One week after being found, Neal was home with one hand still partially bandaged. He was doing better than expected but a couple of his fingers were still painful and hard to move.
Peter watched his friend, who sat on the balcony with his eyes closed and the sun beaming down. The agent glanced back at Mozzie, sitting on the sofa with his eyes focused on the book he was reading.
Sighing loudly, Peter opened the door.
"Neal?" The ex-con didn't acknowledge him so Peter took a step closer.
"Hey."
Still being ignored, Peter lightly touched Neal's shoulder.
"Stop ignoring me."
Neal slightly opened one eye and then scooted out from beneath Peter's hand and moved the chair away.
"Sorry." Peter muttered as he took a step back. Neal's dislike of touch had spread to personal space issues and he no longer wanted anyone near him.
"Neal, get dressed and come to work with me."
"Sure." Neal held up his left hand. "I'm not going to be of much use..."
"Neal, stop it." Peter grabbed a chair and sat down. "Sitting here is not going to help."
"I'm a suspect remember? My prints, the gun...lots of blood."
"You are not a suspect...at least not to me" Peter added quietly since Neal already knew the truth. He was a suspect until they figured out what happened or he got his memory back. "Hughes said you can come to work, if you feel up to it."
"I don't." Neal stood and walked towards the ledge. Peter followed.
"Sitting around here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help."
"Seems nothing helps" Neal muttered as he leaned against the wall. "Peter, I thought I remembered something..."
"What?" Peter mirrored Neal's position.
"Nothing." Neal turned his gaze towards the skyline. "Peter, what if I shot her?"
"Neal..."
"No. Listen." Neal walked a few steps and turned, facing Peter. "Maybe I was forced too. We know there's a third person involved. What if he held a gun to my head and forced me to shoot her?"
"Neal..." Peter took a step and stopped when his friend held a hand up. "If your scenario is correct you would have died before shooting an innocent person."
"I'm not so sure about that." Neal walked inside.
"I am." Peter followed him in. "Mozzie, what do you think?"
"I don't." The little guy stood. "Not a clue what you're talking about..." His eyes darted back and forth.
"It doesn't matter" Neal said as he walked past them both and out the door.
"Should I follow?" Mozzie asked. "I am the faithful guard dog."
"I never called you that."
"You told me not to take my eyes off of him."
Peter shook his head, trying in vain to quell his anger. "It's for his own good...I give up. I'm going to work. Call me if anything happens." He shot by Mozzie, already dreading the day that had barely begun.
"Peter!" Diana met him at the door. "I was just about to call you."
"They find something?"
"Someone" Diana countered as they headed towards his office.
"Someone?" Peter flung his briefcase down.
"White male around twenty-five" Diana answered. "He was sneaking around the storage unit..."
"Bring him in." Peter ordered as he headed towards the coffee pot.
"They are. They should be here shortly." Diana allowed Peter a brief moment of silence as he sipped the much needed liquid.
"Where's Neal?"
"He wouldn't come. Says he's not ready." Peter shrugged. "He's worried he shot the victim...Diana, I have no answers...each day he gets weirder."
"Maybe too much Mozzie" she suggested with a slight smile.
Peter chuckled. "Mozzie's odd but he's not contagious." Peter emptied the first cup and poured a second. "Neal needs answers. We all do."
Diana eyed him. "What if the answers are too much for Neal to handle?"
"No." Peter answered bluntly, unwilling to admit the same concern. "Call me when they get here." He walked away.
If ever Peter wanted to shoot someone, it was now, staring at the man that was sitting before him...
"You got nothing on me..."
"So you've said" Peter interrupted. "What were you doing by that storage unit?"
"Free country. There's no law against walking is there?" He crossed his arms in defiance, smirking at Peter.
The agent stared at him; with his eyes focusing on the huge tattoo that covered most of his right arm.
"Tell me why you were there and I'll consider letting you go."
"I want my lawyer."
"Why?" Peter smiled. "We haven't charged you with anything..." Yet, he silently added, glancing sideways when Diana walked in.
"Boss we got something."
Diana handed him a piece of paper. Peter smiled as he read the new information.
