Chapter 19

Sara settled next to Neal in the back seat of Peter's car. She had finally come off her high horse and was now focussed on their joint mission to rescue Mozzie from a terrible fate at the hands of his abductors. She was aware of Peter and El in the front seat, speaking softly although she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. She felt Neal's arm reach around her back and pull her closer.

'You okay?' he asked, his voice quiet.

She nodded. 'I guess I got a little carried away back there at the police station, huh?'

He had the good sense to refrain from agreeing, simply shrugging. 'I get it' he said, self-deprecatingly. 'It's not every day you get dragged in by the cops and thrown into a holding cell.'

She let out a breathless chuckle. 'It was stupid of us to come looking for you' she admitted. 'I guess a little too much Pinot will do that to you.'

He smiled. His beautiful, crazy wife made everyday an adventure and truth be told, he wouldn't want it any other way.

'I liked the flowers…' she murmured as he leaned in and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

'I thought you might' he said quietly.

She glanced at her watch. 'Why is it taking them so long time to call?' she asked, growing worried.

'It's not quite midnight yet.'

Their little detour to the police station had momentarily taken his mind off Mozzie and the conundrum he'd gotten himself into. But as the bewitching hour neared, Neal was growing increasingly worried about his buddy's fate. They knew little about Billings' ex-crew - would they honour their agreement to hand over Mozzie in exchange for the diamonds or would their vindictiveness lead to Mozzie getting hurt - or worse?

Sara seemed to read his thoughts. She patted his leg reassuringly. 'Mozzie's been in worse fixes, he can take care of himself' she whispered.

He nodded absentmindedly and looked out at the quiet street, trying his best to not let his imagination run wild.

'How do you want to do this?' came Peter's voice, pulling him out of his reverie.

Neal sighed. 'That's not entirely up to us, is it? They've probably identified a meeting place… We don't want to turn the stuff over before we know Mozzie's safe.'

Peter got that 'Special Agent Peter Burke look' in his eyes, his brow furrowed. 'I still think we should drop El and Sara off at the school. We have no idea what we're walking into here.'

'Sitting right here' Sara reminded him, annoyance obvious in her voice.

Neal turned to look at her. 'Babe, Peter has a point. Don't you think we have enough to worry about without you and El sitting in a car just a few feet away from a gang of thugs' he said. 'If these guys are vindictive, there's no way of knowing what they might do.'

Sara opened her purse and pulled out her collapsible baton. 'Seriously?' she said just as Elizabeth spoke up in the front seat.

'Honey, we're all worried about Mozzie, don't leave us on the sidelines' she told Peter. 'We can take care of ourselves.'

Peter bit down on the words that had instantly sprung to his lips: Right, like when you managed to get yourself arrested for solicitation.

He caught Neal's eye in the rear view mirror; both men new better than to argue with their determined wives.

'Just… just stay out of sight, okay?' Neal said, trying to sound like a tough guy.

In reality, Sara had come face to face with just as many dangerous situations as he had over the years. And Elizabeth was no wallflower when it came to taking care of herself.

'Fine' Sara conceded, slipping her baton back into her purse.

The seconds ticked in silence. Neal was about to suggest a good natured game of 'I spy with my little eye' when the phone rang in his hand. All four of them gasped.

'Hello…' Neal said, putting his phone on speaker so everyone in the car could hear.

'You better have good news for me' the deep voice uttered, humourless.

Neal took a deep breath. 'We do' he said. 'But I want to talk to Mozzie first.'

There were sounds in the background - strangely happy sounds, someone cheering. Mozzie came on, seemingly distracted.

'Neal?' he said.

Neal's heart thumped wildly in his chest at the sound of his voice. 'Moz! You okay buddy?'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.'

'We're on our way to get you. Just… hang on, all right?'

'Did you…'

'Yeah, they were hidden in the lamp you gave Peter' Neal announced, to Mozzie's relief.

'I knew it!' he declared, seemingly more pleased with their discovery than disappointed at ultimately losing the gems.

The phone was wrestled out of his hands and the thug they'd been talking to before came back on the line. 'Now listen up. There's a gas station and convenience store at the corner of Porter and Vine. We'll be waiting in the parking lot behind. No guns!'

Neal swallowed hard at the mention of firearms. 'We're not giving up the gems before you hand over Mozzie.'

'Just show up and I'll take you to him.'

'We'll need twenty minutes to get there' Neal lied. He knew the convenience store the guy was talking about. He often gassed up there on the way to the school of art but they needed time to regroup, map out their plan of action.

'Just don't try anything funny or your little buddy disappears.'

