Causality (3/19)
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two
Part Three
Lisbon stared at her computer screen determinedly. The Google homepage was almost taunting her now. Since watching the interview, she had spent several hours simply trying to dig up the dirt on Patrick Jane. Just something to find some kind of excuse in order to avoid having him assigned to her team. Some sordid mental health problem, proof that his spiritual claims were erroneous, tax evasion or the like. Despite the fact she knew Van Pelt had been hard at work in the bullpen, doing exactly the same thing, she couldn’t help but try herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her new rookie, not exactly. She just wanted to make sure she could see for herself there was absolutely nothing to find.
It was strange; nobody was entirely blemish free. Everybody had at least one little deep, dark secret that they didn’t want anyone else to know about. However, Patrick Jane appeared to have absolutely nothing wrong. His record was completely spotless. Hell, even hers wasn’t as clean as his, thanks to a speeding ticket she had received when she was twenty three. Quickly, she decided to blame it on his fame and fortune. The rich could pay to make anything go away, provided they paid enough. Either that, or he was just one lucky bastard and nobody had gotten anything to stick.
She glanced at her watch. Seven past nine. Where had the day gone? Rigsby and Cho had been thrilled to get their teeth into the Red John case files, but they had left three hours ago. Even Van Pelt, who was doggedly determined to make a good first impression had turned in for the night at eight. Yet, she was still in the office, trying to make work out of nothing. Theoretically, she could have gone home hours ago. It was only a matter of time before she get the next call from the ADA. And usually, that was the exact kind of call she got at some unholy hour in the morning.
With a sigh, she switched off her computer and proceeded to gather together her belongings. She had officially wasted the day. There was nothing that Lisbon could hand to Minelli to convince him that hiring Patrick Jane was a not good idea. That meant she was simply going to have to endure him and his apparent ego until he screwed up and then, she would be able to kick him out on his ass. Lisbon could only hope that the moment would come sooner than later.
With a heavy sigh, she scooped up her keys and switched off her lamp. There was no point in worrying about it anymore. After all, there was nothing she could really do.
xxx
Jane smiled contentedly as Angela ran her fingers up and down his arm. When he had proposed, he’d never imagined that she would actually say yes. She had such a phobia of commitment that he had half expected her to run for the hills as soon as she had spotted the velvet box. Instead, she had defied his expectations and actually said yes. Catching her left hand before she pulled it away, he lifted it to place a kiss on her fingers, over the ring he had given her merely hours before.
As far as he was concerned, life couldn’t get much better than this. He hadn’t even objected to the wasted money at the Indian restaurant, for the meal they were doomed never to enjoy. It was a small sacrifice for the perfection the evening had turned into, especially after the disaster the earlier day had been.
He knew that Angela still had her reservations. That she probably wouldn’t even dream of marrying him until he had given up practicing as a psychic for good. Unfortunately, Jane knew that that would take a long while to quit. His clients were all incredibly faithful and several, he imagined, would take the news that he was leaving very badly. They were often the type who found it difficult to trust and therefore, when they found a psychic (a conman) they liked, they found it very hard to let go.
And Jane too had a twisted sense of loyalty. In a way, he had grown fond of the women he assisted. He liked their quirks and the way they hung onto his every word. They made him feel strong, powerful, in control of their destiny. He almost found it amusing just how desperate they were to believe that there not only was an afterlife, but that their loved ones would have forgiven them entirely simply because they had ‘passed on’. You could never make up that kind of naiveté.
“Angela?”
“Hmm…”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really,” she answered quietly and instead, placed a kiss onto his collarbone. “Why? Are you?”
“I was thinking about ice cream.”
They both knew that he hadn’t been really. Jane didn’t mind it in small doses, but the treat was one of Angela’s real weaknesses. Most other women preferred chocolate as a sweet treat, but Angela was always far, far happier with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. That way, she got both the indulgence of chocolate and the cool, creamy ice cream. It was the best of both worlds and as far as she was concerned, any woman who said otherwise was foolish.
