Thank you to two great writers and friends, make-mine-a-kiaora and Sue Shay, for their help. Be sure to check out their stories - I have favorited them in my profile for easy access.

I do not own the TV show The Mentalist and get no compensation from it. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.


Chapter 2 - "You Can't Make Old Friends"


Two months later…

Grace Van Pelt, her husband Wayne Rigsby, and their old friend Kimball Cho had unpacked boxes on their own for an hour. Their friend and old boss from CBI, Cannon River Police Chief Teresa Lisbon, had gotten a call about a disturbance at the local park. Feeling guilty about leaving the three of them working at her new house while she tended to police business, she promised to return as soon as possible. None of the three held it against her though. While it was a "working vacation" for the trio helping with the move, they enjoyed the reunion and spending time with each other and with Lisbon and Patrick Jane.

"Where've you been?" Grace asked as Wayne and Kimball sauntered into the living room.

"We finished unloading the lawn chairs from the U-haul and were taking a break to try 'em out." Her husband was downing the remnants of a candy bar as he spoke.

Grace wouldn't get mad at the two men; they had been best friends while at CBI. Wayne knew more about Kimball than anyone in their group, and Wayne told her that something worried him about their old friend. What that something was he couldn't fathom though, but it had to do with his FBI job. Since their arrival in Cannon River, Wayne had spent extra time with Kimball. Grace hoped Kimball would open up to her husband about what troubled him. Alas, Wayne reported that all he could find out was that something had happened to their friend, something big that made Kimball Cho draw within himself more than normal. Wayne wouldn't give up, but he knew he couldn't press.

Grace shook herself out of those thoughts. While unpacking for Teresa, she had come across a day-brightner for the trio.

"Guys, look what I found." Grace motioned for the men to see the contents of a box she had just opened. On the side of the box scrawled in marker ink, Teresa had written, "photos - bedroom table."

"I remember this," said Kimball as he lifted out the photo on top. "It's from when we first won the 'CBI Team of the Year' award." He brushed some dust off the frame as Wayne and Grace looked over his shoulder.

"Look at us. You, Wayne and me, Teresa and Jane. All standing around that trophy. It seems like a lifetime ago."

"Hey, look at this one," said Wayne as he lifted out the second picture in the stack, a more recent one.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Grace said as she looked at the wedding photo of Teresa Lisbon and Patrick Jane.

Kimball got a serious look on his face.

"The other day Jane told me that he first planned to go to South America after he fled Sacramento."

"South America?"

"Yeah, to some country that didn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S."

"What made him change his plans?"

Kimball glanced at Grace before he answered her.

"You can guess. Jane told me that he couldn't bear the thought of waking up each day knowing he'd never see Teresa again."

"So he concocted the whole 'Professor Marbray' ruse just so he could be near her?" asked Wayne. "It had to cost a bundle of money to do that."

"Yep," Kimball replied.

"Ahh, guys, that's so romantic, Jane doing all of that for Teresa. And protecting her too."

"Hey, this must be from the day Charlie was born." Cho tapped a fleck of dust off a third picture of Lisbon in a hospital bed cradling her newborn son as she leaned into Jane's embrace. The two parents smiled down at their baby.

Grace pulled out the fourth photo in the stack and stared at a scene from another wedding. In that one Lisbon and Jane flanked a young married couple. Lisbon was hugging the bride and Jane was slapping the groom on his shoulder. By their relaxed body language, Grace could tell all four of them were close.

"Who's this couple? It's gotta be fairly recent because of Jane's facial hair, sometime since Teresa and Jane came to Cannon River."

"The guy is one of her police officers here. His name's Henry. He got a confession out of that hitman hired to kill Teresa," said Cho. "He did a masterful job. Jane coached him. Now he splits time between working for Teresa and going to school at Deverell College. His wife's an EMT who works with the police a lot." Cho looked at his watch. "In a few minutes you'll get to meet him. Henry's helping Jane bring over some stuff that Jane kept in storage at Deverell."

"There's an inscription across the photo. What does it say, Grace?" asked Wayne.

After wiping down the glass surface on the frame, she cleared her throat and read it aloud:

"To our good friends and mentors Teresa Lisbon and Archie Marbray -

Thank you for bringing us together!

- Your friends, Annabelle Estes and Henry Karson"

At that moment, the sound of shoes scuffing across the hardwood floor drew the trio's attention. Patrick Jane himself entered followed by a thin twenty-something. From the photo they'd just looked at, Grace recognized the young man as Henry. Each man carried a stack of college textbooks that tottered back-and-forth on the verge of spilling onto the floor. Peeking over his load, Henry strained to get Jane's attention before he dropped everything.

"Professor Marbray, where do you want these?" His voice quavered under the weight of the books.

"On the far shelf will be fine, Henry," replied Jane.


To be continued.


Author's notes:

Ryan Hanna King, Don Schlitz, and Caitlyn Smith wrote "You Can't Make Old Friends." Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' recording appears on Dolly's 2014 album, Blue Smoke.