Red Letterbox
A/N: Well, this was initially supposed to be a one-shot, but thanks to the wonderful Gwendoline B, I now have a second chapter to post. I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks to Gwendoline B for her chapter.
Chapter two
Three days had passed since Red John's letter had arrived, and Lisbon still had no idea how he could have known that she would move to Austen. She couldn't sleep, couldn't concentrate and didn't get much paperwork done without making mistakes.
Jane was as secretive as always when it came to Red John. He lay on his couch and stared at the ceiling. All day long.
Lisbon could tell that he wasn't sleeping at night, not any more. There was something he didn't want to tell her, but Red John was dead. There was no reason for Jane not to tell her something in order to keep her safe. There was nobody who would kill them, so she could simply ask him what was going on. If he would refuse to talk to her about this, she would find ways to make him talk. After all, they were partners, and partners had to trust each other.
XxxxxxxxxxxX
"Jane." Lisbon headed over to his couch at the end of the day.
"What?" Jane sat up.
"You know what. I've not been sleeping for three nights now, and I know you haven't either. We're both thinking about this letter all the time. If anyone notices that something is wrong, we have to tell them. I don't want to do that."
"I wasn't thinking about the letter, Lisbon."
"Sure you were. Don't lie to me." Lisbon frowned, sitting down on the end of the sofa.
"Ok, maybe I thought about it, but..."
"No buts," Lisbon said. "And don't you dare to hide something from me. Red John is dead. You don't have to protect me anymore."
"I just need time to think about it before I tell you anything."
"No secrets, Jane. Not this time and not ever again. We're going to talk about this right now. Just tell me what you think about the letter. Please, I need to know what you think. I've been wondering how he knew that I moved to Texas and who is watching me, but I have no explanation. I guess that you might have one."
"I have some ideas, but none of them seems plausible. Actually, I think it would be better if you just try to forget about it entirely."
"What?" Lisbon was shocked. "No, I won't try to forget about this. I'm scared, Jane."
He sighed. "Alright. The most reasonable explanation is that the Blake Association is still out there. Not only in California, but in the whole country. Red John's handwriting on the envelope was black, but later someone crossed your old address out and wrote the new one in blue."
"Yeah, I know."
"I don't think this was Red John himself. Not entirely." Jane added.
"It's been six months since I've moved to Austen," Lisbon said. "How could he possibly know where I moved to?"
"I'm still working on this. The weird thing is that the letter was postmarked and sent just a few days after his death, and that it was sent to your old address."
"At first we should try to find out who sent it." Lisbon was thoughtful.
"One thing I'm sure about; no one from the suspect list could have done this, because all of them have been dead from the time I killed Red John."
"In fact," Lisbon thought for a moment. "There is someone who was always a bit creepy and suspicious. You remember Ron?"
"Yes, sure," Jane could see why Lisbon would think it was him. "Do you think it's him? That would be too easy, wouldn't it?"
"Why not? He was always in the bullpen when we were there. It's likely he heard things."
"Have you ever thought you could be overreacting?!"
"Damn it, Jane!" Lisbon almost shouted. "This is serious! This letter was scary. Red John wrote that I'm being watched. You can't tell me you suspect the Blake Association, and then expect me to brush it off again!"
"Calm down," Jane said softly. "He's gone, and even if you are being watched, you're not in danger. You always told me you could protect yourself, so don't freak out now."
"What is it that you don't want to tell me?" Lisbon demanded.
He looked away, avoiding her gaze. She had to know, so why shouldn't he tell her that she might be right in suspecting Ron from the CBI?
"You remember when I said that I only tell you 30% of what I do?"
Lisbon nodded. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I checked him out, because I thought there was something off with this guy, too."
Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, that's a relief. Did you at least find out anything useful?"
"As a matter of fact, I did."
"...Well?" Lisbon sat forwards.
"Thomas McAllister has a nephew." Said Jane. "After I joined this unit, I asked Wiley to track Ron down and find out his address and any other information. Turns out he was a member of the Blake Association too."
"But how the hell did he know about this new life in Austen?"
"Easy. He knew I had to disappear for some time after I killed Red John. Sooner or later, I would have come back to the US anyway. And do you know why Red John took you that day and painted the smiley on your face? He knew about our feelings. Actually, it was only logical that you quit your police chief job and came to work with me. I don't really know how he figured out the names on the list, but surely he figured out that we would work together one day again. He knew Abbott would shut down the CBI, and guessed the FBI wouldn't just close it and then leave. Since Abbott was from Austen, Red John figured that we would work there later. He only took an educated guess."
"Fine, but that doesn't explain why the letter was sent to this exact address."
Jane sighed again. "That is something I don't have an explanation for."
XxxxxxxxxxxX
The next day, when Jane stepped out of his Airstream, he found a second letter, which was addressed to him.
A/N2: Thanks again to Gwendoline B for her amazing chapter. Please leave a review and tell us what you think of it. Thanks.
