Author's notes:

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 7 - "You Do Something To Me"


Teresa Lisbon marveled at the change that had come over her former second-in-command. Kimball Cho and Capp Grainger kept looking at each other and ignoring everyone else. The pair had withdrawn into their own little world. Glancing at her husband, he spoke to her.

"Teresa, my dear, why don't we invite Capp to have lunch with the rest of us?" Then he looked over at Henry. "And let's bring Henry along as well. I've got some questions about the River Manor Apartments to ask him. Will you join us, Henry?"

"Are you buying, Professor? If you are, I'm in."

Her husband nodded and the two men walked to the door.

Teresa also marveled at the change that had come over Henry since she had first met him. Would the young man have had the moxie to joke about something like that when she first met him? No. He had matured so much, it was like he was an entirely new person now. Of course, his marriage to Annabelle had influenced him as well.

Marriage. Teresa looked at her own husband again as he exited the office. Was the new Archie Marbray that different from the old Patrick Jane? No and yes. No, he could still get into all sorts of trouble when he had half-a-mind to. Yes, because since they had married, her Patrick did have a new outlook on life. She could tell when he felt remorse for something he did, and he also kicked up a fuss far less as Archie than as Jane. Further, she delighted in the love that he shared with her and their son Charlie. Archie Marbray had become the Patrick Jane she had always yearned for.

Teresa glanced up to see that everyone had now walked out of her office except for Capp, who was studying Teresa's old CBI photos on the office wall. Then the woman turned to look at her with what? Hope in her eyes?

"Capp, would you join all of us for lunch over at Nan's Place? We'd love to have you with us."

"I'd like that very much, Teresa." Then her face clouded. "Oh. I came here with Mom. Let me arrange it with her."

The two women walked down the hallway to join the others. When they got to the lobby, Capp froze. Teresa followed her line of sight to the other side of the room and saw what upset her. Kimball and Viola were talking. And joking.

Kimball Cho joking about something?

Would wonders never cease? Teresa turned back to Capp to find her trembling. The woman's distress compelled her to try to put Capp at ease.

"It doesn't look so bad, Capp. It looks like the two of them are getting along well."

"With Mom you never know what'll pop out of her mouth."

The two women approached Viola and Kimball.

"Capp, I'm glad I got to meet your mother. Now I know where you get your charm and your good looks from," said Cho.

"Oh, Kimball, you're such a gentleman to say that," Viola said and then looked at Capp. "This man is a true gentleman."

"If you ladies will excuse me, I need to go drive my car around to the front of the station." Kimball patted Viola's hand and winked at Capp.

As soon as Kimball was out of earshot, Viola turned to Capp.

"That man!"

Teresa could tell that the tone of her mother's voice had put Capp on edge.

"Now, Mom. I don't want to hear you find fault with Agent Cho…"

Viola cut off her daughter.

"Find fault? Oh, dear child, whatever for?"

"Huh?"

"He's such a nice, clean-cut, well-spoken man."

While Capp gaped at Viola, Teresa took to the opportunity to address the mother.

"Viola, Capp has helped us figure out some things about that metal object. I've invited her to have lunch with us to discuss it further."

Viola looked at her daughter.

"How will you get home?"

"Teresa will make sure someone gets me back."

"But I thought you were going with me to the Ladies' Canasta Tournament this afternoon."

"As much as I'll miss that frolic with the girls, I think Teresa can use my help. Can't you?" She sent a pleading look to Teresa to back her up.

"Yes." Teresa said. "And Kimball will be there."

Viola's eye brows shot up. She turned to her daughter and began to brush Capp's hair with her fingers. Capp recoiled.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"You heard what Teresa said. Kimball will be there." She grasped at her daughter's hair again.

Capp jerked her head back from her mother's fingers.

"I can brush my own hair, Mom." Capp's voice shocked Teresa when it changed from in-control professional to surly teen.

"Well start doing it, young lady."

"Mom, I'm a grown woman."

"Precisely. When you're in the presence of a handsome, smart young man who's not wearing a wedding ring on his finger, you need to look your best. You're not getting any younger, you know."

Viola reached back over to smooth her daughter's hair some more. Once more, Capp jerked her head away from her mother.

"Mom!"

"Cappadocia Grainger, you won't think about your future but I will. You have that job where you sit in some back office all day, never getting out from behind a desk, and you never meet anyone. Then you come here to Cannon River and what happens? You come with me to the police station and here's this nice single man. I think he likes you, Capp."

Capp's face softened as she looked her mother.

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do."

"Does my hair look okay now?"

Viola reached over to brush back a bang from her daughter's face.

"Your hair is fine, Capp. You look beautiful. I'm sorry you'll miss canasta with the girls, but you go with these young folks and have a good time. Be sure to tell Kimball that I enjoyed meeting him."

"I will, Mom. Thank you."

Viola patted Teresa on the arm.

"Teresa, it's always a pleasure to see you. Please take care of my daughter for me, will you?"

"I will, but I think she does fine on her own, ma'am."

Viola spun around and headed out of the building. Before she went through the door, she called to her daughter one more time.

