Chapter 29 - A Different Perspective
"Hey, you did what you could," Jane stated, his hands on the wheel again as they made their return to Sacramento. She'd said no more than two words since leaving Ryan's hotel room ten minutes prior. Her frown appeared set in stone as she stared out the windshield. "It was his right to make the decision for himself, Teresa."
"Since when are you so reasonable in these matters?" she said, snapping at him. Immediately she apologised afterwards for her outburst with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm a little on edge, Patrick. I know that...I just wished he hadn't made that particular one."
"So, what's next?"
She fished her phone out of her inside jacket pocket. "Might as well get this plan of yours into motion. Or theory...whatever you want to call it."
Pressing numbers on her keypad rapidly she added, "I'm just texting the team, hopefully they're free to come to my place so I can fill them in. Don't much feel like going somewhere public to discuss this and the storage facility might be a bit full on for the first debrief. I know it's Saturday but-"
"They'll come. They'll know you wouldn't spoil their weekend plans for no good reason." He continued with a smile, "You're not that much of a tyrant for a boss." A well planned pause. "Well, not always."
She tried not to smile back, head lowered as she texted beside him. "How about you? You going to wait around for Haffner to call you in?"
"Thought I'd drop by to see Minelli, find out the skinny first hand, see if there are any further developments."
She nodded, "You'll fill me in?"
"Naturally, my dear."
Less than five minutes later Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt had confirmed they'd see Lisbon at her apartment later in the day. A voicemail from Haffner to Jane's cell soon followed, asking him to come to the CBI to give his input into a case his team had picked up.
"He left it vague intentionally," Lisbon informed him, listening to the message on speaker as Jane drove.
"Hm. Probably doesn't want me to tip you off considering our history. He wouldn't be aware that Minelli would have told you already and probably ordered him to take precautionary measures to keep this quiet."
"True. The press will be all over this if Ryan is actually charged. Maybe...maybe even before then. Speculation and suspicion like this will be hard to contain. This is Red John - no matter what precautions are taken they're going to find out about this soon enough unless he can be cleared quickly. Brenda Shetrick will be on Minelli's ass for a statement." She began to talk faster as she listed off the possible ramifications, "And the FEDs will want to muscle in...And Ryan's parents...what the hell are they going to think?-"
"I admit Minellii has his hands full juggling all the balls in the air this has thrown at him. And you, come to that. This is clever play by Red John if that was his intention."
She detected a note of admiration in Jane's tone. "I'm so glad he's managed to impress you," she retorted coolly.
He sighed. "You know what I mean, Teresa."
"Yeah," she nodded, taking a deep breath. Wearily, "Unfortunately, I do."
They fell into more of an easy silence shortly after, both lost in their own thoughts until, as she looked out of the side window, a honk from a white limousine packed with blondes in skimpy matching pink tank tops and hanging out of its windows got her attention. The associated wolf whistles and pointing made her turn her face forward again with a silent huff. Not that they noticed, their eyes only trained on the man beside her. This was all she needed. A slight quirk of Jane's lips was the only recognition that he'd noticed the hullabaloo coming from the car beside as he kept his eyes firmly trained on the road ahead.
She looked around the gleaming red leather inside of his car and then stared at Jane. "You planning on keeping this car?"
His smile widened a little, accelerating past what he guessed was a bachelorette party in full swing. "You don't like my Ferrari?" he asked evenly, ignoring the whooping of the horns and flashing lights that accompanied his gesture.
Briskly, "It's a bit much for everyday driving, isn't it?"
He chanced a quick grin at her. "You'd rather have me drive a beat up Mustang like you?"
She pulled her jacket around her and looked at the display on her phone, a blank screen staring back at her. Disgruntled, "No, not necessarily. But, well, something more sedate would be far more practical than this monstrosity, wouldn't it?"
"Not today it wouldn't," he argued. "Wouldn't have made it to San Francisco in half the time."
