Protecting Katie

Summary: Half a million dollars worth of diamonds are stolen from a jewelry store, and then Neal finds them in the possession of a three-year-old little girl sitting on a park bench.

Warning: A couple curse words and mild violence.

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Neal and Peter walked into a large jewelry store that had been robbed the night before, the forensics team were already there.

"Mr. Grant." Peter greeted, walking over to a middle aged man. "I am Agent Peter Burke, this is Neal Caffrey."

"Hello." The man returned the greeting. His voice was strained and he looked as if he was about to pass out.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Peter asked.

"I locked up last night at around eleven." He said. "Then I came back at nine this morning and discovered that the back door was open, so I phoned the police. After they arrived and made sure no one was still inside, they asked me to take inventory to see if anything had been taken. That's when I noticed that the diamonds were missing."

"And only the diamonds from that one collection was gone?" Peter asked.

"Yes. Please, you must find them. If not, I am responsible for the half a million dollars."

"Weren't they insured?" Neal asked.

"No, they only arrived yesterday morning."

"Where did they come from?" Peter asked.

"From the private collection of Edward Fuller."

"The same Edward Fuller who died in a yachting accident last month?" Neal asked.

"Yes, his family auctioned them off. But I have not paid for them yet, I was supposed to arrange for the bank draft today, after I properly examined them."

"Who handled the auction?" Peter asked.

"Maureen Collins, she handles many of the higher valued items that are to be auctioned."

"Did anyone else know that the diamonds were here?" Peter asked, "Any employees or customers that found out?"

"Only my son Ronald."

"How were they displayed?" Neal asked.

"They weren't. They were in a purple satin pouch in a glass case behind the counter. I bought them to use in making jewelry. I figured I could double, maybe even triple my profit if I turned them into necklaces and earrings."

After asking a few more questions and looking around, Peter and Neal left the store and got into Peter's car.

"What are you thinking?" Peter asked, as he pulled into traffic.

"That maybe Edward Fuller's family pulled a switch and didn't want anyone to know." Neal replied.

"That's one theory." Peter agreed. "Or maybe Maureen Collins pulled the switch."

"No way." Neal said, a slight smile on his face. "Maureen wouldn't do that."

"You know her?" Peter asked, giving the younger man a sideways glance.

"Meet her a few years ago."

"And what did this meeting consist of?"

"Let's just say she's not one to bend the rules."

"So you tried to con her and failed." Peter said, with a smirk.

"I did not fail." Neal defended himself. "I just didn't succeed."

"I want to check her out anyway; someone more charming then you might have convinced her to bend those rules."

"There is no one more charming then me."

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Three hours later, Peter and Neal still had no leads. The Fuller family checked out, none of the family members were in need of money and none had criminal records. Maureen Collins also checked out. She was a single mother of a three-year-old daughter; her husband had died in a fire the year before. She wasn't no where near rich, but she wasn't hurting for money and had no criminal record.

"I need a break." Neal said, standing up and stretching. Him and Peter had been sitting in Peter's office for over an hour going over paperwork. "How about we break for lunch?"

"Be back in an hour." Peter said, still reading a file.

"You're not coming?"

"I'm meeting Elle in a few minutes."

"Alright, see you in an hour." Neal grabbed his hat and left the office.

A few minutes later, Neal was walking through Central Park enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. He walked to a nearly deserted part of the park and heard a soft sniffling sound. Turning towards the sound, he saw a little girl sitting on a park bench. She had brown curly hair that cascaded down her back and was wearing pink shorts and matching shirt. She had her head down and was crying. Neal looked around, but saw no one nearby.

"Hey there, little one." He said softly as he slowly walked over. He didn't want to frighten the young girl. She looked up with tear filled brown eyes and scooted back further in fear.

"It's okay, Sweetheart." Neal said, with a smile. "My name's Neal, I won't hurt you."

He slowly sat beside her on the bench and she turned and looked at him. She was still crying.

"Watch this." Neal said, as he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. He hid it in his fist, then opened his hand and the handkerchief was gone. "Where did it go?" Neal asked with wide eyes. The little girl stopped crying and looked at him with interest. "Hey I see it." He said, reaching out and pulling the handkerchief from behind her ear. She thought it was funny and started laughing.

"That's better." Neal smiled.

"Again." She said, shyly.

"Okay." Neal once again made the handkerchief disappear then reappear behind he ear, causing her to laugh again.

"Are you lost?" Neal asked. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"Mommy hurt." She said, her smile gone.

"Mommy's hurt?" Neal asked.

The little girl nodded. "Bad man hurt Mommy."

"Where at?" Neal asked softly.

"No know."

