A/N:I know. I know it has been way too long. I had quit writing fanfiction, but I could not get this story out of my head. I wrote this chapter today and if it is well-received, maybe I'll finish this one. Not making any promises though. Also, I see Annie Ilonzeh portraying our OC.
Thank you for reading my stories and expressing your appreciation for them. Your reviews on my other stories were a large factor of bringing me back to writing fanfiction. I hope you enjoy this one. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist or any of its characters. Neither do I own Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers series, or any of its characters.
SOMETHING CHO
Chapter 1
It had been a slow week for the Serious Crimes Unit. Wayne's paper ball missed the wastebasket, bouncing off Cho's head. He ignored it in the spirit of friendship. But the second shot Wayne threw was caught in his left fist. Cho threw it back at Wayne without looking.
"I am bored enough to kill you"
"You're not the only one", Rigsby sighed.
Like the overgrown man-child he was, Wayne bothered everyone around when in one of his moods. If he wasn't in a mood himself, Cho would have found it endearing. He looked over at Van Pelt and found her referring some files on her desk and then typing on the computer. That girl was never to be found idle.
"Hey"
The solitaire game on Cho's desktop was closed in a flash-second. Rigsby's feet came off the table with him almost toppling out of the chair. Van Pelt stopped working. Their boss signaled to Cho.
"Can I see you for a minute?"
Lisbon walked back into her office. He began to follow.
"Are you in trouble?", Wayne sang the last word.
Cho moved on.
Lisbon began the moment he was seated across from her,
"Do you remember the election case from last year? You saved the new mayor from being shot?"
"I made him duck"
She smiled,
"Yeah, that. Mayor O'Hara called a minute ago. He has asked for you on a case"
The slightest frown was visible between Cho's brows. If it was a murder investigation, the Mayor would have wanted the whole unit working on it.
"It's about his daughter's friend. She is being threatened, and the Mayor and Princess Mayor want the best round-the-clock protection for her"
Shit.
"He was hoping Agent Cho would personally make sure she was safe"
"What's she being threatened with?"
"Murder", Lisbon leaned back in her chair, "She testified against a guy at a rape trial. He got convicted, broke out of custody at the courthouse, and is now out for her blood"
He hoped to God the vic was not a teenager.
"Who is she?"
"I don't know. The Mayor said he had already sent someone over with the case file"
Just in time, Wayne knocked on the door. He poked his head in,
"Detective Waheed from SacPD is here to see you"
"Send him in, Rigs. Thanks"
Cho steeled himself for what promised to be the start of a tedious assignment.
Detective Waheed, after giving him the address, had said a uniform would relieve him at the place. It was a pretty neighborhood. Looked safe and warm, picket fences and the works. Cho parked his SUV near the sidewalk. The moment he got out, the said uniform waved at him from the porch. Guy looked like the balloon man at a car dealership. Cho got closer.
Ugh, that smile. Newbie.
"Officer Wayne Nicholson, SacPD"
Of course he was a Wayne.
"Special Agent Kimball Cho, CBI", Cho showed him his badge before shaking hands.
"Detective Waheed put me in charge until you came. Now that you're here, let's meet the lady of the house. You're so lucky, man"
Cho turned to him, his annoyance increasing by the second. The door opened and he saw.
"Miss Washington, this is Special Agent Kimball Cho from the CBI"
"Oh, hello. Detective Waheed told me you would be here today. I didn't know it would be so soon", she gave him half a smile, "Where are my manners? I'm Berenice Washington"
Man, was she beautiful. It took Cho a second to stop staring and take the hand she had offered. Embarrassed with himself, he shook it with more vigor than was necessary.
"Come on in"
Miss Washington led the way. Officer Nicholson did not follow.
"I best be leaving, Miss Washington"
"Of course", she shook hands with him, "Thank you, Officer"
"My pleasure", he smiled before taking off, "Thank you for the breakfast"
Miss Washington waved him away before closing the door. Meanwhile, Cho took in the neatly decorated living room. Too many windows for the killer to enter through or shoot. The stairs led upstairs – three rooms at most since the kitchen was downstairs.
"Make yourself at home, Agent Cho", she said, walking about the room and picking up a book and a magazine here and there, "I apologize for the mess. I haven't had a chance to clean this week"
"Miss Washington, I…"
"Please. Call me Berenice"
That smile seemed to still time for him. He nodded.