"Mm," she agreed unhappily, sinking back into her seat.
"Jane, come in," Minelli nodded quickly as he sat at his desk, ushering him in with a wave of his hand to shut the door behind him.
"This is quite the pickle, eh, Virgil?" the consultant said breezily.
Minelli cast him a look of stone and loosened his tie with irritation. To say he looked harassed would have been an understatement.
"You up to speed? Lisbon told me you were with her when I called."
"Yep," he replied, taking a seat opposite.
"Strange as it was quite early when I did and a Saturday too..." His boss's words trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at the other man.
"She was showing me your den at the time," Jane smiled, giving nothing else away.
"Hm, I see. Okay, good." He sighed loudly and shook his head, suspicious still. "Well, first things first. You talked to Haffner, I take it?"
"He left me a voicemail, asked me to come in. I take it our play here is to make sure Ryan says as little as possible without alerting Haffner to that fact. Regarding...all matters."
"Yes. You think he will keep his mouth shut under pressure from Ray? He can be quite the bulldog and if Ryan really were Red John then I'd expect no less, would demand it, in fact." He shook his head again, Jane wisely keeping his opinion to himself that he'd remind him of one of those bobble head dolls if he continued to do that much more. "Damn, I did demand it from him, in fact, what other choice did I have?!"
"Like I said, quite the pickle," Jane replied, his calmness only causing Minelli to become more aggrieved.
"Damn FEDs are clamouring for the case now too," he grumbled. "Like I need those idiots right now breathing down my throat."
"Okay, Virgil, just breathe, all right? Ryan will keep his mouth shut about you and Teresa's extra curricular activities no matter what Haffner throws at him."
"You better be right. Hope him being her boyfriend keeps him loyal to her and quiet until we can figure this out."
"Hm. Yes."
Minelli detected slight discomfort in Jane's posture as he replied before he adopted a calm facade again. "He will be loyal to her, right? You haven't done anything..." The penny finally dropped, he added, "Christ, are you and Lisbon...?" Another shake of the head, choosing not to finish that sentence, "You are, aren't you?" he said instead.
Before Jane could respond Minelli huffed, "Never mind, I'd rather not know. I'd rather be kept in the dark about such matters." He leaned back in his chair, eyed the other man warily. "But if you hurt her I'll kick your ass to Timbuktu."
Jane smiled slowly. "As you should. Understood, Virgil."
A small smile crept across Minelli's lips. "Well, okay then. Can't say I'm too surprised. Anyhow, this reinforces my point – will Ryan keep his mouth shut or not? Less motive to do so, now, I'd imagine."
"Loyalty to her shouldn't come into it. Although I'd guess he will be, anyway. He's still in love with her, after all. Plus he has nothing to gain from throwing you two under the bus. It would make him more of a liability in Red John's eyes, not less so."
"Yes...yes, of course."
"That's not really the question you wanted to ask me, though, is it? And the fact you wanted to see me alone without Teresa present? You wanted to ask me straight out if I thought Ryan could actually be Red John."
Minelli sighed. "Lisbon can't be expected to be impartial but you and I have to be. After your...your summation on the type of man he might be I'd be amiss not posing the question. What if Partridge did nothing except for his job? What if the evidence is pointing us in the right direction?"
"That would mean Red John made a mistake. He doesn't make them. I've already pondered this question. I'm ninety-nine percent certain Ryan isn't him."
"Not one hundred?"
"Well, not much is one hundred percent guaranteed, Virgil. But I'm as certain as I can be."
"All right, good enough."
"There you are! Where were you?" Haffner barked to Jane as the consultant sauntered into the bullpen. "I saw your car in the lot fifteen minutes ago, where have you been until now?"
Jane had to smile at the man's growing unease. The pressure of interrogating possibly Red John was weighing heavily on him. He ignored the question and eased himself onto his couch with a sigh of approval, tea cup in hand.
