Neal was within the range of what his tracker permitted so he did not bother do catch Peter's attention that he left. He knew Peter would call or check the anklet before doing anything more drastic. Besides, he was not out of bounds. Just leaving work a bit too low key.

He hurried home and changed to something less formal, more blending in, and most of all: dark colors.

When he opened the door to leave he found Peter waiting right outside the door, holding up the book on page 73.

"What's the 'perfect exchange'?" his handler asked.

Neal considered a second, then he smiled. Peter was the smartest man he ever met. And he had no need to keep him out of this. He let his friend in.

"Coffee?" He was already preparing.

"Aren't you in a rush?"

"Well, in a way, but it will take some time before you're prepared to join me, right?"

"If you want me to tag along, it can't be that illegal." Peter smiled, but he was curious too, Neal could tell.

"It's not illegal at all, actually. Does that mean we can go right away?"

"No."

Fortunately two cups of coffee did not take long to make.

"Have a seat, Peter."

Neal filled the cups.

"Whatever it is, money for a painting, drugs, or a person," Neal begun, placing the cup in front of Peter sitting on the sofa. He sat down in the armchair opposite "the hand-off's always a problem. It all comes down to trust." And trust was not something common among criminals unfortunately.

"How do you know the bad guy won't shoot you," Peter said, "keep the money and the valuable jewels slash masterpiece slash bond certificate?"

"Exactly. So, one night, over a bottle of Armagnac, Mozzie and I figured out the perfect way to do it."

"That why you're wearing your cat-burglar outfit?" Peter asked. He had of course noticed.

"I'm a New Yorker. We like black."

"Mm-hmm," Peter returned with that little smile they both knew what it meant.

"Let's start with the 'where,'" Neal continued. "It must be a neutral location. Both parts comes unarmed. To make sure this happens the neutral location must be a place where no guns are allowed and the security is good."

"Like the Statue of Liberty?"

Neal shook his head.

"No. Security is key. You need metal detectors, but not scanners. You want to get a bag of money and a canvas in. No big bags allowed out to the Statue of Liberty. Besides, being on an island is not a good move."

Peter nodded to this.

"Good point. Just so I'm clear, Gina's the canvas?"

"Right. You also need a building with a public space on the roof," Neal grinned. "We decided on the Sutherland."

"So this is where Mozzie will arrange for this to happen? When?"

"The meet has to happen during business hours. You want people around to distract from the hand-off. The Sutherland's book collection's valuable enough to warrant guards. With this both parts can alert the guards if the other does something out of protocol. It's designed to keep both sides in check and on task. It's about the exchange, nothing else. Everybody wins."

"I like it…" Peter said and sighed, "except for one thing."

Neal frowned. What had they missed?

"What's that?"

"Nothing's perfect."

Neal grinned and rose.

"You've not heard all of it. It's perfect because one side will always try to outsmart the other. Navarro knows that Tommy can't walk in with a weapon."

"So Navarro's gonna make sure that there's one waiting for him when he gets there."

"We stake out the library," Neal said. Now Peter rose too.

"Wait until one of Navarro's guys show up."

"He'll keep an eye on the place, make sure Tommy doesn't have the same idea. Then he'll plant the gun. We'll just follow Navarro's guy back to Mozzie."

"Let's get this moving." They left and jogged down the stairs and got to the car. "So that was were you were going, to stake out the library?"

"Yeah."

They got inside and Peter drove.

"Ever considered to tell me about it?"

"Don't know why, but I have this impression that for my ideas to be approved it needs to be processed. A lot. And it takes time. We don't have that now."

"I know. That's why we are heading to the library as we speak."

Neal smiled.

It did not take many minutes waiting in the car outside on the corner of Riverside drive before Neal dozed off. Peter gave him a notch.

"I know this is boring, but stay awake."

"I haven't slept since this whole thing started," the kid said, blinking. So this was affecting him?

"Stomach hurt?"

"A little bit."

"Got that parched thing happening?"

"Yeah. My mouth's a little dry." Neal glanced at him wondering where he was going. Worry and fear.

"Well, hold on to that feeling," Peter said. "Remember it the next time you decide to infiltrate the den of a mobster on a whim or something equally cockeyed."

"Thanks for sharing your feelings, Peter," the kid replied, not happy for the reprimand. "I know that's sometimes difficult for you."

"You're welcome." A car parked on the other side of the street and a man stepped out. He looked pretty much as the guy he had seen on the screens an hour and a half ago. "That looks like Navarro's guy."

"He's here to plant the gun."

"We follow him back to Mozzie, it'll all be over," Peter assured his pet convict.

"I hope so."

It was rather funny when you came to think about it, that they used Neal's and Mozzie's plan for something far less legal to… He frowned. He suddenly saw a flaw in the whole setup.

"Oh, that's reassuring," the kid said staring at his face.

