Summary: Now caught in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the man with the ring, Nora's mysterious past catches up as she makes a play for the thing that will set Kyle free: the music box. With old friends - and old enemies - Peter and Nora's trust is put to the test. Part Two of the Handcuffs and High Heels series. Genderbent Neal AU, episodes 8-14.

Author's Note: Welcome back! As promised, the continuation of Handcuffs and High Heels, kicking off with Hard Sell, and going through to Out of the Box. Thanks so much for sticking around for part two! Hope you guys enjoy!

-Selkie

Chapter One

Business as Usual

The room was dim, and it was just the two of them. Just Nora and the man with the ring. He was obscured in shadows. Nora trembled. "What do you want from me? Let Kyle go, and you can have it."

The man was silent. "Please," she begged. "Whatever it is, if I have it, it's yours. Just let him come home." He just stared, his silhouette cocking its head to the side, as if bored. "Answer me, you coward!" she growled.

He started to walk forward, each step bringing him closer to the light. Slowly. Agonizingly. Click. Click. Click. Nora's heart pounded furiously in her chest. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. After an eternity, he stepped into the light. The man with the ring was-

Nora woke in a cold sweat, bolting upright and gasping for air. Ever since running in on Mentor, that nightmare – or some variation of it – haunted her night after night. Her conversation with Fowler had shaken her down to her core.

Fowler had implied that Peter was the man with the ring. But, there was no way. Peter was as straight laced and by the book as they came. There was no way he would hold someone hostage, then proceed to pretend to be her friend while secretly tormenting her for months.

No, I didn't bug your phone, Nora.

She shook the thoughts away. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't stop herself from eyeing her 'partner' with suspicion. Every day at work was torture, not knowing if every word out of his mouth was a lie or not…

She couldn't help but laugh. He probably wonders the exact same thing about me. What a pair they made.

With some difficulty, Nora managed to fall back into an uneasy sleep.

It had become something of a habit for Mozzie to come over day after day. They'd taken to playing chess. Mozzie tended to get philosophical when he played chess, and while it got on her nerves from time to time, she humored him.

"If only there were someway to compare this to your life," he mused as he moved his pieces.

"I get it, Moz," she sighed. "I'm a pawn." She studied the board, deciding on her next move. "Your analogy lacks creative thinking."

"You're upset because it's accurate. See," he said, tapping her queen, "Kyle has reign over the entire board, while your movements are more... restricted."

She slumped back in her seat. "Fowler has to be lying about Peter. There's no way he has Kyle."

Mozzie looked at her as if she was a naive child. "Nora, everyone has a price. And Peter's been in the perfect position to control everything. I hate to give the suit credit, but he's smart."

"I know him," she protested, voice soft. "There's no way he could do it."

"If you're so sure, then prove it." He took Nora's king. "You find the ring, you find the king."

"See if he has it," she summarized.

He nodded. "I'm the bishop, if you were wondering."

"I wasn't," she said flatly.

"Oh." A glance at his somewhat dejected expression put a small smile back on her face.

Peter couldn't help but feel the familiar swell of excitement as he went over their new case. It was a big one. He walked with Agent Landry while they discussed the case. Landry had misgivings, which Peter had been working all morning to quell.

"You trust her?" he asked flatly.

Peter chucked. That was a loaded question. "Look, she's the one you want for this."

Landry made a face. "Well, you didn't answer my question."

Peter paused, watching as Nora strolled up to them, cheerful and chipper as always. "Morning, Peter," she said brightly before turning to take a look at their guest.

"Agent Landry," Peter introduced as the two shook hands, "meet Nora Caffrey."

"Conwoman turned FBI consultant," Landry mused.

As expected, Nora grinned. "My reputation precedes me."

"Well, you're hard to miss," Landry joked, pulling a newspaper out from under his arm and unfolding it. Nora's less than flattering mugshot adorned the front. "You took a swan dive out of a judge's chamber into a bakery awning." He held it up for her to see, as if she needed to be reminded.

She sighed. "I really don't like that picture," she huffed. "But, they do have the greatest cake in town." Peter looked at her in exasperation. "What's up?"

"Agent Landry is here from the Dallas field office," Peter explained. "He's following a boiler room case."

"Actually," Landry cut in, "I'm still catching Burke up on the details." He looked at Nora pointedly, and she just nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Nora glanced back and forth between them for a moment before she took the hint. "Oh, yeah." She backed away, and moved to chat with another agent at his desk.

"You think Caffrey's the right person for this job?" Landry asked once she was out of earshot.

"Oh, yeah," he assured him, not even pausing to consider it.

"She's a criminal."

"So are the guys in the boiler room," Peter reminded him. "Look, I busted her for bond forgery."

"I know the story," Landry huffed. "Then the girl breaks out of prison."

"Three months left on a four-year sentence."

"Then she's an air-head."

"No," Peter laughed. "No. It was for a guy." They watched for a moment as Nora chatted with the other agent, laughing and flipping her hair while he told what Peter guessed was some stupid joke.

"Well, it looks like she could have her pick."

"Yeah, well, there's something special about Kyle." Nora moved to another agent's desk and began chatting with her, a young probie named Lisa. "Point is, he's no longer an issue."

Landry studied Nora for a moment, eyes moving down toward her feet. Her anklet barely peeked out under the leg of her light gray pants. "You got a tracking anklet on her? How's that work?"

"We can pull a map on her movements at any time. If she's working, or with me, we don't worry about it. When she's off the clock, she's on a two-mile radius. She goes outside that, we get an alert."

Landry sighed, still not sold. "Look," Peter huffed, "you need somebody who can sweet-talk their way into a high-pressure sales environment." He pointed toward Nora. "She's your girl."

They watched as Nora excused herself from Lisa and started back toward them. She was studying some slips of paper Lisa had given her. "I got some Ranger's tickets," she explained. "Box seats." Peter smirked at Landry, who looked bemused. "Sports aren't really my thing. You guys interested?"

Landry sighed. "Okay."

Nora tucked the tickets into his breast pocket, patting them lightly. "Boop!"

Peter gathered the team in the conference room. "This is a boiler room scam," Peter began. "We've got an office full of junior Gordon Geckos selling bad stock. It's a classic pump and dump. Guy in charge buys half a million shares of dollar stocks. Gets his boys to inflate the price by selling it over the phone. Then dumps his stock when it peaks, leaving our buyers holding worthless shares." He moved aside, letting Landry take the floor, coming to stand behind Nora.

"People are losing their homes over this," Landry added. He looked pointedly at Nora. "Guy last month got taken for $50,000. He's got three kids, and no roof to put over their heads now."

"The average victim of this scam looses nearly thirty grand," Peter continued. "So we need to shut this room down."

"Room's mobile?" Nora asked.

"They've run this four times now," Landry explained. "Every time they dump the stock, they pick up and move to another location."

Nora glanced over the file. "Who's the guy in charge?" she asked, not seeing anything about it in the information they'd compiled.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Landry said.

"Landry's got somebody on the inside," Peter continued, going back around the table to stand with Landry, "a female informant."

"Female," Nora noted, impressed. "How'd she work her way into the boy's club?"

Landry sighed. "She hasn't."

"That's why we're sending in someone who we think can." Peter started walking toward her, not looking up from his file. "Someone who can hustle with the best of them" He snapped the file closed and tossed it in front of her.

Everyone started staring at her expectantly. "I guess we won't be drawing straws."