The rest of the team cast them a skeptical look. Jane went to his seldom used desk, opened the drawer and got out both a toothbrush and paste. Seeing this, Van Palt shot him a knowing and compassionate glance. Teresa had gone to her office and returned again holding out a bottle with some neon blue liquid in it. Patrick grabbed it, just nodded his thanks and went in the direction of the men's room.
At the questioning expressions on the faces of her two male agents she just said. "Don't ask." Afterwards she went to the break room and started to prepare some coffee for herself and tea for Jane.
Grace followed her inside. "How's he doing, boss?" she asked carefully.
"He's doing alright all things considered. Thank you for being such a good friend, Van Pelt."
The young woman looked at her with a small cautious smile. "He is… I mean, we're family."
Teresa acknowledged her words with a friendly nod. "Grace? I need you to do me a favor."
Her youngest team member looked up eagerly at the prospect of doing something important.
Lisbon looked behind her and made sure there was no one around to overhear them. "It's about those hairs. I need you to take them to the lab and make them do a thorough analysis. Tell them it's some last minute evidence from the Fisher-case. It's going to court soon, so it's urgent. Can you do that?"
"Of course, boss. I understand."
Teresa handed her one of the evidence bags. "Thank you Agent," she said seriously.
"Am I interrupting something illicit?" a husky voice asked from behind them.
Both Van Pelt and Lisbon flinched violently, their heartbeats went up by a dozen. Then they heard a familiar chuckle.
"God Jane! Don't do that. I hate it when you sneak up on me like that," Lisbon exclaimed angrily. "This isn't the least bit funny," she huffed.
"Ah come on, Lisbon. You should have seen your faces. Hilarious," Patrick declared grinning with delight.
"Well, I don't see anyone else laughing," she replied with a frown.
His face fell. "What's this all about, Lisbon? I didn't mean to make you angry. I just wanted to lighten the mood a bit. I'm sorry if I somehow offended you and Grace."
He turned to leave the break room, but she caught his arm and stopped him. "Wait, Jane. I didn't mean to be so harsh. It's just," she looked around again making sure they were alone, "this was about you-know-what and I really didn't want someone else to witness it. The fact that you managed to sneak up on us like that just brought home the realization that we're not exactly safe here. Sorry for taking it out on you."
Jane nodded seriously. "I understand. This is a rather delicate situation." Then his eyes showed some mirth again. "And here I thought I'm already doing things with all the bells and whistles… obviously, I have to cause a real racket to be noticed…"
"Don't you dare, Jane! Anymore of your racket and it will be total bedlam. I'm not sure, we'd survive that," Teresa replied with a fond smile while Van Pelt couldn't quell a snicker.
"I'll be off to the lab then, boss," she said, getting a handle on her glee again.
"Thank you, Grace," Lisbon answered kindly and the young woman left. Teresa turned her attention back to Jane. "Patrick, I made some tea for you. Why don't we go to my office? I want you to lie down for a while and rest before you take your turn interviewing Keen, and I'd prefer for you to be some place I can keep an eye on you."
"Alright, Teresa. But I'm fine. Don't worry too much about me," he replied softly.
They grabbed their respective drinks and walked to Lisbon's office together. On their way through the bullpen, which was almost deserted due to lunch time, they stopped shortly to ask Cho and Rigsby about any news. They'd gotten some information about their suspect from SacPD. People there were completely shocked about their officer being in league with California's most notorious serial killer. His partner Burton had taken the news especially badly. Cho added that Keen was remaining stubborn and kept taunting them whenever they checked up on him.
"We'll speak with him soon. But I want to talk a few things over with Jane first. We'll be in my office," Lisbon said in way of an explanation.
Rigsby cast her a slightly suggestive knowing look which made Jane chuckle. "Rigsby, Rigsby… Get your mind out of the gutter. We're at work and we are both professionals. Well, at least I am, and I'll make sure, your boss here doesn't succumb to my charms on duty either. Though I imagine it'll be quite the ordeal. You know, she doesn't own the slightest bit of restraint."
This earned him a punch on the shoulder from said boss, which of course spurred him on. "See, that's what I mean – absolutely no restraint."
