Chapter 6: Forged

After leaving Neal in the care of the prison guard Peter decided to head home early. When he got there he saw the mess he and Neal had left in the living room. Wanting to keep his mind off of the hurt look Neal gave him Peter removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves and began to clean the entire house. By the time he finished he was ready to eat. Of course it was Neal's night to cook again and he was currently sitting in a ten by ten cell.

When Elizabeth had gotten home Peter told her everything that had happened over leftover dinner. She had listened to everything her husband said carefully till he was finished. "Honey you and I both know that Neal wouldn't risk his freedom like that. And didn't you tell them he was here all night?" She asked softly. Peter sighed softly as he looked at his wine glass.

"I just can't get that look out of my mind; he was so hurt when he heard that I had checked his bank bonds. If I hadn't done it then there would be no evidence to show that he always signs his work. Besides, Neal is on probation, he had to go back to jail even if he didn't do it the evidence right now says he did it and my word wasn't enough to clear him, the rules set down when he was signed onto the program were clear. I'm going to try my hardest to find even smallest clue to prove his innocence." Peter said grabbing the glass and taking another sip of wine. "The whole car ride he just stared at me from the back seat, after signing him over to the prison I couldn't even look back at him. I failed him El" He said putting the glass down.

Elizabeth got up and moved over to her husband and put her arms around him. "You didn't fail him because he didn't do it and deep down inside even though there is evidence that says he did it you know the truth. Why don't you come to bed early tonight you look like you could use the rest" She said standing slowly holding her hand out to Peter. Peter shook his head "I think I'm going to look over this evidence once more to see if Neal is really innocent or not." He said pouring himself another glass of wine.

"All right, I'll get started on the dishes then" Elizabeth said collecting their dinner plates and bringing them into the kitchen to wash them. A few moments later the phone rang, Peter grabbed the handset off the table. "Burke residence" he said

Neal gave a small chuckle "Boy is it good to hear your voice Peter, Look I'm pulling favors to get this phone time, I don't have too long but you have to believe me when I say I didn't do it . How could I even do it? to make a fake diamond would take a lot of things I just don't have, not to mention I don't have access to a lab to radiate the fake diamond to make it that color." He said looking around the area he was standing in.

"Neal your initials were on it and your tracker wasn't working for six hours, even if I tell everyone you didn't do it the evidence is stacked against you and no offense but you've made a life built on lies, so no one is really going to believe you." Peter said grabbing his wine glass once more.

The con man chuckled "True, Peter I know I'm being framed, and you know me well enough to know I wouldn't take such a big risk. I have an idea who would… but my time is up, come for a visit some time and give Elizabeth my love." Neal said before hanging up, he was led back to his cell and locked in.

He gave a small smirk just before lights out. Lying out on his cot Neal looked at the ceiling and sighed. "I never thought I would be back here ever."Neal mumbled to himself as the single light in the cell was turned off. Neal reached up and rubbed his shoulder a bit.

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Peter looked at the case in front of him there was a piece of the puzzle that was missing. Then it hit him that Elizabeth had come home late "Hey El, what time did you come home last night?" he asked slowly getting up from his seat with the incident report in his hand.

Elizabeth walked out of the kitchen biting her lip in thought "I think around quarter after ten maybe a few minutes after, why?" she asked looking over at Peter. "Neal and I started the movie around six maybe five minutes after, the boutique had already been closed for at least an hour by that time. So why would the thief wait until after ten to steal from a store that had been closed for at least four hours." Peter said as he began to pace.

"Maybe because the street was too busy, the shops around that store don't close until after nine and the store owners locking up wouldn't be gone till after ten." Elizabeth said throwing an idea into the mix. Peter stopped pacing and grabbed a sheet of memo paper and flipped it over and drew a line and one end he put four p.m. and on the other he put six a.m. "Alright so here is when the store close and here is when Neal and I sat down to watch the movie, so ten- forty five is about the time you got home. According to the security tape which has an accurate time stamp the thief showed up on camera at exactly two and he was gone at two thirty. Neal and I woke up around six forty-five. Well actually I was up then Neal was pretty much dead to the world until I moved." Peter said finishing his time line.

