"What did you tell them?" Asked the man holding the gun.
"That we had a situation. That I couldn't explain it over the phone." Cho replied honestly.
"So, they're coming? Both of them?"
"That's right."
"Good," the agitator said, still holding his gun on a restrained man with a cloth bag over his head.
"You're gonna be sorry!" Mumbled a muffled brogue voice from beneath the bag.
"Yeah - we'll see about that!" another, higher voice tweaked.
Cho had both the staff and the firepower to take the armed captors out, but it was complicated. So, until he could get a read from Jane and Lisbon, he was keeping things under control, with even-tempered conversations - the state of affairs being kept in a holding pattern.
When Jane and Lisbon arrived at the FBI, they exited the elevator to find a familiar face holding a gun on a brutish, burly character in handcuffs - a black cloth bag obscuring the entirety of his head.
Frozen in place, at the ready, on the other side of the captive, stood Cho - his gun still holstered, arms crossed, eyes locked on the primary gunman. A few feet away, sitting still as a mannequin at his desk, to the left of the action, was Jason Wylie.
"Cho? Everything under control here?" Jane called out, his eyebrows pressed together with a somber expression, as he took in the wax-museum-worthy sight.
"Just talking."
"Tommy?!" Lisbon exclaimed with alarm, as her brain registered what her eyes were seeing. "What the hell?!"
"This jerk interfered with our last job." It wasn't Tommy who answered.
Lisbon instantly recognized the female voice that snapped her attention to the side hallway. "Annie?!" Teresa was as surprised as she was irritated. She planted her feet. "One of you had better start talking - NOW!" She punctuated the last word by jabbing her right index finger downward into the air in front of her.
Both visiting Lisbons were more than happy to start talking - indeed they couldn't wait to defend themselves - the two of them immediately stepping over each other with explanations and excuses.
Basically, it was the same story as the last time Tommy and Annie had shown up unannounced with guns drawn: They had gotten cut-off from a bounty. More specifically, they were cheated out of a high-value apprehension, having been obstructed by the cuffed, bagged man currently standing at gunpoint in the bullpen. The 'shifty old Irishman' (as Annie referred to him) insisted that the runaway bounty in question was rightfully his, on account of decades of history, claiming it was a family matter. When Cho had asked for proof, the man had inexplicably demanded to see Lisbon and Jane.
Cho filled in more details: "The guy they're arguing over skipped bail after being arrested for the kidnapping of one Caitlyn Turner. There was a mountain of evidence supporting his arrest, but Caitlyn is nowhere to be found."
"He tried to steal her, back in Carson Springs, and now he's finally gone and done it!" The heavy Irish accent shouted in desperation, from beneath the black hood.
Jane and Lisbon shared a shocked look of recognition.
"Carson Springs?" Jane questioned, with a knowing scowl.
"Yes! You brought her back to me safe then, and I'm askin ya to do it again now - Please, Patrick!"
Jane put a hand on Lisbon's shoulder. He knew she was unsettled at the thought of who the bail-jumping kidnapper might be… At who she now suspected had put Tommy and Annie at odds with the hooded Irishman in the bullpen. The man in her suspicions had given her the creeps from the get-go.
"Remove the bag, Tommy." Patrick said, calmly.
Begrudgingly, the Lisbon brother lowered his weapon and uncovered the offender. With a look of 'all-business,' Annie held position with her gun aimed at that same offender, as her father followed Jane's instructions.
The man in the bag was Roddy Turner - Pete Barsocky's nephew, and father to the missing young woman, Caitlyn . He was also husband to the late Eileen Turner, who'd been killed by Red John at the Torchlight motel in East Sacramento some 20 years ago, when Caitlyn was only an infant.
Lisbon's worries had indeed been warranted. The AWOL kidnapper was, in fact, the sinister Sean Barlow. The same man who had threatened to take Caitlyn as his own, all those years ago.
Danny showed up at the FBI, shortly thereafter, bearing a couple of plastic containers of food for Patrick and Teresa. He had left the Jane house after a delicious teen-cooked meal, to pass on a message of support for Roddy from the Barsockys.
"Hey there Roddy. Sorry about Caitlyn , man… I'm here to help." Ruskin started.
