Chapter 4

'Call back when you have something useful to say. And get those damn police cars away from the loading dock if you want to talk to me' said Mateo angrily as he disconnected the call

Peter turned towards Diana who was standing by with a couple of members of the Harvard crew.

'Diana, see if you can find anything on a guy with first name Mateo and a second guy, Joey – Hispanic, I think'

'Right, boss' she answered as she began plugging away at her computer

'And get Sanders to back off outside the loading dock. The police presence is making them nervous. I don't want them getting trigger happy. They've already shown us they're not afraid to use a gun'

Peter returned to his headphones hoping to find out a little more.

'Mateo' said a voice they hadn't heard before 'What are we gonna do about Manny?'

'Don't worry about Manny, he's staying in the wings until we need him'

Peter piped up again, turning towards Diana 'And there's a Manny. See if these guys are part of a crew. I get the feeling they're family or something'

'Sure thing' answered Diana

'Jones' continued Peter 'I think we probably have a van or truck lurking on a nearby street. Take a drive and see if you see anything suspicious but don't intervene just yet'

'Got it' answered Jones as he prepared to leave the van with two of the crew.

WCWCWC

The room grew quiet for a moment as the trio paced and continued to check the goings on just outside the loading dock. Although the dock was visible to anyone looking out from the mail room, the reverse wasn't the case. Despite the large opening – big enough for a truck to back up into – anyone looking in was hampered by strips of heavy plastic ostensibly put there to keep the elements such as rain out of the shipping and receiving room. As the thugs watched, they could see the squad cars begin to pull away and out of view.

Sara and Neal sat quietly, letting Peter pick up on the exchanges between the men and letting Agent Burke draw his own conclusions. Neal had been paying attention to what had been said and thus far he realized that Peter already knew the following: the hotel employee had been killed, Sara was being held hostage and he knew the names of two of the three crooks plus the fact that someone named Manny, most likely their driver, was out there somewhere nearby awaiting instructions.

Every once in a while, Neal would glance over at Sara, trying to communicate with his eyes and hoping to keep her calm and centered. She had never seen her husband quite like this before, knee deep in action, focussed and doing the job she'd always known he was so good at. Neal seemed totally in control; she on the other hand could feel her body shaking and her knees weakening. Sara glanced over at him, with a small smile, happy he was there next to her; even though their situation was still dire, she gathered strength and courage from his physical presence next to her.

Over the years, Neal had proven time and time again that he could work under pressure, remaining calm, all the while finding solutions even when there seemed to be no way out. Sara was headstrong and witty and could hold her own in a verbal exchange with crooks and fences but it was all false bravado – Neal, on the other hand was capable of making anyone believe pretty well anything he needed them to believe and he could usually talk or charm his way, unharmed, out of anything he'd gotten himself into.

The trio began whispering and Neal took advantage of the situation, glancing over at Sara.

'I'm going to try to get them to let you go' he said under his breath

'No' whispered Sara 'I'm not leaving you here alone'

'Sara, please, this is one of those rare times you've got to do what I tell you. I know what I'm doing' murmured Neal, insistently

'Hey, shut up over there' called out Mateo from the huddle in the middle of the room

'Look' said the thief to his two cohorts 'I just want to get the hell out of here with some of this loot. Maybe the Fed is right – let's let the guy go; it'll buy us some leverage. We'll still have the girl - she's worth more to us, anyway - chicks always are'

'Well, she's certainly prettier than he is' added Joey with a leer in Sara's direction

'Stay focussed, Joey' Mateo barked 'She's not here for your entertainment'

Neal could sense that they were about to make a move – if they were planning on letting him go in exchange for some concession from the police, that would leave Sara on her own – and he was definitely not going to let that happen. He needed to make himself indispensable to the crooks somehow, and a idea occurred to him as he thought back to the plans he'd had a glimpse of before he came in.

WCWCWC

Peter turned to his team, huddled in the van.

'Diana, anything on these guys, yet?'

'I think I found them – Mateo Suarez, his brother Manny, Joey Santos and Jose Perez. They were arrested for fencing stolen goods and suspected in that heist at the Weston Museum last year. They go by the crew name 'Mexican Maniacs'. Small time, really - but from a gang background and certainly not afraid to use guns'

'Alright' sighed Peter 'keep digging, find out all you can about them. I'll try to make contact again. Neal can handle himself but if we can at least get Sara out of there...'

The phone rang on the late Phil Jackson's desk once again and Mateo walked slowly to answer.

