The hotel room smelled of coppery blood. Ronnie shuffled in after Cho. Right after she noticed that there were far too many people in a 50 hotel room, she noticed the two bodies splayed out on the floor, flesh mangled and clothes splattered with blood. Her train of thought screeched to a halt and died as her eyes coasted over the man and the woman who'd lost their lives. She shot a glance at Cho, but he was already mentally filing away details as soon as he could see them.

It was Minelli who had been first called to the scene. He greeted Lisbon and Jane, looking a little flustered and overwhelmed as he did. "Glad you could make it. We have a young female, Patricia Matigan, and Joseph Purcell, who was gonna be the star witness in California vs. Carris, which was one of the attorney general's favorite upcoming narcotics cases." He pulled Lisbon a little closer to the crime scene, all but screaming at her to jump in and take over the investigation.

Ronnie nodded a greeting to him when he noticed her.

Lisbon looked skeptical. "State's witness, and no police protection?" Her gaze coasted to Ronnie for a split second, like she was hoping for some backup before she remembered that the topic had been resurfaced and could have been sensitive.

The younger agent had no such compunction. She shrugged and frowned, agreeing with the boss's sentiment. "Seems weird to me. That's not how I had it."

Minelli looked equally concerned with the situation. "Uh-huh; Davis P.D. had it covered; that is, until Purcell went AWOL a few weeks ago. Didn't want to testify I guess," His eyes fell to Joseph Purcell, doing his best to hide his annoyance at the actions of what had recently become a corpse. "With Purcell dead, the case against Carris dies, too. He walks. So obviously, guys, for all of our sakes, this is a must-close. Davis P.D. is still running the Carris case, by the way, so we have to work with them. Don't freeze 'em out."

Everything he said only served to make Lisbon more agitated. Shoulders growing more and more tense with each passing second, she glared around the room heatedly. "Who is Carris? And where is he or she right now?"

Jane's attention was already scouring the room, his blue eyes sharp and piercing.

Ronnie would hate to be on the other end of his deductive prowess.

"Rick Carris is the man to know in the Davis meth business. He was busted a month ago after a big, expensive operation. He's out and about on 2 million bond. Purcell here is one of his top street captains. Look at that. This fool is state's witness against the biggest cocaine dealer in the county, and he's dealing the same drug out of his own motel room. Like Carris wouldn't hear about that. He must have had a death wish." Minelli grumbled.

Ronnie couldn't help but agree. She'd heard Carris' name before, floating around Carla's operation. She'd used him a couple times as a front for her trafficking business. Ronnie herself had run some of Carris' cocaine for him, luring poor clueless women into the darker shadows of the streets, never to be heard from again. Needless to say, she wasn't much fan of Rick Carris or his bustling business. "Wouldn't surprise me if this was his handiwork."

That caught Lisbon's ears. "You know this guy?"

Cho straightened from leaning over the bodies, looking from Lisbon to Ronnie. "She included it in her testimony. It's all in a file somewhere."

Ronnie appreciated his support. "Carla used Carris a couple times."

Lisbon nodded slowly, processing the information and putting away a new line of questioning for later. "Glad to know he gets around and gets his hands dirty." She scoped out the room, finding the packets of powdery substances. "Looks like a couple of ounces."

Jane was already investigating for himself. "It's not cocaine." He said decidedly.

"It's powdered milk." Lisbon guessed.

But Minelli already knew that, and nodded comfortably. "Yes, that's often used to cut the product."

Ronnie couldn't imagine getting a nose full of powdered milk.

She didn't have much time to peruse the mental imagery, as Jane was snooping around like a bomb dog on alert. "Whatcha lookin for?"

Jane barely looked up. "The girl had keys in her hand. She was only planning on stopping by." With that, he bolted out the door and into the parking lot.

Totally lost and completely worried, Lisbon and Minelli ran after him, leaving Cho and Ronnie alone in the hotel room with the two bodies. Ronnie waited for Cho to finish making mental note of whatever he'd seen of Patricia Matigan. In the meantime, she shot a look after the agents searching for a car and bounced on the balls of her feet. "Well, Cho, I know a romantic weekend hotel room is right up your alley, but couldn't you be less cheap and spring for the non-corpse room?"

That pulled his mind away from the examination. He squinted at her. "What?"

She pulled an amused smile and tugged on his jacket sleeve, urging him towards the door. "Let's go, Cho."

"Did you say romantic weekend hotel room?"

"Come on, Cho."

They joined Minelli and Lisbon just in time to see Jane pop up from the other side of a car holding a rosy-cheeked, confused baby girl. The CBI's best consultant had an excited, childlike grin on his face as he looked from the baby to his coworkers.

Minelli wilted. "Oh, no."

Lisbon, on the other hand, looked like someone had just handed her a kitten. "Hello," She crooned at the little girl who had no idea she was being addressed.

Ronnie gawked at the child, mind immediately going back to retrace the alleged steps of Patricia Matigan. "How long has she been in there? Is she okay?"

"She's fine, the car was nice and cool and she was all bundled up." Jane beckoned her over. "Come see her, Ronnie."

Hiding behind Cho didn't seem to be the most mature decision, but it appealed to her at the moment. "Uh, no thanks."

Cho's focus already seemed to be returning to the crime scene, but he also seemed to have no intention of rescuing her.

"Come over here and see the baby, Ronnie. She won't bite."

"Cho help me." She whispered under her breath, glaring daggers at Jane. "Why can't I enjoy the blessing of children from over here?"

