A/N: Thanks to wimmer511, idon'thaveaname, April, Lothlorien Aeterna, Jisbon4ever and mcibiatches for reviewing part three.
To idon'thaveaname: the answer to every single one of your questions can be found in 'The Scenic Route'. This story assumes familiarity with that piece.
x tromana
Part Four
19th November 2012
The journey to the Mitchells family residence was peaceful, quiet. Jane was relieved to be somewhere which offered some privacy, a place away from prying eyes. The transition from friends (and coworkers) to lovers was a difficult one and he knew that Lisbon felt her position was compromised. If Wainwright discovered that they had embarked upon an 'illicit' affair, then she suspected that she would be first out of the door. Since Hightower's words of caution a couple of years ago, Lisbon had always considered herself being the expendable one out of the pair. After all, it was she who had been punished for his misdemeanors in the past.
However, she had always thought the sacrifice was worth it. That was before she had even discovered that he had played a key part in her childhood. Now, Jane was simply grateful for the fact he had a second chance. More than that really; he knew that now, he owed her more than he could ever have imagined. When he had originally joined the CBI and been assigned to her unit, he was relieved to have the chance to get to know her again. He had never imagined that somehow, she would save him all over again, just like she had as a child. Even now, he still clung hold of her like she was a life raft, keeping him afloat.
When they arrived at the house, he was more than a little disappointed to have to let go of her hand. Sometimes, the need to touch her at work grew almost unbearable. Even so, he knew that Lisbon was back in business mode and there was nothing he could do to change that. It was ingrained into her very being; he wouldn't want to take that away from her.
A tear stained Andrea Mitchells answered the door promptly. Behind her was a table, neatly arranged with various foods and the like. She hadn't taken long in spreading out the news her husband had died, but then again, she lived in a society notorious for spreading gossip. The rich never liked to be left out and death just provided them with something interesting to talk about. Especially so given the fact that Gregory Mitchells hadn't just passed away, but had been murdered in front of hundreds of people. This would keep people talking for months.
Andrea quickly guided them away from the mourners – or at least the people pretending to offer Andrea their sympathies – and instead, took them through to the kitchen where they could talk in private. Jane was marginally disappointed to have been led away from the food, but busied himself making all three of them tea. As Lisbon asked her the boring questions, he listened intently for what she was saying in between the lines. Making the tea – which he knew Lisbon wouldn't touch as she was very picky about which blends she drank – just provided him with the ideal cover as he paid attention to what she said and what she actually meant.
A tall man with salt and pepper hair briefly interrupted them, claiming to be after a refill for a pitcher of water. Jane leant against the counter and sipped the tea as he watched with interest. The man briefly grazed a hand across Andrea's shoulder – unnecessarily so – as he closed the gap between himself and the kitchen sink. Despite being given a different task to do, his eyes didn't leave the widow.
"Are you alright, Andrea?" he queried and briefly touched her once again.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"These cops aren't bothering you, are they?" he asked and Jane couldn't miss the venom in his words. Clearly this was a man who did not entirely see eye to eye with the police force.
"They're just doing their jobs," she assured him.
He nodded and quickly vacated the room. Jane paused for thought for a second; the signs were all there. The man had practically been screaming possession when it came to Andrea. Lisbon was about to continue her line of questioning when Jane quickly interrupted.
"You had an affair, didn't you?"
"Excuse me?" Andrea Mitchells spat out, aghast.
"You were seeing another man, behind Gregory's back."
"I did nothing of the sort!"
"Liar."
"Control your man," Andrea demanded.
Lisbon smirked before covering her expression with something more suited. It was there just long enough for Jane to catch it, however, and he grinned in response. This only served to make the wife just that little more
"Mr. Jane is merely a consultant and his opinion doesn't reflect that of the CBI's," Lisbon stated demurely. "All I can say is I'm very sorry for any offense he may have inadvertently caused."
"Inadvertently, my ass," she answered back angrily. "You know it was intentional."
Instead of managing to effectively deny the claims, instead she had made it all the worse for herself. Her anger was practically an admission and the look in Lisbon's eyes suggested that she was thinking the exact same thing. Jane watched as she briefly made a note in her notepad. They would have to spend some time questioning Andrea's lover in private. That was another potential suspect to add to the list.
Jane disappeared into the lounge, leaving Lisbon to tie up the loose ends and continue to smooth offer ruffled feathers. He had very little interest in that kind of thing; if somebody was a liar and cheat, and had been called out on it, of course they were going to act defensively. Just because she had money behind her, it didn't make Andrea's behavior any more excusable. Instead, he took the time to map out the other people present. None of them had been there at the incident the night beforehand, but all of them had been quick to react to Gregory Mitchells' death. It almost disgusted him, the way they pawed over the food that had been supplied and chatted animatedly with one another. They almost seemed to be celebrating the death instead of mourning the loss. A woman with red curls brushed past him to reach the pitcher of orange juice. When she apologized, Jane simply shrugged his shoulders. As far as he was concerned, she was as bad as the rest of them.
He jumped when he felt a familiar hand graze against his shoulder. Tentatively, Jane turned around to see Lisbon gently sliding her notebook back into her jacket pocket. Sometimes, he felt guilty for causing her hassle at work, especially now, but it was his job to get the truth out of people. Yes, he could have used a little more tact, but what was the point in dancing around the issue?
"What do you think?"
"She has motive," Jane answered back.
"You like her for it?" she asked.
