Chapter 12

Peter was sitting in his office in the Federal Building doing a cursory check of all the cases he was presently overseeing. There was no doubt, however, which case was uppermost in his mind on this Wednesday afternoon. He'd had a meeting with Sara's bosses and had informed them of the operation, asking for their cooperation in having the Sterling Bosch offices cleared out by five o'clock. He'd already had all the necessary surveillance equipment set up in the small conference room which was adjacent to Sara's office and a meeting was planned for three o'clock with all involved to go over the operation from A to Z. The NYPD was backing them up on the case and were ready with resources should things go south. He'd covered all his bases; all that was left after all the careful preparation was the execution – and he hoped that Sara was up to the challenge.

He heard a commotion down in the bull pen and glanced down. He could see Diana talking to an older man, obviously a street person from the way he was dressed. He was speaking loudly and he was waving a hat in his hand as he spoke. He watched as Diana escorted him to the conference room and Peter was already halfway down the hallway when she returned, heading his way.

'Peter, this guy says he has information on Neal's stabbing' she said

He followed his top agent to the conference room, his breathing a little more rapid as he realized this might be the eye-witness they had been hoping would materialize.

'I'm Agent Peter Burke' he said, as he put out his hand

He could tell the man was down on his luck, his clothing askew, his hair and beard untrimmed, yet there was something refined about the man and as he spoke, Peter could see that he was a well educated individual.

'My name is John Connolly' he said, standing to reciprocate

'I went in to the local police station and reported a mugging I witnessed and the detective said it was one of your men and that you would want to hear this first hand' he said as he sat

'Diana, would you get Mr. Connolly a cup of coffee? And whatever we might have in the way of food' he said as he settled in his chair directly across from the man

Connolly smiled in appreciation. He hadn't eaten since the night before and he could feel his stomach grumbling, his legs a little unsteady.

'Last night, I was hanging out on Rush Street and I heard a commotion in the alley behind the pawn shop' he began as he placed the woolen cap on the table

Peter nodded as he spoke.

'I'd seen a man come by earlier and he'd headed back there and then about ten minutes later, I saw a second man come up the street. He looked nervous and anxious and I don't even think he noticed me sitting there' he explained

Diana returned, setting down a piping hot cup of coffee and a couple of donuts in front of the appreciative man who immediately took a bite and a long sip of the warm nectar.

'The second guy was wearing this' he said as he pointed to the hat lying on the table '...and he kept pulling it down over his eyes, all nervous like. After a couple of minutes, I heard a scuffle and the second guy, he just flew out of there, on a tear but this time, he didn't have the hat on and I got to see his face when he ran by me'

'Do you think you would recognize him if you saw him again?' asked Peter, leaning in

'I'm not sure... it was getting dark. But, he had thick curly blond hair' Connolly explained

Suddenly, the man's voice grew quiet as he continued. 'I shouldn't have taken the hat but it looked warm and I was cold. Sorry... I wanted to return it, I figured it might be evidence'

Peter smiled at the man's honesty. He'd have to make sure this guy got a nice warm hat when this was all over.

'So, did you go back into the alley?' asked Peter

'Yeah, sure that's where I saw the hat on the ground. And there was that nice guy, the one who'd just given me ten bucks, laying there on the ground' he said

Peter smiled at this – of course, Neal would have given the guy some money. Despite his years of thieving and taking what wasn't his, it had never been about the money and Neal had a most generous heart even throughout the years when he'd had little even for himself.

'He was breathing hard and I could see blood pooling around him. He was holding a cell phone in his hands and when I walked up, it fell from his fingers so I picked it up and used it to call 911' said Connolly, taking another wonderful sip of his coffee

'What happened next?' asked Peter as Diana stood by; she was writing down everything the man was saying.

'Well, I stayed with him for a few minutes. I could hear him breathing and he kept mumbling 'Sara, Sara' so I told him Sara was coming soon, you know, just to keep him focussed. And then I heard the sirens and I high tailed it out of there. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I should have stayed with him; nobody should be alone when they're in a bad way ... but you know, sometimes cops they don't always understand about ... people like me... who live on the streets. I didn't want to be blamed for any of it. I'm sorry I let the guy down...'

