Chapter 15- Call Of The Wild
Jane was intrigued to see how city girl Lisbon would cope with roughing it for a while in the Airstream, aware of her sensibilities Jane had asked Pete to get a reasonably well equipped one so she didn't freak out completely. For Jane's part he was quite looking forward to a return to the simple life and some welcome breathing space. They would be staying in a secluded site at one of the small lakes just over the state border in Oregon, it was a place which had no connections to any of them where hopefully they could relax in peace but it would be convenient for Jane and Pete to get back and forwards to Sacramento.
Lisbon's face was a picture when she saw their accommodation. "Well Jane you've done yourself proud, this is just what a girl wants for a romantic getaway – a silver bucket!"
Jane grinned back at her knowing she did not really mind and the location was just amazing set up in the hills right by the lakeside.
"You would be amazed how romantic it can be snuggling together to keep warm at night" he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Hey mister – just remember I'm injured before you start getting ideas. S'pose a snuggle wouldn't do any harm though." Lisbon looked coyly at Jane, knowing he would find ways of making it as romantic as the circumstances allowed.
Apart from some light bruising, which was easily disguised by makeup, she looked pretty normal but she was still taking pain meds for her bruised ribs - although the level of pain had subsided, it was still taking some time to ease off.
Pete and Sam had stocked up on supplies for them, so they just had to unpack and settle down. The Barsocky's greeted them warmly; Jane and Pete gave each other bear hugs and Sam kissed Jane warmly. Lisbon stood back feeling a bit out of things not knowing how she would be received as Jane's partner, after all they must have known Angela well.
Sam marched up to her. "Nice to see you Pepper – don't worry we've been warned not to hug you, we know you're injured." In truth Teresa wasn't particularly tactile with people she did not know well and wasn't into gratuitous kissing either. There was however something about Sam's directness that she liked, she had seen Sam take Jane to task more than once and Jane just seemed to take it off her.
"So Pepper it's a bit of a change from city life living in Paddy's world for a change? For what it's worth I'm glad you got together at last, I could tell he was sweet on you even if he wasn't ready at the time and for a cop you're not bad."Sam added.
"Ex-cop more than likely, so Pepper is no more you can call me Teresa if you want." Lisbon replied appreciating Sam's candour.
"Just teasing Teresa – we are happy for you. You're good for Paddy and I hope he is good for you as well. Though this is one hell of a pickle you have gotten yourselves into."
Pete ambled over "Hey Pepper great to see you again, hope my boy is looking after you ok. How's the ribs?"
"Hi Pete – still sore but a lot better." Teresa gave up, she knew she was stuck with the Pepper tag and there was no malice, it was more amusement that their boy was hooked up with a cop. "How's Daisy – still eating her apples?"
"Yeah she's a grand old girl, will do anything for an apple." Pete replied.
"You'll have to find a different way to distract me this time, when you & Patrick are up to no good." Lisbon said quirking her eyebrow deciding to give as good as she got.
"Well missy that depends whether you've got your handcuffs with you." Pete responded still a bit unsure of Lisbon.
"Never leave home without them Pete." She smirked.
Jane happily watched the exchange, he knew they would like Lisbon's no bull attitude as they got to know her better, especially Sam who stood no nonsense herself. He cringed at the thought of leaving Sam and Lisbon alone knowing his ears would be burning in his absence.
Sam had prepared a warming stew; they wrapped up warm in the cool autumn night as they enjoyed the meal.
"Mmm this is delicious" Lisbon tucked in with gusto "I must have your recipe."
Patrick smirked knowing what was coming.
"A brace of rabbits, some onion, potatoes, carrots some herbs and stock simmered over a low heat." Sam replied breezily.
Teresa looked at her plate suspiciously then shrugged her shoulders and carried on "First time I've had rabbit, very tasty." This was clearly going to be quite an experience.
After a couple of beers they all relaxed and soon set down to the serious business of embarrassing Jane.
"Remember that time Paddy tried to read Frankie Paolucci, now Frankie wasn't the sharpest tool in the box and he was very superstitious, he believed in spirits and the afterlife. He hadn't long lost his beloved Mamma and came to one of Paddy's session and when Paddy did his 'The spirits are with me...routine' the hapless Frankie stepped forward.
We tried to signal Paddy to stop because Frankie may have loved his Mamma but he was one mean SOB and not a man to cross but the Boy Wonder was in his stride and was reading Frankie like a book; he soon had Frankie in tears talking to Mamma through him. Now Paddy never knew when to give up and started to say Mamma knew Frankie had something on his mind and he shouldn't worry about tomorrow it would all go fine.
