Early the next morning, Lisbon sat in her car outside Jane's house. Jane's car was still in the drive so she knew he hadn't left for the office yet. The night before, she hadn't been able to sleep well. Jane had refused any further surveillance for himself and Lisbon had reluctantly agreed.
Just then, Jane came out of his house and Lisbon noticed he was still moving rather stiffly. Blowing out a breath, Lisbon got out of her car and approached Jane.
Lisbon plastered a smile on her face and said, "Hi Jane."
"Hi Lisbon," said Jane. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," said Lisbon, contemplating how she should continue. "Hungry? Let's go get breakfast. I'll drive."
Lisbon quickly turned around and walked to her car, willing Jane to follow her without questions.
"Really, Lisbon. You didn't come all the way here just to take me to breakfast. I want to know what it is," said Jane.
"Ok, fine. I still don't want you driving around just yet," answered Lisbon, getting into her car and starting the engine. "Just get in."
Jane got into the car silently and set next to Lisbon.
"Do up you seat belt," said Lisbon, driving away. "Please."
"I'm fine you know. The bruise on my leg is almost unnoticeable now. I can drive," said Jane. "You shouldn't make this a habit." Secretly, Jane was glad Lisbon had sent Van Pelt over to pick him up yesterday but today…
"You said please," said Jane, turning to look at Lisbon.
"Huh?" said Lisbon, caught by surprise.
"Something's up. Breakfast is just a ruse for you so that I don't drive today but there's something else. You could have just gotten Van Pelt to drive me like yesterday but you made the trip yourself today," said Jane. "Why?"
Lisbon bit her bottom lip and replied, "You got me. I wanted to talk to you about something. We'll go grab breakfast first."
Arriving at a café on the way to the office, Lisbon and Jane took a seat in a corner and ordered breakfast.
Lisbon was taping her fingers on the table and looking out the window. Jane was studying her and the morning light streaming through the window made Lisbon look beautiful.
The waitress came by and set down two cups, coffee for Lisbon and tea for Jane. When she left, Lisbon stirred her coffee and looked at Jane.
Jane took a sip of his tea and raised an eyebrow.
"At the hospital, I asked the doctor about your condition," began Lisbon. She noticed Jane tense at her words. "There was more than that bruise on your leg, Jane. Care to tell me about it?"
"No," said Jane.
"Jane," warned Lisbon, at the edge of losing her temper. "Let me rephrase my question. Tell me what happened."
Defeated, Jane said, "After they found out I wasn't the one they had meant to kidnap, two of the men gave me a beating."
"Why didn't you mention it yesterday?" demanded Lisbon.
"What for? It's not going to help us find them any faster. No bones were broken," said Jane. "Everyone would just be worried."
"Of course we would have been worried. That's not the point," said Lisbon, exasperated. "They could have killed you!"
"But they didn't. Why didn't they?" said Jane.
"They did try to burn you in that house," said Lisbon.
"They could have just killed me in the shack. Why take me to another house?" insisted Jane. Lisbon didn't have an answer.
The conversation was interrupted by the waitress who came back with a muffin. Jane reached for the muffin and took a nibble; Lisbon poured syrup over her pancakes and started to eat. Both deep in thought as they ate their breakfast.
[Sorry to have to leave you hanging after this. I'll be away for a few days so the next update may take a week to come up. I'll try to update as soon as I'm done.]