Chapter 87: His Face Was Swollen
It was Chuck who emerged from the darkness.
Facing Patrick Jane charging at him with curses, Chuck shoved him to the ground with his hand.
"You bastard! You've gone too far! How could you pull such a stunt! How could you do something like this..."
Patrick Jane was pinned to the ground, struggling while tears continued streaming down his face.
Even though he'd figured out this was all Chuck's doing, the real and terrible fear still gripped his heart and made him unable to control his tears.
"What are you crying about?"
Chuck didn't answer him. A beautiful young woman with curly hair in pajamas walked in from outside and scolded.
"Angela."
Patrick Jane finally felt relief when he saw his wife. He confirmed that Chuck had been playing him. He was shocked and furious: "Let me go!"
Chuck released him.
Patrick Jane scrambled to his feet, rushed to his wife, and embraced her tightly. The feeling of getting back what he'd lost was overwhelming. He was filled with rage at Chuck for playing such a cruel trick on him. He held his wife in his arms and glared at Chuck, "You crossed the line!"
A resounding slap echoed through the bedroom.
Patrick Jane clutched his left cheek, staring in disbelief at his wife Angela, who was shaking her hand from the force.
"Chuck didn't do this; I asked him to."
Angela flexed her fingers, looking at her husband coldly. "Do you really think Chuck would go to such lengths just to mess with you? Who do you think you are? And do you really think this was just a prank?"
At this point, her icy composure cracked, and she began sobbing.
It had almost happened—she and her daughter Charlotte had almost fallen into the hands of a psychopathic killer. Seeing that man's gaze, as if he were looking at toys, she had been filled with terror and despair.
Fortunately, Chuck had appeared out of nowhere and subdued the psychopath.
Then she realized that all of this had been caused by her husband's reckless mockery of the serial killer who terrorized California on television.
At that moment, she had hated her husband intensely.
"Is this true?"
After being slapped hard, Patrick Jane's natural ability to read people returned. He realized with horror that Chuck wouldn't go to such extremes just for a joke. Ignoring the burning pain on his face, he grabbed his wife's arms and asked in terror, "Is Charlotte okay?"
"Now you're thinking of her," Angela glared at her husband. "You always claim to be the smartest person alive, but when you were mocking and provoking such a terrifying serial killer on TV, how could you not think of us? You knew his primary targets were women and children. Where was your intelligence then?"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Patrick Jane said, mortified, raising his hand to slap himself.
Only then did he realize the complete stupidity of his actions.
But his hand, about to strike his own face, was caught. His wife Angela grabbed his wrist, saying coldly, "Don't bother hitting yourself! I'll do it! This first slap was for your brilliant mind!"
Smack!
Angela, enduring the pain in her hand, slapped him again, "This second slap is for Charlotte!"
"Good, that's good!" Patrick received another slap on his right cheek but didn't complain. He nodded approvingly, tears mixed with relieved laughter. He took his wife's hand in both of his, looking with concern at her fingers, which were trembling slightly from the impact. "Is Charlotte really okay?"
"Chuck arrived just in time. Charlotte's still fast asleep, completely unaware of what happened."
Angela looked at Chuck with immense gratitude.
She couldn't imagine the trauma that would have scarred her daughter if she had been awakened. Even if Chuck had rescued her, the psychological wounds that would have remained in her young mind.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
Patrick Jane was overwhelmed with gratitude toward Chuck. Thinking of his own harsh words to Chuck, he raised his hand to slap himself again.
You only realize how precious something is when you lose it.
And the near-realistic simulation had just given him an almost completely authentic experience of loss.
Angela reached out and stopped him again, then delivered a sharp backhand: "This third slap is for Patrick Jane himself!"
Patrick Jane held his wife's aching hand, a blissful smile on his swollen face.
After all, they were a couple in love. After those three slaps, the pent-up rage was released. Angela's hand was held and gently massaged by her husband. The tears she had been holding back finally burst forth. With her other hand, she touched her husband's swollen face and wept, "I'm not doing this to hurt you now, but to save your future self. If it hadn't been for Chuck, your wife and daughter would have been brutally murdered, leaving you all alone. How much pain and despair would you have felt then?"
Patrick Jane was intelligent enough to imagine it. He held his wife's trembling hand, brought it to his lips, and gently blew on it. His face, now swollen, broke into the most radiant smile. "Well deserved!"
"Charlotte is sleeping in the guest room. Go check on her."
Angela knew her husband was still worried about their daughter, so she nudged him and said, "I'll clean up this mess."
Patrick Jane, granted permission, hurried out joyfully.
After what he had just experienced, it felt like he hadn't seen his precious daughter in a lifetime. He couldn't wait.
"Don't wake her up! You're still an idiot!" Angela couldn't help but call out.
"I know," Patrick Jane agreed and left.
Downstairs in the living room,
Patrick Jane finished checking on his sleeping daughter and walked over to Chuck, who was sitting there. "Where's Red John?"
"He was taken away and flown directly to FBI headquarters in Quantico," Chuck said.
"So quickly?"
Patrick Jane was surprised, then understood. "Are you worried that keeping him here wouldn't be secure enough to handle retaliation from his associates?"
Chuck looked at the mentalist, whose IQ had returned to normal, and nodded. "Ignorance and weakness are never barriers to survival; arrogance is."
"..."
Patrick Jane, previously both ignorant and arrogant, was speechless. After a moment of silence, he said, "Thank you for arriving in time."
"I wasn't in time," Chuck said calmly. "I waited for him for three hours, forty-seven minutes, and fifty-eight seconds."
"What?"
Patrick Jane's expression darkened. "You knew he was coming, and you didn't warn me beforehand? Are you gambling with my family's lives?"
Chuck stared at him, saying nothing.
Patrick Jane, watching Chuck's expression, understood what he meant and slapped himself with his backhand.
Without Angela around, no one would coddle him.
The slap was forceful, making him wince.
Three hours, forty-seven minutes, and fifty-eight seconds had passed since his television appearance. Chuck couldn't have predicted he would mock and provoke Red John on the show.
(End of Chapter)
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