"I didn't say that," he replied, keen to clarify his point. "But she was present at the time the murder occurred."
"And so were a lot of other people, Jane."
"We should talk to him." Jane pointed out the man with the salt and pepper hair that had disturbed them earlier. "Being Andrea Mitchells' lover, he has motive as well."
Lisbon nodded and together, they closed the distance between themselves and the man. When he spotted them cornering them, he made a dash for it. Jane held back and let Lisbon chase him down; this was something she excelled at. It didn't take her long to have him cuffed and in the back of the SUV, traveling back to the CBI headquarters. Jane knew that this was either a break in the case, or a red herring. However, he was also more than aware that they would have to question him before he could be sure either way. Whatever, the man was certainly guilty of something – and more than just adultery. Otherwise, he would have been more than happy to speak to them instead of running.
xxx
8th September 1986
The first couple of weeks back at school had been some of the hardest since her mother's death. Summer had promptly disappeared in a blaze; the funeral, the constant rotation of relatives and family friends offering their sympathies. Dealing with her brothers' nightmares and screaming out for their mother. Just when she had believed that she and her father had pulled together some sort of normalcy for them, everything had changed again. The start of the school year was always frantic, but without the calmness supplied by her mom, Teresa felt like she was treading in deep water, only just managing to stay afloat.
Still, now this was becoming the new 'normal', she could only hope that today would be better. That Tommy hadn't caused trouble at school, that Joseph had bothered to do his homework, and that James hadn't decided to skip out on a class. It was a never ending fight with all three of them. None of them knew that their mom had been on the road because she had gone missing, and she suspected if they had that knowledge it would have been all the worse. But even without it, they were all bad enough. This reckless behavior just could not last but neither she or her father seemed to have a clue what to do to make them snap out of it.
A boy with sandy hair and blue eyes approached her just as she hauled her bag over her shoulder. Teresa paused for a second to scrutinize him. For a brief while, she had believed it was Daniel Jane approaching her, but deep down, she had known that was impossible. He lived and breathed the carnival. And even if he wanted to get away from it, she knew that his father, the imposing Alex Jane, would never let him get that far. Or he wouldn't be allowed to leave until he was at least old enough to stand on his own two feet. Instead, the boy was unfamiliar, presumably new. Obviously, he hadn't gotten the memo to leave her the hell alone; she's mourning her mom's death. That she didn't want to be bothered by unfamiliar faces. And if she heard 'I'm very sorry for your loss' one more time, then she was likely to scream.
"Want some help?" he asked, nodding towards her heavy load.
"I'm fine, thanks."
"You sure don't look it."
She clicked her tongue irritably; she wasn't about to go spilling her guts to this boy. Teresa didn't even know his name, never mind anything else. Her private life was her own and she already hated the fact that half the school knew about what had happened to her family during the summer vacation. At least the full story hadn't been broadcast around; it was bad enough that everybody was aware that her mom had died in a car crash. Worse, it was still getting the occasional broadcast in the news, owing to the fact that the lawsuit was yet to be completed.
"Really, I am."
"I get the impression you say that a lot."
"What? From such a brief conversation?" she snapped irritably. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"Greg, Greg Marshall," he said with a grin and held out a hand.
"Good for you."
Shaking her head, Teresa promptly turned on her heels and attempted to stalk away. She was in a rush; she already knew that James at least would be waiting for her. The other two, she knew would probably pose more of a challenge to track down. There was no way she could blame them for becoming so erratic in recent months, but she knew it wasn't just putting the pressure on herself, but their father too. Sometimes, there was a look in his eyes which just suggested he was nearing breaking point. That was something she just couldn't bear to see. They had already lost one parent literally; losing another –even just in spirit - would just be unthinkable.
When she realized that there were approaching footsteps, she sighed and turned around once more. It wasn't a surprise in the slightest when she realized Greg Marshall hadn't taken her frostiness as a hint to leave her alone. Instead, he seemed persistent in chasing her down. All she could do was wonder why.
"Teresa…"
"How do you know my name?" she asked. For the first time, her curiosity was piqued.
"You mean you don't recognize me?"
She dumped her bag back on the floor and stared hard at him. All she could see was the passing resemblance to one Daniel Jane. Maybe, she had walked past him once or twice when they were out. It was entirely possible that she had spotted him in the crowd at the carnival in July, maybe. However, any specific reasoning behind why she should know Greg Marshall was beyond her. Instinctively, she tucked her lower lip underneath her lips as she attempted to concentrate. It wasn't her fault that her memory banks weren't working at full capacity. It was understandable; she had been put under a lot of pressure of late.
Still, it was troubling her. Something was telling her there was an important reason why she should know him. After all, why else would he be making the effort to actually talk to her when she was specifically being so unwelcoming? Anybody else (except, maybe, Daniel himself) would have just given up and let her get on with it. They would have simply figured that she wasn't worth the effort and let her get on with struggling unassisted. But not Greg and that was making her consider why.
He smiled sadly and reached out to touch her shoulder lightly. She flinched out of instinct and he reluctantly pulled his hand away once again. This wasn't helping. All she was doing was beating herself up about not knowing Greg when she really felt like she should have done so. And on top of that, he was being so nice and so patient with her. Excepting her teachers, nobody had bothered approaching her because she hadn't let them. Greg was the only person determined to be the exception to the rule and yet, barring the five minutes they had been talking, she couldn't have even classified him amongst her acquaintances.
"My dad died in that car crash too."
TBC...
