Chapter 3

Sara sat up in bed with Raffie curled up at her feet, waiting patiently with her notebook on her lap while Neal finished up on the phone.

'It's a date, then' she heard him say. 'I'll drive and you bring the junk food. All right… goodnight Peter!'

He put the phone down and looked over at his wife. 'You were right. He was thrilled' he said.

'Hope told me she had lunch with him today' Sara confided. 'She said he seemed at loose ends about being home all day.'

Neal nodded; he'd noticed the same thing. 'Do you think El knows how he's feeling about this forced retirement' he asked.

Sara shrugged. 'I don't know… I can try to bring it up when we get together next weekend' she offered. 'I just don't like sticking my nose in their business.'

Neal's eyes grew in response to her comment. 'Seriously? As if they've never stuck their noses in our marriage' he reminded her with a naughty grin.

'I suppose…' Sara replied quietly.

The sound of the front door was heard in the distance, followed by footsteps - presumably Caitlin's as she headed up to the third floor bedroom she'd inherited after Hope had moved out. Raffie's ears perked up but he lay there listlessly as he realized it was just one of his humans coming home.

'Caitlin?' Sara called out as the footsteps grew nearer.

There was a soft knock on their bedroom door and the young woman peeked in to find her foster parents wide awake, sitting up in bed. If she had grown wiser with the years, she had also matured in appearance, no longer hiding behind those blond bangs she'd worn as a teenager. These days, Caitlin showed increasing poise and self-confidence - something she had been sorely lacking when she'd landed on the Caffreys' doorstep six years earlier.

'Did I wake you?' she asked timidly.

'No, we were just talking. Come on in' Sara said as she patted the bed beside her, inviting the young woman to take a seat.

The dog hopped off, making room for the newcomer and he found a spot at the foot of the bed, letting out a loud snort of contentment.

'So, how was your date?' Neal asked, noticing her rosy cheeks - embarrassment? excitement?

'Good' Caitlin said with a shy smile. 'Really good… Ben's a really nice guy…'

'Where did you guys go for dinner?' Sara asked.

'He took me to a little café right beside the Cactus Gallery. You should have seen the exhibit, Mr. C. It was amazing - Inuit art, lots of sculptures.'

Neal watched her face as it became animated; she'd come such a long way and her growing appreciation for beautiful art was a joy to witness.

'By the way, I saw your painting down in the studio' he said. 'Well done, honey!'

'Yeah?' she asked with a tentative smile. 'I'm having a little bit of trouble with the skyline.'

'No, it looks good… but if you want, I can take a closer look - maybe we can work on shading a little bit.'

'That'd be great' Caitlin said, nodding. 'Well, I better get to bed, I've got to get up early in the morning to work on an assignment. Goodnight Sara' she said, leaning in to kiss her foster mom.

'Goodnight Mr. C.' she called out as she leaned down to pat Raffie's head. 'Come on, boy' she said as the dog dragged himself up off the floor and followed her out the door.

'Goodnight sweetie' Sara said as they watched her leave. They gave each other a knowing look; it was nice to see Caitlin so focussed and content. Before long, she would leave the nest and they would be left to their own devices, rattling around their big, empty house.

Sara suddenly remembered something and she turned to grab a sheet of paper from her bedside table. 'I almost forgot' she said, her eyes bright and full of excitement. 'Look at what Hope made for us? For the invite.'

Neal took the sample from Sara's hand and let out an admiring whistle. 'Wow! I love it' he said as he admired the intricate design their talented daughter had come up with. 'This is great. How long will it take to get these printed up?'

'Twenty-four hours, apparently. Now that we've got the date nailed down, she said she'd take care of everything.'

Neal returned the sheet of paper to Sara's side of the bed, reaching over his wife and taking full advantage of the situation to slide his arm around her hips, his face landing between her breasts and lingering there with a satisfied moan.

'Caffrey!' she scolded, unamused. 'I'm serious. Stay focussed. We have to get this list done tonight. We need to get those invitations out ASAP.'

'Fine' Neal relented, leaving his arm wrapped around her but moving his face away and laying his head on her shoulder.

'Well, for starters, the kids, Cam and Cody, Moz, Peter and Elizabeth, Christie and Diana and their girls, Jones and Ivy and the kids' he began, rhyming off names.

'Slow down honey, I can't write that fast' Sara complained before continuing. 'Then there's Emily, Lydia and Sam and the girls, Jeff and Donna and Olivia and her fiancé - what's his name again?' she asked as she continued to scribble madly.

