Neal made his way through the streets and finally arrived at the Burke residence. Terrible flashbacks were tormenting his mind as he pushed open the front door and looked around. El was crying on the couch, and there were about three agents in the kitchen, huddled around a computer and arguing. Neal ignored them and immediately turned his attention to El, sitting down next to her and wrapping her in a hug.

"It's going to be ok," Neal whispered soothingly. "I promise, we're going to find him." El didn't respond, still crying into his shoulder.

Two hours ago, suspicious about Peter's failure to show up to the office, Diana had traced Peter's cell phone, only to find it, as well as his car, abandoned in an alley, with a few drops of Peter's blood by the open driver's side door. Neal felt so guilty. He knew there was more to that message. He should have done something, anything, to convince Peter to take it more seriously, to be more careful. He should have been there.

Neal spent most of the rest of the day with El, doing his best to calm her, trying to in some way make things right in his mind while they searched for Peter, only leaving for about an hour when Jones asked him to come to the office and help them out. Later that night, El asked his Neal could spend the night because she didn't feel safe alone.

"It's just for tonight," El assured him. "I'm sure I'll get over it by tomorrow, but for now...I just, don't want to be here alone..."

"Sure," Neal agreed. "No problem."

El nodded gratefully, and they were silent for a moment. "God, I can't believe this is happening again..." she said finally, her voice quiet.

"I'm sorry, El," Neal said helplessly. "I promise, we're going to get Peter back. And there are a couple of agents sitting on the house so you'll be fine, too."

"I know, it's just...Every time Peter leaves this house, I get scared he won't come back. And after what happened with Keller and Mason...I just don't know if I can keep doing this..." El sighed.

"Peter is going to be fine," Neal said firmly. "I will bring him home safe, I promise."

El hesitated, then nodded. "Ok," she agreed. Then she got a blanket and pillow so Neal could sleep on the couch, and finally crawled into bed...

Peter woke up slowly, his head throbbing, his eyes burning, and feeling all-around crappy. He struggled to open his eyes and lift his head. Finally, he managed to do both, and looked around. He was still in the apartment, and realized he was handcuffed to a wooden chair, the chain looped under one of the wooden beams across the back of the chair, connecting the back too legs.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Peter turned his head to see Logan lounging on a threadbare couch in the corner. "It's about time you woke up. You slept straight through the night." When Peter didn't answer, Logan stood up from the couch, grabbed another chair identical to Peter's, dragged it over in front of the FBI agent, and spun it around, straddling it, and resting his arms across the back of the chair, facing Peter.

"You feel up to answering some questions?" he asked. He didn't give Peter a chance to answer. "Great," he smiled, pulling a photograph out of his pocket and holding it up in front of Peter's face. It was a surveillance shot of Neal exiting his house. "Who is this?"

Without thinking, his brain a little slow on thoughts, but not on memories, which all seemed to have a direct line to his mouth, he answered, "That's Neal."

"What's Neal's last name?" Logan pressed.

It seemed like Peter's brain didn't have enough time to process and filter his answers before he spoke them. "Caffrey," he said softy.

"Good, and how do you know him?" Logan continued.

Finally, Peter seemed to get a grip. "He's a friend," he said simply, becoming more alert, trying not to give anything away.

Logan studied the FBI man's face, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. "Ok," he nodded, seeming to buy it. "At least now that I have a name I can do my own research and see what you're not telling me," he shrugged, taking out another picture and holding it up in front of his face as Peter sighed hopelessly and looked down.

"Eyes up here, Peter," Logan commanded. Slowly, Peter looked up at the picture in front of his face. When he did, his heart skipped a beat. It was a picture of Neal with Jessica at the park with Shadow, taken just a few days ago, when Shadow got off leash and Peter thought Neal was trying to run. He could tell by the suit Neal was wearing.

Logan smiled at the flash of recognition in Peter's eyes. "Who is that little girl with Neal?" he asked. Peter didn't answer. Logan tilted his head slightly and smiled. "That's his daughter, isn't it?" Peter's face told him everything. "It is," Logan laughed. "Great, then this shouldn't be too hard."

