Peter, Neal, and Tiffany walked into the canteen and saw Elizabeth sitting at one of the tables with Chris and Matt. All three were laughing.
"I threw his clothes away." El said. "I didn't even try to get that smell out of them. Peter stayed in the shower for over an hour, and he still reeked of fish."
All three laughed harder.
"You had to tell them that story, didn't you?" Peter asked his wife, but he glared at Neal.
"Peter, I had no idea that you would be locked in that storage room overnight." Neal said. "I figured the owner of the boat would be back that day. If I would have known, I would never have locked you in there."
"That was the second suit I ruined while chasing you." Peter said.
"How'd you ruin the first?" Matt asked.
"Chased him through a car wash." Peter answered.
"Hey, I ruined my suit that day too. And it was one of my favorites." Neal said.
"I missed something here." Tiffany said. "Why were you chasing him?"
"I was wanted." Neal replied. "Peter caught me and sent me to prison, then got me released as a CI."
"Agent Burke." Chris said. "I am sorry about throwing a phone at your head."
"You threw a phone at his head?" El asked.
"Yes Ma'am." Chris said. "But he ducked in time." She looked at Peter and said. "I still don't trust you, I doubt that will change. But I am willing to behave and do as I'm told."
"Thank you Chris." Peter said. After hearing what had happened with Cooper, Peter wasn't angry anymore at the young girl. "I hope I can change your mind about trusting me. You have my promise that I will not hurt you."
"We'll see."
Peter nodded, it was a start.
"Now what?" Tiffany asked.
"Now I arrange for a safe house and round the clock protection for you three, and set up a meeting with the DA. Hopefully with your statements, we will have enough to get a search warrant and arrest warrant for Wexler."
"You won't find anything." Chris said. "By now, Wexler knows you have us and Fisher. He won't have anything in his house."
"Do you know where we will find something?" Peter wanted to know.
"A warehouse, but we have no idea where it is." Tiffany said. "We've been there before, but we were always blindfolded. It's filled with stolen paintings and statues."
"We'll look into it." Peter said. "Sit tight, I'll be back in a few minutes." Him and Neal left the room.
"Peter can be trusted." El said, looking at Chris. "He is a good man."
"He's a Fed." Chris said. "I can't trust him, even if I wanted too."
/
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An hour later, Peter and Neal walked back into the canteen. El and the three kids were still sitting at a table talking.
"We've got a safe house set up." Peter said.
"Good." El said, standing up. "When do we leave?"
"We?" Peter asked, slightly confused. Was his wife actually wanting to go to a safe house? He thought he was going to have to argue with her to get her to agree. Then he smiled as he realized why she was so eager to go, she wanted to be there for the kids. She wanted to help them cope with everything that was going on. He had been married to her for ten years, yet she still found ways to amaze him.
"Now." Then he turned to Tiffany. "Are all of your clothes at Wexler's?"
"No Sir." Tiffany said. "We always keep a bag packed and put in a place where we can get to it quickly. Locker two c at the bus station on Flint Street."
"I'll have an agent to pick it up and bring it to the safe house." Peter said. Then he looked at his wife. "I'll have Diana to pack you a bag."
Peter, Neal, El, and the three siblings left the bureau and went to the parking garage and over to Peter's car. The three adults climbed into the front seat and the Cutter children got into the back seat.
The drive to the safe house lasted almost an hour. Once inside, Peter called the three kids together.
"Rules." He said. "No going outside, no answering the phone, and no answering the door."
"Come on kids." El said. "Let's go pick out our rooms." El and the kids went upstairs.
/
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Nathan Wexler sat at his desk in his study, a look of pure fury on his face.
"They told everything they knew." The man sitting across from him said. "Burke is currently trying to obtain an arrest and search warrant."
"Those ungrateful brats." Wexler growled "I take them into my home and this is the thanks I get. They are going to pay dearly for betraying me. And Burke is going to pay also."
"What do you want me to do?" The man asked.
"Find out where they are."
"That won't be easy, Burke is keeping the location of the safe house secure."
"I don't care how you do it." Wexler growled. "But I want to know where those backstabbing whelps are."
