Chapter 1.

Patrick Jane.

"Morning Teresa," I yawn, moving my arm to wrap around her, "Merry Chris…" I pause; the space beside me is cold. Looking over, there are no green eyes staring back at me.

"Lisbon?"

There is no reply; was there a call from the CBI that I missed? You've got to be some kind of sick person to kill someone on Christmas Day. Though I don't believe in the whole Christian aspect of the day, it was always celebrated in our household; despite not being believers, it is a day that you should be spending with your loved ones and a day to give presents. Charlotte and Angela always got up early to see what Santa had brought; the smile on their faces was something that always brought a smile to mine. Since their deaths, I have never celebrated the holiday, until this year; Lisbon's idea, I guess. She had bought me a tree to put up in my living room, complete with lights and baubles. She'd been the one to put it up and decorate it, I couldn't; that was Angie and Charlotte's job.

I'd left my phone on the bedside table, maybe I should call, make sure if everything is okay, see if they require my assistance. But on the screen, it tells me that I've missed seven calls from Cho. That's odd, I normally hear the phone ringing, its volume is on full. What the hell did I drink last night? Whatever it was must've been really strong because I rarely sleep past 10 o'clock in the morning, and it's quarter to 12. Something is really wrong. I call the first number on speed dial; but the phone is on the table on the other side of the bed. Huh, Lisbon forgot her phone, that's weird; something is desperately wrong.

The second number on speed dial is Cho; he answers on the first ring.

"Jane? Where are you?" He hastily asks.

"I'm at home, why? What's going on?"

"I've been trying to get hold of you and Lisbon all morning, we've got a case," Cho replies, a little annoyed.

"Hang on, Lisbon's not with you?"

"No, I'm here with the two newbies," he replies, referring to Agents Fitz and Willis, both who replaced Rigsby and Van Pelt after they transferred.

"I'm on my way," I reply, "I'm sure Lisbon has just popped out, I'll leave a note for her."

"Fine, here's the address;" I quickly note it down, "see you there soon."

"See you Cho."

He puts the phone down on me; surely if Lisbon isn't here or with the team she would have let one of us know. Right, c'mon Jane, think straight; Lisbon isn't stupid, maybe she went somewhere secret, what you need to do now is get dressed and go and help the team.

Five minutes later, I'm sitting in my car with cheesy Christmas songs playing on the radio, staring at Lisbon's car in the driveway, the snow covering it perfectly like a fleece blanket. My car is pretty much on the same condition, but it's okay to drive; it started up first time. Lisbon is starting to worry me now; out in the cold, no phone, no note, it just isn't right. But she's a grown woman, who – as I have observed over time – can definitely take care of herself; she would hate it if she knew that I was being over protective of her. And with that in mind, put it into reverse and back out of the driveway, the tyres easily part the snow and although the road is icy, the car doesn't fishtail or anything like that on the way to the crime scene on the other side of town. The weather doesn't make it easy to get there, but as it is a holiday, there are very few cars out on the road, and with the heater on full blast, it's a lot toastier in here than it is out there. The crime scene isn't hard to miss, with several local police department vehicles all gathered around a street corner. There's Cho's car in amongst them as well as the cars of Agent Fitz and Agent Willis. Both of them have worked with us on a few occasions, they're okay I guess; but I miss the old team. Ever since Rigsby and Van Pelt got engaged, and subsequently transferred to other departments in the CBI, everything had changed. They told us that it was a mutual agreement; they couldn't be part of the same team, if they were going to be together, they have to pay the price of moving to separate departments.

Wayne has returned to Arson, whilst Grace had gone to Hostage negation; she suits it really, she is tough when she needs to be, but, from what I have seen when solving cases is that Grace had a knack when it came to speaking to the families and friends; they have gained a great agent. Rigsby was welcomed back with open arms by his colleagues; we do miss them. However, we have gained two great new additions to the squad; Agent Charlie Fitz transferred from Narcotics as soon as the opportunity arose, he's stubborn but is kind at heart, I guess; also he's a little bit of a mystery, whenever someone asks him about his time in Narcotics, he quickly changes the subject, plus he's extremely hard for me to read – and that's saying something. Agent Molly Willis is pretty new to this game, having only worked at a small police force in the north of England before moving to Sacramento; she is young and still learning, but with Lisbon as her boss and mentor, she'll make a great detective.

