"So what are my options?" Lisbon asked Collins the next morning, taking a sip of coffee to brace herself for the conversation they were about to have.
Collins, the deputy communications officer, began listing major news outlets that had requested interviews with her. "The Bee wants to do a feature on you, and the Chronicle has been talking about doing something along those lines as well. All of the local morning shows are trying to book you—"
Lisbon interrupted him. "No, I mean, how do I get rid of the reporters hanging around my apartment? Can I get a court order or something to get them to leave me alone?"
Collins blinked. "I—I would have to look into it."
Fat lot of help he was. Lisbon made a mental note to call Sarah and ask her if she had any ideas. She and Ardiles had been getting along lately—maybe she could ask him, too.
"I have a better idea," Jane announced from the couch. The three of them were in her office. She'd requested a meeting with Collins to figure out what to do about the reporters in her front yard and Jane had invited himself to join them. For once, she didn't mind Jane's determination to infiltrate every aspect of her life—she could use all the help she could get.
Collins looked around at him. "What's that?"
"Give them what they want. Grant an interview."
Lisbon frowned. "That's what I'm trying to avoid."
Jane shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late for that, my dear. The public is too hungry for news of your heroism."
Lisbon gave a rather unladylike snort at that.
"What exactly are you suggesting?" Collins asked.
"Grant an interview, but only one. Make it an exclusive."
"And this helps me how?" Lisbon demanded.
Jane shrugged. "You grant one in-depth interview as an exclusive to one reporter, and the rest of them will leave you alone."
"You really think that will work?" Lisbon asked.
"Certainly."
"You think if I do this, they'll get sick of me and they won't wait for me outside the courthouse or my apartment anymore?"
"I can't guarantee it, but I think it's likely to diminish their appetite for stories of your recent adventures, yes," Jane answered.
"There's really no other way to deal with this?"
"Let me put it this way," Jane said. "I've thought of several plans to discourage their interest in you, but this one is the quickest and least likely to result in civil litigation."
Lisbon sighed. "Fine."
"Great!" Collins said eagerly. "I have a list of reporters who have requested interviews with you right here. We can take a look and start narrowing down our options."
"Let me see that list," Jane said.
Collins handed him a piece of paper with a list of names on it.
Jane scanned the list. "I see you have grouped these by media format. Excellent. We can cross off all the newspapers and magazines right off the bat."
"We can?" Collins said uncertainly.
"Yes, we'll do a TV interview rather than a print article. You'll reach a wider audience and you may as well take advantage of Lisbon's telegenic qualities. TV will definitely give us the most bang for our buck." He grinned. "So to speak."
"Uh—okay," Collins agreed.
Jane gestured to a subset of the list. "Which of these has the highest viewership?"
Collins pointed. "This one."
"That's the one we'll do." Jane handed the list back to Collins and turned to Lisbon. "What time do you think you'll be back from court today?"
"Probably around three."
Jane looked at Collins. "Tell them she'll be there at four o clock."
"Today?" She was so not ready for this.
"The sooner you do the interview, the sooner you stop finding reporters on your doorstep when you come home at the end of the day."
Lisbon turned to Collins. "Four o clock it is."
Xxx
Lisbon met Jane and Collins at the TV station at quarter to four with a pit of dread in her stomach.
Jane beamed at her when he saw her. "There you are."
Lisbon gave him a sickly smile in return.
"Don't be nervous," he told her.
"I'm not nervous," she lied.
He patted her arm. "You'll be fine."
She sighed. "Let's just get this over with."
"One moment." He produced a shirt on a hanger and presented it to her. "Put this on."
Lisbon recognized her teal blouse with the mother of pearl buttons. "What for?" she asked suspiciously. It was bad enough she had to do this in the first place—now she had to dress up for these people?
"You need a bit of color to make you pop on television," Jane informed her. "And this shirt looks great with your eyes."
Lisbon, who had zero interest in 'popping' on television, scowled.
"Trust me," Jane said.
