AN: thank you for your reviews people! They seriously made my day! I hope that you guys know that every suggestion you make is taken into consideration! Please R&R in order to help me make the story into a better one (I hope). Also as I mentioned earlier English isn't my first language so I apologize for any errors and mistakes. I am assuming that the flight duration from NYC to Washington D.C. is around an hour or so? At least that is what came up when I Googled it and that is what I used, please correct me if I am mistaken! Thank you and happy reading!
Chapter 3: The Truth and Pain meds
They have already hit the 24-hour mark on Neal's disappearance/kidnapping and chances usually went down the hill if the missing person hasn't been found by then. Jones and Diana were both agitated and on the edge of their seats as the next 8 hours can determine Neal's future. Diana did a double take on whatever was on her screen and blue file and her eyes lit up with excitement.
"What's wrong? You got something?" asked Jones quickly after seeing her excited expression.
"I th-" Diana started but never got to finish her sentence as she saw the person walking through the glass doors. "Uh, what is Peter doing here?"
"What?!" exclaimed Jones while turning around in his chair to verify what Diana is seeing.
"We need to tell Hughes. Now." He continued as Diana grabbed the blue file and followed him out of the conference room and into Hughes' office.
"Sir, Peter is here." Said Jones as soon as Diana closed the door behind her.
"I had a feeling he might show up." Replied Hughes tiredly.
"What do we do? Do we fill him in?" asked Diana who wanted to fill in her boss so badly.
"Let me talk to him and see how he is processing everything first." Said Hughes as he eyed Peter who was standing in front of Caffrey's cubicle.
"Sir, we also might have something." Added Diana before giving Hughes the chance to dismiss them.
"Give me 10 minutes and then I will find you." Replied Hughes as Peter was walking up the stairs, heading to where they are right now. "Now go."
"Yes sir." They answered simultaneously while walking out of the office and taking a left, heading to the conference room to continue their hunt for the ex-conman.
"Hey Peter." Said Diana in a form of greetings as they passed him. "Diana, hey. Have you seen Neal today?" asked Peter.
"Um, I think he went for a coffee run. Do you need anything?" she replied calmly, trying not to play with her hair; a huge tell that she is nervous.
"No thanks. I need to talk to Hughes, see you in a bit." Said Peter while continuing his way to his boss's office.
"Good morning sir." Said Peter in a form of greetings after being given the go ahead to enter the office.
"Peter. Come on in and close the door. I thought you were taking some time off to spend it with Elizabeth." Said Hughes while gesturing for his agent to walk further into his office.
"Well, Elizabeth wanted everything to go back to normal so she decided to get a late start to her morning. Plus you know me sir, I can't sit at home, doing nothing when there are cases to solve." Responded Peter while silently praying that Hughes won't grill him anymore.
"You know it is always good to have you back Burke, but I have to ask. Will you be okay working with Caffrey again? I know that won't be easy…" continued Hughes.
"Yes sir. I am perfectly fine with it. It took me a while to calm down and think about it logically. We all make a mistake one way or another along the way, that's who we are. I will also be the one to admit that Neal makes them more often than normal people but he needs this. A place where he can turn to and someone to keep him on the straight and narrow. Caffrey has changed. The old Neal wouldn't have admitted to his mistakes or done much to help, but this time he did. He has made a life for himself here. I believe in him and I trust him." Peter said softly while their earlier conversation came to his mind.
"Why didn't you leave?" asked Peter.
"You… Elizabeth, Sara, the view from that porch, getting off the elevator Monday morning… I have a life here," answered Neal sincerely.
The office was silent for a minute while Hughes was weighing his options in his head, which made Peter slightly nervous.
"I know you Burke and I know that Caffrey trusts you with his life. You have changed him for the better and we can all vouch for that," replied Hughes as he opened his office door and did the double finger point to both Diana and Jones. "That is why I, no we, need to tell you something." He continued as Diana and Jones came into his office while closing the door behind them.
"Sir. Peter." They nodded in a form of greetings. Again.
"Diana you said you had something? Fill us in," said Hughes while gesturing to the room's occupants, ignoring Peter's confused expression.
"As most of us already know. Neal Caffrey's anklet was cut 24 hours ago, while we were searching for Mathew Keller and just when we secured Elizabeth Burke." Started Diana while eyeing Peter's wide-eyed expression. He started to say something as his faced morphed into a worried, angry expression but Diana continued.
