As Darkness Falls

Chapter Three

Shortly after the discovery of their suspect's body at the prison, Peter quickly made a call to Diana to ask for her and Jones to come meet them and then ordered a group of the FBI's crime scene investigators to join them, as the FBI had now taken over the scene from the warden's team.

As they arrived and walked over to where Peter and Neal were talking with two of the prison guards, Peter finished up their conversation and finally turned to face his teammates, but before he could say anything to them, Jones was the first to speak up as he said, "So, Caffrey, how does it feel being back in prison?"

Neal laughed half-heartedly as he answered, "Ha ha, very funny, but Peter already beat you to that one, Jones. Can't you come up with anything new?"

"It's still plenty funny to me," Jones responded.

"Yeah, I don't think the joke is getting old either," Diana replied in agreement and then turned to look at Peter. "What have you got for us today, boss?"

Peter looked between Diana and Jones as he answered, "Curtis Hagen; aka, the Dutchman, escaped a little over an hour ago by using another inmate by the name of James Briggs as a decoy, which was convincing enough to fool everyone here, and then had the man killed just before we arrived so that he couldn't talk. We're waiting to get a look at the video footage to find out how Hagen managed to slip past all the guards, but my best guess…"

Neal continued, "He got out by dressing up as a prison guard, kind of like I did when I escaped."

"Exactly," Peter responded. "Hagen's got contacts reaching out within different law enforcement agencies and law offices, that spreads God knows how far. He won't be as easy to find this time around."

"The next thing we should do is go and have a chat with my old friend that had Hagen's forgery of the Rembrandt painting," Neal replied. "I tried to speak with him as Wes Brandt, but…"

Diana spoke up again as she asked, "I take it Wes Brandt was one of your old aliases before you came onto our radar?"

Neal nodded and then continued, "Unfortunately, I couldn't get my old friend to tell me how he got it, as he's a bit paranoid, even more so than Mozzie, if you can believe that."

"I can't believe anybody could be worse than Mozzie, nor can I believe that you can handle dealing with more than one guy like that," she answered.

"Yeah well, thankfully I don't see him very often," Neal responded. "He's more Mozzie's friend than mine."

Peter replied, "Then, I'm guessing he won't be so willing to have a chat with the FBI and Neal Caffrey?"

Neal shook his head as he answered, "No, but if I have a bit more time with him as Brandt, I may be able to get it out of him, with Mozzie's help of course."

"Of course," Jones responded.

"I'll call you when I've got something for you to work off of," Neal said as he headed toward the prison's exit until Peter stopped him.

The agent spoke up saying, "If you think I'm going to let you and Mozzie go and speak with this guy on your own, you're crazy. I'm sending Jones with you. Don't worry, you'll wear a wire and he'll be sitting out in the van with another agent or two."

Neal quickly replied, "But Peter, I…"

"I know what you're thinking," Peter interrupted. "I'm sending him along for your protection just in case Hagen decides to show up, not because I'm worried about you trying to pull off some kind of con."

"That's very considerate of you," Neal answered sarcastically. "Thank you very much."

Peter chuckled and then responded sincerely, "Just be careful and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Neal gave him his usual, charismatic smile and then replied, "Don't worry about it."

An hour later…

Neal was sitting on a park bench in the middle of Central Park when Mozzie finally walked up to him, a scowl upon his face that Neal could not help but laugh at. Mozzie just stared back at Neal as he waited for his long time friend and protégé to explain to him why he had called him to meet up.

"I take it from your foul disposition today that I interrupted something important, am I right Moz?" Neal asked. "Were you with a woman because that would be a cause for your attitude?"

"If you must know, I was with a woman, a very fine woman, but before you get any ideas, it isn't what you think," Mozzie answered. "I was with Elizabeth. We were tasting samples of the French cuisines she ordered for her latest banquet she's preparing for. Some of it was very tasty and some not so much. However, the wine she ordered was to die for."

Neal smiled and responded, "I'm sorry that I had to pull you away. I need your help."

Mozzie took a seat beside him and replied, "Of course you do. Does this have to do with the Dutchman? I heard he had escaped prison from one of our not so credible sources, but from the look on your face right now, I'd say he was right. Do you expect him to come after you?"

"I'm not sure, but Peter seems worried that he might," Neal answered. "But that's not what's important right now. I have to go speak with Dale again, but this time it's for the case. I'll be going in as Wes Brandt again, but I'll need your help with convincing him to tell me what we need to know. We need to find Hagen as soon as possible, before he hurts more people."

"I'll agree to help you because I hate the man as much as you and the suit do, but let me tell you, I'm doing this under protest," Mozzie responded.

He and Neal stood up and began to walk out of the park toward where Jones and the other agents Peter had assigned to join them were waiting inside the van as Neal replied, "You always work for the FBI under protest Moz. How is this any different?"

Mozzie grumbled, "It's not, I just… I just wanted to remind you. Let's do this before I change my mind."

"Whatever you say, Moz," Neal answered as Mozzie strode ahead of him at a quicker pace. "Whatever you say."