"Ah Patrick. Finally. I was getting really bored with only Wayne and Kimball visiting. And you brought me tea, too. How very considerate. I can only hope that you were the one who actually prepared it as well," Keen scoffed.
Jane went over to the table without a word, sat down the tea in front of the SacPD Officer and pulled a chair up to sit beside the mole. Lisbon took a seat on the other side of the table.
"No friendly greeting for an old friend, Patrick? I'm wounded," Keen mocked. "May I call you Patrick? I've heard so much about you over the years, you are almost like family." He patted Jane's arm. "Imagine my utter delight when I was called to the carnival on Sunday to assist and finally meet you in person. Red John was so joyous when I told him about our encounter. And hearing about you being so close to our dear Teresa here. Splendid. He was very happy about the good news."
Patrick who'd remained silent so far spoke up now because he didn't expect the creep to offer even more information for free. "You may call me Patrick, no problem, if you allow me to call you Little John," he said in a neutral tone.
"What? No. My given name is David," Keen answered, irritation visible on his face.
"Oh, I'm aware of that, Little John. It's in your file after all. But I've decided to ignore that. Guess you have to live with it or address me with more respect as well. Your choice."
"You bastard. I'm not some underling. Red John's my friend," the mole huffed.
Jane chuckled evilly. "Red John doesn't have friends, Little John. He has minions, tools to do his dirty work. Deep down you already know that. You practically said as much yourself back at the prison. I know this situation is putting a strain on you, especially since the only thing keeping you alive is our enhanced security measures. But I assure you, if you cooperate with us, we'll offer as much clemency and protection as possible. Once again, it's your choice, Little John."
"Stop calling me that. And I'll never betray my friend. You have nothing to offer me."
This time, it was Jane who patted Keen's arm. "On the contrary. As I said, this is all about choices. Before, being in Red John's pocket, you didn't have any, isn't that right? The choices were made for you by your Master. How very convenient for a spineless creature like you. Or do you have a spine hidden somewhere?" He leaned back a little and cast a joking glance down Keen's back. "One that tells you that this could be a way out, a chance to start over as someone autonomous? What will it be, Little John?" he inquired with a luring voice.
"Don't talk to me like that. I'm my own man. You know nothing about me, Jane. You won't get to me with your manipulations. But I know a lot about you. My friend told me all about you," Keen said, with triumph in his tone. But Patrick could still see the insecurity and fear in his eyes.
"I'm sure I make a very amusing topic for conversation in the parlor of sick psychopaths. Alas, I know even more about myself and have no further need to discuss myself with you. Incidentally, I do know enough about you as well. At least all I need to know. Care to hear it?" he asked. Keen nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly, and Patrick started a cold reading after grabbing their suspect's wrist. "You're the middle son of a middle class family. You are slightly more intelligent than your siblings but, being the in-between-child, no one really noticed."
He cast the other man a pitying look. "You have a constant need to prove yourself, but no one takes notice of your accomplishments. Well, no one did until you met Red John. You had gotten through the Police Academy with performance levels slightly above average, got a job here in Sacramento at once. Being so utterly unexceptional however, you didn't advance through the ranks, whereas your colleagues did a lot better even though their academic merits had been beneath yours. This rankled you very much, so when Red John approached you, identifying you as the weak link in SacPD at once, you felt you finally got the recognition you deserved. How am I doing so far?"
"It's not true. He saw that I was completely undervalued at SacPD. No one there was willing to see what I was worth. Red John did. He recognized my skills because he is an excellent judge of character," Keen objected stubbornly.
"Ah, so I'm right on all accounts then. Thought so," Jane stated. Looking over to Teresa he added. "I don't have any further questions for Little John here. I'm afraid he'll not reveal anything useful, though this would have been his one chance to do something remarkable for once. Guess, he just doesn't have it in him. He's boring me, Lisbon. Let's leave." He got up from his chair and Lisbon followed his example.
"Wait, stop! You can't just leave me like that. I have lots to say," Keen chimed in desperately.
"Somehow I doubt that. Goodbye, Little John," Jane said indifferently, stepping away from the table.
"No. You have to stay, Patrick. I… I do know things you'll be interested in," Red John's disciple promised.
The consultant continued walking over to the door, casting an utterly bored backwards glance at the other man. "Maybe, maybe not. I don't care. This is just too tedious to hold my interest. I have better things to do with my time. I'm dying for a cup of tea for example."
