Hiii. Ok so this is the big Jane showdown chapter. (Finally, I hear you say. :) I hope you like where I am taking it.
Thank you for all the reviews and new followers too. I know some of you expressed your dislike of my plot twist in the last chapter and I can understand why, yes you right, Lisbon probably wouldn't be stupid and fall that trick a second time around but I needed some drama build up, Just having Jane popping out for milk and disappearing on his wife didn't create an exciting scene, so yes I used an old classic. ;)
Thank you for reading my story as always. I know I haven't replied back to all your reviews individually but I can assure that it means a lot to me and I thank you all so much for taking the time to comment. You're the best.
Disclaimer: I don't anything TM related. :/
Lisbon anxiously tapped her foot against the wooden flooring beneath her. She had made her way out of the restaurant, waiting impatiently on the veranda for her ride to show up. Placing her cell to her ear she huffed when it connected to Jane's voicemail for a sixth time.
She heard her ride home arrive before she actually saw it. Out of the darkness, Pete's noisy battered old red pick-up truck drove slowly and pulled up outside the restaurant, releasing a loud bang from its rusting exhaust and startling a young couple leaving in the process. Pete climbed out of the vehicle looking like a small child about to be reprimanded. He moved around to the passenger side door and opened it, sheepishly glancing at Pepper who was giving him a serious a death glare from a few feet away.
"Sorry I am late, this old thing wouldn't start," Pete told her guiltily, hoping she wasn't too livid by the events of the evening. "Nice evening? You look lovely in that dress, by the way." Lisbon angrily stepped off the veranda, not interested in making small talk with the man about her style of dress. "Where is he, Pete? Where's he gone?"
"Honestly? I don't know." He shrugged. Lisbon sighed heavily and was irritated, believing Pete was covering for her stupid jackass of a husband. "You don't know?"
"No, I swear it is the truth. He wouldn't tell me where he was going. He said it was better for deniability that way. All I do know is he has crossed the state line into Nevada. That's nearly a two-hour drive from here."
Pete motioned for Lisbon to get in the vehicle which she reluctantly did, slamming the truck door shut with great force. As Pete climbed back into the driver's seat he grabbed something from the glove compartment. "Oh, Paddy asked me to give you these." He held out a small velvet jewellery box in his hand but Lisbon remained still. Seeing the brunette was not impressed by the gift, Pete carefully prised open the lid to show her what Patrick had bought her. Staring back was a pair of beautiful sparkly diamond and emerald earrings. On any other day she would have swooned at how beautiful they were but Jane's little disappearing act on her had totally washed her sentimental side away.
"Beautiful, huh?" Pete added, hoping he would at least get a smile from the irritated cop.
"Yeah." Lisbon rolled her eyes, pulling the seat belt around her. "They will really suit you, Pete," she added sarcastically, showing she wasn't going to accept her husband's gift.
"I know you are angry, Pepper, but- "
"Take me to see Doug," Lisbon snapped, glaring angrily back at Pete. "Now."
Pete exhaled a deep breath, grateful he wasn't going to be the one in Jane's shoes when his wife finally caught up to him." Yes, ma'am," he replied, starting the old truck back up and driving into the darkness once again.
"Okay, okay, keep your hair on. If there isn't a fire then-… well, hello again." Doug Linden leaned casually against the door way of his trailer, eyeing the small brunette at his door like she was a giant piece of candy. He glanced back, spotting Pete was standing a few feet behind her. "You just can't keep away from me, Princess, can you?"
"Where's this big carnie poker tournament being held?" Lisbon snapped. Doug studied the small cop, seeing the signs of anger and distress clearly written in her expression.
"And what's it worth?"
Lisbon sighed heavily, feeling about ready to explode or shoot someone if she didn't start getting some answers. "You want money?" she asked, exasperated, searching her small clutch for money to give him.
"I tell you what, Princess. You agree to go out to dinner with me one time and I will tell you what I know." He grinned seductively, stepping out of his trailer and coming up into her personal space. Just as he was bordering on being inappropriate, Pete spoke out, reminding the man he was there watching. "She's married, you fool…. to Jane."
