Chapter 18: Moving Target
Austin FBI, Thursday
"Boss?"
Abbott beckoned Cho to enter and sit. "Nailed Jose Oretga's gang for those bad drugs that killed thirteen. Put them out of business. Not bad." Cho nodded his acknowledgment but didn't say anything, "There a problem?"
"No."
Puzzled, Abbott scrutinized him then let it go. "Good job. Pass it along to your team. Get me the paperwork by Friday."
"Yes, sir."
Cho returned to the bullpen and his paperwork. He was surprised rime hadn't formed on Jane's couch from the chill emanating from Lisbon.
Rules forbidding relationships between agents didn't apply to consultants. The rationale? Consultants didn't face danger in the field, so personal attachments wouldn't jeopardize field operations. Wrong on both counts. Had that rule applied, Cho would have sought a waiver since Lisbon's tempering influence was the only way Patrick Jane could work for the FBI. That didn't make it good. He and Lisbon had both approved Jane's plan on the case: Jane would wheedle information by cozying up to Ortega's sister. It wasn't easy for Lisbon to watch Jane charming the beautiful woman. The final straw was Jane's unannounced initiative to get her on tape – leverage to either strong-arm testimony against her brother, or to get the brother to confess. Cho wasn't surprised they came in separately after last night's near fiasco. Abbott sees the closed case. Doesn't know the near disaster.
Cho finished his case report that afternoon. He rose. "Lisbon. Jane. Conference room." Wylie watched them, slightly disappointed at being left out. Cho closed the blinds in the "fishbowl" and the three seated themselves, each on a different side of the table.
"Abbott said, 'Good job.'"
Lisbon looked pleased, Jane, bored.
"I disagree." They looked up, surprised and curious respectively. "Jane, you took a stupid risk going after her alone."
Jane shrugged diffidently. "Worked."
Lisbon bristled and frowned. Cho interrupted before she could get a word out. Don't need more tension between them. "Deal is no hiding things."
"You blessed the plan. Only way I could get her to talk."
Cho didn't dignify Jane's deflection with a response. The plan hadn't included Jane cornering her sans backup. "Second time you flew solo and almost got killed. Abide by what you agreed. You chose to return. You want to hunt Blake. Solo doesn't work."
Jane looked away, face perfectly neutral.
Cho sat back and waited.
It took a minute for Jane to meet his gaze. He muttered, "Okay," still not looking at Lisbon.
Cho nodded. Any concession from Jane was a victory; pushing it would undermine what he'd gained. Jane rose, followed by Lisbon. "Lisbon." Jane looked back. "Just Lisbon." Jane closed the door and walked away, neutral mask in place. Lisbon reseated herself.
"Boss?"
How long till I'm used to 'boss'? Cho broached the second awkward, necessary conversation."I'll ride herd, but you have the real influence with Jane."
She grimaced. "Doesn't feel like it."
Cho leaned forward. "True anyhow."
"Your point?"
"Irritated by Jane's stunt?"
Firmly, "Yes."
"That all?" She frowned and straightened. Cho continued. "Jane was undercover dating her."
Eyes narrowed, "I know that," she said curtly.
"Knowing isn't feeling." His tone softened. "You and Jane have to pull together for this to work."
Lisbon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, slumping in her chair. "Okay. Maybe personal feelings bled into the case." She looked up. "We'll work it out, Cho."
"Good."
Already thinking of how to fix it Lisbon asked, "Closed case pizza tonight?"
"Sure."
"I'll tell Wylie and Jane."
That evening, a few hours of light conversation and a couple bottles of beer washed away the residual tension in the team.
A half hour after getting home Jane was only slightly surprised by the knock at his door.
"Hoped you'd come over." He welcomed her with a quick kiss.
"You could knock on my door, y'know."
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they walked to the couch. "You might consider that presumptuous. Better for my nose this way."
She mock frowned. "Geez, will I never live that down? Long ago and only the one time."
He pulled her close on the couch. "Let's make some pleasant memories." He sprinkled kisses on her cheek and neck. Softly, "Are we okay?"
Amid her return kisses, "Share your plans, Jane. Let Cho and me handle the take-downs."
He looked away then back, face open and sincere. "Trying. Hard habit to break."
"I'm sorry I was out of sorts about her. I know you were undercover."
"One-hundred percent work. - Can I interest you in a little undercover action?"
"Thought you'd never ask." She tugged him to his feet.
Jane's Apartment, Sunday
Jane, Lisbon and Cho sat around the table, listening to the burner phone set to speaker.
"Computer's set up and software loaded. –Sorry it cost so much, Jane."
"The money's fine, Grace. It's worth having a dedicated computer to decrypt Bertram's thumb drive, one not connected to anything else."
