Alex had just completed phase one of the presentation, featuring a brief history of Pink Gorilla Cleaners and asking Pike and Eric about any specific cleaning problems they may have.
Pike spoke up. "Well Alex, I've got two small children, so let's talk carpet stains and markers on the walls!" He laughed amiably.
Listening in, from the command center van, Cho put a supportive hand on Jane's arm as Patrick seethed at Pike's words.
Standing in the kitchen, Alex buried his paternal defenses (which did, in fact, exist, despite his fatherly missteps) as deep as possible, when he heard Pike claim his grandchildren as his own. Without missing a beat, he bounced right into phase two. "Indeed! Is there a strip of carpet I could use for a demonstration?"
"How about over here?" Eric warily directed Alex to the lone throw rug, at the far end of the kitchen. A rug which just happened to be across the hall from the 'special room' - which had been left open when Pike had grumpily interrupted his business there, to meet Alex at his front door.
"Perfect!" Alex got to work, taking in all that he could see of the special room and its decor (without looking like that was what he was doing). As he scanned the back wall of the room, while sprinkling cleaning product on the rug, his eyes caught on something at the bottom of the closet inside that room. His eyes caught… on… eyes… peeking out from under something at floor-level. That's phase three, he thought.
Taking a ball out of his demo kit, Alex swung into full salesman mode. "Okay Mr. Pike, let's say one of the little tikes loses their grip on a ball like this one." He demonstrated such a move, rolling the thing in a semi-controlled manner - right into the special room, causing Pike and Eric both to visibly bristle. Neither of the felons wanted the inept salesman in that space, but they had to keep things as calm and low key as possible with a street full of witnesses working outside.
Alex continued the pitch as he awkwardly chased after the ball, walking fully through to the back of the room. "Whatever mess that ball may unleash, the Pink Gorilla can handle!" As he bent over to pick up the sphere, he glanced at the closet floor in front of him. Yup, he'd seen correctly. Two eyes were looking back at him from beneath the air intake embedded in the closet floor. Lisbon? he wondered.
Reaching out to gather the toy into his hand, he faked a sneeze and spilled dozens of pink gorilla business cards all over the floor. "Oh my! I am so sorry for littering all over this floor!" Alex apologized, pulling off the 'bumbling old fool' routine with Oscar-worthy skill. The two men in the kitchen were so afraid the hapless old man would spot the wall of weapons behind the door, that they didn't notice when he surreptitiously slid one of his fallen business cards between the grates of the air intake at the base of the closet.
Lisbon had successfully scooted her small frame from the basement utility room past the kitchen and under the loose vent in the special room's closet. She still found the old man's voice to be strangely familiar, but hadn't figured out why. She had just bumped the vent up a few inches - as silently as possible - to get a peek at what was going on in the kitchen, when Alex started sprinkling carpet cleaner on the throw rug just outside the room. Lisbon froze as the old man's eyes seemed to stop right at her position. Damn! He made me! She thought in a panic. Still, she had to get more information about the goings on, so slowly and smoothly lowered the vent and sheltered in place.
She nearly squeaked in surprise when a ball rolled over the top of her hiding place. But, the old man's voice was getting closer, so she held in her breath. As she gazed upward through the vent, trying not to make a sound, the old man sneezed and she heard something like a deck of cards spill to the floor. He made his apologies to Pike and his jerky friend, then bent directly over her, trying to see through the grate, as he picked up whatever had fallen. At one point she could swear he'd seen and recognized her, but still she remained frozen. It was right as a small paper card slipped through the grate from above, that the old man's face, and voice, snapped into her mind's focus. Oh my god - that looks like Alex! She stifled the urge to gasp, and double checked her memories from the old carny brochures and family album she'd been given by Sam at she and Jane's first carnival visit as a couple. Still unsure (hadn't Alex died years ago?!) and still in a bit of shock at the possibility, she reached for the card that had fallen, then quietly slid back to the basement.
Meghan was peeking around the corner as Lisbon closed the utility room door. "Did you hear anything Mommy?"
Lisbon jumped in surprise, still full of nervous energy from her recent surveillance. With a chuckle of relief, she hugged her curious daughter and explained that she'd heard enough. "Tell Brendan that the game is over and it's safe to play normally again."
"Who wins, Mommy?!" Brendan inquired with hopeful eyes, running into the utility space.
