When You're the Target
Chapter Five

Patrick nervously looked around. Not 30 minutes ago, his stalker had been in that building. He entered, feeling reasonably confident that the mystery man was long gone and that the alert CBI agents could protect him. Still – it was disconcerting knowing that someone has been stalking you through the scope of a rifle.

Entering the supposedly vacant apartment, he paused and scanned the room. It was an "inexpensive" studio apartment, eating area on one side, foldout bed on the other. The center of the wall featured a window that offered a view of his normal abode. "You find anything," he addressed to Lisbon.

Lisbon nodded. "We got several partial prints. From the looks of things, he's used this place more than once. You may notice the smell of tobacco. He's a smoker. We found a cigarette filter under the corner of the bed. It looks like, in cleaning up, he may have swept it there and not realized it. We're hoping to get some DNA from it, but that'll only help if his DNA is on record, of course."

Jane nodded. "I'm surprised he used this place more than once. It seems that he was more rattled than I realized. That is a major error on his part. AND," Jane smiled, "he stayed here long enough for you to trace him. I'm even more surprised that he made that big of a mistake."

"Your trick with the lights rattled him," Cho offered. "Bet he lost track of time arguing with you."

Patrick smiled. "That worked better than I thought, too. At every step, I've overestimated this guy. I keep expecting more from him, somehow."

Lisbon looked concerned. "What are the chances he's playing you, Jane?"

Patrick shrugged. "I guess it's possible, but from what I'm seeing here, I doubt it. Look at how things are arranged." He wave his hand, indicating the room. "Everything is neatly and symmetrically arranged." He pointed to a cabinet. "Open that. I'll bet you there is some sort of obvious organization, there."

Grace reached up and opened the indicated cabinet, that was over the small apartment stove. Everyone smiled as they saw that the boxes, inside, had been arranged by size, larger to the left, descending to smaller on the right. Everyone smiled.

"Told you so!" Jane grinned. "He's obsessive, that's obvious. Obsessive, but not nearly as clever as he deems himself to be. See?" He pointed to the open cabinet.

Everyone focused their eyes on the intended target, looking confused. Rigsby squinted and peered as closely as he could. "See what, Jane? Looks neat to me."

"Yes, yes, yes, it neat, but there are several boxes that are the same size. Don't you see? There's no order to them. I'd expect them to be alphabetical, at least, but they appear to be random. He's obsessive, but not clever enough to have that minute attention to detail that some have. That's why I say he'd not as clever as he thinks he is. He misses things." Jane smiled, happy with his observations.

Lisbon nodded. "Let's just hope he keeps missing you!"

Jane grunted. "Thanks for the reminder Teresa. I needed that."

"I'm sorry, Jane, I didn't mean that as a dig at you." She looked genuinely contrite. "I really meant it. You might be a pain in the ass, but you're our pain in the ass. We've gotten used to having you around."

Jane smiled, obviously taking pleasure in her expression of affection. "I knew it. You really do secretly love me." He grinned widely, looking very pleased.

oOo

Back at the office, Jane was clearly unhappy. Shaking his head, he said, "No, no, no! There is no way you can pull this off. I will not mingle with the public, wearing a vest that can stop a 7.62 match grade round. First of all, I'd be miserable and misery is not my forte. Second, you can't really keep me safe and thirdly, innocent civilians would be in jeopardy. I'm not going to be party to that."

Lisbon nodded. "Yes, your objections are valid. You will be miserable wearing that vest, but it's a new model and not nearly as bad as the old one. You won't look nearly as chubby." She smiled, remembering the last time they'd had him wear a vest. He'd complained for a week.

"As for keeping you safe, remember Buto? We kept him alive, now didn't we. In fact, if we'd listened to you, he'd simply be a black mark on our record, now."

Jane did look embarrassed. "I'll give you that, Lisbon. You called that one right and handled it beautifully."

"And," she interrupted, "we'll do just as well for you! We actually want to keep you alive. We were good at what we do before you came with us and we've gotten better with you. We can do this!"

Patrick smiled at the praise. He loved it when Lisbon recognized his talents. He sighed. "I'll consider it," he offered in an conciliatory manner.

Lisbon stood and faced him, nose to nose. "Jane, you will be there. That is not a request. That is not an order. That is a simple statement of fact. You will be there!"

"And if I refuse," he shot back.

"If you are so arrogant as to refuse, I'll direct Cho to do whatever it takes to get you there. That will included rendering you painfully unconscious if necessary." She stamped her foot. "I will keep you alive."

Jane stepped back and turned his head to stare at Cho. The grin of satisfaction on Cho's normally impassive face did not make him feel any better. The very determined look on Lisbon's face confirmed his suspicion that they weren't kidding. He'd seen Cho in action and had no doubt that Cho could take him anywhere he wanted to. He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach and his knees felt weak.

"OK, OK, I'll be there," he said, trying to save face. "If I can't trust you, who can I trust?"

oOo