Chapter Thirty-Four

Faith

Nora was late, and Peter was ready to give her an earful. She had texted him the details of what happened after the bug went out. He'd been too frustrated with his impulsive, infuriating CI to say much else in return other than he expected her in his office first thing in the morning. On the way up, Peter ran into Hughes and Ruiz, and they discussed the case as they rode up to the twenty-first floor.

"How did you know she was in on it?" Hughes asked, surprised, as they stepped through the double doors.

"Lucky hunch," Peter dodged. Nora was a headache, but he had told her to find some way to link Paul to the bible. He wasn't about to throw her under the bus for that.

"Hmph," Hughes sighed. "Ruiz?"

"I checked Paul's credit. He got wired ten Gs from a shell corporation in Gibraltar," he admitted. "Owned by your… uh, lady professor." Peter grinned, vindicated.

"Oh, by the way," Hughes asked, "how'd last night's fishing go? Get any tape?"

Once again, Peter found himself dodging the question. He didn't miss a beat. "Equipment failure," he explained. It was true enough. Maybe she's rubbing off on me... "But Caffrey says she has the book. She'll sell, but only to her."

Hughes snorted out a humorless laugh. "Of course she'd say that. The terms?"

"Two-fifty," Peter explained. "Wired to a Swiss account."

"No way," Ruiz huffed. "What if she cuts a deal with her? She runs away with the book."

Peter hesitated. "What choice do we have?" He didn't trust her, not with that much money. But it was the only play they had. If she ran, it would be egg on his face, and he would have to track her down for the third time.

"We don't," Hughes sighed. "I don't need another dead body washing up in the East River. We'll set up a dummy account."

"That's risky," Peter said slowly. "What if she takes a shot at Nora?" As frustrating as she was, and as little as he trusted her, he didn't want to put her in front of a bullet. She wasn't an agent, after all. It was the Bureau's responsibility to keep her safe.

"I wouldn't lose any sleep over it," Ruiz laughed.

Nora's head appeared over the rail of the stairs, grinning just like she always did. "Morning, guys," she said brightly. "Everybody sleep okay?" Peter couldn't stop himself from smirking. Ruiz at least had the decency to look sheepish as he muttered an excuse to leave.

Hughes excused himself as well, retreating into his office. Peter pulled Nora into his. His anger had somewhat dissipated, but he still had an uneasy feeling in his stomach about giving her the money. She could run with it.

He went over what had been discussed before she arrived. She nodded, expression neutral. She fiddled with the end of her braid. An email containing the account information Hughes had an agent set up came through on his phone.

"Caymans First National," he explained, showing her the account information on his cell phone. "I'll email you the pin right before the buy." It was a necessary precaution.

Once Peter finished, she smiled. "Geez, first they're hauling me back to prison," she mused, "then tomorrow they're giving me a quarter million tax payer dollars in an offshore account. I guess that shows how much confidence they have in you."

Peter didn't smile. He stared at her evenly for a moment. "And how much I have in you," he said slowly. Her smile dropped.

It was a long, restless night for Peter. He couldn't relax, not while he knew that the next day it was entirely possible Nora would double-cross them and run off with the bible. He wouldn't have been surprised if she did, but he had to admit that it would hurt like hell. He'd put his neck out for her more than once, stood up for her when his superiors doubted her usefulness against the risk of her running.

He didn't sleep much that night, running through his doubts over and over again. It was the only play they had. They had every precaution put in place that, if she did try and run, she wouldn't be able to get very far. She hadn't shown any sign that she was planning on running.

But that doesn't mean anything, he reminded himself. She was a professional liar. Of course she wouldn't show any signs if she had something in the works. If she's planning anything, I won't know until it's already too late.

The next morning, Peter dressed slowly, dragging his feet. His stomach was in knots. He came downstairs to Elizabeth, already working on her laptop at the table. "Hey," she greeted, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"Hey," he said.

"Morning. You're up early."

"Yeah, couldn't sleep," he admitted, already gathering his things off the coffee table. "Big day."

She smiled. "I can tell. You're wearing your lucky tie." He didn't respond. "Hey, did you find the bible?" she asked enthusiastically. She'd become very invested in that case after talking to Nora and him about it.

"Yeah," he explained. "The professor had it." El grinned. "Nora's going to buy it back."

"You're giving her money," she summarized, sounding somewhat shocked. "Wow. No wonder, lucky tie."

Peter laughed a little. "No way," he admitted. "We set up a fake wire transfer."

She turned around in her chair, eyeing him quizzically. "Then what are you worried about?"

Peter sighed. "Nora has to convince her that she's working us," he explained, "which means she has to cut her anklet. For real." He paused, looking down at his tie for a moment. "The book's worth a fortune. She could run with it."

El smiled softly, standing to cross the room toward him. She began straightening his tie. "You have a lot more faith in a ratty old tie than you do in Nora."

"Yeah, well, this ratty old tie's never forged a priceless map of Vinland," he said bitterly.

She looked at him evenly. "Why is it so hard for you to believe that she'll do the right thing?" That was El, always trying to see the best in people, even those who probably didn't deserve it. In Peter's line of work, that was a dangerous mindset to have.

He sighed, trying to find the words to describe it. "Let's just say that's not her first instinct," he decided.

"And trust isn't yours," she countered.

"Occupational hazard." Trust was earned, he believed, not given. If Nora wanted him to trust her, she needed to prove that she deserved it. "I like to know I can count on something."

"I know you do," she said softly, "but sometimes you just have to make a leap of faith."

Peter sighed, looking at her for a long moment. She smiled up at him and gave him a quick kiss. After her words sank in, he spoke. "You've been waiting for a chance to make that joke since I told you about the bible, haven't you?"

She smiled. "With Nora being… who she is, I figured I'd get the chance sooner or later."