At the suggestion, she immediately sat up and held onto the sheets to cover her modesty. Even though they had been very comfortable in bed, his suggestion had definitely piqued her interest. Besides, once they had gotten the ice cream, it was always entirely possible for them to return to bed with it. And anyway, a walk would do them good. As tempting as it was, it was still relatively early and they had no reason to get up early in the morning. They both knew that it was better to drag themselves up now in order to indulge in one another’s company later on.
xxx
Even though she had promised herself that she would stop thinking about the Jane predicament, Lisbon found it still lingering in her mind as she did her grocery shopping. It didn’t help that she had seen an advert for a theater performance by him on the way to the supermarket, nor did it help seeing a review from an earlier gig on the front cover of this week’s Sacramento Gazette. If she hadn’t known otherwise, Lisbon would have suspected that he was stalking her, or at least that something odd was going on. Why was the world so determined that she found out as much about Patrick Jane as feasibly possible in such a short period of time?
Angrily, she pushed the thoughts to one side. She knew she was being completely and utterly ridiculous and this was something that she was just going to have to deal with in due course. What Lisbon hated the most was that she had had essentially no say whatsoever in Minelli’s decision. He had decided that she was ready to cope with a case as important as Red John and Jane came as a part of the package. She simply wasn’t allowed to question his decision, because it had come from him. Or possibly even from those above him. All she could do was grin and bear it.
But it was the fact she’d had no control over it whatsoever. Rigsby had once dared to call her a control freak when she had opted not to delegate certain tasks to him when she had felt under the weather. Of course, he had quickly retracted the statement but his point was valid. Lisbon knew she was a control freak and didn’t need reminding by her subordinates. It was a double-edged sword. Some aspects of it made her perfect for her job, however, sometimes she found it hard to trust her team to do the job effectively. By repeating Van Pelt’s web search she had demonstrated that effortlessly.
She grumbled incoherently as she placed a box of cereal into her basket. A mother, along with her baby, stared at her indignantly, though Lisbon had done nothing wrong. Immediately, she cast it to one side. It didn’t matter what that woman thought of her. All Lisbon was doing was her weekly shop, alone, late in the evening, because there was nobody else to do it for her. Her job ate so much of her free time, that it was almost impossible to have a social life around it.
Almost.
Her cell phone rang cheerily and Lisbon answered it without even bothering to look at who was calling. There were very few people who actually bothered to ring her; she mostly used it for work.
“Lisbon.”
“Tess, it’s me.”
Lisbon cringed slightly when she heard the nickname ‘Tess’. She absolutely loathed it, though Maria had never quite gotten that. Time and time again, Lisbon had told her that if she couldn’t cope with calling her Teresa, then Reese would have been preferable. After all, that was what her brothers had called her since they were small.
“Hello, Maria.”
“Oh no, you have a case, don’t you?”
“What? No.”
“Are you sure?” Maria asked suspiciously, “because you always make that dejected sound whenever you have to cancel on me.”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
“So you can still come out for dinner tomorrow night?”
“Yes!”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Work,” Lisbon said.
Carefully she maneuvered around the other customers to try and find somewhere ever so slightly more private to talk to her friend. Though she would never reveal anything confidential over the phone - and she wouldn’t to Maria anyway, she still felt the need for privacy.
“When is it not?”
“Touché.”
“So, what’s happened?” her friend asked, sounding altogether too cheerful.
“Can’t I tell you tomorrow? It’s only twenty-four hours away.”
“What?” Maria whined and Lisbon laughed slightly in response. “You really want to make me wait that long?”
“Quite frankly, yes,” Lisbon stated emphatically. It had been a long day and she really wanted to get home to eat. “I’m in the middle of grocery shopping.”
“At this time of night?”
“When else am I meant to do it?”
“You work too hard, Tess.”
“Everyone says that,” Lisbon grumbled.
“Well they say it for a reason.”
“Maria…”
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Maria said, admitting defeat. “I’ll pick you up at eight, okay?”
