And as promised, I have started a new chapter, but it is not likely that I will get it out any time soon, the weather outside is crazy! Never have I seen such wildness! hahaha, ok, enough of that.
I looked back on the first chapter and I realized that my proofreading didn't save as well as the last 2 or so pages of my chapter, so I fixed that and it should be all set. I am SO sorry about that, and I want to thank Duffy1 for bringing that to my attention. I switched computers and on my new one, it only has pages and not Microsoft word, which is what I was using before, so I am working on getting used to that and I was mid-chapter when I switched, which is what you saw if you read it before I could fix it. I will be more careful about that with this chapter. So I guess I should get started, hum?
As Peter exited the room, he saw that Liza had not waited for him, she was no where in sight!
"I can't believe she left!" Peter said angrily.
"Maybe she did do it and didn't want to be brought in for questioning." Neal suggested.
"Well, she has got to be on the security cameras, so we'll find her." Peter replied, punching the elevator button to go down so that they could get their car.
When they got down to the main entrance, they noticed that Liza was standing just outside the door looking around, Peter rushed over to her and grabbed her by the arm and said; "You didn't wait for us."
"I did wait, just not where you wanted me to." she replied, "I knew that you were going to want to talk to me and I didn't see the need for Mr. Lowe to over hear our conversation. He was pretty mad, wasn't he?" she asked, looking at Neal.
So he replied, "Yeah, he was pretty miffed at you." which earned him a glare from Peter.
"You are coming to my office for questioning." Peter told Liza, "Where are your parents?"
"Do they need to come?" Liza asked Peter.
"Yes, they should know where you are at least." Peter answered her as he dragged her to the car.
"My dad doesn't even know I exist." Liza said.
"And what about your mom?" Neal enquired.
"Would you like me to call her? She won't answer, but I can leave a message." Liza suggested.
"And why would she not answer?" Peter asked as he opened the car door for her to get in.
"She is, uh . . . a little tied up at the moment." Liza answered looking at Peter before she got in the car and sat down on the seat.
"She is to tied up to answer her own daughter's phone call?" Peter asked in disbelief after he walked around and sat down in the drivers seat.
"Hey, if what you are implying is that my mom isn't a awesome mom, you better be careful!" Liza said, and for the first time, raising her voice and getting defensive about something, "Things are complicated and you have no right to go around and throw accusations out there without knowing all the facts!" Liza told him harshly.
Peter and Neal exchanged glances before Peter started the car and pulled into traffic. The rest of the car ride was silent.
When they arrived at the office, Peter opened the door for Liza and when she got out, he put hand cuffs on her. "You afraid I am going to run way on ya?" she asked with a grin.
Peter ignored her question and took her to the elevator that would take them up to the White Collar Division of the F.B.I.
The elevator doors opened and Peter took Liza but the arm and dragged her to the stairs that would lead them to the conference room.
The fact that Peter was dragging a teen age girl through the room in handcuffs caused a lot of people to stop their work and stare at the agent, but only Diana had the guts to get up and say something.
As she walked over to Peter, he turned to Neal and said; "Take this one upstairs and make sure that she doesn't touch anything, I will be up in a minute."
Neal nodded and lead her upstairs. Liza turned to him and said; "You know that I can walk myself? I don't need a leash to guide me. I am not a criminal, or a dog for that matter."
Neal stopped and took his hand off her in a dramatic way and replied; "Fine, have it your way, stay right behind me please." And he lead the way.
Meanwhile, Diana and Peter were talking. "So Boss, why did you bring that girl in handcuffs? Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Diana asked.
"Well, I thought that handcuffs were what she needed to knock her in her place, but not even that worked." Peter answered.
"What do you mean?" Diana asked.
Peter looked up at Neal and Liza sitting in the conference room then he looked at Diana again and told her that she would fill her in on all of the details later, then he walked up the stairs to talk to Liza and see what she had to say to him.
"So," Peter started, "You still need to call your mom." he told her and pushed the land line phone out in the middle of the table.
"How am I supposed to dial and hold the phone with these handcuffs on me?" she asked the two men.
"Well, the conversation will be on speaker, and you will tell me the number so that I can dial it, but I guess you're right, I don't think that the handcuffs are needed anymore. Neal, would you please un cuff her?" he asked as he slide the keys over to him, since he was closer to her than he was.
He undid the handcuffs and handed them to Peter with the keys, then sat back down.
Peter nodded then looked back at Liza and waited for her to tell him the number so that he could dial it.
She told him the number and looked down at the table, knowing that her gig was up.
They all went silence, the only noise was the ringing that the phone made before the automated voice came on, and what it said surprised Neal and Peter. It said; "I'm sorry. The phone that you are trying to reach is no longer in service due to death. There is one other person on this contract, but wishes to remain anonymous. Have a nice day." Then the call disconnected.
Everyone sat there in silence for a few minutes then finally Neal spoke; "Why would they say that the phone isn't in service because the person died? That just seems wrong." But that only earned him yet another glare from Peter.
"Is that really you're mom's number?" Peter asked Liza.
She nodded, "Yes, it is. Maybe now would be a good time to explain why I'm here." she started.
Peter nodded; "Yes, now would be an excellent time for you to start."
Liza took a deep breath, then she told her story; "My full name is Elizabeth Geller, but people call me Liza, and I am 14 years old. My mom and I used to live in a small town in Connecticut, but it's really dangerous there. There are so many gangs that you can't even walk the streets by yourself without being pushed around by one of them.
"We were the wealthiest people in the neighborhood and that caused a lot of attention from the gangs, and one night, one of the worst gangs broke into our house, so my mom grabbed me and we went into her bed room to hide, she told me to get into the huge laundry basket that she had, and stay there, no matter what happened, I was to stay there and not make any noises. I promised her, then she went off to hide herself, but she wasn't quick enough, they found her and they pushed her around and they beat on her and cut her arms and legs with knifes, I could see everything and wanted so bad to tell them to stop, but I couldn't make myself do it." Liza explained, doing her best not to show too much emotion, this is not how she wanted to tell her story, as painful as it was for her, she could not make let herself cry.
"Finally, they had had enough with her and they finished her off by taking out a gun and shooting her twice in the chest.
"It really beat me up at first, I called the police and they took her body away in a black body bag. That was 3 weeks ago, and they still can't find who did it. Many expensive things were taken from my house that night, so the police think that they took the things, sold them, then split town." Liza told the two men, who sat there silently in shock the whole time.
"So . . . they still haven't found who did that?" Neal asked her almost in a whisper.
"No, they . . . uh . . . they say that they are still trying to find the gang who did this, but I personally think that they are lying to me." Liza told them.
"So what was your mother's name?" Peter asked the girl.
"Emily Geller." she replied promptly.
"Hum. That name sounds familiar . . ." Neal said, thinking back to how he might have known the name.
"Yes, and that leads me to why I am here in New York. I have never actually met my dad before now, but he has been a huge part of my life, my mom would always smile and tell me stories of when they were together.
"When my mom found out she was pregnant, she kept waiting for the right time to tell him, but she couldn't find it until one night after a date that they had been on, but before she could tell him, he broke up with her and left town later that week. She was never able to tell him, then she had me and always told me that when I was 16, we would go find him together." She said with a smile as she remembered her mother, but it faded; "Guessed that wasn't going to happen, so I found him myself."
"Who is your father?" Peter asked.
Liza took a deep breath then looked straight at Neal; "His name is Neal Caffrey."
So, what do you think? Please review! :)