AN: Hey! I wanna thank everyone who alerted, followed and favorited this story and CookiesForMe and Berkwood Court for their review. You don't know how much it means to me. I also wanna thank Liv Einziger for beta-ing this fic and for her support. *-*

Disclaimer: If 'The Mentalist' was mine, the season 5 would've started a long time ago.

CHAPTER 4 - Darkness

The team stood in silence for a while, until a naturally tanned, bearded man appeared in the doorway along with a guy who looked like a lawyer.

"Yes sir, may we help you?" Cho offered.

"Ravi Salazar." The guy stretched his right hand to greet Cho. "I was told to come here because of that Dobrev guy…"

"Right… Our boss is going to see you. She's in her office." Cho got up and guided them, knocking on the door. He knew that in cases like this, with those kinds of powerful people, the interrogation room was used only as a last resource. "Boss, Mr. Salazar is here."

She opened the door wider to greet the guests. "Good Afternoon, Mr. Salazar. I'm sorry we disturbed you, but it's an important matter." She motioned for them to get in and gave Cho a thankful nod. "You may have a seat." Lisbon closed the door and moved to her chair.

"Mr. Salazar…"

"Ravi, Ms. Lisbon. You can call me Ravi." He told her with a cynical smile.

"Alright… Ravi, as you know, Anthony Dobrev and his wife Judith were murdered in their own house, leaving a four-year-old child. Our records show that you had a sort of contact with him. Now, if I may ask, what was your relationship with Anthony Dobrev? Where did you know him from?" She looked at the lawyer, expecting him to do something, but he didn't.

"I didn't know this man in person. He was a lawyer for another firm, not mine."

"He was a lawyer for the competition, wasn't he?" Lisbon added.

"Yes. From a rival company in the oil market. But what does this have to do with their deaths?"

"This document shows that you've made several calls to the Dobrev's residence while this other shows a transcript, from another telephone conversation you had in your office, that tells us about a death threat you've made against him." She observed as Ravi shifted his weight on the chair and his face's expression went darker. "Now, you tell me: what does the fact that Anthony was a successful lawyer for a competitor has to do with his and his wife's deaths?"

"You don't have to answer that." His lawyer finally spoke and Ravi kept looking down.

"Is it true that you've threatened to kill Anthony if he didn't stop his defense? If he didn't stop doing his job?" Lisbon was starting to feel a little impatient. Ravi was looking at his lawyer from time to time, to see if he could answer her questions, and that was not okay. But she had a hunch that he was not the murderer. If he could only answer her questions, she could prove his, well, sort of, innocence to herself. "Where were you on the night of the murder, Mr. Salazar? On the 20th, from 11pm to 3am?"

"I was not in America." For this one he didn't wait for his lawyer to say anything. "I was in Dubai for a conference. Making new agreements and that sort of stuff. I can prove."

Lisbon was silent for a while. She could hold him for the death threat, but for what? He could prove that he wasn't the killer and she probably had greater fish to catch.

"Look, agent, I know that it is hard to believe that I'm not the killer due to the death threat. But it was only a way to scare him away, you know? So that he could leave my company progress in peace. I didn't want him dead, especially because I didn't know anything about his family. I just wanted him off my business."

His explanation sounded true to her even though she found it a bit harsh for Ravi to threat someone just to have his way. She decided to let him go; all in all, being so powerful, he could've hired someone to do the dirty job for him. Just because his hands weren't dirty, it didn't mean that he wasn't responsible. The team would keep an eye on him. "Okay, I guess you can go then." She said with a sigh, watching them standing up. "Thank you for coming and again, I'm sorry for having disturbed you." She greeted them both and watched them leave.

He knew that she wanted to cry more. Looking at Nina's face through the rearview mirror, Jane could see her watery eyes reflecting the road.

"Nina, there's nothing wrong about crying, you know. Even I cry sometimes." A tear rolled down her face, by the minute he said that, while she was still trying to keep herself together.

"Are we going home?" She recognized the way, wiping her face with the back of her little hands.

