I Bet on Losing Dogs - Patrick Jane

401 - Scarlet Ribbons

In Kenzie's hospital room, Lilly sat on her bed. Kenzie brushed Lilly's hair up into a ponytail, tightening it. She sprayed hairspray on her daughter's hair before chuckling as Lilly coughed.

"Sorry, baby," said Kenzie.

"Mommy," asked Lilly. Kenzie hummed in response. "Why did Mr. Patrick go to jail?"

Kenzie grabbed Lilly and placed her on her upper thighs. She sighed. "Patrick went to jail because he did something bad to a person."

"I heard Aunt Res and Nicy talking. They said Patrick went to jail because he killed somebody."

"You sure love gossip. I'll tell you that."

"You said that Patrick was a good man."

"He is. It's just..." She looked up in the doorway to see Ardiles and her mother standing in the doorway. "Complicated. You have a good day at school, okay?"

"Okay." Kenzie gave her a kiss on the forehead. Lilly smiled at her mother before slowly getting up from the bed and walking to her grandmother. She looked up at Adriles. "Hello."

"Hello. You must be–"

Lilly walked away, waving to her mother. Wilma grabbed her granddaughter's hand and walked away.

"Kids, am I right?" asked Ardiles. Kenzie narrowed her eyes at him.

"What do you want?"

"Look, just to save time here, I'm sorry, but I can't cut your man Jane any slack on his bail."

Kenzie looked down. "No. I-I don't want you to. Maybe he should stay locked up for as long as possible."

"Okay. He's your man. Don't get me wrong– it's heartbreaking to see a good man and a productive employee like Jane go down in flames, but this is about damage control now. We need to make sure that he is safely out of the way until this media crapstorm passes."

"Yes. I get it."

A couple hours had passed, and Kenzie watched a rerun on the television. Bertram walked in, knocking. "Agent Patterson. How are you?"

"Good, considering. Yeah. Have you seen Jane?"

"Oh, across a courtroom."

"Was he okay?"

"Well, enough. I want to extend my own and the bureau's deepest sympathies to you."

"Thanks. Doctor says I should be up and around in a day or so."

"Excellent. Excellent. But, d-don't rush your recovery. You have plenty of time. You and your team are suspended as of today."

"Suspended? Why?"

"Really? You have to ask? You allowed a clearly disturbed individual to lead your activities. You allowed him to gun down an innocent man."

"First of all, he's not disturbed. I would know. Secondly, I didn't know about the whole gun part. You know, I was too busy bleeding out from a gunshot wound to my leg and was stabbed with a needle full of ketamine."

"On top of which, you perpetrated an elaborate deception on me to gather evidence that I, your own boss, am part of a vast criminal conspiracy. Shall I go on?"

"Bertram, you know me. When it comes to rules, I could give a fuck about them. But, what you're not going to do is punish my team and my best friend off of a decision I made."

"Just focus on getting well. We'll revisit your status when you're fully recovered."

"What about Patrick?"