Life Goes On

Chapter 25 - A New Dawn, A New Day

It had been 3 months since the news reporter had declared to the world that Dean Harken had escaped from jail, at first Patrick has insisted on 24 hour protection from the CBI, Hightower had readily agreed, but when nothing happened for a month the protection was lifted.

The strike that Patrick and Teresa were expecting happened 2 months after the CBI protection stopped.

It was a Friday night, Patrick had left work at 3pm to pick up Aubrey from school and pay the nanny for watching PJ. They had just closed a really high profile case and her husband had pissed off the mayor's son which had led to a ton of paperwork.

As a result she couldn't go home to her kids straight away and by the time she had finished the mountain of paperwork it was almost 7.30pm. She was starving and exhausted, she hated days like this. She hated going home to find her children asleep; it meant she only saw them for a few hours in the morning.

Most days if they could, both she and Patrick would leave work in between 3pm and 4pm, but some cases were tougher than others and required one or both of them to stay at the CBI for a little longer.

It was for this reason that she was going home in her own car alone for once, she was used to leaving with Patrick after work.

As Teresa made her way across the dark car park she had the feeling that someone was watching her, she brushed it off, she had been much more paranoid lately with the news of her murderous ex-boyfriend being on the loose.

As Teresa got closer to her car she quickened her pace, a shiver ran down her spine, someone was watching her, she wasn't alone in the eerily dark and empty car park. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached her car, but then she realised that what she thought was her safe haven was actually her worst nightmare.

"Well well Teresa, it has been a long time."

Patrick was sitting in the living room with the children; he knew his wife hated coming home to find them asleep so he was letting them stay up a little later tonight.

The TV was on quietly, a children's TV show was playing, but neither of the kids were paying much attention to it.

PJ was lying on the floor surrounded by toys, he had his 'lucky' blanket clasped in his tiny fist and Aubrey was softly singing to him, she had warmed to the idea of having a brother as soon as she had seen the little guy; he had melted everyone's hearts.

It was for the kids that he had insisted on the protection, for Aubrey especially, she was now old enough to walk to school herself, there were no main roads and as her friend Lucy lived across the road they could walk together. Patrick and Teresa didn't like the idea though, not with Harken on the loose, they had explained the situation to Sophie who said she understood their concern completely.

When the protection had stopped Patrick had been worried, but it had been 2 months now, surely if Harken was going to strike he would have done it by now.

The peaceful silence of the early night was broken by a cry from Aubrey; she had a dark look in her eyes, the look that she got in her eyes when something bad was happening.

"What's wrong sweetie?" He asked, immediately on his knees by her side on the floor.

She looked up at him with wide terrified eyes, "Mommy's in trouble." She said and immediately Patrick panicked, he had learned to realise that these bad vibes Aubrey got were to be trusted and he racked his mind to figure out what to do.

He couldn't call the Rigsbys, Grace was pregnant, he didn't want to freak her out, he decided his best bet was Tommy and as he waited for the man to arrive he paced the living room anxiously.

"What are you doing here Dean?" Teresa asked the man fiercely, she sounded much braver than she felt.

She had turned to face him, he looked so different, a ghost of the man she had married, his face was gaunt and his eyes looked empty, filled with only one emotion; anger.

There was another look in his eyes though, a look that she recognised well, it was the look that Jane had gotten when he spoke of the ways he would kill Red John, finally getting revenge for what the man had done to his family.

"Well that's simple love." Dean said, smiling in a way that freaked her out because his eyes were still icy cold, "You of course."

Teresa shook her head, "You lost me and any respect I had for you a long time ago Dean." She said.

Dean shrugged, "I may have, but we both know that you belong with me Teresa, it's always been you and I."

Teresa stared at him, her icy gaze almost as cold as his, "It's not anymore."

"I've seen that." He commented, "I've been watching you and this little family of yours."

A chill coursed through Teresa's body, he had been watching her family? Her children? She suddenly felt anger boil up inside her, "You have no business to do that Dean, you single-handedly messed up our relationship, it wasn't anything I did."

"What does it matter? You never loved me." He stated, "You always loved your pretty boy psychic, you let me believe that I had a child with you, something special, but even that wasn't mine, it was his, just like your heart was always his."

Teresa swallowed hard, "So you're going to kill me? You're going to blame me for what happened?"