Teresa rolled her eyes in exasperation and pulled him along to her office. "Jane, shut up or that shoulder of yours will be sporting quite a few bruises."
"Will you kiss them all better? Then it might actually be worth it…" he mock-flirted so outrageously, it caused even Cho to almost smile.
Lisbon just shook her head sporting a look of feigned despair. "I really don't know why I'm putting up with you."
"I could show you, but we ARE at work, you know…" Patrick teased.
They had nearly reached her office by now, but the last thing they could see from the bullpen was Rigsby's face turned red as a tomato. Teresa and Patrick grinned at each other.
"Laughing-fit?" she suggested with a snicker.
"Embarrassment," he said with conviction.
That's when the unthinkable happened: From Cho's direction a short but distinct giggle could be heard.
After entering her office and closing the door and the blinds, she laughed out loud and he joined in. "Did you hear that giggle?" she gasped.
"We're never going to let him live that one down, are we?" he snorted.
And then they both stopped laughing and pulled each other into a fierce embrace as if they'd arranged it beforehand. It was as if they were the other's lifeline and in a way they probably were. Jane dragged her over to the sofa, lay down and pulled her on top of himself, just holding her close. She pressed her ear to his chest listening to his reassuring heartbeat, her hands holding around his neck. He stroked her back, comforting both her and himself with the repetitive gesture.
A few minutes later Patrick broke the silence. "Do you have any idea how to go about breaking Keen?" he asked her.
"I'd guess you are gonna have the best shot. He has obviously been instructed by Red John and seems to know quite a bit about you. You should make use of that connection," she suggested.
"Yeah, maybe. I'm not sure. But it might help to test the waters, make him feel safe and all. Let him think he's in control of the situation. It could be an opener," he said deep in contemplation.
She looked up from her position on his chest and made eye-contact with him. "Are you sure you're up for it though? He will do everything in his power to rile you up with things he knows about you through Red John. It could get ugly and let's be honest, Patrick: You are not at the top of your game right now," she observed gently.
A look of determination crossed his eyes. "You are right, but I WILL persevere as long as necessary. I have to. I can do this, Teresa. I MUST do this, or I'll regret it."
She nodded but the worry was still obvious on her face.
"Maybe we could arrange a specific sign I could give you should I need a break. So we could leave without him sensing any weaknesses," he suggested a moment later. "It would actually make me feel better as well, knowing that I have an out. I don't expect to need it, but..."
She caressed his cheek. "That's a good idea, Patrick. That way it would at least feel like we don't go into this without any kind of plan. What kind of sign do you have in mind?"
"It depends on how we're going to position ourselves during the interview. I suggest that I'll sit beside Keen, and you in front of us. That way you can watch both him and me. Furthermore, it'll give me the advantage of proximity and him the delusion of some kind of camaraderie between us. He'll assume he has all the advantage which of course automatically puts him at a disadvantage." He paused a moment to think things through before he added. "And I can initiate body contact with him as well if need be. Touching his leg with mine could give me quite a few insights. It depends on how well he's been trained. We'll just have to find out."
Lisbon sported a thoughtful expression when she answered. "Yeah, I agree with most of what you say, but you still haven't said anything about our prearranged sign."
"Ah, yes. Well, it has to be something I wouldn't normally do but which is still inconspicuous enough to look natural or random. Mhm. Maybe rather a verbal signal." Patrick paused, a look of deep concentration on his face. "The tea should have steeped enough now," he finally said.
"What?" she asked baffled.
"That should be harmless enough and in character for me as well. And it's certainly not something I would normally say during an interrogation. And even if he took it as the coded message it is, he'll probably apply it to himself. I expect him to be sufficiently ego-centric. What do you think?" he explained.
"Your logic seems sound enough, though the phrase appears rather inane during an interview," she answered.
"That's the whole point, Lisbon. It could imply that I simply want to take a break and have a cuppa. Which wouldn't be too far from the truth. But it could also mean that we want to let him stew some more and are leaving because of that." He looked lost in thought. "Or it could point him to some other imagined prearranged action we're about to commit. He could even think I'm up to something particularily nefarious."
