The River With a Crimson Current-The Mentalist

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Eight
Teresa Lisbon

"Lisbon. I need to talk to you," Jane says from the bullpen entrance. I'm busy taking down evidence and suspect photos from the board and packing it all into a case box, ready to be stored.
"Okay... What's it about?" I ask, as the rest of the team look at us.
"Somewhere alone."
Because that doesn't sound iffy at all...
"I'll be right with you."
I put the last pieces of paper into the box as he heads to my office. When I walk in he isn't sat down, he's stood in the centre of the room waiting.
"We need to go somewhere we won't be disturbed."
He leads the way up to his attic, and I couldn't help but grin to myself at the team's expressions. When we reach his rooftop room he offers me the seat as he leans against the desk next to me.
"What's happened?" I ask curiously. This is odd, even for Jane.
"Genevieve Collins was working for Red John long before we thought. She said that she'd spoken to him during a time of death, and loss on my part."
"What does that even mean?"
"She'd spoken to him recently after he'd killed someone I knew."
"Y-your... Wife and child?" I stutter, not sure whether this is still dangerous turf.
"No... Not that. It was too long ago. She needed a quick result. She only joined with him for money."
"Who else has he killed that was close to you?.. No. No," I say in disbelief. "Lorelei?"
He simply shrugs, which in my eyes means a yes. "Jane... She died at least a year ago. No way would she have known him then if she was after a quick resolution, like you said."
"She also said that he was going to surrender. But Lisbon, Red John doesn't wave a white flag, never."
"What else?" I question, with a hint of desperation and urgency in my voice.
"That he'll only go a certain distance and that I should never push the boundaries."
"Distance? As in... He'll turn himself in if you get too close to his true identity?"
"Either that or suicide," he mutters.
"So... Red John knows you're close?"
"Apparently he knows that I believe I'm close. But I am, I'm close."
"What are you going to do?.."
"I-I'm not sure... But..." He sighs and looks at the floor. "Will you help me?.."
I stare at him in complete shock then nod my head.
"Yes..." I murmur.
"Thank you..." He gazes out the window which usually means I've outstayed my welcome. I get up and go to the door. "Lisbon..." He says. "Genevieve said one more thing... That until this game ends, he's going to enjoy the peace he has."
I stay silent, waiting for him to continue, as I know there's so much he wants to say. "How can a man like that have peace? It completely eludes me."
"I don't know Jane... Maybe he finds peace in doing what he does?" I know that's deep, but it just came out without me thinking.
"Yes Lisbon! Yes!" He runs up to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. "You... You are... Geniau!"
I grin at his cheerfulness and his word that he'd plucked from Patrick Jane's Dictionary. "He's going to keep killing until the game ends..." He suddenly turns serious again, and it occurs to me why he didn't see it in the first place. He always thinks too deeply about these things, never trusting the obvious answers.
When he remains in a cloudy daze I stand there awkwardly unable to leave as his hands are still gripping onto my shoulders. I raise an arm and squeeze his elbow, bringing him back to the present. He smiles gently at me and then let's go, his eyes burning a hole in my back as I leave his attic room.