Grace let out a long grown as she shifted her petite frame to the side of the bed. She swung her legs around and rubbed her eyes longing to stay in her peaceful slumber. As she prepared to stand, strong arms wrapped around her body and dragged her back into bed. She laughed at her partner's playfulness.
'Wayne, we have to go to work,' she said through her giggles as he smooched her bed hair. He laughed and pulled her closer.
'I'm sure Lisbon won't mind if we are a few minutes late,' he tried. Grace removed herself from his grasp.
'Wayne, we have to keep us a secret, you know that. Showing up late will only give us away,' she said as she began to sit once more. Wayne let out a long groan and wrapped himself in her feather quilt.
'Fine! I'm going to have a shower, you're more than welcome to join me,' he said cheekily as he moved toward the bathroom, subtly dropping the quilt. Grace felt her cheeks flush a warm red. She let out a small sigh and then proceeded to follow. Surely a few minutes wouldn't matter.
***
'You're late Van Pelt!' Lisbon stated clearly as Grace rushed into the office. She flushed red and apologised focusing on the floor.
'Any idea where Rigsby is?' Jane asked from his usual sofa in the corner. Grace shook her head and promptly took her seat.
'Coincidence?' Jane said as he looked at Cho with his arms raised. Cho snickered and continued on with his work. A few minutes passed with only the sound of Janes solving of a Rubik's Cube filling the space. A flushed looking Rigsby finally ran in only to catch the glare of Lisbon.
'What has gotten into this team?' she asked rhetorically as she approached a scared look Rigsby.
'You and Van Pelt are late, Cho managed to spill coffee all over his paper work for the past 3 months and Jane, well, Jane is Jane,' she said as she pointed her finger angrily at Rigsby's chest.
'I resent that,' Jane said from the corner. Lisbon rolled her eyes and ignored Rigsby and went to bicker with him. Rigsby let out a smell breath of relief. His eyes quickly darted to Grace's desk, where she was purposely avoiding them. He rolled his eyes and wandered over to his desk.
***
'Oh I love carnivals!' Said Jane as the approached what was sure to be a grisly crime scene. Lisbon rolled her eyes as she snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. She turned to the officer at her side and cocked her eye brow waiting for him to explain what had happened. The man nervously cleared his throat, clearly intimidated by the small woman in front of him.
'The victim is 33 year old Ivan Clear, he was found this morning hung from the ceiling of the old fashioned re-enactment village by his fake wife Maureen, real name Isabelle Klick. At first it appeared to be a suicide, as there was a note, but after the body was let down it showed that the victim was stabbed, cleaned, redressed and then hung,'
'What did the note say?' Cho asked as he scribbled down the officers words into his small notebook.
The officer fidgeted around his pocket and pulled out a plastic evidence bag containing a crumpled and old looking piece of paper with cursive writing. He cleared his throat again and then handed the note to Lisbon. She took it from him and studied it carefully.
'Care to share?' Jane commented as he waited impatiently. Lisbon's eyes widened as she read the note over and over again. Finally she took her eyes from the piece of paper and looked deeply into Janes. She gulped and handed it to him, he carefully took it from her hands but refused to break eye contact, for this was the first time he had ever seen Therese Lisbon, a strictly strong woman, show fear.
****