Cinnamon Secrets
"Can you explain to me why the last person Marianne Odell ever spoke to on the phone before she died…was you?
It felt like ice had been injected into his body. An arctic fluid was flowing quickly through his arms and feet, circulating all the way up to his head where he finally closed his eyes and shuddered. This was guilt. He was going to have to tell her everything now because she knew. Nothing got past Lisbon. Granted, his magic tricks and mind games might fool her every now and again but when it came to her work no wool could be pulled over her eyes. His tongue had turned to cardboard and he swallowed to lubricate his throat knowing it made him look even more guilty through her eyes. Those chocolate brown eyes which could make him weak at the knees if he looked into them for too long. She deserved to know the truth...he was running out of time.
He took a deep breath and raised his head slowly. "I…"
A mechanic bleating noise came from her back pocket and he sighed with relief as she took out the source and held it in her hand.
"Oh no," she said when she saw him sigh with relief, "I'm not finished with you yet. I'm only just getting started." Her threatening words had a strange effect on him; they stirred something deep down, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time as he imagined her saying those words in a different scenario, both of them wearing a lot less than they were now…
She snapped her phone shut and the sound of his own heartbeat jolted him back to the room, ashamed that he had even dared to let his mind wander that far. He saw Lisbon hesitate before she turned round and he immediately knew who had been on the other end of the phone.
"Are they on their way to pick up the gardener?" he chirped, trying to keep his voice casual. The look she gave him was all he needed for an answer, unable to suppress the Cheshire cat grin from spreading across his face. He'd been right once again.
"No"
"Yes"
"No Jane"
"Yes Lisbon"
"No Jane, it wasn't even a call from the office." She arched one eyebrow daring him to contradict her but he merely smiled and turned to leave the room. He knew he was right but he'd play along anyway just to keep her smiling. He stopped and looked over his shoulder just in time to see her wiping the smirk off her face to replace it with an angry pout…which he happened to love even more.
. . .
It rarely happened but Patrick Jane had been wrong and it gave her great delight in saying that out loud. In her head that is. She didn't want to start an argument on whether he was right or not because it only aggravated her to the point of punching him in the face. She wouldn't find it so tediously annoying if he wasn't almost always right.
Not one to believe in mythical mumbo jumbo she decided it was more of a coincidence how, standing in Josephine's room, its owner had chosen to phone her. It wasn't like she knew she was going to be in there, it was just a mere coincidence. Josephine had rung her to ask if the man in the car outside her house was actually a police officer keeping an eye on her or someone she should be worrying about. On the phone she sounded a lot younger than her age and her voice seemed to tremble with worry, so much so Lisbon decided that she would tell the team she was spending the next couple of days at home to look after her. Spending time away from work was like living in a rich man's world with no money, impossible, but Lisbon knew the girl needed some company after everything she'd been through.
She could get used to living in a house like this, Lisbon thought, but until she found the money tree her father always used to talk about she could keep on dreaming. As she followed Jane down the hallway she stopped outside a small stain glass window and, through the kaleidoscope of colours, she looked into back garden. It seemed to go on and on forever; a never-ending sea of grass stretching out past the fields and trees, far beyond the horizon.
"Penny for your thoughts madam?" Jane murmured surprisingly close to her ear and she was glad he couldn't see the hairs tingling up her arms through her jacket.
"I'm wondering why I found you in Josephine's room and not outside pestering the gardener about his roses!"
"Meh, pom pons are more fun to play with."
"Oh really, so you just like to wind people up so you can get answers out of them. Do you know how much paperwork that all comes down to at the end of the day? A lot, because it ends up on my desk."
"Isn't that your job though Lisbon," she could hear the smile in his voice as she tried to walk ahead of him, "I'm only doing my job so you can do yours."
"I don't remember anything in my job description that said, 'Do you mind keeping an eye on the jackass who may give you lots of paperwork.'" There probably would have been a box to tick off because it was an exhausting job, but she would have ticked it anyway. Only she'd never in a million years think of telling him that…
They reached the balcony overlooking the foyer where the stairs curved in opposite directions, pictures leading the way down the walls. As she set her foot on the top step Lisbon found herself gazing up at the large photo of Josephine and Marianne Odell, the one the officer had caught her staring at the first time she had been here. The two of them were so beautiful, the afternoon light falling on the canvas in such a way Lisbon half expected them to move at any given moment.
It was something about the smile and the eyes which again had her mind struggling to think where she had seen them before, so piercing and bright she was surprised she couldn't remember them.