'This is Agent Burke again. Look, we've moved the cars out of the loading dock area. You've got to give me something. Why don't you let the woman go; she's innocent in all of this'

Sara looked uneasily at Neal. As much as she couldn't wait to get out of this place, she wasn't about to walk out and leave Neal alone with these thugs. Neal looked straight ahead, not giving anything away, holding his breath and hoping that within a few minutes, she would be safely out of reach of these gun wielding crooks.

'Look, Burke we'll give you the maintenance guy but I want something in exchange. I want to walk out of here with my associates and some crates and I want guarantees you won't tail us'

Neal stared ahead, not blinking. No way was he walking out; he had to find a way to make himself essential to their escape plans so they would hold on to him and let Sara go.

'Let me see what I can do' answered Peter, stalling for time. He knew that Neal would be trying to think of some reason for the men to keep him around and he needed to give Neal the time he needed to put forward any idea he was percolating to the motley crew.

The phone went dead and Mateo banged his fist loudly on the desk sending the desk lamp flying onto the floor.

'Dammit' he yelled as he realized he wasn't getting the leverage he thought he had

'Joey, grab the chick' he yelled to his partner

Joey walked over to Sara, untying her feet from the chair and roughly pulling her up and dragging her to where Mateo stood, boiling mad. She stood, unsteady at first, her legs almost giving out as she let herself be pulled forcefully across the floor to the middle of the room.

Mateo put the gun against Sara's cheek and brought his face up to hers.

'Sara, was it? Tell me, do you have anybody special waiting for you at home?' he asked in an effort to intimidate her. When the Fed called back, it would be very helpful for him to hear a frightened hostage in the background.

'Huh?' he insisted

'I...I have a little girl' said Sara, finally as fear took over.

'Ah, that's sweet. We'll make sure to mention that to the nice man when he calls back' said Mateo, mocking her

Neal looked on in horror, realized he was running out of time. These guys were no strangers to violence and he couldn't chance Sara getting caught in the crossfire. In a calm and resigned voice, he spoke as he watched Sara being manhandled by the overzealous Mateo.

'Look, guys, I think I can help you get out of here' he said, softly but authoritatively

This seemed to get the ringleader's attention as he turned from Sara towards Neal, a questioning look on his face.

'This better be good Tim 'cause you have not been spoken to and you just interrupted my nice little chat with Sara here' uttered Mateo barely keeping his anger in check

'I know this hotel inside out. There are a lot of exits that the police have no idea about including the staff entrance which connects underground and comes out on the next street over. They wouldn't have any idea about that' said Neal as he tried to remember the plans he had studied briefly before coming in. The Kent was a very old hotel and an underground tunnel had been built back in the early 1920's which exited onto the next block.

Peter, hearing this through his headphones, realized Neal was playing his trump card – it was a way of getting Sara out of there by making himself essential to the crooks and of letting Peter know where they'd be coming out so they could be intercepted when they emerged at the other end.

'Keep listening Diana' he shouted as he stepped out of the van and made his way to where a makeshift command post had been set up by the hotel entrance. The young manager was standing by and Peter approached him, quickening his step.

'What's this about an underground tunnel leading to the staff entrance' asked Peter as he grabbed for the plans

'There's an old tunnel that we seldom use but it does connect to the staff entrance in the basement' the young man explained, pointing at the plans 'It comes out one block over on Dixon'

Peter looked at the plans, marvelling at how Neal had managed to pick up on that detail in the few seconds he'd had to study the layout of the hotel. Leave it to an ex-conman to have an eagle eye when it came to building plans and exit strategies.

'Take me there' Peter said, as he followed the young man

'You're making that up' Mateo was saying as he stared Neal down

'No, I'm not. I can take you' said Neal

'Jose, Joey, keep on an eye on the girl. Tim and I are going for a little walk' he said as he pushed Sara towards them and made his way to Neal, roughly untying his feet from the chair.

Neal stood, his hands tied behind his back. Truth be told, he could have gotten out of those ropes in less than thirty seconds when they were first put on but he wasn't looking to escape. For once, he wanted to remain a hostage up until the moment he could bring this whole sordid episode to a peaceful conclusion.

He thought he'd try one last time: 'Why don't you let her go. She'll just get in the way' Neal said, nodding towards Sara

'That's not your decision to make. Now shut up and start walking' said the thug as he pushed Neal towards the door, keeping the gun on his back. Neal took once last backward glance at his wife before stepping out of the room and beginning the long trek down the corridor. He hoped he had gotten the layout right because both their lives depended on it.

TBC