Chapter 2

The SUV pulled up to a large, two story house in an upscale neighborhood lined with trees. Lisbon expertly threaded her car between the other police cars, forensic trucks and more than a few curious bystanders behind held at bay by yellow tape. Jane exited the car, and tucked his hands into his suit coat as he strolled after Lisbon's small frame into the house.

Once inside the door, a compact but powerfully built Asian man and his taller male companion approached Lisbon. Cho and Rigsby had out their notebooks and immediately turned to update their boss. Lisbon looked expectantly at her agents, while Jane's gaze started to travel restlessly around the room.

"Jasmine Zeller," Cho began impassively as they walked to the crime scene. "42 years old, married 15 years. She was found by her husband at 6am when he came back from a business trip from North Carolina."

The body of Jasmine Zeller lay on her back on the kitchen floor, her legs slightly bent to the side. If it hadn't been for the small, dark hole in her chest and the spread of bloody wings behind her, she looked as if she was sleeping. She wore a pale yellow tank top and matching pajama shorts, revealing a surprisingly trim figure and strong legs. Her short, light brown hair was just starting to develop shiny silver streaks, and her long narrow face looked peaceful. Jane and Lisbon exchanged a look, and then both started to pace around the room.

"Coroner places time of death at about 4 am," Cho continued.

"Anyone see or hear anything?" Lisbon asked as she knelt by Jasmine Zeller's feet, looking intently at her pale body.

"No," Rigsby chimed in. "Their maid, Esperanza Cortez, usually lives here but she's been visiting her son in Mexico for the last week, and the daughter, Kailey Zeller, was spending the night at her friends. The neighbors didn't hear anything."

"How did the murderer get in?" Lisbon asked, shifting slightly to look at the kitchen door.

"It doesn't appear to have been forced," Cho said. "And the alarm system didn't go off."

"So, someone she knew," Jane said finally. "Someone she trusted enough to just let walk inside at 4 in the morning."

Lisbon stood up, adjusting her coat unconsciously to keep her gun holster hidden, and peeled off her rubber gloves. "Where is the husband?"

"Living room," Cho said, indicating the direction.

Once in the room, Lisbon sat on the coffee table in front of Mark Zeller, who was holding his young daughter tightly to his side. His face had a blank look, and it took a moment for him to focus on Lisbon when she started to talk. Kailey had her mother's light brown hair and her father's pale blue eyes, and looked like she wanted to cry, but wasn't sure if she could. She huddled next to her father and looked scared.

"Mr. Zeller, I'm very sorry for your loss," Lisbon said sympathetically. "I just have a few questions for you."

"Okay," Mark Zeller agreed numbly.

"When did you leave for your business trip?" Lisbon asked while Jane hovered in the background, looking at the framed pictures on the mantle while Lisbon questioned.

Jane found himself having to force a neutral expression, fighting the hollow pain in his chest. All the pictures were of a happy family, and several showed a laughing Kailey in her father's arms. Jane was forced to look away from the image of a younger Mark Zeller gingerly holding his newborn daughter next to his wife in the hospital bed. He took a deep breath, and moved away from the pictures, letting himself scan the rest of the tastefully decorated room. Once he had pushed his own pain back, he focused again on Lisbon.

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your wife?" Lisbon was asking.

"No! No, everyone loved Jasmine," Mark said, hugging his daughter so tightly she winced slightly. "I don't know of anyone who would want to…" Mark's voice trailed off, and Lisbon could see him trying to stifle his tears.

"Any recent fights or disagreements with anyone?" Lisbon asked after giving the grieving husband a moment.

"None that I know of," Mark said.

"What about the campaign? I understand it has been getting fierce," Lisbon continued.

Mark snorted. "Ramirez is just getting desperate. He's losing...was losing…by a mile. Jas thinks his attack ads are actually kind of sad. I mean, she thought…"

"Any disgruntled employees or campaign workers?" Lisbon's green eyes looked gently at the grieving man and daughter. "How about you, Mr. Zeller? Anyone you have had trouble with?"

"No, no," Zeller said, then paused. "Well, there was nasty incident last month."

"What kind of incident?" Lisbon pressed.

"One of my employees. Henry Bass, was embezzling," Mark Zeller said. "When I fired him, he got ugly, yelling threats. I actually had him arrested and we got a restraining order. Oh my god, do you think he could have done this?"

"I don't know, Mr. Zeller, but we will look into it. Do you know where we can find Mr. Bass?" Lisbon replied.

"My secretary will have that information," Zeller said, and then his tenuous control started to slip.

Kailey hugged her father when he started to cry softly, her own eyes watering. Lisbon waited a moment before leaving the two to their grief. She caught a look at Jane's face, the slightly wooden expression and shadowed eyes as he tried to bring himself back under control. She had a moment of regret that she had brought him out to face a grieving father and daughter on a day that already was causing him pain.

Lisbon felt like she had known Patrick Jane for a lifetime, but she still felt like she was spying when his mask infrequently slipped. She had learned to see behind the persona Jane projected, to see the broken man behind the pain in the ass arrogance, and she saw his broken shadow self in the frozen half-smile and stiff expression. As she walked past Jane, she caught his gaze and gave him a supportive look before slipping away.

Jane could feel the brittleness of his smile, and wasn't surprised that Lisbon was seeing through him. Usually, he hated it when someone saw his private self, but oddly he didn't mind Lisbon's gaze today. He knew she saw more than she said, it was one of the things he liked about her. Today, she was letting herself be more expressive than usual and he knew it was for him. Because he was in pain, and she understood that. But understanding was all she offered, knowing it was all he would accept.

Patrick Jane turned to follow the dark haired, petite woman like a lost man chasing the mirage of sanctuary.