Chapter 9
I wrote this chapter after I just watched the episode Red Hot in which the guest was a big part in the episode. I couldn't resist the idea of putting one of my favorite guest characters in the story.
Disclaimer:Don't Own Show
Four weeks had passed since Annie and Tommy visited and Lisbon was in the six month of pregnancy now. Jane kept working on the cabin, which nearly was finished which included their room and the baby's room. Jane hired a couple of other to guys to help finish up on the improvements. Tommy and Jane finished most of what would be t he main living area. They started on the kitchen area and bathroom. They guys he hired helped finish those rooms. Jimmy agreed he would come down to help install the electricity for the house. He would come from Oklahoma City in a couple months. By then Lisbon would be on maternity leave and have time to visit with her brother.
Lisbon was working at her computer and doing paperwork. She couldn't wait for the day when she could go out into the field again after her maternity leave was finished. Even though she loved the idea of her and Jane's miracle growing inside her, she was bored to death with doing just paperwork and staying at office. Now she could understand Jane's distaste for paperwork. In a few months she and Jane would be busy with the baby and she wouldn't know when she would be able to go back to work.
"Agent Cho, I remember you from CBI. Harry was such a pleasant man. I don't know who would kill him. We were at the conference and then boom he was dead." The man talking to Cho elaborated on their recent murder victim. Lisbon guessed that whoever Cho was speaking to was being interviewed about the murder and he was just leaving.
Harry Jones was their current victim. He was at a business conference and CEO of a company in Austin she knew. Harry was found dead in the lobby of the hotel the conference was being held in and she had questioned some of the people at the office earlier that day. The man talking to Cho sounded familiar. She hadn't seen all the people from the conference as she wasn't there to question anybody at the location. She then decided to keep working on the paperwork she dreaded so much.
"So, you're the big shot now, Agent Cho. That's amazing! So, what whereabouts is Agent Lisbon?"The man asked. Lisbon heard her name and just kept her head down to keep working. She couldn't tell if she knew the man yet, because she didn't look up.
"She works here. She's over there, if you want to speak to her." Cho stated. Lisbon perked up her head when she heard her name and when Cho spoke. The two men had their backs turned so she couldn't see their faces.
"I'd be delighted to, Agent Cho." The man Cho was speaking to turned around. Lisbon looked quickly. Cho's conversation partner was none other than Walter Mashburn, wealthy businessman and playboy extraordinaire and her one time one night stand. She put her head down instantly. Why did Cho have to say she was here? This was the one time she wanted to strangle him. She heard Walter walk towards her desk. "Long time, no see, Teresa." She looked up from her paperwork to see Walter in a business suit grinning at her.
"Hello, Walter, so you knew Harry Jones?" She asked embarrassedly.
"Yes, I was attending the conference with him. He's sort of been a friend to me. Very sad." Walter paused looking down sadly." I'm not the killer." Walter looked up again and shook his head as he stood with his hands in his pockets.
"Wasn't going to think that. I see." Lisbon stated plainly.
"So, you're at the big FBI now. I was quite devastated when I heard the CBI closed down. Felt sorry for you." Walter said sadly. "Where's Patrick?" He asked then perked up his head looking around.
"Um...he's around." Lisbon admitted. "Here, there, everywhere." Lisbon nervously said.
"I recognize his couch there he had the CBI the last time I was the murder suspect." Walter looked towards Jane's couch.
"Yes, he works here some. He's down to part time." Lisbon admitted nervously wringing her hands under the table.
"It seems whenever I'm a suspect, I run into you, Teresa." Walter grinned. "Hey, why don't you get up and give your friend Walter a hug. For old time's sake." Walter winked referring to their one night stand years ago. Lisbon didn't really want to get up, because she would have explain her pregnant belly and ring.
"I'm busy with this paperwork." Lisbon answered stalling from getting up.
"Oh, come, on, Teresa, please. I won't leave until you do." Walter begged with puppy dog eyes.
"Okay fine." Lisbon relented into getting up and coming around the desk waddling towards Walter. It was starting to get more difficult to walk freely. She might as well get this over with, since she needed to tell Walter she was married.
"Whoa, a lot has changed for you!" Walter exclaimed as he noticed Lisbon's baby bump. Then he looked at her hand with her wedding ring. "Who's the lucky guy?"
