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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 10

"Do you think you could smuggle a Starbucks coffee in for me?" Bosco asked Patrick. "Preferably something that is loaded with caffeine, caramel drizzle and whipped cream?"

"I think that coffee and all that stuff are considered contraband until they're sure your heart is in working order," Patrick answered.

"I'm dying here!" Bosco said.

"At least you're not really dead," Patrick reminded him. "Tell you what; if you do everything you're supposed to then I will buy you the largest coffee and doughnut that Marie's has to offer when you're all clear."

Bosco huffed in aggravation. "Fine! But I'm not happy about it."

"Be as unhappy as you want to be about it," Patrick answered. "But I'm still not smuggling in coffee, not until the doctor says that it's okay."

"Are there any leads on the Red John case? Or on Rebecca?" Bosco asked, clearly impatient by being confined to the hospital bed when he was so used to being out in the action.

Patrick shook his head. "They found Rebecca at her apartment, naturally she refused to answer any of our questions and as soon as we booked her. . ."

"I see," Bosco said. "And there isn't anything in her apartment that would lead us to Red John at all? She seems to have known the man personally."

"Van Pelt found a diary; she talks a lot about a man named Tom in it. But Tom could be any number of men. Without a description or a last name, it doesn't do us a bit of good."

"I know," Bosco replied wearily.

"This can't be doing you any good for you," Patrick said. "Let's talk about something else."

"Mandee and I can't thank you or Teresa enough for taking care of the kids while we've been here."

"It was nothing, Teresa enjoys being around them. It gives her something to do when she isn't doing her volunteer work," Patrick answered.

"And being around the kids hasn't bothered you at all?"

"No," Patrick told him, shaking his head. "I like it. . . sometimes when I'm thinking about it, I wish things were different. But really it's been a good experience, being with your kids."

"Have you and Teresa. . ."

"No. . . I mean, we kissed. . . if that's what you're talking about but that's all. I'm still not ready to talk about it. . ." Patrick trailed off and shrugged helplessly.

Bosco laughed at how lost Patrick looked, wincing slightly when his stitches pulled. "I never thought I'd live to see the day where the great Patrick Jane couldn't formulate a proper thought!"

"Yeah, well, you almost didn't!" Patrick reminded him. "Why did you stay behind that late anyways?"

Bosco shifted, trying to get more comfortable. "I wanted to see if I could get any more work done on the case. I thought Rebecca had left for the evening. . . don't blame yourself. I know you are. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't my fault either. Nobody knew what Rebecca truly was. And before you argue that you should have known because that's what you're paid to do, remember you are only human. Now go, I'm ready for my nap. If you find out anything, please come back and talk to me."

"I will," Patrick promised, smiling at him.

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"We think we have a lead on who Tom is," Van Pelt said as he came into the bullpen.

Patrick frowned. "So easily?"

"Yeah, she mentioned meeting her lover, Tom, in Napa Valley in one of her journal entries. I know this might be a stretch but remember when we worked that case down in Napa and we ran into that creepy sheriff, Thomas McAllister? Maybe that's who the Tom is. . ."

"It is a stretch," Patrick agreed. "But you should mention it to Hightower just the same; see what she says about it. It might be worth looking into it."

Van Pelt nodded and got up from her desk. "Oh, how is Bosco doing?"

"He hates being confined to a bed, I think he's going a little bit crazy, lying in bed all day and watching ESPN. On the other hand, he and Mandee are stronger than they've ever been. Funny how things like this can bring you closer to somebody."

Van Pelt looked at Rigsby. "Yeah. . ." she agreed wistfully.

Patrick knew just by looking at them that things had progressed between them over the past couple of weeks, even more than they had progressed between him and Teresa. He smiled knowingly at her and winked. "Your secret is safe with me," he promised.

Van Pelt looked a little embarrassed and then she smiled at him sheepishly. "Thanks."

A little while later, they were all loading up into a SUV to make a trek to Napa Valley to pay a visit to Sheriff Thomas McAllister. Patrick felt a tightening in his gut and for the first time since they had picked up this case, he was certain they were close to closing the Red John case for once and for all.

