Red in Tooth

By Thalia Drogna

Author's Note: A little bit of a long wait for this one, but it's here now. Finding time to write is hard with Christmas coming up. Once again, many thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows.

Grace Van Pelt was marshalling some pretty annoyed and bored people, who had turned up to a crime scene and ended up at a snake hunt. Animal control had called in reinforcements since a man's life was at stake and the snake was proving to be so elusive, which meant that there were now five people prowling the room looking for the snake. The forensics team were complaining about losing evidence with every passing moment, and the coroner was debating whether it was worth heading back to the office to return later.

Finally, one of the men shouted out "I've got it." That wasn't the end of it though, as all he'd done was found its location in the room. It took them another ten minutes to actually capture the angry snake and secure it in a suitable tank. At which point everyone was allowed back into the room so that they could all do their jobs.

Van Pelt headed straight for the animal control team leader. "Do you know what species it is?"

"Tom's the expert," said the man. "What do you think?"

The bearded man referred to as "Tom" examined the snake in the tank for a long moment; it was brown with a sort of diamond shaped pattern on its back. "I'd say it's a Long-nose Viper. That means it could have been a lot worse for your guy in the hospital, but it'll depend on how bad the bite was. I wish I had a second opinion from the guy on the floor though. He knew everything there was to know about snakes."

Van Pelt looked a little surprised, as she pulled out her phone. "You knew him?"

Tom nodded. "Anyone who keeps snakes in this area knew Marcus."

"Just give me a moment and I'd like to hear more. I need to let the hospital know what the snake is." Van Pelt pressed the speed dial for her boss. The phone rang several times before it was answered.

Lisbon's voice sounded strained as she spoke. "Van Pelt, please tell me that you know what kind of snake this was."

"Yes, Boss. It was a Long-nosed Viper," said Van Pelt, to an audible sigh of relief at the other end of the phone. Tom scribbled a note on a piece of paper and handed it to Van Pelt. She glanced at the snake expert and then tried to pronounce what he'd written. "Uh, vipera ammodytes is the Latin name apparently." She then had to spell it out so that Lisbon could write it down.

"Thanks, Van Pelt. I'll call you back in a few minutes."

She hung up, probably off to contact whoever it was that could get Jane the right antivenin. She turned back to Tom, but her phone rang again. It was Rigsby.

"Grace, we're back at the office. We couldn't find the paperwork at the pet store, but we did find a suspect, Kumiko Hatayama. She was responsible for processing the paperwork but ran before we could question her. We think the snake was imported illegally. The pet store manager, Barnes, gave us her payroll address, but she's not there. We're going to see what we can track down on her," said Rigsby.

"I'll be on my way back soon too. They caught the snake. I've just given Lisbon the details. It turns out one of the animal control guys knew Addison, so I'm going to talk to him before I head back," Van Pelt glanced towards Tom.

"Okay, ask him what he knows about the illegal import business around here, but don't take too long, we could use you on the computers. Did Lisbon say anything about how Jane's doing?"

"Not really, she just said she'd call back in a few minutes. I guess she needs to get the information about the snake to the right people."

"Yeah, I expect so. Keep us in the loop, okay?"

"Okay, I'll see you later," said Van Pelt. With the conversation over, she put her phone away and turned back to Tom. "What can you tell me about the victim?"

Tom gave a half shrug. "He was a well-respected snake expert. I've been around here a couple of times to see his snakes. He had one of the best collections outside a zoo. Some of them came from zoos that were being shut down. I bought a snake from his store last year, it was a fine specimen and we did all the paperwork together. He cared for all of his animals really well."

Van Pelt nodded. "Did you ever have reason to think that he was importing snakes illegally?"

"Marcus?" Tom shook his head, but paused a moment. "Actually, there is one in his collection. A Gabon Viper." He pointed to the tank that contained it. "It turned up one day and he said he'd got it from a private collection, because the owner had died. I asked him who it was and he said he couldn't remember the name, which seemed kind of strange, but I didn't really think much of it at the time. It's illegal to import Gabon Vipers, they're endangered, but he could have had one that someone else had already imported illegally I guess. There are procedures that he'd have to go through to get the paperwork sorted, but he'd done it for some of the ones that came from zoos. He'd have it filed somewhere here or maybe at the store."

