I Bet on Losing Dogs - Patrick Jane

Hanging In There

It's been a couple of months since Red John's reign of terror ended. Kenzie insisted on visiting the CBI office both during and after her interrogation. It was the only way Dennis could get her to talk.

She hated being in that interrogation room, but Agent Dennis reassured her that she wouldn't be in a courtroom due to the fact that Patrick was on the run. Tears immediately filled her eyes. She inhaled deeply before clearing her throat.

She explained everything from what happened when Bertram kidnapped her to when she arrived at the chapel. But, for some reason, she couldn't speak about what happened when they left the chapel.

Abbot noticed her panic and placed his hand on top of hers. "It's alright. You're okay."

"I don't remember," she whimpered. "I don't remember."

"We don't have to talk about it." Another agent leaned into his ear. Abbott brushed him off and turned to Kenzie. "You can wait outside the hallway."

"Thank you," she muttered.

She got up and slowly walked to the door. She turned her head toward the two agents.

"I'm telling you, she murdered Micheals," the agent faintly whispered.

"There's no proof of it," said Abbott. "Plus, that girl's been through enough. We're helping her by leaving it all behind."

A small smile fell on Kenzie's cheeks as she walked away. She quietly closed the door and leaned her head against the window. She turned her head to see Nicole and Teresa walking over to her. She hugged them very tightly. She slightly grimaced at Teresa's engagement ring digged into her shoulder. They pulled back.

"You think he brought it," Nicole whispered.

"Yeah. The agent was insistent that I did something, but Abbott didn't seem to care."

"Thank God." Nicole started laughing, causing Teresa and Kenzie to give her a weird look. "You got away with murder."

Kenzie slapped her hand against Nicole's mouth. "Shut up!"

"Sorry. It's funny."

The door opened. Abbott walked out of the interrogation room and looked at the women. "We're ready whenever you are," he said.

Kenzie took a deep breath and nodded. On the way to headquarters, Kenzie was surprisingly quiet. All she did was stare out of the window, looking at the landscape all around her. It's like her brain was on autopilot.

Well, it was on autopilot until she stared at the elevator in the lobby. She slightly froze before reaching for her father's ring.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

It was the countdown Nicole had suggested for her to use everytime she was in an elevator. Those same numbers ran through her head until the elevator came to a stop.

Nothing. Nothing was there. No desks. No files cabinets. No couches. Empty. It was as if no one ever worked here.

Kenzie never thought that there would be a time where the CBI headquarters would be empty. Yet, here she was, standing in the middle of a place where she surprisingly called home.

She cleared her throat as tears start filling her eyes.

"I'll leave you alone for a moment," whispered Abbott.

"No need. We can go," said Kenzie.

"Wait," said Teresa. "We just got here."

"Yeah. Now, we can go."