Hey folks, sorry for the absence, it's been a busy week at work and even though I know exactly how I want this story to go and end, I just haven't found the time to put it down on paper. Sounds familiar? Jeff Eastin and the damn mistery of the season 6 renewal? LOL - Sorry though, I'll try to make it up this weekend, promise!
Here's a short yet important chapter to prove my word. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 7
That night, Neal and Sara talked. Not just about Neal's fears and concerns but they really opened up to each other and Sara realized that it wasn't difficult to be amazed at everything Neal said and did.
"Neal, I can't believe all this…" she said almost to herself having a really hard time grasping all that Neal had confided in her
"Yeah but please promise me you won't tell Peter" he said holding her hands for emphasis
"But, Neal, for the first time you didn't do anything wrong!" protested Sara
"No, please Sara, promise me" he insisted "I can't risk it. I have to protect him"
"Protect who? The man who…?" she asked
Neal nodded "And Peter too, he can't know"
She just nodded trying to understand Neal's motives "I thought you trusted Peter, as a friend I mean"
"I do but he's off to DC soon and I can't risk getting him involved in this because I know he would just try to protect me and it could risk his big chance" said Neal
Sara gave him a sad smile "You really care about him, don't you?"
Neal just nodded and cleared his throat "I do"
"Ok, but now that we're being completely honest, I have to confess something" she said and cleared her throat "I also trust Peter implicitly and I might have already mentioned my suspicions to him… sorry"
Neal chuckled "I know"
"You know? How?" she asked surprised
"Well, Peter's not the most subtle person when it comes to trying to get information from me and you were also suddenly interested in my younger forgeries so it wasn't hard to put two and two together…" explained Neal with a little smile on his face, not angry or anything, just knowing these people's MO very well when it came to protecting him
"I see…" Sara laughed nervously
"Hey, it's ok. I know you both care about me and you were just trying to protect me" said Neal smiling "Thank you"
"You're welcome… I guess?" she said still a little nervous at getting caught "What do you want me to tell Peter then? I have a meeting with him tomorrow to follow-up on this"
"Clandestine meetings and everything, huh?" teased Neal and then added "Just stall, tell him you haven't found any leads and that you're going slowly to avoid raising any red flags within Sterling Bosch"
"Hhhmm… I can do that but you're gonna have to tell him eventually and mislead him on your own because he's conducting his own investigation" she said
Neal sighed "I can imagine… I'll come up with something"
"So, what are we gonna do about this?" she asked breaking his thoughtful reverie
"We?" he asked raising a questioning eyebrow
"Yes, we. You don't think I was just gonna move on and forget everything you just told me, do you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow
"I was kinda hoping you would do exactly that" said Neal sheepishly
"Oh? Because that would imply me dropping this case and moving back to London, say… tomorrow perhaps?" she said mock-reflecting
"Oh no, you don't!" said Neal getting all serious
"Are you gonna have Rebecca kidnap me again to keep me here or something?" she said teasing him
Neal glared not finding it funny "Just… don't go yet, ok? I have a month to clear this mess and then hopefully I'll get this thing off me" he said hitting his anklet-clad leg with the table lightly
"We have a month, Neal. We. I'm in this with you, we're in this together" she said smiling "I wanna help you"
Neal grinned "It might imply stepping in some gray areas and you don't exactly want to cross lines that you can't come back…" he said making fun of her previous argument while ditching the idea of keeping the treasure
"Oh shut up, isn't this the part that you enjoyed about me?" she said cocking an eyebrow
"There are so many parts I enjoy about you, you have no idea" said Neal devilishly running a hand through her thigh
"Neal!" she said laughing and enjoying the flirty banter "Oh we have to go!"
"No…" he groaned "this was just getting interesting"
"C'mon, let's not keep the Burkes waiting" she said taking his hand and pulling him up from the coach
Neal obliged and let her pull him up and drag him out of the house while holding his hand. He hadn't told the whole truth to Sara but at least it was a partial version that could allow him to keep her cool while he found Richard. Not that he wanted to keep secrets from her; he was just planning on dropping the truth little by little.
Seating on the cab on their way to the Burke's for a delicious dinner and quality friendly family time, Neal kept on staring out the window, thinking about the things he had confessed to Sara… It made him smile thinking of good ol' Richard, the guy responsible for unveiling Neal's wicked ways and probably the first role model that Neal really had looked up to.