For a few moments the room was quiet while Elizabeth looked at timeline. "By the time I finally climbed into bed it had to be at least ten fifty-five maybe eleven at the latest but I know I didn't hear either of you two move around at all. Now hypothetically if Neal did do it how did he get there and back before six, he didn't walk that's for sure and your car didn't move all night." Elizabeth said re-corking the wine bottle.

"How do you know he didn't take my car?"Peter asked as he carried the wine glasses into the kitchen. Elizabeth chuckled. "That's easy, your car keys were under Satchmo all night so I don't think Neal would have had an easy time getting to them, and also he isn't the type to sneak into our room while someone is inside asleep." Elizabeth said as she brought the wine back into the kitchen and put it away.

Peter looked at his wife "Well that explains that question; the bigger question is; why frame Neal, it takes more work to frame him than another person." Peter remarked as he shut the lights off in the kitchen. Elizabeth took her husband's hand "Look at it this way, whoever framed Neal knows at least two things about him, one he signs his work and two he loves expensive jewelry and artwork." She said as she pulled Peter toward the stairs. "Let's just got to bed maybe you'll think of how to prove Neal is innocent while you sleep. We rarely get a chance to have time together. If you come upstairs I might make it worth your while."Elizabeth said leading her husband up to their room.

"I guess Neal will be fine" he said walking into the master bedroom with Elizabeth.

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By the next morning Peter woke to the sound of his cell phone vibrating on the night stand, groaning softly he grabbed the phone and sat up "Neal…it's too early, oh sorry Jones, what's wrong?" Peter asked looking around for his pants. "All right I'll be in soon" he said before hanging up and grabbing some clean clothes.

Elizabeth rolled over and looked at her husband "Something wrong?" she asked with a small smile.

"No… well I don't think so, apparently before Neal called me his lawyer was with him from the moment he was brought in to just an hour before he called here. Neal's up to something I just know it. I know I normally don't go in on the weekends but I also asked Jones to get some information and I need to pick it up. I promise I'll be back in two hours tops."Peter said leaning over the bed and giving Elizabeth a quick kiss before running out of the house.

When Peter got to the office Lauren was waiting for him by the elevator "Apparently Neal's lawyer has been moving money around all night, and because of the attorney client privilege we don't know what is going on all we know is that Caffrey bought a bakery. His lawyer also requested every file the FBI has on him. Also he asked for meeting with the judge on Monday. Apparently he has vital information." Cruz said as she sat on the edge of an empty desk.

"This is just like him, Neal's planning something big I can feel it, but I'll worry about that later what about the logs for the evidence. Where are we on that?" Peter asked as he took a seat at an empty desk.

Jones pulled a file off his desk "Two hours after you had me send the bonds to be looked at the report was signed out to Fowler for only a few minutes. An hour later the necklace is examined and the micro printed initials are there on the side under the platinum setting." Jones remarked handing the folder to Peter.

Peter looked at the folder for a moment "I need to see Neal; I'll be able to see what is going on in his mind. You two go enjoy your weekend. I have a feeling mine is going to feel like a regular work day." Peter said as he rose from the chair and headed back to his car. After calling Elizabeth and telling her that he needed to speak to Neal he promised dinner that evening.

When he got to the prison Peter wasn't surprised to see Neal waiting for him in the visitor's room. "Hello Peter, I'm glad you could take time out of your weekend to visit." Neal said with some spite in his voice as the guard left the room and locked the door behind him. As soon as they were alone Neal smirked "Boy am I glad you're here Peter, I forgot how confining this place is." He said sitting back a bit.

"Nice play acting mad at me for the guards." Peter said taking his seat across from Neal "Who says I'm acting, kidding I've been looking into who could have stolen the diamond. I have a name. Adrian Tulane, he's an art forger and thief. He's very good at what he does; he has been looked at as a suspect in a few thefts but he was never charged with anything. You should look into him. As for who framed me I'm not sure yet I have some things to look into." Neal said looking at his former partner.