"And it wouldn't hurt to get some dressing on your salad, girl. You're just skin and bones."

Once Viola was gone, Teresa couldn't resist asking Capp a question.

"Your mother thinks you work behind a desk somewhere?"

"I don't want her to worry about me. And the truth is, sometimes I do sit behind a desk - when I'm filling out an expense report."

The two women shared a chuckle.

"Viola is quite a lady."

"She is. Mom is the only person in the world who can make me feel like I'm still fourteen years old."

"She loves you, I can see that."

Capp sighed.

"Like I said earlier, we disagree about a lot of things, but I love her dearly. Everything she did for us, the hardships she went through to raise me - there's no way I can ever repay her. She made me who I am today."

"Shall we go eat? Kimball should have the car pulled around now."

"Let's."


Have you ever been at lunch with a group of people and felt completely left out? That's how Teresa felt sitting with Capp on her right and her husband on her left. She understood though.

On the other side of Capp sat Kimball, and the two of them retreated to their own world once more. The pair of them amused Teresa, and Kimball amazed her. In all their years working together at CBI, who would have thought Kimball Cho would talk as much as he did at the lunch table today?

Of course the talk to her left centered on the mystery of the drone, and Teresa had gotten used to her husband pursuing a case like a bulldog pursues a bone. Poor Henry had the misfortune to sit on the other side of him.

"…so how many tenants live in the River Manor Apartment Building, Henry?…How many entrances does it have?…Is there a basement?…How long have you and Annabelle lived there?…Have you noticed any other suspicious activity around the building?…Who manages the apartments?"

Rat-a-tat-tat. The questions came at Henry in a continuous stream during lunch. Seeing his distress, Teresa took pity on him and put her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Arch, let Henry eat his lunch. It's getting cold. So is yours."

"But, Teresa. Somehow that building figures into this. I just know it."

"And it still will after you and Henry finish eating your lunch."

Henry took advantage of the lull in the barrage of questions to shovel a fork-load of French fries into his mouth.

"Thank you, ma'am. You should get the professor to eat some too."

"There's only so much I can do with my husband, but it's still good advice. How 'bout it, Arch?" Taking his fork, Teresa ladled up some boiled spinach and held it in front of his mouth, much like she did with their son Charlie. "Um-um. Open wide!"

"But, Teresa…" Her husband said nothing more. As soon as he opened his mouth, Teresa stuck the fork in. Giving up, he bit down on the spinach. A look of pleasure flowed across his face.

"This is good."

"See, spinach isn't always bad, Archie. You should be more like our son. He knows."

She didn't need to prompt her husband any more. Scoop after scoop of the green mess made its way to his mouth. Her job done, she relaxed.

"You've got your husband trained well, Teresa. Good job, gal!"

Teresa turned back to her right when she heard Capp's throaty voice. It surprised her that she and Kimball had even come up for air, let alone break off their own conversation. Yet they had.

"It's a tough job keeping him in line, but someone's got to do it."

"You must keep him under control like you keep your city under control," said Capp.

Teresa mock-gasped.

"I hope I do a better job with Cannon River than I do with Archie!"

Someone mumbled through a mouthful of food on her left.

"I'm a work-in-progress. My dear wife has the patience of Job and the wisdom of Aesop. Also a Glock in her desk drawer."


Henry enjoyed lunch with Chief Lisbon, Professor Marbray, and their friends. As much as he liked the professor, he liked Lisbon even more when she made Marbray curtail all the questions about River Manor Apartments. He could at last eat in peace. While he finished his burger and fries, he got a chance to observe the people around the table. When the professor first worked with Henry and the other police officers, he told them to take every advantage to study people with a critical eye. "You can observe a lot by watching" was a Yogi Berra quote that Professor Marbray cited often. Henry took that lesson to heart. What better time to take in the lunch crowd than when he was sucking in a mouthful of chocolate milkshake?

The Three Musketeers weren't a trio so much anymore. Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby, the married couple, still talked with everyone around the table. But Kimball Cho focused on Capp Grainger and ignored everything and everyone else.

Cho is like I was when I first met Annabelle.

Capp Grainger focused on Cho too, but she also talked with Chief Lisbon. When they first met, the chief's voice carried a tinge of anger. No surprise there. Grainger refused to let her control their conversation. That never sat well with the chief when she talked with potential suspects. But Lisbon trusted Cho, and when he said that Grainger was okay, that was good enough for her. In the space of an hour, Teresa Lisbon and Capp Grainger had moved from antagonists to budding friends. When Lisbon talked with Ms. Grainger now, her voice carried the same warm tone she used for the Three Musketeers and her husband.

The chief accepts Ms. Grainger so I will too.

Professor Marbray's fork clattered on his plate as he finished his spinach. Taking his napkin to his face, the professor swiped it across his whiskers. Looking over his way, Henry knew in that in a micro-second the barrage of questions about the apartment building would commence again. That was okay, at least he'd gained enough time to wolf down his lunch.

Of all the people around the table, Henry knew the most about the professor - and the least. He'd worked with him long enough that he anticipated what he'd say, when he'd say it, and how he would say it. Although he'd never be as good as the professor himself, Henry could "read" Marbray enough to work well with him. And it had been a successful partnership for them both.