She sighed again and took the shirt. Jane found her a place to change and she dutifully put it on.
When she came out, there was a small group of people waiting for her. Jane was at the forefront, but Collins was there with the producer, the host, and a make up artist. Lisbon eyed the make up artist warily.
"So happy to have you on the show, Agent Lisbon," gushed the host, a sleek blonde woman named Amanda Bailor. She smiled at Lisbon as she shook her hand.
Lisbon didn't like the looks of that smile—the woman had entirely too many shiny white teeth. "Nice to meet you," she said unenthusiastically.
Jane's hand found the small of her back as the rest of the introductions were made. "Shall we get started?"
The group of them escorted Lisbon to the main studio. They set her up with a microphone that clipped to the collar of her shirt, then settled her on one of the two guest chairs in front of the cameras. Collins fluttered around uselessly as the hair and make up guy fussed over her with powder and lipstick. Lisbon, who did not like to be touched by strangers, set her jaw and bore it.
The host was chattering away in her ear, assuring her everything was going to be fine while smiling her shark smile at her.
"There's one more thing we need to address before we start," Jane interrupted her.
The woman blinked at him. "What's that?"
"We need to find someone to conduct the interview, of course."
The host looked perplexed. "I'm the host of the show. I'll be the one conducting the interview."
"Nonsense," Jane said dismissively. "You're completely unsuitable. Not to worry, though. I'm sure we can find someone else."
The woman frowned. "This is my show."
"Meh." Jane started scanning the studio in search of another candidate for the post of interviewer.
The producer, who had been speaking with one of the camera men, came over to them. "Everything all right over here?"
"Right as rain," Jane said affably. "We just need to find someone to stand in for Ms. Bailor here and we'll be all set."
"Stand in?" the producer repeated. "Amanda, are you sick?"
"No," Amanda said, outraged. "I am perfectly capable of conducting this interview. There is no need whatsoever for a stand in."
The producer turned to Jane. "She says she can do it."
"Well, she's not going to, if I have anything to say about it." His eyes alighted on a young black woman standing next to one of the cameras with a clipboard in her hand and a headset hanging around her neck. "Ah, I think I've found the perfect replacement."
"Excuse me," he called out to her. "Would you mind coming over here for a moment?"
The young woman looked confused, but walked over to them nonetheless. "Yes?" she asked nervously.
"What's your name?" Jane asked her.
"Shawna Pierce."
"Shawna, what a lovely name. I'm Patrick Jane, and this is Agent Teresa Lisbon."
"Nice to meet you," Shawna said, bemused.
"Shawna, how would you like to interview Agent Lisbon here on today's show?" Jane asked her.
Shawna's eyes flicked to Amanda. "Uh…"
"Wonderful, it's all settled then," Jane said. He turned to the producer. "Shawna here will conduct the interview instead of Ms. Bailor."
"Like hell she will," Amanda said, infuriated. "I'm the host of this show. I'll be the one conducting the interview."
"No," Jane said firmly. "Shawna here is clearly the best one for the job."
"She's a production assistant," Amanda objected. "She's completely unqualified."
"She's perfectly qualified," Jane said. "She has a degree in journalism from Yale. Besides, she's been working on this show for the past three years and probably knows more about it than you do. Also, judging by the notes on that clipboard she's holding, she did the bulk of the prep work for this interview, so she's undoubtedly better prepared to conduct this interview than you are anyway."
"How'd you know I went to Yale?" Shawna asked, fascinated.
"You have a Yale keychain sticking out of your pocket," Jane informed her.
Shawna looked down at the keychain dangling from one pocket. "Okay, but how could you know how long I've been here?"
Jane shrugged. "You're obviously ambitious, but decided to work your way up the ranks by starting as a production assistant so you could learn the business from the ground up. You are confident in your knowledge of the workings of the studio, which implies you've been here a while. Three years seems like approximately the right time frame, given the fact that Ms. Bailor here is unreasonably threatened by you. My guess is you've been trying to take the next logical step in your career by pitching her story ideas in hopes of getting a promotion. She keeps shooting down your ideas, though, so you're probably starting to circulate your resume around looking for a better position. I don't blame you—you're never going to get ahead with this one at the helm," he said, hooking his thumb in the direction of Amanda. "She'll sabotage you every chance she gets."
