Thanks for all the positive feedback! I wasn't sure how readers would respond to a story line that had been done already and using dialogue from the show, but the feedback and private messages have been all positive, only 1 person didn't like either. I love reading any and all writers' ideas and views no matter how many times a story line has been done or how the writers choose to write their story. That is the beauty of Fan Fiction!
Chapter 3
When she arrived at the office, Cho and Wiley were out following a lead at a bookstore. She sat at her desk and went through the notes on the case.
When the guys arrived back at the office, Wiley brought Cho, Tork and Teresa up to date on the information he'd found on the Blackmore website. He and Cho learned about the website at the bookstore.
"The Blackmore site is huge. It's the Ebay of the deeply weird. There are sections on vampirism, self-vivisection." Wiley was explaining.
"Self-vivisection?" Tork interrupted.
"Cutting yourself open." Cho explained.
"How does this help us find Jane." Teresa asked. She just needed some answers. Her patience was wearing thin and she didn't know how much longer she could keep up the facade of just being a worried girlfriend.
"Well, there is also a section on blood sorcery. Magical things you can do with blood. Now, you're supposed to use your own blood but, 15 months ago there was a discussion on harvesting blood from other people. About 20 people were involved." Wiley explained.
"Why would you harvest blood?" Tork asked.
"Because you need a lot." Wiley answered.
"Fifteen months ago, that was right around the time our guy made his first kill. He could be one of those people. Can we get their names? Teresa asked. She was getting more scared for Jane as Wiley continued explaining the Blackmore site. She did have a small amount of optimism that the names of the people from the discussion would lead them somewhere.
"The screen names they use are all super protected. However, I was able to dig one out. A guy named Allen Soltenstale, a college professor in San Marcos." Wiley said.
"Let's go pick him up." Cho said, indicating to Tork to follow him.
"Sure." Tork said.
After Cho and Tork left Teresa asked, "What do they do with the blood?"
"A couple of things. But the one that gets the most discussion is the ritual that binds the spirit." Wylie explained further.
"Bind, how?" Teresa asks.
"If you have a corpse, you can bind the spirit of a dead person by giving blood to their body. That way the spirit never leaves."
Teresa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She definitely was more afraid for Jane now. "Please, don't let this Lazarus guy do this to Jane." she prayed. "Please, please don't take him from me. I desperately need him."
The next morning, Teresa was back in the office ready to find out if they had gotten any information on Professor Soltenstale. As Teresa walked by one of the interrogation rooms looking for Abbott, she saw a man sitting alone. She walked into the next room where Abbott and Tork were talking.
"Is that Soltenstale?" she asked as she walked into the room Abbott and Tork were in.
"Yeah." Abbott answered.
"Why isn't someone talking to him?" Teresa asked.
"He requested an attorney. He's on his way now." Abbott informed her.
"This guy could be torturing Jane right now. We don't have time for this." Teresa said, angry. She was not letting some regulation stand in her way of finding Jane before something happened to him.
"Sorry Lisbon." Abbott said.
"Let me talk to him." she said.
"Look, the guy's lawyering up." Tork said.
"Let me talk to him." Teresa said to Abbott, almost pleading.
Abbott looked at Lisbon, he understood her need to find any information about Jane. "Okay." he conceded.
Teresa turned, walked out the door and over to the interrogation room where Soltenstale was sitting.
"I already told them I won't say anything without my lawyer present." Soltenstale said belligerently.
"I don't care." Teresa replied, sitting down across from him. Soltenstale looked at her trying to decide if she was serious or just trying to be a hardass. She looked at him for a minute and stated, "You're hiding something."
"What?" he asked indignantly.
"I never would've noticed something like this before. But I've been working for a very long time with somebody who's good at seeing into people. What they're thinking, feeling. I can tell there's something you're worried we're going to find out about you." Teresa explained, feeling like she just might be able to get something here.
"That's ridiculous." Soltenstale said.
"I'm guessing it has something to do with the black magic. Something violent or sexual or maybe both." Teresa said as she watched Soltenstale nervously shifting in his chair. "But, judging by how freaked out you are; I'd say it's something really bad."
"I am not freaked out." Soltenstale continued his attempt to appear unaffected by Teresa's words. "And my interests, such as they are, are purely academic. I don't know what you think you're doing…"
Teresa cut him off before he could continue, becoming angrier the more he spoke, "Shut up."
Soltenstale stopped moving and looked at Teresa. Not quite knowing what was coming next.
"I don't care what kind of kinky stuff you're into. I have a friend who's in danger and maybe you can help save him. It's possible he's being held by somebody from that blood group of yours. I want their names."
I don't know any names. It's an online community and…I shouldn't even be talking to you." Soltenstale started saying before deciding he didn't want to talk anymore.
"You're lying I can tell. You have names. You've met them, some of them." Teresa continued.
Soltenstale sat back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest turning defiant and looked away from Teresa. This made her very angry.
"I don't think you understand how important this is to me. You give me a name; you can walk out that door right now. You don't, and I will dig up every dirty secret you have." Teresa stated. At this point, she didn't care about anything but getting the names of those people in the group. She had a strong feeling that it would lead her to Jane.
