A/N: Hey there guys!
First of all thank you so much for the reviews for the last chapter AND over 100 followers for this story :) You guys really rock!
This chapter might surprise some of you in the end, but I have the next one almost finished so I bed you to not freak out and take things as they come ;)
A big thank you to Mlee and totorsg for betaing my chapter!
Oki guys have fun!

(10)

By the time the speaker announced the one hour break, Teresa was sure that if looks could kill, she'd be long dead by now. Jane had ordered her a really cute cupcake with green topping and a little detailed horse out of brown fondant, but she hadn't been able to eat it.

Actually, eating was the last thing she could think of right now. Her coffee had also not been touched, since she couldn't afford her heart race increasing any more than it already was.

When Jane had asked her, concern in his voice, she'd given him a smile and told him she was excited for Piari's race. Happy he didn't push her any further, she'd started to pick on her cupcake with the fork so it looked like she had eaten but actually she had just made a mess out of it. A mess similar to the one of her life.

Her mind was turning around two, maybe three options and she couldn't decide what to do. Option one was simple. She'd get up and get back to the hotel somehow, grab her stuff and be gone forever. No goodbyes, no money - actually that was the last thing she cared about right now.

Option two involved getting back to the hotel with Jane, tell him she couldn't stay and be gone after she thanked him for everything.

Option three was the one she feared most about: telling Jane everything that happened and find a solution for her problem. But if she involved him into all of this, the chance he might get hurt was huge and he didn't do anything but help her.

For all she knew, Red John's men didn't just go after the girls who tried to escape but also the ones who helped them. Perhaps she should inform him quickly about the danger he was in and then leave the town...

A touch on her bare arm made her almost jump. "Careful, Teresa. Are you okay? If you want to talk..."

"No, I'm fine. I uh... Need to visit the restrooms." She quickly stood up, making her way back into the lounge and down the stairs to the restrooms, when a hard grip on her shoulder stopped her.

"What the..."

"Shut up, bitch!" Lorelei hissed and pulled her towards the stable building, where she smashed her against one of the horse stables.

"Who the hell do you think you are, you worthless piece of shit?! Did you really think you wouldn't get caught?!"

Teresa tried to escape, but the woman was taller than her and despite her small statue, the anger she felt was making her even stronger. She was pressed against the iron bars of the stable, Lorelei's face only a few inches apart from hers.

"I knew you were up to something the moment you went out with that bag to visit Summer, I knew it, but I didn't think you'd be that stupid. I don't think Red John will be happy once I tell him what you did after everything he's done for you. Of all things you could have done, this was the most stupid thing."

Lorelei pressed her arm against Teresa's throat, making it impossible for her to breathe normally. She tried to pull it away with her hands, but Lorelei was way too strong right now. Also, the more she tried, the harder it was to breathe.

"Please," she whispered, tears rising up in her eyes.

"It's too late to ask for forgiveness, Trixi. People like you will never be forgiven - you are and always will be a slut, no matter what you do. Even if you thought that rich blond guy would make it better, he actually made it worse – for you and himself. Ray was right when he told me you were a stubborn one, hard to tame... Oh he's really looking forward to bring you back to Red John."

She punched Teresa in the stomach with her free fist and released her. Catching for breath, Teresa sank down on the ground, a hand going to her throat.

"Jane didn't do anything," she whispered quietly, still breathing heavily.

The other woman just smiled cruelly: "Turn yourself in to us by the end of the week, then Mr. Jane won't have to fear anything from Red John... If not, he's going to die just like you will. Remember, we will find you, no matter where you try to hide. How about I'll give Summer your best regards once I get back? She'll get her reward too for helping you escape."

"Summer didn't know anything about it... Please Lorelei, Summer is innocent it was all my idea." A hard kick into her stomach followed. This time, Teresa couldn't help a scream of pain leaving her mouth.