"You touch her, or El, and I will kill you," Peter threatened.

"Big words for someone in your situation," Logan sneered. Peter fell silent.

"Since you bring up El," Logan continued. "That brings me to one last thing I need you to tell me." Peter looked like he was trying to strangle Logan with his eyes as he spoke. Logan saw this and smiled. "Tell me everything you know about El."

Neal paced the floor of his apartment, deep in thought, as the sun set behind him, trying desperately to think of something, anything, that would help find Peter. He had spent the majority of the day at the FBI, helping them find leads and trying his hardest to get something solid. Unfortunately, with all of Peter's success in the white collar crime unit came a lot of enemies, and they hadn't gotten much of anything.

"At this rate, all you're going to accomplish is wearing a groove in the floor," Mozzie said from the kitchen table.

"I'm missing something, Moz," Neal sighed, continuing to pace.

"Maybe if you and your little prodigy could get together and work it out," Mozzie smiled, obviously referring to Jessica. He had gotten really excited when Neal told him about how she cracked the code that even he hadn't had any luck at. He had started rambling about how many cons they could do with Jessica on their team.

Just like he had that night, Neal shook his head. "I'm not getting Jessica involved in this life, Moz. She's just a little girl."

"She's your little girl, Neal," Moz reminded him. "And she's every bit as talented as you are. She might even pass you on the talent scale at the rate she's going."

Neal sighed. "She picked the lock on her front door the other day," he said softly. Mozzie's eyes got wide.

"Really?" he said excitedly.

Neal nodded. "She lost her house key," he confirmed. He wasn't sure why he was telling Mozzie this, because he was serious when he said he wasn't going to let Jessica get involved in this life. Maybe some part of him was just proud of her and had to brag.

"I'm starting to really like this kid of yours, Neal," he said, grinning.

Neal smiled and chuckled softly. Then he shook his head and got back on topic. "Something's not right," he said. "I'm missing something. I can feel it."

Mozzie sighed. "Well, what is it that's bugging you?" he asked at last.

"It's just..." Neal paused. "If this was just about Peter, why kill Simon? How does he fit into this?"

"Had Peter ever handled any of his cases?" Mozzie asked.

Neal was about to answer when, on the table beside Mozzie, Neal's phone rang. He quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Neal, it's Rebecca," Neal could hear Jessica crying in the background.

"Rebecca?" Neal asked, surprised. "What is it? Is Jessica ok?"

"Oh, yeah, Jessica's fine. Shadow, however, got into a bag of chocolate chips and ate about three quarters of it," Rebecca sighed.

"Oh, no," Neal sounded worried. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I think so," Rebecca confirmed. "But I'm going to get him to the vet, and I think it would be best if Jessica stayed with you while I went. It's just for a couple hours."

Neal was just about to respond when someone knocked on his door. He hurriedly pulled open the door and found Jones in the doorway. Not bothering to hide the surprise on his face, he moved aside to let the agent in. At the table, Mozzie visibly stiffened.

"Neal?" Rebecca said, snapping Neal back to the conversation at hand.

"Oh, uh, right, sure, Rebecca, no problem. Bring her on over," Neal nodded.

"Ok, great. We're already on our way, we should be there in about a minute," Rebecca told him.

"Sounds good," Neal agreed. "See you then." With that, they hung up.

"Ok, Jones, I will totally listen to why you're here, but just give me a second," Neal sighed, starting for the door. In the doorway, he stopped and turned back to the room. "Actually, how about we move this party downstairs?"

"Sounds fine to me," Jones agreed. Mozzie simply nodded, and then all three men made their way down the stairs to the first floor.

Almost as soon as they reached the first floor, Neal saw Rebecca pull up to the house and Jessica hop out. Neal jogged to the door and met Jessica by the front steps, leading her inside. She was crying.

