Chapter 9

Neal came downstairs dressed nicely, but casually in a pair of blue jeans and a dark buttoned down shirt. "How do I look?" he asked his grandmother eagerly.

"You look nice dear. Where is the party going to be held, Neal?" she asked, alerting Neal that he would have to be careful how much information he could reveal that wouldn't arouse their suspicious. "Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier; it's going to be held at Sally's, and be over before eleven," he fudged on the time to give himself enough time to get into the courthouse, and then get home on time.

Maggie, not suspecting any deceit in his answer, gave him a kiss on his cheek before telling him, "Have a good time Neal, and be careful," as she handed him her keys.

"Thanks Grandmom," he replied before he left for Sally's.

It was half way through the party when Katie wandered over to her mother with a strange look on her face. "Mom…do you ever get the feeling that something bad is going to happen, before it actually does?"

"Occasionally, as mothers, you will feel that way about your children, but seldom does anything bad actually happen; why do you ask?"

"I just get that feeling now whenever I'm around Neal. I didn't feel that way when he first arrived, but now he seems awful antsy, like he's about to do something that he knows he shouldn't but does anyhow. Am I nuts or what?" Katie's asked.

Sally looked at the young man her daughter was concerned about, and at first only saw a talkative and friendly young man, but as she watched further she noticed what her daughter had….something was definitely off, and she decided to talk to him herself. "Neal, I was wondering if you would help me get some more goodies from the kitchen," she asked, as she motioned to the buffet tables where the food was disappearing quickly.

Neal smiled, and hurried to her side. "What can I do to help?"

"Just follow me and help me load the tables back up," she replied as she led the way back into the kitchen. Neal eagerly followed, and on the way Sally engaged him in small talk.

"I understand that you won't be here much longer, son; we have really enjoyed having you here. Katie has enjoyed talking with you," Sally began. "I want you to know that you have made several good friends here this week, my daughter is at the top of the list. I hope you will visit again, maybe during the summer months," invited Sally, as she watched him closely.

"Thanks Sally, that means a lot to me; I hope to be able to visit again," Neal replied sadly.

"Neal, what's wrong?" Sally asked.

"Nothing…just sad about leaving," Neal lied, as he struggled to put a smile on his face.

Sally wasn't fooled and was about to call him on it when she heard her daughter scream, "MOM…come quick!" and both Neal and Sally ran to the front door to see what the problem was.

It was Tommy, and he had been drinking. "Why can't I come in…this is a bar after all," he slurred.

"Tommy…the sign outside clearly says that my pub is closed for the evening due to the birthday party I'm having for my daughter, and YOU weren't invited. Leave now and I won't call the police, otherwise I will," she threatened in a stern and determined voice.

"Why is he here?" Tommy asked pointing at Neal.

"I invited him…now go!"

Tommy sneered and was about to say something when all of a sudden he staggered out of the place, pausing only to wink at Neal whose face was as white as a sheet. Katie noticed the way the blood drained from her friend's face but didn't say anything. She had a plan…she was going to follow him after the party and find out what was wrong.

After Tommy left, the party went on, but Neal wasn't truly enjoying himself. He put on the best front he could with his friends, and only Katie and her mother sensed all was not well with the young man and were not surprised, when around ten, Neal slipped out without saying goodbye. Katie waited only a minute more before she too slipped out to follow him and learn what was going on, only telling one of her friends that she was going out for a few minutes.

Neal slowly drove to the courthouse, thinking about the invitation Sally had given him about returning for a visit that summer, and was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even noticed that he was being tailed. By the time he arrived Tommy had been waiting for ten minutes, and was in an ugly mood.

"What took you so long; I've been waiting for over twenty minutes. I thought you must have turned me in, and I would have had no recourse but to let everyone in on your dark secret," he sneered.

"It's just now ten o'clock. I'm on time. Your watch must be fast," retorted Neal, not knowing that Katie was in the shadows hearing everything, and wondering what dark secret Tommy was talking about.