Rigsby spoke. Soft baby sounds in the background suggested he was holding their youngest. "Got the drive from Pete. You really think Blake's monitoring us?"
Cho responded, "Someone tried to kill Jane. Safe assumption."
Lisbon asked, "Grace, any way to tell how hard it'll be?"
"No idea, but knowing some names on the list will help," she answered, resolutely optimistic as always. "I got every encryption product commercially available when Bertram created the file. I'll start this week."
Austin FBI, Monday
Abbott's ears perked up as he walked toward the break room.
"...really think Judge Davenport was Blake?"
"Almost certain. He was close buddies with Bertra–" Jane broke off and greeted Abbott as he entered. "–Abbott."
"Jane. Lisbon." He moved to pour himself coffee. "Good work on that bad drug case."
Still wary, Lisbon responded coolly, "Thank you." Jane just nodded.
They exited, leaving Abbott staring speculatively at where they disappeared through the doorway.
Cho looked up as his two team members entered the bullpen. Quietly, "Drop the name?" Jane nodded. "He bite?"
He shrugged. "We'll know soon."
Abbott, Fischer, and other agents assigned to Blake left for California the next day.
Abbott's Team, Sacramento, CA, Tuesday
Miriam Davenport stood wringing her hands as FBI agents invaded her home.
"Clear–" came a shout from the basement.
"Agent Abbott, what on earth is going on? This–"
"Clear upstairs–"
"–must be some mistak–"
"Nothing in the house, sir," a tall late-20's agent addressed Abbott, speaking over her.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Davenport." Abbott turned to his subordinate. "Search the grounds. Not likely, but let's put it to rest."
Anger replaced confusion and the woman planted herself in front of the burly, dark man. "Agent Abbott, I demand to know what the hell you think you're doing. My husband has been a judge for 20 years. Can't you straighten this out with him?"
Abbott turned to her, response cool but not unkind. "Mrs. Davenport, we want to do just that. We would like to question your husband about the case we're working on."
She snapped, "Simple enough if you'd just call him at court!"
"You expected him there?"
"Of course. Court is in session today."
"Judge Davenport didn't arrive at work today. Do you have an idea of why that might be, or where else he might have gone?"
She visibly wilted. "Uh," swallowing, "no. He's – he's very reliable. Responsible. Oh my God!" She grabbed Abbott's arm. "Maybe he was kidnapped. All those criminals he's put away."
"Ma'am, I need help in finding your husband. The sooner we find him, the sooner this can be sorted out." He took her arm and led her to the couch in the formal sitting room.
In six hours, Abbott's team tracked down every suggestion as to Davenport's location to a dead end. The BOLO had turned up nothing. The Honorable Harold Percy Davenport was gone along with $50,000 in cash. In Austin, IT analyst Hastings researched their finances, uncovering a series of large, unexplainable deposits stretching back over a decade. Miriam Davenport confirmed her husband had been close friends with confirmed Blake member Gale Bertram. She had been shocked at the news two years ago and thought her husband was equally surprised and appalled. This was deja vu, only infinitely closer to home.
The Austin FBI team made its weary way to a hotel located in a business park on the outskirts of Sacramento. Abbott had Fischer arrange for lodgings when it became clear they would be spending the night. Though modern and attractive, the area was virtually deserted after business hours with few restaurants or amenities for his out-of-town team. He sourly wondered why she chose this out-of-the-way location. The team reluctantly dined at the mediocre hotel restaurant and turned in early for lack of any nearby diversions.
At just after midnight their tech analyst called Abbott from Austin.
Blinking sleep away, "Abbott. ... You what?" He sat up and paid closer attention. "Start from the top, Hastings. ... Kim had you monitor all calls from this area after we got here. And? ... The call to the other burner phone mentioned Davenport? ... Give me that information."
With the assistance of the Sacramento FBI office, Abbott woke his team and had them wait in the lobby while Gabe Mancini's agents searched their rooms for the burner phone.
Bullpen, Austin, TX, Wednesday
Nervous but eager, Wylie intercepted Cho before he made it to his desk.
"Cho, did you hear?"
"Slow down. What?"
"Abbott's team went to Sacramento to question a judge about Blake. He was gone, tipped off. Agent Fischer had Hastings –"
"IT analyst?"
"–Yeah. She had Hastings monitor all burner phones in the area through the NSA. –Only worked because it was an isolated area, not much phone traffic after hours. Turns out Agent Waller called another burner phone with information about Davenport."
Cho frowned. "Mole?"
"Arrested. Being brought back for questioning."
"Thanks, Wylie."
Jane's Apartment, Sunday Night
Cho shoved the empty carton from Chinese takeout away and leaned back. He started to speak then thought better of it. He jotted a note. Bugs?
"Jane and I sweep our apartments daily. Clean."