With this parting shot Jane left the room followed closely by Lisbon to the indignant shouts of Keen asking them to stay. The consultant made a beeline for the breakroom casting a questioning look at the Senior Agent. She nodded and went on to her office knowing he would be by in a few minutes with coffee for her and tea for himself.
Teresa settled behind her desk and contemplated the interview she'd just witnessed. It had been a promising start. Patrick had managed to prevent their suspect from getting personal and hurtful. Instead he had played Red John's minion, prying open his weak points. There was a certain possibility he would sing after a bit more stewing. There were no guarantees of course, but the groundwork had been laid. She was proud of her consultant. Considering the circumstances, he'd done one hell of a job during that little talk. He'd been completely cool and collected, shown no sign of agitation or discomfort. On the contrary, if she hadn't known him so well, even she would have bought his complete indifference.
A knock on the frame of her open door interrupted her thoughts. Her second in command poked in. "Hey, Cho, come in. Anything new?"
"Actually yes. But Van Pelt will tell you. She was the one to find out. I just wanted to ask how the interview went. I just saw Jane and he looked alright, so I guess it wasn't a total disaster."
Lisbon nodded. "It went as well as can be expected so early in the game. It certainly seemed like Jane got to him."
"Good," Cho said in his typical laconic way and turned to leave her office again.
At that moment Jane entered carrying one mug and his usual tea cup. "Hi Cho," he greeted his team mate in passing and went directly over to Lisbon and set down her coffee in front of her.
"I'm sending in Van Pelt now, if that's alright," Cho said from the door.
"Give us five minutes," Lisbon replied and the other agent nodded.
Jane took a seat in the visitor chair and gazed at her with a guarded expression. "What do you make of Keen?" he asked her.
"What do YOU think, Patrick?" She cradled the mug between her hands, enjoying the warmth before taking a sip.
"I think that if I were Red John, I'd make sure to send an assassin as soon as possible. That man is weak minded. I have no doubt I'll be able to break him," Jane answered full of conviction.
She nodded. "I'll make sure security is tight as possible."
"Might not be enough, but we'll have to hope. Considering what happened with Johnson, I doubt he's really safe any place."
"Well, we had Lorelei here for a few days and nothing happened. So maybe this will work out." Lisbon tried to be optimistic to reassure him.
"He knew it would take a lot to turn her. There was simply no hurry. But with Keen? He's a real liability, Lisbon. And he has known Red John personally for years." He sat thoughtful for a moment and took a slow sip of tea. "Anyway, we can't do anything at the moment." He returned the cup to its saucer and smiled at her cockily. "I can break him no problem, but it will take some time. It'll do him good to brood right now."
She cast him an admonishing look. "Don't get all big-headed, Jane. If you get your hopes up too high, you'll just fall deeper should something bad happen."
His smile fell a little. "Yes, I know. Things always seem to fall apart where Red John is concerned. And I won't rush this and risk losing my chance with Keen just because I'm afraid he'll be killed in our custody. It is a strong possibility, I'm aware of that."
"Good. As long as you keep that in mind…" she trailed off as Van Pelt entered her office and closed the door.
"Boss? Cho said you had time for me now?" the young woman asked carefully.
Jane got up from his chair and motioned for her to sit down there while he went over to the sofa taking along his tea.
"Yes, go ahead, Grace," Lisbon encouraged her.
She cast her boss an insecure look and said, tentatively, "I'm not sure Jane should be present for this."
Patrick set his tea on the side table and got up again with a highly irritated expression on his face. Teresa sighed. "What is it, Van Pelt? I'd much rather we avoided another disaster like the one this morning keeping him out of the loop."
Grace looked very uncomfortable and cast an apologetic glance in Jane's direction. "It's about Alex Jane's family. I searched the database to find out if there's anybody else we should inform about his demise," she explained.
Patrick stopped his retreat, glaring at her angrily. "And what the hell makes you think that doesn't concern me?" he asked.
"I just thought that, well, it somehow might be… I don't know… a sour spot maybe? I mean, you never talk about your relatives and… and you've already been through a lot of stress today…" she trailed off.
"That's not your decision to make," he said coldly. "Mind your own business, Agent Van Pelt."
"Stop it, the both of you. Patrick, sit down and calm yourself. Grace, don't assume things like that in the future. Let's all act like adults here, okay?"
When Lisbon was satisfied that they would follow her orders, she gestured for Grace to speak again. "Well, what did you find out about the Jane family then?"
