Last chapter…I really hope some of you enjoyed this story! Thanks for all your feedback, alerts, messages- it means the world to me that you read my stuff!
Blood Ties
Epilogue
Jane felt touchy-feely, and found it surprisingly difficult to suppress the urge. He tried not to look at agent Lisbon too much. But he felt very much like huddling against her.
Well, they would be in Sacramento soon.
He looked out of the window, watched the scenery racing by and tried to ignore his life sitting right next to him.
Cho had insisted on driving, though Lisbon had tried to talk him out of it. She felt fine, of course- his sweet little super-cop. He smiled a secret smile. Good that Cho hadn't allowed her to touch the steering wheel- there still was the possibility that she had a torn ligament. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He would make sure she'd see a doctor ASAP. And stay in bed for the weekend. He would spoil her senseless. He started to grin just thinking about it.
"When we get to Boomton", he said, "let me do the talking, okay, Lisbon?"
"Oh", she sighed, "because that's been such a smart plan in the past, or what?"
"Meh", Jane snorted, "just have a little faith for a change, Lisbon. By the way…any idea what you should say?"
"Since you never tell me anything- no."
"See?", Jane beamed, "If you don't know what to say- don't say anything at all. I have plenty to chat about with those creepy people."
Lisbon groaned. But part of her felt relieved. He seemed to feel genuinely better if he could already engage in his silly scheming again.
Half an hour later, they knocked at the mayor's door.
His distraught wife opened. She startled when she saw who was visiting this late. Jane presented a perfect smile.
"Good evening, Mrs. Holden", he said cheerfully, "Please excuse our late appearance, but we have bad news. I'm afraid your brother is deceased last night. I'm sorry for your loss."
Mrs. Holden was shocked into silence.
"Her brother?" Lisbon asked slowly.
"Yes, my dear Lisbon", Jane said jovially, "I noticed the genetic similarities the moment our killer crashed through our backdoor- and I knew his name because Mrs. Holden's maiden name is written directly above our heads on the wall of the mansion."
Everybody looked up- sure enough, there were the words "Brockton Manor" carved into the wood.
"The serial killer was your brother, ma'am?", Cho asked with grim calm.
"Yes", Mrs. Holden nodded, "Samuel. Samuel Brockton."
"When did you plan to tell us that?", Lisbon thundered.
"Oh, I don't think she planned anything like that", Jane mused, "she was pretty much ashamed for the fact that she couldn't keep her psychopathic brother locked away forever under her roof."
Lisbon looked dumbfounded.
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised,", Jane said, " if Samuel had always been a pretty disturbed teenager…and right around his 15th birthday, something drastic must have happened. My guess: something with Valerie Miller, his first victim. Rape? Abduction? Torture? Ahhhh….torture. Charming. So Samuel hurt Valerie in a way that showed clearly he was a serious mental case in the making, and the whole secluded Boomton community decided not to bother law enforcement- but to lock him away. In your mansion, hmm? That was what you and your husband tried to hide the first time we visited you. You were out of your mind with despair at that time, which could have nothing to do with poor Philicia, whom you hardly knew at all. So I thought maybe your concern was for the other party involved- the killer. Everybody in Boomton looked at us as enemies- I assumed they knew something, too. They all imprisoned Samuel at your house. I bet in the attic- for he had to have a window in his cell. A window that allowed him to watch everyday life in the village. And Philicia, whom he secretly fell in love with. Your problem was that Samuel managed to escape…after, hmmm- 17 years of incarceration?"
"The number of stab wounds found on the victims!", Lisbon gasped.
"Exactly, Lisbon", Jane stated, "Once in freedom, Samuel killed Valerie and took off, using the next twelve months to murder all over California. Until he learned that Philicia had gotten engaged. Then he had to come back, to punish her for her betrayal."
Mrs. Holden nodded slowly.
"There is another problem here, dear Mrs. Holden", Jane smiled ruefully, "and that is- Samuel had to come back to Boomton to stalk Philicia. And I find it hard to believe that you didn't notice that at all."
"There have been…certain…signs of his presence lately.", the mayor's wife whispered, head hung in shame.
"And I bet you're going to tell us about all of them once we're in Sacramento, my dear", Jane said.
"Ma'am, you and your husband are arrested for obstruction of police investigations", Cho said, slapping handcuffs on Mr. and Mrs. Holden, "and concealment of criminal actions."
The sheriff transported both suspects to a holding cell.
"When did you learn all that, Jane, for god's sake?", Lisbon inquired when everything went quiet again.
"Oh, gradually, Lisbon", Jane sighed, "The pieces pretty much snapped into place when I saw the killer. But I was a little bit suspicious about this charming one-horse-town long before that."
"The killer was confused when you called him by his correct name", she murmured, "and that saved our life."
"Yes", Jane whispered softly, "I'm glad I thought of that, believe me."
They looked at each other, and there was a torrent of emotions between them. So hard not to touch. Impossible not to look.
"Let's go home", he said eventually.
She nodded.
"Let me drive, Cho", Lisbon wailed, "I'm fine!"
"Forget it, boss."
So she spent the ride to Sacramento in the back of the car next to Patrick Jane.
xxMentalistxx
Cho enjoyed the silence. The world was pitch black outside, vanPelt and Rigsby fast asleep.
When he threw a glance at the rearview mirror, he saw Jane and Lisbon looking at each other- only inches apart. His hands framed her face, his thumbs brushed over her lips.
Cho smiled a secret little smile.
He'd known it all along- yelling and great sex, that would do the trick.
And they'd solved the case to top it off, hadn't they?
The End