Peter looked up at the Queen Industries tower and took a deep breath putting himself in the right mindset. When he was ready he buttoned up his jacket and headed into the lobby. Out of the corner of his eye saw Neal walk in beside him and take off his hat so he stopped. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?"
"To talk to Oliver Queen." Neal said as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.
"No. No way. You're not going up there," Peter smiled.
"What? Why not?" Neal said.
"We don't know how much he knows about me," Peter said. "And as much as you pride yourself on being forgettable, the guy almost bleed out in your kitchen last night, that tends to leave a lasting impression on a person. I just think I might be able to get more out of him on my own."
"But—"
"Tell me you won't go off script," Peter said. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that when you get up there and you see him you'll be able to keep your cool, knowing that he knows where she is." Neal sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's what I thought. Stay right here."
Peter walked up to the reception desk and offered the girl manning the phones a soft smile. She smiled back but it was obvious her attention was directed at Neal who was busy pacing the lobby floor behind him. Peter just snorted and shook his head. "Hi."
"Hi," she looked at him as if just noticing he was standing there. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, Peter Burke to see Oliver Queen please."
"Oh, uh," the woman looked down at her computer screen typing rapidly. "I don't have you in his book. I'm afraid if you don't have an appointment I can't let you up."
"I'm sorry, maybe you were looking under the wrong name," Peter patted his pockets a few times before pulling out his badge. He flipped it open turned it so that she could see it. "Special Agent Peter Burke, with the FBI, here to see Oliver Queen."
"Yes, of course," she fumbled to take off her head set and smooth out her skirt. "Right this way please," she smiled at him and walked him over to the elevator banks. She unclipped the ID badge that was hanging from the bottom of her jacket and waved it at the sensor before pushing the elevator call button, the door opened immediately. "He's on the top floor, I'll call up, let them know your coming."
"Thank you," Peter smiled at her then looked over her shoulder at Neal and mouthed the word, "Stay."
Neal rolled his eyes but nodded. "Stay," he mumbled under his breath, like he was a dog or something. He knew that Peter was right, he knew that whenever Chloe was involved he had a hard time playing it cool.
He smiled at the receptionist as she made her way back behind her desk. She grabbed the phone and pushed a button, talking rapidly into the receiver, her eyes wide before hanging up. Neal collapsed in one of the overstuffed chairs scattered around the lobby and slid down in the seat to stare up at the ceiling. He twirled his hat in his fingers and slid it onto his head, then pulled it down over his eyes. He hated waiting.
Moz looked up as Neal slipped back into his room. "God, I could not get rid of him. Get a few drinks in the guy and all of a sudden he wants to talk about anything and everything under the sun." He stopped when he realized he was talking to a basically empty room. He peaked around the corner then hurried down the back hall checking the bathroom and the closet. "Where is she?" he asked storming back in the room.
"She left," Moz said quietly.
"What do you mean she left?" Neal snapped.
"She left Neal, she climbed down the back way."
"And you just let her?" Neal practically screamed.
"What was I supposed to do, hold her hostage? Lock her in the bathroom?" Moz asked him harshly.
"No," Neal sighed, collapsing into the chair at the kitchen table. "Of course not, I'm sorry. It's not your fault." Neal ran a hand through his hair. "It was Peter wasn't it?"
"What do you think?" Moz snorted. "Can you blame her for being a bit hesitant? The last thing she knew the Suit was public enemy number one."
"If she would have just given me a second to explain instead of running off, again…" Neal groaned.
"Look, about the running off thing," Moz said hesitantly. "She said something, something strange about what happened the last time she left." Neal looked over at him impatiently. "She might have implied that Kate had something to do with her disappearance."
"Kate?" Neal sat up straighter. "Are you sure?"
"She sai,d and I quote, 'She turned me in, she handed me over to them and Neal…'" Moz trailed off.
"Neal what?" Neal asked him.
"I don't know, she didn't finish the thought, she just freaked and then left as fast as her four inch heels could carry her." Moz shrugged.
"Kate turned her in? Turned her into who? The DDS?" Neal asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine. But the Suit swears she was never in DDS custody."
"If Kate was behind her disappearing act five years ago," Moz said.
"I know, it means everything we thought we knew is wrong." Neal sighed in frustration.