She didn't know what to say so she looked towards the couch. She wasn't sure how he would react that Jane was her husband and father of her baby.
Walter got her idea. "Patrick! Wow, never did I expect that. So when did this nuptial take place?After all he did tell everyone you were my girlfriend that one time."
"A few months ago. We're really happy now finally." Lisbon stated so Walter wouldn't get any ideas.
"So, what is Patrick doing now?" Walter asked.
"He's building us a house." Lisbon admitted.
"Really? I never thought of him as that type. I certainly couldn't build a house to save my life."
"I didn't think so either. He's had help" Lisbon confessed. Walter then hugged her. She didn't try to hug back. She just let him. He released her finally. "It's good to see you, Teresa. Know what, I would love it if I could see Patrick as well. We could have dinner together."
"Okay." Lisbon reluctantly answered. She hoped if dinner happened Walter wouldn't say anything about their one night stand. Of course Jane had figured it out the next day when she was late to work and the fact that he practically pushed him in Walter's arms. What was he thinking at that time? He also mentioned her time when they traveled to Beirut at dinner the one night when she asked about him about what happened between him and Erica. Neither one wanted to talk about their past one night stands and secretive liaisons with murder suspects.
"Don't worry, I won't tell him about our short liaison." Walter said and winked at her. "I'm in town for a couple more days, so you can call me." Walter said as he took a business card out of the inside jacket pocket and handed it to Lisbon. She took it and put it in her pocket.
"I will let him know." Lisbon stated.
"I'll let you get back to work on your paperwork. I take it you don't go out in the field. "
"No."
"Well, I'll leave you now. Congratulations on everything"Walter said as he turned to walk away towards the elevator. "Call me." He yelled from behind as he walked towards the elevator.
Oh, dear, she didn't know whether or not to tell Jane about the unexpected visitor they had at the office today. Of course, he would question about the case and how her day went. It very typical of him to ask. Did she really want to tell him Walter Mashburn was in town? Of course, she should. Not telling him would defeat the purpose and plan of being honest with each other. She expected him to be honest, so she should live by the same rule. She would be the hypocrite, if she didn't tell. Jane would read her like a book anyway if she left anything out. She better mention it.
Later that afternoon at 5:00 she left the office. She started leaving earlier now since she wasn't in the field during the day. Jane called to let her know he was at her house waiting.
She left to go to her house and drove in her SUV. She really started to feel the baby kick now. She pulled into the driveway. She opened the door and walked around and found Jane in the kitchen cooking dinner. He greeted her with a kiss, in which she returned. "Mmm smells good." He was making mashed potatoes and gravy and roast chicken. She figured he would make mashed potatoes. She had been craving them during her pregnancy all the time. He was putting seasoning on the chicken, which was on the roast and the potatoes were cooking on the stove. "Any gossip, news, excitement? Case must be pretty easy, Cho hasn't called me once."Jane said finishing off sprinkling seasoning on the chicken and turned to opened the oven and then placed the roaster pan in the oven. Lisbon instantly started to the cupboards to take the plates and then the silverware out of the drawer. "Yeah, right, how much excitement could there be with me sitting behind a desk doing paperwork for months." Lisbon stated sarcastically. "And only hearing from Cho about cases." as she set the plates and silverware on the table in the kitchen.
"Well, we need to keep you out of the field so little Rosalind or Hamlet don't bounce around while mommy's chasing bad guys." Jane joked and grinned and then coming up to Lisbon placing his hand on her belly.
"I can't chase anybody if I wanted to." Lisbon retorted. "And we're not naming our child after Shakespeare characters." Lisbon ordered pointing her finger at Jane." That would scar him or her for life."
"Good point taken. I'm kidding, I just wanted to see you react. Something happened today." Jane looked at her knowingly.
Here was the moment of truth. She had to tell him who came today. "Okay, we had a surprise visitor at the office today." Lisbon admitted.
"Oh, who? Very intriguing." Jane looked at her excited.
"The one, the only, Walter Mashburn." Lisbon announced putting her hands out.
Jane laughed. "Really? Good old Walter is in Austin." Jane grinned at the thought of the businessman.
"He was at the conference our murder victim attended and a good friend to the victim." Lisbon admitted.
