Chapter 4 - Shock
"There you are," Lisbon said as soon as she entered their house a few hours later. "I thought you said you'd stop by the office? What the hell happened to you? Too afraid to face me after that damn cat fiasco?"
Jane angled his head from stirring a pot of sauce on the hob to wave a greeting as Victor bounded up to her as she closed the front door. She knelt down to tickle the back of his ear as she stared at Jane for an explanation.
He called from the kitchen with a smile, "You couldn't handle things yourself? You know, you people really have become too accustomed to my help. You can't cope without me, can you? And what you fail to realise, my dear, is that I'm helping you learn how to manage tricky situations by my rather ingenious schemes. It's just as important a leadership skill as that course you've just been on. If not more so."
"Sheepdip." She rolled her eyes as she got back to her feet and marched to the kitchen, Victor trotting behind her, tail wagging. She dropped a peck to Jane's lips and muttered, "Jackass."
He grinned, "Good evening to you too, darling."
"So?"
"So?"
"What happened with purchasing the land? Was there some kind of issue with the Realtor?"
"No. Everything is on schedule." He eyed her approvingly. "You really want to build this house now, don't you? You've been thinking about gun safe design and your own shooting range all day, haven't you? Admit it."
She shrugged noncommittally as she picked up a chunk of carrot on a chopping board beside her and ate it as she averted her eyes from him. "More like thinking about all that land and somewhere I could hide your body without anyone ever finding it after the morning I had." Quietly with a blush, "But maybe building our own home isn't your worst idea ever."
He kissed the side of her head with a smile.
"So you're not going to tell me what happened to you today?" she asked again.
"After dinner."
She frowned as she noticed him bite down on his lower lip slightly as the words came out, the small intake of breath before he spoke. He'd taught her many things about body language and tells and these were pretty clear cut indicators. And the fact he, of all people, hadn't been able to cover them up sent her instincts on red alert. "Okay, what happened today?" she asked him with more determination. "Whatever it is, it's troubling you. Out with it."
He glanced at her, the worry in her expression tearing away at his reticence. "Okay, something did happen," he told her seriously. "Something...significant I do need to talk to you about."
Her heart rate picked up. "Patrick?"
He looked at the pot of sauce before him. "I thought I'd feed you first-"
"Patrick, you're frightening me now. What is it?"
He turned off the gas and led her to the soft beige couch in their living area.
"It's that terrible I need to sit down first?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No. Not terrible. Just...surprising."
"O-kay."
He gazed at her for a long moment. "I've tried to come up with a way to tell you this that will take some of the shock out of it for you but, frankly, I don't think there is one so I'll just come out and say it." He licked his lips. Softly, "Teresa, your mother is alive."
She blinked rapidly as the words sank in. "What?" she finally uttered. Annoyed, "Patrick, this is not something you joke about."
"I'm not kidding."
His stern expression and curt nod made her breathing speed up. "H-How do you know this? It's not possible! Someone's playing a trick on both of us then! Who told you that?!"
He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. Gently, "No, no one is playing a trick on us. This isn't a joke. I met her today, darling."
Her eyes widened further. "You're saying that you...that you met my dead mother today?"
He smiled a little. "Well, she's not dead or our conversation may have been a little less illuminating than it actually was."
She brushed off his hand and began to pace in front of the fireplace. "This is not happening. I'm dreaming, right?"
"No."
She stopped walking and stared at him. "You're really telling me the truth?"
He came to stand opposite her. "Yes, I am. She's alive. Your mother is alive, Teresa."
"How-how can you be sure it was her? That it wasn't someone pretending to be her?"
"The photographs you have of her, for one. And...your eyes. You have her eyes. It was...disconcerting when I met her at first. And the cheekbones. The same shape of head...I could go on but you get my point."
She let go of a breath. "People used to tell me that all the time about my eyes. Even after she died...at the funeral..."
She shook her head and stumbled over to the couch again before her legs gave way. "Tell me everything."
She sipped on the hot sweet tea Jane had prepared for her. She'd said little as he'd described his meeting with her mother. Finally, she spoke. "Why didn't she come here to talk to me? Why'd she talk to you instead?"
"Our meeting wasn't exactly planned. She intended to. She was just gathering up the courage, I believe."
"But you said you noticed her a couple of days ago-"
"I didn't know who she was. I couldn't see her face, just noticed a woman at the park and then last night outside the house."
"But you never said anything to me about any of that."
He coloured slightly. "I-I thought she might just be...um...another..."
Lisbon smiled faintly as she finished his sentence, "Another Patrick Jane groupie from your psychic racket days."
"Well...yes. After that woman tracked me to our last apartment last year I figured that's who she was in most probability. I was as surprised as anyone when I got a good look at her today at the park. I thought it would be someone I'd either have to give the brush off nicely to or take out a restraining order on." He chuckled softly. "My previous profession attracted all sorts of unwanted attention."
Lisbon raised an eyebrow, remembering the playboy she'd met two years prior. "And sometimes wanted attention too."
He shrugged. "That was then. Different now."
Lisbon nodded with a smile. "That woman last year almost gave me a heart attack when I found her inside the apartment."
"I think you frightened her more when you pulled your gun on her."
Lisbon laughed faintly. "She got off lucky. I could have arrested her. Or shot her."
After she took another long sip of tea Lisbon sighed loudly. "My mother," she stated quietly. "My mother is alive."
"Yes."
"I-I can't quite believe it."
Jane pulled out a card from his vest pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. "This is where she's staying. Room 305. Her number is on the back. We agreed it was better for you to contact her when you were ready than have her show up here before you'd properly prepared yourself."
Lisbon picked up the small rectangular card slowly. "My brothers?-"
"She said she wanted to talk to you first. Think she's hoping that your presence will help when it comes to seeing them again."
"Does she know about my father? That he's dead?"
"Yes. She said she'd read about. I don't know when exactly. But..."
Lisbon's face snapped back to Jane's. "But what?"
Gently, "But she has no idea what happened after she left. She has no idea of the man he turned into. Of what he did to you and your brothers."
Lisbon reddened immediately and turned her head away from him. "Oh," she said simply.
A slow nod as she ran her fingers over the card. Tears gathered in her eyes. Hoarsely, "Do you know how often I wished I could see her again all these years? Even just one more time."
Jane put his arm around her. Tenderly, "And now you can."
She looked at him with watery eyes. "What do I say to her?"
"Well, I find hello is as good a starting point for conversation as any," he smiled.
Jane pulled his car into the hotel's parking lot. Lisbon sat beside him quietly panicking as Victor lay on the back seat. "Thanks for driving me," she said.
"You were hardly in any fit state. Your hands are still shaking."
She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans with a deep exhalation. "I think I might throw up."
"Get out of the car first," Jane teased.
She looked at the midtown mid range red brick hotel in front of them. "Maybe I should have called her first."
"You still can."
Lisbon nibbled on her lower lip. "No. I-I need to see her. An awkward phone call would be worse."
"So quit stalling then," he smiled. "Go."
She unbuckled her seatbelt, hands shaking. She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror. "Do I look all right?"
He cupped her cheek and kissed her lightly. "Beautiful as ever." He smirked, "Now get the hell out of my car and go meet your mother, woman."
Smiling she kissed him back. "Okay. Wish me luck."
"Victor and I will be in the coffee shop across the street when you're done."