'Brad? Brent?' Neal attempted as his memory failed him.

'Brett! That's it' Sara mumbled as she jotted down the name '…and Cam's folks, of course and Mike and Mindy Miller.'

'Oh, and Scott and Moira and their four girls. By the way, you'll never guess what…' Neal said, not giving Sara a chance to respond. 'Moira's pregnant again.'

'What?' Sara replied, her mouth hanging open. 'Again!'

'Scott says it was an oops baby but they're hoping for a boy this time' Neal explained.

'Poor Scott… living in a house with five women' Sara commented. 'How old is she anyway? She can't keep popping babies out forever.'

Neal frowned as he did some mental math. 'She's got to be close to 45 by now.'

'Oh, my God' Sara said. 'Maybe you'll have to have the vasectomy talk with Scott.'

Neal groaned. 'I'm not touching that subject with a ten foot pole.'

Sara glanced down at the list. 'I was thinking of inviting Dr. Cooper, what do you think?' she mused as Neal nodded.

'Good idea. And Marion Birch' Neal added. 'Oh and Cindy and her husband and Marion and Lorna if they can make it' he said, thinking of June's family.

'You know who we haven't seen in a while' Sara asked rhetorically. 'Ginette and Ken Murphy.'

'You're right, I would love to see them again. Do you think they'd come all the way from Ohio?' Neal asked not bothering to wait for an answer. 'And I'd really like to invite Scott Connor and his wife' he said, thinking of his sponsor. '… and Jim McDougall.'

The mention of Neal's addiction counsellor, the man who had supported Neal throughout his recovery, conjured up some uneasy memories for Sara. Before Hope's wedding, Neal and Jim had discussed the risks and advantages of Neal resuming social drinking and Jim had supported Neal's decision to have a drink at Hope and Cam's wedding reception. Neal had toasted the bride and groom with a glass of champagne but he'd panicked, terrified he might fall back on his old crutch, and he'd left his glass unfinished. He hadn't had a drink since.

'Are you going to have some champagne at our wedding?' Sara asked, looking straight into her husband's baby blues.

He took a deep breath and shrugged. 'I don't know. I… I want to discuss with Jim first' he admitted, pulling his eyes away from her prying gaze.

Sara let out an audible sigh as her eyes returned to the list sitting on her lap. 'This list is getting really long' she commented. 'And I'm sure we're forgetting people.'

'I was thinking…' Neal said, unsure of how his wife would react to his suggestion. 'How would you feel about me asking Moz to officiate. Remember how upset he was when we wouldn't let him do it the first time around?'

Sara thought for a second and nodded. 'I think that's a great idea, honey. He is legit… well as legit as Mozzie can be and anyway, we're already legally married so what harm can it do. It's not like he can 'unmarry' us... can he?'

Neal settled back on his pillow with a satisfied grin. Mozzie would be thrilled to be included in that way. 'What about if we did it here?' he suggested.

'Here? That's an awful lot of people, Neal.'

'We've had big parties before' Neal reminded her. 'It's not a sit-down meal. We could set up in the backyard for the ceremony. There's plenty of room… between the backyard and the house.'

He watched Sara's face as she considered his proposal. 'There's something about celebrating in the place where we've lived for the past twenty-four years, where we raised our kids and where we made all our memories… ' Neal let his voice trail, growing nostalgic.

Their modest house on Meadowbrook Street was chock full of memories, most of them happy ones although, like every couple, they'd had their share of hardships over the years. It seemed fitting that they celebrate their wedding anniversary in the place where they'd lived each and every day, as a family.

Sara grew quiet. 'But if we do it here, you're not doing any of the food preparation, you hear me? It's our special day, Neal' she warned, wagging her finger menacingly in his face.

'Agreed' he said as he grabbed her finger and brought it to his mouth, pretending to take a bite. 'Come on, babe. Lights out' he added suggestively as he moved in for a cuddle.

She seemed to be warming to his suggestion and she put the pad and pencil down on the bedside table, turning to face him.

'What? You think you still got some moves there, grampa?' she teased.

He grabbed her hips, pulling her down on the bed and kissing her hard, taking her breath away. 'Grampa?' he growled. 'I'll show you grampa…'

WCWCWC

Sara sat in the outer office of Winston Bosch's executive suite waiting patiently to be called in to meet with her boss. She wasn't sure what to expect; sure, her boss had always been complimentary when it came to her work performance but over the past year, the company had paid out tens of millions of dollars on some of their richest clients' insurance policies and somehow, she felt partially responsible for the payouts.