Meghan looked at Teresa, then announced that Brendan was indeed the winner, unleashing delighted claps and giggles from her little brother. As mother and daughter shared a smile, Teresa remembered something.
Oh yeah - the card! Lisbon pulled her focus back to what (and whom) she'd seen and heard upstairs. Jane would have taken great delight at seeing her reaction as she pulled the card from her pocket and took in the graphics and text that it bore. Pink gorilla?! Alex 'Main?!' This is too on-the-nose to be a coincidence. She thought to herself, a suspecting grin on her face.
She poured a fresh cup of coffee for herself - enjoying the one thing her captor had gotten right when he'd attempted to furnish the basement as a makeshift home - and was about to sit down to study the card, when she heard a thump and then crying from the bedroom. She sat the card and the coffee down, and rushed to see what the matter was.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Alex was just finishing up, and packing his things. "Well thank you very much, kind Sirs! Allow me to leave you with Gary Gorilla, as a thank you gift! If you mention Gary when you order your supplies, it will discount your purchase price by ten percent!" Alex flashed his most sincere grin, as he grabbed his supply boxes and hopped out the door, being practically shooed past the threshold by Eric and Pike.
Once he had repacked his things into the trunk, and pulled his pink car into the street - taking care to drive around the roadwork - his phone began to ring. Still in character (in case it was Pike, calling to order cleaner), he answered: "Alex with Pink Gorilla Cleaners! What mess can I help you clean up today?"
Laughing on the other end of the line was Danny. "Hi Alex. It's me and Patrick. What'd you find out?"
Alex filled them in on the layout of the upstairs, the room full of screens and guns, a suspicious door with a padlock - which he suspected led to a lower level or cellar, and the anonymous pair of eyes he'd seen from the air intake vent. "Unless he's got multiple adult hostages, I'd lay money that the eyes were attached to Lisbon!" He barked in his usual gruff way. "Zero chance a kid five or under would've had the self-control to stay calm, with me sneezing in close proximity, and especially with me making clear eye contact at one point."
"Did they take the gorilla?"
"They did! But if I'm right about Lisbon, she got a business card personally delivered to her through that vent."
"Excellent news! On to phase four!" Danny crowed, patting Jane on the back.
"And Alex - do you have a guess about which window might be closest to the captives?"
"Oh yeah - based on the ductwork I saw, and on the position of the padlocked door, I'd try the basement window to the front, south side."
"Great, thanks!"
"Okay Brendan, you're going to be fine, love. Want Mommy to kiss it?"
The preschooler nodded, still sniffling a bit.
Lisbon softly brushed his forehead with her lips, then gently massaged the spot with her hand. "There! I kissed it AND I rubbed it in!" She smiled down at her sweet boy, and handed him a picture book to look at as he calmed down.
Lisbon went back to her makeshift coffee nook and tried to think. She was a bit irritated with herself in that she had inadvertently sat her coffee mug on top of the business card she'd retrieved from the vent. "Way to go, Teresa. Hope there's no coffee stains covering the important parts!" She muttered to herself, eyes rolling.
Those same eyes nearly popped out of her skull once she lifted her mug off of the card. She had noticed the name on the card and even the 'Say Anything' tagline, but the back of the card had been blank - she was sure of it. That same blank side now had a brownish written message on it. Lemon juice? The heat from my mug? Her mind was starting to put things together. Willie Shubert. Pink gorilla. Possibly Jane's dad upstairs. One of her favorite movies in the business tagline. Now Jane's lemon juice/invisible ink trick? Something was most definitely up, and her gorgeous brilliant husband was most definitely behind it. Endorphins and adrenaline started pumping through her veins just thinking of the possibility that he may be close. Preparing her mind for whatever surprises may be unleashed soon, she checked in with her children, and checked the gun in her waistband.
"Okay you two, something is going on upstairs, and there might be loud sounds in the next little bit. I want both of you to stay put in this room together with the door closed until I say so, do you understand?"
"Yes, Mommy." Both little voices chorused back to her, looking up with nervous eyes.
Satisfied, Teresa went back to her coffee and tried to make sense of the lemon juice message.
"When Lloyd plays our song, the heat is on."
What does that mean? She racked her brain over the riddle. It had to be from Jane, so how did that fact reframe the clue? She knew the song for sure. But who was Lloyd? The heat is on? That phrase was used in old gangster movies they'd watched together - usually meant the cops were coming. So, when I hear our song the cops are coming? She still didn't know who Lloyd was, so she planned to just keep her ears open for their wedding song regardless of who played it.