"Getting to the scene where Neal and Keller were supposed to be, we found Neal's already cut anklet and some blood, a lot of blood." As she passed some of the crime scene photos to Peter.
"CSU did a quick test to see who's blood it was and… it was Neal's." said Diana softly.
"Now as I was trying to track Neal and find a clue that might help us find him, or Keller for that matter, I got this e-mail." Continued Diana as she walked out of Hughes's office and into the conference room that became their main workstation. She pulled up her e-mail account onto the big TV screen and clicked on the first message in her inbox that was from a: DANTE HAVERSHAM with a subject that read: URGENT! OPEN SOON LADY SUIT!
She opened the attached audio file and pressed play.
"Hello Caffrey, it's been a while." Vibrated Keller's arrogant voice through the speakers.
"Keller, where is Elizabeth? Whatever you need just let her go. I will get you anything." Came Neal's voice, getting straight to the point.
"Now, now Neal, not so fast. You know I will let her go, but first let me enjoy my game. Eventually, when I get what I want, she will be free." Answered Keller.
Neal cursed under his breath and then said, "What is it that you want Keller? We can do this so no one gets hurt, it doesn't have to be this way." Continued Neal.
"Oh but it has to. This is the only way that you can cooperate with me Caffrey." Said Keller. "Meet me at the storage units located on Main Street. The ones near the docks, you should remember where that is so I won't be very specific, and after all you almost died the last time we were there remember?"
"I will only meet you there if you let Elizabeth Burke go Keller, those are my terms." Replied Neal in a no-nonsense tone, ignoring Keller's comment about his near-death experience.
"Fine. You have 1 hour Caffrey, one hour. Oh and need I remind you, no cops, feds or anything, oh and no Mozzie too. See you then." Said Keller as he ended the call.
"Did you check the location?" asked Peter, breaking the shocked silence that engulfed the room, with his mind working 1000 miles an hour.
"Yes, that was around the same location where we found Caffrey's anklet and the blood." Replied Jones, speaking up for the first time in a while.
"This is good." Said Hughes, sighing in relief.
"How is this good?! First the sociopath took my wife and now he took my partner! How is this any good to us?! Neal left with him knowing that I was upset with him, I need to find my partner and my best friend Hughes. What if I don't get the chance to find him and tell him that everything will workout in the end, that I forgave him? What if…" exclaimed Peter angrily and then trailed off, not wanting to voice what was on his mind.
"Calm down Burke, Caffrey is one tough guy. We will get to him. Now the DOJ gave us 48 hours to find Caffrey and that clock started ticking since his anklet was cut. We have around 7 hours left, if we do not find him by then, he will be considered a fugitive on the run. This proves that Caffrey didn't just run away but in fact was kidnapped. This audio file helps us!" explained Hughes.
Walking out of the conference room with the other three agents trailing behind him, Hughes clapped his hands in order to get everybody's attention. "Alright listen up people! We have just received some information that one Mathew Keller has in fact kidnapped Neal Caffrey. I want eyes and ears on the streets and in the air and I need each and every one of you searching for them. Do not disregard any piece of information that you come across. Anything is crucial to finding them from this moment onwards! Now everybody get to work!"
WCWCWCWCWC
"Wake up Caffrey." Said one of Keller's goons, nudging Neal Caffrey awake.
"We got to make sure you don't die on us, at least not yet. Need you functioning in order to do that forgery and that is why I have pleasure of bandaging you up." The goon continued. "After that you are coming with me as we are going to land soon."
"Why did it take so long to get to D.C.? It's around an hour or so from NYC." Questioned Neal groggily, trying to get as many answers as he could.
"We took many detours to insure that there won't be any people waiting for us. Not that it is any of your business." Answered the big guy roughly.
20 minutes later, the big guy finished his lousy job to stop Neal's bleeding. "Do not worry Caffrey, we have a doctor just for you waiting to stitch you up once we get to the warehouse." Said the big guy grinning evilly. Neal who was in an immense amount of pain, with no painkillers managed to utter, "how come you know my name but I don't know yours?" "Hmm, Keller said you were always a smartass Caffrey but I didn't believe him, until now, call me John." Replied the big guy, who is now known as John as he hoisted a badly injured Neal from his injured shoulder and pulled him up a flight of stairs to a seat in the back of the plane, not bothering to buckle him in. "Stay still buddy, we have 35 more minutes to go." He said as he patted Neal on his injured abdomen, making the ex-fugitive scream in agony.