"Would you like for me to dispose of them after I find them?"
"No, I want that pleasure for myself."
"Of course."
"Make it happen Agent Grant."
"Do not worry." Agent Grant said, standing up. "Burke thinks I'm a team player, he doesn't suspect a thing. I will find the requested information."
"And I will make sure you are well compensated."
"You always have."
/
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The next day, Peter was sitting in his office. He had gotten a search warrant, but came up empty handed. The DA would not issue an arrest warrant on the testimony of the Cutter kids alone, and Fisher refused to talk. So they were back at square one. Peter heard a knock on his door and looked up.
"Come on in, Paul." Peter said.
Agent Paul Grant walked in.
"How's it going?" Grant asked, sitting down. "Did the DA give you the warrant?"
"No." Peter sighed in frustration.
"How are the kids holding up?"
"Pretty good." Peter smiled. "They are good kids, but Chris has got a temper and a mouth on her."
"She's twelve, right?"
"That's right."
"I've got a twelve-year-old niece, she's also got a mouth on her. If you need an extra man, I'm in. I don't want to see anything happen to three kids."
"Thanks Paul." Peter said. "I'll keep that in mind."
"You sure you've got them in a secured place?"
'Oh yeah, no one is going to find this place. A friend of Neal's arranged it."
"The short weird guy?"
"That's the one."
"Can you trust him?"
"With the good silverware, no." Peter said. "With the safety of three kids, without a doubt."
"I better get back to work." Grant said, standing up. "Remember my offer for help if you need it."
"I will, thanks."
"See you later." Grant left Peter's office, a small smile on his face. All he had to do was find Neal's friend and force him to tell where the safe house was. Then dispose of him, no one would ever suspect a fifteen-year veteran of the FBI had anything to do with it. It was a perfect plan.
/
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Chris was bored. Tiffany was playing a computer game, Matt was reading a book, El and Diana were in the kitchen cooking, and Jones was watching tv.
The twelve-year-old sat on her bed and looked out the window, it was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining, and there was a north breeze. She really wanted to go outside.
"Why not." She said to herself, standing up smiling. "I'll be back before anyone even knows I'm gone."
Chris opened her window and climbed out onto the roof, then she walked across the roof to the other side, where a rose trellis stood. The twelve-year-old quickly climbed down the trellis and jogged across the street.
Smiling, she decided to do a little exploring. She planned on only being gone for a few minutes, but that was before she saw the skate park. Chris saw a few skateboards sitting on the sidewalk with no one close by. Walking by, she swiped one and kept on walking. She walked over to the biggest ramp and smiled, she loved skateboarding.
/
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"Damnit." Jones said, as he pulled out his cell phone.
"Burke." Peter's voice said through the phone.
"We've got a problem." Jones said, as he walked around the side of the house. "Chris is gone."
"What?"
"The bedroom door was opened, an there were footprints in the dirt by the rose trellis."
"How long?"
"Last time I saw her was ten minutes ago, I'm sorry."
"Not your fault, Jones." Peter said. "Neal and me will be there in about five minutes."
"Diana's inside, I'm searching the area."
/
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"I'm going to kill that kid." Peter growled, after hanging up.
"She's probably bored." Neal said.
"Don't you dare defend her actions." Peter said.
"She could be there." Neal said, nodding towards a skate park. "Plenty of kids to blend into."
Peter parked the car and the two men got out and started looking for her.
"Man that chick can rip." Two teenage boys walked past Peter and Neal, talking.
"Can't be more'n twelve. Dude, she's too young to….."
"Excuse me." Peter said. "Where is this chick that can rip?"
"Over there." One of the teens pointed to a crowd that had gathered around one of the larger ramps.
Peter and Neal walked over and saw that the chick was indeed Chris. And they agreed, she was good. They watched as she skated up and down the ramps, clearing them by several feet before landing for another round.
Peter angrily stalked to the end of the ramp, and Chris stopped skating when she saw him. She was at the bottom of the ramp and looked up at him, several of the spectators groaned. Upset that the show was over.
"Get up here." Peter demanded.
