Chapter 44 – A Favour and The Future
Lisbon sat by Van Pelt's bedside, the intermittent beeping of the monitor beside her the only sound in the room. Rigsby and her parents were off discussing practical arrangements with the physiotherapy staff on what help would be needed when they got Van Pelt home so Lisbon sat alone in the hospital room, sitting on a plastic chair beside the redhead while she slept and trying not to worry about events in Chicago or what was happening with Stiles.
After a few minutes Lisbon said softly, "Hey, Grace," to the other woman as her eyelids fluttered open, before she took her right hand and squeezed it.
"Boss?" Van Pelt croaked as she looked to her side.
"Yeah," she smiled. "How are you feeling? Rigsby and your mom and dad will be back soon. You need anything?"
Van Pelt nodded to the water jug beside her and Lisbon poured a glass and helped her take a few sips.
"Thanks," she sighed as Lisbon fluffed up her pillow before helping her get comfortable again. "Sorry," she added as she shook her head and took a breath.
Lisbon frowned as she sat back down again. "What on earth are you apologising for? What happened to you isn't your fault, Grace."
"I don't remember," the redhead replied, a line appearing between her eyes as she struggled finding the words. "Don't remember. Can't tell you anything."
Lisbon gripped her hand tighter. "None of that matters. We'll find him, I swear, and we'll make him pay."
"Jane...has a...plan?"
Lisbon grinned. "He's working on it. We both are. So stop worrying, okay?"
Van Pelt nodded and closed her eyes briefly before speaking again. "He loves you."
Lisbon's throat tightened and she nodded, fighting back the tears. "Yeah, I know. He told me. Told me he wants to make a go of things again. And that it was mostly down to whatever you said to him."
A smile crept up on Van Pelt's lips and Lisbon smiled in response. "Good. About time." She must have noticed some apprehension in Lisbon's expression because she then added, her words broken up with the effort of finding them, "Don't. Be. Afraid."
A tear fell onto Lisbon's cheek as she looked at the brave woman lying beside her who had been through hell but who was still fighting and winning against both physical and mental hurdles thrown at her. She nodded, "Okay, I'll try not to be. Now, get some more rest." She smiled. "And that's an order."
Jane called her from the car on his way back from his meeting with Stiles. After filling her in on his conversation, she updated him on Grace's condition as she paced the hospital corridor outside Van Pelt's room. Then, she asked him, "So, what's the plan?"
He smiled, "What makes you think I have one?"
"Because if you didn't you'd sound decidedly less chipper than you do."
"One I need your assistance with," he said to her with another smile.
"Oh? So I don't need to stay out of the action this time, huh?" she said with raised eyebrows.
"Quite the contrary, Lisbon. I'll likely need those beautiful green eyes of yours to convince him to help."
She frowned momentarily then responded, "Oh god, what are we asking Walter to do for us now?"
As they drove through the gates of Mashburn's estate an hour or so later, Jane whistled as he exited the SUV Lisbon drove and had parked at the cobbled courtyard attached to his generous driveway. "You were never tempted to have this life?" he asked as they approached the expansive front entrance.
"Who says I'm still not?" she said with a smirk after ringing the doorbell.
He looked at her sideways and shot her a glare with an accompanying raised eyebrow. "Not funny, Teresa," he mumbled as he faced the door and shook his head.
She sighed as they waited. "I don't know about this plan, Jane," she said with seriousness. "We've involved him enough. We're pushing our luck."
"It'll make Stiles talk. I'm sure of it."
"Yeah but it's...using Walter, Jane, putting him in danger. Putting him-"
She stopped talking when a maid, a woman in her early fifties with a Mexican accent, opened the door and ushered them into a sitting room. She asked them if they would like refreshments and told them Mr Mashburn would be right with them after he'd finished a conference call in the study.
When they were alone again Lisbon continued, "It's putting him in Red John's sights. He's already helped us enough." She flopped down on an opulent white couch with a heavy sigh.
Jane sat down beside her and rolled his eyes. "We need someone with Walter's resources to make this work, Lisbon. And if you're so dead set against the idea then why did you come along in the first place?"
"Because I want to make sure Walter knows what he's agreeing to. Or not. I don't want you railroading him, Jane. It has to be his decision whether to help us or not," she snapped.