At that moment the guard walked back in "Agent Burke, his lawyer is here" the guard said as Mozzie walked in with a briefcase. "He's your lawyer?" Peter asked looking at Neal's friend.

"I happen to have a degree from the University of Phoenix you can look it up" Mozzie said as he walked over to the table. "Now if you will excuse us I would like to speak to my client alone." Mozzie added as Peter got up from his seat and walked to the door. "All right, I'll see you later Neal" Peter said as he left the room and out of the prison.

By the time he got home Peter smiled at his wife who was watching a movie. "Sorry I'm late I stopped by the prison to see Neal. He gave me a name of someone who might have had a hand in taking the diamond and left the fake behind." Peter said as he removed his jacket and tie.

Elizabeth smiled "So are you going to look into it today or are you going to wait until Monday?" she asked softly. Peter chuckled "I'm going to look into when I go back to work, this weekend it's just going to be you and me for the rest of the weekend." He said taking a seat on the couch.

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"After I requested all your files Fowler threw this away" Mozzie said holding a bag of shredded documents up for Neal to see. Neal smirked "So he's hiding something, thanks Moz, I'll get to work on this as soon as possible. I want you to do a few things for me." Neal said as he handed a folded letter to his friend. "I'll see you on Monday Moz, just make sure everything is ready." Neal said as he left the visitor's room with the bag that Mozzie brought him.

What are you hiding Fowler…it doesn't matter I'll find out soon. Neal thought as he sat down and began to sort through the bag of shredded papers.

It only took a couple minutes before he had a few strips that had his and Peter's names on them. Neal moved quickly as he found another ten strips, soon he had the page finished. Putting the paper on the floor to let the glue dry he started on another one, as the strips of paper in the bag started to come together it was getting more obvious that Fowler had been bugging conversations for some time between himself and Peter.

"Peter is not going to like this…" Neal mumbled to himself as he pieced together the last paper together on the yellow lined paper. In the end he had six sheets of paper and the rest were just blank sheets to hide the information. When he was done Neal picked up the sheets of dried paper and stuck them in a safe place so he could keep them of the prying eyes of the guards or anyone passing by his cell.

This means that Fowler has been keeping tabs for some time now, I wonder just how far he's gone, are there more bugs at my place. Maybe some even at Peter's since I've been staying there. Neal thought as he tried to relax his mind as it raced. There is definitely one in his phone that I know of, I can't call him and tell him about it since it will be picked up on the bug. Neal thought as he rolled onto his side and tried to fall asleep.

Ever since he came back to prison Neal had been having great difficulty falling asleep at night. He knew that soon he would be out of prison and he knew it but it wasn't enough to calm his growing nerves. When waiting for sleep was took much Neal felt his eyes get heavy and after another ten minutes Neal was asleep.

When Monday finally rolled around Neal was ready, his plan was in motion and nothing was going to go wrong. "Everything ready Moz?" Neal asked looking at himself in the small mirror his friend was holding up as he adjusted his tie. Mozzie smiled "Everything is in place don't worry, and you look fine" he said lowering the mirror when Neal was finished. "What about the air conditioning in the judge's chambers?" Neal asked glancing at his friend slash lawyer.

"Oddly enough it broke down last night" he said grabbing his briefcase off the table. "Now let's get going or we're going to miss our window of opportunity."Mozzie said leading Neal out of the visitor's room and out to the waiting car that would take them to the judge's private chambers. After they got there Neal looked at his friend "Mozzie why don't you go get some coffee." Neal whispered as he was led up to the fourth floor.

"Bailiff could you please open the window?" the judge asked. When the window was opened Neal and the judge were left alone "I've cleared the room like you asked, now please tell me what you have wanted to tell me.

Neal smirked "I'm not proud of what I've done… no wait that's not true I'm proud of what I've done, and what I'm about to do right now this will be one of the best" Neal said winking at the judge and quickly getting up from his seat and climbing out the window onto the ledge high above the sidewalk below. Getting into place he jumped from the ledge.