"You have to learn that your actions have consequences, Trixi. What you do affects others too. Now my offer is still standing because somehow that Jane guy is cute. I should have done him myself back in the "Red Mill." If you come to Vegas by Friday afternoon at 12 am, Red John will leave Jane alone. If not..." She gave Teresa a smug smile, before she formed her hand into a pistol, aimed for her head and pretended to shoot.

Without looking back, she went out of the stables back towards the other buildings. By the time Teresa was alone in the stables, she finally let go of the breath she was holding, before she felt the hot stream of tears that was running down her cheeks. Still sitting, she leaned her head against the stable door and started to sob.

It was over, everything was over. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She knew that even if she turned herself in, Red John would kill Jane and make it look like an accident. He was good with those things. Perhaps it would be the best to tell him, to let him know about the danger he was in, because he helped her to get out of Vegas. But what would he say if he found out she'd used him all along?

It took her a while before she could stop crying and wipe the tears off her face. Getting up from the cold stone floor was hard and painful after the two kicks in her stomach. Her knees were still weak, so she took a minute to regain stability, before she dared to make the first step.

People were watching her, while she stumbled out of the stables towards the restrooms, where she first washed her hands and then carefully cleaned her face with a paper towel.

The place on her throat, where Lorelei had been choking her was already turning into a bright red on her alabaster colored skin. Where she'd gripped her upper arm, a light shade of green and blue was forming. Tomorrow the bruise would be dark black and violet.

Too bad her dress was all dirty now from lying in the ground. She hoped she could bring it to a cleaning service, before she went back to Vegas. Well actually she didn't have to, because the trip to Vegas on Friday would be her last one. There was no need to clean a dress she'd never get to wear again.

Sighing, Teresa decided to just stay in the restrooms for a few more minutes - well that was until a soft knock on the door made her flinch.

"Teresa, are you in there?" someone asked. Jane. Damn it. How did he find her? She could have been anywhere.

"Yeah, I... I'm coming! Give me a second." She took a deep breath, before she opened the door.

The moment she emerged from the restrooms, she looked directly into the deeply concerned eyes of Patrick Jane. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, his eyes suddenly locking on her throat.

"What happened, Teresa? Are you hurt?" She swallowed hard, shook her head and waved his concerns away with a smile.

"I just tripped on my way here, it's nothing serious. I'm sorry for the dress though."

"It doesn't look like "nothing serious"," he mumbled picking a piece of straw out of her hair. "And I don't care about a stupid dress… Have you been at the stables again?"

"Oh this must still be from when I was with Grace. We were feeding Tiger with straw and hay. The break is almost over, isn't it?" She really didn't want to go back up there...

Jane eyed her suspiciously. She was lying but he didn't know why. Somehow he had a feeling this had to do with Haffner's company Lorelei, who'd just excused herself a few moments after Teresa had left the table. Anyways, this wasn't the right place or time for a heartfelt conversation, so he led her towards the white fence that was surrounding the race course.

"The next race is going to be Piari's. We can watch from down here if you want to..."

Relief flooded her body and she was happy Jane didn't make her go upstairs. She didn't know if she could hold it together once she saw Lorelei and Haffner again.

Xxxxx

They walked to the fence, looking for space between the other people who were watching from there and finally found a good spot. Just then, the speakers announced the next race and gave instructions. The ringing of the bells opened the stalls so the horses and their jockeys could jump forward.

"There she is," Teresa exclaimed, pointing towards the crowd, "She's the third! Go Piari it's your last race girl!" She shouted a few more times, earning annoyed looks from their bystanders but the least she cared about right now were the other people.

"They're close to the finish line," Jane said. Two horses, one of them Piari and her jockey and another, unknown brown horse were same up, the others following right behind. "Come on, you can do it!" Teresa yelled.

A few meters before the finish line, Piari picked up the speed and beat the other horse with one head lead.

"She did it! Patrick, she did it!" She laughed happily, throwing her arms around his neck. "I knew she could do it."

