Chapter 4 - Pete's BBQ With A Side of Information
Jane unbelted Mykala from the swing seat and walked over. Pete loaded barbequed pork and chicken onto platters which Lisbon took to the table. Gunfire popped loudly nearby. Jane whirled to face the sound, dropping into a crouch and shielding the toddler. Lisbon reached for her purse, but didn't pull her gun.
Pete called to Jane, "Just some damn fool, celebrating." Quietly he added to Lisbon, "I see Paddy's still gun-shy."
"Why is that, Pete? Lots of people dislike guns. Patrick hates them. Why?"
"When he was seven or eight, he tagged along to a poker game with his daddy. When the game broke up, one fella thought he'd been cheated. He shot the other guy dead. Paddy saw the whole thing up close. He's been gun-shy ever since. Can't say I blame him."
"Oh."
~.~.~.~
A beer and ample quantities of barbeque later, Lisbon relaxed outside with Pete. After putting Mykala down for a nap, Sam talked with Jane inside the Airstream while tending Kaitlin.
Lisbon tilted her head sideways, looking quizzically at Pete. "Pete, the first time I came out to the carnival, Sam slapped Patrick over something about Detroit. What was that all about?"
Pete leaned back in his chair, shrewdly weighing the question and Lisbon. Then he leaned forward to talk. "Don't see no harm. 'Detroit' was about Paddy being 20-something and a little full of himself. More ball– guts than sense and too clever by half. The show set up in a Detroit suburb. Paddy and another lad decided to scam the local drug dealers out of a week's take. What they didn't figure on was the dealers being in tight with the crooked cops – no offense-"
Automatically, "None taken."
"Anyhow, their scheme blew up in their faces. They nearly started a riot. Paddy and the other fella had to skip town. And the whole show got kicked out a week early. It cost everyone in the carnival. Sam wasn't happy about that."
Lisbon, surprised, "That was 20 years ago!" Sam clearly called the shots.
"She waited for a good time to call him on it. See, Paddy and Angela got married shortly after. The wedding wasn't the time or place and afterward we didn't see much of them."
Lisbon realized Pete was studying her. She smiled. "So that was Patrick at 20?"
"Yeah, about," he drawled. "For a few years there he ran hot and full throttle. Money, women, whatever he wanted. He raised hell and put a rock under it. Down that road he was gonna be the best damn con man in the country. Or dead. Lucky for Paddy, Angela took up with him and put him on a different path." He paused then threw in, "I'm not sure you would have liked him back then." He waited for Lisbon's response.
Carefully. "I've seen that Patrick." After nearly drowning, Jane had lost his identity, reverting to an age before he had a family. Lisbon suddenly realized this was that age. "But there always was a better man than that inside. I'm glad Angela brought that out." Pete leaned back in his chair. Lisbon guessed she had passed some sort of test.
Jane and Sam stepped out of the Airstream. Jane looked at Pete, then Lisbon. They each started and looked away. "Don't believe a word Pete says. I'm innocent-of whatever. Anyhow, I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out."
"Lucky for you," Lisbon smiled.
Lisbon and Jane left as twilight yielded to night, pleasantly full of excellent food. Jane hadn't exaggerated when he claimed Pete's barbeque was "wicked good." And Lisbon's pies were a hit. There was life despite Red John and more to life than Red John. She hoped Jane could start making room for it more often.
