CHAPTER 7

Peter left the room while Neal got dressed and walked back to Jones and Diana.

"Anything?"
"No, nothing. Apart from the kid's story there's nothing pointing to a kidnapping taking place here"

Peter swore under his breath, this was going to be hard.
There were no clues, no known motive and no suspects. All they had was the story of a six-year-old.
Peter almost hoped that Neal was making the whole thing up, but he had seen the fear and desperation in Neal's eyes and knew that there was no way the boy was lying.

"So what happens now, boss?"

This wasn't their usual kind of case, normally they would let the police or some other department deal with kidnapping cases missing a connection to white collar crimes, but on the other hand this wasn't an ordinary kidnapping case.
Peter couldn't let anyone else handle this, not when it was Elizabeth.

"I'll talk to Hughes"

He answered and his coworkers nodded, he knew that they understood how important this case was to him.

"What about the kid?"
"Neal doesn't have a father or any other relatives to stay with, I have no choice but to contact the CPS"

Peter answered with a sigh.
Jones and Diana simultaneously crossed their arms and gave him a 'are you kidding me?' look. Peter frowned, what did he miss? Was there an obvious solution glaring him right in the face?

"What?"
"Why don't you take him?"

Peter must have heard her wrong. He, take care of Neal? Did he not tell them about what happened the last time he took care of Neal?
It could take days before they found Elizabeth, maybe weeks.
If five hours watching Neal was a disaster he didn't even want to begin to imagine what a week watching Neal would be like.
Before he had the chance to protest to the ridiculous idea, Jones asked him a very important question.

"What do you think Elizabeth would want?"

He didn't think Elizabeth would be too happy with him just dumping her son with some strangers.
He knew very well that some people was foster parents for the wrong reasons and kids ended up getting hurt in foster systems, and he didn't think group homes would be better.
Neal was a small child, he could easily become a victim for bigger, older kids.
Peter had promised himself that he wouldn't let anyone hurt Neal, and sending him away was not honoring that promise.

"I could stay with Mozzie"

Peter's thoughts were interrupted by a small voice next to him and when he looked down he saw Neal, now dressed in dry clothes.

"Neal, do you know where Mozzie is?"
"No"
"Do you know when he'll be back here?"
"No"
"Do you know his phone number?"
"No"

The kid slumped his shoulders in defeat, realizing that he couldn't win this one.
Peter wasn't sure he'd let Neal go with this 'Mozzie' even if the man was around.
Sure, he was Neal's babysitter but Peter's gut was telling him that there was something off about that guy.

"You're going with me Neal"

He said and he saw the kid look surprised before he looked ready to protest the decision.

"Unless you want to go to a group home"
For a second he wondered if Neal even knew what a group home was but he got his answer from Neal's reaction.
The boy violently shook his head before grabbing Peter's hand.
"I'll go with you Peter and I'll be good. I promise"
"Don't make promises you can't keep Neal"

By the time Peter made it home, he was completely exhausted.
He had decided to stop by a store on the way home to get some more child appropriate food.
At first Neal had stayed by his side just like Peter ordered him to do but the child quickly got bored and despite Peter watching the kid like a hawk, he managed to slip away and Peter had to spend the rest of the shopping trip chasing after the boy.
He just wanted some peace and quiet for a second but he had a feeling that Neal would not let that happen.
Neal proved him right by immediately starting to play wildly with Satchmo, and Peter wondered how in the world the kid could still have so much energy in him.
He could still remember the chaos Neal left behind the last time he was here so he didn't dare to leave the boy alone for even a second.
Luckily by the time dinner was ready, the boy had managed to not break anything.
Peter feared eating with the child but Neal actually ended up behaving, although he did sneak some food for Satchmo when he thought Peter wasn't looking but the agent decided to let it slide.
After dinner Peter managed to find Bambi on the TV, after refusing to let Neal watch any of his movies despite Neal insistence that his mommy would be fine with him watching movies suited for an older audience.
At first the boy was sulking but soon he forgot all about his moping and started to watch the movie.
Peter looked at the kid who was giggling when Bambi was struggling to stand up on the ice and then looked at the dog who were sleeping on the floor and his heart was filled with a warm feeling.
The whole scene felt so domestic and he could definitely get used to this kind of life, except he would want Elizabeth by his side.
When the movie ended Peter checked his watch, realizing that time had just flown by.

"Hey Neal, when's your bedtime?"
"10"

He answered quickly without hesitation, the kid was a really good liar.

"Nice try buddy, how about 6PM huh?"
"It's 7 and 8 on weekends"
Neal responded after the threat of an early bedtime. Peter checked his watch again, it was getting close to 7 but since it was Friday he'd let the boy stay up for another hour.

