Title: Catch Me If You Can
Prompt: #23 Gold
Author: TeeJay
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Neal Caffrey, mentions of Peter Burke
Word count: 300
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Neal had gotten close to being caught. Too close. Pre-series triple-drabble for the LiveJournal whitecollar100 community prompt #23 "Gold".
Beta: Thanks go out to fredo2706 for beta'ing this one, even though she doesn't have the slightest clue as to what Neal and Peter are about. :o)
Damn, it had gotten cold overnight!
Neal drew the collar of his coat up, wishing he'd taken a scarf. He wasn't a scarf person, but there was definitely merit to wearing one in this weather. Golden street lights from overhead made the thin layer of white frost on the sidewalk shimmer like thousands of tiny sparkling diamonds. It was beautiful, but Neal didn't have eyes for it—not today.
He'd gotten close to getting caught today. Too close. He chided himself for the foolish mistake he'd made. A successful conman needed to stick to principles: Never use a credit card twice. A momentary lapse of concentration, one he was not prone to making. In fact, he'd never made it until now. But with all these aliases, it was getting harder to keep track.
He had caught a glimpse of Peter Burke earlier, at Union Square, busy with pedestrian traffic. The crowd had made it easy enough to evade the FBI agents. Burke was definitely on his trail, and Neal couldn't help but admire the man's tenacity. Three years, and he was still as close on his heels as ever.
Even at night, the New York streets were bustling. Someone bumped into his shoulder, and Neal instinctively felt for his wallet. He knew all the tricks, perfected them to the letter. Not that he was carrying anything of value in his wallet anyway. It was hard to con a conman.
Neal ducked inside the tacky stationery shop and started picking through the birthday cards. Peter's was coming up, and Neal didn't want to break with tradition.
He knew what his message to Peter would be this year: "A person doesn't change just because you find out more. I'm still free and you're still a step behind. Catch me if you can."