He still couldn't really wrap his head around what Moz told him. It was Kate. Kate was the reason that Chloe left, Kate had done something and for whatever reason, it seemed like Chloe believed that Neal was in on it. That hurt. It hurt more than thinking that she just left, it hurt more than living without her for the past five years. The fact that she could think, for even one second, that Neal would do anything to hurt her, hurt him more than he thought possible.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a soft cough coming from beside him and he lifted his hat slightly to see the receptionist standing over him. "Hello," Neal said cautiously, sitting up straight in the chair.
"Is Mr. Queen in trouble?"she asked him nervously.
"I'm sorry?" Neal frowned at her.
"The man that you came in with. He's with the FBI and he's here to see Mr. Queen. Is Mr. Queen in trouble?" Neal opened his mouth but the girl just barreled on, sitting down across from him, perching herself on the edge of the table. "Because he's a really great guy, and I don't just mean that because he's rich and owns the company but because he remembers my name. I've only worked here for a year and in that time he's been to New York maybe twice but he remembers my name and that my sister just had a baby and when he asks me how I am every morning he really wants to know so whatever you think it is that he did, I'm sure he didn't, he couldn't—"
"He's not in any trouble, Sarah," Neal read her name off the ID badge and reached over, placing a hand on her knee to calm her down. "We actually just need his help for a case we're working on."
"Oh," the woman visibly deflated as she let out a breath. "That's good to know. I'm going for a coffee run, can I get you anything while you wait?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. Apparently now that her boss was no longer in trouble, Neal was free game. He smiled at her.
"You know I could go for a cappuccino thank you," Neal reached in his pocket for his wallet and she smiled again.
"Don't worry about it, it's on me," she stood and walked to the door. He watched her step out onto the streets of New York city and then turn. He waited until she was out of sight before looking down at the ID card he now held in his hand and then over at the bank of elevators.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
When the doors opened and Peter found himself face to face with Oliver Queen, he was surprised, and it showed, 'Point one for Oliver Queen' he thought. "Agent Burke?" Oliver took a step forward with his hand held out and the smile that Peter was pretty sure he reserved for journalists and magazine covers. "Oliver Queen."
"Special Agent Burke." Peter said as Oliver led him past a slightly nervous yet still smiling receptionist.
"Right, I'm sorry, my mistake." Oliver said with a sort of smirk and Peter practically cursed himself because he'd just handed Oliver Queen point two. Neal would be rolling his eyes in disgust right about now.
"Karen, hold all my calls and I need to see the patent lawyers this afternoon. Tomorrow is too late, I need those papers filed before five or PolyTech is going to kill us next quarter."
"Yes Mr. Queen." Karen nodded and grabbed for her phone.
Oliver led Peter into the office and closed the door behind him. "It's small." Peter said before he could stop himself, taking in the room that was only about twice the size of his own office.
"I'm sorry?" Oliver frowned at him confused.
"Your office. It's small." Peter explained. "Smaller than I would have thought."
"I'm only in New York a few times a year. It seems wasteful to maintain a full corner office that will just sit vacant 80% of the time." Oliver shrugged.
"That makes sense." Peter nodded.
"Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, water?"
"No I'm fine thank you." Peter shook his head and Oliver motioned for him to take a seat in front of the desk as he sat down behind it.
"So Special Agent Burke, what can I do for you?" Oliver leaned back slightly.
"You were at the charity dinner held at June Bishop's house last night correct?"
"Yes I was," Oliver nodded.
"I was at that dinner." Peter said.
"Really?" Oliver raised his eyebrows but he wasn't really pulling off surprise very well.
"I don't recall seeing you there." Peter said.
"It was a big party." Oliver reminded him. "I'm sorry, I'm not really seeing where the FBI comes into all of this. Was my…is there a problem with my donation?"
"No, I'm sure everything's fine there," Peter shook his head. "I'm more interested in the woman you were at the party with."
"The…" Oliver trailed off as comprehension of sorts dawned on his face. He laughed and rubbed a hand roughly over the back of his neck before looking up at Peter. "Ok, this is slightly embarrassing." Oliver leaned forward in his seat. "Look, I assure you that everything was legal and above board. And it's not what you think. I mean I can get my own dates but I'm only in town for a while and bringing a girl to one of June's charity dinner's is sort of a big thing and I'm really not looking for something serious right now so…" Peter looked at him confused. "I just needed an escort."
Peter smiled, "Are you suggesting to me that the girl you were with last night, was an escort?"
"Yes. An escort, and only an escort. It wasn't, I didn't…I just needed a date, that's it." Oliver said.