As it happened Frankie had got a heist planned for the following day and when the cops started sniffing around later, he started to suspect that Paddy here had read his mind and had tipped them off, so Frankie came looking for him.
We hid Paddy in our the airstream for two days, unbeknown to Paddy we had squared it with Frankie explaining it was just an act and that Paddy was just a kid and had been making it all up but we figured Paddy was getting too big for his boots and needed to learn a lesson."
Teresa laughed her socks off. "So Pete, when did you finally tell Patrick the truth?"
"Just now! You really let me hide in fear of my life for two days when you knew it was OK?" Jane's incredulity just had them all laughing uncontrollably.
"Too true mister - calmed you down for a while though." Sam managed to get out between snorts.
They were all in hysterics at the look on Jane's face; he wagged his finger at them "One day I'll have you for this Barsocky! Do you have any idea how scared I was?" Then his face broke out into a grin, it was so nice to wind down with friends and have the pressure off for a while.
Lisbon was starting to look pale so they broke up for the evening and made their way to the Airstream. Jane offered to sleep on the single bunk if it was too cramped in the small double bunk but Lisbon wouldn't hear of it, wanting Patrick close by and besides the temperature was dropping rapidly. They snuggled together before falling into a deep uninterrupted sleep, the last few weeks had taken their toll on them and they soon gave in to their exhaustion.
They slept in a bit later than usual; when Lisbon woke she looked out of the window at the enchanting morning scene, there were layers of mist over the mountains and lake, it looked beautiful. She nudged Jane "Hey sleepy head , have a good night?"
"Still trying to have one" he mumbled into his pillow pulling the covers over him.
Lisbon got up to take some pain meds and pulled on some sweatpants and a top and opened the Airstream door to breath in the fresh clean air. Pete and Sam were already up and about and she waved over to them at their RV on the opposite side of the camp. Lisbon made her way down to the lakeside taking in the beauty of the scene sighing with contentment. The mountains fell steeply into the water on the opposite side of the lake but their side sloped more gently with a level area for campers. It was fairly quiet at this time of year so all the plots were relatively secluded. She felt an arm sneak around her waist and felt Jane's warm breath on her neck as he planted a gentle kiss.
"Ah the Chicago Girl has discovered the joys of the wild." He muttered into her neck.
"We have lakes in Chicago" she insisted.
"Yeah and you have traffic, noise and pollution as well - nothing compares to the wild."
She turned and smiled at him looking relaxed if still slightly pale. "It is lovely here despite having to sleep in a silver bucket. I had not guessed we would be eating the wildlife though."
Jane smiled "Yes I thought you handled that rather well - don't worry there's fish in the lake you may find that more to your taste - must be strange for a city girl finding her food doesn't have to be deep frozen. Sam and Pete are used to fending for themselves."
"So long as they don't expect me to eat Bambi." Lisbon said only half joking.
Jane chuckled as he gently pulled her in for a kiss. "Come on I'll make you some breakfast - don't worry it all came wrapped in bags, it didn't walk here." He added with a twinkle in his eye before leading her back to the Airstream.
After a full breakfast, Jane persuaded Lisbon to go for a walk with him. They meandered their way down towards a jetty where the grassy water margins sloped gently into the lake. They ambled along the jetty in companionable silence Lisbon gently leaning into Jane as he trailed his arm over her shoulder, no words were necessary as they took in the beauty of their surroundings. It was one of things that Jane enjoyed about spending time with Lisbon they did not feel the need to talk for the sake of talking.
"Come on let's try the water."Jane helped her sit down then removed her trainers and socks before removing his own.
"You first, it looks freezing." Lisbon wasn't too keen on this idea.
Bracing himself Jane lowered his feet into the water, "it's fine come on give it a try city girl."
He watched with amusement as she gingerly dipped her toes in the water and yelped. "You must be joking, it's like an ice bath." Then as the first shock of cold wore off she dangled her legs into the water sloshing around in the water to get the circulation going until she finally got used to it.
Jane looked at her wickedly. "Pack your swimsuit? Or shall we try skinny dipping?"
"You cannot be serious! Who in their right mind would swim in that?"She exclaimed.
"It's not as bad as you think, in the shallows the waters warm a bit more and once you start moving around you soon get used to it. Don't you fancy being at one with nature then Teresa?" He teased.
