Chapter 4

Jane knocked on the door the office, and smiled cheerfully at Cho when he let him in.

Cho did not smile back.

"Hey guys, what've I missed?" Jane asked, but he got no reply.

Lisbon turned from her spot by the window and glared at him.

"So, how are you so sure Red John isn't going to kill us?" she practically spat at him.

"You could have at least pretended to be happy to see me. A 'hello, nice to see you're alive' maybe? I did just get kidnapped you know" Jane said, pretending to look upset. Then he smiled.

Lisbon just kept glaring at him. Jane stopped smiling.

"OK, OK, look" he said defensively, "if you were really in danger I would be worried, I promise. The thing is, you're not. Red John's not stupid. He knows I was forced to say those things so he would kill you. So that's exactly what he's not going to do. He'll probably kill the kidnappers instead."

Now that Lisbon thought about it, it did make sense. But she wasn't going to let Jane off that easily.

"But what if Red John isn't as smart as you think he is? Or what if he just decides to kill us anyway" she asked. She still wasn't convinced she and her team were safe.

"Trust me, OK. He's already punished me. He knows I've learnt my lesson" he said, completely convinced. "He's not going to bother doing it again".

Lisbon finally gave in, smiling.

The door was thrown open, and Wainwright walked in.

"OK Jane, it looks like you were right after all. We've just had a call from Sac PD. Two men, face on the wall drawn in their blood. They've been identified as Caleb Nelson and Gary Ashton, criminals the CBI put away around 10 years ago. They were release a couple of days ago, and obviously wanted revenge. Nelson was apparently involved with Red John before he was locked up, which is probably how he knew about you. We're going to need you to come and identify them as your kidnappers."

"OK, lets go" he said as he made his way to the door.

Lisbon followed.

"Is it safe for us to go?" Van Pelt asked her nervously.

"This part of Jane's theory was right, so I think it's pretty safe to assume the rest of it'll be right too" Lisbon assured her.

Cho, Van Pelt and Rigsby followed her out with no further questions.

They drove in silence to the house, nobody sure what they should say. They all knew how Jane could be when he was faced with Red John, and they didn't want to upset him.

Pretty soon they saw the flashing lights of police cars, and Lisbon pulled up behind one. Jane led the way into the house. He entered through the wide open front door, and walked down a small hall.

At the end of the hall, he opened the door that appeared to lead to a bedroom. On the wall in front of him was a dripping red face, smiling back at him. He turned to the right and saw two men, one lying across the bed and on in the floor, covered in blood.

"That's them" he said simply. He then left the room, but not without first noticing the toes of the man lying on the bed. His shoes had been removed, and his toes were painted with blood. He knew exactly what that meant. Red John was giving him a message. He was warning him.

'This time I left you and you're friends alone. Next time you might not be so lucky'.

The End