White Collar – Leverage - Chapter 2
Neal knew he was in trouble. While the kidnappers were planning on taking Elizabeth hostage, they hadn't planned on bringing Neal along. That more than likely made him expendable. These men were organised, the chances of Neal being able to both him and Elizabeth out of there was slim. On the bright side, he might be able to buy some extra time for Elizabeth. Neal knew that Peter would be doing absolutely everything he could to find them; he just hoped it would be in time.
Neal took stock of the room quickly once they were left alone. The lock was simple enough and he still had three of his hidden picks on him. The problem was there were armed me on the other side of the door so opening it didn't really help. He put his ear to the walls of the room in turn, trying to determine thickness and what was on the other side. Then he checked the ceiling and floor. The floor was wooden floorboards so no obvious way out that way, the ceiling was more promising, large ceiling tiles, suggesting a suspended ceiling, possibly big enough to crawl though.
"I know it's selfish but I'm glad you're here." Elizabeth told him once he stopped searching. She hadn't wanted to interrupt Neal's search so she had just stayed quiet and stood quietly hugging herself.
"Me too" he assured her. "Though of course I'd prefer it if we were both somewhere else." He told her.
"Well when this is over, you are coming to dinner at our house as a thank you." Elizabeth told him.
"Great, as long as Peter's not cooking." Neal joked.
Elizabeth managed a smile but the mention of Peter had her welling up.
"He will find us. He's caught me twice." Neal reminded her, giving her a hug. Elizabeth wiped her eyes and nodded trying to be strong. Neal kindness had her emotions coming to the surface.
She hadn't intended to fall to pieces like this. It wasn't the first time she had been taken hostage, not even the second, but that part of the problem. How many times could she expect a happy ending in a situation like this?
"What's the plan?" She asked pulling herself together.
Neal was torn, risking escape for himself was one thing, but taking Elizabeth with him was a whole other ball game. He wouldn't be able to face Peter if anything happened to her.
"We need more information. How many of them are there? What's the layout of the rest of the building? I can get us out of this room but it won't do us much good if they are sat on the other side of that door with guns. Our best bet might be to get a message to Peter about where we are. We need to look for an opportunity and be ready to move when it comes up." Neal told her. She nodded in understanding. Then she looked at the ceiling where Neil had stared longest on his search.
"If you can get out of here Neil you should. You can bring back help." She told him but he was shaking his head before she even finished.
"Let's go together." He told her. Then he told her what they were going to do next.
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Peter had finally got out of his meeting and been rushing to join El and Neal for lunch when the Marshall's office had called and told him the Neil's anklet had been cut. With a cold feeling he called Elizabeth's mobile, then Neal's. Neither answered. Next, he called the restaurant, who said that the Burke party had never arrived for their lunch reservation. Then he called Jones and Diana into his office, explained the situation and got the whole team working on locating Neal and Elizabeth. It was only then he started to panic.
They already had footage from cameras near the restaurant on its way back to the office when Peter got the first call from the kidnappers. He hoped he managed to keep a brave front up when he spoke with Elizabeth. He watched with a lump in his throat which felt like it was choking him as the kidnappers showed him Elizabeth and Neal and then Neal's beating. The kidnapper hung up without giving him any demands, before they could get a trace on the location. Peter's team had hooked Peter's number up to the FBI recording equipment as well as the location tracing systems, so they were able to watch it repeatedly for clues as to Neal and Elizabeth's location and to the kidnappers' identities. It was tough for all of the team, but especially for Peter, as it meant watching again and again as Neal is punched to the ground, listening to Elizabeth's scared cries for them to stop, cries which tear through Peter.
After they had set up the search teams and run through every possible clue on the recording, Peter retreated to his office, waiting for the kidnappers to call with their demands. He wasn't allowed to be actively involved in the investigation but as long as he didn't endanger the investigation the team wouldn't stop him being there. Peter was trying to make up lists of possible suspects when the kidnappers called back with their demands.
"If you want to see your wife and friend again you are going to find someone for us, Samson Olthoff." The Kidnapper told him. Peter didn't immediately recognise the name, but he could see Jones frantically typing into his laptop and knew they would have the information in minutes.
"You have 4 hours to find him." The Kidnapper told him.
"and then what?" Peter asked
"You'll find out in 4 hours." The Kidnapper told him.
"I've never heard of Samson Olthoff, can you give me more information?" Peter asked, trying to keep the kidnapper talking, hoping to get a trace on the call or that the kidnapper might slip up and give them a lead on where they were.
"I am sure you don't need any help from me Agent Burke." The kidnapper told him hanging up.
Samson Olthoff was a suspect in a bank robbery of $15 million, three years previously. The robbery had been expertly executed by four men, three of whom the police had caught, but fourth man had got away and the money was never recovered. Samson Olthoff was identified as a suspect for the fourth man and had disappeared at the same time as the robbery. From the three men caught, two were successfully prosecuted for armed robbery and sentenced to 25 years and were still in prison, the third was the driver who never entered the bank and had no prior convictions and got a lighter sentence of 5 years and been released on parole 3 months ago. That would have made him the prime suspect if not for the fact he had apparently been killed last month in a house fire.
Peter sat quietly biting his tongue to stop himself from giving orders and interrupting as Jones ordered research into everyone connected with Olthoff and the other three men. He was aware that if he drew attention to himself he would more than likely be asked to remove himself from the room. He desperately wished Neal was here. He would have had another angle to work, some way for Peter to work the case without interfering with the FBI investigation. He had got so used to Neal coming up with some 'out-of-the-box idea or making a witty comment which gave them all fresh insight into the case that not having him there made everything greyer.
If Peter wanted out of the box thinking, Mozzie was so far outside the box that he probably didn't even know there was a box. He went back to his office to make the call.
"Have you found them yet Suit?" Mozzie demanded without as much as a greeting.
Peter explained what he knew so far.
"They wouldn't involve the Feds just to get the money, so they must want Olthoff for running out with the money." Mozzie reasoned. "Finding people is your area of expertise, but getting the FBI involved is risky. Why do you think they chose you?" He asked Peter.
"I don't know." Peter admitted. "We haven't found a connection. I wasn't involved in investigating the robbery and I've never heard of any of the robbers."
"So, what now?" Mozzie asked.
"I can't be actively involved in the FBI investigation." Peter admitted.
"I'm not sure how useful you will be in a non-FBI investigation Suit." Mozzie said almost angrily.
Peter bit back a rude response, knowing Mozzie was just as worried about Elizabeth and Neal as he was.
"You're angry with me, I understand that, but we need to focus on finding El and Neal. I need your help." Peter admitted.
Mozzie was silent for a moment.
"Meet me at Neal's apartment, bring all the files you have." Mozzie told him and hung up.