With a satisfied grin he went on, "If Red John has instructed him about me, he'll know I'm capable of doing things outside the book after all." At that he remembered the Panzer-case, which left him with mixed feelings, but he continued with his train of thought anyway. "So essentially it will keep him on his toes and give us the chance to leave without it coming across as weakness. He will at least sit there with a deep sense of doubt about what's really going on," he elaborated.
She sighed. "You know, on the one hand it's nice to be let in on your reasoning for once, but sometimes it's scary to watch how you mind works, Jane. It's like you're playing three games of chess against the same opponent simultaneously."
He chuckled. "See, that's why I don't share all my hunches and considerations with you and rather confront you with my ready schemes as late as possible in the process. I save you a lot of headaches that way."
"Yeah I'm sure that's the reason," she said sarcastically. "Unfortunately, your schemes tend to cause me double the headaches afterwards, when you've ruffled the feathers of yet another judge or senator or broken some major rule, which ultimately always generates additional paperwork for ME. So I'm sorry to say it, but my gratitude is rather limited."
He propped himself up a bit, smiled angelically at her and said. "Who, me? Causing trouble? I couldn't possibly do something like that, could I? Look at me. I'm almost a cherub, really. You know my hair isn't actually blond, it's just the halo giving it the appearance."
"Love you, imp," she snickered before pressing her lips firmly to his grinning ones.
He allowed her to deepen the kiss for a moment before pulling back so he could keep control of the arousal that had hit him the second she'd started. "And I love you," he answered hoarsely being slightly breathless.
"What do you say? Shall we go and break one measly stooge?" Teresa asked after they'd both calmed down again after their heated jiffy.
He nodded though he couldn't quite shake of the feeling of unease. She sensed it and took his face between her hands looking into his eyes intensely. "You'll be fine, Patrick. I have full trust in you." At his disbelieving look she added. "Well in this instance at least."
He grinned.
They got up from her office couch, finished their slightly cooled down drinks and left the room.
"Boss? The suspect has asked for some tea. What do you want us to do?" Rigsby inquired when they passed his desk.
Jane answered instead, "I'll fix him a cup if that's alright with you, Lisbon."
"Sure, go ahead. I'll meet you at the door of the interview room in five."
Patrick went to the break room while Teresa stayed with the rest of her team. "Van Pelt, I assume everything went well down at the lab?"
"Yes boss. I told them to just send us the results and leave all further research to us. Said that I knew how stretched their resources are and that we could do all the necessary reconciliations with the databases. They bought it hook, line and sinker and were very appreciative of my consideration," the young woman explained with a proud little smile.
"Good thinking, Grace. Thanks." Lisbon cast her an approving look.
Rigsby and Cho wore questioning expressions but kept their mouths shut. The long years of working together so closely had taught them that whenever their boss kept information from them, she had damn good reasons for it. She would tell them when they needed to know. Since this was a Red John case, the secrecy didn't surprise them too much. His latest victim being the father of one of their own made the situation extra delicate, so even Wayne understood at once how precarious this was.
Jane had been a total pain in the butt on many occasions and sometimes both male agents weren't sure whether they liked or loathed him, but at the end of the day he was still their friend. And he was a good man, even though he did nearly everything in his power to hide that fact. The three younger agents had discussed their consultant amongst themselves repeatedly and had come to the conclusion that they quite honestly didn't know enough about him to fully understand his sometimes completely absurd behavior, but there must be valid reasons for it.
He had shown his affection for them through small but significant gestures quite often over the years, sometimes very covertly so as not to be identified as the person responsible. But they had started to compare notes years ago and by now, they knew it had to be Jane who left small gifts for them on occasion or did something kind and thoughtful for them. And with him being as perceptive as he was, he always seemed to know when one of them really needed a cheer-up. So Red John killing his father was an attack on their little family as well. And they were willing to do whatever was required to help. Even if it meant being left in the dark about certain details.
Lisbon sent them an apologetic glance and left the bullpen in the direction of the interrogation rooms.
Jane was already standing outside with a cup in hand. "Shall we?" he asked.
Lisbon nodded casting a friendly look at the two officers guarding the room. One of them opened the door and the Senior Agent entered with her consultant.
TBC
So, next up will be the first inteview with Keen. Will they get closer to Red John this time?
All reviews are appreciated - so please drop me a line.