"Hey Jane!" She turned to look at him, already laughing at how ridiculous she would sound but she knew he would laugh with her not at her. She could always rely on that. It was one of the things she loved most about him…
"You see this photo, well I-" her words caught in her throat as he came up behind her, a big grin still plastered on his face and she knew where she had seen the portrait's features before. She saw his smile fade into a confused expression as he noticed the seriousness of her gaze. A thought pushed itself to the front of her mind, and she throttled it away because of its absurdity. There was no way that could possibly be true could it…? They'd both laugh about this when she showed him the comparison then they could go back to the car and drive to CBI Headquarters lost in their daydreams.
"Jane, don't you think-" she tried to keep her voice cheery and light but he cut in before she could finish.
"I rang Cho by the way and told him about our green fingered friend."
"Really…" She hated it when he interrupted her. "Well we'll see what he comes up with. Hey, don't you think that-"
"I know he'll find something because what sort of gardener would-"
"Yes Jane, the flowers. You've mentioned them. Don't you think that-?"
"I know I have but I just think-"
"Jane. Could you let me finish. Please?"
He sighed and she was surprised to see him rubbing his knuckles impatiently over and over again like he was worried. His face was paler than it was before and the cheery smile had vanished.
"I know it must be some weird coincidence but I noticed this when I first walked into the house." She gestured to the large portrait behind her wondering if he could notice how sweaty her palms were. "Don't you think Josephine looks like you? I mean, she has Marianne's nose and facial shape but she just…I don't know…what do you think?"
He wouldn't look at the portrait, his gaze fixed on a point across from where they were standing. She began to repeat what she had just said but her words faded away, turned down by an invisible radio dial. She thought the roaring in her ears was the house and everything in it collapsing on top of her but it was merely the blooding rushing around her head as her heart thudded deafeningly against her ribs. The truth hit her with such a force that she felt light headed, realisation and pain mixing together preparing to explode inside her chest any second, each new understanding bruising her painfully.
She understood why he'd wanted to go into Josephine's bedroom.
She understood why he'd been in contact with Marianne Odell.
She understood why he'd been crying in the spare bedroom.
Her insides felt like they were collapsing in on themselves, falling into each other to form one emotion; the pain of being betrayed. What did he see in Kristina Frye and Marianne Odell that he didn't see in her?
"I knew it was more than a coincidence" she whispered, her voice quaking with rage as tears began to mist her eyes.
"Lisbon, I can explain."
"Oh right." She was waiting for him to look at her; to meet her eyes and beg her to understand but he did nothing. His thoughts were more interesting than any of the answers she wanted, they always were.
"I don't even know why I'm surprised." She spoke to the side of his face, the adrenaline driving through her like an illegal drug. If she didn't walk away now she knew she would say or do something regrettable, but she didn't care.
"You say I should trust you, yet you can't even trust me. I don't even know why the hell I put up with your crap."
She turned and jogged quickly down the staircase but her movement seemed to jolt Jane out of his trance and he was quickly running after her, calling her name.
"Lisbon, wait! I can explain…"
"Bullshit Jane! It always is isn't it? Anything else you're hiding from me?" She pushed through the front doors and whirled around, nearly colliding with him as he stopped breathlessly in front of her. They were face to face and she was breathing angry breaths inches from his pale face.
"I understand that we all have secrets but when it's something to do with the case I expect you to tell me." His silent reply coaxed words to fall out her mouth before she could stop them. "Do you know anything else about Marianne Odell that we don't? Or are you just going to keep that hidden away as well?"
Why were tears threatening to spill from her eyes? She had argued with him before, countless times, and he had lied to her face on many occasions but this felt different. She had never ached like this before, crushed to the point of crying.
"What else are you hiding Jane. Do you know something about Red John? Is he hidden away somewhere that you're not telling us so you can watch us run around looking like 'fools' in your little game?"
The colour drained from Jane's face and he turned away from her but not before she had seen the pain in his eyes.
"Wait, no. I didn't mean it...I went too far…it's just…"
"Let me take you out."
"It just came out and…what?"
"Let me take you out. To explain everything. I'll tell you what you need to know about Marianne. I'll tell you everything you need to know about the case, heck call it a fancy interrogation if you like."
His gaze was so direct, so powerful that she felt the anger inside her extinguish itself almost at once. They looked at each other for a moment. A flush began to rise into her neck, and with it, a surging irritation. She'd grown far too used to pushing away her feelings for this man. He would not rattle her so, simply by looking at her. She wouldn't allow it.
