*A/N: Just doing some grammar editing.
Chapter 1
Maureen Caffrey walked tiredly into her Seattle apartment and threw her bag on the couch. It had been a long week in D.C. and all she wanted to do was sleep. But before Maureen got even close to her room there was a knock on her door.
She groaned and moved back towards it. When it swung open Maureen had to suppress another groan when she saw her neighbor, Ned, standing there. Ned was one of those neighbors that was always into everyone's business, and he looked like the creep from Ghostbusters. "Hi, Ned." Maureen said exasperated.
"Hi, Maureen. I noticed that you had just gotten back, so I took the liberty of getting your mail for you..." Ned rambled on and on, but Maureen had zoned out.
She only snapping out of it when he stopped talking. She swiftly took the small stack of envelopes from Ned's hand. "Thanks Ned." Maureen said quickly, closing the door before he could say anything else. She shook her head and thought about how creepy Ned was as she went through her mail. It was mostly junk, with the exception of a postcard from New York.
Smiling Maureen flipped it over and saw just one word written, "Marco." That one word made Maureen smile even wider. She then rushed into her room and started packing. It had been years since she'd last seen her brother and he should be out of prison by now.
It only took a few phone calls on the way to the airport to find her brother and talk to the buyer of her recently acquired necklace. On the plane ride to New York Maureen got her much needed sleep. It was about noon by the time she hailed a cab at the JFK airport.
Maureen had about an hour before she needed to meet her client, so she decided to scope out the meeting place. She isn't a very trusting person, so Maureen had to make sure that no surprises were waiting for her.
The small park was a perfect place. There were few trees and many people, nowhere to hide and enough people for her to escape in to a crowd. After making sure no unwanted guests were around Maureen pulled out a magazine.
On the cover it depicted a beautiful Faberge egg. Quickly flipping through to the article Maureen read. When she had finished she already had a plan on how to get it. Her employer would be extremely pleased. "Excuse me." A voice toned, interrupting her thoughts.
Maureen put on a fake smile and wiped her long, black hair out of her ice green eyes. "How can I help you?" she asked the very jumpy man in front of her.
He was about medium height, had blond hair, and very nervous brown eyes. The man matched the picture Maureen had of her buyer, but we was extremely nervous, which put Maureen on edge. "Are you Raven?" The man asked turning to look over his shoulder.
Maureen looked over discreetly and saw what was clearly a van used for surveillance. 'Shit, F.B.I.' she thought.
And Maureen was right; inside the van four agents were watching and listening to the conversation taking place. One of these agents was Peter Burke. Burke was mentally cursing himself for the informant being so obvious.
Sitting on the park bench totally aware that her client was wired Maureen sighed inaudibly. She wasn't getting paid today. "Nope, sorry, I'm Beth. What's your name, sweetie?" Maureen lied, her fake smile still in place.
The man seemed surprised by her response, but quickly recovered. With a smile he replied, "Snow, Roger Snow. What's a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?"
'Wow, this guy really was an idiot.' Maureen thought viciously. She hated being scammed out of a pay day, especially by a moron. The people in the van were thinking about how much of an idiot Roger was too, and they wanted him to move on to another prospective mark across the park.
"I'm actually waiting for a friend, but it looks like he is a no show. Oh well, it was nice talking to you Roger." Maureen said, while standing up. She wanted to get out of here as fast as she could. She snatched her bag and made to leave, but Roger stopped her by grabbing her wrist.
"Hey Beth, can I have your number?" He asked. This caused a collective groan to go through everyone in the van. This guy really was an idiot.
Maureen gave a tight lipped smile, "Sure you got a pen?" after quickly writing down an obliviously fake number on her magazine, handed it to him, and left.
Roger and the F.B.I spent another 2 hours at the park, before Burke finally called it quits. "Raven is a no show guys. Let's call it a day, Roger get back here." Peter ordered.
Roger had a dreamy expression on his face as he climbed into the van. "Did you see her, guys?" He asked in an equally dreamy voice.
"See who, Snow?" Jones asked. "You talked to about 20 women today."
"Beth, of course, I can't wait to call her." Roger exclaimed pulling out the magazine.
Burke saw the cover, where 'Beth' had written her number. "Ummm, Roger, I don't think you'll reach her. "
"Why not?" Roger asked, deflating a lot.
"Because I don't think her number is 123-4567." Burke answered.
Roger looked down at the number, crestfallen to see that Burke was right. But before he could mope for too long his phone rang. The agents perceiving who the call was from started tracing it. With a nod from Burke, Roger answered. "Hello?" He asked shakily.