Sara had a top-notch team of investigators working day and night for her, prepared to go the extra mile whether it was late-night stakeouts, dumpster diving or just about anything else that needed doing to uncover the truth. Insurance recovery was a nasty business and it wasn't unheard of for clients to try to play the system so they could cash in on their insurance policy.

She was escorted in by Mr. Bosch's perky assistant and she took a seat across from the man himself who sat, hands clasped as he waited for her to settle in.

'Sara, thanks for coming' he began as she sat up straight in her chair, hands poised on her lap.

The man could certainly be intimidating. She'd seen him chewing people out countless times over the years and she was thankful he'd never directed his ire at her but now, she wondered if her number was up.

'I read your weekly report' he said, holding up the typed pages she submitted once a week which outlined the status of the cases that had been entrusted to her team. 'I see we still haven't had any luck locating Mrs. Matthew's brooch.'

Sara took a deep breath. 'Sir, we had a lead but… well, it fell through.'

He nodded, his face remaining serious. 'These payouts have really started to hurt' he admitted. 'The Board is none too pleased and they're putting a lot of pressure on me to deliver.'

'I understand, sir. I —'

Winston Bosch raised his hand, urging her to stop talking. 'Last week, I received this in the mail' he said, throwing an envelope on the desk in her direction.

Sara reached for it and her eyes narrowed as she glanced at the single typewritten sheet of paper inside.

Is it hurting yet Bosch? it read followed by the growing list of items which had disappeared and had yet to be recovered. Alongside each item was a date, ostensibly the moment when the company would run out of time and have to pay out the claim to the client.

'Someone's out to destroy this company - or at least, destroy me. If our bottom line doesn't improve soon, it's just a matter of time before I'm out on my ass' he said, rather uncharacteristically crudely.

Sara nodded in understanding; it wasn't often she saw her boss' vulnerable side - as a matter of fact, she'd never seen it in the thirty odd years she'd worked for the insurance company.

'How can I help?' she asked, assuming that was why he'd summoned her there in the first place.

'I need you to look into this… off book. Somebody out there is out to get me… or the company. But I suspect this is directed at me' he said soberly.

'So you think this is some sort of vendetta?' she asked, intrigued.

He nodded. 'I've made a lot of enemies over the years both personal and professional' he admitted. 'You don't run a company like Sterling Bosch without ruffling a few feathers.'

'I can put my people on it —' she began as Bosch interrupted.

'No' he said firmly. 'You don't understand. Whoever's doing this has access to the list of our most elite clients and the value of the payoff for the most valuable items we insure. There could be a mole inside the organization.'

Sara's eyes grew in surprise. She trusted the people on her team and she always carried out very thorough vetting before hiring. She rarely made mistakes but she had to admit that even she could be misled by someone wishing to take advantage of their position within the company. She thought back to Joe Meyers, an intern she'd hired about eight years before. He'd provided intel to a couple of thieves who had broken into Sterling Bosch's recovery room and had almost gotten away with some valuable recovered items.

'You think this could be the work of a disgruntled employee?' she asked.

He shrugged. 'You know as much as I do that we've had some pretty nasty terminations over the years.'

'What about a personal vendetta?' she deigned to ask.

'It's possible' he said and the tone of his voice led Sara to believe there where some skeletons in her boss' closet. Did she really want to know?

There was silence for a moment as Sara thought of the possibilities.

'I want you to get to the bottom of this, Sara' he said unequivocally.

'Yes sir' she said, preparing to stand. She needed to digest all this information before she formulated a plan of action. 'Let me think about how to go about it and I'll get back to you.'

She stood and Winston Bosch raised his hand. 'I don't need to remind you that this is highly confidential' he said, his voice stern. 'But there is one more thing. I was hoping you could enlist your husband's help with this.'

'Neal?' Sara said with a look of total surprise.

'He has a lot of contacts that might be helpful with… research' he said cagily. 'Do you think he'd do it? I would certainly make it worth his while.'

Sara became tongue-tied. Neal had been a fine upstanding citizen for over twenty years but there was no denying his past as a confidence man and world-renowned forger. Her boss knew of his reputation and yet…

Winston Bosch noticed the look of shock on his face. 'I'm well aware of Mr. Caffrey's past but I also trust you implicitly - and if you trust him, then I do too. I really need this kept to a very small circle.'