"You'll what?" Soltenstale asked incredulously.
"I will tell everybody you know, your coworkers, your friends, your family. You are not going to be able to hide." Teresa said raising her voice. She was going to get those names from him one way or the other and find the man she loved.
"You're threatening me?" he asked.
"It's not a threat, it's a promise." Teresa said with conviction.
"You can't. That's...that's illegal." he said, beginning to lose some of his belligerence.
"My boss is right back there." Teresa said pointing over her shoulder to the next room. "Tell him. Get me fired. Ruin my career. I don't care. I want those names." Teresa continue, as she pushed a pen and paper across the table to Soltenstale. She really didn't care. Whatever had to happen to her to find Jane she could live with. She just couldn't live without him.
Soltenstale looked down and the paper and started writing. He knew this slight, female agent in front of him was serious. Once he finished writing, Teresa stood up and walked out the door.
"He gave me eight names. Says he can't remember the rest." She said as she handed Abbott the list of names.
"Good work."
Teresa was anxious to start finding the people on that list. Abbott gave everyone instructions and they each went about tracking down the people.
They' come up with the name, Joseph Keller, as the possible suspect in Jane's abduction. Teresa and Cho sat in an interview room with a lady who was possibly the manager at Joseph Keller's former address.
"We're looking for a man named Joseph Keller, Jr. According to our records, his last known address was an apartment building that you manage Mrs. Martinez. But then he moved out." Teresa explained.
"Yeah, Keller. Weird guy. I think he moved like two years ago." Mrs. Martinez said.
"Did he leave a forwarding address?" Cho asked.
"No. I think he said something about his dad being sick."
"Can you remember anything else about him? Where he worked?" Teresa asked.
"Some exterminating company." the Martinez lady answered.
"Do you know the name of the company or the address?" Cho asked
"Maybe. I think he sent me an email about it. Want me to hire him. Do you want me to look for it?" Mrs. Martinez asked.
"That would be wonderful. Thank you." Teresa said with hope.
The Martinez woman pulled a large bag onto the table, "I know it's in here." she said.
Cho and Teresa watched as the woman started going through her bag, when Wiley knocked on the door.
"While you're looking for that we're just going to step outside." Teresa said standing and walking to the door.
She and Cho stepped outside the interview room and Teresa looked at Wiley hoping he had some good news for them.
"Any news?" Teresa asked hopefully.
"Not yet. Sorry. But I did find out something weird about Keller." Wiley said.
"What?" Cho asked.
"Not Keller, Jr., but his father Joseph Keller, Sr. Fifteen years ago there was a string of killings in the area. Local PD took a hard look at Keller, Sr. Really liked him for them, but they only had a circumstantial case, never found any conclusive evidence.
"Keller's father was a serial killer?" Cho asked.
"Sounds like it." Wiley said.
"What happened to him." Teresa asked.
"I don't know. The case went cold. Two or three years ago he falls off the map. He had a house not too far out of town. Near Lake Pickasee."
"You check out the house. I'll wait until she finds the work address and head over there." Cho instructed Teresa.
"Good." Teresa said, as she headed for her desk to grab her keys.
Teresa all but ran to her vehicle outside. She hoped this was the one clue that would lead her to Jane. She prayed all the way out to Lake Pickasee that she would find something, that she would find Jane. She tried to stay focused on her driving and attempted to keep the information in perspective. This could be nothing also.
She found the address Wiley sent her. She drove up the driveway and saw an old, white house. "Okay, this is it. Be on alert." she said out loud. She needed to find any clues she could about Jane, but she needed to make sure she didn't get hurt.
She stepped out of her vehicle, drew her gun and looked towards the house. Just as she was about to round her vehicle, there was a massive explosion. She ducked back down behind her vehicle to protect herself from the blast. When the explosions stopped, Teresa stood up and started running towards the house, trying not to cry. She was overcome by fear as she ran up onto the porch. "NO! This can't be happening. Please, please, please let Jane be okay if he's in here." she prayed.
She opened the door and slowly made her way inside. Finding Jane, while protecting herself was of the utmost importance.
"Jane?" she called as she moved through the house and down a flight of stairs where the blast appeared to come from. "Jane?" she called again.
"You in here?" she continued calling as she kicked open a door to her right.
"Jane?" she called again as she moved further into the room. "Are you here?"
"Jane?" she called louder. Her fear increasing as she moved along the room. Suddenly she heard someone coughing behind her. She turned around and followed the coughing sounds.
She found Jane laying on the floor behind a bar. "Jane. Hey. Okay. Can you stand up? Here, let's get you up." she said as he continued to cough. She reached down and took his elbow, helping him stand to his feet. 'He's alive. Thank you God. Now please let him be okay.' she said to heaven above.
Jane slowly made it to a standing position with Teresa helping him up. "I got you." she said to him.
Teresa pulled his arm around her neck and put her arm around his waist. They walked up the stairs and out the front door together.
"Don't you ever do that to me again, ever." she said as they walked across the porch to her vehicle. Jane reached around with his other hand and pulled her close. "Sorry. I love you." he whispered with a hoarse voice.
