:)
Lisbon was reading Bertram's personnel files when Jane and Patricia entered the room. She had heard Jane's raised voice a couple times and had forced herself to ignore it, telling herself she couldn't get pulled in. Not now. She had a job to do and she was damn well going to do it. So she was surprised to see them go to the timeline on the wall together. Jane surveyed it while Patricia spoke quietly to him. That made Lisbon nervous. That made her go over to see what they were up to.
"What's going on?" she asked as she approached them. They both turned to look at her.
"Patrick is going to help with the timeline," Patricia said. "He already knows everything in the Red John files and the work will go faster with him."
"Do you have Bertram's files yet?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm going over them now." Lisbon's cell phone started ringing.
"Good. We need to look into the other disciples too—see where they would have intersected with Kirkland and Bertram," Jane said.
"We'll get those next," Lisbon said, opening her cell phone and seeing it was Minelli. "Yeah," she said.
"We're on our way," Minnelli said. "ETA is two, two-thirty. How are the troops?"
She didn't know how to answer.
"That bad, huh? Understandable, I suppose. Do you think Kirkland will make a move tonight?"
Lisbon hesitated. "I'm giving that a cautious 'no.' He prefers the dark, but the timeline suggests tomorrow would be less complicated. Also, the husband is there now. That's another complication."
"Do you want us to relieve Cho and Rigsby when we get there?"
"I'll let you know. I'm still working on how we're going to do this."
"Okay, boss. I'll call when we're close."
Lisbon suppressed a smile as she closed her cell.
Jane and Patricia had been listening and Patricia said, "He's not watching anymore. He won't try anything tonight. It will be tomorrow, in broad daylight."
Lisbon's mouth dropped open. The woman always astonished. "When? Where?"
Jane looked sharply at Patricia, who shook her head. "I don't see details. I just feel he is resting in anticipation. Someone is with him. A man, a colleague."
Jane turned to Lisbon. "I want all of the Kirkland and Bertram files," he said.
"You got it," she said. "Minelli, Hightower and the other CIA agent are due by two or two-thirty. I'm going to pull Cho and Rigsby off surveillance until everyone is here. We'll all work the files until then." She went and collected the Bertram files she'd been reading and gave them to Jane. Then she found the Kirkland files that Patricia had finished with.
He took them without saying anything, but he was clearly trying to read her poker face. She really didn't want to get into anything, and, besides, Van Pelt and Patricia were right there. "I'll bring in the rest as we get them." She really didn't want him hanging out reading her the whole time.
He gave her a look like he'd just read that thought and she pressed her lips together and threw a snarky look of annoyance back at him.
Taking the hint, he turned and went back his room, closing the door behind him. Patricia waited for another set of Bertram's files to be printed before heading back to her room. Soon Cho and Rigsby returned with take-out—Chinese again—and they grabbed a stack of the printed pages and started combing through them, each taking one of the beds. The whole team worked quietly, speaking only if they found something of interest, something worth taping up on the timeline. Van Pelt made headway in finding background info on all the Red John disciples they'd run across in the last six years, back to the very first: Dumar Tanner. Eventually she compiled files and made copies of all known disciples of Red John and Bret Stiles.
When Minelli finally called to say they were a half hour out, Lisbon told him to come to the Malibu Motel and then she called his CIA buddies and told them to come in too: she wanted everyone on the same page and she wanted the extra expertise weighing in. She snapped her cell phone shut and leaned backed in her chair. The question of Jane, having been held in abeyance for the last several hours, weighed heavy now. A familiar sadness overcame her but she pushed it back. She didn't have time to contemplate her disappointment. What she needed to do was figure out how to use his super powers without making a super mess.
She went and knocked lightly on his door. Entering, she found him in the same pose as the night before, stretched out with his legs crossed at his ankles and an arm flung over his eyes. But he wasn't sleeping. A file rested on his chest and he brought his arm down when he heard her. A flash of desire shot through her as she remembered their lovemaking the night before, and she stood holding onto the doorknob, trying to decide whether she should leave the door open or not. Her desire was closely followed by a sudden fear that she was too far gone when it came to him to keep her resolve. She closed the door and went to him.
Jane lifted the file off his chest and dropped it on the floor. Then he sat up and reached for her hand and pulled her onto the bed with him. He embraced her fully, lifting a leg over hers so she was completely in his grip. They were cheek to cheek and he sighed deeply into her ear, as if in relief, and she relaxed into him, letting herself have whatever time they might still have together.
He held her tight and struggled to say something. Several times he drew a breath in to speak but then pushed it back out again in defeat. Finally, he said, "I used to tell myself that I didn't want to live in a world without Angela and Charlotte. I tried not living. I tried a lot. Then I figured out a way to keep going. I found a reason. But now… now I can't imagine living in this world without you. I don't want to live without you."