"I will need to check all entrance and exit points of the house. Upstairs too"
"Sure. I…", she looked about herself as if she had misplaced something, "It's just that I have to clean up. My book club is meeting up in less than an hour"
"You're not supposed to leave the house"
"I know. That's why I invited them here", she walked towards the steps, "Detective Waheed said it was all right if I did. Tara?"
Tara?
"Tara is my housemate. And best friend", she turned to him, "She will show you upstairs"
Before he could speak, a woman came bouncing down the steps and leaned against the railing, eyeing Cho.
"Tara, this is Agent Kimball Cho from CBI. Laurie told us he'd be coming over today?"
"Yeah. Agent Cho", Tara extended her hand to him, "Tara Jenkins. Pleased to meet you"
He shook her hand,
"Ma'm, I don't think you're supposed to be staying here with Miss Washington"
"It's Berenice"
"Don't call me ma'm", Tara grinned, "And Khaled… Detective Waheed said it was better that I stayed here. Teddy could try to put me in danger to get to Berry"
"Why don't you show him all the rooms upstairs? I'll fix you two some lemonade"
Cho tried,
"I'm…"
"Come on, Kimball. We'll go up"
Two middle-aged women, a house not made for witness protection, and a wannabe murderer named Teddy – Cho regretted ever having saved the Mayor's life.
The lemonade was fresh. The ladies of the book club complimented Miss Washington on it. Cho sat in a corner of the living room, trying to read a Bronte novel and keeping an eye about. He stole derelict glances at the hostess while she read the last chapter of the Smut Club's Book of the Week. Most librarians that Cho had known did not have a voice that melodious, nor eyes that sparkled so with every word. She sighed happily on reading "The end", and similar sighs followed. One of the ladies said,
"I can't wait to read the next part. Daisy is my favorite Wallflower"
Tara said, before putting her glass to her mouth,
"I bet Matthew Swift is not going to be as hot as Sebastian. I mean, ooh"
The women giggled while Miss Washington tried to sound discreet.
"Tara, is that vodka?"
Laughter followed and one of them remarked,
"Tara! It's only 1 in the afternoon"
She shrugged and hushed the chatter with a raised hand.
"All right now. Time for ratings"
Cho watched them all type into their phones. Being an avid reader himself, he supposed they were on goodreads or riffle. Miss Washington finished first and asked everyone to share their ratings. "Five stars!" was the all-round answer before she revealed she had given it four stars.
"Berry!", they admonished her.
"I loved it, but it's still not my favorite from the series"
"Ugh. You're so picky"
Miss Washington defended herself with grace.
"Sebastian is hot. But that's obvious. He's a rake. Evie is lovable and pitiable. And yet, their romance did not move me"
Groans and disagreements rang through the living room.
"Okay. Favorite sex scene?"
"Billiards room!"
"Their first time at the inn"
"I actually preferred the ending scene where he does her from behind"
"Tara!"
Miss Washington availed of the moment to excuse herself, cut a slice of the big pink cake, and bring it to Cho. He hesitated.
"No, thank you"
"Come on", she said with a comic smile, "It's low-fat, gluten free and I did use my secret ingredient"
He took the plate from her with the faintest smile. Miss Washington was staring at him.
"You have dimples"
"You do too"
She gave a flustered little laugh before joining her friends again. Cho was glad to learn he wasn't the only one affected by a good smile. He took a spoonful of the cake.
Delicious.
"Bye. Thank you for coming!"
"You take care, okay?"
Cho was standing on the porch, scanning the perimeter while Miss Washington saw her friends off. He could hear her shushing and hushing them.
"He is cute!", one of them said, "You should ask him out once that psycho is caught"
"Stop it. He can hear you", she tried again.
"If you ask me, this is just like Bodyguard"
Tara chimed in,
"Only we got a Korean Kevin Cosner"
They all agreed. Miss Washington did not.
"Tara, shut up. Besides, I am not half as good looking as Whitney"
Eyes rolled and Cho snorted too.
"Yeah, right"
"Okay, enough. Get going, all of you"
The women had carpooled in a huge Subaru. Before they could all get in, an old lady appeared from the adjacent house. Her presence made the women retreat faster.
"The Horny Housewives of Sacramento gather again"
Cho's eyebrows rose on hearing such words from the feeble and sweet-looking old lady. Miss Washington ignored her and turned to go back in with Tara. The woman took a good look at Cho and called,
"Finally got a gigolo, did you?"
"YOUR MEATBALLS TASTE LIKE HORSE'S NUTS, VELMA!"