Dean smiled once more, that creepy smile, "You're finally catching on Teresa, but you missed out a small detail. I am going to kill you, don't worry about that, but when you die you're taking your happy little family down with you."

When he threatened her family she lunged at him, but she had stupidly failed to notice that he had a knife, he grabbed her and held it at her throat, "Don't even think about moving." He growled.

Patrick was speeding down the highway faster than he had ever done in his life; he had to get to Teresa as fast as he could. He didn't really know where to go, but Aubrey said she thought that Teresa was still at work so his first destination was the CBI carpark.

As he drove past the carpark he slowed down, he saw that her car was parked in its usual place. He parked his car outside of the building and walked past an unconscious security guard into the carpark, the security of the CBI HQ had clearly been breached which only made Patrick panic more.

Patrick walked along the row of cars silently, crouching down when he reached Teresa's car and listening to the voices coming from inside of it.

"So you're going to kill me? You're going to blame me for what happened?"

"You're finally catching on Teresa, but you missed out a small detail. I am going to kill you, don't worry about that, but when you die you're taking your happy little family down with you."

Patrick panicked as he heard movement and saw that Teresa had collided with the man in the car. As he peered into the backseat a little more he saw that Dean Harken was holding a knife to Teresa's throat.

"Don't even think above moving."

Patrick didn't know what to do, if he shot Harken in the arm or shoulder he could catch on and slice open Teresa's throat, so he decided to wait for the perfect shot, he just hoped it would come along. Something told Patrick that Dean didn't expect visitors.

"Now that you understand a little better, are you willing to negotiate with me?"

"Never."

Teresa's voice was full of hatred, but Dean only chuckled.

"Well this is when things get interesting. Who shall I kill first? That little brat Aubrey or the blonde haired baby?"

"Don't you dare touch my family!"

Teresa's threatening tone both worried Patrick and made him proud, he didn't know what he would do if he lost Teresa which was why he had to shoot this bastard, sooner rather than later.

His perfect shot came a couple of minutes later, Harken pulled the knife away from her throat and put it into his pocket.

"I won't, so long as you agree to my terms."

Patrick forced his hand to stop shaking as he fired the first shot, it hit the window which shattered, Dean was instantly suspicious and Patrick knew he would have to take the 2nd shot soon or the man would have the knife at Teresa's throat again.

As Dean leaned over to see if he could spot the shooter Patrick fired the gun a 2nd time and shot Dean in the chest. He fell back, yelling and swearing. Patrick was instantly on his feet, he opened the door and pulled Teresa out of the car, she grabbed the emergency handcuffs she always kept in her car and they called an ambulance and the police.

As Dean Harken was taken away in an ambulance with a large police escort Teresa fell into her husband's arms, "It's over." He soothed gently, "It's all over."

That night when Teresa went home she slept in the bedroom that Aubrey now shared with PJ, she nestled herself down next to her daughter as she watched her children sleeping.

She hadn't realised how lucky she was, but seeing her children alive and happy after what had happened made everything hit home for her.

The next morning as the family sat down to eat breakfast, the TV absentmindedly buzzed in the background, until Patrick shouted to Teresa to come through.

She had a feeling about what was on the news so she obliged, Patrick turned up the volume and told her to watch the news report.

"Dangerous criminal Dean Harken has been caught after being on the run for 3 months. He was caught by CBI Agent Teresa Jane and her husband, Patrick Jane, the infamous TV psychic and a consultant for the CBI. The president has vowed to personally thank them for successfully making society safer by getting this dangerous man off of the streets. The fate of Harken is still unknown, but there are rumours that he may be sentenced to the death penalty to ensure that he can never hurt anyone again."

Patrick turned the TV off and smiled broadly at his wife, "The president wants to personally thank us!" He said.

She returned the smile, "Well it is what we do, keep dangerous criminals off the streets." She told him.

Patrick shrugged and Teresa added, "But that was a very brave thing you did last night, it was the second time that you saved my life." She went onto her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips, "Thank you." She sighed, she couldn't put into words how grateful she was that he had showed up when he did.

"Don't thank me, thank Aubrey." He said honestly and Teresa frowned.

"She got a vibe, she said you were in trouble at work so I rushed to the CBI straight away." Patrick told her.

Teresa smiled softly, "She's a very special little girl."

Patrick nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes she is."

The End/Kinda.

This is the last proper chapter, but there is an epilogue to come that will be up later tonight.

Thanks for Reading! xx