He gripped her tighter and Lisbon let go a breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding. Tears filled her eyes and she whispered, "Oh, Jane," and turned to kiss his cheek.
"I love you," he said. "I don't want to be the reason for not having you in my life. I couldn't bear going through that again."
For the first time in years and years and years, Lisbon sent the guardian of her heart packing. A burst of energy exploded in her chest, a sensation she had never experienced before but instantly knew was pure love. She kissed him again and again, on his cheek, his lips, his chin, saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you" between each one.
Jane let go a breathy laugh that threatened to turn into a cry. He pulled back and found her lips and they kissed deeply. When they came up for air, Jane pressed his forehead against hers.
"What happened, Jane?" Lisbon asked. "What made you change your mind?"
He pulled back to look at her and scoffed lightly. "My mother happened."
Lisbon could help but laugh. "Yea. She keeps happening."
He smiled at her.
"What did she say?"
"That you wouldn't forgive everything. I chose to trust her on that."
"That was wise."
"She also said Kirkland would get what he deserves. I'm choosing to trust you on that."
Relief swept through her. "Thank you."
Jane sat up and grabbed a couple files off the floor. He handed Haffner's to Lisbon as she sat up. "Look in the background check report from the CBI," he said as he opened the other file and flipped through the pages to the back.
Lisbon found the report. "What am I looking for?"
"His known address in 1988."
Lisbon frowned and scanned the report, finding the address. "Sonuvabitch," she whispered in awe.
Jane put his file on top of hers and pointed at the elementary school Craig O'Laughlin attended: Elliston Elementary in Elliston, California. The same town Ray Haffner filed his income tax report from in 1988.
"Sonuvabitch."
"I'm betting it all goes back to Visualize," Jane said.
"Do you think Bret Stiles is an accomplice?"
"I don't think Bret Stiles saw Kirkland coming. He likely had no idea his brand of religion could produce someone like Red John, but he's a shrewd business man. I would imagine they have some sort of gentleman's agreement to stay out of each other's business. Look the other way, so to speak."
Lisbon stood up. "We still need hard evidence. This doesn't prove anything."
"No, but you get Kirkland, you cut off the head, and the body will convulse in a panic."
"That's a risky way to run an investigation, especially when he's got people placed throughout the legal system. Where do we take him once we get him? Who the hell can we trust?"
Jane shook his head. "No one. We trust no one outside of who we've got right now. We do everything quietly. We take one step at a time."
"Minelli and the rest of them will be here soon."
"Good. If we catch Kirkland attempting to kidnap and hold him ourselves until he's known to be missing, we'll see who's trying to contact him and go from there. That'll get us warrants. We should be able to flush out the ones in power who would try to undo our work."
Lisbon didn't like it.
"You'll have to trust me, Teresa," he said. "I know you want hard evidence but that won't come until later. This has to get played out."
"All right," she said, shaking her head. "Let's take this to the team. We need to start a Visualize board. They didn't just have farms, they have schools too. God knows how many recruits they've churned out."
Former CIA agents Greg Zablocki and Jake Anderson soon arrived looking like a couple down-at-the-heels retired beach bums. Minelli, Hightower and former agent Mick Ballard arrived shortly after, crowding the room. Introductions were dispensed quickly, but the reunions took a little longer.
Minelli hugged Lisbon as Hightower went to hug Jane. When Minelli went to shake Jane's hand, he said, "Teresa tells me you have a mother. I find that very hard to fathom."
"Likewise," Jane said without cracking a smile.
"Cho, why don't you get Patricia," Lisbon said. "She should be here."
When Patricia arrived, Lisbon introduced her to everyone. Soon Ryan appeared in the doorway looking bleary-eyed.
"Oh. My. God." Hightower said, looking at Ryan as if he were an apparition. She turned to Jane in stunned awe. "Do not tell me there are two of you in the world." Jane grimaced in response.
"That's Jane's brother, Ryan," Lisbon said.
"Half brother," Ryan corrected.
"Well," Hightower said, turning back to Ryan. "I can certainly see which half you got," she said.
The entire CBI team smirked and exchanged looks.
"Can we focus here?" Jane asked.
And they did. Between three CIA agents, six CBI agents and two psychics, they decided on a course of action. By sunrise, four teams of two were dispatched to cover the Gallatin house and neighborhood, as well as Jane's old neighborhood. Zablocki and Anderson went beachside at the Gallatins, while Cho and Rigsby went to park down the block again. Van Pelt would stay at the motel with Patricia and Ryan. She had found a home in foreclosure four doors down from the Gallatin's and Minelli and Hightower went to park the yellow van they'd driven down from San Francisco in the driveway. The van was completely equipped with state of the art surveillance gear, covert compliments of the CIA. The whole team had earpieces and were able to communicate with each other securely.
