Chapter 3
They met at a park near the FBI office that Peter worked out of. "So you have no idea what brought this on?" Peter asked the small man.
"No, just out of the blue he calls and asked if he could stay a few days with me; I could feel the fear in his voice. That is very unusual for Neal so I said yes; but the only thing that prevented him from coming was that I live out of his two mile radius; when I pointed that out to him he told me never mind. He was scared of someone; he said that he had a visitor and it must have been that visitor that scared him so much that he wanted to hide," explained Moz.
"Well, after I talked to you I called June and asked her if she knew anything. She told me a tall man came to her asking about Neal and had sounded so friendly and caring that she had let him in to Neal's room. He told her that he was Neal's father and wanted to see him again but he wanted to surprise him and she promised she wouldn't. She is so sorry that she let him in."
"Why…what did he do?"
"June said that Neal wouldn't say but she feels that he hurt him; Neal was unable to hide the tears and the wince as he sat down…so it seems that someone must have whipped him. He was embarrassed she thought but had told her that they only had a disagreement and that he was no longer important in his life. She felt that he only said that to reassure her that he was okay," Peter hastened to clarify.
"Did you know Neal's father?" Peter asked Moz.
"I only met Neal's adopted father; he was the one that taught Neal his trade, Samuel Caffrey who was a great con artist at the time and he saw the natural talent that Neal had and enlightened it to turn Neal into a even better con artist and forger than he was.; but he also gave Neal something he never had before…the love and caring a father shows his son. Neal referred to him as Dad and never as father. I guess that is how he kept the two separated in his mind. Was June able to describe the man she let in?" Moz asked.
"Yeah, that he was a powerful man in statue and had brown eyes and salt and pepper hair…but when she told Neal about the hair color his face had lit up and he had said happily that it sounded like is Dad and he ran up the stairs…obviously it wasn't Caffrey," concluded Peter.
"So what are we going to do about Neal…can he stay with me?"
"Nope, he can't as much as I would like to the excuse that he is scared is not going to be enough of a reason for him to be allowed further freedom; I can however invite him over for a few days to stay with El and me but if I do he's going to know that we talked; is he going to be okay with that?" replied Peter.
"Well, he never told me that I couldn't talk to you about this," reasoned Moz.
"Why don't we just see how this goes for a few days before deciding; this man might have just been passing through and will not reappear," reflected Peter.
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then we act…but let's see if Neal will come to me about this first…its all up to him; although I will keep a closer watch on him."
"As will I…I'll visit and stay a few days maybe the presence of another will help." and with that the two separated each concerned about their friend.
Peter returned to the office to research Neal's earlier life; he had only researched from the time of his late teens and up unto he had made a name for himself. Now he would have to go even deeper.
Moz went to visit his friend and to offer his presence as a form of reassurance.
