Following The Painting
Summary: The search for a stolen painting takes Peter and Neal to a small Virginia town and lands Neal in trouble when he decides to break the law in order to locate the painting. WARNING: Contains the spanking of an adult male.
NOTE: Set somewhere before the season two finale.
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Peter and Neal were in Peter's car, and had been for the past seven hours. They were investigating the theft of a Picasso painting, worth over half a million dollars. The painting had been stolen two days before from a museum. The forensics team had found a fingerprint on the frame the painting had been stolen from, it belonged to a man named William Tobin.
Tobin lived in a small town in Virginia called Millersville, and according to his credit card records he was in Millersville right before Peter and Neal left New York.
Neal stared out the window, watching the corn and wheat fields whiz by. He was extremely bored and not in a good mood. Seven hours of listening to ballgames on the radio tended to do that to him. Every time he would switch the radio channel, Peter would switch it back and threaten to make him ride in the back seat.
"Come on Peter." He moaned as yet another football game started to be broadcasted. "Not another one."
"Will you stop complaining?" Peter asked, annoyance evident in his voice. He had spent the last seven hours listening to the younger man whine about how bored he was and he was getting tired of it.
"Will you let me pick a radio station?"
"No."
"Then no I will not stop complaining. A human can only listen to so many games before he goes completely insane."
"My car, I choose what we listen to."
"That's not fair."
"Yes it is."
"No it isn't, I'm bored."
"Next store we come to I'll buy you a coloring book." Peter smirked.
"Not funny." Neal said, very close to pouting. "How much further is Millersville?"
"About an hour."
"Another hour?" This time Neal did start pouting.
The last hour was spent in almost complete silence, except for the ball game on the radio.
"Finally." Neal sighed in relief when he saw the sign welcoming them to Millersville. "Population three hundred and fifty." He shook his head. "What would make a person want to live in such a small town?"
"Peace and quite." Peter answered. "A community that looks out for their own. Low crime rate. The list goes on and on."
"This coming from a New Yorker."
"My grandparents, my Mom's parents, lived in a town smaller then this. I spent a lot of summers there."
"What did you do?"
"Fish, hike, take a girl to the Dairy Queen."
Peter parked his car in front of a small police station.
"I'm going in to talk to the Sheriff, go and see what you can find out. If you get any information, come let me know. Do not go off alone and follow the lead."
The two men exited the car and headed in separate directions.
Peter walked into the station and saw three young deputies, all in their twenties and early thirties. And an older man, around fifty and wearing a Sheriff's uniform, was also there.
"Can I help you Sir?" One of the younger men asked.
"Agent Peter Burke, FBI." Peter showed his badge. Then he looked at the Sheriff. "May I have a word with you?"
"Of course." The man held out his hand. "Sheriff Randy Hoist."
Peter shook his hand.
"These are my deputies. Tony Gwen, Rick Carson, and David Jackson. Now, what can we do for the FBI?"
"A Picasso painting was stolen in New York." Peter said. "It is worth a little over half a million dollars."
"For a painting?" Rick asked.
"Picasso was a genius." David said. "Some of his paintings are worth a lot more."
"What does a stolen painting have to do with us?" The Sheriff asked.
"Forensics found a fingerprint belonging to William Tobin." Peter said. "He is a resident of Millersville."
"We know Tobin." Randy said, shaking his head sadly. "His parents were good people, tried to teach him right from wrong. But the lesson didn't stick; Tobin's been in trouble since he was a boy. Started out with petty stuff like stealing and gambling. But it escalated quickly to more violent things. Last month, he nearly broke Tony's jaw when he tried to break up a bar fight between him and another man."
"I have a warrant for his arrest." Peter said. "I would appreciate it if you gave me his address, we couldn't find one on file."
"Tobin lives deep in the woods." Randy said. "You'll never make it before it gets dark. Why don't you spend the night in town, and I'll get my deputies and Charlie to show you to his cabin in the morning. You'll never find it without Charlie."
"Thank you, that sounds like a great idea."
"You here alone?"
"No, my consultant Neal Caffrey is checking around town."
"My men and me are available for what ever assistance you may need."
"Thank you. Is there a hotel close by?"
"Miss Bell's boarding house is down the street." Randy said. "It's not fancy, but it's clean and comfortable."