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Peter had been told the deposition was moved and by the time he got to the front of the building he asked a man what floor the judge's chamber was on he found out that it was on the fourth floor. As he headed for the door he stopped when he saw the bakery it was at that moment that everything clicked into place. It was at that same moment that Neal came flying from the ledge and landing on a bright orange awning that was in front of the bakery.

When Peter took a step forward he saw Neal land on the ground and shrug at him before rushing across the street and diving into the back of a van. Just as the back door shut the van took off but Peter knew that Neal was too smart for that.

"He's not in there…" he mumbled as he watched guards go after the van and catch up to it at the end of the block.

By the time the other FBI agents had gotten to the scene Peter had figured out how Neal had vanished. The true question was where the con was running to.

"Burke… how do you plan on finding him?" Fowler asked as he walked up to Peter. Peter could only smirk. "Roadblocks and wanted signs" he replied as he looked at the manhole cover. "I want to know where this sewer line goes." He ordered to the nearest agent. "Don't worry Fowler I caught him twice, he won't get too far." Peter said as he walked away leaving the OPR agent to his thoughts.

Neal what are you up to and where are you going, now he's really going back to jail, even if he didn't steal that necklace, this action is sure to put him in hot water with everyone. Peter thought as he walked.

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Elizabeth was walking down the sidewalk with the two women she worked with, it was a peaceful day. When her assistant's cell phone rang she didn't think anything of it until it was handed to her.

"Elizabeth… I need your help" Neal said from the other end. Elizabeth almost stopped dead in her tracks, she looked at the others "Why don't you two go on in I'll just finish up with this" She said with a smile, as soon as she was alone she felt like a mother. "Neal, what are you doing calling me? How did you get this number… stupid question, Do you realize how crazy that was not to mention how much trouble you are in and Peter for that matter?" She said in a disapproving tone.

Neal knew he was in trouble. "I had to break out though, it's important. I need a place to hide out and June's place is being watched and I can't really contact Moz right now since it wouldn't be too smart. Please Elizabeth…" Neal asked looking around.

She knew Peter wouldn't be happy but she could deal with him easily. "All right, there are FBI agents watching the house out front so I'll keep them busy for a little while so you can sneak in through the back. Just make sure you stay hidden till I come back inside. I'll head home now you should get nearby. I'll be home in an hour, and Neal, be careful" Elizabeth said as she hung up.

Going into the restaurant she gave the phone back and gave an excuse that she had to take care of some family business. By the time she got home she had a plan to distract the two men sitting in the car outside her house.

Grabbing a plate of cookies and some milk she made her way across the street to the car knocking on the window she smiled "You two look like you could use something to eat" Elizabeth said smiling sweetly. When the agents finished she smiled at them again 'I'm glad you enjoyed the snack." She said walking back inside.

When she was inside her home Elizabeth noticed Satchmo's tail wagging at something hidden behind the bookcase. Not wanting the agents outside to pick up on anything she crouched down and started to pet her dog while looking at Neal sitting on the floor with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Neal… you are going to be in deep trouble when Peter gets home" Elizabeth hissed making sure to keep her voice down.

The young man only smiled "I had nowhere else to go, and I needed to speak to Peter, well at least before he throws me back in jail for escaping from a judge's chamber." Neal said keeping his voice down as well. "I should be out of sight when he gets home so he doesn't explode with anger when he sees me." Neal said slowly getting to his feet and heading into the kitchen.

An hour later he heard Peter walk into the house. Neal froze when he heard his name being called. After a couple seconds he left the kitchen and hid against the bookcase.

"You take a swan dive out of a judge's chamber and the first place you run to his my home, and you make my wide an accomplice to your crimes." He hissed at the con man that was sitting on his floor.

Neal looked at his partner "Give me one minute to explain why I did what I did and then you can arrest me" Neal said motioning for Peter to sit in the chair. After Peter finally sat down Neal pulled the folded sheets of paper from his pocket.