Chris picked up her skateboard, then used the ladder to climb to the top of the ramp. She swallowed the lump in her throat when she saw Peter's face, he looked really mad.
"Let's go." Peter said, through gritted teeth. Then he turned and stalked back to towards the car. Chris sighed, dropped the skateboard, and followed him. Neal walked beside her. Peter pulled out his cell phone and called Jones.
"He's ticked." Chris whispered.
"He has a right to be, what you did was dangerous." Neal whispered back. "I know being cooped up inside isn't fun, but it's for your own protection."
"I was only going to be gone for a few minutes, but then I found the skate park."
They made it to the car and Peter opened the back door and glared at the young girl, she slowly climbed in.
The drive back to the safe house only lasted a couple of minutes. Chris got out and went inside, wanting to put distance between herself and Peter.
"Where the hell have you been?" Tiffany angrily asked, as soon as the twelve-year-old walked inside.
"I just went to the skate park." Chris said, her voice small. Tiff rarely yelled at her, and she never cussed.
"Upstairs." Peter said, once him and Neal entered. "Your room, nose in the corner."
"What?" Chris asked, looking at him in surprise. "You can't make me stand in the corner."
"You are currently in the custody of the FBI, that's me. I am too angry to deal with you right now, I need time to calm down. Now get upstairs and do as I say."
Chris looked into Peter's angry eyes for a moment, then turned and ran upstairs. He really looked mad.
"What was she thinking?" Peter asked, rubbing a hand over his face.
"She was bored." Tiffany said, sadly. "I know that is no excuse, but it's what happened. When Chris gets bored, she doesn't think clearly."
/
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Chris stood angrily in the corner. How dare that Fed put her in a corner? He had no right to, he wasn't her boss. All she did was go to the skate park; there was no crime in that. Who does he think he is?
She knew that she wasn't supposed to leave the house, but that was a dumb rule. Then she sighed. What if someone would have seen her and reported to Wexler? She knew he had his goons out looking for them. She could have led one directly to her brother and sister.
And she figured that they were worried about her when they didn't know where she was, her brother and sister anyway. Maybe El and Neal. But she knew that the three Feds weren't, why would they care if she lived or died? But she did worry Tiff, Matt, El, and Neal.
She heard the door opening and heard someone walk into the room, then she heard someone sat on the bed.
"Come here Christina." Peter's voice said.
Chris turned around and noticed that Peter looked calmer, but he still looked pissed. She slowly walked over to him and stood in front of him.
"Why?" Peter asked, his voice stern.
"I was bored." She admitted. She knew it was a lame excuse, but it was the truth.
"Do you know why what you did was wrong?"
"I didn't at the time, I mean, I knew I was disobeying you and breaking one of the rules. But I didn't think about the other things."
"What other things?"
"If one of Wexler's goons would have saw me, I could have lead them straight to Tiff and Matt. And I know I worried Tiff, Matt, El, and Neal when no one knew where I was."
"You had us all worried." Peter said, his voice turning gentle.
"Why were you worried?" Chris asked, confused. "It can't be about the case, I mean I'm not much help to you there."
"Because I care about you." Peter said truthfully, he was really stating to like the three kids. "I know you and FBI agents haven't really worked out in the past, but I am not Cooper. I am Peter Burke, and I will not hurt you like Cooper did. You can not lump all Feds into one pile based on what one person did to you. FBI agents are like every other group of people. There are good ones and there are bad ones."
"I know what you said makes sense." Chris said. "But it will take time."
"I know." Then his voice became stern again. "Now back to your little excursion. El and Diana have dinner ready, so we are going downstairs to eat. After dinner, you will wash all the dishes, then go straight to bed."
"But it's only seven o'clock." Chris said.
"The next time you want to break the rules, maybe this will help you think twice about it."
Chris nodded, she knew she deserved to be punished. What she did was dangerous.
"Come on, dinner smells wonderful." Peter said.
"Are you mad at me?" Chris asked. She was surprised to find that she was starting to like the Fed. But she was still wary of trusting him.
"No, I'm not mad." Peter said. "You broke the rules, and I gave you a punishment. Your slate is wiped clean."
/
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