A/N: So sorry for the delay with this chapter but first my keyboard pack up and then my mouse did too! Anyway, it's here now and I hope you all like it :) To those that have reviewed but didn't sign in, thank you very much! I really appreciate you taking the time to review - it makes me want to write quicker! To those who did sign in, thank you very much too and I'll be getting back to personally, as always, really soon!
CHAPTER 7
Jane deftly caught Lisbon as she slumped forward and simply held her limp body tight against his for a moment. Relief and joy mixed with a healthy dose of fear and worry flooded his system and he closed his eyes, reassuring himself that he could feel the steady rhythm of her heart thumping in her chest. Without thinking, he turned his head slightly to place a soft kiss against her temple. She was alive and he'd found her. He'd work everything else out somehow.
"You need any help?" asked Cho as he appeared by the consultant's side.
"No," Jane replied, pulling away from Lisbon quickly to open his eyes and look at the other man. "I've got her."
Cho's lips quirked up slightly and he nodded. Jane gently manoeuvred Lisbon, keeping one arm about her shoulders as he slipped his other under her legs then picked her up.
He carried her along the sidewalk ignoring the interested looks of passers-by as they made their way to the station. While they walked, Cho called Rigsby and told him that they'd found Lisbon.
They approached Meyer who looked at the unconscious woman in concern. "Should I call an ambulance?"
"No, she's just fainted," replied Jane. "Let's get her inside."
Meyer held the door to the station open and stood back to let them through, saying, "There's a couch in the break room just to your left."
Van Pelt looked up as they entered and let out a gasp of surprise as she saw whom Jane was carrying. She got up and went over, standing by as the consultant carefully laid his precious load down on the soft cushions.
"You found her," she said in wonder. "Is she alright? What happened?"
Jane perched himself on the edge of the seat next to Lisbon as Cho relayed everything to Van Pelt. Unable to relinquish contact with her completely, he still held on to one of her hands, his thumb lightly rubbing back and forth over her pulse point. Reaching out with his free hand, he gently brushed some of her hair back off her face then trailed his fingers down until they came to a rest against her cheek. He knew everyone was watching him but his need to touch her far outweighed his desire for being cautious. He didn't care that he was giving himself away. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was her.
Suddenly, she let out a low moan and moved her head more into his touch. Jane tensed and relished the warmth of her skin for a few seconds more, then reluctantly removed his hand as her eyes flickered open. He'd seen a hint of recognition in her eyes before she'd fainted and holding Lisbon's hand when she came around would be far easier to explain away than cradling her cheek.
Sarah fought through the thick fogginess and eventually opened her eyes. Bright lights swam hazily in front of her for a few seconds then a room and the people crowded around her came into sharp focus as she looked around groggily, her gaze finally settling on Jane. Her eyes widened in recognition and she found herself on the receiving end of a dazzling smile. What was he doing here? How was he here? Was she still asleep? Was he a hallucination?
"Hey," the blond greeted softly. "How are you feeling?"
She frowned, the pain in her head still present as she tried to work through her confusion. "OK," she answered, attempting to sit up. The movement caused a swift bout of dizziness that caused her to gasp. Shutting her eyes, she placed her free hand to her forehead and waited for the spinning to stop before slowly opening them again. "What happened?"
"You fainted," said her dream man. "I caught you."
She stared at him, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Is this another dream?" she asked looking around uncertainly. She still felt a little woozy and couldn't quite comprehend what was happening.
If anything, his smile brightened even more. "You've been dreaming about me?" he asked.
"Yes…no!" she contradicted herself, mortified at what she'd let slip. She felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment under his amused gaze and snapped irritably, "I mean…who are you?"
She saw the smile fade away and a look of dismay take its place. Instead of answering her straight away, he leaned forward and stared deeply into her eyes as he waved his free hand in front of her face. Whatever he saw there obviously didn't please him and her annoyance rose a notch as she attempted to bat his hand away and realised that he was holding her other hand.
"What are you doing?" she demanded to know, pulling away from him. Did this man not understand personal boundaries? He was far too close and his proximity had her on edge. The unaccountable urge to flee kicked in again and she moved her legs, almost pushing him off the couch so that she might sit up properly.