"This is outrageous," Amanda burst out. She appealed to the producer. "Don't just stand there, Philip—do something!"
The producer cleared his throat. "Mr. Jane, I assure you, Ms. Bailor is perfectly qualified—"
"I don't care what her qualifications are, she's not doing the interview," Jane interrupted. "The woman's a barracuda."
"I'm sorry she hasn't made the best first impression on you, but—"
Jane cut him off again. "She's not doing the interview. It shouldn't be a problem though. Shawna here will do just fine."
The producer glanced at Shawna, who was watching all this unfold with wide eyes. "Mr. Jane, this is highly irregular."
"That may be so, but this is the way it's going to be."
"I'm afraid I really must insist—"
Jane didn't let him finish the sentence. "You aren't in a position to insist on anything. It's very simple. Either Shawna conducts the interview in Ms. Bailor's place, or Lisbon doesn't do the interview at all. We walk out of here right now."
The producer looked really alarmed now. "The show is starting in five minutes!"
"Then you'd better get Shawna here a mike and get Ms. Bailor out of her chair."
"You can't do this!" Amanda said, furious.
"Certainly, I can," Jane said coolly. "If we walk out the front door at this moment, we lose nothing. Your TV show, on the other hand, loses not only a major story, but an exclusive that any reporter in this city would kill for. Let's face it, we hold all the cards here. Now, I'm willing to be reasonable. This is your show, after all. You can open the show and introduce Shawna as a special correspondent who will be doing the interview."
"Special correspondent, my ass—"
"Time is ticking here," Jane interrupted. "What's it going to be?"
"There's no way I'm going to let some jackass off the street tell me what I can and can't do on my own damn show," Amanda shot back, practically purple with rage. "You can go straight to hell."
Jane shrugged. "So be it. Come on, Lisbon, let's go." He took her hand and pulled her out of the chair, then started towards the door. Lisbon followed, knowing, for once, what was coming next. She didn't know exactly what had set him off about Amanda Bailor, but she trusted his instincts when it came to things like this, so she was willing to go along with whatever play he made at this point.
"Wait!" the producer said, panicked.
Jane paused, and Lisbon stopped behind him. They both turned back to the producer. Jane raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
The producer turned to Amanda. "Give Shawna your chair."
"You're not seriously going to let this guy walk all over us, are you?" Amanda demanded, incredulous.
He shrugged. "You know what they say. The show must go on."
"Philip!"
"Get out of the chair, Amanda."
Amanda shot Jane a look of pure loathing, but got out of the chair. She stood next to the chair, seething, as Shawna gingerly sat down in it at the producer's nod, still clutching her clipboard and pen.
"Jesse!" the producer called. "Get Shawna set up with a mike, will you?"
Lisbon sat back down as well as the crew scurried around getting ready to start the camera rolling.
"Two minutes to air time," someone called.
Lisbon glanced over at Shawna. She looked a little shell-shocked.
Shawna turned towards her. "Listen," she said nervously. "I can't guarantee that I won't screw this up. Don't get me wrong, this is a huge break for me, but I feel a little unprepared for this."
"That makes two of us," Lisbon said ruefully. The two women shared a small smile and Lisbon felt more relaxed than she had all day. Which she supposed wasn't saying much, really, but at this point she would take what she could get.
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn't see much—the studio lights were bright in her eyes. She heard the cue for action, and then Amanda Bailor, off on a separate part of the set, began her introductory remarks. Lisbon had to give her credit—the woman may have been a barracuda, but once the cameras started rolling, she buried her animosity and spoke in a warm, confident voice designed to appeal to the maximum number of viewers. She gave a brief spiel on the background of the Red John's case and Lisbon's role in it, as well as a brief rundown of the events of the day before at the courthouse. "And now," she said, her voice sugary sweet, "I'll turn it over to our special correspondent, Shawna Pierce, for our show's exclusive interview with CBI Special Agent Teresa Lisbon."
