Hey everybody. The next chapter is ready. Thank you so much for your kind reviews. Special thanks to Auraya-of-the-White who started betaing my story. I have to admit, she had rather much to do.

So I have only one thing left so say: have fun.

By the way DISCLAIMER: No they are not mine. No I do not profit from this.

Jane was kneeling on the floor, his gun in one hand and the magazine in the other, checking the bullets. He looked up but the woman was nowhere to be seen. It was as if the whole encounter had never happened. He got up and crossed the room. Maybe she was somewhere else in the house. He went through the kitchen, checked the bathroom, but he couldn't find her anywhere.

In the end he decided that it didn't matter. He had other things to worry about, that whether his sub consciousness was playing tricks on him. He left and hurried towards his car. This was one of the few moments where he wished he had a vehicle a little less recognisable.

As he drove onto the highway, his mobile started ringing. Lisbon!

He knew that she would call him soon. When he had snuck out, he had made sure that he didn't cross her path. Over the last year she had become quite perceptive. Nowadays it was almost as if she could read his mind. He, on the other hand, hadn't really improved in deciphering her thoughts. It had always been a challenge to get into her head, but now it seemed to be harder instead of easier. He didn't know what Lisbon would do if she knew that he was already on the move. She would try to stop him! Of that he was certain, but how.

He considered not answering but in the end that would only make her even more suspicious so he picked up his phone.

"Hey."

"Jane! Where are you?"

Lisbon sounded more stressed than annoyed, which was what she wanted to sound like. The minute Rigsby had told her that Jane had left the office to pursue another hint she had started to worry. She didn't call him right away because for one thing, if Jane had a hunch it usually led to the capture of the perp. And despite what everybody including Jane thought, she liked catching the bad guy without any further damage to society. She knew they all thought of her as a "straight by the book" type who hated the consultant's investigative ways. It was true she liked playing by the rules, but as long as nobody got hurt during Jane's strange shortcuts she was fine with it. She was secure enough in her job not to be disturbed by the whispering voice on the hallways who said she didn't solve any case without Jane's help. Of course she didn't. He was part of her team. Why would she solve a case with only part of her team?

So when Rigsby told her he left, she wanted to believe that he was actually helping to solve the case. She didn't want to be overly mistrusting and yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very off.

"On my way back." Jane answered, with a light tone.

"Did you find out something useful? We managed to get a list of farm houses, small inns and anything else isolated enough for Red John to feel comfortable. I was hoping you could help us narrow down the list. I will check them all out, but it would be much faster if we could exclude some right away."

"Oh sure. Good work. Yes, I will be at the office in about ten minutes."

"So…"

"So what?"

"What did you find out?"

Jane's mind was busy coming up with an excuse. He hadn't been specific when he had told Rigsby he would follow a lead. He knew that Lisbon would see right through him if he started going into detail. It just didn't make any sense. They had the name of a small town where the newspaper was published, they had the profile of Red John telling them how he would possibly behave like to his neighbours. What they were missing was a contact. Somebody they could actually talk to. The only reason why Jane would have wandered off on his own.

"Jane? Where are you?"

Damn, he had taken too long.

"On my way."

"On your way to where?" Lisbon asked suspiciously, Jane, please don't do this. Let us help. Tell me where he is and we will come and get him. Do you hear me? Don't go there on your own. Jane, Red John is dangerous. Not only do I not want you to kill him, I also don't want you hurt and if you go there without backup…"

"Lisbon! I'll be fine."

Jane ended the call to stop her from saying anything else. `Well that didn't go particularly well´ he thought.

He ignored the strange feeling he had now. Over the last year he had told himself that he would one day have to abandon them. On the day he caught Red John, he would have to leave the team behind. Jane thought he had prepared himself for this, but now he had found it rather hard to hang up on Lisbon. He couldn't help but see how much of a disappointment he had been to her. He knew that she had always believed that he would give up on his idea of revenge. He just wasn't that saint she wanted him to be.

Soon after he ended the call he reached the old house. Just as Lisbon had said, it was way off the beaten track. Red John had chosen it because of the quiet neighbourhood. As soon as Jane had heard the name of the city the newspaper was from, he remembered an earlier Red John case. In this case the search for the victim took about three days and concentrated mostly on this particular region. Indeed they found the victim at the next apartment building down the main road. This early on with the Red John cases the police hadn't made the connection and therefore hadn't figured out his MO. So they didn't know to look into bedrooms to find his victims. Instead they started the search at the point of her disappearance. They hadn't been able to link the inhabitants of the farmhouse to the murder but Jane now knew better.

He parked a little further down the driveway and went to the house on foot. Once he reached the building he drew out his gun and released the safety lock. He listened for voices. Non where to be heard. Carefully he circled the house, checking that nobody was outside. He ducked under the windows and carefully avoided making a sound.

It wasn't like he didn't pick up on police habits. He had watched Lisbon and the team a dozen times circling a building. His heart was racing every time he stepped around a corner. By now all his thoughts about Lisbon and whether she would show up or what would happen once he killed the murderer of his family were erased from his mind. He was focused on the task at hand. He would take down the killer with his gun and then he would use a knife from the kitchen of this scum bag to make him bleed to death.

Jane completed his check outside and was about to enter the house when several things happened, almost simultaneously.

A voice, a terrible voice he had heard before said "Well, Mister Jane, I certainly didn't expect you here so soon."

Jane, hearing and recognising the voice, froze for a second, then he turned around, raising his gun to fire.

A shot rang.

Silence filled the small clearing in front of the otherwise tree encircled house.

A man fell.

"You know what? I would have loved to draw this out a little longer. I have dreamed about our encounter many times before. I had always hoped that I would get to kill you very slowly."

He began to walk towards him.

"But then again it doesn't really matter to me as long as you are dead and that I was the one to kill you. I always felt it should be me to end your life. It has a certain poetry about it. I killed you all, your wife, your little daughter, and now you Patrick."

Red John slowly walked towards Jane, cleaning his gun, and not really paying any attention.

So in the end this was what brought Red John down.

His arrogance and overconfidence.

Jane shot him right in the head, although lying on the ground bleeding.

Red John died even before he did. He finally had his revenge.