Everything Old is new Again

By Ldynwaiting

Chapter Five

The siblings from hell

Albert calmly said, "You owe me, Lily. I told you he'd figure it out."

Lilith was not so calm, she furiously slammed her goblet on the table. "You were never just a pretty face, were you, Neal? You were smart, smarter than most men that father brought into this house. That is what he saw in you, why he took you in, brought street trash into our world. He embraced you, loved you more than his own blood." Lilith quickly stood up, knocking her chair to the floor. Her palms slammed on the table. "More than me!"

Neal could almost feel her anger pouring out. Peintre once told him that he looked forward to Lilith's travels around the world. For a short time, he said it felt as if a dark weight was lifted from the house.

Lilith continued her tirade. "When he died the old son of a bitch left us nothing, NOTHING! He knew he was dying, so he pissed away what he had just to get back at us. Once he was gone, he left us just this house and what was in it. If he hadn't bought a grave, I would have buried him in the back yard."

Neal looked at Lilith and Albert. "If you hated him so much, why didn't you just walk away?"

"Walk away?" Lilith gasped in shock. "Never," she cruelly hissed. "He owed us."

"This is our home. We were used to living a certain way," Albert whined. "But once he was gone, we needed to find a way of making money. I know how to find buyers, but I can't paint, I have a hard time just writing my name! I came up with the idea of stealing paintings and selling them. An old friend of father suggested using Sullivan. He told me he was unhappy with a forced retirement. He worked in Washington capturing art thieves, he sounded perfect.

I quickly realized that I was wrong asking Sullivan to help us. He started getting violent. The last robbery he killed those…" Albert shuddered. "We couldn't continue with the thefts any longer. But we still needed to find a way of bringing money back into the house. Sullivan was threatening to expose us."

"What father did all those years worked," Lilith insisted. Slowly she was starting to calm down. "It brought in so much money. But he's gone, and there are many fresh billionaires out there eager to spend their new money for the old art, but the bastard had to die on us."

Neal sadly shook his head, "Am I the only one that mourned his passing?"

"He's gone," Albert viciously spat out. "But we're still here. Still living, but not in the way we were used to, not even close. We can't afford to pay Sullivan to keep his mouth shut. We've lost almost all our servants, Nolano only stays with us out of loyalty. No more money, no more going to parties. Jetting to Paris, that's all gone. We needed to find a way of getting that all back to when he was alive. You being here is your fault you know."

Neal couldn't possibly believe that he played a part in his own kidnapping. "How could this be my fault?"

Albert pointed to the empty wall. "Your painting, Eternity's gate. We knew how much our father loved it, it was the last one we sold. It was after Sullivan killed those people. We needed to pay him, he was going to implicate us. They would never believe us over him. We received a large amount of money for the painting. The buyer said it was the best Peintre painting that he saw."

Lilith madly laughed, as she looked at Neal. "When the teacher is gone, replace him with his star pupil. But Daddy's gone," she madly sung.

"Lilith Elizabeth!" Albert said in a stern voice. He slammed his fist on the table. "Focus." Albert knew she was no good to him this way. He needed her to stay strong.

Closing her eyes, she knew Albert was right. Now was not the time. "Focus," she breathed.

Neal had seen Lilith at her best and her worst. Unfortunately, her worst seemed to be taking control too often. He tightly gripped the back of the chair. He tried to take control of the conversation. "It wasn't my painting, it was your selfish spoiled greed that brought me here."

"But we need you, Neal," Lilith gasped. She stepped up to Neal. He saw her makeup crack as she struggled to sweetly smile at him. Seeing him flinch at her approach, she ignored it. She knew he was clever, cleverer than most, no she thought, than all the men in her life. He figured it all out. He knew that they needed him. He would use that against them, but they anticipated that.

She looked up at him. He saw something he'd never seen in her eyes before, she was terrified. "I can't live like this, I haven't brought a new dress in months. I want to go to New York, to the fashion shows, but that's gone." Neal now knew what frightened her, she had a taste of being poor and she didn't like it.

She looked up at Neal. "I need it back, Neal. Please, I must have it back. Have to find a way of getting it back," she madly ranted. "Father told me so many times how good you are, our sweet Neal. Neal is the best, he's so smart. I wish you were as smart as him, Lily. He was so proud that you surpassed him. But after you left us, father changed."

But her fear didn't last long, the old Lilith returned. Neal was reminded of her mercurial emotions as she angrily spat out, "He never shut up about you! There was not a day that went by when he didn't mention you, he never gave up that you would return."

He saw angry tears flow down her face, smearing her makeup. "He was not the same after you left. He said that his quest was finished, his life was complete. He just gave up, he stopped painting. He said he would rest easy knowing that he helped bring into the world a painter greater than him. We started selling paintings long before he died."

Neal looked at Albert then at Lilith. "Do you really believe that I'd let you use me to make money from my labor? I don't care how long you hold me here, that's not going to happen."

Lilith's cracked smile returned. Her purple eyes lovingly gazed at him. "Oh, but it will, my sweet, beautiful, wonderfully talented Neal. We anticipated this, you see Sullivan did bring something to the table that we could use. He has connections to people that are quite good at quietly eliminating unwanted people. Show him, Albert." Neal saw Albert pull out a folder from under his napkin. He threw it on the table in front of Neal.

Lilith walked back to the end of the table. Nolano had picked up her chair. Sitting down she meticulously straightened out her dress. Her rant over, she calmly took in a deep breath. Her madness gone, she was now thinking clearly. "When you first came here, you had no friends. No one you cared about but father.