Doug's head spun around at Pete, waiting for the rest of the punchline. When he saw Pete wasn't messing he looked back towards Lisbon. "You mean… You, the cop…and Patrick Jane, the conman… are married?"
Lisbon nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."
Doug erupted into loud laughter, highly amused by this new piece of information. "You mean Patrick Jane... THE Patrick Jane, conman, ex psychic, Paddy, the boy wonder, the pretty boy… is married to a COP!"
"I am a federal agent, actually."
"Oh, this is brilliant." Doug paced in front of his trailer, grinning to himself. "Jane's married to a FED! That's hilarious. Wait until this all gets out. Wow! His grandfather would be spinning in his grave if he was still alive!"
"So, the game?" Lisbon asked sharply, not at all phased by Doug's reaction to her marriage. "Where is it?"
"Ah, well, I don't know. I've been passed out all day. Only woke a few hours ago and Jane had already left." Doug grinned when the small brunette bit her lip, obviously annoyed by his answer.
"You are useless," she spat angrily.
Pulling her cell from her clutch she swiped at her screen. "Hi Grace, it's me. Look, I need you to get me a GPS trace on the Black SUV hire vehicle leased out in my name. Yes, right away. It's really important," she said emotionally to her long- time friend. "As per usual I think Jane's about to do something very stupid and need to stop him."
Two heavy set men dragged Alex Jane out of the small dark storage room. They roughly sat him down upon a chair, his hands tightly handcuffed behind his back and a black bag placed over his head. Finally, one of the vicious looking men pulled the sack away. Alex squinted at the bright light of the large empty bar, blinded for a few seconds before getting his focus.
The carnie tournament players had retreated to a back room of the bar early on to begin the game but two hours in the whole scene changed and Alex was ambushed by some guys at his table and bundled into the dark storage cupboard where he received a few hard kicks and punches along the way. He had been locked in there for what felt like hours now.
Alex glanced between the two fierce looking men, not recognising them. "Come on, fellas, I am sure we can sort this out, whatever it is I owe, there's no need for violence. I can get you the money," He told them, knowing he had a few debts outstanding to some rather nasty people and this may be them coming to collect.
The sound of a creaking floor board behind him made Alex's head spin around. It was then he saw the sight of his long lost son sitting silently watching the whole scene unfold. Alex let out a staggered chuckle, shaking his head at his own failure to work out who was actually responsible.
"I should have guessed this was you," Alex told him. "This has your name written all over it! I can't believe I didn't see it. Clever, devious, brilliant ruse to catch your prey," Alex added, slightly impressed by his son's underhanded tactics. "I guess I am losing my touch in my old age, huh? So, what now? You get these mindless thugs to rough me up a bit, teach me a lesson…"
Jane remained silent, before slowly coming to stand at the front of the bar. Jane's eyes never left his father's fearful expression despite Alex maintaining a cocky arrogant tone as he spoke. He nodded to the two large thugs who silently retreated towards the bar door and left them alone. Pulling a gun from the waist band of his suit pants, Jane placed it down on the bar. Alex's eyes focused nervously on the weapon, suddenly becoming very aware of how serious this situation actually was.
Out of nerves he tried to engage his son in conversation, hoping to defuse the situation before things turned nasty. Patrick was a clever trickster, a top class conman, an ex-psychic. He certainly wasn't a crazed gun welding psychopath. Unfortunately, Alex quickly began to fear for his life when he remembered his son had shot three men and strangled another in his lifetime so far. Hoping he could talk his way out, Alex attempted to take back some control of the situation.
"You fooled me again, Paddy, I thought you always hated guns, son." Alex gave a small friendly laugh, hoping his memory would engage his son. Jane remained eerily silent, tilting his head slightly and studying Alex's face.
"You're looking well, considering everything that's happened to you," Alex continued. "You're older, much broader, a few wrinkles than the last time I saw you, but then you were only eighteen when you left, still a kid." Alex swallowed nervously when Patrick didn't answer or respond to his words at all. "Where's Teresa? Is she here? Is she okay?" He had asked out of genuine curiosity and concern for the girl, but also knowing mentioning her name was bound to invoke a response of some sort.
