Chapter 13

"What do you mean she left? Where did she go?" Lisa pulled Neal to the side before she explained, "She took another job. They found her a new apartment for her. She said that it was for the best."

"Where is she now?" Neal asked.

"Neal, she is outside your radios."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Everything happened so fast. She called her new boss and said that she needed to find an apartment first, and he just found one for her the next day. She just left yesterday.ยจ

There was nothing else to say. Neal walked out of that shop to never return again. The first couple of days he did not give Angie any thought at all. He buried himself in work but not without his usual charm and his wit but it did not always fooled Peter. He continued to remind Neal that he was there for him. "If you ever want to talk, you know that I am here."

Neal always answered him briefly "There is nothing to talk about."

Elizabeth and June shared Peter's concern. June always said that Angie 'was quite a woman', and Elizabeth offered to find her for him. "I talked to Lisa, and she told me that Angie work for the CJ Company now. They work with shipping, and they often ship material for museums. I might be able to find her."

"You still go to that coffee shop?" Neal said, completely ignoring her help.

"It grows on you."

This was how it was. Angie became a conversation that he would ignore. Peter gave up. Mozzie gave up but the women have always had this stubbornness that never fully allowed them to give up. June and Elizabeth continued to ask him but after some while it became less and less important. Neal's arrest had bought some bad attention toward him. The people in Washington asked for the case files, despite the fact that it was a clear that it was a setup. The case was solved.

The day after Neal's release, Mozzie found the wooden box on the black market. Neal went undercover, and found the seller, which revealed to be an old friend of Mozzie who was a big fan of Neal. The case was shut, and there were no loose strings, meaning there were no reasons to look at the files again but it was done anyway.

"You have to be more careful now." Peter warned.

"I didn't do anything." Neal reminded.

"Then let's keep ot this way."

"Doesn't seem to make any difference anyway."

They walked into the office but did not reach far before Agent Clinton Jones stopped them with a new case. "They just call in with this one."

Peter opened the file as Agent Jones explained further, "The Company was shipping a painting from Mexico. It was supposed to arrive this morning with the museum manager but they opened the box at the shore and found it empty. NYPD are checking everyone on board but nothing new yet."

"Alright, we will go to the museum now."

Neal followed Peter without any words or question. Days had become months, and six month had passed since Neal has last seen Angie. She was always in some corner of his mind, and whenever someone talked about a company or shipping, he half expected that it was CJ. Nonetheless, in end he gave up. It was just one of those days when Peter discussed the details of the cause but it was only when they got out of the car, he managed to find an interest. There was a an expensive car parked right in front of them. But Neal's eyes were caught by the company logo that loudly shouted CJ Co.

Peter knew, of course, but just walked in front of Neal without saying anything. Neal followed him. The museum was filled with people but many of them seem to be there for business. There were some cops and some people in fancy suits. They approached the museum manger. He was talking to some tall man, and it took a while but Neal recognised him as Sean Kane.

"My name is Agent Burke, and this is my consultant Neal Caffrey."

They shook each other hands but Sean kept Neal's hand a bit longer. "Have I seen you before?"

"We met in a restaurant once."

Sean's smile suddenly changed to a more embarrassed expression, which caused Neal to think that Sean remembered everything now. Sean turned to Peter, "I don't understand how this is possible. We had full time surveillance on the painting and a guard who checked it every fifteen minutes. The manager saw the painting getting put into the ship. This is an impossible job."

"Nothing is impossible. It just takes the right amount of information to do it." Neal smiled.

"We think it is an inside job but we can't imagine who it could be."

"We will need a list with all the employs that were involved." Peter said.

"Of course, we are on it right now." Sean suddenly took his phone out of the pocket and excused himself.

"So what do you think?" Peter asked Neal.

"It could be an inside job but it must have been done on the ship. It could be any of those who knew about his transmission."

Peter turned to museum manager, "We will also need a list from you."

"Of course", the manager rushed away.

"We should see the surveillance." Neal said.

"That would be the company's responsibility."

They looked around for Sean, and found him by the main door. However, when they approached him, they failed to notice the figure in front him. Sean turned around and revealed her. The same eyes, the same hair and the same innocent look but in a fancier fashion. Her hair was wavier, and her brown eyes seemed darker but there was no doubt. It was Angie Noam.