Chapter 18

Special Agent Peter Burke's 'go-to' work attire consisted of one of three Brooks Brothers suits, a neutral coloured dress shirt, an outdated matching tie and a pair of sensible dress shoes. On weekends, he switched it up with old t-shirts, gym pants and well-worn sneakers. Apparently, there was no in between look for the man, no stylish jeans or sleek chinos, no trendy shirts and that was the way he liked it.

At the moment, he was standing in the Caffrey kitchen in a getup his best friend had rarely seen, one that could best be described as suburban mix and match. He wore a plain white cotton t-shirt, short sleeved, plaid flannel pyjama bottoms and a pair of wool socks despite the fact it was mid-June in New York. A tuff of hair shot straight up towards the ceiling reminding Neal of Alfalfa from those old kids' movies. He had to keep himself in check to keep from laughing.

'You're back!' the older man called out from where he stood in all his glory.

Sara smiled at him, Neal swallowed the giggle and glared. After all, he was still pissed off at him for what he perceived to be the most egregious of transgressions between best friends: a lack of honesty and transparency.

'Are the kids awake?' El asked as she poured her husband a cup of coffee.

'Not yet, it's all quiet up there' he confirmed, taking the chair directly across from Neal.

'You made good time' he commented, trying to keep the conversation in the neutral zone.

Neal remained silent.

'It rained earlier on but it was pretty well clear sailing for the last little while' Sara offered by way of a reply.

'What…' Peter began, pointing to her swollen cheek.

'Like I told El, it's a long story.'

He nodded and returned his attention to his coffee, pouring in a dollop of cream. It wasn't lost on the foursome that the tension was growing with every passing second, the air thick enough to cut with a knife.

Sara sprung to her feet. Not only was she eager to talk to the kids, she had no interest in witnessing what was sure to be a raucous outburst from her husband. It was his way of processing the hurt, anger and fear he'd been trying to deal with since the night before. And, as always, Peter was the easiest target.

'I'm going to go check on the kids again' she said with a slight stutter. 'See if they're awake.'

'I'll come with you' El offered, hot on her heels. It was obvious neither woman wanted to get caught in the middle of a heated discussion between the two best friends.

Peter looked up pleadingly at his wife as she prepared to walk away, leaving the two men to face each other, like boxers in a ring ready to face off. Contrary to Neal, Peter's face was relaxed and open, ready to take whatever Neal felt the need to dish out. He was fully aware that his best friend was dealing with hurt, worry, anger and most of all fear. The lethal combination had left him raw, struggling to deal with all those competing emotions. Neal's eyes stared back, dark and brooding but when he spoke, he managed to keep his tone civil.

'Start at the beginning. And don't leave anything out' he said, his voice clipped.

Peter fidgeted, nervously running his fingers around the rim of his coffee cup.

'Like I said, I showed up at Liam's friend's house at around 4:30 yesterday just as the party was wrapping up. I saw Nathan's mom talking to a bunch of parents so I went over and introduced myself, showed her my ID, told her I was there to pick up Liam.'

Deep lines were etched on Neal's forehead. 'What made you think Cornyn might be involved in the first place?'

'Hope saw a man hanging around the soccer field and again at school.'

'What?' Neal said, his voice strident - another detail Peter had conveniently neglected to mention. 'When was this?'

Peter looked down at the table, ran a finger lightly over it. 'It was… hum… earlier in the week… at her practice.'

Neal leaned forward, his fists clenched, anger bubbling to the surface. 'You're telling me that you've know since the weekend that Cornyn was sniffing around my kids and you didn't bother to tell me?'

'No, no… it wasn't like that. Hope didn't say anything until later. And at first, I wasn't even sure it was Cornyn. Hope just said this guy had talked to her at her practice —'

Neal interrupted, again on the verge of blowing up. 'Where the hell were you while a stranger was accosting Hope?'

'I was there Neal, I was right there. Hope says he complimented her on a goal she'd scored but she didn't tell us about it until later on in the week.'

