Chapter 17

'What if we can't find them?' Peter muttered as they worked frantically.

Neal shook his head as he emptied out a box of knick-knacks. 'Let's not think about that right now.'

There was still a fair bit of stuff to search through although the pile of junk had decreased considerably. They'd been at it for two hours and still… no sign of any diamonds - or anything else of value.

'It's gotta be Billings' cronies, right?' Peter said. 'Who else would even know about the diamonds?'

He looked over at Neal. 'And here I was, gearing up to lecture Mozzie about doing the right thing and returning them to the police.'

Neal glanced around the room at the mess they were creating. 'Well, we haven't found them yet and to be honest, I'm not even sure they're here.'

'Do you think those guys who took Mozzie know something we don't know?'

Neal dropped what he was doing to look at his best friend. 'I don't know but I'm worried about what they'll do to him if we don't find them.'

'How did he sound?'

'A little on the shrill side. You know Moz… if he accidentally locks himself in the bathroom, he has an aneurism. I hate to think of what will happen if he's confined to some dark dingy room for more than five minutes.'

Peter felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. He ignored it and kept working. They didn't have any time to waste.

'Could we… maybe try to hand over something else? I don't know, cut glass or something.'

Neal picked up on the implication. In his past life, he'd been a pro at passing things off for something they weren't.

'I was a forger Peter…' he said deadpan. '…I never quite figured out how to conjure up diamonds out of thin air.'

'Maybe… some cubic zirconias or something…'

Neal scoffed and looked at his watch. 'Unless you expect me to break into a jewelry store at this hour of the night, it's a little late to go shopping.'

His phone vibrated and he glanced at the screen. Sara. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and resumed his search.

'Just keep looking. The faster we get through this stuff, the faster we can get Moz out of there.'

WCWCWC

After he'd been let out of the basement to make his call, Mozzie was able to get his bearings. They were in a house, a very nice high-end suburban home although he had no idea whether or not they were still in the Bronx. The big burly guy who'd dragged him up the stairs had brought him into a fully loaded game room complete with a wet bar, an air hockey game, a poker table and an eighty-inch TV. There was a boxing match playing on the tube and the two thugs who'd abducted him watched distractedly as they played cards on the game table. He was about to be carted back down to the basement by Big Burly Guy when he glanced down at the card game.

'Are you playing crazy pineapple!?' he asked excitedly as the two men looked up from their poker game. 'That's a lost art… and an acquired taste.'

One of the men smiled, impressed by the fact that their 'guest' knew about the obscure poker game he favoured. 'You know how to play crazy pineapple?'

'Of course' Mozzie replied. 'It's my favourite variation on the sometimes rather vulgar game. Far be it from me to brag but I won a tournament in Frankfurt a few years back.'

'Germany?' the other poker player asked.

Mozzie gloated. 'I was there with an associate doing… some business and we came across a, shall we say, 'clandestine' game in this not so desirable part of town down by the train station. Sixteen people around the table… I was the only one left standing.'

The man holding Mozzie's arm was squeezing now, eager to get him back to his hiding place in the basement but Mozzie seemed to have captured the attention of the other two thugs.

'Not a lot of people know how to play' Thug number one said. 'Like you said, it's a lost art.'

Mozzie inched his way over, glancing at the man's hand. He was about to discard his ten of hearts but Mozzie coughed to get his attention and wagged his eyebrows in warning. The hand holding his arm loosened somewhat.

'Why don't we let him play' Thug number two said. 'See if he's as good as he says.'

Mozzie's face brightened. Playing a game of crazy pineapple while you were being held captive sounded like a lot more fun than sitting in a cold basement with a bare lightbulb swinging over your head and your hands tied behind your back.

'Come on Stan, what harm can it do?' Thug number two said, dollar signs dancing in his head. 'There's three of us and one of him and to be honest…'

He looked Mozzie up and down and patted his gun. 'He doesn't look like much of a threat to me.'

The large man who'd been holding his arm suddenly looked a lot less threatening than he'd seemed just ten minutes before.

'You got cash on you?' he asked Mozzie.

'I've got something better than cash' Mozzie replied mysteriously.

Stan hesitated for a moment, then pulled up another chair. Mozzie moved immediately to take a seat. He rubbed his hands in anticipation.

'All right gentlemen' he said, 'whose turn is it to deal?'