"And it will be," he responded, a bite to his words to match her tone, tempers fraying on both sides as they neared their end goal.
"Do I detect trouble in paradise?" Walter's breezy tone drifted towards them as the discussion turned heated.
Jane rolled his eyes and took a calming breath. He got up and nodded to Mashburn who was dressed in a black turtle neck and beige pants.
"Teresa!" Mashburn grinned after a quick glance at Jane who inwardly rolled his eyes again.
"Hey, Walter," Lisbon said as she got to her feet with a smile. "Thanks for agreeing to see us at such short notice. And...and for all your help so far. I'll...well we'll never be able to repay you-"
"Nonsense," Mashburn replied with a grin. "How could I resist a damsel in distress's call?" He glanced at Jane. "Not to mention her not so trustworthy sidekick's," he laughed.
Jane plastered on a fake smile but couldn't help rock a little on his toes or keep some annoyance from his tone. "Very amusing," he commented as he shook his head at his host.
Mashburn gestured for them to take their seats again and he sat in an armchair opposite them."So, what can I do for my favourite crimefighters now? Must be big if it entailed more than a phone call."
"It is," Lisbon said. "And...to be entirely honest I'm not convinced we should ask you at all."
"Sounds intriguing, my interest is certainly piqued."
At that, the sounds of a tray full of crockery stilled the conversation as it was placed on a coffee table in between them. After one of his staff served Jane tea and Lisbon coffee, Jane took the lead in the conversation.
"Walter, have you ever heard of Visualize?" he asked as he took a sip of tea.
Mashburn frowned and got off his chair to fix himself a Scotch from a bar area nearby. "Visualize? Uh...yes...the religious cult, right?" he said as he stood with his back to them.
"We need to be sure we can trust you before we say more," Jane said, making the other man turn around.
Surprised, "Trust me? Patrick, I've done nothing but help you lately. You, my friend, have severe trust issues, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know," Jane admitted with a shrug. "When I say trust, what I mean is-"
"We do trust you," Lisbon cut in, speaking on behalf of both Jane and herself now. "But what we're really asking is that we keep some of what we're about to tell you to yourself. It can go no further, okay? It's...vital this is kept just between us, Walter."
Mashburn settled himself back in his armchair and sloshed the amber liquid around his glass as he studied both of them for a few moments. "Okay, the fact that both of you now look on edge is beginning to scare me. Fair enough...it doesn't leave this room."
Jane leaned forward, sitting his cup back on the tray in front of him. He intertwined his fingers. "Bret Stiles is the leader of Visualize. And we believe..." he licked his lips. It had taken him years to trust Lisbon and her team with any vital information in relation to Red John and telling Mashburn, a man he barely knew all that well, was proving harder on him that he'd imagined. "We believe...well, we know that he knows who Red John is."
Mashburn quirked an eyebrow as he sipped his drink. "Go on."
"We can't get him to tell us who Red John is," Lisbon stated. "Jane tried but Stiles is...well he's more than a slippery customer. We've tried...other means to get him to talk...but we need to up the ante if we've any hope of him giving us Red John's identity."
Mashburn turned to Jane. "You weren't able to convince him, Patrick?" He shook his head, "Then he truly must be formidable."
"He is," Lisbon agreed.
"What's his reason for not telling you? Red John has leverage on him, something like that?"
Jane smiled. Mashburn was quick on the uptake. "Yes. But I don't know what it is or where to start looking. Could be anything. Stiles is shady and has been that way for many years."
Mashburn nodded slowly. "O-kay. But how can I be of assistance?"
Jane asked, "You deal in hostile takeovers, correct?"
"Ah, yes...on occasions," Mashburn shrugged. "Look, no offence, but a religious cult headed by what clearly sounds like some kind of sociopath is not something I wish to acquire. Sounds messy as well as dangerous."
Lisbon responded, "We wouldn't want you to actually make a bid or put wheels in motion to that effect, Walter. Just...put the word out that you're interested in taking it over. If that's even possible. But you're right. It could prove extremely dangerous. Stiles and his followers...they're not keen on anyone interfering in their business. Some kind of violent reprisal against you is more than likely."
