Cons & the Cape Cod
A Jane & Lisbon Story
By Brown Eyes Parker
Disclaimer:
I own nothing.
Author's Note: I've had this idea for a while now, ever since season 4 and the "Vegas" spoilers had been revealed. I wrote the first chapter in a fit of nostalgic yesterday for my old vacation spot in the Wellfleet, Cape Cod. This is my love letter for the gorgeous little peninsula in Massachusetts. I hope you enjoy it.
Rated: T
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Chapter 1
He asked me to run away with him. To give up my whole life and leave California, just the two of us. No more CBI, no more murder. . . no more Red John. This is so out of character for him, he would never give up his quest for revenge. I can't help but think there's something going on here, something that he isn't telling me because it is Jane. But I always go along with Jane even though there are always great consequences looming in the distance. I hope that I am doing the right thing here. I hope that we get out of this alive. . .
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"You're up early."
Teresa Lisbon looked up and saw Patrick Jane standing in the porch doorway, watching her.
"Couldn't sleep," she replied, dropping her pen in the journal she'd purchased at the airport gift shop and flexing her fingers. "It's only. . ."
"Three in California," Jane finished for her. "Three AM to be exact."
"You're awake," she pointed out.
"I'm an insomniac," Jane replied. "I always keep odd hours."
"Are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way to Massachusetts?" Lisbon asked.
"I didn't exactly drag you here, now did I?" Jane answered. "You came with me on your own free will."
Lisbon rolled her eyes but didn't answer him. Instead, she continued to try and find out what his intent was by dropping everything and running off to a peninsula. "Is this a long con or something?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jane answered. "How about we go and get some breakfast. I know a great coffee shop in Orleans; I hear they make a killer espresso."
Lisbon sighed and ran her fingers along the hem of her pajama shorts. "Okay, I just need to go and get dressed. Hold on a minute."
.
A girl with a sleeve tattoo and an expression that said she wanted to be anywhere but at the coffee shop took their orders. Jane made small talk with her, but nothing he said or did made her crack a smile.
So, they took their breakfast and drinks outside, and sat on a rustic bench in the back of the cafe.
"Why are we here?" Lisbon asked again.
"For breakfast," Jane answered, taking a sip of his smoothie before tearing into his egg sandwich.
"That's not what I meant!" Lisbon answered crossly.
"Why did you agree to come with me?"
"Good question," Lisbon muttered. "Maybe because I was afraid of what would happen if I let you go off by yourself."
"Mmmh," Jane said. "I'm sure that's what it was. The truth is you love the excitement Lisbon. You dropped everything and came with me because you always suspect there's something more going on here than I'm leading you to believe. "
Lisbon glared at him and took a bite of her cinnamon raisin bagel. "I know you wouldn't give up on Red John just like that. You've worked too hard and too long to do that. So, coming all the way here has to do something with him. Did you drag me all the way here because he's here or what?"
Jane sighed and put his sandwich down on his napkin. "Fine, if you must know what's going on, I'll tell you exactly what's going on. I want him to think I've given up on chasing him."
"So we run away without telling anybody and you think he'll buy your act just like that?" Lisbon asked, raising her eyebrow at him.
"It's worth a shot, yes. What do we lose by trying?"
"But what do we gain if it doesn't work?" Lisbon answered. "Without you in the picture, he could very well get bored and stop the killings."
"Or he could try and draw us back by doubling the killings," Jane said. "Or he could follow us here and start killing in a whole new state."
"Lovely," Lisbon said dryly. "You've just unleashed a serial killer on the poor unknowing women of Massachusetts."
"Eh, it isn't like they haven't faced the threat of them before. There was Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler and Alfred Gaynor."
Lisbon rolled her eyes. "And what if he doesn't double the California killings? What if he doesn't follow us here?"
"Now Lisbon, we both know you wouldn't have come with me if you didn't think my plan would work," Jane told her.
Lisbon sighed, he was right. If she didn't have at least an inkling that he knew what he was doing, she would have never agreed to give up her whole life and risk her career on a long con that would ruin it.
"Okay, so you're right," she admitted. "I would have never come along with you if I didn't think it would work. But what do you want me to do?"
"What do I want you to do?" Jane said, smiling at her. "Why you'll pretend to be my girlfriend of course!"
"Pretend to be your girlfriend!?" Lisbon repeated, slamming her cup of coffee down on the bench. "I'm beginning to think that you're not pretending that you lost it."
"Oh calm down!" Jane told her. "It isn't like it's that crazy. Let's just say that I did give it all up, maybe I could convince you to give it up all with me. In fact, I just did yesterday morning. Red John knows you're my Achilles heel."
"I am not!" Lisbon retorted.
"If Rachel, a girl who needed medication by the way, knew you were my weakness than Red John definitely knows you are."
"Okay, so for the sake of the argument, we'll say you're right. I'm your Achilles heel. But I still don't see why I'd leave my whole life and a good career behind just for you."
"Because you'd want to make sure I was okay," Jane replied.
"Don't flatter yourself," Lisbon said tersely. "Right now I'm wishing you'd take a long walk off a short pier. That's something I'm sure is more than easy to arrange around here."
Jane made a face. "Cute. But I'm being serious. If we want Red John to think this is real, he needs to think I've moved on. And I think it's only logical that if I were going to move on, I'd move on with you."