"Kind of." He shook his head to the side, reluctantly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm taking you to see your house and get some useful stuff, not taking you to stay there." Jane looked at her again.

"Oh …" She was disappointed, he could tell. But there was something in the word 'house' that made her face hopeful and a bit lighter than before.

When Jane parked his car in front of her old house, Nina's eyes sparkled. She took off her seat belt and stormed out of the car. Jane smiled weakly to see her doing this. It meant that she was as strong as Lisbon when a tragedy happened to her. It seemed like Nina could be taken out of the depressive state easily, which was good. She would need that later, he thought.

"C'mon Patrick, hurry up!" She needed to be in a familiar place again. "Why is this yellow tape here?" She talked to herself.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just feeling a little old here, girl. You should show some compassion!" She giggled. He wondered if Nina hadn't had any high expectations on finding everything like when her parents were alive, as if nothing had happened. "Hey, ahm…" He began, putting the key he took from Lisbon's desk in the lock. "Nina, don't expect to find everything as it was before. You know, your house's been closed for a couple of days…"

"I know, that's okay." He examined her again and had the feeling that she was too anxious to understand what he was trying to say. So, he just hoped for the best and opened the door.

Nina stepped in slowly, finding the house dirty, messy and dusty. She kept staring at the dark in the hallway, as Patrick came close to her. He observed her every move and emotion; watched carefully all sorts of feelings running through her face at the same time. What was once her bright fortress, clean and airy, was now taken by the shadows. The evil witch from the phone had won the battle and took her parents with her. She felt unprotected and alone. Not to mention lost, because she didn't remember the first thing about her parents' death.

"It's different." She gulped. "I don't like it so much. It's too dark." Her eyes still roamed around the room.

"Yes." He stood silently next to her. "But I don't think your room is. Wanna go see it?" The child nodded and took his hand, looking for comfort and guidance.

They climbed up the stairs and Jane waited for her to open the door, after all, it was her room. Her toys were exactly where she had left them, her window was open and her bed was untidy. The light of day was coming in, through the open window. Everything was just as in that tragic day.

"Darkness took over my room too…" She sighed and left her face fall in disappointment. Jane became a little more heartbroken every time she made her observations. He remembered the first time he went to his house after Red John's visit and realized the grief that this little girl should be dealing with. It was unfair. And it wasn't just about environment: her memory wouldn't come back because there should be something really painful in there and she was naturally blocking it, as a way to survive; in a messed up tentative to stay a little happier, or less sad, despite her whole situation.

"But, at least here, it is a little brighter than downstairs. And look, your toys were waiting for you to arrive." He smiled at her trying to cheer her up. "Come on, come on Nina. I can hear this… Barbie telling me that she missed you."

His plan was working; the girl was smiling and laughing at him. He wasn't sure if it was because she was finding him funny or because she was happy to see her toys.

"I thought that only I could hear them!"

"Nope, I can too. You know, I have special powers." He whispered to her, as she took the doll from his hands.

"Yeah, right." She giggled.

She spoke just like Lisbon does. Jane froze. Nina was way too much like the agent: The way she spoke; the introverted and conservative personality; the way she looked at things and her green eyes; her brunette, straight hair, curly at the end… She was like a mini-Lisbon and that amused Patrick.

"And this isn't Barbie, this is Snow White." She clarified. "I love her and my Ariel doll. They're my favorites."

"But what about your teddy here?" He pointed at a medium-sized brown bear, perfectly huggable.

"He is my best friend. He's not a toy."

"Really, what is his name?" Jane was enjoying this talk quite a lot. He could tell that it was distracting for Nina and he was also having fun.

"Didn't you say that you had special powers?" She grinned. "How come you didn't notice that Bear wasn't just a toy?"

"Touché!" He laughed and she followed. "So his name is Bear?"

"Yes… I like it." She said.

"It's a nice name."

