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Chapter 4
"So, watcha painting here?" she asked nonchalantly getting closer to the easel
"Oh just trying to get my own style. I used to paint a lot when I was younger" he said
"Oh?" Sara got more interested in this young Neal. The reason why she stayed in New York and her main concern "What did you paint? You had original work?"
"Nah, mostly forgeries" he said "Rembrandt used to be my favorite"
Sara froze "Rembrandt? Any particular reason?"
Neal scratched the back of his head and looked up smiling as if trying to remember simpler and sweeter times "I was fascinated by his paintings. The perfect balance of tridimensional planes even when it is believed he had strabismus you know? The way he mastered the chiaroscuro and how he managed to imprint so much humanity in his portraits is unique, you could almost see people's soul in their oil-canvas eyes"
"Wow sounds like you are a fan…" said Sara getting more and more preoccupied with all this. If Neal was such a big fan there was definitely a motive for him to want to steal the painting. However, she couldn't just go out and tell him of her suspicions, not after she had just apologized for doubting him. Sara felt trapped but did a very good job at keeping calm and she just figured she should try to keep him talking "I thought your fandom went more with certain Italian artists who drew dragons"
"Agh please don't call Raphael's work drawings!" he said disgusted
Sara grinned "Oh sorry… so you liked religious themes, Caffrey? Never pegged you for a believer, I mean, Rembrandt is just one of the biggest baroque masters, it doesn't get more religious than that!"
Neal smiled immensely pleased at having again this intellectual banter he missed so much with Sara "Well, Rembrandt did it all, not only Biblical stuff you know? Portraits were actually his forte, more so at the end of his career"
"Hhhmm so you do know his work I see. Did you forged many of his paintings?" she asked tentatively
"A lot! I pretty much mastered in Rembrandt" he said smiling wistfully "Ah the indiscriminate youth"
Sara gulped "I see… forging and fencing Rembrandts must be a very profitable business"
Neal laughed "Most definitely. But you'd be surprised at how many forged his work, even since he was alive"
"What?" Sara was confused
"Oh yeah, he became very popular from a very young age so he started teaching lots of people in Europe probably allowing his pupils to learn by copying his work. There's also the fact that he used to have around 90 different signatures so you can imagine that forging his art wasn't so hard" he said raising his eyebrows mischievously "But…" he added popping a grape in his mouth and after chewing a little he said "Even when he changed styles radically throughout his career and signed them in 90 different ways, he was so good that only he could paint a Rembrandt. Not many forgeries can be passed for the original"
"Could your forgeries pass up as an original?" she had to ask, it was a very direct question but she knew she had to
Neal chuckled "Hopefully" he teased
Sara sighed heavily "I should get going now"
"Why? Did I say something wrong?" he asked with concern in his eyes
Sara felt guilty somehow but she couldn't explain further "No, Neal, I'm just tired and I have an early start tomorrow at the office"
"What's this case about anyway? Is there something I can help with?" he offered gently
"You know I can't talk about cases, Neal. But thanks for the offer, I'll let you know if I need advice" she said hurrying to get her purse
"Sara…" he called
She turned around gripping her purse with both hands to relieve some of the tension she was feeling right now
Neal walked closer to her and stood inches from her. He looked her in the eye "Thanks for believing in me… in us"
Sara felt crushed. If he only knew that she was exactly doing the opposite by thinking he was guilty or at least involved in one of the most high-profile heists of the XX century. In order to placate her remorseful conscience, Sara convinced herself that she was doing it to protect him from his past and helping to bury and burn all evidence that pointed at a very cynical and not so righteous younger life, so that this wonderful man could be totally free and once and for all reformed.
Neal cupped her cheek with his hand and leaned in "Can I have a kiss goodnight?" he asked with this innocent playful way only he could manage
Sara took a deep breath and instead of answering she just reached up to touch his lips with hers for a brief kiss "See you around, Caffrey" she said after parting and left without looking back
Neal stood there grinning and leaned back on his closed door sighing happily.
"I can't believe you're actually doing the lean-in-the-door-and-sigh-from-lovesickness thing" said Mozzie from the other side of the door
Neal turned and opened the door again "Mozz? Are you spying on me?"
"Don't flatter yourself, I just needed wine and I figured I shouldn't interrupt your happy reunion with miss Repo" said Mozzie entering the apartment and heading straight for the wine cellar "Did you drink all the 73 Cabernet?" he asked
"There's some left in the bottle… Mozz, no offense but it's late and I need to sleep" said Neal, hands on his hips
Mozz frowned at him "I can't believe you're back with Sara after just breaking up with Rebachel"
"Rebachel?" Neal raised an eyebrow
"Yeah, it's easier to refer to her like that. In fact, I'm thinking I should merge my name and my alias to something like Tezzy or Moddy. There's also Bob, so maybe something like Bobzzy? Although it doesn't represent my masculinity" said Mozzie
"And Tezzy does?" asked Neal exasperated
"Yeah, it has this masculine sophistication ring to it and…" started Mozzie and then stopped "So, Sara? I'm surprised she took you back so easily, I'm starting to believe you have this hypnosis-seduction power that vampires have"
"What?"
"Sorry, been watching too much vampire diaries lately…" apologized Mozzie and sat down
Neal shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose "She didn't take me back and we're not back together…"
"But you want to?"
Neal shrugged admitting it without using words "She wants to take things slowly"
Mozzie sighed "Neal, it might be wise to do so" he said and when he saw Neal's dreadful glare he added "For the both of you"
Neal ran his hands through his hair
"Look, all I'm saying is that, you got shaken pretty badly in the love department and it's not fair for Sara to be responsible for picking up the pieces… again" said Mozzie sipping his glass "She already did it with Kate… Just don't hurt her ok?"
Neal raised a questioning eyebrow. Somewhere along the way, apparently Mozzie had grown fond of Sara and he was now trying to protect her "I would never hurt her"
Mozzie nodded "So long-distance relationship huh? You know, I have very HD cameras to do some cyber…"
"Shhh Mozz!" said Neal before his friend could go any further "She's staying in New York indefinitely to work on a case"
It was Mozzie's turn to frown "Don't they have insurance investigators here? Why her?"
Neal shrugged "Don't know, she said it was a high-profile case and her boss wanted her to handle it personally"
"Did she say what it was?"
"She said it was confidential" said Neal
Mozzie crossed his arms with a disbelieving look
"Mozzie what?" asked Neal doing the same
"Last time she handled a case 'personally" said Mozzie quoting with his fingers the last word "was when she helped you get cleared of the Raphael. It was her idea to do it"
Neal frowned and then chuckled "That's too paranoid, even for you Mozz"
"Did you notice anything strange? Any particular subject you talked about with her?" asked the bald man
Neal thought for a second "Aside from the fact that she asked very uncomfortable questions about Rebecca… I don't think so…" said Neal scratching his jaw and then he remembered how she scrubbed the paint from there and it made him think of his painting… "She did ask a lot about the forgeries I did when I was younger though, I told her how obsessed I used to be with Rembrandt"
Mozzie raised his eyebrows "Seriously? Baroque?" and then added "Did you forge any high-profile Rembrandts?"
Neal closed his eyes remembering something and then lowered his head in defeat "I did…" he muttered
"Did you fenced them?" asked Mozzie carefully, now standing up and walking closer to his friend
"Not exactly…" said Neal twisting his mouth
TBC