When Lisbon confirmed that that was indeed appropriate and Maria ended the call, she was relieved. She glanced in her basket and decided that enough was enough. As she headed towards the checkouts, Lisbon grabbed a bar of chocolate. Though they were going through a quiet spell at work, the day had somehow managed to be stressful. Therefore, as far as she was concerned, she deserved a pick-me-up and pure, unadulterated chocolate was just that.
xxx
The walk to the supermarket had been peaceful. Angela linked her arm with Jane, her fiancé now, as they walked down the street. With the cool breeze in their face and the stars twinkling above, she decided that this was actually a very good idea. It was refreshing, especially after spending the majority of the evening in bed. Not that that hadn’t had its benefits, mind. However, this was just a different way for them to enjoy one another’s company.
They were walking back home along the riverside and Jane briefly stopped. Angela turned around and looked at him quizzically. He had no course to stop and besides, the sooner they got home, the sooner they could eat the ice cream they had just bought. With a smile, he cupped her face with his hands and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Almost immediately, Angela melted into his touch. He always had that way with her, always made her feel like she was the only woman that mattered. When he parted, he smiled sweetly and she felt like her knees would buckle under her weight. Briefly, she was relieved that he had proposed while she had been sitting down, otherwise she would have had no hope.
“I love you, Angela,” he whispered.
“Yeah, me too.”
He didn’t say a word, but Angela knew that he was disappointed that despite the fact they were engaged now, she still couldn’t tell him she loved him too. She did, deep down, but she was scared that if she actually admitted it out loud, then everything would go spectacularly wrong once more. The last time she had told a man she loved him, that was when it all fell to pieces. She was terrified that if she did, then she would lose everything she had built with Jane.
“Hey, you!”
Angela turned on the spot to see a hooded man approach them. His appearance had taken her by surprise; she had thought they were alone down this little track by the river. She cocked her head curiously as he closed the distance between them. When he was standing about two meters away, the man carefully placed his hand in his pocket and he drew out a shotgun. Angela froze slightly and she felt Jane’s hand squeeze hers gently.
“Yes, you step away from the lady.”
“Why should I?”
“I will use this.”
“What do you want?” Jane asked, sounding calmer than he felt. “I have money, I can give you money.”
“I don’t want your money, Patrick Jane, I want you to step away from the woman and let her go.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Patrick, just do as you’re told. I’ll be fine, just-”
“I said, step away from the lady or you’ll both get shot.”
“I can’t do that Angela, I’m not going to leave you.”
“Patrick, please!”
Jane shook his head and maintained his grip on Angela. As far as she was concerned, he was behaving irrationally. Then again, where did logical sense come into it when someone was pointing a gun at you? However, if he let her go, as the man was quite keen to do so, then she would be able to call the cops and maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance to get out of the sorry situation unscathed. Surreptitiously, she tried to put her hand into her jacket pocket in order to call 911. She didn’t necessarily need to be able to answer questions, the operator might have been able to get the gist of what was going on from the conversation.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Roughly, their attacker grabbed Angela by the arm and pulled out her cell phone, where she had managed to dial the number, but not press enter. Angrily, the man threw it to the floor and glared at her. Jane grabbed the man’s arm, the one holding the gun, but somehow, he still managed to fire two shots before running. Angela looked at Jane, relieved to see that he was still standing, but he looked completely and utterly horrified. It was only when she placed her own hand against her abdomen that she realized she was bleeding.
Her heart was thumping, almost as if it were trying to escape her ribcage. And then, only then, did a wave of pain hit her.
“Oh,” she muttered quietly, surprised.
“Angela!”
Her vision blurred and she dropped the bag. She knew that Jane had rushed to her side and helped her lie down. As Jane called at her desperately, urging her to try and remain conscious, it was growing all the more tempting to go to sleep. Eventually, the fight grew too exhausting and she simply gave up.
The tub of Ben and Jerry’s rolled towards the sidewalk, where it came to a halt.