Neal sat back and forced himself to calm down. He needed to listen if he wanted to understand what had happened.

'At first, I thought she might be overly suspicious. I know she's a little… skittish when it comes to strange men.'

'After what she went through, can you blame her?' Neal barked back.

'No… It crossed my mind it might be Cornyn but I couldn't be sure… So, I brought Hope into the Bureau and we showed her a few mugshots.'

Neal shook his head in disbelief. 'And the hits just keep on coming' he mumbled acridly.

Peter ignored the sarcasm. 'She did great. She was able to ID him and then she remembered him from that day we took them to Jersey City. I put out an APB, warned the school to be on the lookout…'

Neal felt another pang of unease at the thought of not having been there for both his kids. Hope was still fragile following the Keller ordeal and he and Sara continued to keep a close eye on her. But Peter knew that and he would have been careful when dealing with her. Neal wondered in passing if he would have done anything different if he'd been there. In truth, Peter was the best g-man he'd ever known.

'She must have been terrified when Liam disappeared.'

Again, Peter was unable to look him straight in the eye. 'Actually, we didn't tell her what was going on.'

Neal sighed in relief. 'What do you mean?'

'She spent yesterday over at the Masons and when she came home, El just kept her distracted.'

'So she still doesn't know?'

Peter shook his head.

'What happened after you talked to Nathan's mom?'

'We went looking for Liam and her husband admitted he'd let him go with someone who said he was me.'

'But —'

It was Peter's turn to interrupt. 'The guy said it was hectic with all the parents arriving at the same time… he didn't think to ask for ID. By then… it was too late. I missed him by about five minutes.'

Neal's breathing accelerated and he set his open hands on the kitchen table, palms down as if bracing himself.

'I can't believe Liam would get in a car with someone he didn't know' Neal said, his face strained.

'Liam said he blurted out the safe word by mistake.'

Neal chuckled bitterly. 'Then what happened?'

'We put out an amber alert, interviewed the parents who'd been picking up their kids around the same time… but we came up empty.'

Neal felt his emotions fluctuating as Peter described what had happened — almost as if he was living through the events minute by minute. His face grew pale… four thirty? He'd been wandering through the woods looking for Sara right around that time. He looked up at Peter. His look softened somewhat at the sight of Peter's face growing ashen.

'Why didn't you call me right away?' The anger was instantly back.

'Once I got my bearings and I got back to the office, I tried. It went to voice mail… I wasn't about to leave a message…'

'Peter, he was missing for five hours!'

'I know, I know. I was just busy… running down leads, trying to coordinate everything.'

Neal scoffed. He knew that was only part of the reason.

'Bullshit!' he said, his voice suddenly louder. 'If you'd called us right when it happened, we would have been here by the time…'

Underneath it all, Peter knew Neal had a point. It was true, he had been busy but not too busy to reach out to him. Truth was, part of him had been hoping to get Liam back safe and sound before Neal even had time to worry about it.

'I guess I… I was trying to keep you from worrying' he admitted quietly.

Neal's gaze grew dark, his cheeks flushed. 'Because you know better, right?' he said bitterly.

'No… I…'

'It's true! You always think you know better Peter, filtering what you think I need to know, not trusting me to handle the truth —'

'That's not true Neal.'

They were right into it now. Both their voices growing louder, emotions escalating.

'It is! Peter, I'm not your CI anymore! Stop treating me like some helpless ex-con who can't handle things or can't be trusted with the truth.'

Peter shook his head violently in denial as Neal continued, his voice thundering. 'I'm a grown man with a family and I have nothing to prove to you or anybody else anymore so stop…. coddling me!'

The outburst ended abruptly and silence returned as the two men stared each other down. Neal took a few cleansing breaths and got to his feet, walking over to the coffee maker to refill his cup. He returned to his seat, calmer now but still short on the details he badly needed to satisfy his curiosity. Like a voyeur, he wanted to know every single detail as if that would somehow absolve him of not being there when his son needed him the most.