WCWCWC

Caitlin made her way into the kitchen by the light of the stove. She heard the soft rustle of sheets and gasped as she caught sight of Liam and Cody asleep on the hide-a-bed in the family room. She chuckled and stepped in closer, taking stock of the situation.

The two men were both facing the patio door, Liam's long, lanky arm snugly wrapped around his boyfriend's waist as he spooned him. Both of them were snoring softly. She envied them. She, on the other hand, was still flying solo and she'd begun to wonder if she'd ever find someone to care about the way these two did. She tiptoed away and up the stairs with Raffie following close behind. With any luck, her foster parents were upstairs but not yet asleep. She needed to unburden herself about what had happened over at Ginny's place. To her dismay, the door to their bedroom was wide open, the bed still made even though it was well past midnight.

'Where are Mom and Dad?' she murmured to Raffie who wagged his tail gleefully in reply.

She made her way down the hall to her room and stepped inside, the dog curling up at the foot of her bed. Seemed she'd have to wait until morning to unload.

WCWCWC

Cody woke to the sound of soft footsteps going up the stairs. 'Was that your folks?' he asked, his voice sleepy.

Liam came to, flipping onto his back as Cody clung to him. 'I dunno' he mumbled.

'This is weird' Cody said, suddenly wide awake.

Liam sighed and tried his best to ignore him. 'Go to sleep' he moaned.

The silence lasted all of three seconds. 'Babe?' Cody murmured.

Liam didn't reply.

'This is nice, huh? Being in bed together' Cody continued, undeterred. He ran his hand down his boyfriend's chest, mindlessly toying with the man's nipples.

Liam groaned. 'Stop!' he said in that 'don't stop' voice of his.

Cody tugged firmly and chuckled. 'What do you think brought all this on with your folks letting me sleep over?'

'Does it matter?'

'I don't know… it seems like just last week they were lecturing us about becoming responsible adults before we got to have any of the perks.'

Liam was awake now, his arm snugly around Cody's shoulder. 'I think it's our moms… they took pity on us.'

'Huh…' Cody replied. 'I can see that. Maybe they got tired of seeing us stealing gropes whenever their backs were turned.'

Liam chuckled. 'I don't think we were doing a very good job of being discreet. I'll bet my mom felt bad because Hope gets to sleep over at Cam's all the time. They even started letting him sleep over here after the accident.'

Cody nodded. 'Do your folks still go at it?' he asked unexpectedly.

'Yeah' Liam said with a giggle. 'Every chance they get.'

'Mine are on a strict schedule' Cody offered. 'Wednesdays and Saturdays whether they're in the mood or not.'

'You're kidding.'

'They're so obvious about it too. My mom will say something like 'Mike, I can hardly keep my eyes open' right around ten o'clock. Then my dad will yawn and stretch his arms. 'Me too' he'll say as if I don't know what's going on.'

'That's hilarious. Mine just go at it all the time, whenever the mood strikes… and they're not subtle about it either. My dad will start pawing my mom while they're watching TV or she'll giggle and climb up on his lap and start whispering in his ear. I swear, sometimes I think they're going to start going at it right in front of us.'

He smiled as a recent memory tugged at his subconscious. 'A couple of months ago, I found them doing it in the kitchen. They thought nobody was home and my dad had my mom up on the kitchen counter, his pants down around his ankles… I don't know who was more embarrassed me or them.'

'That's nice though…' Cody murmured with a smirk, '…that your folks are still so crazy about each other.'

Liam had a fleeting thought of the terrible few months the family had gone through following Hope's accident. He sighed as he recalled how his mom had kicked his dad out of the house when his drinking had gotten out of control. Back then, he'd grown worried that whatever magic there was between them might disappear in a haze of whisky. Apparently, he'd had nothing to fear.

'Yeah… I guess it's kinda cool. Do you think you and I will ever get tired of each other?'

Cody pulled himself up onto his elbow to look into Liam's eyes. 'Are you kidding? We'll be doing the nasty until we have one foot in the grave.'

Liam felt himself stir at the sight of his boyfriend's naughty smile. 'You want to go again?' he murmured, his voice rough.

WCWCWC

Neal estimated it would take them less than five minutes to drive over to the designated meeting place so they took advantage of the rest of the time to strategize as best they could. There was no reason to believe this was anything but a straight exchange: the gems in return for Mozzie. But both Peter and Neal knew all too well that operations went FUBAR all the time. Crooks were human beings too, subject to the same impulses as everyone else. If they felt threatened or heaven forbid, got scared, they could react hastily - especially if guns were within reach.

'Just let me step out of the car by myself' Neal offered; after all, Mozzie was his responsibility.

