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You Don't Know Me

Chapter 14

Enemy in the Bullpen

Carol ran down the back alleyway behind her brother's house until it led out into a side street running parallel to the main road. She was familiar with Sacramento, having moved around a lot as a kid. She knew where all the hangouts were when you needed to hide out for a while, with either the cops or your parents looking for you. She still had contact with some long time street kids who might hide her for awhile, until she could contact Boyd and have him pick her up. She felt sure he would be glad to have her with him now, and not just for the occasional quick bang at her brother's house. Turning into a side laneway she ducked under a half-collapsed fence and ran towards an old cement factory. She was surprised it was still here, and not knocked down by the city to make way for condos or boutique hotels. She had hidden here many a night when her Mom and Dad were fighting and she needed to get away from all the hate and accusations. It was mostly her Dad defending himself against her Mother's anger, after he had screwed up somehow at work or at home. His promises to the family really weren't worth anything most of the time. Carol remembered all of his lofty promises to take her to the beach when she was little, only to stand waiting with her bathing suit on, sand pail in hand, on the front porch for hours, only to finally go inside when her Mother told her he had forgotten, or was otherwise engaged. He hadn't done it just once, it happened time and time again. His other plans always seemed to be more important than his promises to her or her brother. But if her Mother had been nicer to him, maybe he would have come home more. She needed to blame someone for Daddy's shortcomings, so it was easier to blame her Mother, the one constant in her life who was always there to take her abuse.

Carol tore through the empty lot and found the hole in the factory wall just large enough for her to crawl through. Looking around the dark space, she saw empty candy wrappers and long finished potato chip bags, cigarette butts and used condoms. Seeing the detritus of other loners and runaways didn't make her feel any better about things, such as they were, but at least she was not the only one with a screwed up life. She picked her way carefully through the debris and found a safe and relatively garbage free spot under a stairway to hunker down for the night. Pulling out her phone she hit Boyds' cell number and waited for him to pick up.

No service. Jeezus Murphy! No frickin' phone service in this forsaken part of town. She didn't like the idea of going out again, too many chances of Jim finding her and dragging her back to his house again for a massive lecture. No thank you sir! She decided to stay put and get some sleep. She could make her way downtown to find some street kids and call Boyd in the morning. He'd know what to do. Maybe now he would agree to run away and get out of Sacramento once and for all!

(CBI)

Lisbon let Van Pelt, her CBI tech wizard, load the video of Carol and Boyd into their facial recognition software, hoping for a hit. Their system wasn't nearly as sophisticated as the facial recognition program the FBI had, but they had to make do with what they had on the CBI budget. Bertram was always cutting costs and trimming the fat out of their budget to look good to his bosses. Pacing the floor she anxiously waited, coffee in hand, for a match to point to someone they had previously arrested in Sacramento. Cho and Rigsby arrived and Lisbon filled them in on the latest. They were in a huddle discussing Jane's case when a deep voice behind her made Lisbon spin around.

Bertram was standing in the bullpen, watching Van Pelt work at her computer and Lisbon talk to Cho and Rigsby about getting Jane out of custody.

"Lisbon, a word, in your office…" he commanded, turning on his heel and walking away from her as her team looked at her in concern. Nodding silently, she followed, wondering what her shady boss was up to now. She was certain he would want to distance himself from this disgrace as soon as possible. Throwing Jane to the wolves would not be out of character for him and Lisbon knew it. Bertram was standing in the middle of her office as she entered.

"Shut the door Agent Lisbon" he told her. She quietly closed the door, casting a quick glance out at her worried team. Lisbon went around her desk and sat down, indicating a chair for Bertram.

"Not a social visit Lisbon. About this business with Jane… it's a catastrophe for our department. Funding for the Serious Crimes Unit is always a game of catch up and once the media has gotten wind of the charges against Jane, well I'm sure you will understand, I must be seen as being totally impartial as to his guilt or innocence..."

"Sir, he's innocent. We're working on several key pieces of evidence we hope will exonerate him" she interrupted him.

"Guilty… or innocent, Lisbon, I cannot be involved in defending him, and you need to tread very carefully as well" he continued, aggravated by her impulsive assertion of support for her annoying consultant. "Now I know you and your team feel very protective of Jane, for good reason... he's an asset we would hate to lose, but if he committed this crime…"

"He didn't!"

"IF he committed this crime Lisbon, he will have to pay to the fullest extent of the law and I will expect you to help Carlson make that happen. It's not just Jane's career on the line here, it's the very existence of this department. I should not have to remind you of that" he warned her ominously.

"I understand" Lisbon said quietly, hating Bertram with every fibre in her body at this moment. Nothing would please him more than to see Jane disgraced and sent to a Federal prison for many years. His tolerance of Jane and his disregard for procedure was always at the tipping point and this charge against Jane could very likely push Bertram and the powers he answered to over the edge, shutting down the unit and reallocating their budget to another department. Bertram smiled his serpent-like grin at her and exited her office, leaving her feeling like she needed a shower to get the political slime off her.

Gathering her wits about her before she rejoined her team, Lisbon saw that a message was flashing on her office phone. Detective Carlson had called three times, each time sounding more and more annoyed in tone. He must think she was avoiding him. Sighing with weariness, she picked up the phone and called him back. He needed to be updated on the latest with his little 'victim'.

