Chapter 2

The envelope landed on its edge and almost flipped off the desk.

"It's for you." Special Agent Peter Burke picked up the letter Neal Caffrey had thrown at him and looked at it blankly.

"What is it?" He asked. Neal shrugged, taking off his hat.

"How am I supposed to know? Somebody slipped a letter addressed to you under June's door last night, so, logically, I give it to you."

There was the best part of Molly's plan- none of it was a lie. Rather than a rhetorical question, it was a real question. It wasn't Neal's fault if Peter didn't realize that. So what if he called her 'somebody' rather than using her name? Yes, the letter was slipped under June's front door at night, right after Molly wrote it in Neal's living room and slipped it back after she left. Absolutely, positively true.

Peter read the handwritten missive aloud.

"Dear Sir,

The felon you chased from the drug deal on West 11th Street goes by the working name of Juan Hernandez. His real name is Michael Juanito. He is a Spanish immigrant. He has a Green Card in his real name and an Interpol record under his pseudonym. He will be at 78½ West 10th Street, also known as the underground bar The Nine Lives, at ten o'clock every night for the next two weeks. I would advise more caution than you used two days ago. The management would not be happy with having their door knocked down. In any case, it's never locked.

Sincerely,

An Informant."

He did not read the post-script out loud:

"P.S; You do not give Neal Caffrey the credit he deserves. He is far more honest than you would believe, even if not by your standards."

"Interesting. Did you know about all this?" The FBI agent waved the letter in Neal's general direction.

"Nope. I'm just the messenger." He grinned.

"Drop the act, Neal. Who is it, 'Mr. Haversham'?" Peter demanded. Neal shook his head.

"Not him. Different friend. But they're very trustworthy," he promised.

"If they're so trustworthy, why didn't they come to the FBI with this, rather than all the smoke and dagger?" Neal stopped grinning. His reply was less joking.

"They're a ghost. You ever heard the term?" Peter shook his head. "It means that she's an illegal immigrant. She's had the records in her home country destroyed, and there's no trace of her here or there. Not having an identity is a bad way to show you're being serious," he quoted.

"So you've finally found a girl, have you?" Burke teased. Neal looked insulted.

"Of course not! I just-" The con man stopped talking before he admitted that he'd only met her last night. "She works for the friend you mentioned," he explained more slowly. "So, are you going to follow up?"

.oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo. .oO0Oo.

The bar's always so dark. But the lights behind the bottles are nice. Hernandez is sitting over there, in the corner. Girl on his elbow, drugs in his hand. Remember his proclamation- "You want it, I got it. I got everything." in his cocky accent.

Neal said the FBI are planning to come tomorrow. Neal… I almost miss an order, thinking about him.

The door goes down. I told them it wasn't locked. It would be bad for business. Everyone screams. I recognize the man in front as Peter Burke.

Hernandez doesn't run. I do. Stupid. But I can't get caught. They wouldn't understand. I hop the bar, dash for the back door, the back alley. I grab my wallet from the table beside the door as I rush past. No, stupid, leave it. Too late.

"FBI! Stop!"

I don't stop. Two follow me. The pavement is wet.

"Drop your weapon!" Burke, and someone else- police, I think. I can tell that it's Burke. I've seen him myself. Bastard. I can't believe what he's done with Neal. Neal…

I look over my shoulder. I want to tell if he's there. I almost fall. I swing out my arm, my arm with the wallet, and while I do I'm cursing myself. Moron. Idiot. Klutz. It's going to look like you have a-

Gun. Like a popgun, only a hundred times, a thousand times louder, and then the noise is pain. It hits my shoulder. I spin with the impact. I take the hit, use it to turn the corner.

The footsteps behind me fade. I'm too fast. Or am I? So much blood. I wonder if they'd find my old SAFE kit and match it to who I used to be.

Neal…

"Neal…"



Question: In the episode "FLIP OF THE COIN", what was the newswoman's first name? Spelling doesn't make a difference.

A/N: This chapter took a lot of courage to put up. Please don't flame me.

I've already written out the whole thing, and I've been reading through it. Recently, I've realized that… I've written an alternative Kate. I hate Kate so much, so I shoot Molly. Peter is Kate's captor (maybe), so he shoots Molly. I want to know who Kate's enemy is, so I write one for Molly. Neal is wrapped up- whoops, too far. Heh. Forget that last bit.

Once more, please no flamin'. It's a sudden plot change in the second chapter, and even I'm not fond of it. But a lot of the story revolves around it. Sorry.