Chapter 4

"We should have told the team, Jane."

He sighed and looked at her tired. They were driving to the address written on the paper, an old dinner outside the city. "It's too late and besides we don't know who sent the note," He replied looking back at the car window, they were getting close.

"That's why we should have told them, Jane. It could be dangerous." They have bickered for almost an hour in her house. He noticed that their old partnership had sprung back to life as they decided about what to do with the note. It felt nice like it used to be before Las Vegas.

"Nah. I don't think so. Whoever sent that note just wanted to talk." He answered shaking his hand nonchalantly.

No one who wanted to kidnap him or worse kill him would send a note. Jane looked back at her and noticed the set of her jaw indicating that she was stressed out. For a second, he wanted to grab her hand but he knew that his gesture won't be well received. Her actions to distance herself from him were deliberate and Jane didn't want to give her more reasons to increased her distance.

"Besides I'm pretty sure that your three guns are enough for this meeting," Jane said with a grin trying to help her to relax.

She looked at him annoyed, her eyes were dark almost bruised. "God, you are so annoying." She said as a matter of fact. The consultant chuckled when he saw her frown. At least her anger won first place over her worry.

They arrived at the dinner and Lisbon parked in the dark spot of the corner. Jane looked at the place. It was almost empty; there was one family who was on a road trip guessing by all the suitcases over the car parked in front of the dinner door and two guys eating on the other side. Neither of them looked familiar to him.

"Ok show time. Remember not to come if I don't call you, Lisbon." He knew that she wasn't happy about this part of the plan but he told her that he would go by himself if she didn't listen. Lisbon almost shot him but in the end, agreed with him.

"Just be careful, please." She whispered. Jane smiled softly and this time he took her hand for a moment enjoying the warmth of her skin before he getting out of the car. He entered the dinner and took the closest table to Lisbon's mustang. Thankfully this dinner had wide windows all over the place.

A waitress called Wendy came and took his order. He asked for a cup of black tea. "Here is your tea, honey. Let me know if you need anything else" Said the waitress with a smile. He took a sip of his tea. Not bad. It wasn't his usual brand but it had a nice flavor.

"Mr. Jane, I'm glad that you came." Jane looked at Susan Darcy who just sat in front of him. She looked tired. She was thinner and the bags under her eyes were huge. Darcy didn't look like the shadow of the efficient FBI Agent that he met a long time ago. The last thing that he had heard about her was that she had a breakdown after the death of Wainwright.

"Agent Darcy. I must say that I'm surprised. Of all people you were the least expected." He said with a soft smile. Jane could see that the woman was in a fragile state. She didn't look dangerous but it was better if he treated her carefully.

"I was hoping that we could talk. I know that Agent Lisbon must be close by. You are basically attached by the hip so why don't you call her? It would better if I don't have to repeat myself" Darcy said seriously crossing her arms.

The consultant evaluated the situation thinking about the risk of involving Lisbon but he knew that it was too late. She was in the parking lot, and to be honest, he had done it on purpose. This time was that he was making sure that Lisbon wasn't pulling away from him. Not much.

Jane almost sighed in frustration, annoyed with himself because of his feelings but he kept it quiet and reached for his phone. He pressed the number 1 and waited for her to answer."What happened?" Lisbon asked worriedly.

"Hey, Lisbon. Agent Darcy wants to say hi, why don't you come to the table? They have excellent tea." He replied trying to sound calm with his eyes focused on the FBI Agent. Lisbon hanged out immediately and after a few seconds he saw her appeared at the dinner door, Jane was pleased to see that she had brought one gun with her, it was hidden under her shirt but her walking betrayed her. She sat next to him.

"Hi Agent Darcy," She said tensed and Jane decided to rest his arm casually over the restaurant booth making sure that his hand didn't touch her hair, he didn't want her tenser just aware of the fact that they need to play their cards carefully now. To Lisbon's credit, she understood immediately. She forced herself to look more relax and laid against the booth allowing him to touch some strands of her hair. It was so soft in his fingertips.

"Agent Lisbon. Called me just Darcy. I'm not working for the FBI anymore." She said with a fake smile. Jane could see that she wasn't over it.

"So, what do we own the pleasure of this meeting? I'm pretty sure that you still have our phone numbers." Jane asked working on sound carelessness.

"It wasn't safe," Darcy replied.

"What do you mean?" Lisbon asked. Darcy reached for something in her bag and Jane felt how Lisbon moved to reached her gun. Jane put his hand on her shoulder to calmed her down when he saw that Darcy took only an envelope out of her bag.