"I think you were right" he whispered to his agent before returning his attention to the suspect.
"So your uncle is Greg Tama?" Peter let that silently sink in. "He goes to jail and you lose your support system."
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"Mike, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Peter sat and rested his elbows on the table. "Neal went undercover and took your uncle down and you found a way to go after him. Who was the girl and what did you do with her body?"
Peter thought he saw the suspect flinch.
"Diana, get a warrant and check out Mike's place. We're going to sit here and have a nice long chat."
After the longest five hours of his life, Diana returned looking very solemn. Both Jones and Hughes followed her in.
"Boss, we got it." She held up a card. "We found this in his computer..."
"You have no right..." Mike lunged for the card and Jones tackled him, shoving him back in the chair. Diana pulled Peter to the side.
"He must have had a hidden camera in there."
"You watched it?"
"Only the beginning...Neal was there when he brought the girl in and shot her twice."
Peter quietly swore. "And then he left?"
Diana nodded. "I turned it off after that...I can't imagine...I don't want to watch Neal..." Diana stuttered slightly.
"I understand. Thank you" Peter briefly clasped her shoulder.
"Do you want to talk now?" Peter addressed the young man. "Why did you shoot her and leave her with Neal?"
Mike sat up straighter, the smirk long gone. "Have you ever watched someone die? It's not like the movies...they don't go fast and they don't go peacefully."
"Why?" Peter asked again, loudly.
"And your inside man..." Mike chuckled. "He was clawing at the walls trying to escape and she begged him for help..." he paused with a slight smile. "In the end, there was nothing he could do but hold her...it was actually rather sweet..."
Peter slammed his hand on the table. "Who was the girl?"
"My girlfriend" Mike answered, laughing at the look on Peter's face.
"She caught him red handed going through my uncle's desk and he talked her into keeping quiet." He shrugged.
"And then she confessed to me...and I figured they both needed to pay. You don't mess with my family and get away with it."
Peter glanced at his team and his boss but no one would look him in the eye.
"And you watched the whole thing?"
"Hey. Reality TV. Doesn't get any better."
Peter lunged and both Jones and Hughes held him. "Peter, don't." Hughes whispered. "Calm down or you're out of here."
Peter nodded and shook himself free. He licked his lips and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, allowing himself a few minutes to regain his composure. Now was the time for answers, dealing with Neal would come later.
"So you watched her die and then you came back for the body?"
"I figured she deserved a proper burial." Mike shrugged. "Your man wasn't in the best shape to fight me...I didn't give him much food and water." He pointed to the memory card. "You should watch that..."
"Shut up."
"I thought you wanted answers..."
"Why'd you leave the gun?" Hughes asked as he pushed Peter slightly to the side.
"Who are you?"
"I'm asking the questions and you better answer." Even at his age, Hughes was still an imposing figure. "The less you cooperate the more time you'll do."
Mike shrugged. "I was feeling merciful...figured he could end his misery if he wanted."
An awkward silence filled the room; they all knew Neal's prints were on the gun so at some point he must have thought about pulling the trigger.
"But you called us" Peter said incredulously. "We would not have found him without the tip. Why?"
"Are you dense?" Mike asked, smiling broadly. "Dying would have been too easy. I wanted him to live and suffer..."
"Jones, get him out of here." Hughes ordered as he blocked Peter from doing anything stupid. "I want everything by the book, got it?" Jones nodded as he pulled Mike up and pushed him out of the room. Diana briefly glanced at Peter before following them out.
"Are you ok?" Hughes asked.
"No." Peter admitted as he slumped heavily in the chair, with the card still in his hands.
"Are you going to watch that?"
Peter shrugged.
"Peter, say the word and we can have that erased after he shoots the girl. No one has to see what Neal went through."
"Thank you." Peter took a deep breath before eyeing his boss. "It might be better if Neal never remembers what happened in there."
Peter's phone rang and he looked at the number.
"Mozzie what is it?"
Peter stood. "Calm down. What happened to Neal?" Peter headed towards the door. "Stay with him, I'm on my way."
Peter looked at his boss. "Too late...Neal remembers."