"Come on…hurry and pick the lock. I just have one place to go and then I'm out of here," replied Tommy as he led Neal to the lock he wanted him to pick. "This leads to Judge Marshall's chambers…I'm just going to hide his robe and gavel so he will look foolish tomorrow in court," he explained before muttering under his breath, "I'll fix him for sentencing me to two weeks of picking up trash along the highways…everyone was laughing at me, and now he will be laughed at too."

Neal only nodded, as he quickly picked the lock and let him in, thinking to himself that this isn't right, but what choice did he have. He was completely shocked when, after Tommy disappeared in the building, he was touched on the shoulder, and jumped, startled by the hand on his shoulder.

"Neal, what have you done?" It was Katie.

"I had no choice but to let him in…he was going to tell…"

"Tell what? Neal, it doesn't matter; no matter what he was going to do it will be worse if you follow the likes of him," Katie said, as she tried to reason with him.

"That's what my Dad would say," admitted Neal, as he put his head in him hands and then finally all of the advice that his folks have been trying to teach him started to sink in. "You know, you are right, he probably would still tell just out of meanness, no matter if I helped him or not. Do me a favor Katie, and call my grandfather and tell him what has happened. I'm going to try and stop Tommy from carrying out his mischief against Judge Marshall," and with that Neal scooted in the door and raced after Tommy.

As soon as he entered the chambers he knew that Tommy had much more in mind than just hiding a gavel or robe. He was intending to do as much damage as he could. He had a spray can in his hand and was ready to spray whatever he could in blood red paint. "Tommy! You lied…this is more serious than a little prank," shouted Neal, as he darted forward and wrestled the paint can from Tommy's hand. "I won't let you go through with this!"

Tommy was a mean drunk and he backhanded Neal as he tried to regain control over the spray can. His blow sent Neal back into the wall with enough force to cause the back of his head to slam into the wall. Neal saw stars for a moment before Tommy was in his face again striking and kicking wherever he saw an opening….

As soon as Neal left, Katie was on her phone, first calling her Mom and her Grandfather, with instructions to call Neal's grandparents and let them know what was happening. As soon as that was completed she too headed into the Courthouse in hopes she could help in some way. The sounds of a fight led her to the Judge's chambers, just in time to see Tommy pummeling a down and dazed Neal, and reacted by grabbing the Judge's gavel and slamming it down on Tommy's head, knocking him out cold. It was there that Sheriff Thompson and Neal's dad, Peter Burke, found them.

As soon as Katie saw her grandfather she flew into his arms. "It was terrible Grandpa; he was hitting and kicking Neal. I couldn't just stand by and not try to stop him. I struck him with the Judge's gavel and he fell…I didn't kill him, did I?"

It only took the Sheriff one look to see that the Williams' boy was okay. "He'll be okay Katie; his head is too hard for the gavel to do serious harm…look he is starting to come around now." He then got on his radio and called the local police to come by and pick up the perpetrator.

Peter, in the meantime, had knelt at Neal's side and was talking to him. "Where are you hurt, son?"

"Dad? What are you doing here? Never mind, that's not important now. Oh, Dad I screwed up again…but then Katie made me remember what you have been trying to teach me, and I tried to stop him from destroying the Judge's chambers," confessed Neal.

"We will talk more about that later, but for now, where are you hurt?"

"Everywhere," Neal admitted as he heard the sheriff get back on his phone and call for an ambulance.

After Neal was taken by ambulance to the hospital and had x-rays taken he was soon released, since Neal's x-rays didn't show any serious damage. He was bruised and would be sore for a few days. Katie's quick actions had saved him from Tommy's continued abuse that could have resulted in broken bones or worse. Neal had a bruise forming on his cheek from the backhand blow and bruising on his midsection, but overall he was a very lucky young man. Peter was given a prescription for pain medication and they went home. Sheriff Thompson

would keep them informed on the break-in, and if Neal would have to come in to give a statement.

Neal was given a pain killer and put to bed; he was sleeping soundly as his parents and grandparents discussed what they knew about the incident.