"Look at your phone, that's a bug that only works when a call is made or picked up… I still have thirty seconds left. As you know I'm looking for Kate" Neal said handing the black and white bank photo of Kate to Peter. "I've seen this before" he replied looking at the other man. "There is another half of this picture" Neal said handing the picture of the hand with the ring on it. "This photo added to the fact that someone has been tracing our conversations. When Moz requested all FBI documents on me Fowler shredded all of these but I was able to piece them together with all my free time." Neal remarked handing the papers over to his partner.

Peter read the documents quickly "He's bugging my phone, what does Fowler want?" Peter asked. Neal sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I think…he might be the man with the ring, which means he has Kate." Neal said softly. "Even if she doesn't love me I need to help her Peter"

"Neal she left you, I'm telling you the truth when she really didn't show any compassion for you, and I saw the look in her eyes. You have to believe me" Peter said calmly. Neal sat there looking at his feet.

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"Well he finally figured it out, it took some time though. If Burke is able to convince him to forget you then you're just going to have to tug at his heartstrings enough to stop listening to others and do whatever it takes to save your life." Fowler said calmly as wrote something down on a pad of paper.

Kate nodded her head "Fine, you'll get the music box as soon as I get in contact with Neal." She said reaching for her phone. "Don't call him yet; give it a week after he's cleared from that jewelry case. " Fowler added grabbing the phone out of Kate's reach. "Making him wait is the best."Fowler remarked tossing the phone back at the young woman.

"Neal, you're not going to hurt him are you?" Kate asked holding the phone as if it were a life raft.

The OPR agent only laughed "Me, hurt him, hurting his body is nothing compared to you breaking his heart. That is a lasting pain that will never go away." He said looking over the file he had been keeping on Neal. "He's been through quite a lot to find you; he jumped out of a fourth floor window. It shows that he doesn't really think things through when it comes to his freedom or you." Fowler remarked as he got up from his chair with the folder in his hand.

The young woman stood there and looked at the phone in her hands while she had been listening to the agent before her she had subconsciously dialed the phone to hers and Neal's old apartment.

Immediately she hit the delete button and put the phone in her pocket. As soon as she was alone again she planned to call Neal. All Neal has to do is give him the music box and then Neal won't have to run around like a rat in a maze. Kate thought as she walked out of the room of monitors and into the hallway.

Fowler was waiting for her as she left the room. "I'll call you when I want you to tell Neal where to meet us in person. Stay out of sight and don't contact him until I tell you." He said as he walked the young woman out of the apartment. "I'll be in contact soon." Fowler said removing his hand from Kate's shoulder.

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Elizabeth came into the dining room and looked at the other two in the room. "So are you sure there are no more?" she asked looking at Neal who had opted to sit on the floor with the FBI still outside the house he didn't push it since he really didn't want to end up in prison for a third time.

Peter sighed "I don't think there are any left, but I can't be sure" he said sighing a bit.

Neal reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone "This is a burn phone, in case you need to get a hold of me." He said handing the phone over to his partner before taking off out the back door and back the way he came. Neal knew that going back to June's wasn't the smartest thing to do, agents were sure to be watching the place. He knew the only real safe place was Mozzie's storage locker.

When he got there Mozzie was waiting for him "Moz, Fowler bugged Peter's phone, that's what all those papers were about. There were at least six papers of conversations between me and Peter." Neal said taking a seat across from his friend.

Mozzie leaned back in his arm chair "See this is what you get for letting yourself become a pawn under the control of the suit you call a partner. You need to realize that their using you. You could always run away." Mozzie suggested

Neal sighed "I don't know, I would have to get some money together besides Kate still needs me, I know it I can feel it despite what you and Peter say. I know now that Fowler has Kate and I'll give him what he wants to get her back."

Mozzie sighed "You really aren't going to listen to reason are you." He said getting up from where he was sitting. "So if there was a bug in the phone then what stopped this Fowler guy from putting more in the house?" he asked

The younger con man shook his head "I don't know I didn't get a chance to look around especially with the FBI agents parked outside I couldn't really look for any bugs without possibly being seen." Neal said leaning back into his seat as well. "Moz…thanks for letting me stay here. At least until my name is cleared" Neal said chuckling a bit.