To Part Four
Part Three
Lisbon stared at her computer screen determinedly. The Google homepage was almost taunting her now. Since watching the interview, she had spent several hours simply trying to dig up the dirt on Patrick Jane. Just something to find some kind of excuse in order to avoid having him assigned to her team. Some sordid mental health problem, proof that his spiritual claims were erroneous, tax evasion or the like. Despite the fact she knew Van Pelt had been hard at work in the bullpen, doing exactly the same thing, she couldn’t help but try herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her new rookie, not exactly. She just wanted to make sure she could see for herself there was absolutely nothing to find.
It was strange; nobody was entirely blemish free. Everybody had at least one little deep, dark secret that they didn’t want anyone else to know about. However, Patrick Jane appeared to have absolutely nothing wrong. His record was completely spotless. Hell, even hers wasn’t as clean as his, thanks to a speeding ticket she had received when she was twenty three. Quickly, she decided to blame it on his fame and fortune. The rich could pay to make anything go away, provided they paid enough. Either that, or he was just one lucky bastard and nobody had gotten anything to stick.
She glanced at her watch. Seven past nine. Where had the day gone? Rigsby and Cho had been thrilled to get their teeth into the Red John case files, but they had left three hours ago. Even Van Pelt, who was doggedly determined to make a good first impression had turned in for the night at eight. Yet, she was still in the office, trying to make work out of nothing. Theoretically, she could have gone home hours ago. It was only a matter of time before she get the next call from the ADA. And usually, that was the exact kind of call she got at some unholy hour in the morning.
With a sigh, she switched off her computer and proceeded to gather together her belongings. She had officially wasted the day. There was nothing that Lisbon could hand to Minelli to convince him that hiring Patrick Jane was a not good idea. That meant she was simply going to have to endure him and his apparent ego until he screwed up and then, she would be able to kick him out on his ass. Lisbon could only hope that the moment would come sooner than later.
With a heavy sigh, she scooped up her keys and switched off her lamp. There was no point in worrying about it anymore. After all, there was nothing she could really do.
xxx
Jane smiled contentedly as Angela ran her fingers up and down his arm. When he had proposed, he’d never imagined that she would actually say yes. She had such a phobia of commitment that he had half expected her to run for the hills as soon as she had spotted the velvet box. Instead, she had defied his expectations and actually said yes. Catching her left hand before she pulled it away, he lifted it to place a kiss on her fingers, over the ring he had given her merely hours before.
As far as he was concerned, life couldn’t get much better than this. He hadn’t even objected to the wasted money at the Indian restaurant, for the meal they were doomed never to enjoy. It was a small sacrifice for the perfection the evening had turned into, especially after the disaster the earlier day had been.
He knew that Angela still had her reservations. That she probably wouldn’t even dream of marrying him until he had given up practicing as a psychic for good. Unfortunately, Jane knew that that would take a long while to quit. His clients were all incredibly faithful and several, he imagined, would take the news that he was leaving very badly. They were often the type who found it difficult to trust and therefore, when they found a psychic (a conman) they liked, they found it very hard to let go.
And Jane too had a twisted sense of loyalty. In a way, he had grown fond of the women he assisted. He liked their quirks and the way they hung onto his every word. They made him feel strong, powerful, in control of their destiny. He almost found it amusing just how desperate they were to believe that there not only was an afterlife, but that their loved ones would have forgiven them entirely simply because they had ‘passed on’. You could never make up that kind of naiveté.
“Angela?”
“Hmm…”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really,” she answered quietly and instead, placed a kiss onto his collarbone. “Why? Are you?”
“I was thinking about ice cream.”
They both knew that he hadn’t been really. Jane didn’t mind it in small doses, but the treat was one of Angela’s real weaknesses. Most other women preferred chocolate as a sweet treat, but Angela was always far, far happier with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. That way, she got both the indulgence of chocolate and the cool, creamy ice cream. It was the best of both worlds and as far as she was concerned, any woman who said otherwise was foolish.