WCWCWC

Sara stared down at her phone. 'He's not answering.' She typed in a text and put her phone down, returning to her glass of wine.

'Neither is Peter. Where exactly is this place Mozzie rented?' El asked.

'I don't know. Neal said it was in the Bronx, six blocks or so from the school.'

'Well, we can't exactly go wandering around looking for some hidden warehouse, can we?' El said with a frustrated sigh.

'That'd be silly, right?' came Sara's reply. 'I mean…'

She picked up the handful of diamonds and examined them for the umpteenth time.

'How much do you think they're worth?'

'I'd have to have them appraised' Sara replied. 'But at first blush, several million.'

'Several million dollars?' El shrieked.

'No, tomatoes' Sara replied in her usual acerbic tone.

She returned her gaze to the diamonds. 'These are raw, uncut… The guys who stole these really knew what they were doing.'

She grew restless. 'How many warehouses can there be within six blocks of the school of art?' she asked, not expecting an answer. 'Maybe we could go down there, walk around, hope they call back in the meantime.'

It was the dumbest idea ever. But neither one of them had realized it yet.

WCWCWC

The car stopped two blocks from its destination.

'You've been awfully quiet' Logan said. 'You all right?'

In the seat beside him, Ginny sat, looking wrecked. 'I'm exhausted…'

He reached over and ran his hand through her hair. 'Was all that too much for you, baby girl?'

She could see a glimmer in his eye; he'd been pleased with her. 'No… no it wasn't. It was fun. But I think I might have overdone it on the shooters, I feel queasy.'

'Sorry babe' he commented as he reached for her hand. 'I should have slowed you down. You going to be okay to face your moms?'

She shrugged. 'I guess. All I want to do is lie down. I'll try to sneak in so they don't see me.'

'Here, take this' he said, handing her a small pill. 'It's a miracle drug. It'll pick you right up and make you feel better.'

She looked into his eyes, those gorgeous seas of deep blue and she took it from him, throwing it back and chasing it with a sip of water.

Logan chuckled. 'You know, you're going to have to grow a thicker skin if you want to be a successful party girl' he commented.

When she didn't reply, he leaned over and began nibbling on her ear as Ginny giggled. 'You want to go again this weekend?' he asked.

Her eyes were droopy, her skin damp - too much of everything he suspected. She nodded all the same. Maybe he needed to slow things down a little. He had her right where he wanted her and he didn't want her slipping away when he was so close.

'You… are amazing, you know that?' he said.

She perked up in response to his words of praise. 'Now, go before you get into trouble. Keep your phone on you, okay. I'll call you later.'

Ginny sighed and stepped out of the car, noticing she'd put her school uniform back on inside out. Logan chuckled at the sight and he winked, making everything better.

WCWCWC

Diana was relieved that the message was automated - that way no one heard her swear into the phone like a drunken sailor. Christie, on the other hand, heard every single word and she looked up from the book she'd been reading to see what had gotten her wife so riled up.

'I'm going to kill her' Diana said, between gritted teeth. She punched in a number and resumed the cursing. 'Of course, she's not answering. Why the hell did we buy her a phone if she's going to ignore it every time we call.'

Christie had abandoned her book and was standing beside her with a puzzled look. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on?'

Diana was searching her phone, ostensibly for a phone number. 'That was the school. Ginny didn't show up for her last two periods this afternoon.'

'What do you mean? She called at four and said she was going over to Hannah's to study.'

Diana just glared at her. 'Well my guess is, she was lying.'

The ringing in her ear stopped followed by a female voice. 'Mrs. Wilson, this is Diana Berrigan, Ginny's mom. Could I speak to her please?' she said into the phone.

Christie watched as Diana's complexion went from red to crimson, steam practically shooting out of her ears. 'She's not?' she heard Diana say.

'What about Hannah? Is she home?… Great, thanks…'

The women stared at each other in silence as Ginny's best friend was beckoned to the phone.

'Hannah, it's Ginny's mom. Did you see her after school today?'

There was uncomfortable silence at the other end. 'Hannah?… Look, I know she skipped out on her last two classes… When was the last time you saw her?… Did she tell you if she had any plans after school?… Look if she gets in touch, can you ask her to call home?'

Diana ended the call and stood there, seething.

'What did she say?'

'She saw her at lunch and Ginny said she was meeting a friend after school.'

