A/N: To be completely honest, this is not the story I have been working on for months and months. I threw this one together on a whim, and I hope you enjoy it! It has suspense and crime but of course there will be Jane/Lisbon friendship and romance.

Disclaimer: not mine.

PROLOGUE

It was 12:33 in the afternoon when Lisbon spotted her, wandering aimlessly through the CBI hallway.

It was an unusual sight. Usually, the citizens that came around here were victims' loved ones, hoping to seek out the heroes who caught the murderer and thank them. This girl was no one Teresa Lisbon recognized. They did not have a case, so it couldn't be an unknown witness stepping forward. Not only that, but the pretty brunette with the red scarf looked to be about fifteen years old.

So Lisbon stood from her desk and walked into the hallway. "Miss?" Lisbon asked, catching the young girl's attention. She turned to stare at Lisbon, her huge blue eyes radiating what seemed to be… fear? "Hey, sweetie. Can I help you find something? Or someone?"

The girl nodded stiffly. She glanced around herself quickly, before turning back to the older woman. Something caught her eye behind Lisbon, and then she looked her in the eye again. "Is that your office?" the girl wondered in a hushed tone.

Lisbon lowered her voice cautiously, though still unsure why. "Yes. Why?"

"It says Teresa Lisbon on the door," she stated. "I assume you're Agent Lisbon?"

"Ye-es," Lisbon said slowly. "What's this about?"

"Can we talk? In private?"

Lisbon stared at her, before nodding and guiding her into her office, shutting the door behind her and locking it. "Have a seat." The young girl did as she was told and folded her hands in her lap patiently as Lisbon walked around her desk to sit. "Alright, it's safe here. You can talk to me."

The teenager took a deep, nervous breath before beginning her explanation. "I actually came here in search of Patrick Jane," she confessed. "However, I was told that you two are basically a package deal and that you are the responsible one. So I figured I'd talk to you first, since Mr. Jane appears to trust you."

"He does," Lisbon said with confidence. "Tell me, Miss…" she trailed off.

"Wickham."

"Miss Wickham, what is this about?"

Wickham swallowed hard. "I know that it is a hundred percent dangerous to speak about this with anyone, let alone trust someone that I don't even know with the information I have, but I've done some thinking and I decided I have no choice. I needed to tell somebody." She went on quickly, as if she were afraid she would talk herself out of it. "I think I might be able to help catch a serial killer that you and Patrick Jane hold near and dear to your hearts."

It seemed as if Lisbon's entrails had transformed to ice. "Red John," she whispered.

"Yes," Miss Wickham breathed.

"Care to elaborate?"

It was clear that this poor girl was frightened, but Lisbon actually impressed by how well she controlled her demeanor. "I-I don't know where to begin."

"Start by telling me your full name, if you don't mind."

"Olivia Wickham. You can call me Liv."

"Okay, Liv. Now, why do you think you can help us? No disrespect, he's just a tough one to find."

Olivia nodded. "I understand," she said. "I began my research after my mother passed away from cancer three months ago. Before she died, she gave me the code to a safe hidden in our house. I was disappointed to find that the things in the safe did not hold much significance, but the clues within them did."

Lisbon listened intently, pressing her lips together and fidgeting.

"I dedicated the few months after my mother passed to find something, anything, that might be what she wanted me to find," Liv went on. "I found nothing, for the longest time. The clues led me to old storage units and creepy warehouses but I found nothing in them but my grandparents' old belongings." She paused. "Until two weeks ago, when I found a letter addressed to my mother buried in an old dusty chest, from a man named Roy."

Lisbon's heart stopped.

"I found several more. At first, I wasn't sure why I was reading them; they were love letters my mother had received fifteen years ago but something in the back of my mind told me they were important."

Lisbon knew that she should call Jane in here, but she the last thing she wanted was to get his hopes up if Olivia's story didn't end up helping them out.

"I opened another chest," Liv went on, "and found dozens of newspaper clippings. I was pretty disturbed to see that they were all stories about some crazed serial killer who drew on the walls with the blood of his victims. I love my mom and everything but I knew that she was pretty messed up, so at first I didn't think much of it, I just thought it was extremely creepy." She looked down at her folded hands before glancing up to meet Lisbon's intense gaze again. "But then I got to thinking, and why exactly would my mother pinpoint this particular murderer? Sure, Red John is well-known in the state of California, but I knew there had to be another reason."

Lisbon waited patiently for the climax of the story.

"Then I found a story dated about three or four years back. Your name was in it," Liv explained. "So was Jane's, along with a Sheriff Hardy and a woman named Rosalind. The story revealed that Red John had a name he loved to use." She paused, scanning Lisbon's expression. "You know exactly which name I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"I put two and two together and I was pretty shocked to say the least. But like I said, my mother was messed up, so I shouldn't have been too surprised."

"Where are these newspaper clippings and letters located?"

"They're in some creaky, scary warehouse in the middle of freaking nowhere." She rolled her eyes. "I actually considered taking them with me, but I knew that if somehow Red John figured out I had them, I'd be dead in a minute."

Lisbon nodded wistfully. "You're probably right." She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "So your mother and Red John were lovers, and you think we can trace these letters back to him?"

"Yes."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Liv pondered that for a moment. "I guess you don't. But you should know that you and I are a lot alike, Agent," she said. "We're both marked for death and there is nothing we can do about it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Red John."

"I understand that. I also understand that I am under his radar but why you?"

Olivia shrugged. "Surely by now he knows that I know too much. But besides that I think he's always been watching me."

"Why's that?"

Olivia gave Lisbon a small, reluctant smile. "I'm his daughter."

TBC