"Is she okay?" Jane repeated, speaking for the first time since their father son reunion. "You've stolen the last year of my wife's life and you're asking me if she's okay?"
"It wasn't like that, son. Things just got out of hand…" Alex replied, fumbling over his words, showing outwardly how scared he now was.
"Out of hand?"
"I never meant for any of this, son. I swear to you."
"Why don't you tell me what you did mean to happen, then?" Picking up the gun Jane tapped the barrel against the side of his leg suppressing the urge not to use the weapon there and then.
Alex shook his head, desperately trying to think of the right words to say. "I … I…I just… I…I didn't want to lose her."
"She wasn't yours to lose!" Jane yelled, making Alex's eyes snap back up.
"Look, son, I know now what I did to Teresa was wrong. I can see that now, but you have to believe me I'd never hurt her, I wouldn't ever hurt her. She was in safe hands whilst you were gone, I swear. I love that girl," he added, hoping Patrick would hear the sincerity and truth in his voice.
Jane's eyes narrowed in fury as he began to pace the bar room floor. "And Wylie?"
"I never laid a finger on the lad, I swear. I just used some blackmail techniques to get what I wanted. Nothing you haven't done in your time, I'm sure." Alex shrugged half-heartedly, showing he wasn't that bothered about his actions or the trouble he had caused the poor lad. "But I am really sorry about Teresa. I never meant to hurt her. She was in safe hands, I promise you."
"Safe hands? You hypnotised her! You've stolen her memories! You used and took advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable." Jane moved around the back of his father's chair bending down closer. "You abused my wife!" he added, his voice now taken on a dangerous, darker edge.
Jane walked back around the chair and faced the man, holding the gun barrel firmly at him without a hint of doubt about using it. He watched as beads of sweat started to appear on the older man's brow, watching as Alex darted his eyes frantically around the room for any means of an escape.
"Okay! Okay! What you're saying is right. I did wrong! Please, Paddy, I know you're angry but just please put the gun down," he pleaded, hoping that his son's hatred of him wouldn't decide his fate.
"Don't. Call. Me. Son,"
"Okay. Let's both just take a minute to breathe and think about this." Alex breathed a sigh of relief when Jane seemed to lower the aim of the gun a fraction. "I assume you want me take Teresa out of her trance. I can do that. I can."
"If you think I am letting you anywhere near my wife you're very much mistaken. She is safe and you will never be going near her again, I am going to make sure of it." He let the threat linger. "You're going to tell me what the trigger is to put her under." Jane raised the gun again, directing it at his father's forehead to emphasise the outcome if he didn't comply.
"Okay… okay, I can tell you," Alex stammered, seeing his son was very close to losing it. "The trigger is… Nigel." Seeing his son's eyes narrowing in confusion, Alex explained, "The next door neighbour's cat in Texas. That fat fur ball was always sneaking over to the house and when Teresa stroked him, it calms her and helps puts her in a light trance."
"A cat? You expect me to believe that?" Jane questioned, his voice taking on an angrier tone, not impressed by the lies his father was spinning. He turned the barrel of the gun on its side studying Alex's face for micro expressions.
"The cat! I swear it's the truth! Teresa loves that furry thing and the furry ball loves her back… it's how I could get her under."
After a minute or two Jane pulled his cell phone out of his waist coat pocket, never taking his eyes or his gun off his handcuffed father. The call connected. "Yeah, Cho, it's me. I need to you to obtain my old next door neighbour's cat." There was a short pause. "Yes, a cat," Jane added sharply in annoyance. "Just get that animal in custody and I will explain all when we get back to Texas. Okay. Bye."
Alex saw this as an opportunity to try and talk his son out of doing something stupid. "So, how's about letting me out of these handcuffs, son, hey?" The metal around his wrists clattered against the back of the chair. "They are killing my wrists."
Jane chuckled wickedly at his father's request. "If you think I am just going to let you go free then you really are losing your skills, old man."
"Oh, come on, Paddy, you're not going to arrest me." he replied, hoping the main threat was over now he had spilled the truth about the trigger of Teresa's hypnosis. "We carnies don't grass up our own."