WCWCWC

'He looks so… peaceful' Sara said, staring down at Liam. 'It's hard to believe he's been through so much.'

Elizabeth nodded, recalling just how upset he'd been when he'd woken in the middle of the night. It was a relief to see him sleeping peacefully.

They sat together on the edge of the bed in the master bedroom, speaking softly. Sara didn't want to be anywhere else.

'He peed the bed?' she asked.

El nodded again. 'He was pretty upset about it, said he'd had a bad dream.'

'Of course he did. Is it any wonder?' Sara said with a strangled sob. She gently ran her hand over his fair head of hair but he didn't stir.

She turned to look at El, her face tortured. 'Do you think the guy touched him or…'

'Peter doesn't think so. Liam says he didn't. He just drove around with him in the car. Frankly, it looks like it was all about making Neal a little crazy.'

'A little crazy?' Sara said as she let out an uneven sigh. 'It's not fair El. He's just a baby.'

Elizabeth brought her hand to rest on her best friend's back, rubbing gently. 'I know.'

'How's Hope doing? This must have really upset her, huh?'

'Actually… I didn't tell her. I didn't see the point, she's so overprotective of him.'

'I guess she'll find out sooner or later. I hope it doesn't trigger memories of what happened to her.'

'Speaking of Hope' El began tentatively. 'There's something I need to tell you.'

Sara couldn't take much more in the way of unexpected news. 'What is it?' she said, her voice weak.

'Yesterday, Hope and Olivia spent the day playing hairdresser.'

'What do you mean?'

Elizabeth cringed as she waited for Sara's reaction. 'They tried to dye each other's hair.'

'They what?' she said louder.

Liam moved on the bed, turned over and kept sleeping.

'She said she wanted to be a blonde. Something about some girls at school.'

'The sunshine girls…' Sara said as she recalled her daughter bemoaning the fact she wasn't part of the group.

'The what?'

Sara waved the question away and cringed. 'How bad is it?'

'Well, let me put it this way. It's better than it was when we got home. I managed to wash a lot of it out with vinegar and water.'

'Great!' Sara said sarcastically before thinking better of it. 'I guess in light of everything that's happened over the past twenty-four hours, it's the least of our worries.'

The murmur of voices coming from the kitchen grew louder and Sara recognized her husband's angry voice echoing through the house. Through it all, Liam slept.

'So are you going to tell me how you got that shiner?' Elizabeth probed as only she could.

Sara sighed and proceeded to give her a brief description of the events of the week, her suspicions upon meeting Beth, her face to face standoff with the woman's violent husband.

'Are you going to press charges?'

'I don't know… really, I just want to forget about the whole thing.'

'Mommy' came a small voice from underneath the blankets.

She let out a choked laugh as she looked into Liam's sleepy eyes. 'Hey sweetie!'

His little arms reached around her neck as he pulled himself into her arms. She held him tight, feeling his small defenceless body relax in her arms.

'Mommy, a bad man took me in his car' he said in her ear as she nodded.

'I know sweetie.' She pulled out of the hug so she could see his eyes. 'Did he hurt you?'

His reaction was instantaneous and frankly reassuring. 'No. He just drove around. He wouldn't bring me home. He got mad because I threw up in his car.'

She laughed bitterly again at what were the highlights from a five-year-old's perspective. Liam leaned in and put a hand up against her ear as he whispered. 'Mommy I peed my pants and I peed the bed.'

It had been such a victory to finally leave his bedwetting years behind him. She could hear the anguish in his voice.

'That's okay honey' she whispered, holding him near. 'It's okay.'

His mood changed and his eyes grew bright. 'Where's Daddy?'

WCWCWC

Downstairs, the inquisition was far from over. The torture was back on every feature of Neal's face as he spoke. 'How was he… when you first laid eyes on him?'

Peter fiddled with his cup and swallowed. 'Like I said, our security guy saw him standing outside the door. Liam had been trying to open it but it was too heavy for him. He said Liam was shivering, he had thrown up on himself and he had… he had peed his pants.'

