Hey, guys! Please enjoy this chapter. I REALLY can't wait until you guys get to read the next one. I'm looking forward to it! :D
"I believe in you. I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies..." -Breaking Benjamin, "Dance with the Devil"
One week later...
"Hey," Peter looked up from the file he was reading when Neal poked his head into his office. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah," Peter confirmed, closing the file. "Come on in."
Neal slipped into his partner's office and sat down in the chair across from him as Peter examined him. The consultant's bruises were still very much evident on his face, but they were healing nicely.
"How's Jessica?" Peter asked.
"She's fine," Neal assured him. "She still has no idea what happened or that she was in any danger at all, and that's the way I intend to keep it."
"What does she think happened to you?" Peter raised an eyebrow.
"Rebecca and I told her that I fell down the stairs," Neal told him with a grin. Peter let out a short laugh.
"So what did you need?" Neal asked after a moment.
"I did some digging into Luc's father," Peter told him, tossing a couple of files over to the consultant. "Meet Anthony Hale."
"Luc's dad is Anthony Hale?" Neal looked surprised as he took the files in his hands.
"Yeah," Peter confirmed. "You know him?"
"Met him once or twice," Neal told him without giving away any details. "I liked him. He was good guy."
"You might want to rethink that assessment," Peter informed him. Neal looked confused, and Peter went on. "Six years ago, the FBI started looking into Anthony and his brother David. They were quite the team. David would steal the art, and Anthony would sell it. David's skill level was decent...I'd call him Neal-Caffrey-in-training," Neal grinned widely at the compliment, "but he was good enough to stay one step ahead of us on every job he did."
"Where as I was good enough to stay three steps ahead," Neal said with a charismatic grin. Peter rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure, Neal," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, we could never get close enough to get any real evidence against them. Everyone we caught whom we knew had connections to them would never say anything against them."
"Well, I'm not surprised," Neal sighed. "I've met Anthony Hale, and so far you've said nothing that would change my opinion about him. He's definitely someone who I think the phrase 'honor among thieves' would apply to."
"It doesn't apply to everyone?" Peter was intrigued.
"No," Neal shook his head. "Some of the guys I've worked with have done some truly terrible things. I feel absolutely no need to protect any of them at all. Some of them, though, like Anthony Hale, I would never, ever rat out."
"I'll remember that," Peter smiled. "Anyway, we decided to put one of our people, Agent Jake Talbot, undercover to get close to Anthony and Daniel's little sister, Katherine," a disapproving look from Neal was ignored as Peter continued, "After they dated for about three months, Katherine decided it was time for him to meet the family."
"Ok, you know what? The FBI is so hypocritical!" Neal interrupted. "You guys are always talking about how evil it is for a conman to get close to someone, to earn their trust, and then rob them, but you guys do pretty much the same thing! You guys get this poor girl to fall in love with your guy, but he doesn't care about her at all. He's just using her to get close to her brothers. All he wants to do is arrest them and destroy her family, but he just keeps on lying to her. I mean, come on, Peter. Please tell me you at least think that's a pretty cruel thing to do."
"It's not ideal, Neal," Peter admitted with a sigh. "But we were running out of options. Anyway, Katherine took Jake to go meet her brothers, and they really hit it off. He was in. Everything was going perfectly.
"Now, Katherine was not involved in the family business—her brothers shielded her from what they did, but she knew anyway, because their father had taught them all how to live the life of a white collar criminal—but she really wanted to be. She was always asking them to include her in jobs. One day, they finally agreed. Anthony decided to tag along just for extra support. It was a small job; they stole a jade figurine worth about half a million dollars from a rich businessman's office. Their escape plan was to go to the roof, cross a wooden board seven feet to the building next door, and then go back down to the street level. Jake followed them. His backup took longer than expected to arrive, so by the time he made it up to the roof, Anthony and David were already across. When Jake burst onto the roof, Katherine was already half way across. Jake startled her. She lost her balance, and fell eleven stories to the street below. She died instantly. Anthony and David escaped. Two weeks later, Agent Talbot was found shot to death in his apartment."
Neal let out a sigh, feeling pity for the man he had known. "I don't think Anthony would have killed Agent Talbot," the conman said at last.
"What about David?" Peter asked.
"I wouldn't know," Neal admitted. "I only ever met Anthony."
Peter paused, thinking. "What do you think the odds would be of Anthony Hale missing his wife's funeral?" the FBI man inquired.
"Slim to none," Neal told him. "Family is everything to him. Why?"
"Pack your bags," Peter ordered. "We're going to DC."
Luc and his father stood side-by-side in front of Sasha Hale's freshly-dug grave. The cemetery was empty; the service had ended about an hour ago. Some distant family of hers that Luc had never heard of had paid for the funeral. The headstone was going to be brought in within the next week. The silence was heavy between them. Anthony rested a hand on his son's shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze.
"We thought we might find you here," father and son turned to see Peter and Neal walking towards them. Anthony stiffened, looking about ready to bolt.
"Neal," Luc forced a smile. "Agent Burke. It's always good to see you."
"Good to see you're ok," Neal spoke up, slowing to a stop in front of them.
"I told you I was," Luc pointed out.
"Yeah, but I always like to see these things for myself," Peter smiled. Then he turned his attention to Anthony. "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Mr. Hale. We've been looking for you and your brother for a long time. Speaking of your brother...where is he?"