Then he spoke. "Relax, Ray, I'm here now. All good things come to those who wait."
Haffner marched up to him and spoke quietly and quickly. "This is no time for jokes, Jane. This is..." He looked around. He whispered, "This is...big."
"Yes," Jane sighed, taking a long sip. "I spoke to Virgil already. You have Ryan Hastings in an interrogation room and the suspicion is that he's Red John."
"You-you spoke to Minelli?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, in passing when I got here today."
Irritated, "Well, then, if you wouldn't mind..." He motioned the way to the interrogation rooms.
"No luck getting anything from him so far, then?" Jane smiled, making no attempt to move. "Is that the reason for the grumpiness?"
"His lawyer will barely allow me to ask a question before he shuts it down. And he's a lawyer himself...so this...well, I'll be honest with you - this isn't going well and Minelli wants results."
He chanced a winning smile at Jane. "But come on, it's right up your street though, right, Patrick? Show us some of that god given talent of yours and let's catch this guy." He grinned wider, "And you can't deny the thought of locking up Teresa Lisbon's boyfriend doesn't give you some satisfaction." He shook his head. "Jeez, she'll go ape-shit about this when she hears about it. Can't believe she had Red John in her bed all this time-"
"All right," Jane interrupted sharply. "Enough, please."
He got up and faced the other man. "Thank you for the charm offensive but it really wasn't required. Especially not when your motives are as transparent as glass. And how sure are you that Hastings is Red John? Lisbon is a superior agent. I'd ask myself this question if I were you – do you really think she wouldn't have seen it if that were true?"
"We follow the evidence, that's what we do, Jane. Not my problem or yours what Teresa saw or didn't see. Love is blind as they say. Forensics-"
"That's the problem with you cops, you'll believe anything if a scientist says it is so. Have you even assigned one of your team members to check if he has alibis to any previous Red John murders yet but Laura Cole's? Perhaps start off easy and not take the bulldog approach for once."
Haffner scoffed. "I'm sorry, you're telling me not to go at this full on. Well, if that isn't the kettle calling the pot black."
Jane shrugged nonchalantly. "Sounds like the sledgehammer approach isn't working to me. Just offering a different perspective." He took a purposeful step forward. "But if that's what you require from me then I'm merely a cog in your wheel-"
"Hey, Jane, hang on," Haffner said, putting a hand on his arm to stop him. He looked into his eyes. "You really think we should try something different or is this one of your mind games?"
Jane smiled enigmatically. "What is life but a game, Ray?"
With that, he strolled towards the interrogation room, a smirk playing on his lips.
Haffner wiped his brow with the palm of his hand and sighed loudly. "Damn manipulator."
He called to one of his team after a heavy grunt and a mouthed dammit. "Hey, Tork, get me the dates of the Red John murders and match any you can to Ryan Hastings' court appearances. I want to know where he was for each of them. Let's go at this more carefully before we talk to him again."
Jane opened the door to the interrogation room and was immediately met with two disgruntled faces. Ryan was dressed in a navy blue crew neck sweater and blue jeans, his dark features scanning Jane with unmasked agitation. His lawyer sat beside him, an older man in his mid fifties with salt and pepper hair and expensive grey suit.
"Alan Dickson," Ryan's lawyer supplied immediately. "Mr Hastings has no statement at this time."
Jane nodded amiably. "Good. Then there's no requirement for you to be here, is there?"
"And who are you, exactly?" Dickson asked.
"Patrick Jane," Ryan said in a monotone, raking his eyes over the blond again.
"Ryan," Jane said with a curt nod towards him. He smiled thinly at Lisbon's former paramour attempt to unsettle him with a staring contest.
He sat down opposite him instead, continuing to make eye contact. "Can we talk alone?" he asked him softly, his expression as unthreatening as possible.
