THREE

"Nothing? You had -nothing- to say?"

He loved the expression Lisbon was wearing right now. Priceless. "I warned everyone that was no environment to read people. Did you see the way they all squirmed? Even the mother-who is, by the way, in no way a suspect-was fidgety before we ever sat down across from her. One after another, squirm, fidget, squirm, fi-"

"Alright, but not even one word from you... I can honestly say that the great Patrick Jane will always manage to surprise me. I didn't think you had that in you."

"There's a lot you don't know about the great Patrick Jane, Lisbon. Especially now, I'm a new man."

"And this new man has the ability to keep his mouth shut? I think I like him."

"Good, because he likes you." He gave her a lopsided grin and winked, and she couldn't help the answering smile that spread across her own face.

"Well if he liked me, he'd make my life easier. Abbott was not happy when you gave us absolutely nothing. They expect me to have some sort of power over you." She bit her lower lip and he nearly opted for just flirting with her again, she did leave the door wide open for it with that one, but instead decided to address the edge of frustration he was starting to hear in her voice.

"Please trust me, Lisbon." Jane had to admit, prior to the interviews there had been a possibility that getting into the homes of those on the FBI's list of people closest to William Cagley could turn up nothing, that someone entirely unrelated to the boy might have killed him, of course. But now Jane was certain he was on the right track and his obstinacy today wouldn't be in vain. In fact, if he was indeed right, he bet they would have the right person in custody by dinner tomorrow. And he told her that.

The look she gave him was incredulous. "'Trust you, we'll be done by dinner'? Thanks, glad to be kept in the loop."

Patrick gave a small noncommittal grunt in answer.

It had been a long, tedious day, and he didn't really want to talk about the case anymore as he sat with Lisbon on the boxy sofa at the front of his little airstream trailer. It was actually his third one, and not his favorite with it's aged mustard yellow decor and the capability of nearly every surface in the thing to fold out into a bed. Since it wasn't feasible to drive a single RV across the country case to case, the FBI had taken to renting one for Jane and a vehicle to tow it in each individual town they visited. The trouble of it all actually left him feeling like more of a pain in the ass than he had intended on being when he made the request, but still, he got a kick out of his private abodes and wasn't about to turn them down.

The team, minus Cho, had conducted nearly a dozen lengthy interviews that day following their equally draining visit to the crime scene. Okay-Fischer, with Abbott and Lisbon in her ear, conducted them. But Jane had sat upright through every one, using every ounce of effort he had not to be disrespectful and doze off. When finally the last person they had wanted to speak to was sent away, everyone involved in the investigation of William Cagley's murder-Abbott, Fischer, Cho, Jane, Lisbon, and numerous local detectives-had a meeting to discuss their game plan for tomorrow. Jane insisted on meeting with the exact same people with whom they had just spoken, but this time at each of their residences, while Abbott insisted they move forward according to proper procedure for crimes against children of public figures.

Scheduling for the in-home interviews was to be done first thing in the morning.

Lisbon had left for her hotel room following the group's powwow with nothing more than a quick goodbye to Jane. After resisting for an hour or so he called her, as he had started doing, to swing by "his place". She showed up, as she had started doing, about an hour or so later. The pretense was always whatever case they were on, but they rarely discussed anything significant pertaining to it. For his part, Jane wasn't afraid to admit to himself that he simply was unwilling to have her out of his sight for too long. And, he was certain her motive for turning up was similar.

"Fine," he said after some silence had passed between them. "I am confident I know who the killer is. We did speak to her today, but I'm hoping to make the final connection tomorrow from inside her home. I want to go around to everybody so we're not waiting on a search warrant after she gets suspicious and refuses us entry because who wouldn't get suspicious being the only one-"

"-Her-? You didn't mention all day that you thought the killer was a woman!"

"They called a profiler up in the middle of the night to fly all the way out here to the charming town of "Nowheresville", Ohio. It didn't seem fair to step on any toes. He'll tell you it's a woman soon enough."

Lisbon breathed his name in exasperation. He reached out and tapped her knee with two fingers. "I think you'll figure it out for yourself, anyway."

"Oh, are you trying to build my confidence, now?" Though she tried to joke, her good humor was waning and he struggled to think of a way to lighten things up again.