'Like hell I will' Peter replied without hesitation. 'We'll both get out and talk to him. If he doesn't like it, tough.'

Neal appreciated the support, he just didn't want things going south for any of them.

'Do you think he'll be alone?' Neal asked.

'Hard to tell. If they're keeping Mozzie in another location, they won't want to leave him unsupervised.'

'How many of them do you suppose there are?'

'Well, didn't you say he originally had a three man crew? I can't imagine any of them walking away from a potential ten million dollar score.'

Neal nodded; that made sense. His mind wandered back to Mozzie and what he might be going through at the hands of his abductors. He shuddered. For all his bluster, Mozzie was a gentle soul who counted on his obscure sense of humour and sharp intellect to talk himself out of dangerous situations. Up against three brutes, he wouldn't stand much of a chance.

'He'll be fine' Sara murmured next to him, once more reading his mind.

He put on a brave face and nodded. 'So we're agreed. We show him a small sample of the diamonds and demand to see Mozzie before we give up the rest.'

'Nothing like dangling a treasure in front of someone's eyes to get them to cooperate' Peter added.

'All right' Neal said under his breath. He leaned over and kissed his wife.

'Promise me you'll stay out of sight and won't come charging out of the car with that thing' he said, with a head nod towards her purse.

'I can't promise that Caffrey' Sara replied.

He opened his mouth to speak and she cut him off. 'Fine! El and I will stay in the car.'

He let himself out of the back seat and opened the passenger door to let Elizabeth out. She hurried into the spot he'd just vacated and slipped her arm into Sara's as they curled up together in the back seat.

'Up here on the left' Neal instructed as Peter pulled away from the curb.

As expected, the convenience store was about a dozen blocks away. They drove past the school of art on the way and Neal glanced at the storefront by sheer force of habit, taking a gander at the large mural that filled the back wall of the cavernous lobby. Sara watched from the back seat, noticing that familiar glimpse of pride in her husband's eyes.

They spotted the convenience store a block out. It was well illuminated, one of the few businesses still open past midnight. A few cars were parked out front and some teens were hanging out smoking and sipping on giant vats of sugar laden beverages. Peter pulled in and made his way around the back which was considerably darker and totally abandoned. There was no other car in sight so he backed in and parked sideways, giving him the necessary room to manoeuvre should another car try to block their way.

They waited in silence, Neal checking his watch. He pulled out the small grouping of gems he'd tucked into his pants' pocket, almost dropping one in the process.

'Stop fiddling with those' Peter said curtly, belying the tension he was feeling in the pit of his stomach.

After a few moments, headlights were spotted rounding the corner and a car slipped in behind the convenience store. From where they sat, it looked like one occupant in the car although they couldn't tell for sure.

'Show time' Neal murmured as he prepared to step out of the car.

The guy who climbed out of the car looked like a steamroller - really big guy to match the deep voice Neal had heard on the phone. He was worth two regular sized thugs and Neal shivered as he took a few steps towards him.

'Show me' the guy said - apparently a man of few words.

Peter stared him down. 'Where's Mozzie?'

'I want to see the goods first' the man said.

Neal reached into his pocket, feeling his hands shaking. This little exchange couldn't be over soon enough.

'That's it?' Big Burly Guy said with disappointment.

Peter stared him down. 'No. That's just a sample. You don't think we'd be stupid enough to hand everything over before we get our guy.'

Neal hid a small smile in reaction to Peter referring to Mozzie as 'their' guy.

The thug pulled out a small flashlight and aimed it at the few diamonds dwarfed in his giant paw of a hand. After a moment, he reached into his pocket and produced a small magnifying glass and proceeded to examine the loot. Neal thought he was faking - nobody could get a really good look under these circumstances. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to authenticate anything in this light. Maybe they could have gotten away with cut glass after all.

'How many?' the guy groaned.

'About a dozen… maybe fifteen' Neal replied, purposefully vague.

He grumbled. 'All right, follow me and I'll take you to your little friend.'

Peter piped up, throwing his shoulders back in an attempt to appear more threatening. 'Wait a minute, how do we know you're not leading us straight into an ambush?' he asked in what Neal recognized as his tough special agent voice.

'Look, do you want your guy or not?'

Neal glanced in Peter's direction and shrugged. The man had a point.

'How far?' Neal asked.

'Just shut up and follow me' the guy replied - Mr. Nice Guy.

Everyone returned to their cars. Neal could feel his hands still shaking. 'Magilla Gorilla has nothing on him' he commented as he buckled up.

'Where are they taking us?' El asked as Peter pulled out, following the other car.

'Your guess is as good as mine' he muttered, taking a right turn. 'Let's just hope Mozzie's on the other end.'