Peter nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have the number for that agency would you?"
"Yeah, I've got it…I've got it right here." Oliver's smile faltered for a second and Peter smiled wider. Point one for Peter Burke. "It's uh, it's in my contact list. Somewhere," he said as scrolled through something that Peter was positive was not a contact list on his computer. The way Oliver's smile faded completely Peter thought he might even deserve two points, making them even. Oliver gritted his teeth. "Just a second," he told Peter.
"I'm doing this as fast as I can Arrow, stop grinding your teeth." Victor said in his ear. "Here, give him this number."
"Here it is," Oliver smiled. "212-574-2893. J.L.A. Premier Services."
"Thanks," Peter nodded as he wrote the number down. "Would you mind if I…" he pulled out his phone and waved it at Oliver, wondering just how far he could push this.
"Go right ahead," Oliver leaned back in his seat, a little too comfortable for Peter's liking. "Her name was Lola."
Peter paused as he stood up. "Lola?" he asked. "Let me guess, she was a show girl?"
Oliver smiled bigger and Peter cursed under his breath. He wasn't sure what just happened here but he was sure that Oliver just jumped back in the lead.
"Chloe is so going to kill you." Victor laughed.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Victor typed furiously on the keyboard as he called up Courtney's comm's. He'd said they should have a plan in place for if and when the FBI came down on them and Oliver brushed his concerns off, said that he could just wing it. Oliver winging it usually meant that he got to make something up off the top of his head and then Victor had to scramble to make miracles happen. "Hey Vic, did you guys get Bart is he—"
"No time," Victor said, feeling only slightly bad for cutting Courtney off, he knew the girl was just worried. "I am about to patch a call through to your cell phone and I need you to repeat everything I tell you to ok?"
"Yeah, sure," Courtney agreed.
"Patching it through to you now."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The phone rang the for fourth time and Peter looked over at Oliver. If they were playing a game of chicken, it didn't look like Oliver was going to move first. "J.L.A. Premier Service. How can I help you?" A perky sounding woman answered the phone and Peter faltered for a second.
"Yes, sorry I was calling to enquire about one of your girls." Peter said.
"Of course sir. Our rates are very competitive and our girls are all of the highest caliber. We do extensive background checks and random drug testing. I do want to point out before we go any further that we offer escort services only, for special events or parties, we do not condone nor do we charge for any sort of sexual activity. Now if you could tell me the nature of your event I could help select the proper girl for you."
"I don't have an event." Peter said. "I'm looking for information on one girl in particular. Lola."
"Ah, one of our favorites." The girl said. "Just let me check her schedule." Peter turned around and looked at Oliver who was just looking at him. "I'm sorry sir it looks like Lola left this morning for an extended booking. She is currently out of the country for the next month."
"Is she?" Peter shook his head. "Could you tell me where specifically?"
"I'm sorry sir that information is confidential." The woman said. "But if you would like to check our website, , I'm sure we've got another girl who is just as good as Lola."
"I might just do that. Thank you for your time." Peter hung up the phone and turned back to Oliver walking to the desk. "She's out of the country."
"Ah, that's unfortunate."
"It is." Peter nodded.
"She didn't do something did she? Something illegal?" Oliver's worried face was better than his surprised face but not by much.
"No, nothing like that." Peter said. "Actually we have a very credible tip that she might be in some danger. Serious danger."
"Huh." Oliver stood up. "Well I wish I could help you more." He led Peter to the door and to the elevator. "For what it's worth, she seemed like a very capable woman. I'm sure whatever danger you think she's in, she can handle it on her own."
"Just because someone can handle something alone, doesn't mean they should have to." Peter hit the elevator call button. He was already behind right now in points and he was getting a little desperate. "Look, Mr. Queen, Lola…is someone very important to a very close friend of mine. I made him a promise four years ago that I would find her and I never break my promises."
"Look, if there's one thing I know about...Lola, it's that you're not gonna find her unless she wants you to and it looks to me like she doesn't want you to." Oliver shrugged. "Tell your friend I'm sorry."
The elevator dinged and Peter watched as Karen handed Oliver some files. "Oh, Karen did your mom get the flowers I sent?"
"She did. They were beautiful," Karen smiled. "And can I thank you again for the Doctor you called in, he's been a godsend. I haven't received a bill yet though."
"It's been taken care of, don't worry about it," Oliver brushed her off.
