Chapter 36 – Crash & Burn

"Sheriff McAllister?" Lisbon said as the lawman made his way slowly towards her with a tilt of his head. "Thanks for joining us."

"Agent Lisbon, good to see you back again in wine country. Apologies, I was taking care of another matter and couldn't be here when you arrived."

"That's no problem," she smiled. "Anything we can help with?" She nodded to Van Pelt who was collecting a statement from a worker at the vineyard they stood in.

"No, no, you have enough on your plate as it is," he said pleasantly, his eyes never leaving hers.

Her cell vibrated in her pocket, Jane's name flashing on the screen. "Sorry, please excuse me for a moment."

"Take your time," McAllister said affably. "I'll go talk to your lovely colleague and you can catch us up."

Lisbon's face changed from amiable to troubled as he turned his back on her. "Hey, what's up?" she said, slightly distracted as she watched him walk towards the redhead. She could only hope Grace could put up an effective front.

"Teresa! Why didn't you answer earlier?!"

"Huh? Oh, reception is spotty here. Must have been in a dead zone. Sorry."

His breathing on the other end calmed down. "Okay. You talk to McAllister yet?"

"Just now. You interrupted us actually. What about Partridge? What happened?"

"Flash drive in the safety deposit box. We've only just started looking at the information on it but it appears Red John is Thomas McAllister."

"Oh my god! It appears? How?"

"First document we looked at related to Cut Iron Properties-"

"That was a case we had before you joined-"

"Yeah, Cho filled me in. Seems it's owned by a one Thomas McAllister. The real owner, that is, not the pseudonym you had at the time."

She looked over to where McAllister was chatting to Van Pelt. "Christ. I'm looking at Red John right now."

"Hm. It certainly looks that way, yes. Control your breathing and give nothing away."

She swallowed thickly. "Yeah...yeah, I know. Okay then. Tell Cho to get an additional team up here now and we'll bring him in-"

"No. Don't do that."

"But-"

"If he really is Red John then he'll have his people around him up there guarding him in a virtual fortress. It could lead to a bloodbath, Teresa, with you in the middle of it. I'll speak to Minelli and ask him to request McAllister come to Sacramento to discuss...ah...I don't know – something, anything. Let's get him here where he'll have fewer friends than his home base and we can control the situation a little better."

She nodded firmly. "Okay, that's-that's a good idea. I'll do that now."

"Then get back here fast. Tell him you got called to another scene or make up some other excuse. Don't stay there. Do you hear me? If he's Red John that murder could have been a ploy to get you there in the first place. You and Grace come back to Sacramento immediately."

Lisbon nodded breathlessly, the promise she made to her brother at the forefront of her mind. And the enormity of the situation and her presence in the epicentre of the hornet's nest made her breathing quicken some more. "Yeah...yeah, you know what? You're right. I'll grab Van Pelt and we'll be back by evening."

"Teresa?" he said softly.

Flustered, "Yeah?"

"Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. We're almost there."

"You were right," Lisbon said to Van Pelt as they drove back to Sacramento. "Good work, Van Pelt."

The redhead shook her head with a grin. "I-I can't believe it. We're actually going to catch him, boss. At last."

As Lisbon smiled back suddenly the screech of tyres from her left made her turn her head sharply in the other direction. A dark car behind was accelerating fast and gaining on them at speed. Lisbon cursed and swerved to the right on the narrow road to allow them to pass. "If I wasn't in a hurry to get back I'd give that asshole a ticket."

Just as she said the words the other car made a sharp turn to their right and careered into the back of their vehicle as it caught up with them. Lisbon clung onto the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white to stay in control. "Van Pelt, call for back up!" she roared.

Van Pelt grasped for her cell as Lisbon put her foot down on the accelerator. But the other car was faster and it rammed into them again. The impact of the collision made Van Pelt drop her phone on the floor. "Damn it!" she shouted, going for her gun instead.

With another growl of their engine, the other car revved loudly and picked up the pace again until they were almost side by side with Lisbon's vehicle. "Can't see who's inside!" Lisbon exclaimed as Van Pelt moved back in her seat and Lisbon moved forward to give her colleague a chance at a clean shot behind her head. The redhead took aim with her gun at the blacked out windows of what they now recognised was a souped up SUV. "There's no way we outrun this, boss!"

Lisbon glanced sideways. Breathlessly, "Here he comes again. Brace yourself!"

