7Hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter of this story. I enjoy seeing what you have to say about it and what you think. :) I hope you will like this chapter.
Again, ***TRIGGER WARNING*** (child abuse/ sexual abuse/ language )
"Of course, boss." Lisbon replied calmly, but failed to hide the look of displeasure on her face. "We'll get right on that" She mumbled as her eyes met Jane's curious ones. This was going to be a long day.
"Alright guys. We got a case in Roseville. Their PD wants us to look in to a possible murder suicide. It shouldn't take long and I don't expect too much trouble on this one." Lisbon stated as she walked into the bullpen. "Rigsby and Vanpelt, you stay here and man the phones and finish up the paperwork for the Carter murder case from the other day. I expect it on my desk by the end of the day. Cho, you're with me." She said as she turned to go and gather her things in her office.
"Yes boss." They all replied in unison, noticing that she was in a bad mood by the edge in her voice.
"Lisbon?" Jane called. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. She turned back around to face him. He noticed that she looked stressed by the way that her jaw tensed slightly.
"I don't care what you do, Jane. We really don't need your help on this one. Just do...whatever it is that you do." She replied, gesturing around to his couch and the Red John files that were still on his coffee table.
"Can't I come with you?" He whined. "I need a break from those files for a little bit to be able to think… and I'm bored. Please, Lisbon. I would really like some fresh air." Jane knew that he shouldn't be pushing her, but he saw this as a way to see what was going on with her.
Lisbon stared at Jane, unamused, hoping that he would back off and just go lay back down on his couch. When she realized that he was not going to give in, she gave up.
"Fine. Let's go. But you really shouldn't be using this as a way to get out of the office. You could always just go on a walk, you know?" She stated as she rolled her eyes and made her way to her office.
They were about five minutes away from the crime scene and Jane could tell that Lisbon was not happy. She had barely said a word the entire trip. Even Cho had spoken more than she had on the way there. She kept biting on her bottom lip, which he noticed was a nervous habit of hers.
Lisbon was thinking about her father. She remembered how mean he got when he was drunk and they way that he said that she reminded him of her mother. She remembered taking the hits for her brothers and always trying to make sure that they were safe even if it meant getting hit four times as much.
Teresa was sixteen. It had been almost a year after her mother died and her father's rage and drinking problem had only gotten worse. She came home to find her brothers in the kitchen with a pot of boiling water on the stove. She walked in the kitchen carrying groceries that she bought with the money that she had earned from babysitting her neighbors' kids and a few odd errands for the older ladies in the neighborhood. She did all of the grocery shopping now that her mother was gone and did her best to get food on the table
"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Teresa questioned softly as her youngest brother, Tommy, came up and wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled as she took one hand and ruffled his hair.
"We were hungry, T. Dad is sleeping, so we thought it would be okay if we made some hotdogs. We put one in for you too cause we figured you'd be hungry after you got home from the store." Her other brother Jimmy was putting ketchup on the bread while Stan rooted around in the fridge for some juice.
"Well thank you, guys. You're so thoughtful" Teresa praised as she detached herself from Tommy gently to put the groceries away. "You'll never guess what I got for you guys at the store," she teased as she held her hand behind her back. They looked at her eagerly, excited for the surprise that she had gotten for them. A smile spread across her face as she moved her had from behind her back and presented them with three chocolate bars that she had bought with the extra money that she had made that week. Her brothers grabbed the candy excitedly and each wrapped their arms around her waist again.
"Thank you, T!" They exclaimed as they broke away from the hug. She sighed happily. It was days like this that she felt more like their mother than their big sister. She missed her mother so much and hoped that she was making her proud. Teresa walked back over to the counter and grabbed the milk to put away while Stan picked up the pan of hotdogs. She was bent over by the fridge, when she heard a loud crashing sound followed by a yelp from her brother. She whirled back around to see Stan standing above the mess with his lower lip trembling.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just splashed the water and it was hot and it burned. I didn't mean it." He cried, tears already trailing down his face.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay," she soothed as she crouched down in front of him and examined the red mark on his hand. "You're okay. Run some cold water on it and then it will feel all better, okay?" Her brother nodded his head as she stood up and wiped the tears from his cheeks.
Suddenly, she head her father's bedroom door slam and heard him running down the stairs. She turned to her brothers and ushered them towards screen door of their kitchen.
"It's okay. Just go. Go. Get out of here." She urged as she basically pushed them out of the house. "I'll be fine. Come back when my bedroom light is on, alright." She called as they ran out the back door and into the alley. Her bedroom light was a signal that she used when things got bad. When she knew things were going to get rough, she would always send them away so that their father couldn't hurt them. Once he was done beating her, she would make sure that he was either in bed or passed out drunk for the night and make her way back to her bedroom after cleaning herself up. Teresa would then turn the light on to signal that it was safe for her brothers to come home.
"What the hell are you doing down here?" Her father screamed as he stormed into the kitchen. "Now look what you did. You made a mess all over the fucking floor. What's wrong with you?"
"I'm...I...I'm sorry, Daddy." Teresa stammered as she backed up to the kitchen counter. "It was an accident. It was my fault. I'll clean it up. I promise." she explained weakly. Her father stalked towards her and grabbed her arms and pinned her against the counter.
"Your'e sorry, huh? Your'e sorry. What's a 'sorry' going to do for that fucking mess?" He screamed in her face.
"Please. I'll clean it up. Just let go." She begged as she tried to wiggle free from his bruising grip. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and looked away, her eyes watering.
"What? What did you just say to me? Did you just tell me what to do?"