Before sending the kid off to bed, Peter brought him along for Satchmo's walk and the man realized how much he'd missed having someone to walk with.
Sure, Satchmo was good company but the dog couldn't talk after all.
After the walk Peter made sure that Neal got changed into his pajamas and that he brushed his teeth, it surprised him how easily he could slip into a parent role even if Neal seemed annoyed about the man bossing him around.
He showed Neal to the guest room and the boy crawled into the bed before looking at Peter with big puppy eyes.

"Can Satchmo sleep in the bed with me?"
"He's not allowed on the beds"

The boy looked disappointed and his eyes filled up with tears that he tried to blink away.
At first Peter was confused by the boy's reaction before he remembered that there had only been one bed in their apartment which meant that Neal was probably used to having someone next to him.
He felt for the child, Neal had been keeping up a brave face but the agent knew that it must be scary for Neal to not have his mother around.
Peter looked around the room and spotted a book sticking out of Neal's bag.

"Do you want me to read to you?"

He asked and the boy nodded so he grabbed the book, and smiled when he saw the title.
Peter could remember his parents reading the exact same book to him when he was around Neal's age.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and started to read 'Clifford the big red dog' to Neal and by the time Peter reached the last page, the boy was fast asleep.
"Good night kiddo"
He whispered before he left the room, leaving the door ajar.

Peter squinted his eyes, trying to see what time it was. It was just past 1 in the morning and for some reason Satchmo had woken him up by whining and licking his hand.

"Go back to bed, Satch"

The dog didn't listen, instead he whined even louder before running to the door and back again.
Satchmo kept repeating the action and he had to do it four times before Peter's tired brain realized that the dog wasn't going crazy, he just wanted his master to follow him.
Peter yawned and got out of bed, following the dog out into the hallway and then Satchmo showed him to the guest room.
Before Peter even reached the room, he could hear a quiet sniffle and when he peered inside the room he saw Neal curled up in the corner, quietly crying.

"Neal, you okay?"

The boy jumped at his sudden voice before shrugging his shoulders.
Peter turned on the light and instantly saw the reason for Neal's crying. There was a big damp spot on the bed and it didn't take a genius to understand what had happened.

"Nightmare?"

Peter asked and Neal nodded before wiping some tears away from his face, that was bright red from the shame.

"I'm sorry"
"It's nothing to apologize for. Accidents happen, bud"

The agent spent the next minutes getting both the kid and the bed cleaned up and when he was done he tucked the boy back into bed.

"Do you think you can fall asleep again?"

Neal nodded but his eyes betrayed him and Peter looked at the dog and sighed.

"You know what? I'll make an expectation for tonight. Satchmo can sleep on the bed"

A smile appeared on Neal's face and he quietly thanked Peter as the man instructed the dog to lay down next to Neal, who immediately threw his arms around the dog.
Peter was just about to leave the room when Neal's quiet voice could be heard again.

"Peter is mommy dead?"

The man froze at the question and he suddenly got a clue what Neal's nightmare had been about.

"No Neal. I think she's okay"
"Will you find her?"
"Yeah, Neal. I'll find her"

The boy didn't answer so Peter left the room and went back to his own bed.

CHAPTER 8

Peter woke up by a loud bang and he was out of the bed before he had even woken up fully.
He hurried out of the room, stopping by the guest but finding the bed empty.
His heart started to beat faster, what if the men had found out about Peter's involvement and had now broke in and kidnapped the boy?
The agent hurried down the stairs before he ran to the door and found no sign of forced entry and the alarm hadn't been touched.
He relaxed slightly before he went into the living room where he was met by Satchmo, the white dog was too relaxed for a break in and-
Wait white dog? Satchmo wasn't white.
Peter looked at his dog again and realized that the animal was covered in a white powder.
Suddenly he knew exactly where he would find the kid.
He walked to the kitchen and there the missing boy was, standing on the top of the counter and surrounded by flour.
Neal was looking down at the flour, seemingly lost in thoughts. He was probably thinking about how he would hide the evidence.
"Neal, what are you doing?"
The boy jumped before looking up at Peter with an innocent smile.
"Pancakes"
Neal answered before proudly pointing toward a bowl filled with a pancake batter.
Peter sighed before he saw that the kid had managed to turn on the stove, wasn't it supposed to be child proofed?
Neal noticed him glancing at the stove and it seemed as if the kid could read his thoughts.
"You just have to press a button before being able to turn it. It's not rocket science Peter"
Of course something as simple as a child lock wouldn't be able to stop Neal. The kid was smart, but that didn't mean that Peter felt comfortable with having a six year old cooking unsupervised.
Peter grabbed Neal and lifted him off the counter and placed him on the floor, he didn't want to risk the boy falling down and hurting himself.
"You can help me cook but you're not allowed to cook without an adult around okay?"
Neal immediately started to argue this descision.
"It's either that or you're not allowed to cook at all"
Peter said, perhaps a little sterner than he intended but seriously why couldn't Neal just follow simple rules?