"The FBI had been receiving reports about you from the CBI since basically your first day there," Darcy said pushing the envelope to them.

Lisbon looked at him surprised expressing what he was feeling inside at the moment. He certainly hadn't expected this when he came to this dinner. Lisbon took the envelope and opened it. There were at least 30 pages and Jane saw Minelli and Hightower's signature in some of them. He reached for his mug and took a sip. It was cold and tasted awful on this tongue.

"After the Vegas fiasco my career was destroyed, understandably, but it took me some time to accept it. After I recovered, I went to the office to hand over my cases when I found those documents." Her voice sounded soft like she was ashamed of the fact that the FBI was spying on him. Funny, a couple of months ago Susan had been convinced that he was a Red John follower. Jane took another look at the documents and saw the name of director Shultz, so she was the one receiving those reports.

"Was Shultz the only one who saw these reports?" Jane asked looking at her carefully making sure that Darcy noticed that he will know if she lies.

"No, she wasn't. I found out that Schultz was passing them on to Homeland Security." Darcy replied. Jane and Lisbon looked at each other thinking the same thing. Bob Kirkland. Jane could see how she was starting to get a headache and she wasn't the only one.

"Why are you giving us this?" Lisbon asked raising her face from the papers in her hands. Jane heard her voice and then he realized how hard was holding her shoulder, he relaxed his hand but didn't release his hold. Right now he needed it.

"I owned you after I interrupted your plan." Darcy shrugged and Jane could tell that she was honest. "I'm actually leaving the state in a couple of days," The blond said and the blonde noticed that she was done with this discussion. Jane could see in her eyes how facing Red John had affected her deeply.

"Thank you, Susan," Jane said honestly.

"You're welcome. Take care both of you."

"You too, Darcy," Lisbon said softly. Susan had finally gained Lisbon's appreciation. The former FBI Agent took her bag and got out of the booth leaving them alone.

"I hated to say I told you so, but I told you so. Kirkland is definitely spying on us, my dear." Jane said after a few minutes of silence.

Lisbon growled softly and put her hands over her face. "Shut up, Jane."

Jane laughed and released his hold on her shoulder. "Let's get you some coffee before we plan our next move." He said before calling Wendy.

In the end, they decided to have some dinner, Jane ordered a club sandwich for him and a cheeseburger with fries for Lisbon who rolled her eyes but didn't say anything because that was exactly what she wanted to eat. They read the reports while they were waiting for the food.

Jane read Minelli's report about the Hardy case. Their old boss had highlighted the word compromise. In a few words, the report said that they were unfit to continue with the Red John investigation. Jane wondered if by that time he already had feelings for Lisbon. He knew that he already considered her a friend and that her life was untouchable for him.

The consultant looked at the woman sitting in front of him. Lisbon was reading another report. Her eyes were focused on the words in front of her and she was moving her lips repeating the words from the paper. Lisbon always did that when she read a document thoughtfully. Jane found it endearing. Her hair was shining under the lights of the dinner and she wasn't wearing any makeup making her look much younger.

Yes, he decided, Jane was seventy percent sure that he already had feelings for her. It would explain his open hostility with Bosco, even though he masked it behind the pretense of wanting the Red John case back.

Lisbon sighed and brought him back to the present. "I can't believe this," she said looking at him with sad eyes. Of course, the CBI agent would felt betrayed. Especially if it was coming from Minelli who she saw as a father figure.

"I can. I've always suspected the FBI is watching me. Personally. And they've been wanting to get their hands on the Red John case for a while." Jane explained with a shrug.

"As paranoid as it sounds I can't argue with you," Lisbon answered pointing at the reports. Wendy arrived with their food and they decided to enjoy it and to not talk about the reports while they are eating. Jane stole a couple of fries from Lisbon's plate and she snapped at him. Jane laughed enjoying this moment with her.

"So what's next?" She asked after they finished eating.

"Well, I'm going to go see Bob Kirkland." He said bluntly. It was the next obvious move.

"You mean we, right?" She challenged him. Jane could tell by her posture that Lisbon wasn't giving him a choice. He sighed frustrated. Jane didn't want to put her at more risk but a voice in his head told him that it was already too late for that.

"Yes, my dear." He said after a few minutes. This was his own fault. He had none else to blame that his own selfishness. Lisbon looked at him confused obviously expecting more fight from him but Jane was tired of fighting her. He wanted her close to him even when he shouldn't.