Jane was getting agitated and anxious for the impending breach of Pike's front door. As he prepared for his part of the ruse - making sure the cassette tape was cued to the right song, and making sure the batteries in the vintage boombox were fresh - he paced quickly, and asked Cho when they'd be ready. He asked so many times that Kimball felt like Jane was the proverbial kid in the backseat, constantly asking "are we there yet?".
Despite Jane's restless interruptions, Cho and the strike team were suited up and ready to go. They were monitoring the two men's conversations, and waiting for confirmation from the road crew that Alex was clear and that no one in the house seemed to be suspicious. They couldn't risk being seen or tipping their hand - especially not with children in the mix.
To avoid standing out like a sore thumb, Jane was dressed as a road crew worker, complete with jeans, white t-shirt, yellow reflective vest, and work boots.
"What's the jacket for?" Abbott asked, noticing the long coat draped over his friend's arm.
"It's for the movie gag." Jane explained.
Abbott nodded in response.
After donning his hard hat and sunglasses, Jane slipped out the back door of the command center van and walked the boombox to the construction area with his best blue-collar strut.
"Hey there Lloyd!" Pete guffawed as Jane arrived.
"Pete!" Jane answered, offering a man-hug, worthy of a tough guy. "The plan is afoot." he said in a hushed tone. "The two marks seem none the wiser. They're having too much fun mocking Alex - He made an impression for sure. In fact, they seem extra-relaxed… probably relieved to be rid of him before their secret got out. Still, if you get the signal from Cho then get plan B in motion right away."
Jane had set it up so that if Pike or Eric got curious about his side of the yard or the music playing there, Pete and the Lisbon brothers would stage a raucous 'fight,' to draw their attention to the street - possibly even drawing the men outside, making them easier to neutralize.
"Excellent!" Pete bellowed, "better go find a tree to eat your lunch under!"
Jane nodded at the code words from Pete. That was his cover for the boombox gag. He took quick stock of his position, and determined which side of the house faced south. Then he threw on the coat and stealthily moved toward the basement window Alex had indicated.
The kids were being so good about all of this, Lisbon thought with pride. Jane had done such an amazing job with building their day-to-day selves into confident, caring, capable people, during the years he'd been their most present parent. She held her cross in her fingers for a moment, thanking God for her family, and for her amazing husband, then praying hard that they would be reunited today - and soon!
She was jolted from her thoughts by a loud chortle from the road construction workers. "Ugh… I am so sick of this constant noise!" she whispered to herself. "How the hell am I supposed to hear a song over all that clatter!" She stretched on her toes and peered out of the narrow, high window, glaring in their general direction. Because of the angle of the house, and the position of the roadwork, she only had a partial view. It was just her luck, though, that the noise still came through loud and clear. She rolled her eyes in frustration.
Wait! Did the big guy just call the other one LLOYD? Lisbon focused her ears, but couldn't make out any more of the words being shouted on the street. She decided that she needed to get a better look, so went in search of something sturdy to stand on.
Lisbon had almost gotten back to the coffee area with the step stool she'd found, when she stopped short. Was the road crew playing music? What song was that?
She positioned the stool under the window, and stepped up, listening closely.
"Whoa!" She jumped back down, nearly falling off the stool, being surprised by a man standing directly outside the window she was peeking through.
As her heart started to calm from the jolt of alarm, she noticed the road crew's song was playing louder now. With care, she slowly lifted herself just enough to glimpse outside the glass.
It was Jane, looking amazing in his road crew attire. His unruly curls were in rare form as they peeked out from under his hardhat - which was just beneath a boombox the disguised consultant held overhead. It was blasting More Than Words, with Patrick sporting the same long coat that John Cusack's character had worn in Say Anything. Lisbon grinned wide, right as he made eye contact with her. She mouthed "I love you!" And he returned the lip-synced sentiment, smiling with triumphant luminosity.
Well, hello there, Lloyd! She thought to herself, not believing that she hadn't made the connection to the name of her favorite film's protagonist before now.
After she blew him a kiss, Jane lowered the box to make a hand signal Cho had taught him. Kimball said that Lisbon would know to prepare for their entry as soon as she saw it. And Cho was right. It only took a split second for his Teresa to recognize the signal, wave with a smile, and disappear from sight again.