They stood in silence for a while. Nina looked at the window and let her mind wander to that night. She had already remembered about jumping out of the window, running away from sharp noises and screams, but she couldn't tell Patrick yet. She didn't want to give him, or his friend Teresa, the false hope that her memory was coming back. It wasn't. She still wasn't able to remember everything that had happened and the strange and haunting feeling that she knew the murderer, wouldn't go away. But at the same time, she did say that she was willing to help them. "I think I saw his face." She said at last, turning to face Patrick and he immediately paid attention. "I have this… Thing inside my stomach, it won't go away!" She spoke, her green eyes filled with desperation.

Jane let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "You have a bad feeling?"

She nodded sadly. "Everything I look around here reminds me of loud noises and I feel butterflies, a whole bunch of them."

"Do you remember the face you said you saw? Do you remember how your pajamas got covered in blood?" He wished he could take back this question.

Nina shook her head negatively and started to cry, stronger than before. Jane pulled her into an embrace, slowly caressing her head. "Shh, it's okay Nina, it's okay." But he knew it wasn't. Nothing would ever make her life okay again and he was deeply sorry. He was not comfortable with this situation; he just knew how to pretend. He was actually rather reluctant: The team hadn't been able to find Nina a new house; she was Charlotte's age and reminded him, unwillingly, of his own tragedy. He knew how to act with kids, but he felt uneasy with the ones that were victims of something as brutal as this. Her sobs calmed down, little by little, and she took her arms away from Patrick's neck.

"Can I sleep a little in my bed?" She asked him shyly.

"Why, sure. It's your bed, who am I to forbid anything?" He said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She smiled a little, in gratitude. "Aha, I see a smile there." He tried making fun of her, so that her smile could grow a little bigger.

Nina took off her shoes and tucked herself under her blanket. Jane stood up and straightened it for her to feel more comfortable, putting Bear next to her. "Daddy used to do this." She had her eyes shut and Jane just smiled at the comment.

He waited for her to fall asleep and went downstairs. At first, it was only to find a bag to put some of Nina's clothes inside, but then, he wondered if he could take a look around the house.

The team saw Ravi walking away freely, discussing some company issue with his lawyer. He didn't seem to hold in any sort of guilt.

"So it wasn't him." Van Pelt questioned Lisbon as she walked into the bullpen.

"I honestly don't know." She sat on Jane's couch. "But I don't think so. He said he could prove his alibi and also that the threat was only part of the 'fun'. He was just trying to scare Anthony away from his business."

"Death threat used to entertain? What sort of sick mind works that way?" Rigsby spoke. "what was his alibi?"

"He wasn't in the US." Lisbon said. "Look, I'm not saying he's not guilty. He is a self-centered sadistic and he could have easily paid someone to do the dirty job for him. I'm just saying that we should check his alibi and keep an eye on him. As a matter of fact, Van Pelt, I want you to check if the 'Clean Oil Company' had had any meetings or conferences in Dubai the past few days."

"Okay." The red-haired agent turned to the computer and started doing what she knew best.

"So we already have two non-potential suspects, right?" Cho asked ironically. This case was leading them nowhere until now.

"That's right. We'll keep digging guys, sometime we'll have to find something." I promised Nina I'd find the killer. We need to find something… Lisbon got up and went to the suspect board. They had Aretha, Ravi and the other woman. "What about her?" She said, pointing at the name on the board. "Arieanna. Have you tried calling her?"

"Yes, but her agenda was full for the week, she said." Lisbon gave Rigsby a discontent yet surprised look. "So we had to schedule an interview for next week." He shrugged.

"Did you tell her that it was a murder investigation and that we could bring her here, on force, if we wanted to?" The senior agent's eyebrows were lifted in disbelief. She imagined this Arieanna to be one of those obnoxious socialites who had more money than they deserved.

"Yes, I told her. She claimed innocence and told us we had no reason to worry."

"Pff. Yeah, right. If she was really innocent, her number wouldn't be recorded several times on a dead guy's phone." She hissed.

The sound of a knock on the bullpen's entrance stopped their discussion. Wainwright was there, probably to know about the progress on the case.

"Agent Lisbon." He nodded.

"Sir." Lisbon made a small reverence with her head.