"Tisk, tisk, Roger" Maureen replied from a pay phone across town. "It was very naughty of you to bring the F.B.I to our little get together. I'm hurt." The agents sent worried looks to each other, but didn't speak as Maureen continued. "Unfortunately for you Roger I don't give second chances. I'll just have to sell my treasure somewhere else; we are officially through with any and all interactions. I hope your F.B.I agents have a lock on my position, because it's time to say good-bye. And next time, tell them to check the surrounding buildings for cameras, they were very easy to spot."
Burke rolled his hand to signal Roger to keep talking, that they needed more time. "Raven, listen…" He began, but was cut off by Maureen saying, "Byeeeeee," in a sing song voice.
"Damn it!" Burke exclaimed taking off his head phones. The trace only told them that the caller was on the east side of town.
Meanwhile Maureen was getting a cab and heading towards the nearest hotel. She would go to see Neal tomorrow.
Chapter 2
"I'm not kidding Neal. This Raven is good; I mean really good, maybe even better than you good." An exhausted Burke informed Neal Caffrey.
"Well then it'll only take you at least another 3 years to catch her." Neal replied looking at the case file. "Hmmm, she goes after some pricey stuff. That necklace alone is worth $30 million. I mean of all the diamonds in the Smithsonian this girl had to go for the Victoria-Transvaal Diamond."
"I know if we don't find it soon we're screwed." Burke replied, plopping into a nearby chair. "Governments don't take it too lightly when their 112.89 carat diamond necklace is stolen."
"What's going to happen to Snow? That guy is not prison material." Neal asked as Jones walked into the room.
"We just got a call. Apparently Snow was just found in the park where the meeting was supposed to happen. He has some minor scratches and the word "nark" written all over him. He was drugged and doesn't remember a thing, so there is no way to found out who it was." Jones reported, handing a photo to Peter.
He gave a slight smile and passed it over to Neal. "Remind me never to piss her off."
Neal had to agree with him. On Snow's forehead was the word "NARK" in big, bold, black letters. His face also had nark written across his nose, cheeks, ears, neck, and that was all Neal could see from the close up picture. He counted at least 30 narks in those areas alone; he couldn't even imagine how many others there were. The handwriting also looked vaguely familiar, but Neal couldn't place where from.
"That's not all." Jones said pulling out another photo. It was almost exactly the same as the first, except that Snow's face was empty of all narks, but one.
"She tattooed it on his forehead?" Peter asked in total shock.
"Yep, never piss this one off." Neal said while leaning back in his chair.
"The others were Sharpie® marker and came off with some scrubbing, but that one is tattooed on with ink." Jones explained taking a seat. "So what now, boss? Raven could have sold the necklace or left the country by now."
Peter got up and moved over to the window. "No she wouldn't have left, not yet. She came to New York for a reason. The necklace could have easily been shipped and the money transferred. It would have been much neater than this. " He started pacing back and forth as Neal and Jones watched him think. "Raven came here for a reason, but what? Visit friends or family, everyone has someone. Research a new mark, or meet a new client? Steal something else, but if so what?" Peter rambled, failing to notice Neal trying to get his attention.
"Peter!" Neal finally yelled, gaining Peter's attention at last. Smiling Neal held up the magazine he had been flipping through carelessly earlier. "I think I know what she's after." He said pointing to the jeweled egg on the cover. Burke stopped pacing and smirked victoriously.
Maureen stood outside an expensive looking building on Park Avenue. Of course leave it to Neal to get out of prison and immediately get a place like this. She walked up to the door and rang the bell. A few moments later a tall woman opened the door, carrying a dog. "Hello. How can I help you?"
Maureen was stunned a moment, but quickly put on a blank face. She had been expecting Neal or even Kate to answer. "I'm sorry, I think I must have the wrong address. There isn't anyone here named Neal Caffrey is there?" Maureen asked apologetically.
The woman smiled, "There is, you just missed him actually. He left with agent Burke about half an hour ago. I'm June, this is my home, but Neal lives in the apartment upstairs, would you like to come in?"
Maureen smiled, this lady was very smart and friendly she could see why Neal lived here. "No, that's fine. Thank you though. Who is agent Burke?"
"Oh, he is Neal's F.B.I partner. Are you sure you don't want to come in, it's quite cold out and it would be a much better place to wait for Neal to return."
"Thank you, but I really have to go, my plane leaves soon and I just wanted to say hi before I left. I'm sorry for the trouble." Maureen replied, backing away slowly.
June stared at the girl concerned. She had seen the varying range of emotions on her face when she mentioned Neal working with the F.B.I. Anger, hurt, betrayal, sadness, and many more, before the mask was back. "Are you alright dear?"
Maureen smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you again for your time." Then she was off down the street. June watched her go and made a mental note to talk to Neal about this young woman, who looked a lot like him.