But Professor Archibald Marbray remained a mystery. Something lurked behind the man's smile. What that something was Henry had no idea, but Lisbon knew. She had no problem with her husband, aside from his being a royal pain-in-the-ass at times, and Henry took his cues from her. If Archibald Marbray was good enough for Teresa Lisbon to marry, then he was good enough for Henry to work with.

I'll surprise Marbray.

"Professor, you're gonna ask me what I know about the construction of the apartment building, aren't you?"

Success! The professor had opened his mouth to speak, and Henry beat him to the punch. Marbray patted him on the arm.

"How did you know?"

"You can observe a lot by watching." Henry enjoyed being a step ahead of his mentor for once.


After lunch…

Grace sat in the back of Kimball Cho's car while her husband Wayne moved to the front seat. They had just arrived at Capp Grainger's mother's house, and Kimball was escorting Capp to the door. Was "escorting" the right word? Grace and Wayne watched as their old friend and Capp traipsed up the sidewalk to the front porch, their bodies brushing against each other as they walked.

"Have you ever seen…" Grace hesitated as she searched for the right words to describe Kimball's behavior since Capp had showed up.

"Nope. Not ever. This is the most emotion I've seen out of him since I've known him, Grace."

The two of them stared at the scene on the porch.

"Look at that, Wayne. He's put his hand on her arm."

"What are they saying? Can you read their lips?"

"They're too far away."

"I feel like we're invading Kimball's privacy."

"Well, yeah. That's what friends are supposed to do."

"Don't you feel kinda squeamish about watching them like this?"

"No, and you shouldn't either, Wayne. We're just looking out for our friend's best interests." When her husband looked back at her, she flashed a smile. "They make a cute couple, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. Funny Kimball never said anything to me about Capp."

"He couldn't, could he?" A thought flashed through Grace's mind. "Hey! Do you think Capp had something to do with Kimball being so withdrawn until now?"

"Could be. Regardless, she's shaken him out of his blue mood."

"I'll say." Grace tapped her husband's arm. "Look. He's coming back. Let's shut up."

When Kimball got back in the car, he started it and drove off without a word. The silence was deafening. Finally Grace spoke up.

"So…"

"Yeah," said her husband.

"So what?" Kimball said, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"So, Capp Grainger seems nice."

"She is. It was good seeing her."

"So, are you gonna see her again?"

Stopped at a traffic light, Kimball shifted around to glare first at Wayne then at Grace.

"What are you, my parents?"

"No, no. Just making an observation, that's all." Wayne glanced back at his wife as he replied to Kimball. The way he furrowed his brow at Grace let her know they should shift the conversation somewhere else - and that Wayne would work on getting details out of Kimball later.

"So what do you guys think of 'Dr. Archibald Marbray, Associate Professor'?" asked Grace.

"I think it's the best long con Jane's ever pulled off." Wayne's words conjured up memories in Grace's mind of schemes he'd cooked up back in their CBI days.

"Yeah, but it works for Teresa and Jane both. They've made a good life here."

"Of course, she still gets mad at him."

"This morning was kinda intense. I didn't know we'd be walking in on one of their arguments."

"I don't think I've seen Teresa that upset, even when Jane buried that murderer alive," said Kimball.

"What made it worse is that it was personal, not professional. Being there was like we were prying into their private life."

"Yeah, and you guys would never do that." Cho glared at the two of them again.

"When they cried, that made me uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but after they made up and Viola supplied the details of what happened, that cast things in a whole new light."

"Teresa and Jane hanging out of a window naked, with a little old lady making notes. There's not enough brain bleach in the world to get rid of that image."

The three of them chuckled.

"I feel more sorry for Teresa than for Jane."

"Agreed. But they love each other, and I'm glad of that."

"Hey, I just noticed. All three of us call her 'Teresa,' but we all still call him 'Jane'. We use 'Archie' in public, but we never use 'Patrick' in private."

"Can you guys ever see us calling him anything other than 'Jane'?

"Nope. Teresa still calls him 'Jane' when he does one of his schemes."

"Which means she still uses 'Jane' a lot."

"But I've heard her use 'Patrick' in private. It's really sweet to hear her say that."

"I'm sure he appreciates it too."

"Actually, I like saying 'Dr. Truth.' It needles him."

"Good information to know."

"I think it's appropriate that the only one of us who calls him 'Patrick' is Teresa. It's fitting."

"Jane wouldn't know what to think if one of us called him 'Patrick'."

They all chuckled again.

"He'd blanch. He couldn't handle it."

Another wave of silence descended over the car until Grace broke it.

"You know what the best part of this trip is?"

"What?"

"The fact that we can all get together for a reunion and relax. We don't have to worry about Jane involving us in some scheme of his."

"Amen to that!"


To be continued.


Author's notes:

Cole Porter wrote "You Do Something To Me," and Frank Sinatra recorded my favorite version on the album, Sinatra's Swingin' Session.

Up next: "Oh, Lady Be Good!"