As Hightower pulled onto the highway that would lead them to Napa, he found himself pulling a page out of Teresa's book and saying a prayer to a God he had stopped believing in the day Angela had walked out the door. He knew somewhere in Sacramento, Teresa was doing the same thing.

McAllister didn't seem surprised to see them. It raised immediately red flag with Patrick and he felt a thrill of excitement shoot all the way through him. He knew just by looking at him that they had finally found their man.

This was Red John, the man who had caused so much turmoil all over the state of California. If he could prove he was the serial killer, his reign of terror would finally come to an end. He took a deep breath, his heart beating quickly in anticipation while Hightower fired off a series of questions. His time to interrogate him was coming; he wasn't going to let him off easy.

Not at all.

Thomas McAllister had just met his worst nightmare.

He had just met his match.

He wasn't going to let him know it though.

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"Don't worry about him," Mandee said as Teresa paced around the Bosco's kitchen. "You know he's fine, he called you when they got back to the office. You know as well as I do that these things take time. I doubt this man will be easy to crack. He doesn't want to be caught after all. He won't make it easy for them."

"You're right," Teresa agreed.

"Okay, I have to go and see Sam now. There's money on the counter for pizza and make sure the kids do all of their homework before they turn on the television. Okay?"

"Of course," Teresa assured her as she followed Mandee to the door. "Now go and see Sam, I'll hold down the fort here."

"One more thing, you probably already know this, but if Patrick shows up then make sure you comfort him. He's going to need it regardless of what happened today."

Teresa nodded. "I know my mom used to do the same thing for my dad when he had a hard day at the fire station. I know what to do."

Mandee hugged her. "You're such a good girl Teresa; I don't know what any of us would have done without you this past week. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Teresa replied, hugging her back. "Now go on, Sam's waiting for you! You don't want to keep him waiting longer than you have to."

"Right! Goodbye Teresa, I'll see you later."

Teresa closed the door behind her and locked it and then she went to sit by the phone, waiting for another call from Patrick while she prayed and helped the Bosco kids with their homework. When they were finished, she sent them to the living room to watch TV and ordered a pizza for their dinner.

Around ten o'clock, he still hadn't called. Teresa twisted her cross necklace in her hands and told the kids to brush their teeth and put their pajamas on. While they were doing that, Mandee came home and updated her on Bosco. Everything was going well; he would probably make a full recovery.

She was happy for them but she was ready to escape the Bosco house and go find Patrick. Not knowing what was going on was killing her. It was like Mandee could read her thoughts because she released her and told her to call the second she heard from him.

Teresa almost went to the CBI office but changed her mind at the last second and went back to her apartment. She got her pitcher of iced coffee out of the fridge when she got home and poured herself a glass.

It was going to be a long night.

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Patrick had a tension headache. Questioning McAllister was taking even longer than any of them had expected. It had been hours and no matter what they did, he wasn't caving. He hadn't even admitted to knowing Rebecca even though there had been something in his eyes when Rigsby had dropped the name in an earlier interrogation session.

"We're going to have to let him go," Hightower said as she came out of the interrogation room. "He's not cracking."

"Come on Hightower, you know it's him!" Patrick answered, raking his hands through his hair in frustration.

"No I don't!" Hightower replied. "There isn't a shred of evidence against him except for a couple of names in a crazy woman's diary. Tom could be anybody; I'm not going by your instinct. Not with something as big as this! We could be holding an innocent man while the real killer is still on the loose!"

"His body language is screaming that he's Red John!" Patrick retorted. "He's not even protesting that he's not Red John!"

"You're tired and frustrated," Hightower said. "I get that, go home to your girlfriend and get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

"I will not feel better in the morning! I'll probably feel worse knowing we had him right in the palm of our hand and that we let him go!" Patrick told her. "I'm going in there and I'm going to make him talk!"

"Patrick Jane you better not do one single thing that will get this whole case thrown right out of court!" Hightower said sternly as she followed him to the interrogation room door.