Just as Van Pelt went to fire on them the SUV crashed into their vehicle again forcefully and made her abort her shot. And finally, as the weight of the SUV continued to pummel into them with the screech of metal against metal, Lisbon lost the fight to keep hold of the vehicle. Both women screamed as they were run off the road at high speed and spun onto a grass verge. With a loud crash, their car tumbled quickly headfirst through a wooden fence spraying chunks like confetti over the bonnet. Eventually, it tipped over onto its side, coming to rest wheels spinning on a sloping embankment on the other side of the highway. As the wheels slowly came to a stop, the lone sound of a horn pierced the quiet still air of dusk.

"Van Pelt! You okay?!" Lisbon gasped, wiping the blood from her forehead where the airbag had deployed. The screech of the horn silenced as she moved her body back from the steering wheel.

"Hm?" her colleague responded groggily. "Boss?"

"It's okay," Lisbon said breathlessly, "Don't move. You're pinned in on your side. Just stay with me. It's going to be okay. All right?"

Lisbon blinked quickly to clear the fog in her head and assessed the situation. The car lay on its side, Van Pelt lodged against its right-hand door. "Sorry, this is going to be loud," she told her.

Thankful she was able to access her side arm she removed it and fired into the airbag to deflate it along with its accompanying loud pop, allowing her more ease of movement. But she was unable to fetch her phone from her back pocket in her current position so she carefully unbuckled her seatbelt ensuring she didn't gravitate towards her colleague by holding onto the door handle on the left side with her other hand.

She grunted loudly as she turned her entire body towards the door and wound down the window. She hadn't come out of the crash unscathed and her muscles groaned in response as bruises formed. She was certain she'd cracked a few ribs or perhaps worse. But she was relieved she could move her arms and legs even if they protested and swallowed down the pain it caused her to do so. And she was pretty certain she hadn't lost consciousness so she was grateful for that.

She breathed in the chill of the evening air appreciatively to steady herself while keeping watch for anyone who might follow who would want to finish them off completely. Her top half hanging rather unceremoniously out of the window she fished her phone out of her pocket and called 911 for assistance. She had no real idea where they were but gave information on the last route marker she recalled seeing.

"Grace? You still with me?" she shouted behind her, hanging up.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, boss, I'm okay. But my right side-"

"The ambulance is on the way. Try to regulate your breathing to keep your heart rate down. Try not to move."

Just as Lisbon was about to call Cho she smelt the unmistakable whiff of gasoline. "Oh, crap!" she murmured.

"Boss?"

"It's okay. Nothing to worry about," she lied.

"Okay," she added under her breath, "this is gonna hurt like hell tomorrow."

With a quick forward motion before she could talk herself out of it, she scrambled out of the window and, as best as she could, rolled onto the ground. Her shoulder made a loud popping sound as she hit the earth and she bit down on her bottom lip to stop from screaming out, sure she'd dislodged it. She got to her feet like a newborn foal and closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself. With a loud yelp, she rolled her shoulder and successfully popped it back into place. "Damn it, that hurt!" she exclaimed with a loud gasp as her eyes watered.

She traipsed in a half stagger around to the other side of the vehicle. It would be impossible to roll it over herself even in optimum condition never mind injured. "You doing okay, Grace?" she shouted through the window.

"Yeah, I'm...what can I do to help?"

"Uh..." Lisbon said, shaking her head. "Just stay there."

She talked to herself as she opened the trunk. "Like she's going anywhere else." She retrieved the fire blanket and the extinguisher kept there and said a prayer she wouldn't need it and that help would arrive before the car burst into flames.

With nothing else to do but keep Van Pelt conscious and wait she called Cho, her headache fully formed and head pounding as she dialled.

"Boss," he answered, "you almost back? We've been looking at these files-"

"Cho, Van Pelt and I were driven off the road on our way back. Must have been one of McAllister's men."

A moment of silence. "You both okay?"

"I'm okay but Grace is injured. Not sure how serious it is. At least a broken arm, maybe some internal bleeding. Can't get a look at her properly. I've called 911."

"Where are you?"

She looked around the field they were in. "I think I'm about an hour out but I'm not sure. I need you to run the plate of the other car and follow up."

"Will do, boss. Hang on-"

Jane's voice came on the line. Panicked, "Teresa? What happened?"

"I'm okay, Patrick, Cho will fill you in. Look, I have to go and check up on Van Pelt but first-"

His voice trembled. "You absolutely sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just a splitting headache and some cuts and bruises. I'm fine."

She heard him swallow hard and he responded unconvincingly, "Okay."

"Now pass me back to Cho before I forget this damn plate number."

"They're both okay?" Minelli said as he rushed into the bullpen.

"Looks that way," Cho said. "Ambulance picked them up and they're on the way to Sacramento General."