A red light on one of the cameras near Lisbon flicked on. Lisbon heard Shawna take a deep breath, then say, "Thank you, Amanda." She turned to the camera with the red light and said, "As Amanda said, I'm here today with Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon to discuss her role in taking down what some have called California's most notorious serial killer, a man known as Red John. Agent Lisbon, welcome to the show."
Lisbon knew her lines for this part. "Thank you."
"A few weeks ago, you and your team took down not only Red John, but almost two dozen of his closest followers. Then yesterday, you were part of a dramatic showdown at a local courthouse here in Sacramento where you faced down an armed man in a public courtyard with dozens of innocent bystanders." Shawna shook her head. "You've had quite a month."
You don't know the half of it, Lisbon thought, thinking of everything else that had happened over the past few weeks. The never ending court dates, Bertram trying to sell her off to every politician in the state… Jane going from untouchable to wanting to move in with her within the space of two weeks. "You could say that."
"You worked on the Red John case for almost ten years, correct?"
Ten years. Just then, she could feel every last one of those years like a physical weight on her shoulders. It was still galling that the bastard had eluded them so long. "Yes."
"How do you feel now that the case is finally closed after all this time?"
Where to begin tackling that one, Lisbon wondered. Sick with relief. Afraid to believe it was really, truly over. Worried about Jane and his nightmares. Terrified that he was going to wake up one of these days and decide to walk away now that he didn't have revenge to hold him here anymore. "Glad that justice has finally been served," she said finally.
"Well, I think everyone in the state has heard of some of the amazing things you've done over the past couple weeks, but I don't think many people know much about the woman behind the badge," Shawna said. "Tell us a little about yourself."
Lisbon blinked. "Well—I'm the team leader of the CBI's Serious Crimes Unit. We mostly handle homicides, typically cases where there's some question about the jurisdiction. Sometimes local law enforcement asks us to step in if they don't have the resources to follow up on something."
"I meant you as a person," Shawna said with a gentle smile.
"Me? Oh—" Lisbon stammered. "There's, uh, not much to tell."
"You grew up in Chicago, right?"
"Yes," Lisbon answered warily.
Shawna waited a beat before she realized that was all Lisbon intended to say on the matter. "What was that like?" she prompted.
What was she supposed to say? Great, until my mom died and my dad started beating the shit out of me and my brothers? "Fine," she said tersely.
Evidently realizing Lisbon's childhood was a nonstarter as a conversation topic, Shawna hastily skipped ahead a few years. "But you went to college here in California."
"That's right."
"What made you decide to move out to the west coast?"
Because she would have done damn near anything to escape the nightmare of her life by that point, Lisbon thought, familiar guilt clawing at her stomach. She still wondered if staying would have been better for her brothers, in the long run. At the time, she'd been so desperate to leave she hadn't allowed herself to dwell too deeply on what she was doing. But now, she wondered. "Just wanted a change, I guess," she said, shifting a little in her chair.
Shawna plowed ahead bravely. "Your parents passed away when you were quite young, didn't they? I bet they would be proud if they could see you now."
Lisbon froze. Would her parents be proud? Would her mom be happy to see that her only daughter was a workaholic who had closed herself off from real relationships for most of her adult life? If her father was still alive, would he have managed to rouse himself from his alcohol-induced stupor long enough to notice that she was doing work that was worth being proud of?
She realized she'd stopped breathing only when Shawna looked at her in concern and asked, "Agent Lisbon? Are you all right?"
She forced the breath from her lungs. "Fine," she managed, shaking her head a little to clear it. "Um. Could you repeat the question?"
Shawna hesitated, clearly realizing she'd made a mistake, but not entirely certain where her misstep had been. "I was just saying your parents would be proud if they could see you now," she said slowly.