Lisbon and Jane took the green sedan Ballard had driven and went to drop him at Jane's house. Then they drove back and parked a block over from the Gallatins in a space where they could see everyone coming and going.
Once the team was settled in for the long haul, Minelli started it.
"So, Jane. You have a mother," Minelli said.
Jane rolled his eyes at Lisbon. She suppressed a smile. She knew what was coming and she couldn't say he didn't deserve it.
"Yes, Virgil. I have a mother. Everyone does. I didn't just spring out of someone's head."
"And she's psychic."
Jane didn't answer.
"She's like really psychic," Rigsby said.
"Yea," Van Pelt said, "she's way better than my cousin, Yolanda."
Lisbon's smile broke free. Jane looked out his window.
"Well, she's also a very beautiful woman," Minelli said.
"Yes, she is," Cho chimed in.
"Okay," Jane interjected. "Really, Virgil? Cho?"
"I understand that you inherited her gifts," Minelli continued.
Jane reached up and plucked the earpiece out his ear in anger.
"Okay," Lisbon said, "That's enough, Virgil. Everyone, leave Jane alone. At least until this is all over."
She heard several chuckles and she smiled at Jane.
"Gee, thanks," Jane said, annoyed and hurt.
She reached out and took his hand. He laced his fingers in hers.
"Aw, boss," Rigsby said. "Where's the fun in that?"
Her laugh was joined by others and Jane frowned at her. She shook her head. "You don't want to know," she said.
"He ditched the earpiece, didn't he," Cho said.
"Yea," Lisbon answered.
"Typical Jane, he can dish it out but can't take it," Van Pelt said.
Lisbon raised her eyebrows in surprise at that.
"What?" Jane asked.
"Nothing," Lisbon said, still smiling, "We're all paying attention to the task at hand. From now on we're all focusing on the Gallatins. Everyone got that?" she asked.
A few Okay, boss-es later and the channel went silent again. Jane eventually put the earpiece back in. Whenever a car or pedestrian turned to go towards the Gallatin house, Lisbon gave the others the heads up and they kept watch of it until it was cleared as a potential threat. A few hours of silence interrupted by scattered small talk later ended when the garage door at the Gallatin house opened.
"Minivan is backing out," Cho said.
"Who's inside?" Lisbon asked.
There was silence until Cho said, "Looks like the whole family."
"Looks like Sunday go to Church day," Rigsby said. "They're headed your way, boss."
Lisbon started the car. "I'll follow. Cho and Rigsby you stay at a distance from us. Virgil and Hightower, you stay on the house."
They followed the Gallatin's minivan to the Ralph's grocery store on the PCH. The van parked, and Myra and Sophia got out, while Jason Gallatin stayed with the van. The mother and daughter were definitely dressed for church and they went hand-in-hand into the store. Lisbon held tight, watching to see if anyone else was following them before parking off to the edge of the lot, the minivan and entrance still in full sight. Cho and Rigsby parked in front of the Bank of America. They waited. And waited. Even Jason was getting antsy, craning to see the entrance until he finally got out of the van and went into the store.
"Shit!" Lisbon said, getting out of the car and racing towards the store. Jane followed her. "Jason Gallatin is heading into the store. Shit!"
Lisbon found Jason talking to a cashier.
"Jason Gallatin," she said approaching him. He looked at her and Jane startled.
"Yes," he said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Teresa Lisbon of the CBI. Do you know where your wife and daughter are?"
The cashier said, "I was just telling him I saw them go back to the bakery."
"Why do you want to know?" Jason asked, starting to panic.
"Where's the bakery?" Lisbon asked.
The cashier pointed and said, "Back there."
Lisbon and Jane ran to where she pointed. Rigsby and Cho burst into the store and followed them. When they arrived at the bakery, they found only a young man behind the counter. "Have you seen a woman with long blonde hair with a young child?" she barked at the kid.
"What?" the kid asked wide-eyed. Cho and Rigsby had their guns drawn and were checking all the nearby aisles.
"A woman and child, have you seen them?"
"Uh, yea," the kid said.
"Where'd they go?!" Lisbon asked.
"That detective dude took them to the back to question them," he said, pointing to the metal swinging doors that led to the back of the store.
"Shit!" They all crashed through the doors, Lisbon drawing her gun. Jane held back as Lisbon, Cho and Rigsby began a search that led them to an open door next to the loading dock. Myra and Sophia were gone. The team fanned out across the back lot. They found a dirt access road and could see Malibu Road in the distance, an escape route that eventually led to the PCH.
Myra and Sophia were long gone.