At the suggestion, she immediately sat up and held onto the sheets to cover her modesty. Even though they had been very comfortable in bed, his suggestion had definitely piqued her interest. Besides, once they had gotten the ice cream, it was always entirely possible for them to return to bed with it. And anyway, a walk would do them good. As tempting as it was, it was still relatively early and they had no reason to get up early in the morning. They both knew that it was better to drag themselves up now in order to indulge in one another’s company later on.
xxx
Even though she had promised herself that she would stop thinking about the Jane predicament, Lisbon found it still lingering in her mind as she did her grocery shopping. It didn’t help that she had seen an advert for a theater performance by him on the way to the supermarket, nor did it help seeing a review from an earlier gig on the front cover of this week’s Sacramento Gazette. If she hadn’t known otherwise, Lisbon would have suspected that he was stalking her, or at least that something odd was going on. Why was the world so determined that she found out as much about Patrick Jane as feasibly possible in such a short period of time?
Angrily, she pushed the thoughts to one side. She knew she was being completely and utterly ridiculous and this was something that she was just going to have to deal with in due course. What Lisbon hated the most was that she had had essentially no say whatsoever in Minelli’s decision. He had decided that she was ready to cope with a case as important as Red John and Jane came as a part of the package. She simply wasn’t allowed to question his decision, because it had come from him. Or possibly even from those above him. All she could do was grin and bear it.
But it was the fact she’d had no control over it whatsoever. Rigsby had once dared to call her a control freak when she had opted not to delegate certain tasks to him when she had felt under the weather. Of course, he had quickly retracted the statement but his point was valid. Lisbon knew she was a control freak and didn’t need reminding by her subordinates. It was a double-edged sword. Some aspects of it made her perfect for her job, however, sometimes she found it hard to trust her team to do the job effectively. By repeating Van Pelt’s web search she had demonstrated that effortlessly.
She grumbled incoherently as she placed a box of cereal into her basket. A mother, along with her baby, stared at her indignantly, though Lisbon had done nothing wrong. Immediately, she cast it to one side. It didn’t matter what that woman thought of her. All Lisbon was doing was her weekly shop, alone, late in the evening, because there was nobody else to do it for her. Her job ate so much of her free time, that it was almost impossible to have a social life around it.
Almost.
Her cell phone rang cheerily and Lisbon answered it without even bothering to look at who was calling. There were very few people who actually bothered to ring her; she mostly used it for work.
“Lisbon.”
“Tess, it’s me.”
Lisbon cringed slightly when she heard the nickname ‘Tess’. She absolutely loathed it, though Maria had never quite gotten that. Time and time again, Lisbon had told her that if she couldn’t cope with calling her Teresa, then Reese would have been preferable. After all, that was what her brothers had called her since they were small.
“Hello, Maria.”
“Oh no, you have a case, don’t you?”
“What? No.”
“Are you sure?” Maria asked suspiciously, “because you always make that dejected sound whenever you have to cancel on me.”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
“So you can still come out for dinner tomorrow night?”
“Yes!”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Work,” Lisbon said.
Carefully she maneuvered around the other customers to try and find somewhere ever so slightly more private to talk to her friend. Though she would never reveal anything confidential over the phone - and she wouldn’t to Maria anyway, she still felt the need for privacy.
“When is it not?”
“Touché.”
“So, what’s happened?” her friend asked, sounding altogether too cheerful.
“Can’t I tell you tomorrow? It’s only twenty-four hours away.”
“What?” Maria whined and Lisbon laughed slightly in response. “You really want to make me wait that long?”
“Quite frankly, yes,” Lisbon stated emphatically. It had been a long day and she really wanted to get home to eat. “I’m in the middle of grocery shopping.”
“At this time of night?”
“When else am I meant to do it?”
“You work too hard, Tess.”
“Everyone says that,” Lisbon grumbled.
“Well they say it for a reason.”
“Maria…”
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Maria said, admitting defeat. “I’ll pick you up at eight, okay?”