"Oh please, that only happened once!" Patrick scoffed. "I'm not stupid enough to let it happen again! Just give me one more chance at him and if I can't get him to talk then I'll let the whole thing go. I promise!"

Hightower pulled out her little notebook and shoved it in his hand. "I want that in writing."

"Fine," Patrick answered, jotting down his promise and signing it with a flourish. "There, are you happy?"

"I'm holding you to your word," was all Hightower said as she stepped aside and let him go into the room.

"Really?" McAllister asked as he came into the room. "You aren't tired of this game yet, Mr. Jane?"

"Oh no," Patrick answered, taking his jacket off and rolling up his sleeve. "No, we're only just beginning."

"You have literally no evidence that I'm Red John," McAllister said. "Or are you going by the famous Patrick Jane instinct? If that's the case, I'm afraid you are completely screwed. Instinct in police work might get you a handful of closed cases, but it never holds up in a court of law. Now, since you have nothing to hold me on, I suggest you let me go. I would hate for things to get messy for you."

Patrick shook his head. "No. We're not going to let you go. We could hold you on obstruction of justice, since you're not answering any of our questions."

McAllister placed his hands on the table and folded them. "I have nothing to say."

"Well, this little game that you're playing is over," Patrick told him. "I don't care if I have any evidence against you; I know that you're Red John! I can tell just by looking at you, your whole demeanor is one of somebody who thinks that they're getting away with something."

"You'll never be able to prove it's me," McAllister taunted, his eyes narrowing. "Just give it up now, stop chasing serial killers and move on with that little brunette. I would hate for something to happen to her."

Patrick was on his feet in a second, dangerously close to his face. "Listen to me, you monster, if you so much as look in Teresa's direction, I will make you sorry that you ever breathed!"

McAllister smirked. "How is threatening me going to help your cause?"

Patrick didn't answer, he stormed out of the interrogation room and into the neighboring one where Hightower had been watching the whole thing play out. "Did you get that?"

"It doesn't make him Red John just because he threatened your girlfriend. . ." Hightower trailed off when she saw the look on his face. "Right. . . he could have worded it differently—"

"He might as well of admitted that he's Red John!" Patrick answered.

"You threatened him," Hightower reminded him. "Even if we did book him, it isn't going to look good!"

But Patrick was already on the elevator, leaving no choice but for Hightower to deal with Thomas McAllister by herself.

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He ignored his trembling hands as he banged on Teresa's door, his heart was beating wildly out of his chest and he couldn't ignore the fear clawing at him that maybe McAllister had made good on his threat and sent one of his minions to do his dirty work. He knocked on the door again and started to shout her name. He was dangerously close to getting the police called on him, but he didn't care.

After a moment, the door opened and Teresa was peering out at him. She looked as relieved as he felt as she flung open the door.

"Thank God," Patrick breathed. "I thought. . ."

She pulled him into her arms before he could finish his thought. He buried his face in her neck and breathed her in.

"Thank God," he repeated over and over again. "I thought something had happened to you! I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you!"

Teresa pulled away and frowned. "Why did you think you had lost me?"

"Because McAllister. . ." Patrick trailed off and shook his head, not finishing his thought.

"I'm okay," Teresa whispered, sliding her fingers through his hair and leaning in to give him a kiss to quell his fears.

He kissed her back, savoring her nearness, how she was warm and flesh and bone underneath his fingertips. It was real. His heart skipped a beat and he pulled away to look at her, her green eyes wide in the lights on either side of her door.

"Let's talk about it," he whispered.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

We're close to the end! Two more chapters and we're going to say goodbye to this Teresa and Patrick for a little while, but I have one more story in this Alternate Universe planned. I can't give Nick & Nora up quite yet. But I'm placating my muse by writing an extreme AU right now. . . no details yet, but I'm working on the first chapter. I hope you'll tell me what you think of this chapter! And wherever you are, stay warm while this arctic freeze wraps us up in her icy arms.

Lots of love,

Holly, 2/24/2015_

P.S

If you haven't yet and you're looking for something else to read, check out my two other stories Minelli Finds Out and Into The Dark & Wonderful Unknown. Well, if you want to. . . or if you have the time!