'A friend?'

Diana surprised her wife by shouting unexpectedly. 'Olivia! Get in here!'

'Babe, you need to take a breath or you're going to blow a gasket' Christie said, hand on her arm.

Diana looked into her eyes and took a deep breath. 'She's playing us Christie. She's probably out there with some boy doing God knows what.'

Christie coaxed her into sitting down. 'Let's get the facts first okay?' she suggested as Olivia appeared.

'Where's your sister?' Diana blurted out. So much for keeping her cool.

Olivia stared back and forth at her moms. 'I don't know… I'm not her keeper.'

'No, but you two talk' Christie said, trying to remain focussed. 'She's not where she's supposed to be. Do you know where she is?'

Olivia shook her head but looked away. Diana had interviewed enough criminals to know when someone wasn't telling the truth. The inability to look straight into someone's eyes was a giant tell. The only exception to the rule she'd ever met was Neal Caffrey and even he wasn't as skilled at carrying out the feat these days.

'Sit down' she ordered. Olivia immediately obeyed, taking a seat between her two moms.

'Honey, we're trying to figure out what's going on with your sister' Christie began, intent on keeping things from blowing up. 'We're worried about her. She hasn't been herself lately.'

The teen nodded. 'She's… she's been out partying and stuff.'

'Does she have a boyfriend?' Diana asked, her voice shrill.

Olivia hedged her bets. 'I don't know… maybe.'

The women exchanged looks.

'Honey, she's fourteen… of course she's interested in boys' Christie said as she attempted to mollify her wife.

Diana's gaze broke away, eyes back on her eldest daughter. 'Look, I know you two are close… but if you know what's going on with your sister, you need to tell us.'

Olivia sighed. She'd been sharing secrets with her sister since they were little girls, covering for each other, taking pleasure in sneaking around their mothers' backs. But those had been harmless pranks, little girl things and most of the time, she figured her moms knew what was going on anyway. Breaking a confidence was a big deal. Ginny had covered for her when she'd gone to see that R rated movie at the cineplex a few weeks back and when she'd bald faced lied to her moms about it, Ginny had backed her up. But still, she had concerns of her own when it came to her baby sister, maybe it would help to share the load with her moms.

'I think she might be seeing this boy…' Olivia finally said. 'But I don't know anything about him. She met him at a party.'

The sound of the back door was heard slamming in the distance and Diana led the charge, following the sound into the kitchen with Christie close behind. Olivia, on the other hand, headed down the hall back to her room. She had no interest in being around to witness her parents lambasting her sister.

'Ginny!' Diana called out as she turned the corner and caught sight of her daughter looking disheveled and unsteady on her feet. Her eyes were glazed, her hair tousled and… was her skirt on inside out?

'Where have you been? You look like hell.'

Ginny looked from one mom to the other. 'I…told you I was over at Hannah's studying.'

Christie could feel her blood pressure rising. After giving her a pass on her drunken night of partying a few weeks back, her daughter had proceeded to lie to them and now, she was doing it again.

'Mom called over there' she said as Ginny's face dropped.

'And I tried calling your phone' Diana added.

Ginny did her best to look surprised. 'I guess I forgot to turn it on' she said sheepishly.

'Give it to me' Diana said, her hand out.

'What?'

'Your phone, hand it over.'

'But…'

'No buts!'

Ginny reached into her purse, bypassing the one Logan had given her and handing over her phone.

'Now, go to your room. We'll be in to talk to you in a minute' Diana said, arms crossed.

Grateful for the short reprieve, Ginny headed down to her room as her moms glared at the back of her.

'I told you' Diana said to her wife, her voice resonating. 'She's been playing us.'

'Sit' Christie ordered, taking charge. She reached for Diana's arm and coaxed her to take a seat at the kitchen table.

'First of all, you need to calm down' she began as Diana took a deep breath. 'If we go in there with guns blazing, we're only going to make things worse.'

'Did you see her face? She's been drinking… or something.'

Christie nodded. 'There's something you need to know and I need you to promise to stay calm.'

'What do you mean?'

'Honey, look at me. If we want to go in there with any kind of authority, we need to be focussed. Both of us.'

'All right… I'm calm.'

'Here's what we know. Ginny's been lying to us. She's been going to parties when she was supposed to be over at Hannah's.'