Dickson jumped on the question. "No, you cannot." He pointed to the camera behind Jane. "And if you insist on interrogating my client any questions must be recorded-"
"It's okay, Alan," Ryan interrupted in the same soft tone Jane had used. "Give us five minutes."
"Ryan-"
Ryan nodded and looked at him. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. I've done nothing wrong so, for once, Mr Jane can't frame me with whatever scheme he might or might not have in mind."
His lawyer looked to Jane with outright suspicion.
"No schemes, I promise," Jane confirmed.
Another exchange between client and attorney later Dickson exited the interview room, albeit unhappily.
"So?" Ryan said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. "You wanted to talk, talk. I bet you're loving this turn of events."
"Then you don't know me at all," he replied back with a gentle smile.
"Believe me, I know you well enough. Your type, I mean. Flashy, liar, manipulator-"
Jane sighed loudly. "When I have to be, yes. Absolutely."
Ryan shook his head with a mirthless laugh. "I see. Did you have to be all those things when you fleeced people out of their life's savings for years too? The only way you could make a crust, was it? Just because you've decided it's time to use your skills to catch criminals do you really think it can negate all those years you were practically one yourself?"
"I'm not looking for redemption. And if I were I wouldn't expect to find it with you."
"No?"
Jane pursed his lips. "Is this how you want to spend this time? Insulting me? Let's cut this short and agree that you believe me to be a contemptuous human being and that I, in turn, really don't care what you think."
Ryan huffed. "Fine. What do you want, then?"
Jane turned his tone softer. "Just thought I'd check how you're doing, this is a lot of pressure."
Defensively, "You think I'm not man enough to cope with it?"
Jane rolled his eyes. Irritated, "All right, this was obviously a bad idea." He got off the chair. "I've got you some breathing space with Haffner, just sit tight and this'll all be over soon."
Ryan laughed humourlessly. "Just like my career and everything else in my life recently."
"If no charges are made-"
"C'mon, Patrick, you know better than that, don't treat me like a fool. You don't have to spare my feelings. My career is over here. This will hang over me for the rest of my life. Or-or until the real Red John is arrested.
Haffner and his team...I've known those people for years and they're looking at me like I've got horns all of a sudden. Never mind people who don't know me, can you imagine me trying to persuade a jury now in a case I'm running? Let's face it. I'm finished in this town even if I get released in forty-eight hours once news of this gets out. And why would Red John go to all this trouble if he didn't want that, huh?"
He stared at Jane. "All the better for you, though, huh? You get your fairytale ending with no one to interfere in it, don't you?"
Jane licked his lips. Quietly, "You know about Teresa and I."
Ryan fidgeted in his chair. "You mean your psychic skills didn't tell you that already?"
"She keeps telling me what a good man you are. So quit being an ass and proving her wrong. Look, I am sorry this has happened to you. All of it. But I'm not going to apologise for anything else."
Ryan looked to his lap. Annoyed, "Just leave me alone, will you? I have nothing more to say to you."
"Ryan-"
"Get the hell out of here, Patrick."
Lisbon opened the door to her apartment, Jane greeting her with a smile and bag of takeout.
"Hey," she said.
"Hi."
He bent down to kiss her and she drew back. She looked towards the living room at the end of the short entrance hall. "Team's still here," she whispered, pecking his lips quickly.
"Okay, I'll leave the deflowering until later, then," he smiled with a wink.
She blushed and took one of the takeout bags from him. Concerned, "Ryan - how is he?"
"Ah..." Jane exhaled deeply with a shrug. "They're holding him overnight as expected. Checking his alibis but it takes time. His lawyer's a good one, though, so that's something."
"You didn't answer my question."
Another shrug. "He's coping in his own way."
Lisbon nodded. "Everything okay between you two?"
"Sure, we're both grownups."
"Mm. Where is he being held? CBI?"
"Yeah. Ronson is on security detail outside his cell."
"Good. I've known him for years. Think-think he can be trusted."
"I think so too."
"How about Press attention?"
