Peter heard Lyle step into the elevator and the doors close. "Whew!" He sighed in relief, stepping out from behind the oversized modern sculpture. "That was too close, Neal. We are not doing that again!" His voice dropped to a loud whisper. "You made him suspicious!"
"I was merely reflecting his slick charisma back onto him where it belongs!" Neal whispered back as he stepped out from behind a tall ficus in a boxy terra cotta planter. Peter opened his mouth to reply, but Neal quickly clapped his hand over the agent's lips and pulled both of them back behind the sculpture just as he heard another two pairs of footsteps coming around the corner.
Two security guards emerged and began to search the office suite, looking for any signs of trouble. Peter and Neal stayed hidden behind the sculpture, but it was really only large enough to accommodate one man. Peter's back was pressed uncomfortably tightly against Neal's chest; he was pinned against the wall by his handler's body. The agent could feel Neal's heart beating hard and fast against his back, which surprised him. Neal's certainly gotten out of trickier situations than this before, he mused. I have got to figure out what is up with this kid.
The silence was broken when first guard mumbled something about this being a big waste of his time. The other guard's radio crackled. "Twenty-fourth floor, Lyle's office. Nothing's out of place. I think our guys are long gone." The radio crackled once more before the fuzzy reply came through; "Alright, Dave, Mike, thanks. Head down to the twelfth floor and meet up with Aaron in accounting. He's locked himself out of his office again." With a chuckle, the footsteps faded away, and Peter and Neal were flooded with relief.
Peter decided to use the opportunity to confront his consultant. He turned around and put his hand to Neal's chest. His heart was still pounding rapidly. "Easy, kid. Take a deep breath, okay?"
Neal pushed the hand away, uncomfortable with his body's betrayal. "I'm fine, Peter," he said, avoiding the agent's gaze.
"There's no shame in being afraid, Neal," Peter replied with obvious effort, his attempt at comfort not coming naturally.
"I wasn't scared!" He looked up, indignant. "I'm a con man – con as in confidence."
"Then you should see a doctor about your tachycardia, it could be serious." Peter retorted sarcastically.
"Maybe I was just really turned on by you," Neal deflected with all the charm he could muster. He forced a cheesy wink at Peter, who snorted in disbelief.
"I've seen you with the ladies, Neal – you make them weak just by being in the same room." He paused. "Come on, I know your hands have been shaking all day." He gave his partner an expectant look.
"Caffeine withdrawal," he explained curtly. "You drove right past the coffee shop without even considering that I might need fuel."
"How rude of me," Peter sassed, throwing his arms up in frustration.
"Rude, indeed," Neal confirmed with a nod.
They were deadlocked. Peter did not know how to press his consultant any further towards opening up, and Neal did not want to let the agent shatter his denial.
Finally, Peter broke their silent staring contest. "Let's get copies of those documents Lyle left out before those goons realize we're still inside." He held his hand out for Jacqueline's badge. As Neal placed it in his partner's hand, Peter could feel the cold sweat on the con artist's palm. But having already lost that battle, he let it go, cataloging it for later. He swiped the badge and walked back into Lyle's office with his partner right behind him.
The papers were still in plain sight on Lyle's filing cabinet, sticking out of the manila folder at odd angles. The label on the folder read Thaynic Project. Peter photographed each page, one at a time, with his cell phone camera, as quickly as he could. There was no time to look at them now; he could analyze them later from the comfort of his bureau office.
However, Neal was looking at them over Peter's shoulder. Only some of the pages contained financial records. Most of them appeared to be surveillance notes. Someone was very careful not to say who she was, but this woman was definitely under investigation. He wanted to read more, but his partner had finished taking pictures and was stashing the documents back into the folder similar to how he had found them.
"Let's go, Neal," Peter said softly.
"There's an air duct in the men's room on this floor that connects to an opening on the roof. We can take the fire escape down from there."
Of course he already has an escape plan, the agent thought. They made their way to the restroom, while Neal wiped the prints off Jacqueline's badge and tossed it haphazardly into the ficus.
"It'll look like it fell off when she rubbed against it," Neal answered his partner's questioning expression. "She won't suspect Lyle's business school buddies were behind the security breach." He grinned mischievously. Grudgingly, Peter had to respect the con man's intellect. Sure, it sometimes got him into trouble; but today, it had gotten them both out of it.
Neither of them spoke again until their shoes landed firmly on the concrete outside Macmillan, Lyle, and Walters. "Coffee, Neal?"
"About time, Peter," the younger man griped. "Your treat?"
Peter shook his head and said nothing while Neal sauntered down the street next to him.