The Mentalist

- Blue Velvet -

A man so deeply wounded by the loss of his wife and child, yet so determined to do the right thing, ultimately in a search of revenge. Patrick Jane, consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, used to be a psycic, a young man who connected with the dead loved ones.

Well, he claimed to do so. In reality he was an ordinary man, yet he was incredibly aware of everything around him. He knew exactly what to say, his clients would give him the information he needed and based on what he got, he would act as if he was connecting with their deceased spouse, sibling, parent or friend.

Patrick Jane was married to a beautiful young woman, Victoria Angela Jane, and she was the mother of his first and only child, Charlotte Jane, five years old.
Though Victoria never liked the fact that her husband was a fraude, and though she pleaded and begged for him to stop misusing his powers, he told her over and over not to worry. He was making good money, in fact, Victoria herself never had to work, he was so well paid that he had a big mansion on the Californian coast. He could provide for his wife and his young daughter, and he never had to do any work for all the money he had.
Patrick was also a consultant with the CBI, he helped the detectives close cases by visiting crime scenes and suspects wih them. He saw everything, he played games with people to get what he needed to get, and he closed cases.

That evening, when everything he loved fell to pieces, started as a very normal evening in his house. But the night was doomed to take a turn for the worse.

''You look good'', Victoria said as she watched her husband stroke his blonde curly hair back with gel. Patrick looked at her in the mirror and smiled. ''If you say so, it must be true'', he answered with a smile.
His wife didn't like the idea of him going on live television, 'connecting with the dead', while in fact he did nothing and he faked it all, but she accepted his choices. She was tired of fighting about it.
When she saw her husband struggle with his tie, she smiled at him and slowly turned him towards her. Mrs. Jane was quite the fashionista herself. ''You should really figure that out soon'', she said to him. Patrick laughed softly and nodded. ''I'm very good at solving crimes but I can't fix my own clothing''.
Victoria Jane was a beautiful, young woman in her late twenties. Patrick was in his early thirties and though they were total opposites, they loved each other more than anything in this world. Well, anything besides their daughter Charlotte.
The young woman had long, wavy, blonde hair and stunning bright blue eyes. She had a straight, narrow nose and her lips were full and always colored in peach lipstick. Her body was skinny yet curvy and since she went to the beach nearly every day, alone or with her daughter and husband, she was quite toned. The only wrinkles she had were when she laughed, and her laughter lines would harden. Other than that, Patrick Jane's wife was the example of a classic, young beauty.

''Patrick'', she whispered as she fixed his tie. There was a sudden concern in her face that she didn't try to hide. ''I'm worried about you'', she said. Patrick knew exactly what was coming and sighed. He grabbed her hands and held them on the place of his heart while he looked at her and nodded, waiting for her to continue. ''I'm worried that one day, you'll mess with the wrong person and he or she will punish you for lying and taking their money'', she explained softly. Mister Jane knew her fears, she'd told him many times, and he'd told her many times not to worry, but Victoria was stubborn.
''I won't. My clients give me all the information I need to know, and they don't have a clue. As long as I use that information, they'll never know it was all just a scam. Nothing will happen to me, Victoria'', he promised.
She looked at her husband slowly and didn't believe a word he was saying, but she nodded and smiled. ''Okay'', she answered quietly.

Mister Jane was to be a visitor at a TV-show that night. He was going to connect with a few loved ones from people out of an audience, and after that he was going to be interviewed. Normally, he would watch SpongeBob with Charlotte and then put her to bed, but this night he wouldn't be able to.
''Is she in bed?'', he asked then, releasing the hands of his wife. Victoria nodded. ''I'm going to tuck her in'', Patrick said. ''No, wait, Patrick. You'll wake her, I think she's asleep, finally''.
Charlotte was a lovely child, bright and beautiful, but a pain in the ass when it came to sleeping. She never liked to sleep alone, she slept in her parents room untill she turned three, and when Patrick and Victoria finally put their foot down and made her sleep in her own room, all hell broke loose. Nevertheless, Charlotte was an amazing child. Like her dad, she had blonde curls, and like him, she had green eyes. Like her mom, she had a slim figure and sunkissed skin, long lashes and full lips. She too was the example of beauty.

Patrick loved her. He loved her more than he loved life. His wife and his daughter were the reason he lived, and he and Charlotte were incredibly close. She was a daddy's girl. When Victoria told her no, Patrick told her yes, and though Victoria and Patrick had their reasonable amounts of fights because of that, it always ended up with them laughing and kissing eachother.
''I'll just say goodnight to her, really'', Patrick said smiling. He walked quickly through the hallway and softly pushed open the door to Charlotte's bedroom. She was half asleep when she woke up, and she immediately started smiling when her eyes fell on her father.
''Daddy'', she whispered while Patrick made his way to her and sat down on her bed. ''Why do you do that to your hair? It's sticky''.
Victoria, who stood in the door opening, chuckled. She loved his hair like that, but Charlotte thoroughly disliked it.
''Well, sweety, that is because I'm going to be on television tonight, and I have to look nice''. Charlotte made a face of disbelief and slowly shook her haid. ''I don't like it''. Patrick laughed and leaned in, softly kissing her cheek. ''Tomorrow we'll do something fun. You get to choose. Anything you like'', he whispered.
His daughter, half asleep, nodded again and closed her eyes slowly. Patrick knew it was time for him to leave, otherwise she'd wake up soon. So he stood up from the bed quickly and left his daughter's bedroom.

He walked down the stairs and stood still in the living room, slowly turning to his wife. ''Will you be watching?'', he asked. Victoria smiled. ''Always do''. She was supportive of him, though she didn't like what he did. She loved him with all her heart and wanted him to know that. And if that meant having to stay up untill late in the night, she'd do that.
''Good'', he answered, and he smiled widely. Then he grabbed his coat, and his carkeys, and walked towards the front door. It was a warm evening in june and the cool wind floated into the home.
''I love you'', Victoria told him as he turned to say goodbye. Patrick looked at her for a second, wondering if she was troubled by something. She told him many times that she loved him, yet something in her voice scared him this time. ''I love you too. Very much'', he eventually answered. He leaned in and softly pressed his lips to hers, kissing her for a few seconds, then pulling back. ''If you're tired, please go to sleep. It's not going to be very interesting, same old bullcrap'', he smiled.
''I'll watch'', his wife answered. ''And when you come home, you can tell me all about it while we get ready for bed''.
Patrick smiled and nodded, kissed her one more time, turned, and then left.
It would be the last time he saw his wife and daughter alive.