"I'm not up to swimming at the moment, so I'll take your word for it but I'm more than happy to watch you nature boy." She added suggestively.
"Where's the fun in that? Next time Teresa there will be no excuses."
They huddled together as they gently splashed their feet in the water watching the water rings form in the water as the fish rose around them, the silence interrupted by the sound of the Wood Ducks as they splash landed in the water before serenely swimming along the margins of the lake.
Eventually Lisbon interrupted their quite repose "Whoa enough of this, I can't feel my toes anymore." She pulled her feet back up onto the jetty to let them warm in the weak autumn sun. Jane gently took both feet on to his lap giving them a good rub to get the circulation going again.
"How's that any better? Try walking around a bit that will soon get you warm again." He pulled his own feet up onto the jetty; they had not fared as badly as her tiny appendages which were still red with the cold.
They ambled towards the woody margins it was distinctly cooler as soon as they went into the shade. Jane pulled her down to her haunches and put a finger to his lips before pointing into the distance, she could just about see some shadows moving about in the woods. They stayed in position as the shadows became more distinct and she could make out the grey brown shapes that were unmistakably deer.
She turned to Jane her eyes bright with excitement "Bambi?"
"Yes white tailed deer, they're in their winter coats at the moment but in the spring and summer they take on the more familiar reddish brown coat." He loved seeing her sense of wonder, if they came out of this he vowed to take Lisbon on a road trip.
"Thank you for this Patrick, it's wonderful." She whispered not taking her eyes off the approaching deer. He squeezed her shoulder gently quite touched at seeing her childlike enthrallment.
The temperature soon started to drop so they made their way back to the Airstream, stopping by with Pete and Sam for a quick chat.
Later when they were alone again Lisbon finally broached the subject. "So are you finally going to tell me what you've got in mind?"
"Do we have to?" He sighed.
"Got to do it sometime, may as well get it out of the way." Lisbon persisted.
"Ok then. Friedman planted a suggestion about exploiting Mashburn's sense of hubris, I had to try and think of something that would appeal to his vanity, that Mashburn couldn't possibly refuse. So I thought what if he were invited to an event to be the keynote speaker and present the inaugural Walter Mashburn Award for Enterprise .
We would entirely control the event and pander to his sense of achievement. We would need to act quickly to set up the back story to the event to make out it's been a long time in the planning, post some bogus news bulletins and articles online and invite nominations for this prestigious award then get as much publicity as possible to entice Mashburn sufficiently to make it impossible for him to refuse.
I've already earmarked the venue, do you remember the Old District Library with its wonderful architectural facade? Sadly the infrastructure is decaying and it's been earmarked for demolition and will be the site for a new technology centre, which somehow seems fitting for the occasion.
I've already drafted out some of the promotional stuff, Van Pelt is setting up the internet trail to make it as authentic as possible. The thing is we mustn't rush this, he has to think it's real - preparation is the key. We've ascertained a space in his diary, so we have a few dates to work around. Pete, Sam and Angela's brother Danny will do a lot of the legwork and we are going to set up a bona fide events office, staffed by people who genuinely won't know it's a con to make it feel more authentic."
Lisbon wondered how they were possibly going to fund this all but Jane's finances had always been a mystery to her.
"So what do I do?" Lisbon couldn't see how she fitted into the plan.
"Well in many ways you are going to play the starring role, I'm sorry to have to ask you this but it's the only way. You are going to have to meet Mashburn in a controlled environment a day or two before the event, you'll be perfectly safe but I can't say it will be particularly pleasant for you."
Lisbon shuddered at the thought "Ok, you just tell me what you want."
"We are a long time away from that so we'll discuss the detail later but in the mean time I want you to rest up. We need to work independently from law enforcement at this stage, what I have in mind has got to appear unplanned and random to have any hope of us escaping the wrath of the law and more specifically Abbott at the end of this. I'm afraid I'll be calling in some favours from people you won't necessarily approve of Teresa but believe me it's the only way."
Lisbon had no doubt Jane had a plethora of unsavoury acquaintances from his past but desperate times required desperate measures.
"Pete and I will need to go back to Sacramento for a few days but you'll have Sam for company – though I'm not sure it's a good idea leaving you two alone together, all my secrets will be gone by time I come back. Don't worry in the interests of Bambi's safety we'll stock you up with burgers and pizza before I go." He added with a smirk.
A/N A quicker than usual update, as I have visitors coming.