He looked at the empty couch. "Jane on his way there now?"

"Yeah, sent Rigsby too. He was no use to me."

Minelli squinted at Cho. "Why?-" Then he rolled his eyes. "Oh, God, him too? Van Pelt?"

"You don't want to know."

His boss tutted, "Agreed. Enough mooning about around here as it is."

Cho leant forward and spoke quietly, "You talk to McAllister?"

Minelli responded in the same tone. "Yes, just now. We have somewhat of an Oxy problem in Napa right now so I've asked him to come here for a brainstorming session."

Surprised, "He believe you and agreed to come?"

Minelli shrugged. "If I hadn't seen the evidence Partridge led us to I wouldn't have suspected a thing from his tone. He's coming tomorrow morning. I've sent a team up there undercover to make sure he doesn't do a midnight flit just in case, though."

"You tell anyone what we found?"

Gruffly, "Not yet. But once we have McAllister secured I'll have no option but to give the AG and the FBI a heads up. Regrettably, this might be too big for us to handle on our own if he begins to name names or we find further evidence of this conspiracy at his property."

"Partridge came through."

"Mm. His neck was in the noose, what else could he do? But you're right. He'll get his deal. I've put him in a high-security safe house for now. He's our goddamned golden goose."

"Teresa?" Jane burst through the curtain that was pulled around the stretcher she sat on as a nurse in her late fifties put a sling on her left arm.

Accusingly, "I thought you said you weren't hurt!"

"It's nothing," Lisbon assured him. "Just had to pop my shoulder back in when I dislocated it. This is just for a few hours."

"Oh, is that all?" He shook his head, eyes wide.

His gaze travelled over her face, a large gash on her forehead covered by a plaster. "I thought cars had airbags nowadays."

The nurse responded, "She'd be in a coma right now if there hadn't have been one in that vehicle. A right mess from what I've been told."

"Thank you. That's very gratifying to hear," he replied, glaring at the nurse's back accompanied by an eye roll.

"I'm fine. Just a headache more than anything," Lisbon assured him.

"She's a trouper," the nurse said with a smile, finishing off with a nod of appreciation of her work.

"Can I go?" Lisbon asked her.

"Hm. I want you to wait fifteen more minutes. Just make sure you don't have a concussion-"

"I told you I didn't lose consciousness-"

"So you say. But you'll wait anyway, Ms Lisbon. And we're still waiting on your X-ray results."

With that, she turned and looked Jane up and down. With a final unfavourable appraisal, she said, "Don't stress her out, young man."

As he gaped in surprise Lisbon laughed lightly as she exited to leave them alone. "She's got your number."

He came closer and allowed himself a smile of relief. "You okay?" he whispered as he gazed into her eyes.

She met his stare. "I'm good. Really."

"X-rays?"

"Think I might have bruised a rib or two."

"So, in Teresa Lisbon speak, that means you may have broken a rib or two?"

She shrugged. "We'll see. This pain medication is working pretty well right now," she smiled.

He let out a breath and took her hand gently as he kissed her temple. "Don't ever do that to me again, okay?"

She squeezed his hand. "I'll try not to. It wasn't exactly under my control. Is there news on Grace?"

"Broken arm and a broken femur. Two broken ribs. She's going to hurt for a while but no major damage that time won't heal. Internally she's fine."

"Thank God for that. Did Cho get a hit on the vehicle that ran us off the road?"

"Yes. Belongs to Dale Briscoe, small time drug dealer according to Cho located in Oakville."

"That's not far from Napa. So it was definitely McAllister, then, he must be one of his people. Last ditch attempt to cause some damage when I left his patch suddenly and upset whatever his plan was to get me there?"

"It would appear so. Briscoe hasn't been located yet. His car was ditched a few miles from where you were found."

She frowned, "Why didn't he make sure we were dead? If this was an assassination then why not check? He could have picked us off easily how we landed. We were hardly in a position to defend ourselves right away."

Jane mirrored her frown. "That is puzzling."

She shrugged. "Well, whatever. I'm more interested in locking up his boss McAllister tomorrow. Let's concentrate on a plan for that instead."

He raised an eyebrow as he studied her, cuts and bruises on her arms, a head injury and her arm in a sling. He nodded to the hospital gown she wore. "Let's get you dressed, checked out, home, showered and fed before we start any further plotting, shall we?"

"Stop fussing," Lisbon grumbled as Jane pushed a cushion behind her back.

"You insisted on discharging yourself so you pay the price for it," he told her sternly.

