Chapter 18 – The Suspect
Jane called Lisbon on their way back to tell her that he was sure Michael wasn't the killer and filled her in on his plan to unnerve the professor tomorrow.
When he got back he found Lisbon in the break area, getting herself a coffee.
'Hey there' he said, peeking his head around the door.
'Hey yourself' she replied, smiling.
He looked around to see if anyone else was there and strolled towards her, pulling her to the back of the room so they were obscured from the door. He took her coffee from her, placed it on the counter behind her and held her around her waist, kissing her lips gently, tasting coffee. He had never cared for it but was beginning to appreciate its taste on Lisbon's lips. 'Missed you' he said softly, giving her a more lingering kiss.
She smiled up at him, putting her arms around him, and returned his kiss. 'Me too.'
He went in to kiss her again but she pushed him back lightly. 'Now we can't get carried away like last night, Abbott could walk in here any moment this time' she chastised him lightly.
Jane shrugged, his arms still round her waist. 'Well, he could have done that last night too.'
Lisbon looked at him, momentarily surprised and exclaimed, 'What do you mean? You told me everyone had gone home!'
Jane grinned wickedly in return.
Lisbon pulled away from him, her mouth open. 'Jane! What were you thinking? What if he had walked in? What if I hadn't stopped it going any further?'
Jane chuckled. 'I knew you would stop it, although for a moment there I began to have my doubts.'
Lisbon blushed and shook her head, her expression forming a pout. 'You know you could have gotten me fired and put yourself in prison, you realise that?'
Her pout only made him want to have her right here in the break room even more.
'Don't be ridiculous. Dennis would never let me go and he knows I won't work without you so you're safe too.'
'I think he may have drawn the line if he had found us having sex on my desk!' she replied loudly just as Wylie entered the room.
He looked at them both, speechless for a second. Lisbon turned scarlet and looked towards the ground, mortified. Jane smiled widely at her embarrassment and looked at Wylie, asking him brightly, 'Hey Wylie, you got something new on the case?'
Wylie looked at them both again and stuttered, 'Umm...yeah...autopsy results are in. I've...ah...left them on your desk, Agent Lisbon' he said to her, her head still bowed.
He left the room quickly before Lisbon lifted her head. Jane still stood smirking.
'Oh my god' she said, her eyes closing.
They went back to her desk. Lisbon glanced over at Wylie who was busying himself with something on his computer, his eyes fixated on the screen.
Jane whispered, 'Back at the scene of the crime, eh?'
Lisbon kicked him in the shin as she picked up the autopsy report.
Jane lifted a different file from her desk and retired to his couch, rubbing his ankle.
After reading for a few minutes, Fischer came over to Lisbon's desk. 'Have you read the autopsy report?'
'Just in the middle of it now, you want to summarise it for me?'
'Basically she was injected with a paralytic drug before strangulation. She wouldn't have been able to move a muscle before she was killed.'
'Dear god, well that clears up how there was no trace of anyone else's DNA under her fingernails, she was unable to fight them off.'
'It also makes this premeditation, effectively ruling out the ex-boyfriend I would say, can't see him killing her this way.'
Lisbon nodded. 'Definitely.'
'I'm having Wylie check if the drug in question has been bought recently by anyone at the college, it's available online would you believe. They most likely used a stolen credit card to purchase it but it's worth a shot.'
Fischer looked at Jane who had been listening to the conversation. 'What do you think?'
He replied, putting the file he had been reading down, 'I agree, it's not the ex-boyfriend.'
Fischer glanced at Lisbon then back at Jane. 'I know, we just said that, want to give us an insight into who you think it was then?'
Jane was staring into space, his mind in action before he replied, 'Not sure, I should have an answer for you tomorrow', before closing his eyes, finishing the conversation.
Lisbon shrugged to Fischer who shook her head and got back to work.
A few hours later Lisbon roused Jane from his sleep. 'Hey, wake up' she said as he blinked his eyes to focus on her. He automatically reached up and pulled her towards him, kissing her softly.
She stood up and said sternly 'You can cut that out, there'll be no more of that in the office.'
He grinned back at her, thinking he would see about that. 'What time is it?'
'Just gone seven, I'm exhausted so I'm heading home' she said, lifting her bags from the desk.
Jane sat up, confused for a second. He had assumed they would be leaving together and began to feel a sense of panic at the thought of her going home alone as she walked towards the elevator. He was about to come up with some excuse why he had to come with her when she stopped and turned around to him.
She smiled and said to him, 'Coming?' as he had done to her the previous night.
He jumped off the couch and joined her.
They stopped off at the airstream first for Jane to pick up a few more things, first among them a cup and saucer, along with some toiletries and a change of clothes for the morning. Lisbon wondered if he was moving in gradually without even telling her. She thought it would be just like him, to assume he could without asking or discussing it with her and, to her surprise, she liked the idea if that was the case. She had spent most nights with Marcus, enjoying his company but was glad when she went to work or just to have a night alone if they saw each other too much, still needing her independence from him. She smiled as she thought that perhaps Jane was right when he told her jokingly that once she had him there she would never want him to leave. At this moment she couldn't imagine ever waking up without him.
He had brought a few more things than he needed for an overnight stay to see how she reacted. Jane glanced over to her as she drove, a smile on her face, making him smile in return.
When they got to Lisbon's place, Jane noticed a FBI vehicle at the end of her street. She had obviously relented and asked Abbott to have someone watch over the house but hadn't mentioned it to him. He was relieved and decided not to bring it up for fear she would change her mind.
They had picked up some Thai food from her favourite place on the way home and lay on the couch together companionably eating it from the containers and watching TV. It reminded Jane of late nights at CBI, just the two of them left in the office alone, her at her desk and he lying on the couch he bought her, eating takeout. He had wondered fleetingly sometimes even then what kissing her or making love with her would be like, only to push such thoughts to the back of his mind, stupidly blaming his loneliness for thinking of her like that. He really had been an idiot, he told himself.
Lisbon finished eating and turned to Jane, jolting him out of his thoughts. 'So you want to fill me in on your plan tomorrow to unmask the killer?'
Jane reached for the container Lisbon had just put down. 'Wouldn't you prefer it to be a surprise?'
She retrieved the remote control and turned the TV off, glaring at him.
'Hey, I was watching that!' he replied as he reached for the remote control just as she grabbed it first.
'Jane, I'm serious, don't play games with me, not on this case.'
He nodded in agreement putting his arm around her and kissing her forehead. 'Okay, I know. But to be honest I'm not 100 percent sure yet who it is. At the moment it's just a hunch but I'm pretty confident that I will know tomorrow either way.'
'So who is your best guess?'
'Julia Myles.'