Neal's face grew sad at the thought of his little boy, having to deal with grownup stuff all by himself at such a young age.

'Dillon, the night guy brought him in and wrapped him in a blanket. Liam told him he thought his uncle Peter worked in the building but he couldn't remember my last name. On a hunch, Dillon did a check of who was in the building and they figured it out from there.'

Neal nodded expectantly for Peter to continue.

'When I came down, he ran into my arms. He was shaking… and he was crying.'

Neal swallowed a gasp. 'Did Cornyn hurt him or threaten him?'

'I really don't think so Neal. I took Liam to the little sitting area and after he calmed down, he said he was just scared and frankly, he was more upset about having peed his pants than anything else.'

Peter got up and went to the kitchen counter where he picked up a piece of paper.

'Cornyn had pinned this to his chest' he said, handing the note over to Neal.

Neal's eyes swept the note. 'And you haven't located him yet?'

'No… he dumped the car he was driving. We found it abandoned somewhere in Queens.'

Neal looked up expectantly, waiting for Peter to finish the tale.

'So, I checked Liam out… he said he was hungry and like I said, he was embarrassed about making a mess. He said Cornyn had taken him to a restaurant but that he wasn't hungry after eating all that junk food at the party. He tried to tell the waitress what was going on.'

'What do you mean?'

'This waitress at a diner in Queens called in and said she recognized Liam's picture from the news. She said he told her the man he was with wasn't his dad but she thought it was just a game they were playing. By then, they were long gone. Then, Liam said they drove around and he felt sick and threw up all over the car.'

There was a sad smile on Neal's face. 'That's my boy' he muttered.

'He says he fell asleep after that and when he woke up they were at the Federal Building. Cornyn told him to get out.'

Neal's anger melted into concern. His little guy had been whisked away and had spent hours terrified, not knowing where he was or if and when he'd be allowed to come home.

He choked back a sob and looked into Peter's eyes, pleading. 'How could you have let this happen Peter?'

The sheer look of anguish in his best friend's eyes caused Peter to fall back on his chair as if he'd just been punched in the gut. The accusation inherent in Neal's question left him shaken.

'I love him too you know' he said, his voice shaky.

'Well you didn't do a very good job of keeping him safe!' Neal barked back without hesitation, getting in one last painful jab.

Peter looked down at the table, unable to maintain eye contact. 'No… I guess I didn't' he murmured.

Neal felt a lump in his throat. Perhaps he'd gone too far. For now, he'd managed to knock his opponent down but the victory felt bittersweet.

'Daddy!' came a small voice from the bottom of the staircase.

All the anger and anguish instantly vanished from Neal's face as he opened his arms to his son.

'Daddy!' he repeated as he threw himself in his father's arms.

'Hey buddy' Neal murmured softly. 'You have no idea how much I missed you.'

'A bad man took me in his car' Liam said innocently as if recounting a TV show he'd been watching.

Neal felt his throat constricting and hugged him again. 'You're safe now buddy. Mommy and Daddy are home.'

WCWCWC

'Are you mad at me?' Hope asked, peeking out from under the blankets. Satchmo was lying low, his head down as if anticipating an outburst from Sara.

She didn't have it in her to blow up as she might have done just a few days ago. 'Well, I'm not happy about it.'

She lifted a strand of hair with disdain and let it drop. 'You have… you had such beautiful hair' she said.

Hope snivelled and Sara feared she might start to cry. This time, she ran her hair down her wavy curls lovingly. 'It's okay honey, it can be fixed' she said reassuringly.

They hugged tightly. Sara had missed her kids a lot more than she'd realized.

'Where's Daddy?' Hope asked pulling away.

'He's downstairs with Uncle Peter.'

Hope slipped out of her mom's arms and ran to the bedroom door with Satchmo in tow. She stopped suddenly, looking at her mom with alarm.

'Is he going to be mad at me?' the girl asked.

Thinking of the craziness of the past few days, Sara shook her head and smiled.

'I doubt it' she replied.

TBC