Lisbon sighed. "Okay, if you really think it's going to work then I guess I could pretend for a little while that we've moved on together. If you think it'll really work."
"I do," Jane said sincerely. "I really do."
"But if it doesn't, you owe me big time!" She told him.
"If it doesn't work, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you," Jane promised.
"I'm going to hold you to that," Lisbon answered. "Come on, let's finish up breakfast and find a grocery store so we can buy some food."
"There's a supermarket called Shaws in Brewster," Jane said. "We can go there to pick up some groceries."
They walked back to the car together and he reached for her hand with his free one. At first, she was startled by the physical contact. He had only other touched her when he wanted something from her or when he was thanking her for something that she had done for him. To have him hold her hand out of nowhere was a whole new experience for her, even though she knew that it was just part of a con.
.
They took their time in Shaw's, getting the feel of a new territory while he filled the cart with local specialties like Cape Cod potato chips, Turkey Hill ice cream and Green Mountain coffee, while she made sure they had more practical items like fruits and vegetables and meat for dinner. She tried to ignore his public displays of affection, tried to concentrate on the task at hand. But she failed miserably; all of her most secret dreams were coming to life in broad daylight. She forgot to care that there was an ulterior-motive behind his touch and allowed herself to just be with him in the moment. She told herself it would be more convincing that way.
They paid for their groceries, put the food in the back seat of the rental car and started back for Wellfleet in relative silence while Lisbon tried to figure out a way to ask him the questions that were dancing around in her head.
Finally, she decided to just bite the bullet and ask him.
She cleared her throat. "So, how did you acquire a home in the Cape Cod? Are you just renting it or do you own it?"
"Goldenrod belongs to me," Jane confirmed. "I won it playing poker a few years ago. I just never had much use for it until now."
"Goldenrod?" Lisbon asked.
"All the houses in Wellfleet have names," Jane replied. "The house up the street from us is named Marigold and the one in back of us is called Strawberry Fields."
Lisbon laughed and shook her head. "Well, the good news is we can stay here for as long as we want without running up a major debt."
"That does work in our favor, doesn't it?" Jane conceded, grinning at her.
"So, have you ever been to the Cape Cod?" Lisbon asked.
"The carnival set up in Nantucket for the better part of twenty years," Jane told her. "And I researched Wellfleet and the surrounding towns. I know all the best spots to get dinner and the ponds that won't give you a raging case of swimmer's ear. I know all the best beaches to go and watch the sunset. I even looked up a church for you to go to mass, it's about thirty-seven minutes away but it'll do. I think in time we can both be very happy here."
"I don't know," Lisbon answered with a sigh. "We might get bored and start to hate each other."
"If that happens, the Wellfleet public library is right down the street from where we're living. They have plenty of books and movies to keep us entertained. Remember, we're supposed to make it seem like we've given up our whole lives to be together. Even if you start to hate me or resent me, try to pretend you don't."
"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises," Lisbon muttered.
"I'm not asking you to," Jane said. "I know you're going to ask me what the rest of the plan is, so I'll just tell you. Today, we're going to finish getting settled in and tomorrow we'll get a parking permit for the beaches and the lake, then go and sign up for library cards. Afterwards, we'll take a walk through downtown Wellfleet and look at the art galleries, maybe make a purchase or two if anything strikes your fancy. We want Goldenrod to be a blend of our tastes, not somebody else. Then in a few days, we'll return the rental car and buy one of our own. I'm thinking something vintage. Maybe a cherry red convertible with a top that comes down. Also, we need to get some new clothes. Your current wardrobe is entirely too cop-ish for a beach town."
"What about you?" Lisbon asked. "Are you going to change your whole entire wardrobe? I think Armani is a little too stuck up for Wellfleet, Cape Cod."
"Yes," Jane answered. "I'm planning on changing my wardrobe too. I understand that it works both ways when it comes to this long con."
Lisbon grinned. "And are we going to divide the housework? I didn't come all this way to be your personal maid."
"Of course!" Jane answered. "I even made up a schedule for us. I figured we'd take turns cooking and then I'd do things like laundry and cleaning the bathroom. You can vacuum and dust and we'll clean the kitchen up together."
"It sounds like you thought of everything," Lisbon said.
Jane nodded. "I did. I really want this to work. If it does. . ."
"If it does, what?" Lisbon prodded when he had trailed off.
"Everything is going to change," Jane finished. "And for the better too."
"I hope so," Lisbon said with a deep sigh as she turned to look at the passing hotels and family owned businesses. "I really hope so."
Jane took his hand off the wheel and placed it on top of her's. "I promise Teresa, it will."
She looked back at him and offered him a wan smile. "Just don't make promises you can't keep Patrick." his given name felt foreign on her lips, but she used it anyways. She needed to get used to calling him that, since they were pretending to be a couple. "If this going to work, you need to promise me that you'll try and not do that."
Jane nodded. "Okay, I'll try. But I'm not making any promises."
Lisbon laughed at this, and then she turned the radio on and allowed him to hold her hand the rest of the way back to their new home.
TBC. . .
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Author's Note II:
There's the end of the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that you're ready for this new adventure. Please tell me what you think of this below, I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
Love,
Holly, 4/9/2014_