Sara nodded, still in shock. 'I'll… talk to him and see if he has time to work on this with me.'

'Thank you' Bosch said, standing. 'I appreciate your loyalty, Sara.'

She smiled and reached for the envelope. 'May I?'

'That's the only copy I've made. You can keep it' he replied.

'I'll be in touch' she said cryptically as she stepped out of her boss' office.

Once back in her office, Sara let out a long, slow breath and reached down to place the envelope in the locked drawer of her desk, pocketing the key.

WCWCWC

'Hey Mom! How's everything?' Liam's voice said over the phone.

'Honey, hi! Is anything wrong?' Sara responded as she stood at the kitchen counter, preparing a salad for her and Neal's dinner.

'No… of course not' he said with a nervous laugh - but she didn't buy it.

Normally, they communicated by text, with the odd message on Twitter if they were both on at the same time but Liam rarely called home unless he wanted to ask his parents something — or if there was some sort of problem.

'How are you doing with your exam prep?' she asked, on a fishing expedition.

'It's going well but we've got a lot of practices and that's taking up most of my time' he admitted.

'Honey, your dad and your uncle Peter are going up this weekend to see your game' she said as Neal strolled back into the kitchen.

'Liam?' he mouthed as she nodded.

'That's great Mom. Is… is he around?' he asked, suspiciously.

'Yeah, yeah, he's right here. Just a minute, sweetie. I'll see you in a couple of weeks, okay? I love you' she said, handing the phone to Neal with a shrug.

'Hey buddy!' Neal called out as he took a seat at the kitchen table. 'How's it going?'

'Hey Dad! Mom says you're coming up this weekend.'

'Yeah' Neal said, giving Sara a dirty look. 'I was hoping to surprise you but…'

Liam chuckled at the other end. 'That's okay. Now, I can look forward to seeing you all week.'

'Did you and Cody have a nice weekend?' Neal asked.

'Yeah, he had to leave on Saturday though, 'cause it was his mom's birthday but it was nice to have him here' Liam admitted.

'So what can I do for you, buddy?' Neal asked, his spidey senses tingling.

'Is Mom still there?' the young man asked.

Neal grew silent; he could feel Sara's eyes boring into the back of his head, listening to every word he was saying.

His dad's silence spoke volumes and Liam spoke up. 'Actually Dad, since you're coming up this weekend anyway…' he said, his voice slowing. '…we could talk while you're here…'

Neal frowned; clearly, something was up but it was obvious Liam wasn't going to open up about it when his mom was within earshot. He was notoriously protective of her, a sentiment Neal was definitely on board with.

'Sure' he said, giving Sara a furtive glance and deciding on a course of action to throw her off the scent. 'I can bring those up for you.'

Liam nodded; his dad had always been really good at deciphering his shorthand.

'Thanks Dad. And try not to worry. I'm not in any trouble… I just need your advice about something.'

'All right!' Neal said cheerfully. 'And I want to take you out for dinner at that great Italian place while we're there.'

'Sounds good, Dad. See you then' Liam said before hanging up.

Liam set the phone down and looked down at the sheet of paper he held in his shaking hands. The note had appeared in one of his textbooks and it had shaken him to the core.

'Get out of town you fairy. We don't need no pansies on the basketball team'

WCWCWC

'So, what was that all about?' Sara asked as Neal leaned in to sneak an artichoke from the salad she was preparing.

'Nothing' Neal sad, his voice even. 'He just wants me to bring up those grey sneakers of his when I go up this weekend.'

Sara gave him a look of pure skepticism. 'Nice try, Caffrey. He didn't even know you were going up when he called.'

Neal deflected with a kiss to her neck, usually a winning move but Sara couldn't be deterred and she pulled away to look at him.

'He was calling to ask us to send them up with Cody' Neal lied with a shrug.

'Right…' Sara said, still not buying it. 'Is this about our anniversary?'

Neal gave her a wicked smile. 'Don't ask so many questions' he murmured, this time with a winning deflection.

Her face brightened up. Mission accomplished.

'So, are we on our own for dinner tonight?' he asked.

'Yeah, Caitlin's got a class' she replied. 'But you better hold on to your hat, Caffrey. You're not going to believe the hot topic of conversation I'm serving up with that salad.'

TBC