"My colleagues and I couldn't find the paperwork for this snake, here or at the store." Van Pelt had done a thorough search of the victim's home office while the animal control guys were cornering the snake.

"That's strange. If he'd imported a Long-nosed Viper he would have needed permits."

"Where did he import his snakes from?" asked Van Pelt.

"He had a guy that he dealt with, his name's Juan Romanos. He's a snake importer, based in San Francisco I think but he has an office in Sacramento. He's got a lot of international contacts."

Van Pelt made a note of the name. "Do you know Kumiko Hatayama?"

Tom nodded, looking a little surprised to be asked about the shop assistant. "Sure, she works at one of Marcus' stores in town. She's pretty knowledgeable about the reptiles and I think Marcus has been training her in how to keep and handle the venomous snakes."

"Can you think of any reason why she'd run from my colleagues?" asked Van Pelt.

"Er, I know she used to run with a tough crowd, but Marcus reckoned she was all straightened out. Do you think she was mixed up in something illegal? Importing snakes illegally? I know it goes on, but I'd never have thought Marcus would get into that sort of thing. The stores were doing well and he knew that illegally imported snakes are treated pretty badly. A lot of them turn up dead on arrival. He looked after his snakes, I mean look at this place. There are snakes in zoos that don't have it this good."

Van Pelt had to agree. Each snake had its own large tank with pieces of branch or whatever habitat was appropriate for the individual species. She took out a card and handed it to Tom. "If you think of anything else that might be relevant, please give me a call."

Tom fished in his pocket and handed Van Pelt one of his own cards. "Okay. If you have any questions about the snake, then you can get in touch with me here."

Van Pelt added the card to her wallet, nodding gratefully. The animal control team headed for their van with the snake. The CBI agent waited as the coroner loaded the body onto a gurney and Marcus Addison was wheeled away. The forensics guys now had full control over the crime scene and she wasn't needed here any longer. So, with the Addison house holding nothing more for her at the moment, she too headed for her vehicle to begin the drive back to Sacramento.

Lisbon was relieved to get the call from Van Pelt to let her know the identity of the species of the snake that had bit Jane. She'd left the room where Doctor Talavera and her team were trying to stabilise Jane as soon as the phone had started to ring. The last thing she wanted was to distract them while they were working. The consultant's heart had begun to display a serious arrhythmia and Talavera had needed to shock him to bring it back under control. Watching Jane's body jerk as the life-saving electric shock ran through him, was not something that she ever wanted to see again, but they'd had to do it twice more before his heart returned to a normal sinus rhythm. His heart had picked up the beat again and it was then that Grace's call had come through. If it had been anyone other than a member of the team then she would have rejected it, but she was clinging to the hope that the snake had been caught and it seemed they were finally having some luck.

She slipped back into the room. Jane was still unconscious, but at least breathing evenly and the heart monitor's beeping was regular again.

"That was one of my agents, I've got the name of the snake," said Lisbon, holding up the piece of paper on which she had carefully written the Latin name of the snake, as if it were a winning lottery ticket.

"Sarah, go phone that in now," said Talavera to the nurse that was closest to Lisbon. She took the piece of paper and dashed away down the corridor to the nurses' station. Talavera was still focused on her patient. "We need that antivenin stat. He's had fifteen vials of the polyvalent and he's only just holding his own. What was it?"

"A Long-nosed Viper," said Lisbon, her eyes fixed on Jane's leg, which Talavera was now examining. It was swollen and red, the bite itself was still bleeding. "Shouldn't that have stopped bleeding by now?"

"Yes, but the venom has anti-coagulant properties. Compartment syndrome is a worry too. We might have to relieve some of the pressure. I'll avoid it if I can, it would probably mean he'd need surgery to graft new skin, but I'll keep an eye on it."

The nurse returned. "I've got some good news. San Diego zoo keep the antivenin in stock. They've got Long-nosed vipers there. They're arranging for antivenin to be taken to the airport now and it should be with us within an hour."

Lisbon breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

Talavera seemed equally relieved. She picked up Jane's chart and began writing. "Okay, thanks Sarah. Can you change the dressing on the bite?"

The nurse nodded and began the delicate exercise of replacing the dressing on the wound. Jane's skin was damp with sweat, and his blond curls were dark with moisture, lying flat against his head. He was unnaturally still, only his chest moved up and down to indicate that he was alive.