She whimpered
"Did you just tell me what to fucking do, bitch?" He was mere inches away from her face, trying to get her to look him in the eyes.
"I'm so so sorry." A breathy whisper escaped her lips, knowing the worst was yet to come.
"How about you just shut the hell up, just don't speak!" He jerked her around and slammed her face into the counter, blood spilling from her nose upon impact. She cried out and tried to move her hands from his grip.
"Please, please. I'm so sorry!" She cried, blood dripping down her throat and causing her to cough and choke.
He grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground, her head slamming into the stove as she fell. She looked up at him, watching his fists coming down onto her over and over again. She felt a sickening crack in her ribs and knew that he broke one. Tears streaming down her face, she thought of her mother. God, she missed her so much. She laid there, her body absorbing blow after blow until father finally was breathless.
"Clean this fucking mess up. Now." He roared as he opened the fridge and grabbed another beer and headed to his room.
"Yes, sir." Teresa whispered, gathering herself up off the floor and grabbing a towel from the counter and holding it on her face to stop the blood. She took the mop from the closet wiped up the water from the floor. She picked up the hotdogs and felt that they were still sort of warm. "These will have to work." She mumbled as she washed the dirt off of them at the sink and placed them on the bread that Jimmy had prepared. She put the four of them on a plate and creeped upstairs to her bedroom. She flicked her bedroom light on and headed to the bathroom and cleaned up the rest of her face. There was dark, angry bruises forming on her arms and face, she winced as she finished wiping the blood from her nose. She then lifted her shirt to examine her ribs. Suddenly she heard three sets of feet quietly climbing up the stairs and softly closing the door behind them.
"Hey, T...are you, are you okay?" Stan asked, not being able to look her in the eyes. Her other brothers stood behind him, looking just as terrified as the oldest did.
"I'm fine." She smiled but Stan still stood there, looking at the floor.
"Hey," she soothed and crouched down in front of him "none of this is your fault okay? Look at me, Stan."
He looked up at her, his eyes filling with tears. "But it was my fault. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble." He finally sobbed and furiously wiped the tears away from his eyes.
"It's okay, shh, it's okay." She soothed and wrapped her arms around him until he stopped shaking. She backed up and wiped the tears off his face with her thumbs. "All better?"
"Lisbon? Hey Lisbon?" She heard a familiar voice call, pulling her out of her thoughts. Her eyes watered slightly and she inhaled a shaky breath.
"What?" Lisbon questioned, looking to Jane who seemed to be concerned by the way she was acting. He continued to stare at her as her heart pounded in her chest. "What?" she asked again, swallowing thickly as she looked back to the road. Jane continued to stare at her, wondering what she was thinking about until Cho interjected from the back seat.
"You missed the road. It was back there. You drove past it." He stated as he gestured to the road that they just passed.
"Shit. I'm sorry." She slammed on the break and did a u-turn in the road.
Jane grabbed to the handle above his head and let out a breath. "Whoa Lisbon, we have plenty of time. We could've always taken a scenic drive." He tried to lighten the mood of the tense car.
"I don't think so Jane." Lisbon replied quietly. She felt his eyes burning into the side of her head.
"Do you have something to say?" She snapped, causing him to look down at his lap quickly and fidget with his hands.
"No, no, nothing at all."
The car fell into a heavy silence until they reached the driveway to the crime scene.
They walked up to the one of the local cops who was standing in the door way.
"Alright Tell me what you got." Lisbon said, she seemed to be collected after the rest of their silent ride.
"Murder suicide, looks like the dad was drinking. Maybe got a little too drunk, got pissed off and accidentally killed his daughter. Maybe he realized what he did and shot himself. It's pretty bad in there." The officer explained as they walked down the hallway to the scene in the living room. "So I hear you guys are just here to collect the evidence and confirm our suspicions. That's great because our office is so deep in coke and meth right now that I don't think we're ever gonna get out. So here it is. If you need anything, give us a call. Thank you so much. We appreciate it." Lisbon nodded at the officer as he tuned to leave them at the crime scene.
Lisbon drew in a shaky breath as she prepared to walk through the entrance. A teenage girl's body was laying face down on the floor. Purple bruises were covering her arms. Across the room was what everybody could assume to be a middle aged man, with his head barely intact. She took in the scene, her stomach twisting and churning. Pushing her emotion down she started barking out orders.
"Cho, you get statements from the neighbors. See what they heard. I'll start bagging evidence."
Jane noticed how her face paled when she walked through the door, a hand resting on her stomach. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Lisbon squatted down next to the girl. There was no apparent gunshot wound and it looked as if she was beaten to death. Upon further inspection, she noticed that the girl's pants were unbuttoned and looked as if they had been removed before her death and then put back on after as if that would somehow save her some dignity.
Teresa let out a strangled whimper and stood up. She felt the contents of her stomach churn even more violently than before and gagged as her hand flew up to her mouth. She swallowed and took a few breaths to calm herself down as Jane approached her from the other side of the room from where he had been watching her. Her eyes burned and she could feel her heart racing in her chest.
"Hey. Teresa. Look at me. Hey look at me. Are you alright?" Jane asked as his hand reached out to touch the small of her back. She avoided his touch and rushed past him.
"I need a minute. Jane please. Just give me a minute." She pleaded, her voice sounding watery and cracking as she spoke. Jane watched, dumbfounded as she ran out the door into the back yard. That's never happened before.
Alright, so that't the end of that one. I hoped you enjoyed it (is that an okay thing to say for topics that are this dark?). Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. I get very excited when I get the notification that someone has read and reviewed my story by the way. Bye for now. :)