"Home," Anthony's voice was guarded, his muscles tense. "With Collin."
Peter nodded. There was a pause. "You know I can't let you leave here, Anthony. You're wanted for the murder of an FBI agent," Peter said seriously.
"Wait, what?" Luc was shocked, and looked at his father expectantly.
"You didn't tell him?" Peter raised an eyebrow.
"I left that part out," Anthony admitted. "I didn't see the point in telling him. I didn't do it."
"I'm sorry," Peter said sincerely, "but I can't take your word for it."
"I did not kill him, Peter," Anthony repeated, taking a small step back. "I hated him for using Katherine like he did and then causing her death, but I didn't kill him. I couldn't kill him. And anyway, what good would it have done? It wouldn't bring her back. I could never kill a man in cold blood like that."
"You killed Nick Harper," Peter pointed out.
"That was different," Anthony said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "I mean, for God's sake, the guy was about to shoot my sons and your partner's daughter, Peter. I had no choice."
"And Agent Talbot was just doing his job," Peter countered. "I don't have a choice either. I have to take you in." The FBI agent stepped forward, taking a pair of handcuffs from his belt.
Anthony took another step back, and, after a moment of hesitation, pulled his gun from behind his back and took aim at Neal.
"Dad!" Luc cried in alarm. "What are you doing?"
"Whoa," Neal laughed nervously, raising his hands slightly as, beside him, Peter dropped the handcuffs and pulled his gun from its holster, taking aim at Anthony's forehead.
"Sorry, Neal," Anthony said sincerely. "But I'm not going to prison for something I didn't do. Not when my boys need me." Neal nodded in understanding, but it was clear that he was nervous.
"Put the gun down Anthony," Peter commanded. "Don't make me do something we're both going to regret."
"Dad, what are you doing?" Luc gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at the gun.
Anthony ignored his son's question. "Luc, get out of here," he ordered, his voice even, never taking his eyes off of his target...which, even though it looked like it was Neal's head, was really the tree just behind and to the left of the conman.
"Dad," Luc began.
"Go!" Anthony snapped, turning to look him in the eye. Luc hesitated, looking at Peter and Neal, and then back at his father. Finally, the teenager slowly turned and started weaving through the headstones, making his way to the gate on the other side of the cemetery.
"You're making a mistake, Anthony," Peter told him.
"I. Did. Not. Kill. Him," Anthony's words were deliberate, and full of frustration.
"I can't let you go," Peter told him.
"Well, if you want Neal to leave here without any extra holes in him, you will," the other man threatened.
"You won't kill him," Peter sounded sure. "If you really didn't kill our agent, then you're not a killer."
"You're right," Anthony nodded, "I didn't kill him. But I did kill Nick. You'd be surprised at just what a man can be capable of if he's pushed far enough. I've already lost my family once. My wife is dead, and I will never get her back. I have two boys who need me. I have been hunted for a murder I did not commit for five years. I've pretty much been pushed to my limit. Now, do you really want to take that chance?" He was bluffing, of course. But, hey, he'd always been good at poker.
Peter hesitated, his jaw set. The tension in the air was almost tangible as Peter struggled to make up his mind. Finally, the agent let out a frustrated sigh, and lowered his gun, putting it down on the ground.
Anthony smiled. "See you later, Peter," he said, backing up, glancing behind him every so often to make sure he didn't trip on a headstone, keeping his gun trained on the tree behind Neal. When he was almost to the gate, he knew he was out of range, and he quickly tucked his gun behind his back and slipped out of the graveyard. Luc was waiting for him just around the corner. Without a word, father and son quickly walked down the street, keeping their heads down, blending into the crowds of people, until they got to their car, which was parked about two blocks away. When Luc and Anthony were both safely inside, Luc turned to his father.
"Tell me everything."
Peter snatched up his gun and dashed after Anthony as soon as the possible murderer no longer had his gun trained on Neal. He sprinted across the cemetery and through the gate in record time, but by the time he turned the way Anthony had gone, both Anthony and Luc had vanished.
"Damn it," Peter growled, frustrated. Neal made an appearance at his partner's side.
"I could have told you that you wouldn't find them," the conman told him.
"Shut up, Neal," Peter snapped. Neal put his hands up in surrender. "I need your help, Neal," the FBI man said at last, rounding on his friend. "I need you to tell me where he would go."
"Peter, I can't," Neal shook his head.
"Neal," Peter sighed impatiently. "This guy had a gun on you, and you still want to defend him?"
"Yes," the conman replied readily. "Because he was bluffing. Peter, if he had pulled the trigger, the bullet would have gone past me."
"And you let him get away?" Peter was outraged.
"Well, there was always the chance that I was wrong," Neal shrugged. "I didn't want to take that chance either."
Peter took a deep breath, calming down. "Look, Neal, if Anthony Hale didn't kill Jake Talbot—"
"Which I'm betting he didn't," Neal interrupted.
"—then odds are, David Hale did. And if David is anywhere near Luc and Collin..."
It didn't take a rocket scientist to see where Peter was going with this. "Then they could be in danger," Neal finished with a sigh.
"Exactly," Peter nodded.
Neal hesitated. Then he sighed wearily. "Alright," he agreed at last. "I'll help you find them."
"Thank you," Peter smiled slightly. "Now where do we start?"