They spent part of the afternoon and early evening at the hospital getting Jane checked out. He'd complained that he was alright and didn't need frauds in white coats to tell him that. However, he'd gone along with Teresa's desire to make her feel better. He could tell on their drive back to Austin that she was a jumble of emotions. He understood. If he was honest, he was a jumble of emotions too. He'd had time when he was alone in the basement of Keller's house to think about what he wanted to do if he was able to escape. Starting tomorrow, he' set the wheels in motion to move on with his life.
Teresa also had a lot of time to think on the drive back and while sitting in the ER waiting for doctors to finish checking Jane out. She'd already decided she was going to tell Jane about the pregnancy. She was so happy he'd been found relatively unscathed, that she didn't want to take any more chances with him not knowing. She was going to let him rest and sleep tonight and tell him tomorrow. She'd come up with a good way to tell him.
The next day, Jane purchased the little shack by the pond that he would renovate. He didn't waste any time getting started. He had a lot of plans and he wanted everything to go smoothly. He sat up a table in the open area of the cabin and made himself a pot of tea. He was working on drawings he'd started of the cabin and all the changes he planned to make.
When they got up this morning and Jane told her what his plans for the day were, she knew exactly where and how she was going to tell him about the baby. She would take sandwiches out to the cabin and tell him there, where it would just be the two of them in their little cabin. She was excited and more than just a little nervous too, not knowing how he'd feel.
Around lunch time, Teresa walked in the front door of the cabin with a large brown paper bag. "How's your head?" she said as she stepped inside.
"Oh, hey." he said, as he leaned over and gave her a kiss.
"Hi." she said as he kissed her.
"It's fine. The ears are still ringing a bit. Just getting ready for the remodel." He said with a big smile on his face over seeing her.
"I brought sandwiches." she said, holding up the brown paper bag.
"Those are the magic words." he said. "Come with me." He directed her out the door.
They walked over to a log on the other side of the pond. About the place they had stood when he showed her the cabin and told her of his plans several days ago. Teresa unpacked the bags and handed Jane his sandwich and a bottle of water. They started eating and she looked over at the house. When they were almost finished eating, Teresa decided it was a good time to start a conversation and get to what she knew she needed to do.
"Is it me or does it seem like the house slants a little bit to the left?" she asked.
"Optical illusion." Jane answered as he picked up his water bottle and started to unscrew the cap.
Teresa nodded her head and turned towards Jane. She immediately saw he wasn't wearing his wedding ring.
"You're not wearing your wedding ring." she stated.
"I'm not married." he said and took a drink of his water.
She looked at him a smiled. She couldn't believe this was happening. He had removed his ring. Was this discussion going to be even better than she imagined? His kidnapping must have given him the chance to make some decisions, just as it had for her.
She continued to smile and stare at him as he continued talking. "The ground is slanty so it makes the structure look like its leaning but, it is in fact not. It's just an optical illusion."
"Slanty huh?" Teresa says as she looks at the house. She doesn't notice at first that he is taking his ring out of his vest pocket.
"Technical term." Jane holds the wedding ring between his fingers. Teresa turns and notices it in this hand.
Jane pauses for several moments, then holds the ring up between two fingers and takes a couple of deep breaths before speaking. "This ring has been with me for a very long time and uh…it has obvious significance with my past."
Teresa shakes her head and looks down. She is trying to figure out where Jane is going with this conversation. She looks back up when he hasn't continued yet.
"It also represents…meeting you. If I didn't have this ring, I would never have met you. So in a sense, it has the potential to represent my future as well."
Teresa looks at the ring and back at Jane. Where was he going with this conversation? Why was he explaining this? Was he just doing it to explain why he had kept the ring on or why he still had it in his pocket?
"I'm not expecting you would ever wear it. But, I want to share it with you and…I want it to represent our future, together." He continues explaining.
Teresa smiles at him, still lost as to where this conversation was leading.
"I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?" Jane asks.
Teresa looks at him and can't believe what is happening. Jane just asks her to marry him. 'Oh my God. This is really happening. He is fully back and committed to me! Now I know he can be committed to us, our family.' She thought to herself.
It took her a minute to get the words out. "Okay. Yes, yes I will, yes." She said laughing a completely happy laugh as she said the words.
"Yes, excellent. I'm glad that's dealt with. I was a little nervous." Jane said with a happy smile.
"Oh come on. You knew I was going to say yes." Teresa said.
Jane shook his head no. "No, even after all these years you're still a mystery to me."
"I am?" Teresa said smiling. 'If he only knew. I am a big mystery right now and have a secret you don't know about." she thought.
Jane was smiling ear to ear and leaned over and they exchanged a long, happy kiss. They sat by the log for quite a while longer discussing when, where and how they wanted to get married. They both agreed they didn't want a regular wedding and decided to go away for a long weekend and get married.
Teresa knew exactly how she was going to tell Jane about the baby. She decided to save her news for after the wedding. Sort of like a wedding gift to Jane. They'd be married, everything settled and could enjoy the remainder of her pregnancy. She just hoped Jane really was as happy about the baby as he was now, asking her to marry him.