"Whose side are you on, Danny?!" Annie spat with irritation. Despite having worked with the Barsockys back at the DC operation, to rescue her aunt and the kids, she didn't appreciate how Danny had apparently taken their side with this current issue.
"No sides, Annie. I'm simply here to be a voice for Sam and Pete, who love Caitlyn just as dearly as you and I adore Meghan and Brendan." Danny had learned a lot about calm-voiced negotiation from watching Lisbon and Jane over the past many years.
Annie softened, but only slightly. "Point taken. So long as they understand that Barlow is ours."
Danny snorted and rolled his eyes in defeat. "My God, Annie. You sound exactly like your Aunt Teresa!" He, Jane, and a few others had to chuckle at that reality.
In return, Annie beamed and stood taller at what she considered a high compliment.
As he smiled at his niece's admiration for his lovely wife, Jane caught sight of something surprising, and couldn't help having a bit of fun with that.
"What's on your mind, Wylie?" Patrick asked with a knowing smirk. Jason had been inadvertently glowing in Annie's general direction. Once things had calmed enough for him to safely turn and face everyone again, he'd been sneaking glances at the younger Lisbon. But after the stern words she'd just thrown at Danny, his attention was thoroughly rapt.
At Jane's question, Wylie started laughing to himself, in embarrassment. But Annie was sure he was laughing at her. She snapped: "What's so funny?!"
Flushed and stunned, Wylie scrambled for something witty to say. "I was just thinking, that if you put you and Danny's names together it's still 'Danny!' " He laughed a little, and was grateful when Jane chuckled a bit too - Jason knew how lame the joke was, but his suddenly beleaguered brain couldn't come up with anything better under the circumstances.
Annie didn't laugh, but looked at Wylie with interest and amusement. "True! Unless, you use my full given name, in which case it would actually be 'Dannabeth.' " They both laughed at that, as did most of the bullpen.
"See? I win!" Annie gloated.
"You win what?" Jason asked with puzzlement, looking around for cues. He hadn't realized there was a game on.
"My joke got more laughs, so I win!"
Ooooh! The crowd chorused, playfully, sensing some good old-fashioned competition brewing amidst the tensions of the evening.
"Maybe," Wylie conceded, "but the score would be different in a virtual shootout!" He glinted, chin up, awaiting the cocky response to come.
"Oh yeah? Bring it!"
With that, the two agreed to a video game showdown, soon. The challenge was met with cheers and applause from the agents and consultants surrounding.
"Will there be tickets sold?" Jane prodded with a sly grin.
"To be determined!" Jason crowed, maintaining steely eye contact with Annie, both gleaming playful jabs at each other in anticipation of the game.
Lisbon swatted at Jane with a suspicious smile. "What was that about?"
"Nothing?" He answered innocently. "Why does it have to be about anything?" He shrugged, with eyebrows high.
"Yeah right!" She gave him a playful shove, and glistened as she watched her niece silently flirting with their favorite tech geek.
On the heels of the frivolity, a disheveled old man exited the elevator, walking briskly to the bullpen area.
"What the hell is this?!" He barked with a gravelly voice, causing several guns to cock, as half a dozen FBI agents snapped their attention - and their gun barrels - to his position.
After a few tense seconds, the team narrowly recognized the man as Alex Jane - but they did not recognize the gruff personality behind the vaguely familiar face. This man was the old Alex Jane. Patrick had recognized him instantly, and felt his stomach lurch at the painfully familiar state he found the old man in. Lisbon reflexively reached for Jane's hand, to steady him at the unwelcome childhood memories she saw on his face, as he took in his father's current frame of mind.
It was true, Alex had truly changed, and had every intention of staying legit, clean, and worthy of grandpa-hood. But Barlow was pressing his luck with his current scheme, and Alex had an old score to settle.
"What brings you here today, Alex?" Cho asked without emotion, arms still crossed, feet still planted.
"Barlow's grandfather came over from Ireland with my grandfather. I and Sean kept a fierce competition going for showman and psychic business, back in my earliest days on the circuit. Despite playing dirty tricks occasionally to gain the upper hand, he and I became great friends. Even then, he was a wicked man, but I loved him like a brother." Alex explained. "We had a falling out just before Patrick was born. I worked it so that a business deal we'd made fell through, in such a way that Sean cut all ties - ooh he was angry as a hornet!"
