The Extortionist
When the infamous Extortionist hits NYC, Peter's got his hands full – between leading the investigation no man has completed, protecting his pregnant wife from a kidnapper gunning for her, and keeping Neal under control. Can he keep the inevitable from happening, or will he end up enlisting Neal and Mozzie in a quest to retrieve what has been taken from him?
Chapter IX
Elizabeth didn't speak to Mozzie at the door; she only let him in and made a beeline to the back room, wanting to be alone. She wasn't in the mood for conversation. Mozzie, however, was dying to keep away from inventory. If it meant chatting with a grumpy Mrs. Suit, he was up for the challenge.
"Mrs. Suit," he called out, meeting her in the back. He found her sitting down at her desk, head in her hands. At his call, she looked up at him, exasperation evident in her eyes.
"Yeah, Moz?"
He took a seat next to her and folded his hands. "You seem... unnerved. I don't mean to pry, but if you'd like to talk about it, I'm better with advice than I am with inventory and snooty customers."
El laughed, but it was short-lived. The sadness she felt was still there. Maybe she should talk about it...
She sighed and straightened up, making eye contact. "Well, Peter and I had a fight... Turns out, he hasn't been telling me the whole truth about this kidnapping deal."
Moz's eyebrows raised. "You never caught on to the whole-"
"Babysitting thing?" she finished for him. "I thought Peter was just being overprotective."
He sniffed at the term. He was certainly no babysitter, and he took pride in that. But she was having a rough time, so he allowed her that one. "Call it what you may," he conceded, shrugging. "You know, and you're scared. That's reasonable," Mozzie decided.
She shook her head. "It's not that. Peter and I... we've always been completely honest with each other. It's been our rule from the beginning of our marriage until now, to tell the truth, no matter what. And this time, he didn't."
Mozzie looked in her eyes. "It was only to protect you. He doesn't want you getting hurt."
"But I think I deserved to know something like this. He should respect me enough..." Her voice trailed off as she stared down at the love-note she'd been reading the other day, trying to avoid any tears. "It's like he doesn't look at me the same way, now that I'm pregnant."
Mozzie squinted at her, shaking his head. "You're wrong about that."
El looked up, surprised at his abrupt response. He elaborated. "The Suit will always look at you and see the woman he married. He might treat you differently because he's worried about you... Men tend to get more protective when they're a soon-to-be-father." She was silent, stoic. "It's all he thinks about, you know."
Elizabeth glanced down too quickly, as if his words had bothered her. "What?" he asked, suddenly growing more conscious of what he was saying. He was talking to a pregnant woman, after all. Offending her might end him up with inventory, again...
She frowned. "Well... Peter rushed off to work this morning. He was going on about some stakeout, and-" she looked down, avoiding his eyes. "Today was our first doctor's appointment since we found out. I knew he was busy, and that he'd want to be there, so I rescheduled; but he didn't even remember." El averted her eyes, shoving down nausea as she spoke. She didn't know why she was so upset. It was only a doctor's appointment. Still, the thought that he'd already forgotten the first baby-related event to come was unsettling. Did that say something about the rest of the pregnancy?
Mozzie sucked in a breath, seeing how bothered she was. "Yikes..." Under his breath, he muttered, "He's in the doghouse now."
"What?"
"Nothing," he said abruptly. He quickly returned to the topic. "But Peter has probably been under a lot of stress, between the case, the pregnancy, and keeping you safe; even if you didn't know it. Perhaps we should allow him this one mix-up..."
Elizabeth looked acceptant. "I guess."
Mozzie nodded. "Why don't you give him a call a little later and talk to him about it? He'll understand."
She inhaled. "I'm not sure he'll want to talk to me."
Mozzie fought back a chuckle. Peter may have had her convinced she was at fault in some way, but he knew the man was already feeling guilty. He wouldn't refuse her phone call. But to Elizabeth, he simply said, "I think it would make you feel better."
Elizabeth eyed him for a moment, seemingly on the edge of agreement or disagreement, then nodded. "You're probably right."
Empowered, he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "I always am."
El chuckled at him. "You realize you're back with the inventory, right?"
Right. "I'll go get the list."
Peter, Jones, and Cruz filed into the van, ignoring the sumptuous complaints Neal offered on the way. Peter took a seat across from Neal and Cruz, who were arguing about the mission, the van, whose knee was touching whose; everything. It was unsettling enough to watch Diana head toward a hostage situation and hope their plan worked without the aid of the pair's bickering.
"You two!" Peter snapped, causing them both to look at him. "Could you please keep your mouths shut for just a minute while we catch a kidnapper, here?"
Everyone stared at him silently, mild astonishment painted on their faces. "What?"
Neal squinted at him. "Someone's in a sour mood."
Jones sighed. "Neal, cut the man a break. He's not used to fighting with his wife."
Peter glared at Neal. "You told him?"
Neal blinked. "It... might have slipped."
Jones set a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay; I feel you."
Cruz looked between the two. "What happened with Elizabeth?"
Peter snickered. "What, Neal hasn't told you already?"
Lauren shook her head. "Is it about the baby?"
He frowned. "No, she's just upset about..." Peter froze. The baby...
"Well, I'm just the model husband today," he exhaled angrily.