"You nearly had me there, Jane. Nearly. I'm going to take you in like every other suspect and-"
"Please Lisbon. I'd have to start from the very beginning to explain it all. Please, just let me take you somewhere I can?"
Of course, she would give him no answer to that question, the smirking idiot. She noticed that the neck of his shirt was missing two of its buttons.
"You're shirt is missing some buttons," she heard herself saying, though she didn't know where such an irrational comment came from.
His mouth twitched, and his words, when he spoke, did not conceal his laughter.
"I didn't know you were so interested in my shirt, Lisbon."
Her face was hot, and his laughter was infuriating. This was absurdity, and she would put up with it no longer.
"I'm calling Hightower to tell her I'm going home," she said, and she turned to leave. In a flash he was running to block her path.
"Tomorrow night," he said.
Lisbon tried to step around him.
"I'm going home."
He blocked her path again, and this time he raised his arm in warning. Lisbon cocked her head upward and looked into his eyes.
"I'm going back home," she said, "and if I have to knock you over to do so then I will."
"I won't allow you to go," he said, "until you accept my offer."
She moved to pass him, and he moved to block her, and it was almost with relief that she felt the anger ignite through her veins.
"Why would I want to sit and talk to somebody who I can't trust, never knowing when they're telling the truth or talking utter bull-"
"I've made a plan."
"What plan?"
"Well, you're taking some time off work to look after Josephine, and I'm always up for a bit of a challenge, so I've thought of one."
Lisbon folded her arms and gave him one of her famous glares. She wanted to ask him why the hell he wasn't the one looking after his own daughter yet she was curious as to where this was going. "And…"
"And…since you're so sure you cannot trust me, and I reckon you can, I reckon I'd better prove it to you."
"And exactly how are you going to do that?"
"How many days are you going to take off? Knowing you, if today is Tuesday you'll take the rest of the week off. Five days. There are five letters in trust and five letters in smile, both I want to see more of from you."
"And…"
"And, O cynical one, we're going to take it in turns to decide what to do on those days. Turn and turn about. You one day, then me the next, then you again, then…"
"I get the picture, Jane."
"Right! Shouldn't have any trouble then should you, thinking up things to do?"
"And the point of this will be?"
"You're going to see you can trust me."
"Yeah, right."
"We're going to go out of our comfort zones. We're going to see each other in new situations and new places…and you're going to find out how trustworthy I am." He was grinning, and Lisbon didn't know whether he wanted to be taken seriously or whether he was winding her up.
"You're crazy, you know that? I've known you long enough to know that your meaning of 'trust' runs in a different category to mine. Hasn't today proven that?"
"Maybe it's not as different as you think." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, even if we don't learn anything at least it'll be fun!"
"Right. Fun. When is spending time with you not fun?"
He shook his head at the tone of her voice.
"You disappoint me with your lack of enthusiasm, Lisbon, not to mention your lack of positiveness."
"Oh shut up. I know you well enough to know you can't change. You know too, if you stop being a clown for a minute."
"One question, grumpy. When was the last time you went out and enjoyed yourself?"
She pushed her hands deep into her pockets and frowned deeply. "Probably…last week…"
He tipped his head back and smiled up at the sky, making her want to both stroke and punch his face. He knew she was lying.
"Well then. Why not try these next few days? Just you and me, Jane and Lisbon. Jisbon." He let out a little laugh which sounded surprisingly sad. "Live a little."
Lisbon had no answer to that.
As if on cue, a car crunched up the driveway, its sounds breaking the eye contact between them as they both turned to distinguish its owner. Lisbon was relieved and oddly disappointed to see Cho and Rigsby sitting inside and she gave them a small wave.
"I'll stay here and tell them you're going home." Jane's voice sounded far away as she continued to watch the two passengers get out and head towards the back garden.
"See you tomorrow then. Day One of the Jisbon five."
And with that he sped off, leaving Lisbon trying to figure out whether she should cry out with frustration or jump for joy at the prospect of spending time alone with Patrick Jane.
Author's Note: Well well, this has to be my most favourite chapter I've written (to date!) and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much.
I'm looking forward to writing chapters on the 'Five Days of Jisbon'.
I just want to say thank you to the reviewers Mentalgal, Jisbon4ever and xanderseye for reviewing, not only on my last chapter when I thought about giving up, but for writing reviews on nearly every single chapter I've written. You make every chapter worth writing, a thousand Simon Baker smiles go out to you!
That goes out to everyone who's been reading my story and added it to their Story Favourites / Alerts. If you've never reviewed before, please please do!
The next chapter I'm not sure on what to do so it would be the ideal opportunity to review!
~victwi