Talavera stepped across the room so that she was beside Lisbon and they could talk. She still had Jane's chart in her hands. "There isn't much for you to do here, Agent Lisbon. He's stable again but I'm not sure if he's going to regain consciousness for a while. It may not even be until the viper antivenin gets to work."

Lisbon sighed. Talavera was basically giving her permission to leave without feeling bad about it. She really wanted to stay here with Jane and be here for him - he had no one else - but equally she was needed by her team. They had a murder to solve. And it was really only in bad soap-operas that people hung around at the bedsides of the unconscious sick. The problem was that he looked so vulnerable, swathed in medical equipment and with skin as pale as the sheets he lay on.

"I do need to check in with my team again and find out what's going on. Then I'll probably have to go in to the office for a while, but I'll be back again as soon as I can get away. If his condition changes at all, please, give me a call," her expression was as serious as she could make it. She really meant the last sentence.

Talavera nodded. "Of course. I'll let you know the moment I have any news. You are aware that you're down as his next of kin and emergency contact on his medical records?"

Lisbon was speechless for a moment. She wondered how it was possible that Jane had never thought to mention this to her, and indeed why it had never come up in conversations with medical professionals before when Jane had been injured. The doctors who treated him for his concussion induced blindness should surely have at least confirmed it with her, but then his life had never been at risk then or before. Even after he nearly drowned, he was on his way to recovering a few hours later and they probably assumed that Lisbon didn't need to be called since she was the one who had fished him out of the water.

"I'm sorry?" she managed. Her eyes were wide with the shock that had set in.

"You're named as the person to contact should anything happen to him. He didn't tell you?"

She simply shook her head, but after a moment's silence began to say out loud some of what she was thinking. "I suppose it makes sense, all his family are dead I think, although there is a brother-in-law… I guess I just assumed there was some long lost relative that he'd want to be contacted…" She paused again. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed logical for it to be her.

"Well it means that you're the first person that I'll call if anything happens, and if anything requires consent you'll need to sign the paperwork. Honestly, now that we have the antivenin on the way, I'm optimistic that it won't come to that."

She nodded again, still rather numb from this revelation and the insight into Patrick Jane's head. She felt both proud that he'd chosen her and sad that she was the closest person that he had to family.

She turned towards the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Lisbon left Jane's room and walked along the corridor. She pulled out her cell and dialled Van Pelt but the red-headed agent didn't answer, so she re-dialled for Cho. He answered on the second ring.

"Jane's stable but unconscious for the moment so I'm coming back to the office. They've got the name of the snake thanks to Van Pelt, and the right antivenin's on its way. Please tell me that we have some suspects lining up for the Addison murder. Jane seems to think that it has something to do with the illegal importing of snakes," said Lisbon.

Cho always sounded matter of fact, but the short pause before he began speaking alerted her to a difficult conversation ahead. "We've been tracking a lead that might have something to do with that. Kumiko Hatayama works at the pet store and when we went there to look into the missing paperwork, she took off. She's got a juvenile record, shoplifting mainly, but nothing since. Her family's a different story. Her brother, Tomio Hatayama, runs with the West Side Bad Boys. He's into drugs and protection rackets. I contacted the Gang Unit and this guy is one of the hard core. It makes sense that she'd go to him if she was in some kind of trouble. We're going to need back-up to take him down and if she's already with him, then he'll know we're coming."

Lisbon sighed. Gang involvement in a murder always made their job that much more difficult and dangerous.

"Okay, get a location for him and I'll arrange the back-up."

"We've already got it, Boss. He's at one of their known hideouts. The Gang Unit have had people tailing the top gang members for a couple of weeks."

"Good, that makes things easier. We need to move quickly on this. Have you heard from Van Pelt?"

"She's on her way back from the crime scene. One of the animal control people knew our victim and she got some information about Addison's snake importer from him. He's got an office in Sacramento."

"We'll follow up with him once we've dealt with Hatayama. You can pick me up from the hospital on the way to the gang's location," said Lisbon.

"Yes, Boss," said Cho. "We'll be there in twenty minutes," he added and rang off.

Lisbon headed out of the hospital, already dialling the number that she would need to organise the extra fire power for the raid.