A Trail of Stones

Horatio opened Jessica's locker and looked at the three lab coats hanging inside. He held one in his hands and matched the torn piece of fabric to where the name Stone should have been. Horatio didn't understand why Jessica had torn the name from her lab coats. He sighed and gently replaced the lab coat. Ryan walked over to him and leaned against the next locker.

"What do you think it means?" he quietly asked Horatio.

Horatio sighed and shut the door to Jessica's locker. "Maybe it's like when she was a kid."

"How's that?" Ryan quietly inquired.

"She used to hide when she was a kid," Horatio explained, "But she always left me a trail of stones."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

Horatio smiled as he looked down at the scraps of fabric in his hand. "Because she wanted me to be able to find her again."

Horatio's computer on his desk rang as a request for a video conference popped up. He didn't recognize the number but accepted the call anyways. Agent Lisbon's angry face filled the screen as she scowled at Horatio.

"Lieutenant Caine," she hissed, "What does your daughter think she's doing stealing from one of my agents?!"

Horatio looked at her flabbergasted. "Excuse me? My daughter's stolen something from you?"

"No, not from me, from Agent Rigsby!" Lisbon exclaimed, "He just checked his bank account and discovered that there's more than $800 missing from his account! We managed to trace it back to your daughter's computer and I demand to know what business your daughter has stealing from my agent!"

Horatio stared at her shocked. "No, this can't be right, Jessica would never steal."

Horatio watched as Patrick Jane wandered into the background behind Lisbon. He smiled at the computer screen and leaned forward towards Horatio.

"Lieutenant Caine," he said, "It's so good to see you again."

"Not now Jane!" Lisbon snapped, "Can't you see I'm in the middle of a very important phone call?!"

"Oh dear, has Red John made it to Miami?" Patrick asked sarcastically.

"No, Lieutenant Caine's daughter stole money from Rigsby!" Lisbon snapped.

"My daughter has never stolen anything in her life!" Horatio retorted. Ryan jumped at the sound of Horatio's angry voice as he walked into his boss's office. He walked behind the desk and looked at Jane and Lisbon's faces on the screen.

"Officer Wolfe!" Patrick excitedly said, "Good to see you!"

"Shut up Jane!" Lisbon snapped, "Rigsby, good, you're here."

"Yeah, is that Caine?" a male voice asked as Agent Rigsby came into view. "What the hell? Where's my money?" he snapped at Horatio.

"I assure you, Agent Lisbon, my daughter is not a thief," Horatio said, trying to calm himself. "I don't know what evidence you have that Jessica has stolen from Agent Rigsby, but I can guarantee you Jessica would never steal."

"Of course she didn't steal," Patrick said, "It was only a loan."

Lisbon's head snapped towards Patrick. "What?! A loan?!"

"Yeah, Lieutenant Caine froze Dr. Caine's account so I lifted his credit card number so she could buy a plane ticket out of Sacramento to…well, where ever it was she was going. Then he froze his own account after Jessica hacked him and she was out of cash. So I lifted Rigsby's credit card number and gave it to her."

"I'm sorry, you what?!" Lisbon snapped.

"Well I don't have a credit card so I couldn't give her the money unless I wired it to her, and I couldn't do that without revealing her location. So I took Rigsby's."

"You gave her my credit card?" Rigsby yelled.

"Well yeah, you were right there when I was talking to her on the phone so I figured why not?"

"How am I supposed to get my money back?" Rigsby snapped at him.

"Well I suppose if Lieutenant Caine unfroze Dr. Caine's account then she would return the money immediately."

Horatio sighed and opened a new window on his computer. He went to his bank account and typed a few commands.

"There," he finally said, "I just unfroze her account."

Rigsby's phone chirped and he pulled it out to find a message. "Can I use your computer, boss?""

Lisbon sighed and pushed back from her desk. "Fine," she muttered.

Rigsby typed on the keyboard and stared at the screen. His eyes grew twice in size as he read something on the screen Horatio couldn't see.

"It's back," he muttered, "My money's back. And there's another thousand dollars that wasn't there before."

"See," Patrick said, "Told you it was a loan. She said she would pay it back with interest as soon as her account was unfrozen again."

Lisbon sighed and rubbed her temples. "I can't believe you sometimes, Jane," she muttered.

"So, since Agent Rigsby's money has been returned I believe an apology is in order," Horatio said.

Lisbon looked at him on the computer screen and sighed. "I'm sorry about the inconvenience and accusations, Lieutenant Caine," she quietly said.

Horatio smiled at her. "It's quite alright, Agent Lisbon," he said. "I knew Jessica wasn't a thief. It was all just one big misunderstanding."

"You, however," Lisbon snapped as she grabbed Patrick's vest, "I will feel no shame in beating the shit out of you."

"Oh, that's my favorite game," Patrick said with a sly smile.

Lisbon rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry about the misunderstanding, again, Lieutenant Caine," she said with a forced smile. "It was nice to see you again, and you Officer Wolfe. I hope you find Dr. Caine soon."

"Oh they will alright," Patrick said as he slipped out of his vest Lisbon had a death grip on.

"Jane!" Lisbon yelled as she ran after him.

Rigsby shook his head. "Have a good afternoon, Lieutenant," he said as he ended the phone conference.

"Like wise, Agent Rigsby," Horatio said just before the call ended.

"Officer Wolfe!" Henry called out to Ryan. Ryan stopped and walked over to him.

"Hey Henry, what's up?" he asked as he approached the desk.

"You have a delivery," Henry said as he pulled out his clipboard with the mail pick up form.

"Someone sent me something?" Ryan inquired as he searched for his name.

"Many somethings," Henry said as he disappeared into the back room. Moments later he emerged pushing a dolly stacked high with several boxes. Ryan stared at him with his mouth gaping at the sight of the cardboard boxes.

"Here's the first load," Henry said. "Would you like some help getting them to your apartment?"

"I'm sorry," Ryan muttered, "The first load?"

"Yes, there's at least three other dollies in there full of boxes with your name on them."

Ryan was shocked. He walked over and lifted the smallest box from the top of the stack. He read his name printed on it with the address to his new condo. Under his name was a message that said "Do not open until May 20th. Or Jessica comes home. Which ever comes first?" Greg Sanders's name and address were listed as the return address.

Ryan released an exasperated breathe as he set the box back on top. "Just take 'em up, Henry," he said, pulling out his phone.

"Sanders," the voice on the other end mumbled.

"Greg, what is the meaning of this?" Ryan hissed, "What the hell did you send me?"

Greg chuckled as Ryan listened to him type on the other end. "I can't tell you," he said.

"Why not?" Ryan snapped.

"Because Jelly told me to keep it a secret," Greg chuckled.

Ryan sighed and rubbed his eyes. "This is Jessica's idea?"

"Well not really," Greg said. "She left them at my place but I decided to send them to you."

Ryan sighed again, rather annoyed with Greg's eluding to facts. "Whatever, Greg," he muttered before he hung up.