"Because we need to finish checking out the crime scene. Hold the baby until social services gets here." Lisbon instructed, joining Cho and Minelli in returning to the hotel room.

"Yes ma'am." Ronnie marched with lead feet over to Jane, holding her arms out stiffly to receive the little girl.

Jane passed her over smugly and tapped Ronnie's nose with his forefinger. "Relax, Ronnie. Kids are sweet. Just hold her close to your body and be nice to her."

Completely uncomfortable with the new arrangement, Ronnie pressed the little girl in close to her side and glared bitterly. "Cho!" She snapped quietly.

Her partner turned, having made it ten yards away from her, narrowly avoiding his escape. "What?"

"Help me!"

He didn't answer for a second, taking in the ridiculous sight of his gruff, muscular partner protectively cradling the squishy pink baby. "Looks like you're doing fine." He returned smartly.

She gestured him over angrily, unamused by the public display. "Get me out of this, Cho, I don't do kids."

He placed a palm gently over the top of the baby's head fondly for a second before pulling his arm back into his own personal space. "You'll be fine. It'll be good for you. And besides--you might be surprised how often this is the outcome of a romantic weekend hotel room." He smacked her arm teasingly and winked at her before turning on his heel and going back to work.

Ronnie fumed. "You're not funny, Cho!"

He raised his arms in a helpless shrug but otherwise said nothing, leaving her behind with the confused baby.

THE MENTALIST

"Detectives Blakely and Preciado, Davis homicide." Minelli introduced the CBI team to some local cops, two older gentlemen who both looked like they had an axe to grind as soon as they approached. "They will be your liaisons with Davis PD. I speak for myself and your chief when I urge you all to work harmoniously. That means play nice. Keep me posted." The CBI director left the case in the hands of his agents and headed out to return to the office.

While Jane and Blakely got to know each other, revealing that the first cop on the scene had been the detective's kid, Preciado had his eyes fixed on Ronnie. "You're that girl." His thin lips curled up in a wiry grin. "That murderer who got the rose parade."

Mind racing, Ronnie connected the dots in a second. He recognized her face from TV, recalled her case from all those years ago, dug up some inflammatory opinions. An identical smirk crossed her face. She'd had a finger waved in her face too many times for her to jump to her own defense every single time. Instead, she just smiled at him while her team stepped in closer around her. Cho was the first to square up to the smug detective, his silent stance planted firmly at Ronnie's side.

But it was Lisbon who spoke first. "You wanna pull back, Detective?"

Preciado scoffed, shooting his partner a look. "Please, you expect us to work together? How are we supposed to know you won't pin a medal on the guy who did this? I mean, look at you. Killer, trafficker, cop. How many children have you sold, killed, or raped in your life?" His voice had escalated to shouting in her face, face twitching with annoyance when she didn't even flinch.

Cho, however, felt he had stepped a bit too far. He forced the detective back with the palm of his hand, shoving him away from Ronnie. "Why don't you take a walk, detective?"

"I agree," Lisbon snapped, and then addressed the senior officer. "Detective Blakely, I think we both agree that the case has priority over this little difference of opinion, or am I wrong?"

With a deep sigh, embarrassed by the scene caused by his hot head partner, Blakely nodded. "Preciado," He frowned at the other man. "Go outside."

Forcing Cho's hands off of him, Preciado flung furious glances around the room, waiting for someone to see his side. When he found no such support, he stormed out of the room and left them alone.

Lisbon immediately put Blakely to work, pulling him aside to ask about the steps taken by the Davis police department. Van Pelt went with her, taking note of tasks needing to be done.

A soft hand curled around Ronnie's elbow, drawing her eyes away from the door. Jane peered down at her, expression cautious. "You okay, kid?"

She shot him a smile. "Yeah. Not like I haven't heard that one before."

Once convinced of her composure, Jane joined the others to get answers about their slip-up with Joseph Purcell.

Cho returned from ensuring that Preciado wouldn't make any more trouble for the moment and stared down at her. He couldn't say anything for a long minute, still blinking away his rage. Ronnie bumped a fist against his chest light-heartedly. "Hey. Take a breath, Cho. We're all good here."

He shook his head, threw a murderous look over his shoulder, and planted his hands on his hips. Still, he couldn't say anything.

Ronnie gave his tie a yank. "Some no-name detective isn't going to hurt my feelings, Cho. I don't care about him enough to even hear him."

Shaking his head, exhaling like he'd just run up a flight of stairs, Cho gestured back to the door. "This isn't about your feelings, Masters, it's about your reputation."

She gave a careless shrug. "Everybody who matters knows the true details of my case. Reputation untarnished. Okay?"

He let his temper fall enough to focus on his partner. The redness faded out of his face, his eyes softening. "Ronnie, I'm sorry."

"Cho. It's a non-issue."

He nodded hesitantly. "I'll crush his head in."

"I know you will, honey."

"Don't patronize me, Masters, you're not cute." He rolled his eyes, smoothing down his tie. He seemed confused as to why it was crooked, like he hadn't even realized she'd yanked it.

Ronnie plastered a playful smile on her face, scrunching her eyes up sweetly. "You don't think I'm cute?"

He met her eyes then, annoyed. "Shut up."

She pouted, running a fingertip down his chest. "Oh, come on, Cho..."

Cho snatched her hand away. "Knock it off, Masters." But his expression had turned to a reluctant smile and he didn't let go of her hand.

Ronnie admitted defeat and dropped the act. "Really though, Cho. Let it go."

"Okay," He relented, the tones of anger still surfacing slightly. "Let's get back to work then." "And you know you think I'm cute."

"Shut up, Masters."