Tara had to bring her friend in by the arms. Cho saw the old woman grinning to herself as she dumped a jug of water into her plants.
"Calm down now", Tara was saying, "She just likes to get a rise outta you. You know that"
Miss Washington took deep breaths.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Agent Cho", she shook her head, "That was Mrs. Cooper. She wasn't glad when my ex-husband moved out and I got the house in the divorce"
Tara winked,
"She had a crush on Nate"
"I feel like cooking something", Miss Washington mumbled to herself, "Chicken, maybe"
"Yeah, you go do that, Berry"
When she had gone into the kitchen, Tara explained.
"She cooks when she is pissed"
Rigsby was going to love it there.
Rigsby was loving it at Berenice's. Not only was she easy on the eyes, she was one hell of a cook. And her housemate Tara was just plain good company.
"This was…", he hummed, content and full.
"I am glad you liked it", Berenice smiled.
"Berry, you should make lasagna tomorrow. You are going to love it, Wayne"
"I already do"
He helped them clean up, despite of Berenice's protests. Tara seemed only too glad to excuse herself from the chore.
"So Agent Rigsby", she handed him a dish to dry on the towel, "You will be leaving in the morning, right?"
"Yeah. I'm only supposed to be here until Cho gets some essentials from his place. But our boss thought he needed a good night's rest if he was to be on guard duty 24x7"
"I see"
"I'll relieve him whenever he wants me to though"
She nodded.
"He is nice"
Rigsby grinned,
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hm. Is he always so quiet though?"
"Always, except when he's got some snarky comment up his sleeve"
"Oh", she smiled, "Wonder how he communicates with his wife"
"Cho's not married"
She washed her hands in the sink, with her back to him.
"His girlfriend then"
"Nope. He doesn't have one. He got out of a pretty messed up relationship few months back"
"Really?"
Her large, innocent eyes made him want to divulge every secret he held. But it was Cho's secret; none of his business.
"Yeah"
"I know a thing or two about messy relationships"
"Don't we all?"
Wayne studied the soulful impression her face gave. When she wasn't smiling, Berenice looked like she was posing for a photograph.
"I'm going to bed!", Tara announced from the living room.
"Good night"
"Good night, Berry! Night, Wayne!"
They stepped out of the kitchen to see Tara climbing up the stairs. Wayne turned to Berenice,
"It's late. You should be heading up too, don't you think?"
She nodded. Wayne followed her upstairs. Her room was opposite to that of Tara. As per protocol, Wayne ensured the window was shuttered and locked.
God, her room is just walls to walls of books.
"All good", he turned to her.
"Thank you", she smiled sleepily, "Help yourself to anything you need from the fridge or the kitchen. There are some potato chips in the hamper on the table"
"Yeah, I saw. Thanks"
"Good night, Agent Rigsby"
He walked to Tara's door and knocked.
"Who?"
"It's me, Wayne"
She opened the door, her sleep mask covering one eye.
"Is your window closed and locked from inside?"
"Yeah. Kimball did that when I tried sneaking out for my date"
He grinned,
"Night now, Tara. Lock your door"
"Will do, handsome. Night"
The lights were out throughout the house. Agent Rigsby fought against sleep, watching midnight wrestling on the TV. He had to do a round of the house in about five minutes. Maybe he needed coffee. He jerked on feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry!", it was Berenice, "I thought you were asleep. I was just making sure"
"I wasn't. And it's fine", he got off the couch, "Why are you up?"
She sighed and moved towards the kitchen. He followed.
"I couldn't sleep. You want some water?"
"Yeah", he caught the bottle, "Thanks"
Berenice was clearly disturbed. She said,
"It's not that I'm scared for myself alone. He's out there and he's a serial…"
"GET DOWN!"
It happened too fast. Rigsby lunged at Berenice and pulled her down with him. A gunshot had ringed right past his left ear. A double barrel shotgun, he could tell.
"Stay down, okay? Don't move!"
"I gotta warn Tara!"
"No! You stay here. She is upstairs. She is fine. You stay here, okay? Don't move"
She nodded and leaned her head against the kitchen compartments. Rigsby rose, gun drawn, and stalked to the door. He was standing between the back door and the wide windows above the kitchen top. Glass shattered and fell inches over and near Berenice as the second shot hit. She covered her ears and gave a little yelp, yelling,
"Tara, stay in your room!"
"Shh", Rigsby said to her, "Stay there. I will be right back"
Berenice watched as he cautiously opened the back door and stepped out.