"Been a week. Where do we stand?"
Instead of answering, Jane suggested, "Let's see how Grace is doing with Bertram's drive."
Cho pulled out his burner phone. "Hey, Rigs. You and Grace got a minute?" He put it on speaker and set it on the table.
"Yo, Cho. Grace is putting Taylor down for a nap, be here in a minute."
"You're on speaker with all of us." Killing time till Van Pelt joined the call, "What's new?"
"Nada. Grace has been – hey, Babe. It's Cho and friends."
"Hi, guys."
"Tell 'em about Bertram's drive."
Soberly, "I ran the file through each encryption program. Nothing. I ran it through all six programs sequentially." She took a deep breath. "Got one name decoded, Alexa Shultz, who we already know was Blake. Looks like every name – I assume each entry is a name – was separately encrypted using more than one program, and then put into a single file."
"Meaning?" Lisbon said encouragingly.
"Meaning I don't know. Getting the one suggests what he did. There are thousands of combinations of the six programs. I don't even know if I have every program he used. Worse, the encryption could be tied to an external variable, such as the date. Bertram had help."
Soothingly, Jane asked, "What do you suggest?"
"I've set up a program to grind through the combinations, but it will be slow. No guarantees it'll work."
Lisbon asked slowly, "What might help?"
"FBI probably has better resources. Don't know if Bertram used non-commercial programs."
Jane interjected smoothly, "Appreciate your efforts, Grace. It's promising your approach decrypted one." He looked around, "Anything more, Cho? Lisbon?"
Cho spoke up. "Watch your back. Abbott uncovered a Blake mole. They're still organized somehow-"
Lisbon added, "–And dangerous if Blake learns you have Bertram's list."
"Will do," Rigsby responded seriously. At the sound of a baby crying, "–Gotta go." The five voiced their farewells and disconnected.
The three sat silently mulling the information.
Used to keeping projects moving from years of managing Lisbon summarized, "So no list of Blake leaders anytime soon. Jane, what do you conclude from the Davenport lead? What next?"
Tapping his lip, gaze unfocused, "Cloudy with fog moving in." Jane looked up, feeling their eyes on him. The days of getting away with cryptic comments were over. He got more tea to stall. "Hoped Davenport would be definitive. Finding a mole explains his escape, so can't conclude Abbott's with Blake. Doesn't tell us he isn't, either. -I need to read Abbott while talking about Davenport and Blake. And can we get more help to work on that file?"
Cho spoke up. "Let's meet with Abbott and ask to work on Blake."
Lisbon smiled, "Bold." She added, "We need to involve Wylie – at least for the decryption."
Cho left after they'd agreed on their next steps.
Lisbon sipped her coffee and joined Jane by curling up on the couch. "You're brooding. What's up?"
"Not brooding," he answered, gaze unfocused, forehead creased. "Just don't see how it fits together yet."
"Y-e-s?" she drawled, encouraging him to continue.
"After two years, Blake is still out there, still organized. How's it function without the foot soldiers, those with the tattoo? Who took over after McAllister, where's its money coming from? ... Feels like I'm missing something obvious."
"Can I help? – I'll think about it too, but anything we can hash out?"
He shook his head slowly, perplexed and distant. "Not yet. Too amorphous."
"Then how about a break? Movie, maybe?" Lisbon's hand stroked his cheek, intent upon keeping Jane connected to normal life – to her.
He glanced at her with a grin. He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer. "If you think you're going to distract me ..." he said, nuzzling her hair and dropping little kisses on her cheek, neck, mouth, "you're absolutely right."
She bent her left leg shifting to face him. "Hey," she breathed between kisses, "you doing all right? You didn't sleep after we got Ortega."
"Because," he said as he savored her lips, eyes closed, "we slept apart." He whispered, "Two years apart, too many years we couldn't be together."
Her fingers trailed through his hair. Her other hand stroked the planes of his chest. She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. "Together now. C'mon, let's get comfortable."
A while later they lay sated and relaxed in the dark, nearly dozing. She lay draped against his left side, one leg between his.
Drowsy, she ventured, "Are you ... happy?"
"Very. I've wanted you a long, long time. And now we're together."
"Is this what you want to be doing?"
He cracked his eyes open, taking in her silhouette in the dim light. "At the moment." He kissed the top of her head. "I don't want to take on gigantic conspiracies forever, if that's your question."
"And you do want...?" she whispered.
"You. Normal life, with interesting things to think about. To do." She thought he'd drifted off till he added, "If it's what you want, maybe a family."
She shifted uncomfortably, "I – I don't know–"
"Shhh," he touched his finger to her lips. "Something to think about, not worry over. Anything we do has to work for us both, love. We'll figure it out together."
She relaxed and nestled against him again. "'Kay," she breathed contentedly.