No one spoke as Peter drove, the tension palpable in the car. In what state they would find Mozzie seemed to be on everybody's mind. Peter noticed them heading out of the downtown core into some more suburban areas of the Bronx. As they drove, the houses got bigger, the neighbourhoods more posh until they finally arrived on a street with houses built on large parcels of land.

Finally, Mr. Burly Guy turned into the driveway of a sprawling bungalow. Peter parked directly behind him. The man stepped out of his car and in a move reminiscent of their days at the Bureau, gave Neal the two finger point.

'Bring the stuff' he shouted before turning to enter the house.

Peter made a move to step out of the car but Neal placed a hand on his arm.

'It's okay, I've got this Peter' he said before opening the car door and making his way up the driveway.

Inside, he could see three men sitting around a friendly game of cards, sucking on cigars and throwing back tumblers of amber liquid. To his astonishment - and relief - he noticed Mozzie lean in, pulling what looked like the winnings towards him as he bellowed in glee.

He saw Big Burly Guy step into the room and talk to the three men and Mozzie looked out the window, squinting as he attempted to look out into the dark of night. Seeing nothing, he stood and followed Big Burly Guy outside, the two of them appearing on the landing by the front door.

'Here's your pal, now let's see the stuff' Big Burly Guy barked as Mozzie waved frantically.

'Neal! Hey! You made it' he called out as if Neal was merely picking him up to go out for a drink.

Neal was torn between hugging him and knocking his block off. 'What the hell, Moz' he said, stepping forward to hand over the bag of gems.

Mozzie stared down at them and looked back at Neal, eyes excited. 'Guess what? I'm up thirteen hundred bucks in the game' he shouted as the thug proceeded to count the diamonds Neal had just handed him.

Back in the car, Peter sat with his hand on the car door, ready to erupt onto the scene at the first sign of trouble.

Neal glared at Mozzie, incredulous. 'You've been playing poker?' he said, his voice beyond angry.

'Crazy pineapple!' Mozzie clarified as if it was the most natural thing in the world. 'Can I play one last hand before we go?'

Neal gave him the death stare and Mozzie finally seemed to clue in.

'All right then' he said, checking his pockets for his winnings. 'I guess that's a no.'

Neal turned, his blood boiling. He'd been so worried about Mozzie's safety when all along, the man had found a way to ingratiate himself to his abductors and had actually taken money from them.

Mozzie headed down the path, following Neal towards the car.

'See you Stan!' he called out over his shoulder. 'Call me when you get that job sorted out.'

'Will do Moz!' the man replied with a wave.

Neal turned to give his buddy one last look of exasperation and Mozzie opened his mouth, intent on explaining.

Neal put up his hand and turned away. 'Don't. Even. Bother!'

WCWCWC

The house was silent when Neal and Sara walked in at around one thirty in the morning. They took a quick walk around the main floor to make sure everything was locked up for the night and stumbled upon the young lovers, bodies tangled in sleep.

'Shit!' Neal whispered as Sara hovered behind him. 'I forgot to answer Liam's text.'

She smiled, not so secretly pleased. 'Let me guess, he wanted to know if Cody could sleep over?'

Neal placed a finger on her lips, urging her to be quiet and followed her up the stairs to their room. He was exhausted but strangely, he was also feeling edgy and restless. All that worrying about Mozzie, the adrenaline from springing his wife out of jail and meeting up with the crooks, the let-down when Mozzie was found safe and sound… it had all led to a mingling of emotions he couldn't quite manage at the moment.

Sara was the first to slip into bed. She watched as he undressed, surprised to find her husband at half-mast as he pulled on a pair of sleep pants - he was obviously turned on, by what she wasn't quite sure. He eyed her up and down and slipped in next to her.

'Is that what used to happen to you after a heist?' she asked, stroking him playfully.

'Sometimes' he admitted, lips drawn to her neck. 'The adrenaline… it just… has to go somewhere, you know' he said, his voice rough.

She laughed, running her nails down his naked back. 'You do remember you have your dentist appointment at nine tomorrow morning, right?'

'Fuck…' he groaned as he continued to nibble on her ear. 'I don't care.'

He might in the morning but Sara was a good sport. She had plenty of pent-up energy of her own from her earlier shenanigans in the Bronx and she didn't mind putting it to good use to give her husband the release he seemed to be craving so urgently. He'd already slipped out of the sleep pants he'd just pulled on moments before, by all appearances, no longer just half the way there.

'Baby…' he moaned, tugging at her yoga pants.

She ran her hand through his hair, settled her eyes on his and bit her bottom lip for effect.

'I'm all yours Caffrey' she murmured.

TBC