Flashback: 27 years ago…
You would think that, for a seven-year old boy with beautiful blue eyes who's smart as a whip and athletic as a cub, life couldn't be complicated. However, young Danny Brooks, feels absolutely bored all the time at school; nothing he learns there is challenging and the kids in his classroom are just plain stupid sometimes. He is not a bully though, so he chooses to remain quiet and just do his school chores as he is supposed to even if he finishes 40 minutes before the rest of the class. When the bell rings, he hurries out the door and on to the school bus to get home as soon as possible and build Lego figures or build mud figures in the garden or just play chess with Ellen as soon as she gets home. Today though, he decides to just walk home in silence, kicking some stones on his way, hands tucked in his jeans and sore shoulders from carrying his backpack. He passes in front of an ice cream parlor and he can't help but water his mouth at the delicious pistachio-flavored cone he can imagine they might have there; too bad he didn't bring any money… he can't help but ogle from the outside, almost drooling. He closes his eyes and he can almost taste the ice-cream in his tongue. He takes a deep breath and licks his lips savoring… Imagination can do wonders! He paths his stomach with his little hand and grins feeling satisfied.
"You really want that ice-cream, don't you, Danny?" says a tall man with a buzz cut of blonde hair and gentle green eyes
The boy looks up and says immediately "Huh? Who are you and why do you know my name?" trying to block the sun with his hand and getting a better look at him, he adds "I've seen you around my neighborhood"
The man smiles gently "Yeah, I'm not supposed to be talking to you but I couldn't help it seeing how you almost materialized the damn ice-cream by staring at it. Are you a wizard or something?" he says with a smirk
Danny smiles "Wizards don't exist, at least not in real life. But I can have anything I want up here" he says pointing at his messy dark-brown head of hair
"Ah, yes of course. Come on, let's get that ice-cream before you melt it with your powerful imagination" the man says grinning and with a wink
Danny knows he isn't supposed to talk with strangers but this man somehow seems trustable and nice. Plus, he is offering free ice-cream so it seems like a good deal. He shrugs and walks in the ice-cream parlor.
Five minutes later, Danny is happily licking away his ice-cream "Thank you Mr…?"
"I can't tell you my name. Let's just say we are ice-cream buddies, alright?" says the man ruffling Danny's hair
Danny looks at him with a frown not liking the anonymity of the situation and Ellen always says that remembering names and faces is important
"Don't look at me like that kiddo. Tell you what, let me walk you home every day after school and you can get to know me better so you won't be so distrusting, alright?" offers the mysterious man
"I'm supposed to get home in the bus. Mom's gonna get mad if I don't" answers Danny looking at his blue Chuck's
"Are you sure that's the reason?" asked the man raising a questioning eyebrow and smirking "Or maybe it has something to do with that jackass Barry, the 6th grader who enjoys pestering younger kids in the bus"
Danny looks up in surprise "How do you know?"
"I'm a wizard, I know a lot of things" answers the man grinning
Danny couldn't help but laugh "You're silly… and funny. I like you"
"I like you too, kiddo. You're something special" says the man while putting a hand on Danny's shoulder to start walking again.
When they reach the corner of Danny's home street, the older man stops "This is as far as I go, kiddo. You keep going straight home, alright?"
"Why? You should meet Ellen!" the little boy says excited
"And how exactly are you going to introduce me if you don't know my name? What if I'm just an imaginary friend?" says the man with a twinkle in his eye
Danny gasps thinking of the possibility for a minute "Wait a minute, that's not possible. I know my imagination can do anything but you paid for the ice-cream with real money and I can't create real things from here" explains the very rational and mature Danny, pointing at his head again with a 'duh' expression
"Who told you that?! Of course you can!" says the older man and kneels in front of Danny "You can do anything with this" he says grabbing the boy's head with his large hand "For example, art is a way of making your imagination real"
"Art?" asks the boy curiously
"Yes, art. Paintings, sculptures, music, movies, literature… lots of possibilities of making your imagination real" he says
"Can I do art?" asks Danny tilting his head to the side wondering at the sudden strange and new concept he is learning from this man
"Of course!" he says and stands up towering over Danny "There's a small art gallery on our way home, how about we get in there tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah! I'd love that! I will tell Ellen as soon as she gets home" says Danny grinning and showing off proudly the frontal teeth window he recently acquired from losing his first tooth
"No, don't tell Ellen yet. Why don't we keep it a secret while you learn to do art and then you can surprise her with a piece done by you" offers the man with a shrug and a gentle smile "It will be something taken out of that wonderful imagination! Would you like that?" he suggests explaining with a wave of his hand in a wizardly way
"Yes! And can I do one for my mom too? She likes tulips, maybe I can do something with tulips?" offers the little boy already creating tons of ideas in his head for his masterpiece. He looks up and grins at his new friend before he starts running home excited for the first time since he went to Disneyworld two years ago "Bye pistachio!" he yells while running home making the older man laugh wholeheartedly at the nickname
Present time…
Neal chuckled remembering his first encounter with Richard… those were good times, he thought.
"Wanna share the joke, Caffrey?" asked Sara sweetly
Neal turned to look at her and smiled "Some other time"
Sara frowned but let it pass by. Neal didn't look sad or devilish, he just looked nostalgic… "Ok… So what's the story with Peter? Is he trying to set us up again?"
"We don't need help, do we?" said Neal with a wink