"Mm," Lisbon said non-committally, desperately wanting this kind young woman to get off this subject but not knowing what to do to make her drop this line of questioning.
She heard a heavy sigh from somewhere off to her right. "This isn't working," Jane announced from behind the cameras, not troubling to keep his voice down.
Someone tried to hush him, but instead of being quiet, he raised his voice and addressed one of the sound guys. "Oi, you there! Give me one of those microphone clippy things… thank you."
Before Lisbon knew what was happening, Jane was striding towards them, attaching a microphone to his shirt. He plunked himself down in the chair next to Lisbon and gave Shawna a huge grin. "Hello."
Shawna looked torn between being shocked and amused. She managed to roll with the punches, though. "Mr. Jane," she said, her mouth slowly curving upwards as she let herself see the funny side of the situation. "So pleased you could join us."
"Thank you, Shawna," Jane said cheerfully. "Glad to be here."
Shawna turned back to the camera. "For those of you who don't know this gentleman who has just joined us, this is Patrick Jane, a consultant for the CBI and a member of Agent Lisbon's team on the Serious Crimes Unit."
"Also known as the thorn in her side," Jane joked.
Shawna quirked an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?"
"Most definitely," Jane acknowledged. "But more about that later. First, I want to help you out with your interview of Agent Lisbon."
Shawna didn't take offense at the slight to her interviewing skills. She laughed. "Good, I could use the help. You and Agent Lisbon have worked together a long time, haven't you?"
"Nearly ten years," Jane confirmed.
"Well, you probably know her better than almost anyone, then," Shawna observed. "What advice do you have for me in terms of helping our audience get to know her a bit better?"
"Skip ahead past the personal stuff," Jane advised. "She's a very private person. Better move on to the case related stuff. Then you might actually get more than two words in a row out of her."
Lisbon shifted a little in her chair, not quite sure what she thought about the two of them talking about her as though she weren't sitting two feet away from them. On the other hand, at least no one was asking her anything about her childhood anymore, so she was glad about that.
"Good advice," Shawna remarked. "All right then, Agent Lisbon. Can you tell us about your investigation for the Red John case?"
Lisbon relaxed a little. This, she could do. "Well, like you said, the investigation was ongoing for a long time. The Sacramento police department handed the case over to us after the fifth murder with the signature smiley face that came to be associated with the killer Red John. Jane here joined us about six months after that," she added as an afterthought.
Shawna turned to Jane. "What led you to the CBI, Mr. Jane?"
"Revenge," Jane answered promptly. "Red John killed my wife and daughter. I conned my way into the CBI so I could get an inside track on the investigation. My plan was to find Red John and kill him to avenge the deaths of my wife and child."
Shawna blinked. "That's very… candid of you."
"Of course, Lisbon wasn't having any of that revenge business," he went on. "When she found out what I was up to, she told me flat out she would arrest me if I tried to use the CBI to hurt Red John. She only agreed to take me on in the first place on the condition that I help out with other cases, too. I wasn't happy about it at first, but after a while I actually started to like it. Not the sad, finding murder victims part," he clarified. "The tricking evil murderers into getting their just desserts part."
"Tricking them?" Shawna asked, fascinated.
"Yeah, you know, manipulating them into exposing evidence on themselves or confessing, that sort of thing. Sometimes it's slower going than I'd like, but Lisbon won't let me hypnotize people, so I have to rely on the old-fashioned con most of the time."
"Jane has a very special skill set," Lisbon said dryly. She was feeling much more relaxed now that Jane was there by her side. He was good at this stuff. Plus, he was such a show off that he was bound to command most of the audience's attention himself now that he'd stepped on stage. She might be able to get through this interview without answering any harrowing personal questions after all.
Shawna shook her head. "Sounds like it."
