Chapter One: About the People

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

12:32 p.m.

That was it.

FBI Special Agent Peter Burke had reached the limit of his patience with his young Confidential Informant, Neal Caffrey. Peter had spent much of his professional career chasing and then catching—twice—the young criminal. Then he spent the past few years and a great deal of his energy allowing the convicted bond forger, who was also the prime suspect in numerous other white collar crimes across the world, to work alongside him as his consultant.

They walked a slippery slope together. Neither man completely trusted the other, yet both respected—and then came to care for— the other. Peter, the epitome of a professional law man, was not one to be personally involved with his colleagues. But there was just something about Neal. First getting under Peter's skin and then into his mind, Neal eventually wormed his way into Peter's heart before Peter was ever even aware of what had happened to him. Peter understood his wife being taken in by Neal's translucent blue eyes, Cary Grant charm, and million-dollar smile. But Peter was usually adept at holding criminals—even charming ones—at bay.

Their relationship often shifted among the gamut of roles they played with one another: handler/criminal consultant, FBI agent/nemesis, friend/friend, brother/brother, and father/son. In all roles, Peter continuously corrected Neal's indiscretions, never turning a blind eye or deaf ears to Neal's impulsive and careless acts. Peter seized every opportunity to teach Neal a better way to live his young life. He hoped the family life he and Elizabeth modeled for Neal would show him that it was not too late for him to choose a white-picket life over a white collar criminal existence.

At every opportunity, Peter tried to convince his young friend that people can change and that he could have a better life. Mozzie, on the other hand, continued to remind Neal that the PTA life was just not the life a conman got to have. Neal felt conflicted because sometimes he wanted the Burke life and then other times he didn't want a life that focused its dinner conversations around window strippings.

To then further complicate matters in Neal's head, there was June and her late husband Byron. Byron, even though he had passed away before Neal had met him, embodied the fantasy that conman could change. Conmen like Byron could give up the addiction of the euphoria of the con for family and love. Neal could feel Byron's presence as he sported around in Byron's fine vintage suits.

For Neal, the con wasn't about the money…it was about the people. Even though he didn't quite understand it, it was ultimately about family for Neal Caffrey.

And right now, Peter and Elizabeth Burke were the closest to family that Neal had.

The type of family life Peter and Elizabeth had was the life Neal and Kate had dreamed about. But now Kate was gone, and Neal was trying to move on and develop a life with other women—in particular—the beautiful insurance investigator, Sara Ellis. The relationship he had with Sara just didn't feel as right as the relationship he had with Kate, though. He would always believe that Kate was the love of his life, the only woman with whom he would ever imagine himself standing behind the white-picket fence, babies in arms. He tried to envision a life with Sara, and he even tried to convince himself that he could be as happy with Sara as he had been with Kate. Neal was beginning to fall for Sara, but she—unlike Kate—had made it clear that she would not cross a line she couldn't come back from. That was the biggest difference between the two women. So, to avoid being hurt, Neal tried his best not to go in too deep with Sara as he had done with Kate.

Peter knew a lot about his young friend, but he still had many missing pieces that were difficult to fill in. He knew almost nothing about Neal's childhood except that his father was a dirty cop. Even though Neal was not forthcoming about his early life, Peter suspected that he had not grown up in a world surrounded by white picket fences and weekly neighborhood barbeques. He could also see throughout their time together that Neal was trying to do better, so he accepted much of Neal's injudiciousness.

But, today was different. Neal hadn't made it to the 21st floor of the FBI building where the White Collar division was housed. Peter was at first aggravated that Neal hadn't shown up to work on time. His cell phone went immediately to voicemail, and text messages appeared to be ignored. By mid-day, Peter was convinced that Neal was intentionally dodging his handler who was responsible for his every move. His aggravation then turned to anger.

They were closing in on a group of criminals who were involved in the heist of a family collection of jewelry with street value worth over three million dollars, and Neal's expertise was very much needed. They had spent much of the past two weeks working on this case. Initially, Peter worried that Neal could not withstand the temptation, but Neal's silver tongue convinced Peter otherwise. Peter relented—against his better judgment because he thought he knew Neal better than the conman knew himself.

But of all days for Neal to come up missing, this certainly wasn't it. Neal's absence looked bad for both men.

Neal knew damn well that they had a 2:00 meeting to go over the evidence and plot out subsequent moves with Peter's boss, Reese Hughes, and Hughes's boss, Assistant Director Kyle Bancroft. Because of the power Hughes had over him, Neal was afraid of Hughes. AD Bancroft, however, was different. He actually acted as though he liked the young criminal consultant—even escorting him to the White Bored exhibit when no one else would take Neal beyond his two-mile radius. It just didn't make sense that Neal wasn't there at his desk pouring over his notes.

"Diana," Peter called as he stood in front of his glassed-in office one flight above Diana's cubicle on the main floor. "Contact the Marshalls and get a 60 day report of Neal's tracking data."

Diana's deep brown eyes glanced up at Peter who remained standing at the railing while he issued the order. She nodded and picked up her office phone to order the tracking data. Diana knew her boss was worried and agitated, so she offered no comments on the situation. She knew Peter well enough to know that he would have to come to his own conclusions in his own time. Putting the receiver back down on its cradle, Diana spoke as she looked back up at Peter, "The report should be here within the next few hours."