"No, you're right, I am not going to arrest you…. but I am going to shoot you." With that Jane raised the gun again, stepping closer and pulling the latch back so the gun barrel was fully loaded.
"JANE! STOP!" The sound of Lisbon's voice rang out across the empty bar, her eyes widening with horror at the scene developing in front of her. "Don't do this," she added when she saw the anger and rage on her husband's face. A look she hadn't seen very often in the fourteen years she had known him but one that had always scared her.
"Listen to your wife, son, you really don't want to do this!" Alex pleaded, now unable to hide his fear. Seconds later there was the sound of Pete running into the bar, his eyes also widening as he took in the sight of Paddy holding at gun at Alex's head.
"Leave, Teresa!" Jane barked. "Pete, take her back to the carnival. Now."
"Jane, please put the gun down. I am begging you." Lisbon moved a little further into the room, trying desperately to remember her police negotiation skills.
"You should listen to her, Paddy," Pete agreed, nervously wondering what Jane would do next if they didn't talk him down.
"Patrick, please…" she pleaded softly, secretly worried her husband was having another form of breakdown. Jane's hand wavered a little. He locked eyes with his wife, seeing how scared she was for him. He eventually lowered the gun barrel to his side. All three gave a small sigh of relief at Jane's action.
Believing he was safer now the cavalry had arrived, Alex spoke in a hushed tone. "I knew you wouldn't go through with it. You've always been gutless. Always running away when the going gets tough. Have you even told her the truth yet?" Alex stated confidently, now he felt his life was no longer in danger. "No, of course you haven't," he added, mocking his son's cowardice.
"Told me what?" Lisbon moved across the bar, watching as Jane's face changed from anger to rage as his father continued talking.
"You don't deserve her. Any fool can see that. You're an ex conman and psychic, a gutless selfish loser who doesn't care for anyone but himself. Always has been, always will be, "Alex told him snidely, now feeling rather annoyed and very bitter that his son had fooled him so easily and made him feel pretty stupid with it. Attacking his son verbally, getting inside his head was the best way to affect Patrick Jane.
"Shut up!" Jane yelled in retaliation.
"She deserves to be with a man who really loves her."
"I do love her."
"Really? Because according to one of your therapy sessions you said… oh, what was it again?... ah yes. You didn't really want to get remarried, you only married her because you were scared to lose her. "
Jane's mouth dropped open in shock to hear his father quoting his own words, spoken in confidence to his doctor after his breakdown. An evil wicked grin slowly appeared on Alex's face as it was his turn to use shock tactics. "Never trust a doctor, son. I always told you this. Frauds in white coats. They will sell you out at any price."
Jane glanced over to his wife, watching as her beautiful face changed from shock to devastation as his father's cruel attack of words sunk in. With rage and fury running through him, Jane raised the gun again unleashing the safety and aiming the barrel firmly at his father's chest. Alex's smug smile was quickly wiped when he realised his gutless son wasn't as gutless as he first thought. Patrick firmly squeezed the trigger more determinedly than ever before.
Lisbon ran forward, trying desperately to stop Jane from doing the worst. "Noooo!"
The gun fired. A loud bang echoed around the empty bar. Teresa ran towards her husband as she saw Alex Jane collapse off the chair and onto the floor in a heap.
Once the sheer panic had finally settled, a weeping Alex lifted his head up from the floor, manically looking down at his body and searching for signs of blood or a bullet wound. He eventually looked up to see his son towering over him with the gun in his hand. The fear of believing he was about to die had made Alex lose bladder control and he was struggling to catch his breath through his open sobbing. He had truly believed in that moment his son was going to end his life.
"Blanks." Jane snidely told him, dropping a few of the fake bullets from his pocket onto the dirty floor. He then pulled out a brown envelope stuffed full of money, throwing it down at his pathetic state of a father. "There. That's what you originally came to Texas for. Now leave and I never want you to see you ever again. If I do, I promise I will kill you."