"What can you tell me about Tobin?"
"He's got a real mean streak in him." Randy said. Then he sighed and said. "Guess you have the right to know, him and my daughter dated a few times."
"Are they still dating?"
"No, she broke it off about four years ago." Then he laughed and added, "After she beat the snot out of him and turned him over to the police. They were out for a ride over in Nettleton, about three hours from here. He parked the car and told her he would be right out, then he went in and robbed the place. He came running out to the car with a gun and bag of cash and my daughter took the gun away from him, dragged him out of the car, beat him up, dragged him into the store and made him apologize to the elderly lady behind the counter, then told him to sit down and shut up until the police arrived."
Peter laughed and asked, "Did you make her a deputy after that?"
"No." Randy smiled proudly. "My baby girl is a park ranger, knows these woods like the back of her hand."
"I'm guessing your daughter id Charlie."
"That's right."
"Not meaning any disrespect." Peter said. "But is it wise to send Tobin's ex-girlfriend to help find him?"
"You don't have to worry about Charlie, she won't stand in the way of you capturing Tobin. They still talk some, but there's nothing between them."
"Do you think he's capable of pulling off a heist at a highly guarded museum?"
"Yeah, he's pretty smart."
Peter thanked him for his time and his cooperation, then he left the sheriff's office in search of his partner.
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"The Sheriff's daughter, really?" Neal asked the middle aged woman sitting on the bench beside him.
"She sure did date him." The woman said. "Still talks to him from time to time. In fact, the other day they stood outside the Dollar General store for over half an hour talking." She shook her head in distaste. "Disgraceful if you ask me."
"Do you know where I could find Charlotte?" Neal asked, flashing his best smile.
"She lives near the woods, but she's probably in her office now."
"Her office?"
"She's a park ranger, but she has an office in town."
Neal thanked the woman, and then headed for the ranger's office. It was easy to find. He walked in and saw a woman in her late twenties sitting at a desk, typing on her computer.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"I sure hope so." Neal smiled. He thought she was real pretty. Her red hair was cut short and her green eyes sparkled. She was wearing a white tee-shirt and blue jeans, and a Stetson hat lay on the desk.
"I am looking for a man named William Tobin, he's an old friend of mine." Neal said.
"You've came to the wrong place, I don't know where he is." She said, starting to type again.
"Come on, please." Neal leaned over the desk and gave his most charming smile. "It's very important I talk to him."
"If it's that important you talk to Will, then it has to be about something illegal." She said, looking up and glaring at Neal. "Since that's the case, then you are on your own. Now scram, I have work to do." Then she went back to typing.
Neal blinked in surprise, he hated it when his charm didn't work. Then he came up with a plan.
"Thank you for your time." He smiled, then left.
Since Charlotte Hoist was busy in her office, Neal would check her house. He figured Tobin was hiding out there. He knew Peter told him not to follow leads by himself, but Neal wanted to end this case so he could go home. He'd be back before Peter knew he left town.
It only took him fifteen minutes to drive to Charlotte's house, he parked Peter's car a little ways down the road and jogged the rest of the way. The house was a small one story white house with a wrap around pouch. Right behind the property line was were the woods started.
Neal quickly picked the lock on the front door and went inside silently. He quickly discovered that Tobin wasn't there, so he began his search for the painting. He was trying to hurry up and get out before anyone caught him, especially Peter. Neal knew Peter would not approve of his method of locating the painting, and that the older man would make that disapproval known to the seat of his pants.
Finding nothing, he went out the back door and saw a barn in the back yard. Along with a large fence that held three horses. Neal walked out to the barn and went in, then started searching.
A few minutes later, he heard a noise behind him and turned to see the young woman standing there.
"Charlotte." Neal smiled, his mind working on a plan.
"Call me Charlotte again and I will shoot you after I beat you up. The name's Charlie."
"Charlie, that is a bea…"
"Can the horse manure, what are you doing in here?"
"Looking for Tobin, I told you it was urgent I speak to him."
"He ain't here."
"I know that now, so I will just be on my way." He tried to walk past her, but she grabbed his arm and spun him around. Then her fist connected to his jaw and sent him to the floor.
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Please let me know what you think, I will have the next one up as soon as I can.