The consultant felt bereft at the loss of contact but stood and watched her move until she sat bunched right up against one end of the couch looking tiny, lost and a little bit frightened. For a moment there when he'd seen that she'd recognised him, he'd actually dared hope that Lisbon was back. That just seeing his face had been enough. That'd it'd all be so damn easy for once. Deep down, however, he'd known that was mere optimism on his part, but he'd clung to it nonetheless.
He stared down at her in contemplation, putting all the pieces together in his mind before saying, "I'm Patrick Jane, this is Agent Cho and Agent Van Pelt of the California Bureau of Investigations. Does that mean anything to you?"
She shook her head in negation, a flicker of pain flashing across her features so quickly Jane barely caught it. "Should it?" she queried in concern. "Am I in some kind of trouble?"
"What about if I said the name, Red John? Does that mean anything?" he pressed, ignoring her question. The pain registered on her face again and she closed her eyes then pinched the bridge of her nose in a gesture that was so Lisbon the consultant felt his heart skip a beat. There she was, just hovering beneath the surface.
"Only what I've heard on the news," she answered, opening her eyes once more. "Why?"
"Do you know the name Teresa Lisbon?" he asked, watching her carefully.
"No, no I don't" she replied almost immediately before closing her eyes again and rubbing her temples to ease the obvious ache. "Could you stop asking me all these questions, please? My head's really hurting."
From Jane's side, Cho let out a quiet snort. "Ironic. Even when she doesn't remember you, you still give her a headache."
The consultant shot the agent an annoyed glance then turned to Van Pelt. "Grace, would you mind…?" he asked softly, indicating with a dart of his eyes in the other woman's direction that he wanted her to look after Lisbon for a moment.
"Sure," she agreed readily.
As Van Pelt moved away, Jane turned took Cho's arm and pulled him outside into the office so that she wouldn't overhear.
"She's definitely been hypnotised and had a suggestion planted," he confirmed grimly.
The agent nodded, already realising as much. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to bring her out of it," he replied with more confidence than he actually felt.
"Right, because you managed that so well with Rigsby," Cho muttered wryly.
Trust Cho to go for the jugular. "OK, I'll admit that didn't quite work out as I'd hoped but I got there in the end, didn't I?" the consultant responded defensively. "Anyway, I don't have much choice now, do I? If I don't find the trigger then I'll never get Lisbon back. It's not an option."
"Don't you mean, we'll never get her back?" the agent corrected sardonically.
"Meh…semantics," Jane dismissed as he turned away and looked around for the sketch of Adams. Seeing it on Van Pelt's borrowed desk, he went over and picked it up, dislodging the missing persons photo of Lisbon in the process and it fell unnoticed to the floor. He turned back to Cho. "Besides, I'm not going to try anything now. Those headaches are a direct result of her trying to break down the wall Red John put up in her head. If I push too hard after the way she passed out like that, I'm worried I could do some permanent damage. I need to have some time alone with her where I can take it slow and figure out exactly what he's done. Until then, finding Adams is our main priority. I have a feeling he's going to come after her soon. Tonight even. We need to be prepared."
Fearing the same, Cho nodded and followed close behind as they headed back to the two women; only for them to both be waylaid by Meyer and another officer they didn't recognise.
"Agent Cho, Mr. Jane, this is my superior, Sergeant Harding," he introduced.
Although eager to be gone, both men nodded and shook hands with the other policeman.
"Sam's just brought me up to speed with the situation. I'm sorry to hear that your girl has got amnesia," said Harding, seemingly directing the last comment to the consultant.
Jane looked at him, a mild frown puckering his brow at the other man's choice of words. "Are you? Well, don't worry, it won't be for long, I'll soon have her memory back," he replied archly, noting with interest a slight tightening of the other man's mouth.
"Really?" Harding retorted, annoyed by Jane's smug tone. "And just how are you going to do that? Snap your fingers and, 'hey presto', she remembers?"
Jane's eyes widened slightly at the reference to magical abilities and couldn't decide if the cop's comments were just dumb luck or whether there was something more to them. Either way, it rankled. "Something like that," he agreed, blithely, not letting his feelings show.