"So, there you go, your excitement." Jane said putting his hand out.
"More of an annoying reminder." Lisbon stated.
"I take it you told him about our marriage." Jane questioned with a hint of jealousy.
"I had to, he saw my baby bump. I was going to tell him anyway. Oh, and he wants to see you as well." Lisbon explained honestly.
"He wants to see me? Interesting." Jane said.
"So, what do you think?" Lisbon asked concerned of Walter's dinner invitation. "We don't have to if you don't want to." She had sensed slight jealousy in Jane. She definitely would understand if he didn't want to go.
"Oh, I'll see him. We get along. Walter and me." Jane admitted.
"Are you sure? We really don't have to, just because he wants to see you." Lisbon asked again.
"It's fine. We're all friends. I'll call him. And you should be sitting down." Jane said as he saw Lisbon still standing in the kitchen.
"Jane, I've been sitting all day, with a few trips to the restroom. Standing actually feels good now. I've told you this before." Lisbon stated. Lisbon retrieved the card out of her pocket and gave it to Jane.
"You're okay. I'm going to call. Who's more fun than Walter Mashburn?" Jane announced as he took his phone out and dialed the number from the card. Lisbon went back to the living room and took a seat on the couch.
"Walter, how ya doing? Heard you're in town." Lisbon heard Jane say.
The next night Jane had arranged to meet Walter Mashburn at a restaurant of his choice. Of course it was one of the fanciest restaurants in town. Jane and Lisbon found the restaurant and arrived at 7:00. The hostess went ahead and seated them at a table set for three. Jane sat down at one of the places. Lisbon still was standing. "Before, I sit down, I'm going to the ladies room. I have to go 30 times a day at work. It's very annoying." Lisbon said as she said as she searched for the restrooms. Jane took a sip of water out of the glass and picked up the menu to glance through the choices. A couple minutes later, he heard the familiar voice. "Patrick, so good to see you." He looked up to see Walter approaching the round table. Walter then sat down across him.
"Hello, Walter, good to see you too. It's been a long time." Jane said.
"Yes, it has, Patrick. So, I heard you and Teresa tied the knot." Walter stated grinning taking a look at the menu quickly.
"Yes, we did and we tied it very tight too." Jane quipped reminding that their marriage was very solid.
"So, where's Teresa now?" Walter then asked noticing the empty chair.
"In the ladies room. What's new with you?"Jane asked.
"Oh, you know the same old, same old of living the high life." Walter motioned his hands around and grinned. Lisbon came back from the restroom to the table and Jane got up and instantly pulled out a chair for her. She sat down. "Thank you."
Walter grinned at the image of the married couple. "You two are really getting into the marriage thing."
"Hello, again, Walter." Lisbon said as she finally got seated and she picked up the menu. The waitress stepped up to the table.
"Hello, my name is Sandra and I will be taking care of you this evening. May I interest you in any drinks? Wine, champagne? We also have a full list of beer as well.
"I will see the wine list, Sandra." Walter grinned at the waitress and admired her.
"I will bring a list." Sandra said.
"Would you have any non-alcoholic drinks?" Lisbon asked. "Because otherwise, I'll just have water." Lisbon admitted.
"I'll see what I can do." Sandra answered.
"Thank you." Lisbon said.
"Continuing on, I've been thinking, I should really settle down for good. I have been married but I don't consider those marriages as settling down too much. Obviously you two are, getting married and expecting a baby." Walter described happily.
"Sounds like a plan, Walter." Jane stated.
"Teresa said you were building a house." Walter said as he looked at Lisbon and then at Jane.
"More like remodeling. The house is already there. I may add on to it, once I get the main rooms completely done. That would require building." Jane described.
The waitress came by with a wine menu and Walter took a look at it quickly, "Yes, I'll take this one." Pointing to one of the more expensive wines. Jane chose a wine too. The waitress also brought a list of non-alcoholic drinks for Lisbon to choose from such as a Virgin Pina Colada.
"Sounds very ambitious, Patrick. I never pictured you as a do it yourself builder type." Walter admitted.
"I haven't been but I really wanted to try. Lisbon's brother helped me four weeks ago. I've hired a couple guys to help." Jane confessed.