'You didn't John. You called for help and you saved his life. He's going to be fine. His name is Neal Caffrey and he works part-time for the Bureau. He was operated on last night and he's going to pull through because of you, because of what you did. Thank you for that' said Peter, getting slightly emotional

John Connolly nodded and Peter could see the relief in his eyes – relief at having done the right thing. He remembered what the police had said, that Neal hadn't been mugged. This guy sitting in front of him was down on his luck; he could have cleaned Neal out, taken all his cash and his phone but instead he'd chosen to stay and try to give him some semblance of comfort in his hour of need. We should all have a friend like John Connolly, he thought.

Peter shook the man's hand, thanking him again for his help with the case and Diana loaded up some food from the kitchenette and sent him on his way, back to the lonely, dirty streets of Bushwick.

WCWCWC

By mid-afternoon, Sara knew she had to make her way back to Sterling Bosch. It was time for one last run through in preparation for her face to face meeting with Craig. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the man; he needed help not punishment but he couldn't be allowed to run free in his present state, delusional as he was about his relationship with Sara. He had shown that, despite her earlier erroneous assessment, he was capable of violence and in order for charges to stick – and for him to get the help he needed – they would need to stack up as much evidence as possible and in the best case scenario, that meant a confession straight from the man's lips.

She looked down at Neal, who'd been sleeping peacefully for the past hour. He'd been through so much and she just wanted to take care of things, for once, after all those times that he'd taken care of everything for her and their kids. She leaned in to place a kiss on his forehead but she pulled back at the last second and refrained; she didn't want to disturb his sleep. There was nothing more that could be said between them; she needed to get on with the show and give the performance of her life.

She settled for blowing her husband a kiss and whispered 'I love you' before she snuck out of his hospital room.

WCWCWC

There were six of them sitting in the small conference room at Sterling Bosh: Peter Burke, Diana Berrigan, Clinton Jones, Detective Christopher Newcombe, Winston Bosh and Sara Ellis. In a nearby room, a dozen or so federal agents waited in the wings for their final instructions as they remained out of sight, munching on donuts and sipping coffee as all good law enforcement agents are trained to do.

Craig was scheduled to arrive at 6:00 but they had to be in place before that, just in case. At five o'clock, a member of Peter's team was scheduled to take over from the attendant at the information desk on the first floor of the building in which the SB offices were located. He would notify the team the moment Craig Williamson stepped onto the elevator on his way up to Sara's office giving them a few precious seconds to make sure everyone was in place.

Sara's job was to be in her office, waiting for Craig's arrival. Diana would be positioned outside her office, masquerading as her assistant and several other agents were slated to play the role of random SB employees, free to roam the hallways nearby. Peter would be positioned just a few feet away from Sara, listening to the conversation and waiting for one of two things: Sara's take down phrase which meant she felt endangered in some way or Craig's confession which would signal the crew to move in and neutralize him.

It was now past five o'clock and as time ticked on, Sara's nerves seemed to be getting the better of her. She sat at her desk, mindlessly looking over the files which happened to be sitting there – totally unaware of what she was reading.

'Peter?' she said softly as the communication device he'd given her crackled to life in Peter's head phones

'Yes?' he whispered back into her ear

They had decided to go with two way communication. That way Peter could instruct her on what to do if things became dicey – besides, the minuscule bug in her ear was invisible unless you searched for it and with her hair covering her ears, it was virtually undetectable.

'Just checking' she said, nervously

'There's still time to change your mind, Sara. We already have a lot stacked up against this guy' said Peter giving her one last chance to bail

'No!' she said so loudly that Peter heard her through the door separating them

'It's better all around if I can get him to admit to what he did' she said, her voice softer now 'Promise me you won't be too rough with him'

Despite what Craig had done to Neal and to her children, she knew that the man was mentally ill and not in control of his actions. She didn't want him to be physically hurt in any way; after all, he would have a long road ahead to get better and he would be facing criminal charges by the end of the day.

'Promise' came the answer in her ear

She returned to the mindless task of shuffling papers on her desk and glanced at the picture of Neal and the kids that she kept on her desk. She picked it up, gazing lovingly at the three faces smiling back at her and placed it in the top drawer of her desk. She didn't want anything setting Craig off; keeping him calm and focussed was her best bet if she was going to draw a confession from him.

She checked her watch one more time: 5:48.

Suddenly, Peter's voice could be heard in her ear 'He's on his way up. It's show time, Sara'

TBC