Parking close, I can see the red river of blood flowing over the pristine snow along with a ladies snow shoe. Cho, Fitz and Willis are all standing, hunched around the body of the deceased, clad in thick scarfs and quilted jackets. Cho looks my way and beckons me over, before I leave, I pick up my own winter jacket and scarf that had been left on the passenger seat from the night before, along with Lisbon's red tartan hat and faux sheepskin gloves. The knock at the window startles me, Molly is standing there, a wide smile cast over her face despite the situation which has made them gather there on Christmas morning. I open the door to speak to her.

"Hi Jane," she greets me, "Merry Christmas."

"Wish I could say the same," I reply, which seems to dampen her spirits a little, "sorry, I mean Merry Christmas. So, what do we have?"

"Female, mid-twenties, single stab wound to the back," she backs away as I get out of the car.

"Ouch," the thought of a knife in a back sounds extremely painful…but interesting to me; the method that the killer uses to kill his victim can lead to us identifying him or her.

"Yeah," she sighs, "poor girl was attacked late last night, left to bleed out on the street."

"Who found her?" I ask, trying not to dwell on that particular train of thought.

"A family this morning, they were on their annual Christmas walk when they came across her around 10:30," Molly fills me in.

"You're late," Cho's greeting is as cold as the weather, "have you managed to get hold of Lisbon?"

"I can't get a hold of her," I tell him, "maybe she went for a quiet walk this morning?" "Hopefully, she hasn't met the same fate as the family who found our victim," Charlie interjects.

I give him a 'don't do that'look which he ignores; consultant or not, I've been here longer than he has and I can just as easily whip his…

"Jane!" Cho snaps, interrupting my thoughts, "Focus, what do we know about our victim?"

Gazing down, I get my first proper look of the victim; her lips are as blue as the morning sky and her eyes have remained open, staring into the darkness of the afterlife. It is then that I take notice of her clothing; it's from the expensive lines, reserved for only the wealthy, there is also a smell of perfume, also on the expensive side, a lot dearer than her clothes, maybe a little too expensive for her salary. Suffice to say, this girl is either from a wealthy family, or, my guess is that she has made a name for herself and has friends high up the social ladder.

"She's a hard worker, the expensive clothes tell us that," I summarise, "she wants to look the part, fit in with a higher class of people. She's popular, receives expensive gifts from her friends."

"You get all that from just looking at the victim?" Fitz asks me, his tone a little sceptical.

"The devil is in the detail," I remind him, he has a bee in his bonnet about something, and I'm trying to figure it out.

"Fine," he dismisses, "I'll feed her description to the agents back at HQ, see if there are any missing persons reports filed that match her description."

"Purse?" I ask.

"Nope, no ID on her, just her phone," Cho replies, "a robbery gone wrong perhaps. But we can't unlock the bloody thing to get an ID or check her recent call list; damn iPhone's, they're so tricky to unlock."

As he walks away, I manage to get closer to Molly.

"What's with him?" I ask, pointing discretely at Fitz.

"First Christmas with his baby boy and he's spending it solving a murder," she whispers back, "so, you have no idea where the boss is?"

I shake my head before adjusting my scarf, making sure there is no icy draft.

"So," I quickly change the subject, "who were you suppose to be spending Christmas with this year?"

"My family were coming over, but they couldn't because of the weather," she replies, "I'm toughing it out alone this year, but as soon as the snow clears, I'm heading back to good old Manchester until the new year. How about you?"

It's all around the department now that Lisbon and I are involved, it wouldn't even surprise me if the bosses upstairs know what is going on.

"Oh," Molly nods understandingly, "of course."

I'm glad that I didn't have to spell it out for her.

"Medical Examiner isn't too happy that he's taking an autopsy today," Cho interjects, "Willis, would you and Fitz canvass the area, see if there was anybody about last night, you know the usual."

"Sure," Molly replies, and goes off to join Fitz.

"Where do you think Lisbon has gone?" I ask Cho, as soon as we are alone.

He seems a little taken aback by my question, but he tries not to show it, "don't worry, Jane, I'm sure there is a good reason for her disappearance."

"I hope you're right," I reply, meaning every word.