When Lisbon confirmed that that was indeed appropriate and Maria ended the call, she was relieved. She glanced in her basket and decided that enough was enough. As she headed towards the checkouts, Lisbon grabbed a bar of chocolate. Though they were going through a quiet spell at work, the day had somehow managed to be stressful. Therefore, as far as she was concerned, she deserved a pick-me-up and pure, unadulterated chocolate was just that.
xxx
The walk to the supermarket had been peaceful. Angela linked her arm with Jane, her fiancé now, as they walked down the street. With the cool breeze in their face and the stars twinkling above, she decided that this was actually a very good idea. It was refreshing, especially after spending the majority of the evening in bed. Not that that hadn’t had its benefits, mind. However, this was just a different way for them to enjoy one another’s company.
They were walking back home along the riverside and Jane briefly stopped. Angela turned around and looked at him quizzically. He had no course to stop and besides, the sooner they got home, the sooner they could eat the ice cream they had just bought. With a smile, he cupped her face with his hands and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Almost immediately, Angela melted into his touch. He always had that way with her, always made her feel like she was the only woman that mattered. When he parted, he smiled sweetly and she felt like her knees would buckle under her weight. Briefly, she was relieved that he had proposed while she had been sitting down, otherwise she would have had no hope.
“I love you, Angela,” he whispered.
“Yeah, me too.”
He didn’t say a word, but Angela knew that he was disappointed that despite the fact they were engaged now, she still couldn’t tell him she loved him too. She did, deep down, but she was scared that if she actually admitted it out loud, then everything would go spectacularly wrong once more. The last time she had told a man she loved him, that was when it all fell to pieces. She was terrified that if she did, then she would lose everything she had built with Jane.
“Hey, you!”
Angela turned on the spot to see a hooded man approach them. His appearance had taken her by surprise; she had thought they were alone down this little track by the river. She cocked her head curiously as he closed the distance between them. When he was standing about two meters away, the man carefully placed his hand in his pocket and he drew out a shotgun. Angela froze slightly and she felt Jane’s hand squeeze hers gently.
“Yes, you step away from the lady.”
“Why should I?”
“I will use this.”
“What do you want?” Jane asked, sounding calmer than he felt. “I have money, I can give you money.”
“I don’t want your money, Patrick Jane, I want you to step away from the woman and let her go.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Patrick, just do as you’re told. I’ll be fine, just-”
“I said, step away from the lady or you’ll both get shot.”
“I can’t do that Angela, I’m not going to leave you.”
“Patrick, please!”
Jane shook his head and maintained his grip on Angela. As far as she was concerned, he was behaving irrationally. Then again, where did logical sense come into it when someone was pointing a gun at you? However, if he let her go, as the man was quite keen to do so, then she would be able to call the cops and maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance to get out of the sorry situation unscathed. Surreptitiously, she tried to put her hand into her jacket pocket in order to call 911. She didn’t necessarily need to be able to answer questions, the operator might have been able to get the gist of what was going on from the conversation.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Roughly, their attacker grabbed Angela by the arm and pulled out her cell phone, where she had managed to dial the number, but not press enter. Angrily, the man threw it to the floor and glared at her. Jane grabbed the man’s arm, the one holding the gun, but somehow, he still managed to fire two shots before running. Angela looked at Jane, relieved to see that he was still standing, but he looked completely and utterly horrified. It was only when she placed her own hand against her abdomen that she realized she was bleeding.
Her heart was thumping, almost as if it were trying to escape her ribcage. And then, only then, did a wave of pain hit her.
“Oh,” she muttered quietly, surprised.
“Angela!”
Her vision blurred and she dropped the bag. She knew that Jane had rushed to her side and helped her lie down. As Jane called at her desperately, urging her to try and remain conscious, it was growing all the more tempting to go to sleep. Eventually, the fight grew too exhausting and she simply gave up.
The tub of Ben and Jerry’s rolled towards the sidewalk, where it came to a halt.
To Part Four