"Well, I found out that Alex' parents are still alive. They live in San Francisco as a matter of fact. His mother worked as a musician, his father is a retired psychiatrist." Jane uttered an ugly chuckle at that point. "And gathering from the records, Alexander has a younger brother named Matthew who's a district attorney in San Jose. He's fifty-two and has a wife and two children," Van Pelt told them.
Lisbon's eyebrows had nearly disappeared behind her bangs. "Wow, and here I thought your family were all carnies, Jane."
"And I thought I didn't have any at all," Patrick said silently, a sad look crossing his face.
"You didn't even know they existed?" Teresa asked him in astonishment.
He shook his head. "Alex always told me his parents died in some accident. Said he'd joined the carnival because he had to provide for himself from a young age because they hadn't left him anything. Guess it was rather stupid of me to never doubt his words, but I honestly had no idea," Jane explained. With a deep sigh he leant against the back of the couch. "Well, on a positive note: looks like I'll be spared the duty of arranging his funeral after all."
Lisbon spoke up again at that point. "Grace, do you have an address of the parents?"
"Yes boss. It's all in here." She handed over a folder.
"Jane? You and I will take a trip to San Fran now. We'll grab some late lunch on the way. Come on." Lisbon got up purposefully.
Patrick looked at her with apprehension. "I don't know that's a good idea. They never… I mean… they don't… I doubt they'd want to meet… I… No," he stammered in a way so uncharacteristic for him, both Lisbon and Van Pelt stared at him disbelievingly.
"Of course, they want to meet you, Patrick. Why wouldn't they?" She straightened her blazer and picked up the folder Van Pelt had given her. "They probably don't know about your existence either. I think it's a splendid idea. I have to tell them that their son is dead, but at least I can offer them a grandson instead. One they can actually be proud of." She'd walked over to him and underlined her words, gently caressing his cheek. "I'm sure, they'll be delighted to meet you. Come on, love. You have nothing to lose after all, do you?" She tried to encourage him.
He got up hesitantly. "I'm still not sure about this, but alright. I'll come with you."
In the car, Teresa handed him the folder containing the information about his family and started the vehicle. He stared at the sheets in front of him with some distress before he could bring himself to take a real look.
"Elisa Dorothy and Jonathan Alexander Jane. Both aged 84. Two children, Alexander James Jane aged 62 and Matthew Charles Jane aged 52, married, two children, Mary Elisa Jane aged 15, and Paul Ethan Jane aged 13. Geez, I have an uncle and two cousins, I'll be damned." He shook his head in wonder. "He told me he was an only child. What a liar. And I'm not even in this record. Why?"
Lisbon pondered on that for some time. "It's strange. But maybe you weren't registered through the right channels being born like that. I don't know. But we can try to find out later, Patrick." She gave his thigh a gentle squeeze. "How are you doing?"
He shrugged. "Baffled. And nervous I guess. Don't know what to expect after all." A moment later he added quietly, "I kind of always wanted to have a family, but right now, I don't know what to think…"
She nodded understandingly.
A while later they got some burgers at a drive-in and ate in the car mostly keeping a pensive silence. They reached San Francisco about two hours after they'd left the CBI and Lisbon steered them to the last known address of the Jane family.
"Maybe it would be best if you went in alone first, Lisbon. You know, so they have time to absorb the shock," Patrick suggested.
She nodded but glanced at him with a skeptical look. "But you're not trying to run away from this, are you?"
His innocent expression didn't reassure her in the least. "Please, Patrick. Don't be a coward. This could turn out to be a really good thing for you. And you don't have to face this alone. Promise me you'll give this an honest try."
"Alright Teresa. If you insist. I just don't expect any open arms. Considering that Alex denied their very existence I assume their relationship can't have been a good one. And I'm his son. They'll probably hate me on sight. I'm just trying to stay realistic. A wise woman told me today, that I shouldn't keep my hopes too high or the fall would be deep," Patrick told her warily.
She bent towards him and their lips met in a sweet kiss. "They'd be idiots if they didn't like you," she said defiantly a moment later.
"Well, go in and find out then," he prompted and she left the car and walked over to the house. She knocked on the door and a minute later it was opened by a gray-haired man. Jane watched as Lisbon showed him her badge and was invited inside.
TBC
A/N: I do hope that the decline in reviews for the last chapters doesn't indicate people losing their interest in the story. Maybe it was simply caused by the fact that the last two chapters didn't contain much new development. We'll see... Maybe I could surprise you with this one. Feel free to let me know.