"Agents" Each one of them waved at their boss with a weak smile. "So, how's the investigation?"

"We had no signs of a murder weapon or even fingerprints, which makes us think that it was either a passionate crime or a planned one." Rigsby explained.

"Or both." Van Pelt added.

"We have three concrete suspects, yet none of them are potential. One of them presented a solid alibi, while the other one we weren't able to reach yet." Lisbon said.

"And the third?"

"Left before we had a chance of a proper interview." She looked away in shame.

"What about the kid, does she know anything, did she see anything?" Wainwright was starting to get impatient, nobody could blame him though.

"As far as I know, she remembers nothing from that night. We tried to find her a new family, but the only relative Van Pelt found declared that she didn't want kids."

"Where is this girl now?"

"Jane took her somewhere outta here, so she wouldn't have to listen to that woman's bullshit" Cho said.

"A little frustrating this case, huh? A lot of dead ends…"

Nobody said anything, but deep down everyone agreed.

"Okay, good." He sighed. "I trust you to keep this case going. Just try to find this little girl a new home, alright? Do what you can."

"Yes, sir. Don't worry." Lisbon assured him and waited for him to leave so she could leave right after. Where the hell is Jane? Was the question haunting her head at the moment.

By the minute he heard Nina's breathing becoming uniform and slow, Jane climbed down the stairs with a specific purpose in mind: to find some pictures that could connect Anthony with anyone who could've killed him. The team wanted to believe that it was some rich, high-profile sort of guy who had done it. Of course, it was the most obvious alternative, but Jane was looking at the bigger picture. If it was someone random and unknown for Nina, she wouldn't be in such a traumatic block. This murderer had to be someone she knew.

Besides the pictures displayed in the portraits: Anthony and Judith getting married; Judith pregnant; Nina as a newborn; Two-year-old Nina standing by herself; the whole family together; etc. All he could find were pictures of Anthony with his colleagues from work. There were no pictures of grandparents in the hall or in the living room and that disturbed him a little. Jane thought about every family he had already visited during his time in CBI. All of them had pictures of the whole family, ancestors, great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles… And most of those pictures were hanging on the walls, like trophies. Why the Dobrev's would be different? He then decided to try Anthony's and Judith's room.

He was climbing the stairs when he heard a sharp gasp and low sobs. Nina had woken up.

Jane opened the door to her room and found the girl in a quiet cry, holding her knees to her chest, looking at him with red eyes. "I think I remember." She let out in a sob. He got near her, passed an arm under her knees and the other under her arms, holding her to himself as he sat on the bed. He used to do this with Charlotte whenever she had nightmares. He had to sleep in her room to make her feel safe and she would hold his hand until she fell asleep again. The team had had a lot of child cases, or cases with people who had children, but he never got the opportunity to get this close to any of them.

"Don't worry kid." He whispered, trying to soothe her.

"I had a nightmare and I remembered everything."

"Do you know who did it?" He looked at her.

"No…" She cried harder. This was the most important detail and she couldn't get to it. She wasn't crying because of fear or pain. She was angry at herself. "I couldn't see his face. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't!"

"Shh, that's okay. It's good that you're getting your memory back. Little by little you'll make it. There's no need to be angry, okay?" They exchanged looks and he wiped her tears. "Do you wanna tell me what happened that night?" She nodded.

"Daddy had put me in bed and everything was normal. Mommy and daddy started to fight, but that's normal too. It was just when they went to sleep that I heard the door slamming downstairs, hitting the wall. Mom started to scream and I could see that dad ran to the stairs."

"You were awake."

"Yes. They leave the door a bit open, because I don't really like the dark, but I only go to sleep when they do because of the noise. And I got up to see what was happening and when I saw daddy on the floor I ran to him…" Nina started sobbing again and Jane tightened up his embrace. "And I hugged him very tight. And I shook him too, because I wanted him to wake up, but it wasn't working! And the bad man was coming from the kitchen, so I let go and ran to my room."

"But he followed." She agreed with him, sadly. "That's why you jumped out the window." She agreed once more.