"Minelli's keeping a lid on it so far but I can't imagine it'll stay that way for long."
He nodded to the area behind them, the voices of her team members within earshot. "How's it going here?"
She smiled. Proudly, "Not bad, we've made some progress, come on, see for yourself."
Sheets of paper scrawled with names were the first thing Jane noticed when he entered the living room as they lay askew on Lisbon's coffee table.
"Nice place," he said, scanning the rest of the room after he'd greeted his old teammates. The food distributed they began to dish it up in Lisbon's kitchen as she and Jane stayed in the living room.
"Right, you haven't been here before," she responded as he lifted sheet after sheet and studied them quickly. "It's not fancy compared to what you're used to but-"
Distracted, "Hm. You just move in?"
"No. I've been here a while."
His eyes momentarily moved to two brown boxes beside a wall.
"Haven't quite finished unpacking yet," she added with some sheepishness.
His eyebrows quirked up. "Well, that's interesting."
"No, it isn't," she told him. "I'm busy, that's all. Doesn't mean anything."
"Uh-oh," he said with a smile as he sat on the couch and continued reading.
She sat beside him. "Speaking of which, we've been busy-"
"So I see."
He made a disgruntled noise and placed the papers back on the table with a loud sigh just as the rest of the team re-entered the room.
"What's wrong, Jane?" Van Pelt asked.
"That's what I was about to ask," Lisbon stated, suspicious.
Jane cleared his throat as he looked at the four faces staring at him for an answer. "Okay. Look, don't take this the wrong way-"
"Oh, boy," Rigsby muttered under his breath.
"We're toast," Cho offered, much in the same vein.
"What have we done wrong?" Lisbon asked. "We did as you suggested. After fetching the files we've been going over every case we were assigned since we got the Red John one. We've only managed to get through a couple of weeks so far but-"
"That's exactly my point," Jane interrupted.
"I don't understand," Van Pelt said.
Jane got to his feet to escape the ire in his new girlfriend's eyes. He addressed the room instead. "My guess from looking at what you've done so far is that you've written down every name you interacted with on those cases. Well, apart from the women, couldn't see any females noted."
"So, what's wrong with that? You don't think Red John is a woman, do you?" Rigsby asked, confused.
"So not my point. But, no, I don't believe so."
"Which was why we didn't add any women's names, Jane," Lisbon responded, "we did give some thought to this."
The use of his surname made him a little hot under the collar. The authoritarian side to her had always turned him on. Nevertheless, he replied brusquely, "Did you? Or were you so afraid of missing him you just wrote the names of pretty much every able-bodied man you talked to?"
Annoyed, "Well, we don't know who he is so how else are we supposed to ensure we don't miss him by doing anything but that!"
"Instincts, Teresa, instincts."
He looked to the others, the temptation to kiss her when she was hot under the collar and fighting her corner not one he was sure he could withstand for too long. "You're cops. I understand that your normal practice is to sift through reams of statements to look for inconsistencies, take notes of everything you do. That you leave no stone uncovered. Admirable and painstaking work. But for this exercise you're going to have a list of a thousand names if you continue like this. You need to trust your guts. All of you. Work together, talk about who set off your RADAR on each of those cases and who didn't."
Silence and aggrieved faces greeted him so he continued, his palms up in a placating gesture. "Look, if you can all say hand on heart that every name on these lists is a possible Red John then, fine, we'll have to suck it up. But I can't believe there aren't some that you know are not. Go through the lists again. I'm betting that most likely, there will only be a few possibilities left when you do."
Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt looked to Lisbon for an answer. She nodded quickly. Begrudgingly, "Damn it. Okay. Jane might have a point."
A/N: Just a quick note to say that I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to catch up on reading almost every fic I'm currently following. I am hoping to rectify that very soon, please know I still intend to read and comment on all of them and you haven't lost me (I'm merely displaced right now lol). Thank you.