She took a deep breath. 'You know when we had everybody over for dinner a few weeks back?'

Diana nodded.

'When I went to pick her up at Hannah's, she wasn't there. Hannah told me the two of them had been at a party and Ginny didn't want to leave. When she finally showed up…' she slowed, watching her wife's reaction. 'She was drunk.'

Diana opened her mouth to speak and Christie placed her hand on hers, urging her to listen.

'I mean, throwing up drunk. I read her the riot act and I told her that if she got herself straightened out, I… I wouldn't tell you about it.'

'Thanks' Diana said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 'That's great parenting, by the way.'

'You were working the Worthington case and you were stressed out. I thought I could handle it. Look, I agree, things are getting out of hand but you know as well as I do that the harder we push, the harder she'll push back.'

'What does that mean? We let her run around doing whatever she wants.'

'No, of course not. But we're not going to get anywhere if we go in there and have a yelling match.'

Diana seemed calmer somehow. She exhaled and nodded. 'Agreed. But we can't let her keep going like this. There have to be consequences.'

Christie pointed to the phone in her wife's hands. 'For starters, let's take her phone away for now. She can't be plotting to go to parties with her friends without that thing.'

'I think we should ground her. Two weeks, school and home, that's it. No after school activities. If she wants to study with Hannah, they can do it over here.'

Christie considered what Diana had said. 'One' she bargained.

Diana scowled in reply.

'Let's start with one and see if she settles… okay?' Christie said.

'Fine' Diana reluctantly agreed. 'But NO exceptions!

'No exceptions' Christie repeated.

They joined hands and headed down the hall, intent on reining in their wild child.

WCWCWC

Two calls, another glass of wine and several texts later, the women were growing increasingly frustrated. They hadn't managed to reach their husbands, yet they knew the two of them - and particularly Mozzie - would be more than mildly interested in their little discovery.

If, as the saying went, the mountain couldn't come to Muhammad, perhaps Muhammad needed to go to the mountain. Emboldened by the two bottles they'd already consumed, the hare-brained idea of hopping into a cab and heading out to the Bronx was slowly gaining momentum. Anything was better than sitting around waiting for the men to finally clue in and pick up their phones.

They tried to talk each other out of the crazy scheme but as the wine drained from their glasses, the tides seemed to turn and they ended up talking each other into it instead. Elizabeth grabbed her purse and tucked the baggie full of diamonds in the bottom as they prepared to head out on a foolhardy search for their husbands.

Once they were out in the fresh air, the booze seemed to really kick in and after settling in for the twenty minute ride, they realized they were perhaps a little too well lubricated to be heading out on such a mission.

Through their alcohol fuelled haze, they decided the best thing to do was to get dropped off at the school of art, since Neal had mentioned it was a six block walk over to the unknown location Mozzie had rented. The school was located in an old church on Prentiss Street in a less than stellar part of town. Of course, this location had been totally intentional on Neal's part, determined as he was to be close to the neighbourhoods where they could do the most good.

As the cab slowed, the little man in the front seat turned to face them. 'Are you sure you want to be dropped off here ladies?' he asked. 'This is a pretty rough part of town - especially at night.'

Elizabeth giggled as she toyed with the idea of paying the cab driver with one of the diamonds. 'We'll be fine' she said, 'we know where we're going.'

When she stepped out of the cab, she found Sara peeking into the store front of the school of art. The lobby lights had been left on as they always were but there didn't appear to be much movement inside, considering it was ten o'clock on a weeknight.

'There are some stores and restaurants over that way' Sara explained, teetering on her four-inch heels. 'I say we start walking down this way instead and see what we can find' she added, pointing in the other direction.

El slipped her arm in hers as they ambled a little unsteadily down the street, no longer so sure they'd done the right thing. The next block down seemed even more deserted except for a couple of ladies of the night on the street corner. Surprisingly, there was a fair amount of car traffic - slow, predatory as the cars slowed in front of the women, checking them out.

'What the hell possessed me to wear heels' Sara complained as she slipped off her shoes and started shuffling down the street with a slight limp.

'Anything from Neal?' El asked as she glanced at her phone.

'Nope' Sara said, checking hers for messages. 'Look, those could be warehouses' she said, slowing down in front of some corrugated metal doors.'

'Bitches! What the hell you doin' here' came an angry female voice.