"It really looks good so far." Lisbon raved. "He's done a great job, what he has done alone." Lisbon smiled at Jane. He grinned at her compliment.
"Where are you living now while waiting on that house?" Walter asked.
"I still have my house from when I first moved to Austin. We've been living there."
The waitress came back with their drinks and took their food orders and then left.
"So, how did you end up at the FBI in Austin?" Walter asked looking at both Jane and Lisbon.
"It's a long story." Lisbon admitted. She looked to Jane questioning whether or not they should share everything on how they came to this point.
"Oh, I assume you heard about the CBI being shut down." Jane confessed deciding to go ahead of some explanation.
"Yes, I saw it on the news. It was too bad. I saw about the whole Blake Association of corrupted law enforcement. To think, cops of all people, the people we're supposed to trust and rely on for protection all following the big bad wolf, a serial killer." Walter ranted. He then looked to Jane and Lisbon. "Of course, I trusted you and your team, Teresa and you Patrick, of course. And especially the director of police being part of it. It was really awful." Walter raved taking a sip of his wine.
"Yeah, it was too bad." Lisbon stated taking a sip of her non-alcoholic drink.
"But your team were like superheroes discovering them and taking them down. Obviously I include you, Patrick." Walter elaborated.
"Yes, they were, Walter. I wouldn't have made it without them." Jane gave a small smile. He didn't realize until now how vital their CBI team were as colleagues and friends helping him towards his goal of finding Red John. He did realize at the time, now it really hit him. They were his family for the longest time. He may not have always treated them well either, but they stood by him when he was going after Bertram. They were superheroes in his eyes as well.
"Of course, we all had to start a new life. I went to Washington for a couple of years. Wayne and Grace went to San Francisco and started a business."
"I went to South America at the time." Jane confessed. "Our previous boss found me and brought me back."
"Jane wouldn't work for Abbott unless I worked there." Lisbon smirked at Jane. Oh, how she remembered Jane making her part of his terms to work at the FBI and especially that she was the number one term too. She had to tell him that she needed to make the decision on her instead of him controlling her life on the fateful plane ride. In the end, she decided to stay and now she was happy with her life with Jane now, even though it took them a long time to get to this point. She realized she didn't really mind sharing some of their story with Walter. Like Jane said, he was a friend.
"So, you negotiated with the FBI? You sneaky guy." Walter grinned.
"Yep. I would to get off charges pending. That can be for another time." Jane said not wanting to go into detail of his final chase with Thomas McAllister.
"That's alright. The important part is that you and Teresa worked together again and now you're here." Walter described.
"It's a long story of how we started working together to getting married too." Lisbon admitted again not wanting to go into details of that circumstance.
"So, Walter, how's business going?" Jane asked changing the subject.
"I've been doing quite well ever since I bought Yuri's company." Walter explained. The waitress came back with their steaks and chicken. The three ate their meals and the waitress came back to their table and took the finished plates. "May I interest you in dessert?"
"Of course, Sandra." Walter grinned winking at the waitress. All three of them ordered chocolate mousse. When the waitress brought it out, she distributed to each one.
"Are the orders on separate checks or one?" Sandra the waitress asked.
"Separate. Us two." Lisbon said pointing to her and Jane.
"On one."Walter announced at the same time. The waitress looked at the party confused not knowing what to do. "One check for all three of us." Walter clarified. "Wedding gift for the wonderful newlyweds here. A congratulatory dinner for them." He pointed to Jane and Lisbon. He also gave his credit card to Sandra to run through the cash register. "Here, use this." Sandra then took it and put it in her order book and headed to go to swipe it through the credit card machine.
"You didn't have to do that." Lisbon protested.
"Yes, I did, Teresa. This is a wedding dinner for you." Walter announced grabbing his glass.
"We appreciate it, Walter." Jane thanked him.
"Let's make a toast." Walter said starting to put up his glass.
"Yes, of course." Jane grinned.
"To friends." Walter raised his glass.
"To friends." Jane raised his glass.
"To friends." Lisbon raised her glass and they all clinked their glasses together.
Feedback is appreciated. I loved writing this chapter. I didn't think it was necessary to go into detail of Lisbon's night with Walter in Red Hot. They are all friends and so I concentrated on that fact instead. The baby shower will coming soon. I had this idea and I needed to get this out.