"You were right. Sometimes you need someone to believe in you." The smile she gave him was so sweet, his heart made a jump, throwing him totally off guard. He wasn't used to this kind of feeling, hadn't felt it in years.

"Let's go and collect our winnings", he mumbled with a sly smile.

"Winnings?" Teresa asked surprised, "You bet on her?"

"Well you said she would win, so..."

"You're a crazy man, Patrick Jane." And I'm sorry I put you in this position, she though bitterly. She'd do anything to protect him, just like she did with her brothers, because despite all his arrogant and annoying behavior, he needed her - just like she needed him.

He just shrugged and lead her over to the betting offices to collect their money. They didn't win the jackpot, but Jane got a fair amount of money out of it, which he divided in two halves, giving one of them to Teresa.

"But is your money," she argued, "I can't take it." Usually she didn't mind getting money but since she knew she wouldn't be able to spend it anyways, she didn't want to accept it.

"No, half of it is yours. Remember, I wouldn't have bet on that horse if you hadn't tipped me off in the first place. Take it, Teresa, and if you don't want it, send it to your brothers or something."

It took just a phone call to make Cho drive up in front of the buildings with the black limousine. Since the majority of the people were still watching the races, there were only a few standing outside the gates.

Teresa was quiet on the whole ride back to LA, which took them a little more than two hours with all the traffic that occurred even though it was Sunday.

Jane let Cho drop them off at a little quiet restaurant, a few blogs down from the street where their hotel was located. Like with the cupcake, Teresa only picked around in her food, not eating more than a few bites.

It was then, when Jane realized something very serious was going on and he'd have to talk to her once they were back in the hotel room. Also, he had to apologize for catching her off guard with Lorelei and Ray Haffner. He should have informed her before letting her run into the open knife. Of course her sudden quiet and sadness must have something to do with these two figures.

The dinner was calm, even more than that, unusually silent and Teresa wasn't the only one who got lost in thoughts which were less than pleasant.

Jane felt unbelievably sad about the anniversary of the death of his family. There had been some nice moments today, but still, his thoughts kept going back to what could have been. Charlotte would have loves the horses and Angela would have enjoyed the race – who knew, maybe he'd have even bought his little girl a pony if she couldn't have stopped saying "Please, daddy, please", looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

He'd had everything a man could dream of… but it was over now, he had to accept it. Most of the time he did, but on special days, the only thing he wanted was to get drunk and forget.

Jane sighed. The day had started off so well. Seeing Teresa so happy had made it better. Her smile was better than any band aid in the world but after she met with Haffner and his stripper friend the mood had changed.

Xxxxx

The moment they were inside their suite, Teresa slipped off her high heels and hurried over to her room. "I'll go and shower," she mumbled absently but Jane knew it was just an excuse to be alone.

"Do you want to come over and watch TV later?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Perhaps it was better this way tonight.

"No. Thanks for the nice day, I really enjoyed it..." Parts of it, she added silently.

Jane watched her go, before he took the glass carafe with the expensive scotch from the cupboard and allowed himself a big gulp. Oh yeah, tonight would be hard…

Back in the safety of her room, Teresa was finally able to let go of the tension in her body, while the world came crushing down on her. Her life was a mess, she thought, running over to her bed.

She grabbed a pillow just in time, when a loud sob escaped her throat. The tears wouldn't stop, no matter what she did, because every time she thought of the persons whose life she'd ruined, they started to stream again.

Summer, her only "friend" in Vegas was as much in danger as she was. Lorelei didn't believe her when she'd told her Summer had nothing to do with her trying to escape. As always, the woman didn't care and in the end, it was her fault if anything happened to her.

Her brothers. Damn it, she'd told them she'd be coming home next weekend, finally see them after over two years. What would happen so them if she stopped sending the money she earned from playing hooker and waitress? She had to help financing James's medical studies so he could become a doctor.

Her father had already failed them after her mother died, now their big sister would fail them too.