Jane was glad the signal had worked, but his heart sank at having his love disappear from view. Even through filthy glass, she was stunning, and he had so missed seeing her lovely face!
But he had to stay sharp - no time for daydreams now. He took off the coat, and sat the boombox on the grass, tiptoeing toward the front of the house… catching sight of the entryway just as the battering ram shattered the front door, and all hell broke loose. Jane froze in place, desperately trying to keep track of every lightning-fast thing he was seeing and hearing. Listening closely through the commotion, with desperate focus, he strained to hear any of the beloved voices he'd so missed over the past few days.
Lisbon was standing just inside the doorway of the bedroom, in front of her huddled and frightened children. As she lamented the fact that her young loves were having to endure yet another noisy altercation, she rested her hand on the Glock she'd secured.
As expected, after the door caved in, she heard Cho barking orders upstairs. Additionally, something (or someone) knocked against the basement door, just before she heard the lock turning.
With laser focus, Lisbon held the gun in front of her, aiming at the hallway. Unsure whether the footsteps she heard on the stairs were good guys or bad guys, she instructed the children to quietly move to the closet behind them and close the door.
The children cowered quietly, as the anonymous footsteps moved closer to the bedroom. Lisbon stayed in position, her reflexes tight as a bowstring.
"Honey, I'm home!" The maniacal grin on Pike's face made Teresa's stomach churn with disgust.
"I'm not your honey, Marcus!" her eyes gored into his with fury.
"She's right, Pike!" Jane's familiar baritone called from down the hall.
In a flash, Pike pivoted and fired toward the consultant.
Seemingly in the very same flash, Lisbon unloaded a single round into Pike, dropping him to the floor in a heap.
Petrified that Patrick had been hit, she leapt over Pike and into the hallway, only to be caught by Jane in a near-ferocious embrace.
"Patrick are you alright?!"
"I am, now, my dear." He hummed into her ear as they held each other.
Then a small voice called out from the bedroom. "Mommy? Can we come out yet?"
She gasped "the kids!" Lisbon ran in to get them, as Cho and the strike team carried Pike's lifeless body outside to the coroner.
Smiling as she opened the closet door, Teresa assured her little ones that all was well.
"Mommy what was that sound?!" little Brendan blurted nervously. Then he gasped, seeing the pool of blood in the doorway - is that from Mr. Marcus?!"
"Yes, Brendan. Remember how you Meghan and I have been pretending since we've been here?"
"Yes Mommy"
"Well, part of why we had to pretend is because Mr. Marcus is a very bad and dangerous man."
"He's a bad man?"
"Yes. He stole us away from Daddy to hurt his feelings. But we're safe now and can finally go home."
"Mommy. You hurt the bad man? Because you're a good guys?"
"Yes Brendan. I had to stop him quickly because he was going to hurt Daddy."
Her son gasped, "Is Daddy okay?!"
Lisbon crouched down to give a comforting hug. "Daddy is just fine, dear."
"Are you okay, Mommy?"
"Well, love, it always makes me sad when I have to hurt someone. But there are bad people in the world - not all, but some. And sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, to make sure worse things don't happen. Still, right now I am full of relief and joy that Daddy and all of us can't be hurt by Mr. Marcus anymore."
"Oh. You go to confession?"
"Yes, Brendan. I will, dear." She smiled at her little rule-follower.
"Okay Mommy. Do we get to see Daddy today?!"
"Yes, sweet Brendan! I've missed him very much!"
"I miss Daddy berry much too!"
Lisbon smiled wide at her son's adoration for Jane. She felt the same way.
Just then, the man in question swung around the corner wearing his biggest grin. "Who wants a hug?"
"Daddy!" The two littles nearly tackled Patrick in a flurry of hugs and kisses, as Teresa laughed and cried - relieved and full of joy.
With their children still clinging to him, Jane glowed at Lisbon. "Well, my dear, how about you?" he flirted, with his eyebrows up, as if there was any question about her answer.
Shaking her head affectionately, she slid her arms around his waist, happily melting into the family reunion.
"I knew you'd find us, love!"
"The centerpiece this year was quite clever, my dear! Though it took me longer than usual to put the clues together. I'm surprised you weren't beginning to worry that I would never come."
"Don't worry, Jane - I know you!" she glimmered, taking him in with her arms and with her eyes.
Patrick grinned fully, eyes sparkling back at his favorite detective. "You, my dear, are the only one alive who truly does."