"Carlson!" he answered, seeing on his display that Lisbon had finally deigned to return his calls. "So much for sharing information Agent Lisbon, you don't even talk to me" he began, feeling like he had to establish his dominance right now, in the first minutes of their so-called alliance.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Lisbon let him have his say, then cut him off.

"Detective Carlson, I am not avoiding you. I just got back into the office with some pretty damning evidence. While you were in your office, we were at Jim Johansson's house watching a very interesting video of our victim and her boyfriend."

Carlson sat up, paying more attention now. "Her boyfriend? She told me she had no boyfriend in Sacramento or anywhere else!"

"I think you need to consider the fact that our little chickadee has been singing a slightly off-key tune Detective."

"What brought you to the brother's house in the first place Agent Lisbon?"

"Detective, instead of me telling you everything twice, I think you need to get over here right now and let me fill you in. We have a video you need to see. Then we'll talk again. Oh, and in case you missed in on the wire, Carol Johansson has taken off and is currently missing. We put a BOLO out for her and hope to pick her up as soon as possible for further questioning."

"Missing? Why would she take off? She seemed so upset and broken when I saw her just the other day!" he stammered.

Lisbon was worn out. First Bertram was up her ass about distancing herself from Jane, now Carlson needed to be handled with care. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Like I said, she is not what she seems. The sooner you realize that the sooner we will find out just what the hell is going on. We have a CBI consultant in the hospital because of the story Carol Johansson told, and he is going before a Judge tomorrow morning, trying to get bail for a crime he did not commit. I think we owe it to Jane to get the truth out of his accuser once and for all Carlson" said Lisbon with frustration.

"OK...OK…" replied Carlson thoughtfully. "I'll be right over."

Hanging up Lisbon stood at her desk and looked over into the bullpen, watching her three best agents hunkered down at their desks doing everything in their power to help their partner Jane. She had never been so proud of them and so sick of Bertram and his cronies.

Carlson arrived 20 minutes later, eager to find out just what was so compelling that he had to drive clear across town. Lisbon filled him in on everything that had transpired in the last few hours, then showed him the film of Carol and her boyfriend Boyd. Grabbing Van Pelt's cell phone, Lisbon also played back the video of Carol talking to Boyd, strangely minus the tears and upset, talking about her bruises and how she wanted to get out of there. She certainly did not seem like the terrified victim he had met only a day before.

"Well? Are you convinced that my consultant might be the victim of a setup?" asked Lisbon when Carlson was finished watching the revealing videos.

Carlson had to admit, it didn't look good for his 'victim' Carol. But he knew a good prosecutor could tear the phone conversation apart and make it look like an entirely different conversation, not one that incriminated Carol, but exonerated her instead. And the film from the Nanny Cam, so what? What did that prove? That Carol had poor taste in men and allowed them to smack her around?

"Agent Lisbon, I agree with you, this doesn't look good for Carol. But I have to consider what the DA and the prosecutor are going to do with this evidence. We can work with this and build on it, but right now, it just muddies the waters and slows down Jane's conviction. But it won't necessarily clear him" he said truthfully.

Lisbon listened carefully to him, along with Cho and Rigsby. Van Pelt was immersed in the facial recognition program and wasn't listening to Carlson.

"Unfortunately I think you're right Detective" Lisbon said sadly, as Cho and Rigsby nodded in agreement.

"We have to find Carol as soon as possible Boss, it's the only way we can break this story down and get to the truth" said Cho.

"Boss? The program has finished running" said Van Pelt, turning around in her chair and facing the expectant group.

"And?" asked Carlson.

"And nothing...we didn't get a match" she said with disappointment. "We have no prior arrests in our system for Boyd and his photo doesn't match anyone we have in our database."

"So he is still the mystery man" said Lisbon distractedly.

"Give Carol Johansson to me and I'll get it out of her" said Cho firmly.

"We have to find her first" said Carlson. "I'll send some of my men out into the city to try to flush her out. It might help your guys and get her back in here faster" he offered helpfully. Lisbon appreciated his offer and felt a bit more reassured now that perhaps they could work together without killing each other in the process.

"Would it help if we laid out everything we know so far?" asked Rigsby. "I mean, you haven't told us everything about her story yet. Maybe there is something that's been missed that we can work with" he said reasonably.

Carlson eyed the eager group and had to admit to himself that this was a very tight knit, dedicated group of law enforcement officers. He wasn't sure how that crack pot Jane could possibly fit into this by-the-book group, but from what they said, it was somehow working.

"Sure. Just let me fuel up with some coffee, then we'll spread it all out on the conference table over there and see what shakes out" he agreed, getting up and heading for the kitchen with Lisbon and Cho. Rigsby sat by Van Pelt, aching to put his arm around her shoulders and give her a hug of encouragement. She had tried so hard to find Boyd and it had all come to nothing.

Coffees in hand, the group settled at the large oval conference table at the end of the room and brought out all their files and accumulated notes.

"Just start at the beginning Detective Carlson, from the moment you first met Carol Johansson" suggested Lisbon, her pen and long notepad at the ready.