"What?" Jones asked.
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Our first doctor's appointment was today, and I forgot."
Neal winced. "Peter, that is not good at all."
"I know..." He sighed as he stood, reaching for his phone. Could he possibly screw anything else up? "I gotta call her and apologize."
"Diana's in place!" Jones warned them, sending Peter back into his seat.
"Here we go," Cruz nodded.
Neal groaned. "Let's get this over with."
Mozzie sighed at the large shelves of... well, everything, that stood over him mockingly, towering over him and his half-finished inventory list like a cat, ready to pounce, over a fuzzy gray houseguest that had overstayed its welcome. After an hour of recounting the wine alone (he'd "mysteriously" lost his other list that had previously taken stock of the bottles, and was forced to start fresh), he was growing tired of the work and decided to take a break. He and Mrs. Suit both knew it wasn't a real job, but instead a distraction, so he figured she wouldn't mind.
Taking a seat in Elizabeth's computer chair, he propped his feet up on the desk and looked around the room for any source of food or entertainment. He wasn't allowed any wine, but he found a cooler filled with ice-cold soft drinks and water – marked "Yvonne", though he paid no heed; whoever Yvonne was, she could settle with one less beverage – decided on a soda, and wiggled the computer mouse until the monitor turned on. The computer wasn't as fast as some others he'd seen, but since most of those had been federal property, stolen property, or cost more than his soul, it really wasn't a fair comparison. It loaded a web browser pretty quickly, so he dismissed any other lag and was simply glad that the building had Internet connection.
He typed in the URL for his favorite game website and signed in under Neal's username, which he had skillfully picked up from across the apartment. However, it was denied, so he went in under his username and immediately found Solitaire. A great time-killer, he mused, sipping his soda and popping his fingers. "Let it begin."
A half-hour later, the cards danced around the screen, proclaiming him "WINNER!" as per usual event. He grabbed another soft drink and scanned the screen for anything else to do.
And suddenly, as if mysterious forces had heard and granted his dull requests, an answer to his boredom appeared in the lower-right corner of the screen; namely the "You've got mail!" alert, accompanied with a loud pinging sound. He jumped and grabbed the speaker, silencing it nervously, then slumped back into the chair.
He was faced with a difficult decision; to snoop into Mrs. Suit's email, or to live through the next four hours dully, never knowing... It should have been a simple decision, but it wasn't. With anyone else, he would have gladly scanned their inbox without second thought, but she was the wife of a Suit...
Mozzie did open it, but it was just some contact information from a consumer. There was another about a delivery confirmation, and another about a sale on jewelry, and plenty other unimportant messages he couldn't care less about. After skimming through a few more emails, feeling like a complete and utter stalker, he decided to close the message and leave the Burkes to their business.
Sighing and closing out the website he was on, bringing the dancing cards to an abrupt halt, he looked around at the letters and papers on her desk, mind pleading his eyes to find something interesting. Bills, notes-to-self, contact information, more bills...
Something caught his eye, and this something was very familiar. It was a heart-shaped piece of paper with not-quite-poetry printed across it, and the words "Dearest Elizabeth" on the front. It was one of those love-letters El had been receiving, which unsettled him. He didn't like the man behind the letters. It seemed like something was off. It read:
"Dearest Elizabeth,
I have a special delivery
for you. It truly is coming
from my heart, with
love. There isn't a price
I would hesitate to pay
for you.
From your admirer."
He considered it for a moment, then turned it sideways and flipped it, then folded and creased it as the Extortionist had many years ago. Nothing turned up, but his curiosity wasn't satisfied and he tried a few more patterns. After a moment's brain-busting, he found something at least a little interesting. It came out as, "Delivery is coming with a price to pay."
Mozzie squinted at the paper. What could that mean? He might have been paranoid, but on the off-chance that it was a secret threat, and these really were from the Extortionist, they could be directed at the Suit.
Delivery could mean anything, he mused. A price to pay could be reference to the ransom money. The only reason Mozzie could deduce that this man would've sent these to Elizabeth was that the kidnapper must have known that the best way to get to Peter was through his wife. The notes were just poking fun at the situation.
Mozzie was just starting up another riveting round of solitaire when it dawned on him. Delivery... Hadn't Mrs. Suit received an email about a delivery?
He clicked "New Tab" and entered Elizabeth's email, instantly finding the message about a confirmed delivery. Unfortunately, that delivery was set to arrive today.
His eyes widened. They weren't after the Suit; they were after his wife.
Mozzie jumped out of his seat and ran out into the main room, not a single Elizabeth Burke to be seen. There was a customer sitting at a table, however, so he asked, "Have you seen Mrs. Burke?"
The woman with tired blue eyes and bleach-blonde hair nodded her head. "She went outside to make a phone call."
Mozzie took these instructions and flew toward the window, looking out at the streets; but no one was to be seen. All he caught was a truck speeding away, and an empty delivery stop.
Glad to update again :) I promised the action would begin around Chapter 10, and that's what's gonna happen. The Extortionist is in, ladies and gentlemen. Can't wait for you to meet him.
Don't forget to leave a review, please! Reviews are quite the inspiration :D
* *-TheSongbird341-* *
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, White Collar, or anything you recognize. So there.
