Ronnie Masters | the MENTALIST (COMPLETE)

RED HAIR AND SILVER TAPE : pt II

"We're making a bust?" Ronnie watched the CBI agents gear up, suddenly regretting the extra thirty minutes of sleep she'd snagged.

Lisbon glanced up, tossing her a tactical vest. "Rigsby and van Pelt are on their way. We're getting the boyfriend. Get your stuff and let's go." The boss grabbed an extra magazine and clipped it onto her belt, leaving Cho and Ronnie at the back of the car while she went to round up Jane.

Cho shouldered into his vest and grabbed his munitions, watching as she pulled off the long-sleeved button down and clipped her vest on over her t-shirt.

Ronnie switched out her compact concealed-carry for her full size service pistol, glancing over the hood of the sedan to see Jane already arguing with Lisbon over where to go to lunch afterwards.

"Masters," Cho stepped up, two fingers hooked in his belt as he glanced over her gear, making sure she had suited up properly. "If this doesn't go down pretty, I need your word that you're not going to do anything stupid."

She'd come to love the flat, dry voice of her partner which carried no intonation. At first it had intimidated her a little, but she'd come to realize that he had become the most straightforward, simple person in her life, and he didn't need dramatic inflection to impress sincerity upon someone. She needed that.

In turn, she'd begun to adopt her own flat tone, much to the rest of the team's chagrin. "I don't know what you're talking about, Cho. I don't ever do anything stupid."

"Really." He shot back.

"I'm not a stupid person," she winked, slapping his chest as she strode past, going to find Jane and Lisbon.

THE MENTALIST

Ronnie crouched behind a wrecked car, across from the old beater that Cho was hiding behind. In front of them, van Pelt crept around the corner of a dilapidated house, gun drawn and at high ready.

Music blasted from the house, masking the noise of the approaching agents. Two uniformed officers snuck around the front, toward the door, while Lisbon and Rigsby stationed themselves behind the CBI vehicles.

The police officer closest to the door shot a glance over to van Pelt, waited until she acknowledged him, and then banged loudly on the door, bellowing, "Sheriff's department! We have a warrant! Open up!"

After a second of no response, the officer kicked in the door and lunged inside, followed by his partner. Shouting ensued from within, and a shot went off somewhere. Before anyone could react, a body flew through the window behind van Pelt.

The figure rolled and then lurched to his feet, bolting across the lawn.

Lisbon was the first to move, pulling away from the suburban and sprinting after him.

Cho and Ronnie were right behind her. The man vaulted a wire fence, barely slowed by the movement. Lisbon swerved off, cutting through the bushes of another yard, and Cho hurled himself smoothly over the fence after the runner in the hoodie.

Ronnie's legs pumped strongly beneath her. She reached for the top of the fence and launched herself off the ground, effortlessly swinging her body over and landing mid-sprint.

The runner turned off onto the Main Street through the neighborhood and took scope of his surroundings before jogging straight for Jane, his machete flashing in the sunlight. Van Pelt and Rigsby were on the street after him, moving as quickly as their legs could carry them.

Cho was fastest, nearly on his tail, while Ronnie looked for an angle to get him from the side.

While she was searching, heart racing with the image of Jane being stabbed through the guts with the machete, Lisbon bolted out of the bushes like a cat on the pounce, tackling the man to the ground and pinning him harshly to the pavement.