They were in her apartment attempting to relax, the events of the day coupled with anxiety over the following one making it practically impossible for either of them. Lisbon had showered with Jane's assistance and they'd just finished eating some takeout, both of them picking over their food almost silently. He arrived back from the kitchen with pills and a glass of water and shot her a look that said, 'don't even think about arguing with me'.

She complied easily, though, as pain replaced the adrenaline rush of the past few hours. "I can help you with the pain," he said as he sat down beside her on the couch.

"Hypnosis?" she snorted, "No thanks, you'd have me doing the lambda or something just for kicks."

He smiled, "Not until you're recovered and could perform it to the best of your ability, my dear."

"Maybe later - about the hypnosis, I mean," she replied honestly, "let's see how this medication works first."

He sighed deeply and laid his head back as he closed his eyes, his hand instinctively reaching for hers. It was too painful to wrap herself in his arms so she mirrored his position with a tight squeeze of his hand.

"You okay?" she said, "You were freaking out at the hospital. Anything you want to talk about?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

"You sure? I know it's not easy being with a cop. You wouldn't be the first guy to want to run a mile."

He chuckled then sighed inwardly. "I would hope I'm not just some guy. But, saying that, it was easier when I had nothing to lose. All those years where I never made a real connection with anyone, even with Melissa. Now...the weight of what I might lose...it's...difficult facing that."

She turned her head towards him. Hopefully, "You going to be able to cope with it?"

He opened his eyes and stared at her. "I have to, don't I? You're a cop and will always be a cop. Even when this case is finished they'll be another one. And another one. I'll have to find a way to manage the fear. Because being without you is the alternative and that's far more intolerable."

His gaze remained pensive as her smile brightened.

"Something else on your mind?" Lisbon prodded. "Concerned about tomorrow and what he might pull?"

"Something like that," he nodded.

"Sheriff McAllister."

Minelli stood up from his desk chair in his office at the CBI. "Thank you for coming here and not the Capitol today. Been busy."

The sheriff tipped his hat as the two men shook hands. "Of course. You have a lot going on here by all accounts," he replied with a faint smile. "I'm surprised you have time to discuss matters in my own little patch of your world." He frowned as he leant in closer, "I heard two of your agents were involved in a car crash on their way back here yesterday. Tell me, how are they?"

Minelli withdrew his hand swiftly. "Bearing up. No permanent damage."

"Well...that's good to hear. Fine agents and fine women the pair of them."

Minelli coughed nervously. "Yes, indeed," he said brusquely.

He withdrew from the other man and stood behind his desk, nodding to his office door. Immediately Cho and Rigsby entered and drew their weapons on the sheriff.

McAllister baulked, "Agent Minelli, what on earth?!-"

"Don't move and place your hands on top of your head!" Cho ordered.

"I-"

"Do it now!" Rigsby yelled.

Slowly McAllister complied as he shot Minelli a frown of suspicion. Minelli stated as Cho handcuffed his hands behind his back, "Thomas McAllister, you're under arrest for the murders committed by the serial killer known as Red John. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"

"What the hell?! Virgil, you have the wrong man. Whatever is going on around here-"

"Do you understand your rights?" Minelli repeated firmly.

McAllister shook his head. "Yes, I understand. But you're wrong. I'm not Red John."

Jane and Lisbon watched on as the camera secreted in Minelli's office beamed a live feed back to them in her office. "We got him!" she declared with a grin.

She shook her head in surprise. "I can't believe he allowed himself to be arrested so easily. I was sure he'd come here today with backup or something else up his sleeve. How could he not suspect something like this when he was invited here? Especially after trying what he did yesterday."

Jane said nothing for a long moment. Then, "Replay the moment Minelli reads him his rights."

"Why?"

He clicked his tongue as he waited for her to do as he asked.

"Fine," she sighed, hitting a few keys on her laptop to rewind the feed. She pointed to the screen "There."

She got up from her chair with a grunt as her ribs ached from the sudden movement. "He's secured now so I'm going to question the bastard," she said triumphantly. Cheerfully, "Coming?"

Jane peered at the screen more closely and then leant back in his chair, his expression thoughtful as a line remained between his eyes.

"What's the matter? Let's go and finish this so we can have those mai tais," she smiled. Then her face fell. "Don't say it. I've seen that look before. Patrick-"

"It's not him," he told her, ignoring her plea. "I knew there was more to this than met the eye. Knew it yesterday. He's telling the truth, Teresa. He's not Red John."

A/N: I just hope you don't hate me too much for this twist (if it helps I have thought it out!). Thanks again for reading & especially those who still comment so regularly. I know this story has lost some interest but your kind reviews keep me motivated to finish it (& continue writing these fics, in general).