There was a pause then Harding suddenly grinned at him widely. "Well, that's good then!"
The consultant noticed that it didn't quite reach his eyes and adopted a similar grin. "Yes, it is," he retorted dryly. "I have to go now."
The policemen nodded, his fake smile fading quickly before he, along with a bemused Meyer, turned and walked away. The consultant stared after him for a moment, his own falsely pleasant countenance morphing into open dislike.
"What was that about?" Cho queried.
Jane shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure. But I can tell you he wasn't happy about Lisbon possibly getting her memory back. I'd keep an eye on him."
"Nah, he's probably just pissed because you were such a jerk," Cho dismissed with a shrug before carrying on into the break room.
Jane raised his eyebrows and nodded in acknowledgement of that fact then turned and followed the agent. Once inside the room he dragged over a chair and sat down in front of Lisbon holding up the drawing for her to see. "Do you recognise this man?"
"Yes," she replied in surprise, taking the picture from him. "I met him at a bar last night. He tried to hit on me but I left. He gave me the creeps."
Jane and Cho shared a look then the agent asked, "Do you know his name?"
"He said it was Tyler," she answered, her brow scrunching as she a worried look crossed her face. "Why? Is he dangerous?"
"Yes," the consultant responded immediately. "Very dangerous. He's murdered four women already and we believe you're next."
"Jane!" Van Pelt admonished, aghast at his bluntness. Beside her, Lisbon had let out a gasp of horror and she automatically reached out to touch her arm in order to provide some comfort.
"I'm just telling her the truth, Grace," he defended sharply. "And it means she'll have to stay in protective custody until we catch him."
Realising his ploy to keep Lisbon close, Van Pelt relented a little but still gave him another stern look as she turned to the woman next to her. "Would you like a coffee or something?" she asked.
Lisbon nodded dumbly, trying to take in everything that had happened in the last half an hour. One minute she'd been happily looking forward to moving into a new apartment the next she was the potential victim of some psycho killer. Her head swirled with questions and no answers that made any sense. She was certain that there was something else they were keeping from her but she couldn't figure out what it was. They way they looked at her and each other, it was as if there was some big, dark secret they weren't telling her, and frankly after hearing that a murderer was after her nothing could be as bad as that, right?
And she didn't even want to think about her dream man and how he affected her. Like how he sat across from her now, just staring at her with a look of such tenderness emanating from his beautiful blue eyes that it almost took her breath away. Her dreams hadn't nearly done him justice she realised, letting her gaze roam slowly over his handsome face. What she wouldn't do to run her hands through his hair…and elsewhere. His expression altered suddenly, his eyes taking on a heat that darkened them drastically as his lips curved up slowly into a positively devilish, knowing smile that gave her the disconcerting feeling that he'd somehow read her mind.
Clearing her throat slightly, she tried to break the sudden tension between them and asked, "Why is he coming after me?"
"You've got red hair," Jane informed her after a moments pause. His expression had changed once again as his gaze shifted to her long locks and now he seemed almost…sad.
"That's it?" she ventured in amazement. "Because of the colour of my hair?"
"It's his M.O.," Cho interjected flatly. "But don't worry, Ms. Parsons, we'll look after you."
Lisbon dragged her gaze away from the blond and acknowledged what the agent said with a nod. Van Pelt came back with her coffee that she gratefully accepted and brought to her lips. Taking a sip, however, its bitter taste had her pulling a disgusted face.
"Sorry," the female agent apologised.
"No, it's fine, thank you," she assured her with a small smile before looking back at the two men again. "So, what happens now?"
Before they could speak, Cho's cellphone rang. He answered it then looked at Jane and motioned for him to follow as he turned and left the room. The consultant mumbled a quick 'sorry' then hurried out and looked at the agent worriedly as Cho turned to him, closing his phone with a snap. His face was grim. "That was Danville PD," he said in a low voice. "Johnson's dead. Killed himself."