"Shadow's going to be fine," Neal said reassuringly as Jessica took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees up to her chest, and didn't reply. Neal sighed. "Well, Jones, Mozzie, and I are going to be in the next room if you need us, ok?" Jessica simply nodded. Neal hesitated, then left the room, heading into the room where not long ago, he and Peter had discussed the message Jessica had cracked.

"Ok, so what's up, Jones?" Neal asked, keeping his voice low.

"I was just wondering if you had any idea what we we're missing, here," Jones sighed.

"You, too, huh?" Mozzie commented.

Neal was about to reply when, suddenly, Jessica screamed in the other room. Without even a moment's hesitation, Neal dashed around the corner and into the foyer, only vaguely aware of Jones and Mozzie following close behind. "Jessica!" he called, and froze when he saw what was happening. A man in his thirties, with dark brown hair and grey eyes, was holding Jessica by the arm, a gun aimed at her head.

Neal's heart skipped a beat, his breathing growing shallow. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you want, but please, just let Jessica go," he said softly.

"Oh, her?" the man smiled, glancing down at Jessica before returning his gaze to Neal. "I couldn't care less about Jessica, Neal. I will let her go, I swear, just as long as you do what I say."

Neal glanced at Jones, who was on his left, his gun drawn and aimed at the man, then at Jessica, who was looking at him with terrified eyes. Finally, he looked up and met the man's gaze.

The man grinned when he saw the look on Neal's face. "Good, so we understand each other," he said evenly. "First things first. Have your friend over there back off and drop his gun."

Neal looked at Jones, his eyes pleading. Jones glanced between Neal, Jessica, and the man holding her captive. Finally, after a long, agonizing minute, Jones did as the man said, dropping his gun to the floor.

"Good," The man smiled. "Agent...Jones, correct?" Jones' angry expression told him everything he needed to know. Neal, on the other hand, was staring at Jessica. Her eyes were terrified, full of tears, but there was something else there, too, a knowing spark that conflicted with her fear.

"Now, here's how things are going to work," the man said with a smile. "Agent Jones, you're going to let Neal out of his anklet, and then Neal, you're going to come with me. Jessica is going to stay here. Sound good? Great. Now get to it."

Jones hesitated, his jaw clenched. Neal glanced between him and Jessica and back, his eyes frantic.

"Jones, please..." Neal said softly.

"Daddy...?" Jessica's voice shook as she spoke, choked with tears. Then she screamed when the man grabbed a handful of her blonde hair and pulled her head back, pressing the gun to her temple.

"Jones!" Neal shouted desperately.

"Alright!" Jones called, causing the man to slowly release Jessica's hair and grab her arm once more. Jones reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring. Hanging from it was the little black key electronic that unlocked Neal's anklet. Neal put his foot up on the arm of the couch, and Jones quickly freed him of his anklet.

"Good, Jones," the man smiled. "Now, Neal, come over to me."

"No," Neal said defiantly, sounding a lot more confident than he was feeling. "You let Jessica go, and then I go with you. But until she's over here, safe, I'm not going anywhere."

The man hesitated, thinking. "Compromise. Jessica will walk towards you, you will walk towards me, everybody goes home happy," he paused, then smiled. "Well, almost everyone. Deal?"

Neal didn't respond for a while, but finally, he nodded, "Ok."

"Neal," Jones warned. Neal looked at him helplessly.

"You start walking, and I let Jessica go," The man said. Neal nodded, took a deep breath, and slowly started forward. After one or two steps, as promised, the man let Jessica go, and she started walking just as slowly as Neal was towards Jones and Mozzie. Somewhere along the way, Jessica and Neal met, and for a moment, her hand brushed his, and immediately Neal knew what that knowing spark had been about. He gave his daughter a little half smile, and then, before he knew it, the man who had attacked her was pulling him out the door and pushing him into the driver's seat of a silver sedan parked at the curb while he got in the back seat.

"Drive," the man commanded. Neal obeyed, starting the car and taking off down the street. In the rear view mirror, he saw Jones come out of the house, but by then, it was too late...