Madeleine Hightower sat and sipped a beer. The flights to Indonesia had been a long ordeal consisting of three layovers. The drive to the beachside village of Kuta had been relatively blissful. Still, she had not wanted to travel nearly around the world but here she was. There was no way she was traveling so far and coming back empty-handed. She was not risking being away from her family again to fail at the new mission. Red John was finally confirmed to be dead and she was proud of Jane for carrying out the deed. For once, the future seemed brighter and it was alright to have a little hope..
Erica Flynn walked into the bar and waved down the bartender to order. She was wearing a beautiful dress which probably cost more than Hightower’s whole wardrobe. Erica’s designer sunglasses hid her eyes but Hightower knew that the woman would be casing the whole bar. She had read Flynn’s file back in the CBI days, she knew how calculating the woman was.
Erica walked by her table and stopped short. “Agent Hightower, is that you?” she asked. “What a surprise! It’s been a long time.”
Hightower rolled her eyes. “You damn well knew I was here as soon as my plane touched down,” she said. “You’ve got eyes everywhere. I know how you behave.”
Erica smiled and dropped the pretense. “I knew before you touched down,” she said. “I still have friends back home.”
“I’m sure you do,” Hightower said. “Eyes and ears everywhere you can get them. You like to be in control of the narrative.”
“I’m not sure if that’s an accurate assessment or not,” Erica said with a sly smile. “I hear that I’m hard to pin down. Harder to catch.”
Hightower rolled her eyes again. “Obviously,” she said. “You escaped prison even with Patrick Jane watching you. Would you sit down already?”
Erica shrugged and seemed to consider it. “I’m not sure whether or not it’s worth my time to sit down,” Erica said.
“But it was worth it to swing by and taunt me,” Hightower said.
“Taunt you?” Erica asked with a tiny laugh. “You make me sound cruel. It’s not my fault that we’re well out of your jurisdiction and that we’re presently in a country that lacks an extradition treaty with the United States.”
It was Hightower’s turn to smirk. “Oh, your eyes and ears didn’t tell you?” she asked. “The CBI has been dissolved. I turned in my badge well before that. I’m no longer in law enforcement.”
A momentary frown appeared on Erica’s face but she was soon smiling again even though some of the genuine amusement had disappeared. “I hadn’t heard that,” Erica said. “I’ll admit that much. You’ve given me a genuine surprise. That’s rare. It makes me more intrigued to know what you’re doing here.”
“Well, now that I’m not official, I could haul you back to the US for fun or money,” Hightower said. “Lock you in a trunk and pay somebody off to smuggle you back home and deliver you back to the prison system.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Erica said. “I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.”
“I have to say it’s tempting,” Hightower said. “To see the look on your haughty face when I close the lid on you. To see you back in chains.”
Erica stayed silent and kept her face pleasantly neutral.
“But you’re right, that’s not why I’m here,” Hightower said. “I’m here to offer you a job.”
Erica laughed. “Me? A job?” She asked. “I can’t imagine what you could offer that would be anything more than amusing.”
“It’s not an offer from me,” Hightower said. “If I had my way, I would have let you drift out here and con your way into getting rich as you play with people like puppets. This offer comes from Walter Mashburn.”
Erica’s eyes widened slightly, showing that she recognized the name. It also seemed to spark a little bit of desire. “Walter Mashburn?” she asked. “Now you have my attention.”
Hightower nodded. “I thought so,” she said. “Mashburn is putting together an extra-legal task force to help hunt down the remnants of the Blake Association. Red John was their leader and founder but he’s dead now but the Association is still out there.”
“Red John?” Erica asked. “Will Patrick Jane and his team be there?” She got really excited when saying Jane’s name.
“No,” Hightower said. “Patrick Jane is in the wind and the rest of the team has been scattered. Mashburn has selected decidedly less conventional team members. He even managed to deprogram and recruit Kristina Frye.” She would be lying if she said she did not enjoy seeing the disappointment in Erica’s eyes.
“I’m not sure why I would be interested then,” Erica said. “Let’s be honest.”
“The thrill of the chase?” Hightower asked. “The challenge? It must be somewhat boring out here.”
“There are things to do wherever I am,” Erica said. “But I must admit the idea is somewhat interesting.”
“Then you’ll do it?” Hightower asked.
“I’m not traveling back into the country in a trunk,” Erica asserted.
“We can negotiate that,” Hightower said with a smirk.
Tags: A to Z Blogging Challenge, A to Z Challenge, Fanfiction, Fiction, Red Rover, The Mentalist
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