"You worked it so that?! The falling out was intentional on your part?!" Jane stood stunned. He'd been hearing this story for years, but Alex had never mentioned this detail.
Alex looked down in shame for having kept the truth from his boy for so long. "It's true, s—" he stopped himself.
Immediately reading the reason for the stoppage, Jane jumped in: "It's okay, Alex. You can say it." He smiled honestly at the roughshod figure whom he hoped still housed 'the new Alex' underneath the frayed edges of his current throwback persona.
At that, present-day-Alex filtered through in a return smile, causing amused and relieved expressions on the other faces in the room. After swallowing the lump of gratitude in his throat, the elder Jane began again:
"It's true, son," he paused a moment to make sure he'd understood, and was mollified by a wink Jane sent his way. "I orchestrated the whole thing. Your mother said that Sean gave her the heebie-jeebies, and wanted him nowhere near us OR our soon to be born child. I didn't want him to know the truth, because he loves cultivating a grudge - I figured he'd retaliate by making our lives miserable or by stealing you from your mother's arms. So, I made it seem like the whole blow-up was his idea."
Lisbon was awestruck at how Jane-like Alex's solution had been. She also had never felt more in solidarity with the memory of Jane's mother.
As guns were lowered, and seats were taken, at long last, Alex offered a more detailed explanation of his current presence at the FBI field office:
At the behest of Pete and Samantha, Alex had reached out to Barlow, trying to reason with him about Caitlyn - hoping to play on any sympathies his old colleague and friend may still harbor for him. But then Sean had threatened Patrick and his family, so Alex had reached out to his old carny-underworld connections, trying to locate Caitlyn , while also hopefully protecting his newly healed relationship with Patrick's family - and his hopeful future involvement in their lives. When that had turned up nothing but rumors that Roddy had gotten himself into trouble with some bounty hunter named Lisbon, Alex had pivoted quickly to the FBI for help.
"Did you say Sean had threatened me and Lisbon?!" Jane blurted suddenly.
"Yes!" Alex answered with desperation. "And the kids!"
Lisbon went pale as her eyes met Jane's. "The kids?!"
"Cho - bring your team to the house! Tommy, you too! And bring Roddy!" Jane shouted as he and Teresa dashed to the exit.
"What?!" Tommy replied with agitation. No way he was risking Roddy's escape.
"Don't argue - just do it. You three are with me." Cho said, with stern command. He didn't trust Tommy to not just steal Roddy away.
In seconds, the bullpen emptied in a flurry of preparation and urgency, as all rushed to the Jane family home.
Meghan and Brendan were just finishing up the dishes, and were excited about a video call with their friends from LA.
Danny had stayed for dinner when he'd checked on them, and had been really impressed with the advanced cooking that the teenagers were capable of.
"Dad started letting us help in the kitchen a few years ago." Brendan had shared.
The three had enjoyed the food and conversation - they hadn't had a chance to visit recently, and the kids had lots to share about LA and about school.
After dinner, Danny had received a call from the Barsockys. He was just about to ask if they wanted to say hi to the kids, when the carnies cut him off with vehement concerns about Roddy, bounty hunters, the Austin field office, and Sean Barlow. Sam and Pete had sounded so terribly desperate, he'd immediately left for the FBI in response.
"That was weird." Meghan noticed. It wasn't like Uncle Danny to leave in a rush like that. And he'd looked panicked… Danny was rarely rattled.
"Yeah." Brendan agreed. "Wonder if it has anything to do with Mom and Dad getting called in by Uncle Cho?"
Meghan wore a look of concentration and concern. "Yeah… I wonder…"
Brendan's head turned toward the stairs at hearing a sound. "Hear that?"
Meghan's face lit up. "Yes! Hello LA!"
After starting the dishwasher, the two siblings dashed upstairs to Brendan's room, where their friends were calling from his studio laptop.
Maybe because of the chorus of friendly, happy voices from the computer screen upstairs, or maybe due to the churning motor of the dishwasher, neither Jane teen heard the tumblers of the lock moving, or the sound of the front doorknob turning.