"His methods are unconventional, but he's helped our unit maintain the highest solve rate in the state ever since he joined the team," Lisbon said, thinking that since she had to be here, she might as well put in a plug for Jane's continued contributions to the team. Given the frequency with which he got himself into trouble, Jane could use all the good press he could get. If Bertram or any of the other higher ups in state government happened to be watching, so much the better.
"But the Red John case was the one that stayed just out of reach," Shawna said. "Until a few weeks ago, that is. What changed?"
"A few weeks ago, Jane found out Red John was actually a man named Jonathan Russo," Lisbon answered. "My team started running down property records, employee manifests—"
"No, you're telling it all wrong," Jane interrupted her.
"What do you mean?" Lisbon said, taken aback. "That's what happened."
He shook his head. "No one wants to hear about the boring research part. Employee manifests, honestly, woman." He turned to Shawna. "The real turning point actually came several months ago."
"And what was that?" Shawna asked.
Lisbon felt like a cold, hard stone had just settled into the bottom of her stomach. She swallowed. "One of my team members was shot."
"By Red John?"
"Not by the man himself. But he was the one who set it up. It was so pointless. He did it just to mess with us. This case… it's always been personal, because of how long it's gone on, and because of Jane's family, of course. But when one of your own is hurt… it changes things."
"What did you do?"
"She stopped sleeping and started baking everyone on the team the world's worst cookies while she was up late at night obsessing about the case," Jane answered for her.
"My cookies were not that bad," Lisbon protested, ignoring the whole 'obsessing' crack. Like he was one to talk.
"They were terrible, Lisbon. You should never be allowed to enter a kitchen again. Anyway," Jane said to Shawna. "Once our friend had recovered, she went up to Tahoe to lock herself in a cabin where she could obsess without interruption, and she came back three days later with a strategy to revolutionize the team's approach to the case."
"Pretty impressive," Shawna commented.
"It was awful," Jane said. "She dropped off the grid without telling anyone where she was going—I was scared to death. Forget Red John, I was worried sick some run of the mill psycho might have kidnapped her." He looked back at Lisbon. "I still haven't forgiven you for that, by the way."
"Really? You're bringing this up now?" Lisbon said, incredulous.
Shawna tried to steer the conversation back on course. "What was so different about your new approach?"
"Red John had an extensive network of followers who were loyal to him," Lisbon explained. "Before we had been focusing on reviewing the evidence from the crime scenes. Occasionally we would come across someone who turned out to be one of his followers, but they always refused to give up any information on him."
"And then he would either kill them to keep them quiet or manipulate them into killing themselves before we could get them to talk," Jane put in. "Every time we thought we were getting close, our most promising leads would end up dead. It was incredibly frustrating."
"Right," Lisbon said. "Since that wasn't working out so great for us, we decided to focus on the personal histories of the men and women who followed Red John to see how they connected up with him in the first place. Once we did that for enough of his followers, we started to see some common threads that helped us finally get closer to identifying the man himself."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Shawna commented.
"Yes," Lisbon agreed, smiling in satisfaction. "But it paid off in the end."
"Can you tell the audience more about the events that led up to the final confrontation with Jonathan Russo at his cabin in the mountains?" Shawna asked.
Lisbon's smile faded—the horror of realizing Ben had been taken was fresh in her mind. She didn't know if she could talk about it to a group of strangers listening across the airwaves. She looked at Jane for help.
Jane cleared his throat. "I suppose this next part of the story won't make much sense without a little more background."
"Go on," Shawna encouraged him.
He was silent for a moment. "For a long time, I didn't have many people in my life," he said finally. "I shut myself off from the world after my family died. I was alone, and I preferred it that way. When I met Lisbon, that started to change. She yelled at me when I was being an ass, made me laugh with her sarcastic wit, and showed me compassion when I didn't deserve it. She adopted me into her family."
"Sounds like the two of you are good friends," Shawna said softly.
"Yes," Jane said. "Her friendship has been one of the great gifts of my life."