Jane shook his head at her. "Way to sell it, Teresa," he muttered.
"He deserves to know the risks, Jane," she glared.
"And I'm imagining this is where I first came in," Mashburn said, interrupting their staring contest once again.
"Okay," he sighed, draining the last remnants of his glass. "Think I know enough for now. But before I agree or disagree to anything, I need to find out if the option is even financially viable. No point in shaking this tree if I don't have the capital to back me up first." He glanced at his watch, back in businessman mode as he got to his feet. "Give me until this evening; I should have the financials by then. Then I'll make my decision."
"But your safety..." Lisbon said as both she and Jane stood up.
"Well you can always come and stay here with me, Teresa. Protect me by my bedside as I live in fear for my life," he smiled.
When he caught sight of Jane's mouth hanging open as Lisbon appeared to consider the idea, Mashburn laughed. "Don't look so frightened, Patrick." He looked from one to the other then focused in on Lisbon.
He said nothing for a long moment but then looked into her eyes with an earnestness he rarely showed. Though he was still addressing Jane he continued to stare at Lisbon. "It's obvious to me she's made her decision, not that there was ever much of a contest in the first place but I hope my putting my hat in the ring made you realise what a fool you were to leave her in the first place." He added, his next words softer and for Lisbon's benefit alone, "I know when it's time for me to make my retreat, Teresa."
"I'm...I'm sorry," she shrugged in the same tone.
Jane looked to his shoes, uncomfortable with being the third wheel in this conversation and went to remove himself from it by taking a step towards the door. Before he could, Mashburn put his hand up and fixed them both with a steely gaze. "Tell me this. If I'm to help you with this and you get your man, what are your plans for him?"
They glanced at each other before Jane answered. "You're a smart man. I'm sure you can hazard an educated guess," he shrugged.
Mashburn pursed his lips and nodded satisfactorily. "Good. No less than he deserves. But what then?"
"How do you mean?" Lisbon enquired with a frown.
He looked at both of them in turn again, this time his expression quizzical. "What happens after, of course? Surely you've talked about practicalities. Do you go on the run together? Claim self-defence? Something else?"
He rolled his eyes a second later when neither immediately responded. "I swear, the two of you are worse communicators than I was with my third wife. The game has changed now you're together, surely that's obvious. It's no longer a sole quest for revenge and to hell with the consequences after the fact."
He focused on Jane. "Tell me I'm right, Patrick. Tell me you've thought through what happens when you get your man now you have Teresa by your side and intend for it to stay that way. Otherwise I might just retract what I just said."
Jane licked his lips under the other man's intense gaze before composing himself. "Walter, while we do need your help, it doesn't give you the right to interfere in whatever's going on personally between myself and Teresa. It's none of your business, quite frankly."
"Of course we've talked about it, Walter," Lisbon piped up, her voice a tone higher than it normally sounded. "So don't worry about that, okay?" she smiled.
Mashburn furrowed his brow and sighed before shaking his head, evident to him she was lying. "I'll call you later on with my decision," he said flatly.
As they were shown to the front door and walked over the cobblestones towards their vehicle in silence, Jane finally asked her, "Why did you lie? It was noticeable even to Mashburn we haven't had that discussion."
"Because I was embarrassed that we've let things get this far between us without talking about it," she said glumly as she clicked the alarm off on the SUV. Belatedly she realised that this was more than likely part of the reason she couldn't put voice to her feelings for Jane. Even though he'd told her he wanted her and wanted them, he also wanted his revenge too. And she guessed, although she was less certain now that Van Pelt had made signs of recovering, she did too.
So how could they make a go of it if he still intended to blindly go do what he said he always intended? How much of his vengeance would he be willing to give up for her when it came to crossing that line, when faced with his white whale?
After getting inside the car, he turned towards her. Quietly, "Then I guess we should talk about it."
"Okay. So...how do you intend to murder him? Assuming that's still your plan. Let's start with that and work our way up to how you propose not to spend the rest of your life in prison because of it."
Jane tilted his head. "Oh, so we're starting off with the easy stuff, are we?" he tried to joke with a smile.
When he saw her expression and the gravitas it contained he sighed, "All right. Let's go somewhere we can talk properly, then."