You changed too, after you left us, Neal. From the lone wolf that entered our home, you now had friends that you considered family. I know all about your Kate, and what happened to her. Such a romantic. It's a pity that we could not use her against you. You know, Sullivan also happens to be a very thorough investigator. Open it, please," she pointed to the folder.

Neal slowly opened the folder. The first thing he saw was a printed photo of Peter and Elizabeth sitting on a bench in the park.

Lilith knowingly smiled; she saw anger flash across his deliciously blue eyes. Her knife was beginning to enter his heart. "Such a nice-looking couple, don't you think?"

Under the photo was an address, phone numbers. Everything about them. Going to the next page he saw a report on June, then Mozzie, and Sara. There was even one of Diana and Jones.

"As I said before," Lilith said. The knife now plunged deeper into his heart. Her madness gone, she was now thinking clearly. "Sullivan knows people that can eliminate anyone we want, for a price of course. We don't have much money right now, so we'll have to start small." She now twisted the knife. "Let's see, say Bugsy and Satchmo. If you don't cooperate, we'll begin there and work our way up."

Neal stared at the photos, she could see the anger building up inside him. She had him, the knife was firmly planted in his heart. Sullivan told her his weakness. He saw it in the reports sent to Kramer. Neal would do anything to keep his friends from being harmed.

Lilith enjoyed seeing the look of defeat on Neal's face. She decided to twist the knife a bit more. "Oh, and Neal. We are all aware of your talent for escaping. Something you picked up while you were gone. Don't even think about leaving to warn your friends. You see, Sullivan gave us a special gift to help us know where you are at all times." Picking up her goblet, she took another sip of wine. "When you woke up, did you feel a soreness in your back?"

Neal still felt a dull pain between his shoulder blades. "What did you do?"

"Agent Sullivan also has friends in INTERPOL." She held up a small black box. "They are crafty little devils. We implanted a small tracking device in your back. It's deep enough that only a surgeon could remove it. Even if you manage to escape, it will not be for long. We'll be alerted if you go 100 feet from the house. So much better than that anklet, don't you think? Look on the bright side. No chaffing."

Her control of him was absolute. She knew that he would produce paintings for them because he would not let anything happen to his friends. What they didn't know was that all his options were not taken away from him, he still had something that he could use. Something that he was particularly good at.

Neal took in a deep breath, showtime. "If I do what you ask," Neal said in a strained voice, his eyes still trained on the photos. "You must promise me nothing will happen to them, my friends."

"But of course, but you…" Lilith began to say, until Neal interrupted her.

"I wasn't speaking to you." He turned his head and looked at Albert. "Promise me. I'll give you paintings so good not even the original painter would be able to tell it's not theirs. But you must promise me that nothing will happen to my friends."

Albert gulped down his wine. He was surprised that Neal looked to him for the promise. Seeing an angry look on his sister's face, a wicked grin began to grow. He nodded his head. "Of course, Neal. I give you, my word. All we want is the paintings to sell. As long as you produce paintings equal to fathers, I assure you no harm will come to them."

Neal closed the folder and picked it up. "Then I agree. As long as I have your word, I'll paint whatever you want. Now if you'll excuse me, I've suddenly lost my appetite. Nolano, you can follow me back to my room."

"You will begin tomorrow!" Lilith shouted. "Bright and early, Neal!"

Neal didn't answer her, he left the room with Nolano in tow.

"What the hell was that?" Lilith screamed at Albert. "You gave him your promise?"

"Well, he asked me, didn't he, Lily. I only answered."

As Neal walked up the staircase, he could still hear Albert and Lilith screaming at each other. He secretly smiled as he walked back to his room. The only ammunition he had was sibling rivalry, it ran deep with them. He would use that against them. As he entered his room, he noticed that Nolano remained standing in the doorway. He showed Neal his palm. Neal happily grinned when he saw a queen of hearts card sitting on Nolano's right palm.

Nolano stuck his hand out. "Have you kept up with what I taught you, Mr. Caffery?"

Neal placed his hand over the card. Lifting his hand, the card was gone. Nolano immediately grabbed and turned Neal's hand over, the card was not there. Neal lifted his left hand. Suddenly the card appeared between his fingers.

Nolano clapped his hands. "Very good, Mr. Caffery. You remember well what I taught you. I am impressed, very clean. I saw no tells."

Neal flipped the card in his fingers. "Just as you taught me, I practice every day."

Between Peintre's painting sessions, Neal passed his free time here with Nolano. He found out that in Nolano's younger days he was a pick pocket and a professional card shark. He was the best in his time. The months he spent here, Neal had two teachers that taught him their skills. He quickly excelled in them both. Nolano showed him a world other than painting. A world he wanted to be a part of. He unknowingly helped Neal decide it was time for him to leave Peintre.

"Remember what I taught you, exercise every day." Pulling something out of his pocket, he threw it at Neal.

Neal caught a small rubber ball. He was surprised to see just the hint of a smile on Nolano's face. "Every day," Neal said, as he threw the ball and caught it.

Nolano bowed his head, "As to Albert and Lilith? Well played, Mr. Caffery. Well played. I will leave you now. Until tomorrow then."

As Nolano closed the door Neal recognized that Nolano may not be entirely on his side, but it appeared he was not one hundred percent on Albert and Lilith's either. He could work with that. He heard the door being locked. When he left the room, he saw a dead bolt lock on the outside of the door. The hinges were also outside. His bedroom had been made Neal-proof.

He now knew that even if he did find a way out of the room, they would find him with the tracker in his back. Looking outside the window he squeezed and threw the small ball from hand to hand. He wondered how long it would take Peter to realize that he didn't run. He hoped the hat he threw outside the tent was enough to let them know. For now, he had to be patient. He would play Lilith and Albert's game, while running his own. He needed to stall them until Peter was able to find him.