"No, no, no. Of course not. Who's more confident than the great Teresa Lisbon?" He said, throwing back at her the way she'd referred to him a few minutes before. "Mostly I don't want to embarrass myself if I'm wrong. But if I'm not, I think you'll see it immediately."

"Jane-"

"Just have patience, Lisbon."

"You know what?"

"I've told you, I'm not psychic. But if I had to guess, I'd say you want to hit me."

She swatted his arm, then smiled again. "I'm gonna let it go, just enjoy the ride."

"Good for you, makes things more exciting."

She hummed in acknowledgement, then leaned back against the rough couch cushions and closed her eyes. Jane took the opportunity to drink her in-her freckles, her pout, the dark hair that sat wavy on her shoulders now.

He thought about his conversation with Kim Fischer earlier. Would a more meaningful relationship with Lisbon really undermine her credibility? She fought so hard for her career, what would opinion be of a woman who dropped everything to go be with a man who turned out to be her lover? How would people regard her if her job was secured by the man in her bedroom?

Perhaps he really hadn't thought this through. He'd been headstrong, inconsiderate. All he'd focused on those months ago when he made the decision to return was that he wanted to see her again, wanted to move forward with her by his side, and wanted to repay her for everything she'd done for him and for the loss of her career. It had seemed like a perfect plan at the time.

But now the dust had settled, and he wondered if his only options were to keep hurting her in some way; what he had finally admitted to himself he wanted really could affect her well-deserved good reputation. Shit, was he ever going to be good for her life?

He pulled out of his reverie to see that Lisbon had opened her eyes. At some point he'd leaned toward her and was so close he could smell her faint, powdery perfume. Neither one of them moved. The way she was looking at him, eyes dialated in the poorly lit trailer, lips slightly parted... He leaned in just a little more, heartbeat thrumming in his ears. The FBI could screw itself-

Lisbon pushed up off the couch too quickly to be graceful and stumbled a bit before getting her bearings. He rolled his eyes. Smooth.

"I'm... I'm gonna go."

Patrick swallowed his disappointment, then nodded, his lips in a tight smile. "You do need your rest if you're going to be astute, tomorrow." He took a moment to steady his breathing before standing up in front of her. He wasn't going to start them on a new course tonight, or think about the fact that the most prominent emotion in her eyes right now could best be described as alarm, but he needed to touch her before she left. Without allowing either one of them a chance to retreat, Patrick wrapped his arms around her small form and pulled her close. Lisbon startled at first contact, but recovered quickly and didn't resist returning his embrace. They held on for several moments before he felt her start to pull back.

"Just give me a minute," his voice was rough.

She shivered from the feeling of his warm breath on her shoulder, and tightened her arms across his back once again.

"Thank you, Lisbon, for choosing to be here."

"You're welcome. Hey, is everything okay?" Now she did pull completely away in order to see his face. Patrick dropped his hands to his sides and stepped back.

"Everything's fine. I just wanted you to know that I'm glad you're here, doing this with me. It means everything."

"I'm glad to be here. It's certainly a far cry from what I was doing in Washington, you know?" She gave a little laugh. What an understatement.

"Yeah." He murmured, averting his gaze for a moment as he tried to tamp down the notion that her as-yet unblemished esteem might have been better off in Washington. "No regrets?"

"No. Not yet, anyway." They both grinned under the dim glow of the trailer's little plastic ceiling lights. That was something else they'd started doing, besides seeking to spend the end of each day together: just smiling at one other, smiling for no other reason than pleasure at the other's presence. Lisbon, like usual, was first to pull away from their connection. He noticed her eyes were wet, and, judging by the stinging he felt, knew his were, too. "I'll see you tomorrow. Very astute, hopefully."

"Always, Lisbon. See you."

She let herself out then, but he remained frozen where he was by the couch, lost in thought. Despite not knowing if it was the best thing for her professional life or even if she was willing to give in and explore her feelings for him-feelings he could see she still had-he couldn't keep from wanting her, from wanting to tell her and show her that he felt just as strongly about her as he knew she did about him. They were each irreplaceable to the other, and he didn't know how many more times he could see her walk out his door at the end of the day. They would work everything else out, deal with whatever consequences came their way. But they could never get this time back, and, when he considered everything that had transpired since their first meeting over a decade ago, time was already something they'd lost far too much of.