"The 'Perfect exchange.' When did you pull it off?" Peter asked, hoping for a detail in the picture that made all safe again.

"A certain FBI agent came into my life. I didn't get the chance."

"So it's hypothetical?"

"Yeah."

"What happens to the middleman?" Peter asked.

"We didn't have one."

That explained why the kid had not came to the same conclusion as he.

"When Vince tells Navarro that the gun's in place, he's got his meeting time, location, and a stashed weapon."

Neal's eyes went wide, getting it.

"Mozzie's about to become irrelevant."

Of course, the next thing he was about to do was burst out of the car in front of Navarro's guy. Peter stopped him.

"I want to go in there," Neal explained.

"Hold on."

"I—" Peter sent him a look that shut him up.

"Stay here. I mean it."

Peter got out of the car the second Navarro's guy turned his back to the street. Before the man had got the door open, Peter had jogged up and up to him and put a gun to his head.

"Take me to Navarro."

It took the goon a second to raise his hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about, man."

"Yes, you do. Hands behind your back." Peter prayed the man would not ask for his lawyer. He locked the cuffs on the man and made a quick search, finding a gun. He disarmed it. "It's Navarro I want not you. I'm sure you've got a lot to tell if you get a sweet deal. Now, take me to him, or just you go down." No lies. Just facts.

Peter pulled him across the street and got him inside the back seat.

"So, where is Navarro?" he asked as he sat down in the front street. And Navarro's guy told him.

Peter got the car moving and called Jones to get a team there as fast as possible.

Peter and Neal got there first. They pushed the button for the elevators and it felt like ages before they came to the right floor.

"I don't want you shot," he said not Neal, who nodded and agreed to wait outside.

Peter pulled his gun and rushed into the apartment.

"FBI! Drop your weapon!" he yelled and saw Mozzie at gunpoint. More guns were drawn. "Drop it!" He swung towards Navarro "Stay where you are!"

Mozzie used the situation and grabbed his opponents gun, pointing it back at his attacker. Great, Mozzie armed, Peter thought, and realized Navarro had used the moment too, pulling out his gun.

"Put your gun down."

He had four guns aimed at him now.

"You keep showing up," Navarro said. "I don't like surprises. And I don't like feds."

"You know what else you're not gonna like? Prison. Drop your weapon."

"Oh, I don't plan to go to prison." Navarro raised his gun, fully aware of the odds in his favor.

"FBI! Drop your weapons!" Jones yelled, invading the room together with a team in body armor. "Drop your weapons now! Put them down!"

Peter smiled at Navarro's baffled face.

"Looks like your plans just changed."

Everyone, including Navarro, surrendered. Mozzie lowered the gun and breathed like a rusty squeeze box. Neal rushed in and to his friend's side at once.

"Moz! Hey. You okay?"

The short guy nodded.

"Middleman," the Peter's favorite two criminals said at the same time.

"Yeah," the kid nodded. "We might want to rename the 'Perfect exchange.'"

Peter hovered closer, wanting to get that gun from Mozzie. It was no big deal. Mozzie held it out as something the cat brought in.

"I got it, I got it," Peter assured him.

"Deep breaths, buddy," Neal said.

Gina appeared from the room next door and rushed up and kissed and hugged Mozzie. The couple laughed. Well, the guy did not need to be taller than the gal, Peter thought. He had figured Gina to be shorter.

Mozzie's choices in life was not his business, but would never make a date for breaking up. On the other hand, Mozzie had on several occasions pointed out the risks Neal took with his choses when it came to love. Since he had ended up in prison he figured he had even less to say than before.

"How many dinners with Elizabeth have you missed because of me?" he asked Peter as they waited outside the diner, waiting for Mozzie, who for some reason had wanted them there.

"I don't keep count," Peter replied. "Well, I've lost count." But Elizabeth and Peter was still together. That was good. Somehow he would have hated to cause them to break up. "But Mozzie had you worried." Neal had to agree with that. "How does it feel to walk a mile in my shoes?"

No he was not picking up the bait.

"I prefer Italian leather." Mozzie came out and joined them. "How's Gina?"

"She's showing signs of a bodyguard complex. I told her some distance between us would be good."

"Yeah, a guy like you needs his space," Neal agreed.

"So, we heading to the Bureau?" Mozzie passed between them and walked ahead. Peter stared at Neal then got his feet moving too.

"I got the FBI on board with Caffrey, but you? I don't even know your real name. And I've looked."

Mozzie turned his head to Neal and sent him a smile. Neal smiled back. Still Mozzie was invisible. He would not be found unless he wanted to.

"Thanks for the pen, by the way," Neal told Peter.

"What pen? I got…" Peter did not find his fine pen in his inner jacket pocket. Neal picked it out of his own.

"Earned it," Neal insisted. "It's mine now."

"Give me that pen. It's not yours, no."

They kept bickering. They turned into a street with more people. Peter stopped and looked around.

"Where's Mozzie?"