Lisbon watched Jane, riveted. He'd never said anything like that to her. He'd told her he was in love with her, yes, but he'd said those words easily, almost flippantly—it was hard to believe they were really true. This…this was different. She could feel the weight of these words, knew them to be true in a way she still couldn't quite bring herself to completely believe of the other.
"I take it that friendship had some influence on the series of events that led up to the confrontation in the cabin?" Shawna asked.
"That's right. Russo viewed me as an opponent in a great game," Jane said. "He made it his business to know what was important in my life. When he realized we were getting close to finding him, he wanted to distract me, so he started threatening Lisbon."
"Threatening her in what way?" Shawna wanted to know.
Jane sighed. "It's a long story. In the end, he took our friend's baby boy to get to her. He knew her almost as well as he knew me, you see. He knew she would never let an innocent child be hurt when she had the power to do something about it."
Shawna turned to Lisbon. "And that was when you chose to turn yourself over to Red John in exchange for Benjamin Rigsby's life?"
Lisbon shifted uncomfortably. "There really wasn't any choice. I couldn't let him do anything to Ben."
Shawna looked back at Jane. "And you went with her."
"Well, I couldn't very well let her go in there alone," Jane said. "If something happened to her, who was going to protect me next time I pissed off some violent thug? I had to go to protect my own-self interest."
The big liar. He'd gone so she wouldn't have to face her death alone. Lisbon paused. Had she ever properly thanked him for that? Made him really, truly understand what it had meant to her to have him by her side through that whole awful ordeal? She thought of being locked in the trunk of that car with him distracting her from her fear with his hand on her hip and his soft, sweet words in her ear. Of him holding her hands and refusing to leave her when she'd had that bomb strapped to her chest. And now, stepping in front of the cameras when he saw she was struggling, even though his last significant experience with the media prior to this had ultimately resulted in the greatest tragedy of his life. Her breath caught a little in her chest. Jane might not be known for being the most reliable man on the planet, but when she really needed him, he was always, always there.
"But the two of you came out triumphant in the end," Shawna said.
"Yes," Jane agreed. "We don't always agree about the best way to get things done, but when we're working together… let's just say it's generally a bad idea to bet against us."
"The criminals of California would do well to take note of that, I think," Shawna said with a smile.
"I hope they do," Jane replied.
"Sounds like even when you're apart, you're each pretty formidable on your own, at least if the events of yesterday afternoon are any indication," Shawna remarked. "Agent Lisbon, can you tell us a little bit about what happened yesterday?"
"Uh—well, I was eating lunch. I saw this woman sitting near me look up with a look of fear on her face, so I turned around and saw this guy with a gun heading towards us. Everything after that happened so fast I don't really know how much more I can tell you," Lisbon said uncomfortably.
Shawna smiled at her warmly. "Well, I guess you don't have to tell us the rest, because practically everyone in the state has seen the video where you stopped him in his tracks, disarmed him, and tackled him to the ground."
Lisbon grimaced. "I wish that video hadn't gotten around the way it did." Then she wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place. "I was just doing my job."
"Well, on behalf of the citizens of Sacramento, I'd like to thank you for doing it bravely and well," Shawna said seriously.
Lisbon flushed. "It's an honor to serve."
"I can see you don't relish being in the limelight, Agent Lisbon." Shawna said dryly. "You might not be crazy about receiving professional accolades for your heroism, but you might be interested to hear your recent adventures have generated a great deal of interest in you personally, as well."
Lisbon frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We only announced you were coming on the show a few hours ago, and already the show's inbox has been flooded with requests from men from all over the city wanting to know if you'd be willing to go on a date with them."
"Are you serious?" Lisbon said, horrified.
"Perfectly serious. At last count, there were over two dozen requests for dates and—" she checked her notes. "Three marriage proposals." She looked back up at Lisbon. "What do you say, Agent Lisbon? Is there reason for the men of Sacramento to hope? Are you still single?"
Lisbon froze like the proverbial deer in the headlights. "Uh—"
"She most definitely is not," Jane said firmly. "And the man in her life is very possessive, so the single men of California should definitely not get any ideas. The un-single ones shouldn't get any ideas, either."