"What's your name?"

"Katie."

"That's a pretty name." Neal said, as he stood up. He feared that the young girl's Mom was the victim of a kidnapper or a rapist. He knew he had to get her to the police station so they could find her. "Come with me." He held out his hand.

Katie looked at him, then smiled and took his hand. Neal started to lead her away, when she stopped walking. "Wait." She said, pulling her small hand from Neal's much larger one. She ran back to the bench and grabbed a purple satin pouch from the ground beside it. Then she ran back to Neal. "Ready."

"Can I see that?" Neal asked, reaching for the pouch. Surly finding the diamonds couldn't be that easy. And what was a kid doing with them?

"Mine." She said, holding them behind her back and looking at Neal with a stubborn expression.

"I'll show you another trick." Neal knelt in front of her and pulled his handkerchief out again. He once again made it disappear then reappear, and Katie once again thought it was real funny.

"Can I see that?" Neal asked, pointing to the purple satin pouch. "I'll make it disappear."

She nodded her head and handed it to him, with a huge smile.

Neal opened the pouch and poured a few diamonds out into his hand, they looked very real to him.

"Pretty rocks." Katie said. "Shiny."

"Yes." Neal said, replacing the diamonds. "Very shiny." He knew he had just found Maureen Collins' daughter. She favored her Mom a lot. "Where did you get them?"

"My house." Then she pointed to them. "Make go bye bye."

"Yes Ma'am." Neal said, wrapping them in his handkerchief. With a quick flip of the wrist, he put the diamonds safely into his suite pocket. Then opened his hand to show the little girl that they were gone.

She laughed, and then said. "Make come back."

"Can't Honey, they're bye bye."

Her bottom lip quivered and Neal knew she was about to cry.

"How about some ice cream?" He asked, spotting an ice cream cart a few yards away.

"Okay." She smiled, the diamonds forgotten.

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Neal soon learned that ice cream, a little kid, and his suit did not mix well. Katie seemed to have more ice cream on her face, hands, and clothes then she managed to get inside of her mouth.

He had began the short walk back to the bureau carrying her, but after a blob of chocolate ice cream fall from the cone and onto his shoulder, he had put her down and let her walk while holding his hand. No more ice cream landed on his clothes, but his hand was extremely sticky.

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Peter and Elle were sitting on a bench in front of the bureau, eating sandwiches and talking.

"Peter." Elizabeth said, looking up in confusion. "Why does Neal have a little girl walking with him?"

Peter looked up and saw them. "No idea." Then when Neal and the little girl reached them, he asked. "Where'd the kid come from, Neal?"

"Peter." Neal said. "Your Father should have had that talk with you a long time ago."

"Very funny, now answer the question."

"Peter, Elle." Neal said. "Meet Katie Collins."

"As in Maureen Collins' daughter?" Peter asked, in surprise.

"Yes." He pulled the purple pouch from his pocket and showed them to Peter. "She had these on her."

"Elle." Peter started, but his wife cut him off.

"Come on, Honey." Elle said, offering the little girl her hand. "Why don't we go get you cleaned up?"

Elle and Katie walked off into the building and Neal explained what had happened to Peter.

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A little while later, Peter and Neal were at Maureen Collins' apartment. The place was a mess.

"Someone was definitely looking for something." Peter said.

"You think they forced Maureen into stealing the diamonds?" Neal asked.

"Looks like it, I don't think she did it on her own. Nothing in her background suggests it."

"I wonder how Katie wind up with them." Neal said.

"Speaking of Katie, we need to pack her a bag."

"What do we pack?"

"Clothes, toys, stuff like that."

They found the girl's room, which was also trashed.

"Kid likes pink." Neal said, almost everything in the room was pink.

"Pack a bag; I'm going to call in a forensics team."

Neal looked around and found a small pink duffle bag with a cartoon princess on it. He quickly filled it with clothes and toys. Then he saw a picture of Maureen, Katie, and a man. Katie was around two and was sitting on the man's shoulders. Neal put the picture into the bag as well.

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Across the street from Maureen's apartment building, two men were sitting in a car.

"The Boss won't like this." The driver said. "If we're right and the brat had the diamonds, then that means that the Feds have them."

"We have to get them back, and the kid." The other man said.

"How?"

"By killing anyone who gets in our way, even the Feds."

"I agree with killing the Feds, but she's just a little girl."

"A little girl who saw us kidnap her Mom." The driver hissed. "She can ID us, she dies too."

"Okay." The other man reluctantly agreed. "What about her Mom?"

"Maureen dies too, after we're done with her."

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I will have the next chapter posted as soon as I can. Please let me know what you think.