Billy Don's Ford
Chapter 4 - The Past Can't Be Re-Written
Hello guys! Another chapter, yay! The mystery really unfolds in this chapter =]
Yup, still don't own the Mentalist, If I did Jane & Lisbon would be together!
The title is taken from, "Lessons Learned" by Carrie Underwood
No one noticed how anxious Lisbon was when the team got out of the car at her brothers house, no one except Jane. No one noticed how her worry grew as they made their way up the path to the front door, only Jane. No one noticed the way Lisbon looked at the house as though it held years of memories, good and bad, no one but Jane.
They reached the door and Grace rang the bell, Jane watched Lisbons face as the door opened, her eyes darkened again in the way they did when she was doing something she really didn't want too or when she was forced to think about something she didn't want too think about.
The man standing in the doorway looked a lot like Lisbon, he had the same dark raven coloured hair and the same green eyes, but he had established during his work on this case that the green eyes were clearly a family trait.
He looked around at the team and Grace was halfway through her, "CBI, I'm Agent Grace Van Pelt" line when the man, Marks eyes widened and he pulled Lisbon into a hug, "Tess!" He exclaimed.
The others watched with small smiles, except Cho of course as Lisbon hugged Mark back, "Hey Mark." She said with a smile.
Mark grinned, "Come in, all of you." He said warmly, standing back and allowing the team and Lisbon to walk into the grand old house, "The living room is just at the end of the corridor." He said as he closed the door and followed them into the room, once he had made sure everyone had a seat he addressed Lisbon once more, "Are you back for good?" He asked in excitement.
Lisbon felt guilty as she shook her head, "Just for this case and then back to Sacramento." She said truthfully.
Marks face, like Andrews had, fell, "Oh, it would have been good for Lola." He said, smiling at her in a sad sort of way.
Before Lisbon could say anything else, Cho butted in, "It's her we need to talk too." He said, blunt as usual.
Mark frowned, "The CBI need to talk to a 16 year old?" He asked.
"Yeah, her best friend died yesterday, we need to ask her some questions." Cho said, Mark obviously hadn't known about this news as his eyes widened, "Georgia's dead?"
Jane nodded, "Murdered actually." He added.
Mark looked genuinely shocked and upset at this news, "Oh God, that's horrible, Georgia practically lived here, she was such a kind-hearted person."
"You knew her well?" Rigsby asked.
Mark nodded, "Yeah, like I said she stayed here a lot, things were strained at home."
"She lived with her brother?" Rigsby asked.
"Yes, but he was practically her dad." Mark said, he glanced at Lisbon, "Theirs parents died in a car crash 16 years ago, a drunk driver knocked the car off the road, their dad was driving and was killed instantly, but the mother was in a coma for a year after the accident."
Cho frowned slightly, "If her parents died 16 years ago and she was 15 how did that work?"
Mark sighed, "Like I said, Georgia's Mom was in a coma, she was pregnant when the crash happened, the Doctors did everything they could to keep the baby alive and had to deliver her prematurely with a C-Section, her Mom died shortly after that."
Cho nodded, writing down what Mark was saying, "Thanks for your help Mr Lisbon." He said, "Do you mind if we speak to your daughter?"
Mark nodded, "Sure, I'll just go get her, she'll be upset at the news about Georgia."
Mark disappeared upstairs and Jane hmm-ed, "So what do we think?"
Lisbon raised an eyebrow at the man, "You think my brother did this?" She asked.
Jane shrugged, "I didn't say that, I just asked your opinions."
Lisbon narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't think he has anything to do with this, I do think its interesting that Georgia's brother acted as her Dad, but she was never at home, it suggests that they didn't have a great relationship."
Jane nodded, clicking his fingers, "Exactly, I think we need to question the brother again."
"I agree with you, doesn't happen very often, but I agree." Lisbon said in a resigned tone, Jane smirked at her and she rolled her eyes, "But first I think we should wait and see what Lola has to say."
As if on cue Lola walked into the room, it was obvious she had just been crying, but this wasn't the first thing that Jane noticed, no, the first thing that crossed his mind when Lola walked into the room was how much she looked like Lisbon, the same hair as all the Lisbon family had and the same green eyes, but that wasn't all, she had a line between her eyes, like Lisbon got when she was angry or upset and her nose was the same shape.
"Hey Lola." Grace said kindly, "I'm Grace, from the CBI. We're going to find out what happened to Georgia, but we need you to answer a few questions for us if you're up for it?"
Lola nodded and Grace smiled, "Good, do you know anyone who would want to hurt Georgia?"
Lola shook her head, "No, everyone at school liked Georgia, she fought with Richard a lot, but he loved her really."
"What was her relationship with Richard like?"
Lola shrugged, "Not great, but it was because he had practically raised her, he was like a teenager when their parents died and he had this baby to raise from birth up, it must have been really tough for him."
"You said they used to fight a lot, did it ever get violent?" Rigsby asked.
"Not as far as I know." Lola replied, "I remember Georgia told me once that he had raised his hand to hit her, but then he realised what he was doing and apologised, you don't think Richard did this do you?"
Lisbon cut in, "No, we don't think he did, he seems genuinely upset at whats happened, Georgia was all he had left."
For the first time Lola looked properly at Lisbon and she frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.
"How did you and Georgia become friends? She was a year younger than you." Cho said.
Lola nodded, "Yes, but it wasn't really a full year, there were only a few months between us, we were in the same year at school, but I actually met her at a therapy session."
Rigsby frowned, "What kind of therapy?" He asked.
Lola smiled, a little bitterly, "Every year they hold these therapy sessions in the local hall for kids who were adopted to deal with their issues, Mark told me I was adopted when I was like 6, I've never called him Dad, so I was fine with the whole thing, but he insisted it would benefit me to go and I met Georgia there."
"So Richard had officially adopted Georgia?" Rigsby asked and Lola confirmed this with a nod.
"Thanks for your help Lola." Grace told the teenager with a smile.
"I'm glad I could help." She said sadly.
"Oh one more question Lola, where were you last night?" Jane asked quickly.
Lola frowned, "Do you think I did this?"
Jane shrugged, "You might have, we need to ask everyone, just in case."
Lola's frown deepened, "I was at home with Mark, we were watching TV."
Mark nodded, from his place in the doorway, "I can confirm that." He said.
Jane smiled, "Good, we'll be on our way then."
"Wait." Mark called; he looked at Lisbon, "Aren't you going to stay a while? You've never even met Lola."
Lola's eyes filled with realisation, "Oh, you must be the Aunt Teresa that Mark talked about?"
Lisbon nodded and smiled a little, "Yeah, and I would love to stay and catch up, but we really need to solve this case before we can socialise."
Mark nodded, "I understand, you'll find who did this to Georgia won't you Tess?"
Lisbon nodded again, "We'll do everything we can." She promised.
To Be Continued
A/N - I'm on a roll with the chapters! Yas!
In Chapter 5... Lisbon & Jane realise they have met before the CBI…AND the truth comes out…
Thanks for Reading! xxx