They turned to find a woman dressed in 'leather' from head to toe, hip high boots, micro mini-skirt, bustier. 'This is my corner, has been for two years. Now skedaddle before I call Spanky and tell him you're trying to horn in on his territory.'

Spanky? Sara chuckled. 'No, you've got this all wrong. We're looking for a warehouse…'

The woman put her hands on her hips and glared. 'A warehouse? That's a new one honey. Now move on!'

El and Sara looked at each other, trying to keep from laughing. That someone might mistake them for hookers was laughable. They carried on and slowed once again in the middle of the next block as they came upon a plain metal door. They gave the door handle a shake. Nothing.

They turned to find a car had slowed down next to them. 'Evening ladies' the lone driver called out.

El exchanged looks with Sara and stepped closer to the car, leaning into the open passenger's window.

'Good evening sir' she said in her most polite voice. 'Do you know this area?'

The man nodded. 'Sure!' he replied with a wide grin. 'Why? Do you need a lift? I can take you anywhere you want to go.'

El glanced nervously in Sara's direction. 'No… thanks. I was just wondering, do you know anything about warehouses around here?'

'Warehouses?' he said with an exaggerated wink. 'Geez baby, I'm not sure but why don't you climb in and we'll drive around and see if we can find one.'

Elizabeth stepped away from the car. 'Dead end' she told Sara as the driver gave up and drove away.

'This is crazy' Sara moaned as they continued down the main street. 'What are we doing out here walking the streets like a couple of… hookers.'

They'd barely taken another few steps when a second car slowed and a man leaned out, his motives clear.

'Well hello' he called out lewdly. 'Now what are two nice looking girls like you doing out here? Why don't you climb in and we can go for a little ride?'

This time, El was annoyed and she leaned into the car, eager to give the man a piece of her mind.

'You know there are plenty of reasons a couple of respectable women might be walking out here and they have nothing to do with your dick!'

'Why you little bitch, you're going to pay for that' he said, annoyed. He reached out for El's purse as it swung on the end of her arm and got hold of it, pulling it with all his might. She let out a scream as he continued tugging, ineffectively slapping his big hairy hand away.

'Let go you goon!' she shouted as Sara moved in closer, armed with a stiletto heel in each hand.

She leaned in and began to pummel him with both hands, growling as she swung over and over again, totally losing control. The guy screamed and finally let go of El's purse.

'You bitches are completely off your rocker!' he shouted as he gave them the finger and sped away.

'Oh my God!' Elizabeth said as she pressed her purse against her chest. 'Where the hell did you learn to do that?'

Sara exhaled loudly, the adrenaline slowly draining from her system. 'You gotta use what you've got at your disposal' she said breathlessly.

They looked around. Except for the hookers on each street corner, the place was pretty well abandoned.

'Maybe we should head back. This is really not working out' Sara said, the effect of the wine finally beginning to fade.

From behind them, they heard another car approaching.

'Great' El mumbled under her breath.

'Don't look, just ignore him' Sara said as she laced her arm in El's and continued walking at a faster clip.

Once again, the car slowed and a voice called out.

'Excuse me ladies.'

As it edged past them, they became aware of the white car with the all too familiar blue lettering.

'Officer!' El said with enthusiasm as she recognized the police car. 'Thank God you're here.'

He nodded with a little smirk and looked over at his partner. 'I'm sure you are.'

'We've been looking for a warehouse…'

'A warehouse?' he said, amused. 'Now that's a new one, huh Bernie?'

His partner spoke up. 'Yeah, I've never heard that one before.'

Sara stepped forward. 'Officer, really there's nothing immoral going on here. We're looking for our husbands. They're around here somewhere.'

He could smell alcohol on their breath and this time, the officer snickered.

'You lost your husbands?' he said mockingly. 'Well, maybe we can help with that. Why don't you climb in and we'll see what we can do?'

Sara sighed in relief and with El following close behind, they climbed into the back seat of the cruiser. Finally, cooler heads were prevailing and their ill-advised stroll down 'hooker alley' was thankfully coming to an end. To their surprise, they heard the car door locks engage. The officers didn't say a word and drove away at a quick pace.

'What's going on? They're back there somewhere' El said, leaning forward to speak through the glass.

'You want to be the one to tell them?' the driver asked his partner with a sneer.

'Ladies, sit back and enjoy the ride. We're taking you in for sollicitation.'

TBC