Chapter 5

"Well?" El asked, pacing Peter's office.

"It's an iffy thing, El." Peter replied. "Are you sure? I mean are you really sure it was him?"

"I told you how the girls described him. It…it sounded like him." El paused. "Don't look at me like that, Peter. I miss him like crazy, I do. But I wouldn't put myself through this if I…if I didn't think that there was something to it. I…I just…it would be like losing him all over again, and I couldn't take that."

Peter sighed. He knew El was telling him the truth. "Fingerprints are best gotten on clean non-porous surfaces. Paper is one of the worst things to get prints off of. It's porous, and it absorbs the oils that create the print." Peter explained. "It's just…the odds are against it."

EL shook her head looking defeated.

"Look, Hon, go on home." Peter advised. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything from forensics. I promise."

El nodded, gathered her belongings and left.

A couple hours later El's phone rang. Peter told her that they could only lift partial prints. There was not just enough there to make an ID.

El was very disappointed by that news, of course, but then she remembered something. "I have the name, Peter, the name of the business." El said excitedly. "Remember I told you about the catering event this Saturday. Maybe he'll be there."

"I can't just check into the company, not without probable cause. And I can't just show up at a company picnic." Peter replied. "I can't…even if what you suspect is true and he's got amnesia or something. I don't want to scare him off."

"He didn't recognize my name, Peter. The envelope had my company name on it, and he was told to give it to Elizabeth Burke. The girls said he just walked in and acted like any other delivery person would. He would have no idea who you were."

"No, but he might figure out I'm an agent. He knows he's been shot. I'm sure somebody told him that, if he didn't figure it out for himself." Peter stated. "He might think he's a wanted man or that he's committed some crime. And he'll run…if he does that El…amnesia or not, he'll find a way to hide where we can't find him."

"I'm sorry." El said, nodding. "I…I just…this feels like it's him. And I could always use the extra help."

Peter understood what El was trying to say. She wanted White Collar agents to join her staff for the event. But Peter couldn't just use Bureau resources like that. Not just on rumor alone, even if the rumor came from the wife of an agent. "I'll do what I can, El. I promise." Peter replied before they both hung up.

WC WC WC WC WC

The picnic went off without a hitch. El was disappointed that Peter would not or could not look more into the delivery man thing. But she had to put it out of her mind. As it turned out, El spent the majority of her time back at her shop the day of the event. At the last minute, the truck carrying her food was involved in an accident. Some of the food had been ruined, but some was salvaged. Now El was in her office calling in favors to try to get the quantity of food she needed to pull off the event. But the time she actually got to the event many of the workers had left and her staff had been too busy to do anything but serve food.

Neal had decided to attend the event. And, at the end of the day, he was glad he had. He had really had a good time. And the food had been excellent. He had even gone up on stage and entertained the crowd with a few songs. And he discovered something else about himself. He had no idea that he could play the guitar. He just saw it sitting on the stage and just went over and picked it up. He started to play and was actually pretty good at it.

Officer Christina Bradley had also been in attendance. Her husband was a driver recently promoted from the loading crew. Christina had met Neal Caffrey before, while assisting on a case with White Collar. It took her a moment to realize who it was she was looking at singing up on stage. She was surprised to see him there, but she kept her feeling and observations to herself at the time. Later that night she had questioned her husband. She learned that Jay Sterling had joined the company about 5 months earlier. Her husband had learned very little about Jay's past. Christina had heard about Neal's death, it had gone the same way all news and gossip does through the NYPD.

Christina didn't approach Neal though. She want to blow his cover. She knew sometimes a person had to 'die' for the sake of the job. She then forgot about the whole incident until she walked into the White Collar offices a few days later.

Christina went into Peter's office and sat down, ready to share her info on a case the division was working on jointly.

"You know, it's none of my business. But what's going on at Allied Parcel?" Christina questioned.

"What?!" Peter asked.

"Come on, Burke, you can tell me."

"El, my wife, catered their picnic this past Saturday…that's all I…." Peter replied, completely confused.

"Peter, come on. My husband works there. If there's trouble, you could at least give me a heads up. We can't become a one-income household. Not in this economy." Christina lamented.

Peter just looked at her. He had no idea what she was talking about.

Christina just looked at him. "Neal! Peter…Neal, well, Jay Sterling has been working with my husband for almost 5 months. That's a long time in White Collar World to work an undercover op. Isn't it?" Christina's husband didn't know Caffrey, as Caffrey. He had never met Neal until he had shown up at APS as part of the loading crew, so he would have had no reason to mention Neal to his wife, even in passing.

Peter just stared a Christina for a moment, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"What…Who did you say?"

"Caffrey." Christina replied. "I saw him. He looked different, and he most definitely acted different. Considering how much he flirted with me when he first met me. He acted like he didn't even know me. But then I, I just figured he was working a case, and the being declared dead thing, was all a part of that." She paused. "Don't worry, I didn't blow his cover." She reassured Peter.

Peter stood up. He reached for his phone. Then he sat down again, too excited to think clearly. He took a moment to calm himself.

"You're sure it was Caffrey?" Peter asked, not wanting to get his hopes up too much.

"Of course it was…." Christina paused. "You mean you guys actually believed he was…?"

Peter nodded.

"You're sure, absolutely positive, it was him?" Peter asked.

Christina nodded.

"And he was going by Jay…what did you say the last name was?" Peter asked, writing furiously on a pad of paper.

"Sterling." Christina replied, stunned by the change of events. "I'd have to ask my husband, but I'm pretty sure that is the name he gave me."

Peter then picked up the phone and summoned Diana and Jones to his office. "Jones, pull the employment records for Allied Parcel Service. I'm looking for a Jay Sterling, that's J-A-Y Sterling. Diana, call their human resources department and get a physical description of Sterling."

Both agents obeyed without comment. They were already loaded down with cases and they could not understand why Peter was throwing another one onto the pile.

TBC