The lump in her throat grew bigger when her head started to send images of Jane. Patrick Jane, a man who looked superficial, egoistic and cruel on the outside, but had a good heart on the inside.

Patrick Jane, who had helped her to get off from the streets, who'd become some kind of guardian angel for her. And she'd be the one to get him killed, even if she agreed to Lorelei's terms and go back to Vegas on Friday before noon.

She'd failed everyone in her life, every single person who had ever meant something to her; but worst of all, she'd failed herself. She'd always thought she'd get out there, thought one day, fate would turn in her favour, but nothing. She'd screwed everything up.

A soft knock on her door appeared, but she didn't answer. The last person she wanted to talk to now was Jane - although he deserved to know the truth. The door opened. Darn, she must have forgotten to lock it.

"Can I come in?" Jane asked carefully.

Teresa didn't answer, she just continued to hide her face in the pillow. A few seconds passed, until she felt the bed give in right next to her and a hand started smoothing her hair.

"Two years ago..." He started but his voice broke. It took him a minute to bring up the courage to start talking again: "Two years ago on a Friday evening, I was on my way to a business dinner with my wife and daughter. Charlotte, she was six at that time and crying because she didn't want to go without her favourite doll even though I promised her a new stupid toy if she behaved herself.

"My wife had been taking too long in the bathroom and I was already annoyed because nothing went according to plan that day. I remember like it was yesterday. The dinner was with the heads of some big bosses; Walter had made me go there.

"We hurried into the car, Charlotte still crying because of her doll and Angela was complaining about something - I don't even remember what it was, but we started to fight... A ridiculous fight."

His voice got thick with tears then and for the first time, Teresa lifted her head to look at him. Her sudden movement didn't make him stop stroking her hair.

"I told Charlotte to be quiet and Angela told me not to talk to her like that. I didn't see the truck that was coming from the right… If I had just paid a little more attention to the streets and not on that ridiculous argument… The worst thing is, I told Angela to leave me alone with her crap. By the time the truck hit our car I didn't know she would."

Now the brunette sat up, laying a hand on his shoulder: "I'm so sorry, Patrick… I didn't know…"

He just shook his head before he continued: "The brakes of the truck failed… The driver didn't have a chance to stop but I could have. When I woke up in the hospital, they were gone and I was alone."

Jane buried his face into her shoulder, his body shaking with sobs. She could smell the light fragrance of scotch and figured he must have drunk, otherwise he wouldn't have told her. Now she understood, why he'd been so weird the whole day… today was the anniversary of his family's death.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I know how it is to lose someone you love," Teresa whispered. She hugged him closer, her cheek resting against his soft blond curls. "My mother died when I was twelve. She was hit by a drunk driver… some kid that just turned 16 and wanted to try out his new car. He didn't have a scratch, but my mother, she was dead, leaving me, my father and my three younger brothers alone.

"I… I was a kid and suddenly, I had to be mother and sister for my brothers and a shoulder to lean on for my father. He didn't take it well, he really didn't. First he tried to get himself together for our sake, but after a while, the pain of losing the love of his life must have been so overwhelming, he looked for comfort in beer and schnaps. One day, my father, he… He killed himself and almost took me and my brothers with him. I was seventeen at that time."

Jane looked up at her, his eyes red from crying. He wiped a tear off her cheek. "You didn't deserve that," he whispered.

"Neither did you… And still, here we are…"

"What happened then?" he wanted to know, "I mean after your dad…"

Teresa swallowed hard. She wasn't exactly sure, why she'd started to share the dark story of her past with him, but somehow talking about it made it a little better. "The wife of my father's late brother took us in. We never really liked aunt Julie and she didn't like my dad or mom, ergo she didn't like her niece and nephews, but social services promised her a good amount of money if she'd take us in.

"Back then, this was our greatest fear, being separated. Tommy ran away a few times, because he thought it'd be better to live alone near the lake, just like Huckleberry Finn in the book, you know? That was until he understood that if he kept going on like that, the government would take us away from Aunt Julie, because it looked like she wasn't able to handle us."

