As promised here's another chapter :)

The cab pulled up in front of the house and Peter threw a wad of bills at the driver before rushing in. He did not pause to survey the mess that was his living room, but went straight for the basement hoping that this wasn't another one of Keller's games. Peter had always known that Keller had guts, but he could never have imagined that he would dare to break into a federal agent's house, kidnap his wife, and then leave her in the basement of said house itself.

He threw open the door leading to the basement and hurried down the stairs. If El really was here, then Keller must have hurt her pretty badly so that she won't be able to call for help. Or perhaps she was drugged, or worse…

Shaking his head to clear it of such morbid thoughts he ran his hand on the wall, looking for the light switch. Finding it he flicked it and the basement was lit up by the tiny bulbs that Peter had spent six hours putting up, one summer long ago. There were boxes scattered all over the large area covered by the basement, with the exception of the wall that housed the wine rack. Peter wove in between them looking for any kind of movement in the semi darkness. "El! Where are you?" He called out, straining his ears to hear for a reply. Yet there was none. He broke out in a run, yelling El's name over and over. Reaching the middle of the large room, he bent over trying to catch his breath. He thought he heard a faint scuffling but with the blood pounding in his ears, he couldn't be sure. He held his breath so that he could make out the direction from where it was coming and followed till the corner of the room. He reached a small clearing which wasn't stacked with boxes and there slumped against the wall, was El. Her hands were taped to the pipe over her head and her mouth was gagged. But she was conscious, and was rubbing her legs against the floor. Peter fell on his knees in front of his wife and slowly removed the tape over her mouth and hands. With tears streaking down his cheeks, he gathered her in a tight hug, relief coursing through his body. He ran his fingers in her hair, matted with sweat and blood, and over her body to make sure that she wasn't hurt.

"El, baby talk to me." He cupped her small face in his hands. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"Pet'r?" her voice hoarse from disuse.

"Yes darling, I have you now. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine" He assured her wiping the tears of relief that were falling from her eyes.

She suddenly started squirming in his grasp. "Peter… Neal…"

"Hush baby, Neal went to give the treasure to Keller. A team is monitoring his movements at the office and we'll…" Peter trailed off when his wife shook her head.

"No, Keller… called Neal." She whispered softly. "Told him to… run with truck." Peter couldn't believe it. Keller had called Neal? Why would he do that? Unless…

"Honey, when did he call him? Before or after he took you?" Peter asked his wife gently, not wanting to know the answer to his own question.

"Before... I was in the kitchen cooking when I thought I heard something in the backyard." Elizabeth stopped to catch her breath then continued, "That's when I heard him talking on the phone with someone. He sounded angry, kept saying that he'll handle the Fed. Before he hung up he called the person whom he was talking to Neal, and told him to come to the air strip as soon as he had the truck." El looked up at her husband, tears blurring our vision. "Peter, did Neal…?" she didn't have the energy to continue and simply stared at her husband.

Peter couldn't believe it. He didn't want to. Neal had been planning this all along. Taking El to divert the attention, and then appearing to help him; it had all been a ruse, a long con. He had betrayed him, lied to him, even hurt his wife. Peter's body trembled with rage. How could he do this to him? After all that Peter and El had done… did all the time they spend together mean nothing at all to the con man?

He stood up, cradling his wife in his arms. "Don't worry El; Neal is in for a little surprise. I had Jones load empty crates in the truck." Peter gave a grim smile. "Keller won't be too thrilled when he finds out that Neal ran without the treasure."

He made his way out of the basement and up the stairs to their bedroom, carrying his wife in his arms and laid her softly on the bed. He put a blanket on her, and stepped back when she instantly fell into a tired sleep.

He ran a hand through his hair, mind still seething with anger. He pulled out his phone and dialed Diana's number. "Are you still monitoring Caffrey's GPS data?" he asked as soon as his probie picked up.

"Yes Boss, he has been driving towards the outskirts of New York." Diana replied, sensing the tension in her superior's voice.

"Is there an air strip there, nearby?" Peter asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes, there is, though not for another three miles in the direction in which Neal is going." Diana confirmed his wife's suspicion. Peter closed his eyes and steeled himself.

"OK I want you to reach there as soon as you can with the Marshals." Pushing all his disappointment and grief to the back of his mind, Peter assumed the role of Special Agent Peter Burke, on his way to arrest a fleeing criminal, not to confront a friend. "Send two agents down to my place to guard El. Neal is going to run." He clicked the phone shut, checked to see if his gun was loaded, gave his sleeping wife a quick peck on the cheek and made his way out of the house.

So what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Let me know through your reviews... I'll have more up in a couple of hours. :)