Once Peter and Diana had pulled themselves together, Hughes moved quickly to get things back on track. The Kounellis case had been completed the day before and so the team was free to work on this current situation exclusively. "Diana, find Jones and bring him back here now. Peter, take five and get some coffee into you. Have your team in my office in half an hour, Mozzie too, if you can track him down." Although Peter moved slower than usual and still looked somewhat shell-shocked, he had now snapped back into FBI mode and was determined to find out just how his criminal consultant, and close friend had gone from a tail light violation to death in such a short period of time.

His first call, however, was to El. She had rung in while he had been out cold on his office floor. Hughes had seen her name on the caller ID and against his better judgment, had answered Peter's phone. Elizabeth hadn't given him a chance to identify himself before starting in on Peter, as she thought it was she was speaking to. To say that she was beyond hysterical was an understatement. Her voice was shrill, she kept gasping for breath, then breaking down into sobs before starting in on another flow of unanswered questions and cycling into tears again. Hughes could not imagine how she and Peter were going to cope long-term with their loss of Neal. He had grown to become their surrogate son and everyone in the Unit knew how close they were to him. They had worked tirelessly to keep him on the straight and narrow and slowly Neal had come to accept that there were legal routes he could take in life which offered as much satisfaction as his prior career in art fraud and theft. Lately, Neal could not imagine how he had been satisfied with his previous existence and had become as devoted as any biological son to the Burkes. Therefore, it had been particularly cruel for Elizabeth to have had her florist, of all people, tell her about Neal's death.

Apparently, the TV was on in the background as Matt prepared the arrangements Elizabeth had hastily called in. He had met Neal numerous times when he and Peter had been helping out Elizabeth by picking up last minute orders. He had liked the young man and was completely unfazed by the tracking anklet when he first caught sight of it. Anyone associated with Elizabeth had been pre-screened as far as Matt was concerned and as Neal had clearly passed muster with her and Peter that was good enough for him. Elizabeth had called the store earlier, in a flap over a booking snafu. It seemed that her new assistant, not completely familiar with her scheduling software yet, had put in a booking for a luncheon party a day out on the calendar. When the client called to double-check that all was set for 12:00Noon Elizabeth had been calm and reassuring. As soon as she had hung up the phone it was a different matter altogether.

Always the consummate professional, Elizabeth had a fail-safe three-hour lunch plan that she could pull out at a moment's notice. Her assistant had been only too willing to bring in her two daughters to help out. Rose was sent to collect the Plan B menu, as Elizabeth and her favorite caterer referred to it. Zoe swung by to get the uniforms for her and Rose; black wrap around skirts, white silk shirts, black hose and ballet flats. These were kept at the event planner's office for use in just such an emergency. As her assistant pulled out the table settings, Elizabeth put in the floral order to Matt and, promising to bring coffee, had headed out to his premises. She was taken aback when he called her ten minutes later and bluntly said, "Forget the coffee, get here straight away, and Elizabeth – don't put on the car radio!" It took all her resolve just to keep her hands steady on the wheel, a cold sickness creeping up from the pit of her stomach. When she got there, she ran into the florists and immediately caught sight of the newscast. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she tried, unsuccessfully to stifle her scream.

Hughes had done nothing to allay her fear when he had finally managed to let her know it was he who had answered Peter's phone. A second wave of nausea swept over her when he explained where Peter was at that moment. He had managed to calm her down long enough to assure her that Peter was okay and told her to stay put at the florists, awaiting Peter's call once more information was available. Matt got her sipping sweetened tea while he sent his helper out with the flowers and called Elizabeth's assistant to let her know she would be working without her boss today. "Good luck, don't screw up!" were all he manage as he sat down beside Elizabeth and turned up the volume on the TV.

When Peter called her, he really had nothing new to report. He was as baffled as everyone else about what had gone on with Neal. However, he thought it best for Elizabeth to catch a cab and come on into the White Collar Crime Unit so that they could be together. Peter had never liked his wife around while he was working but this time it was different. He could not imagine her coping alone while they tried to piece together the jumble of events. Besides, Mozzie and Elizabeth had developed a mutually supportive bond over the past three years and she was the best person he knew at keeping Mozzie from spinning off on a tangent. Peter needed all the information Mozzie was capable of gathering and Elizabeth would help to keep him focused.

Before heading off to the break room for coffee he sat quietly for a moment, trying to still his thoughts. After the operation had gone so smoothly yesterday, everyone had been jubilant that no one had been hurt and all the interviews and paperwork had been wrapped up by 4:00PM. It had been a much appreciated 'early out' day for the team and Peter had been looking forward to a night in with El. Neal, however, had other plans. Still hyper from the adrenaline rush of the 'sting', he had been badgering Peter the whole ride back to June's to take him to the Kounellis exhibit. It was out of Neal's radius, and out of Peter's realm of interest. There was no way he was missing out on an extended evening with El to baby sit Neal. Neal tried all out charm, then moved onto whining and wheedling when it was clear Peter had no interest in taking him. "I don't care if it's the last day of the show Neal," he moaned "I have had quite enough of Kounellis's art for today. There is a game on, beer in the fridge and lasagna in the freezer. No buddy, no outing for you tonight. "

Neal was not willing to let it go, "Peter, please!" he had pleaded. "This anklet comes off in three weeks anyway. Why not let me off the grid this once? I could drive myself if you are planning on staying in with El?" At first Peter had scoffed at the suggestion, but it did make some sense to him. Surely Neal wouldn't try anything with so little time left on the clock. He had had trust issues with Neal throughout the entire period of the criminal consultant's time with the FBI but they had always been resolved, and more often than not Neal had been proven innocent. He switched course and headed for his own home. Once there, he parked, turned off the ignition, pulled out the keys and handed them to Neal who could barely contain his surprise. "Okay, Neal." Peter said smiling, "I guess you've earned it. Please, don't screw this up. I do not want to be woken by the cops at 2:00AM!"

As things turned out it was 3:20AM when Officer Olsen called Peter to inform him of Neal's arrest.

TBC

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