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When You're the Target
Chapter Two

Jane groaned and let Rigsby help him to chair, safely inside of CBI. "What hit me," he managed to ask.

"I hit you, Jane," Cho replied. "Sorry about that. You were out for a few minutes but the bullet didn't touch you. I don't know if there would have been a second one or not, but by then, you were safely out of the line of fire."

"Safe for who," Patrick managed to get out in short painful breaths.

"Don't be a baby," Cho replied deadpan. "A bullet would have hurt more."

Patrick winced and tried to breath with shallow breaths that did not hurt. Lisbon came in from outside. "It looks like one bullet into the concrete about two inches above his head," she told Cho and Rigsby. There's a smear on the concrete that is the bullet, but there's no way we can tell what the caliber was or it's trajectory.

Kip, the forensics "geek" came in. There's nothing left, really, to analyze, but I can say from experience, that was a high powered rifle bullet, like the 7.62 that Jane had me analyze... "

"Jane!" Lisbon hissed, staring at him, totally missing how innocent Rigsby and Cho were trying to look. "You had a bullet for him to analyze. You knew that someone was after you and left us out in the cold?" She spun and faced Kip. "And you! You didn't tell me about this?"

"Hold on, Lisbon," Jane managed to get out. He took as deep a breath as he could and spoke. "I didn't know anything, and I didn't want to upset anyone."

"Oh," Lisbon retorted. "We're not upset. We like life's little challenges." She frowned and stared at Cho and Rigsby. "How come you two were on the scene so quickly? You two don't normally arrive at the same time as Jane."

They looked at each other and it was Wayne that replied. "We thought that Patrick had been acting a bit strange lately and we were worried about him. "

Cho nodded. "That what friends do," he deadpanned.

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Jane was walking very slowly and carefully, carrying a cup of tea. He sat it on his desk and slowly lowered himself into the chair. "I have a broken rib, you know. You broke my bones, Cho. Next time you save me, try not to do so much damage."

Cho closed his eyes and shook his head. "Now, that's gratitude for you. Save a man's life and he want's you to pay his medical expenses. You do have insurance, don't you Jane?"

"Yes, dammit I have insurance. I also have pain."

Cho nodded. "Pain let's you know that your alive."

Patrick winced as he raised his cup to have a sip of tea. "Then I guess that I'm very alive at this moment. Thank you Cho."

Cho nodded. "Any time."

Lisbon glared at Jane. "We need to figure out what's going on, here, and you, Jane, you are actually going to be honest and forthcoming with us." She intensified her glare. "Aren't you?"

Jane nodded, winced and nodded more sedately. "Yes, Boss. Totally honest and forthcoming. I promise."

Cho snorted, Rigsby grinned, and Grace tried to look innocent, and almost succeeded. Lisbon nodded. " "Good. You can start now by telling us everything you know, leaving out nothing. Got it?"

Jane actually cooperated. He told the team everything, leaving out only that he'd gotten Kip a date with contortionist twins for his cooperation, feeling that was not germane to the real issue, and really, they had no need to know that minor detail.

"That's it" Lisbon asked. "That's it? That's all you know?"

"Well, I guess we know for all the fancy bullets he uses, he's not that good of a shot."

"I wouldn't bet on that, Jane," Cho said. That bullet was two inches above your head, dead center. When you miss a long shot, it's usually low or to one side. I'd bet you life that the bullet when exactly where he aimed it. That shot was a message to you, not a miss."

Everyone considered what Cho had said in silence. "Oh, great," Jane finally said. "And he's an expert shot."

Lisbon pounced! "Why do you say he? What makes you think it's a he, and not a she?"

"Oh please," Jane responded. "Women love me. It's the men that are jealous and hate me."

Lisbon leaned on the table with both hand, close her eyes and shook her head from sided to side. Opening her eyes, she said, "Please, Jane. We're trying to be serious."

"I AM being serious. Honest! I've never had a woman want to kill me. Never. As you all know several men have tried, but never a woman."

Lisbon glared at him. "I wouldn't take that woman thing to the bank; you forgot me, but I get your point. It probably is a man. So, we're down to half the population of the planet. Any ideas, anyone?"

"I think whoever is doing this will contact me, in some way, and soon," Jane offered. "He really did get to me, there, for awhile, but he can't really know that for sure. Somehow, someway, he'll contact me or try to gauge my reaction."

Grace cleared her throat. All eyes turned towards her. She looked uncomfortable, but she spoke. "That's how you get his attention, Jane. You have to make yourself very unapproachable, but not totally. This person want's to torment you. If he can't see you, he can't do things to you, directly that is."

Lisbon nodded. "That could work. Tonight, you leave by the tunnel exit. We'll disguise you, and no one, I mean no one, will know it's you coming out of the other building.

"Huh," Jane grunted. "Tunnel exit?"

Lisbon smiled. "See? Even you didn't know about it."

"What about my car? When I don't leave as expected, he'll watch it," Jane said.

"We'll create a distraction. Cho or Wayne can move your car to underground storage. It'll look like it vanished or you managed to sneak off in it when he's not watching."

Jane smiled. "A game of hide and seek. I like it. Let's do it!"

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