Even before Peter was fully awake, as Officer Olsen was recounting the details of the arrest, things weren't fitting together properly in his mind. He had completely forgotten about the tail light. El had pointed it out to him the other night and he had planned to get the replacement bulb on Saturday. He would never have let Neal take the car had he thought there was any chance of his being flagged down by the police. He felt awful for putting his friend in that situation but he had been so damned annoying about getting to the exhibit that Peter was glad to see the back of him, and the broken light hadn't even crossed his mind.
Okay, so the light had been out, so what? The registration documents were in the car, Neal had a valid license and his name was listed on the insurance card, so why hadn't the incident passed uneventfully? What had prompted the officer to order Neal out of the car? Peter just didn't buy the whole erratic/dangerous driving story. Neal knew what a big deal it was for Peter to loan him the car. Although Neal had driven it plenty of times when Peter was recovering from the bullet wound to his shoulder last year, this was the only time he had taken it out alone. If anything, Neal was overly cautious when driving his boss's car. Peter had irritably told him to speed up on several occasions and urged him through the lights before they turned red. Neal's natural inclination had been not to push it; he was no amber gambler and was content to sit and wait for the next green light while Peter harrumphed next to him, that they could have been in the office ten minutes earlier.
While the image of Neal recklessly driving had been hard for Peter to formulate. He had no doubt that the report of Neal having assaulted the officer was simply not true. Yet to hear Officer Olsen speak of it, there had been quite a ruckus and he had been 'forced' to tase Neal, before cuffing him for resisting arrest. No, Peter refused to accept that as a possibility. Neal had left in high spirits and there was simply no way he would have done anything to jeopardize his approaching release from Peter's custody.
The office had already started buzzing with surprise party plans, Jones and Diana had bought Neal a membership to the Metropolitan Museum, and El had ordered a fabulous cake in the design of his tracking anklet. Given the mounting giddiness in the White Collar Crime Unit regarding the end of his four years partnership with them, there was no way Neal had not cottoned onto what was being planned. Always comfortable with being the star of the show he was happy to pass out the few remaining weeks until the celebrations without incident. Decking a police officer just did not fit into the picture. Something was very, very wrong.
Peter had never seen Neal violent unless in extremis and, if indeed, things had gone down as Officer Olsen described (which Peter doubted), then he must have done something to really provoke Neal. The more Peter questioned him, the more defensive the officer began to sound and when Peter had demanded to know why Neal could not have been kept in holding rather than whisked straight into the prison system he had snidely asked Peter if their partnership were purely professional. Alarm had replaced the growing unease he was feeling over his communication with Officer Olsen and Peter decided to drop the matter and deal directly with the prison warden.
Given the timing of Neal's incarceration, the night staff was minimal and Peter had been put through to Officer Sandona, who explained that Neal was being processed as they spoke. "Listen," Peter emphasized, "Neal is part of an FBI team. He must be held in isolation and watched over to ensure no one tries to harm him. He's helped put several of the other inmates in there. Please, just keep him safe until I get in there to see the warden. There's been some awful mix-up I am sure. Just, just … look out for him." He choked. "No need to worry, Agent Burke. The warden will be in at 9:00AM." Officer Sandona had replied soothingly, "I'm sure this will all get sorted out then."
Peter was up and out before Elizabeth was even awake. He had been gathering Neal's case files en route to the prison when he had heard someone call out, "Caffrey's on Channel 5," and he had flipped on the TV.
Despite what he had said to Peter, Office Sandona was not about to let $1,000 from his old partner Craig Olsen go un-acted on. He casually told the guards escorting Neal down to the cell block, "General population, and put the word out, he's not someone they'd want to babysit their kids."
TBC
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