"So, the first time you knew anything was wrong was when Sally called you?" Peter asked trying to get his facts clear.

"Yes, and as soon as I heard what was happening I told you, and we rushed to the courthouse," Tim said.

"Mom, how did Neal sound before he left?"

"Happy, but he was very excited when he came back after lunch. He was just about ready to burst when he came back around one o'clock. He had gone to replace his cell phone and was going to eat lunch at Sally's. In fact it was closer to twelve thirty than one when he came in, so he must have bolted down his food to get back here by twelve thirty," recalled Maggie.

"That was about the time you got that nagging headache, Honey," remarked El as she looked at her husband. "I guess you were right when you said that your 'Neal radar' was going off. That was the main reason we came back a day early; Peter had this feeling that all was not right with our son, and he was right."

Peter was about to make another comment when the phone rang and Tim hurried to pick it up. He only listened for a few minutes before hanging up, but he was smiling so they felt that everything was going to work out. "That was the Sheriff; they got a full confession from Tommy. They read him his rights and he had counsel that advised him to say nothing, but Tommy, as drunk as he was, couldn't help but gloat about how he got our boy in trouble. After that it was easy to get him to tell the whole story, and in his semi drunken state he admitted too much. When asked why he was beating Neal he said that Neal had tried to stop him from spray painting the judge's chambers….so that pretty much clears Neal of breaking in to do anything malicious, however he does need to give his statement, including why he picked the lock in the first place to let Tommy in…but that can wait until tomorrow."

It was soon afterward that El answered a phone call from Katie, checking up on Neal. "I'll be sure to tell him that you called, and Katie, I can't thank you enough for coming to his rescue like that, but how did you know he was in trouble?"

"My mom invited him to my birthday party and I was excited but while I was with him he wasn't happy…he was smiling but the smile didn't go all the way to his eyes, they were sad…he just wasn't the guy that I bonded with earlier in the week. You know how you can smile with your eyes Mrs. Burke? Well Neal was only smiling with his mouth…I knew something was wrong and then when Tommy tried to bust my party, and Mom threatened him with the police if he didn't leave, I saw how the blood seemed to drain from Neal's face, and I knew something was wrong when Tommy winked at him and I knew he was in real trouble…so after Neal slipped out I followed him," explained Katie and then as an afterthought she added, "Mrs. Burke, Tommy was blackmailing Neal to force him to pick that lock. Tommy was complaining when I arrived, saying that Neal was late in meeting him and he was threatening that if Neal hadn't come when he did then he would have to tell Neal's dark secrets to the town. I concluded that he was using those secrets to get Neal to open the courthouse for him."

"Dark secrets? I will have to talk to Neal about that, but what made Neal decide to stop Tommy?"

"I told him that no matter what Tommy had on him it was still wrong to work with him. Neal figured it out and said that it was something that his Dad has been trying to get through to him, and I must have awakened it in him. He then told me to call his grandfather, while he would try to stop Tommy. I called my Mom and Grandfather first, and asked them to call Neal's grandfather. Look I've got to go; I have some explaining of my own to do to my Mom about sneaking out of my party without telling anyone," replied Katie as she hung up.

After hanging up, El turned to all of them, as they had been listening to her side of the conversation, to fill them in. "That was Katie and she had a lot to tell. She says that Tommy was blackmailing Neal to pick the Courthouse lock…something about Neal's dark secrets that he was going to tell everyone if he didn't help…any guess what that might be?"

"It has to be about his record when he was Neal Caffrey, a thief and con artist, before we adopted him and changed his life for the better," replied Peter. "Tommy must have researched me and found Neal and used that information to make Neal do what he didn't want to do. What else did Katie have to say?"

"She told him that no matter what Tommy had on him it would be worse to do it than to say no. She mentioned that Neal finally realized that was what you have been trying to teach him, and he asked her to call Tim. She called her mom and grandfather first, and got the message out. She must have followed Neal afterward and discovered Tommy beating him, and then she knocked Tommy out with the judge's gavel to protect Neal," concluded El. "Our son has much to explain in the morning."