Jane stared at him in shock. "What? No, that doesn't make sense. You heard him, he wasn't suicidal, he was completely the opposite." His brow furrowed as it struck him how this was reminiscent of Red John and his overt desire to keep his disciples from talking by killing them off if they ever got caught. "Apart from me, who did Johnson talk to today?" he asked suddenly.
"I'll check."
While Cho made the call, Rigsby entered the station then pulled up short when he glanced at the break room and saw Lisbon sitting there with Van Pelt. He was about to go in when Jane called him over.
"How is she?" asked the agent, still looking back at Lisbon.
"She's fine apart from the hypnosis," Jane answered. "But don't worry, once we've caught Adams, I'll sort that out."
Rigsby turned and gave the consultant a sceptical look before huffing out sardonically, "Yeah, right."
Jane rolled his eyes at the level of doubt that was being directed at him over his abilities. "Don't worry, Rigsby, I'm sure Lisbon will be far more receptive to me…touching her in certain places than you were."
The agent's sudden expression of horror mixed with embarrassment had Jane grinning in delight. Rigsby was so easy.
"OK, the only people that went into Johnson's cell were cops," Cho announced as he finished his call. "They're going to go through the footage and email over screen caps of them all."
"There's no need, I'm guessing Adams will be one of them," said Jane, back to business once more. "There's probably a dead cop laying in an alleyway somewhere without his uniform."
Seeing Rigsby's curious look, Cho quickly explained what had happened to Johnson. "So what do we do now?" the tall agent asked.
"Now…we use Lisbon as bait," Jane stated quietly.
"No, we don't," Cho refused immediately.
"Yes, Cho, we do," the blond insisted. "It's the only way to draw Adams out. She won't be in any danger, we'll all be there to make sure of that. You know I'm right."
Cho sighed through his nose. The consultant was right unfortunately. "OK, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," he agreed grudgingly.
"Me either, believe me, and if there were any other way I'd be the first to suggest it but we really don't have any time or choice in the matter," Jane pointed out logically. "Adams got to Johnson and now, I guarantee you, he's on his way here to complete Red John's final masterpiece."
The agent wanted to disagree but deep down he knew that Jane made sense. "I'll get Van Pelt to wait here for the screen caps from Danville while we take Lisbon back to her motel," he decided. "Better let Meyer and Harding know what's going on as well in case we need some back-up."
Jane nodded and went back to where Lisbon still sat on the couch finishing up her coffee. Van Pelt stood up as he returned then excused herself and went to Cho who had been gesturing to her through the window.
Once they were alone, Jane stood in front of her and looked down into her big green eyes. "We're going to take you back to your motel now," he said with a charming smile.
"You are? But what about Tyler?" she asked with some trepidation.
"Don't worry, I've got a plan. It'll only be a matter of time before we get him," he told her confidently. "Trust me, I won't let anything happen to you."
His words were purposefully light but from the intensity of his eyes she could tell he meant what he said. This man would protect her, she was certain of it. "I do trust you," she said softly.
His smile faded at her words. Such a simple sentence that conveyed so much faith. For years, Lisbon had never completely trusted him even when he'd started to include her in his little games. To have her say it to him now when she wasn't herself, was bittersweet.
"You ready?" came Cho's voice from the doorway.
Jane looked at him and saw that the agent had a mildly curious expression on his face as if he wondered if he'd interrupted something. "Yes," the consultant replied, ready smile back in place.
"No, I…uh…need to use the bathroom first," she explained, looking a little uncomfortable at the admission.
"Sure. We'll wait for you outside," Cho said.
She nodded then picked up her purse and walked to the back of the station to use the facilities. On her way back, she noticed a photo lying on the floor by Van Pelt's purloined desk. Seeing that the agent was making herself a drink in the break room, she automatically bent down and picked it up. She meant to place it back on top of the desk but when she glanced down at it, she let out a small gasp of shock. Her own face was staring back at her.
She quickly scanned the details that were written on the bottom, the name Teresa Lisbon screaming back at her from the page. Questions whirled around in her head as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She looked up at Van Pelt again and saw that the woman was finishing her task and about to turn. Without thinking, she hurriedly stuffed the picture into her purse and headed towards the exit to join the men.
END CHAPTER 7
A/N: As usual, please let me know what you think!