"Why didn't you take custody of your brothers when you turned eighteen?"

"Because I had no money, no job, no nothing. When my dad found comfort in alcohol and stopped working, he made lots of depts. When he died, they sold our house and everything I haven't been able to safe before, to balance it out. There was nothing left in the end I could have provided a stable home for me and my brothers with.

"I finished High School and took two years off, to save up some money for College I wanted to go to the LA Police Academy so badly – that was until we found out James had the chance to go to medical school, so I gave most of my savings up for him." Teresa sighed heavily, wiping over her eyes. What happened afterwards was nothing but a big disaster.

Jane looked into her eyes, his gaze still a bit fungous from all the tears and his mind a little clouded by the scotch.

"You're a brave woman, Teresa… Not everyone would have been able to do what you did… Raising your brothers, working hard, giving James your money, so he could live his dream. But what about your dream?"

"I don't have a dream anymore," she whispered.

"Nonsense. Everyone has a dream." Jane leaned in to give her a kiss, but she turned her head away, smelling the alcohol in his breath. His lips landed on her chin. To her surprise, he didn't stop, just kept on kissing his way up to her ear, while his fingers pulled down the zipper of her dress.

"I need you", he whispered softly, brushing the dress down her shoulders. "Be mine, Teresa."

She didn't move, just kept staring at him, while he continued to undress her. Was he serious? Did he really want to have sex with her, now? Taking a deep breath, she started to methodically button down his shirt, like she had done so many times before with her suitors.

Jane would pay her five thousand dollars for the week, if he wanted to have sex with her, she wouldn't stop him – she was a hooker after all. Still, somewhere deep down she'd thought Jane was different. Maybe it was the pain about the anniversary, maybe it was the alcohol that had made him lose his gentlemanly behavior towards her… one thing was sure, when he opened her bra and took one of her rosebud nipples into his mouth, she gently pushed him down on the covers and pulled down his trousers.

The moment she took his hard length into her hand, Jane moaned and whispered something she couldn't understand, pulling her down in his strong chest.

"You're beautiful," he mumbled, trying to kiss her once again, but she was good in escaping since she had a year of training.

When Jane was close, he suddenly took the upper hand, rolling her on her back and slipped a condom over his length. He lifted up her hips and entered her in one smooth stroke. Teresa closed her eyes, gripping the covers with her fists, while she met him stroke for stroke, enduring the act she'd done so many times before.

Still, this time it was a little different. She knew Jane, knew that this wasn't him, only a desperate side of him he'd been suppressing for so long. Maybe Jane really was in need for physical contact, she thought, well, this was better than drinking himself to death.

It took a while for him to come undone and collapse over her small body with a loud groan. His skin was sweaty and his breath coming out in irregular gasps. When he pulled out of her and stood up to get rid of the condom, Teresa continued lying in the bed looking up to the dark ceiling.

She hadn't felt anything, as always, but maybe it was because the day she'd started this, she'd forbidden herself to ever feel more than disgust for the people who paid for having sex with hookers. Why was it different now with Jane? Why was she feeling sorry instead of disgusted?

Was it because deep down she understood he was just a broken soul like her?

He came back to the bed, crawling under the covers and threw an arm around her flat stomach, before he snuggled up to her.

"You're such a beautiful and strong woman, Teresa… No one should ever treat you like a hooker."

A lump formed in her throat, while she rapidly tried to blink away the tears. "Well, you just did," she whispered, but Jane had already fallen asleep.

A/N: Oookay, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and maybe one or two of you will tell me what you think in a review :D
I'm trying to hurry, so it won't be taking longer than a week tops for the next chapter to come. I got my first exam on Friday and 2 exams in a row on Monday which is freaking me out a little, but writing helps to calm me down. That's a little stupid too, because I should take that time to learn 'cough'

Take care guys :)