Lisbon smacked him on the arm. "Shut up, Jane."
"You've met him?" Shawna asked Jane, intrigued. "Tell us, what is the man who captured Agent Lisbon's heart like?"
"He's charming, manipulative bastard who in no way deserves her," Jane said cheerfully.
"He's not that bad," Lisbon protested.
"Oh, really?" Shawna said, amused. "What can you say to defend him against the charges Mr. Jane here has laid against him?"
"Well, he can be manipulative, that's true," Lisbon said, determinedly not looking at Jane. "But he generally means well, and he's very thoughtful." She hesitated. "I'm—I'm not the easiest person to care for."
"Don't be ridiculous, Lisbon," Jane scoffed. "You're the easiest person in the world to care for."
"The point is, he takes care of me," Lisbon said, exasperated. "Even when I push him away."
"Well, of course he does," Jane said, equally exasperated. "You clearly need to be fussed over, and what man in his right mind would pass up the chance to worm his way deeper into your life if you seemed even remotely willing to let him?"
"He certainly isn't the type to wait for permission, that's for sure," Lisbon muttered. "Especially when it comes to unnecessary furniture purchases."
"We've been over this, Lisbon. The new couch was absolutely necessary. Your old couch was horrible."
Shawna looked back and forth between them, suspicion dawning in her eyes. "You seem to know an awful lot about this mystery man, Mr. Jane," she said slowly.
Jane cleared his throat. "Yes, well, let's just say he and I see eye to eye about a lot of things when it comes to the proper care and feeding of Teresa Lisbon."
"Oh! I see." Shawna made a vague circling gesture back and forth between the two of them with her pen. "Are you two…?"
Lisbon blushed furiously, not knowing how to answer. Jane, on the other hand, just grinned his wicked grin. "I've already said too much," he said demurely.
Shawna, clearly delighted with this turn of events, beamed at them. "Well, in that case, congratulations to both Agent Lisbon and her mystery man. Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane, thanks so much for being on the show today. On behalf of all our viewers here, let me just say thank you again for all the work you do to keep us all safe, and we wish you both all the happiness in the world."
Mercifully, it was over then. The red light flicked off, and the crew started bustling around the studio once again. Someone took the mike away from Lisbon, and then it felt like about a dozen people were beaming at her and lining up to shake her hand. Bemused, she shook their hands and tried to smile back.
Jane, next to her, leaned over to speak into Shawna's ear. "Well done," he murmured, loud enough that Lisbon could hear. "You did great. I'll bet you five bucks you'll be getting that job offer you've been after within three days."
"Thanks," Shawna said, grinning. "You guys were wonderful."
Collins came by then, beaming. "Excellent show, Agent Lisbon. You really painted the CBI in a positive light." He bounced off to talk to the producer without waiting for a reply.
"Blowhard," Jane said cheerfully.
Shawna laughed. "Don't worry. I think it was pretty obvious the two of you were the stars of the show tonight."
"Just what I always wanted," Lisbon muttered.
Still jittery with nerves, Lisbon let Jane drive again when it was time to leave. She hoped it wouldn't go to his head.
"Where to?" he asked from behind the wheel. "Ready to go home?"
Lisbon was longing to be in her own space again, but she was uncertain. "Do you think it's safe?"
"I do," Jane said calmly. "Your apartment should be journalist free now."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure."
"How sure is pretty sure?"
"Mm. I'd say about eighty-seven percent."
"Really?" That was better than she'd hoped. "How can you be so certain?"
"People will only bother you as long as you have something they want," he explained. "But you gave them what they want, so they'll leave you alone now."
"I did?" Lisbon asked, confused. "What did I give them?"
"You gave them the triumph of romance and heroism against all odds."
Lisbon snorted. "Ha."
He ignored this. "You gave them what everyone wants, deep down," he continued.
Lisbon was intrigued in spite of herself. "And what's that?"
He looked over at her. "A happy ending."