the only person he had seen milling around the office besides the cleaning crew was Patrick Jane, stretched out on the couch.
Cho thumbed the phone number he had located into his cell and wandered discreetly to the break room. Jane, pretending to nap, watched the other man walk off. Time passed and the other members of the CBI team – Lisbon, Van Pelt, Rigsby – filed in individually.
"Seen Cho?" Lisbon asked.
"Break room," Jane answered. "He's on a call though."
"Summer?"
"No, I think it has to do with that case he was working."
"He wrapped it up," Lisbon said. "That's why I was looking for him. Director Bertram wanted to pass on his thanks. Maybe I should –"
"Lisbon," Jane said, sitting up now. "I am going to give you a rare glimpse into a special place where things are spoken of only in code. When I said Cho is taking a call related to a case, it was code."
Lisbon nodded slowly. "It's personal, and you don't want his privacy invaded."
Jane clapped theatrically and settled back on the couch. "You broke the code," he said. "And that's why you're the boss."
Shortly thereafter, Cho appeared and acknowledged the members of the team as he settled in at his desk. Lisbon called Van Pelt and Rigsby into her office to discuss an action report they had filed from the previous day, leaving Cho and Jane alone. Abruptly, Cho turned away from his computer and stared at the consultant.
"Thanks."
"No problem," Jane answered. "When are you going to Seattle?"
"This weekend. I was just working out the details with Marshall."
"How did that go?"
"When I explained things, he was OK with it all."
"That must have been some conversation," Jane said.
"Marshall is still out of town," Cho said. "He doesn't know that Summer is here."
"So, you called him and told him the whole godfather thing had been your idea, and that you had pushed for it because you still had a thing for Summer. You told him that she had been trying to be nice about it all because that's how Summer is. After Marshall heard you apologize, he seemed OK, and he wanted you to come and see the baby."
Cho blinked. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. Jane said, "I know how your mind works. You're willing to be the bad guy if it would truly protect Summer."
A long silence followed. Cho checked his watch and then rose from his computer chair.
"And Summer?"
"I'm taking her to the airport so I can say goodbye. And explain. We need to have our stories straight before this weekend."
Cho marched off, and as he did, Lisbon watched him curiously. She motioned for Jane to come into her office. "So what political favors does Director Bertram have for us to take care of today?" Jane asked.
Van Pelt covered her mouth, and Rigsby laughed boyishly.
"Ha ha," Lisbon said. "That's why consultants have short shelf lives."
"Where was Cho going?" Van Pelt asked.
"He's wrapping up a case," Jane answered.
Rigsby said, "But there isn't a – "
"He's working a case," Lisbon said. She winked at Jane, then said, "Learn the code, Rigsby."
The End