He wasn't going to lie, seeing his normally larger than life conman of a father crumpled in a heap of his own urine on the floor, pleading for his life, and sobbing like a child was very satisfactory. It was exactly the outcome he had wanted if he was honest. To show his father that he had no control or hold over him or his wife. He had never planned to kill the man but he had wanted to scare the living daylights out of the him, so much that Alex Jane would never burden their lives ever again.
Teresa pulled up as she neared the pair, realising the scene she had just witnessed wasn't quite what it had first appeared to be. She angrily snatched up the gun from Jane's hand, emptying the clip and seeing that the bullets were all blank. She angrily glanced at her husband, furious that he had fooled them all. She had truly thought he had shot and killed his father cold heartedly.
Jane stepped away taking Lisbon gently by the wrist, pulling her from his father sitting slumped and crying on the floor. She allowed him to move her back still a little, stunned and in shock by the events that had just happened.
"Come on, let's go. It's over," Jane told her softly.
Once her brain had kicked back in she yanked her arm free, giving him another furious look. He stood quietly, knowing she was furious and that anything he said right now wasn't going to appease her mood in any way. He was only grateful the bullets in the gun weren't real otherwise he felt he would be the one in serious trouble. The sound of a lumbering Pete approaching made Jane turn.
"What the hell was that?" Pete breathlessly spat, resting his large arm on Jane's shoulder for support as he tried to catch his breath, having run a very short sprint for the first time in about forty-five years.
"Just teaching my lowlife father a lesson he will never forget," Jane replied, looking at his wife and maintaining eye contact with her and letting her know he didn't regret his actions.
Lisbon stormed back towards Alex, who was still sitting handcuffed on the dirty bar room floor, his head hung in shame. She came to stand in front of him, waiting for the older man to look up at her. Jane began to follow, but Pete held him back, nodding to him silently to let them have their own moment - daughter in law and father in law.
When Alex didn't lift his head up and seeing what state he was in, Lisbon took the lead. "I trusted you."
"I know…" Alex sobbed quietly.
"And you used and hypnotised me."
"I am so sorry." He whispered.
"If you ever truly cared, Alex, then just take the money and leave. I never want to see you again," Lisbon said, her eyes filling with tears but not allowing them to fall. She marched back over to where Jane and Pete were watching and, without saying a word to either of them, she swiftly exited the bar.
Right now she was ready to explode with anger at all three of them and she wasn't even sure who she was more furious at, her husband, her father in law or herself! All she did know was she wanted to go home to Texas.
Two days later.
Lisbon cell phone sprang into life as it sat on the kitchen work top. Throwing down her tea towel she scooped the handset up. "Hey, Cho I am just setting off to the crime scene now," she told him, assuming he was chasing where she was.
"Hey, Lisbon. I am ringing because I wanted to let you know about Alex Jane." Hearing the seriousness in Cho's voice she slowly lowered herself to sit on one of her kitchen chairs preparing herself for the worst. "Alex? What about him?"
"I thought you should know. He's just handed himself into Local PD in Nevada and confessed to everything he did."
To say Lisbon was shocked by this news was an understatement. She and Jane had finally returned to Texas the night before, tension unfortunately still strained between them after everything that had gone down and she had just assumed that Alex Jane had disappeared down to South America. "Really? He did?"
"Yep. Just walked in and handed himself over. Confessed all. Just thought you should know. Nevada FBI will take it over from here but it will be a straight forward open and closed case and Alex Jane will be sentenced and sent down."
Lisbon flinched a little at Cho's cold harsh assessment, feeling uneasy about the old man who she had spent the last year of her life with and grown to care for, being thrown in jail. "Right. Thanks for letting me know, Cho."
"No worries. See you in a while."
Lisbon ended the call with her boss. She sat quietly, letting her head get around it all. She felt uneasy by this new development. She knew she should be feeling over the moon that Alex Jane had handed himself in and that justice would be served for her and Wylie but the fact of the matter was she didn't.
It all sat uneasily in her gut… and in her heart.
A/N: I was going to try wrapping this story up and maybe do a sequel but I think I will just continue and called this rest of story, part 2. Part 2 will be a little more lighter but still drama filled and of course, lots of Jisbon. ;)