"Thanks Diana," Peter mumbled as he turned and retreated back into his office.

The fourth member of their team, Junior Agent Clinton Jones, turned around to face Diana. "He better get himself in here soon," Jones muttered under his breath but loud enough for Diana to hear.

"Something's not right," Diana said directly to Jones. "Caffrey wouldn't just disappear."

Jones raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips together. Both Jones and Diana had grown to like the criminal conman turn FBI consultant. He had first annoyed then humored them, and now he was as much a part of their team as they were.

"Peter's not happy about something," Jones answered her. "What's not right is the possibility of a three and a half million dollar collection of family heirlooms out there. Peter's not stupid."

"I know," Diana answered, "but something just doesn't feel right. Caffrey was looking forward to the meeting with Hughes and Bancroft today."

"What doesn't feel right is you taking up for him," Jones snickered.

"I know…right?" Diana giggled back at Jones. Then they both returned to their paperwork in anticipation of the 2:00 meeting with Hughes. They needed to be completely sharp since it was looking as though they couldn't rely on Neal being there to help Peter take lead.

Once Peter was safely in his office behind his glass office door closed to the agents around him, he phoned Elizabeth. They made small talk for several moments before Elizabeth stated openly that she knew he was calling about Neal. It was usually about Neal. She didn't mind helping her husband work through his issues with his young partner and friend. In a way, she felt good about herself that he relied so heavily on her for her words of wisdom.

"Did you get a chance to talk to Neal about last night?"

"No," Peter answered abruptly.

"So, what's he done this time?" Elizabeth asked.

"He hasn't come in to work today. Whatever he's done, I may not be able to protect him," Peter sighed into the phone to her.

"Peter," Elizabeth quietly responded, "Whatever he's done, he needs you. You need to go and find him."

"Please just tell me it's because he doesn't want to face me about leaving our home so abruptly last night," Peter supplicated.

"It's not about the jewelry heist," Elizabeth answered, knowing what Peter really meant.

Peter suspected that Neal's disappearing act was just that—an act. He didn't want to believe Neal was involved in the jewelry heist, but his timing to come up missing was not good. Peter hoped that Neal's absence was just his way of not having to deal with the fallout from the dinner party the previous evening at the Burke home that didn't end so well—for reasons unknown to him and Elizabeth.

The evening before was meant to be a surprise birthday dinner at the Burke home for Neal. Elizabeth had wanted something small and intimate to show him that they cared about him. They had never celebrated his birthday or included him in their holiday celebrations, so Elizabeth wanted some way to show Neal that he had a family.

Peter and Neal's already complex relationship was further complicated when Adler brought the U-Boat full of Nazi plunder into their lives. The ordeal with Adler and the remnant of the Chrysler building painting that Peter suspected was Neal's had caused her husband great strife and had strained the relationship he had built with his young friend during the past several years. Neal and Peter were now trying to get back on track, but something still didn't feel entirely right between them.

Peter felt guilty for being too quick to accuse Neal of being involved in the heist of the Nazi plunder. Getting the lab results stating that the ink was at least 70 years old and seeing Neal's Chrysler Building painting in his apartment confirmed to Peter that he had been hasty in his accusations toward Neal. The all-night polygraph and aloof behavior didn't help matters either. Peter had called a truce, which greatly relieved Neal, but there was still a tiny place in the pit of his gut that told him Neal was involved—somehow, some way.

Neal, though, was working underhandedly with Mozzie to get everything in place to flee with the Nazi plunder, their big one, their white whale. Their long-con with Vincent Adler was finally paying off after all these years. They could run away, leaving this world and these identities behind and be set for the rest of their lives. Neal Caffrey would be dead; Victor Moreau would resume his flesh and bones. That quirk of fate of resuming Kate's last name, however, was a little unsettling to Neal.

There were twinges of guilt that would rise up within Neal about having to constantly deceive Peter, but Mozzie reassured him that they were conmen at heart and would never be able to live the life that Peter and Elizabeth exemplified. But, he still felt a small spasm of guilt because, after all, Peter was his friend and partner…and often even acted as his father. As such, Neal truly recognized Peter's intelligence, and the thought that Peter may actually catch him yet a third time frightened him. If anyone could figure him out, it would certainly be Special Agent Peter Burke.

Peter was the smartest man Neal had ever met. Peter wanted to re-establish his relationship with Neal, so he accepted his wife's suggestion of a surprise birthday dinner. It seemed to be a gesture in the right direction.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

7:16 p.m.

So they left work that Tuesday evening and headed to the Burke home.

As they continued along their journey to his home, Peter finally broke the silence with an opportunity to lecture Neal some more about the Adler situation. Neal patiently half-listened but respectfully remained quiet. Peter then reminded Neal a second time, "Remember what I told you: you can either be a con or a man, but you can't be both."

"I know, Peter, I remember." Neal knew that Peter's words were spot on, but he wished Peter knew how difficult it was for him to choose the latter because the former was what he had known all of his life. And, as Mozzie constantly reminded him, a conman was who he was and he couldn't change that. Or, as Mozzie had pointed out, a leopard can't change his spots.

They left Peter's Taurus and went inside the Burke home to Elizabeth's surprise birthday dinner for Neal. But the dinner party that Tuesday evening just didn't end the way Peter and Elizabeth had intended or had imagined.