"Mr. Queen, I can't let you—"
"It's been taken care of." Oliver said with a smile as Peter pushed the button for the lobby, his tone leaving no room for discussion.
"Of course sir, thank you sir," Karen ducked her head and as much as Peter wanted to hate him, he begrudgingly had to admit that Oliver Queen seemed like a genuinely nice guy.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Your friend is on his way down." Sarah told Neal, hanging up her phone.
"Thanks." Neal stood up and smiled as he walked over to the elevators. The doors opened up and Neal saw Peter inside pacing. Neal's face fell. "It didn't go well did it?"
"He is good." Peter shook his head. "He didn't let anything slip. Unless…" Peter looked over at Neal.
"Unless what?" Neal asked hopefully.
"Unless there's a chance that Chloe changed her name to Lola and joined an elite New York escort service?" Peter asked and Neal shook his head slowly, very confused. "Right, we couldn't get that lucky could we? He knows something, but he's not talking. Let's get back to the office, I want to see if Diana's found anything on her end and check out a website."
"Who is Lola?" Neal asked as they walked toward the doors.
"I'll explain later." Peter smiled. "Did you go out for coffee?"
"No, Sarah did," Neal turned and waved at the receptionist. "Oh speaking of, hold on just a second." Peter watched as Neal hurried back to the reception desk and held out what looked like an ID card to the girl. He heard Neal say, "I think you dropped this."
Sarah gushed her thanks and Neal tipped his hat before heading back to Peter. "You lifted her badge." Neal nodded. "You could have come up at any point."
Neal shrugged and drank the last of his coffee. "I figured you could handle it." Peter smiled. "Guess I was wrong." Peter glared at him as he stopped at the trashcan by the door only to freeze.
"What?" Peter frowned.
"She was here," Neal said slowly.
"What makes you so sure?" Peter asked.
"Trash is public property right?" Neal asked and Peter nodded. Neal pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket then reached into the trash can and grabbed an empty coffee cup. "Carmel latte, double shot, no foam." He motioned to the marks on the side of the cup. "This is hers."
Peter smiled and grabbed an evidence bag out of his pocket for Neal to drop the cup in. "I'll run the prints as soon as we get back to the office."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Oliver walked back to his desk and sighed, rubbing his neck. "Hey Vic. What is it gonna take for you not to tell Chloe about the whole Lola thing?"
"Can't talk right now, I'm too busy making a website for an imaginary escort agency." Victor told him.
"Why are you making a website?" Oliver frowned.
"Because someone decided to ad-lib." Victor grumbled.
"I'm sorry," Courtney's voice came over the comms. "It just felt like something my character would say."
"Anyway, now I have to make a fake website that looks real and I still haven't made it through all the schematics on the security system for the museum." Victor told him. "Plus no way am I passing up the opportunity to see the look on her face when I tell her all about her stint as an escort named Lola."
"I hate you." Oliver sighed and pulled the earpiece out of his ear.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Peter passed the cup off to Jones when they got back to the office, asking him to rush it through. "Sure, what case number should I use?"
Peter stopped for a second, "Neal's."
Jones looked at him and then at Neal and then at the cup. "You want me to use Neal's case number?"
"Yeah." Peter nodded, it seemed appropriate.
"Sure thing." Jones said, not questioning it further.
"Hey, boss, I think I'm gonna have something for you in a sec." Diana told him, holding her hand over the phone's speaker.
"Come on up when you're finished." Peter said and he and Neal climbed the steps to his office and sat down behind his computer. He opened up a new window and typed in the address for the website the woman gave him. He cursed under his breath when a website for what looked like a very classy escort agency immediately pulled up on his screen. "Shit, he's really good." Peter said and Neal walked around the desk.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked. "Or maybe something you don't want me to tell Elizabeth?"
Peter glared at Neal over his shoulder. "When I asked Oliver about the girl he was with at June's party, he said she was an escort name Lola. It seemed like the whole story was totally off the cuff but then he gave me this phone number to an actual agency and now this." Peter motioned to the website. Peter clicked on the "Meet Our Girls" link and scrolled down the page until he came across the name Lola. There was a picture of a blonde girl, short hair, big smile.
"It even looks like her," Neal whispered. "He is good." Neal stood up and shook his head.
"So what now?" Peter leaned back in his chair.
"Jimmy Olsen." Diana said from the doorway.
"Who's that?"
"Did you say Jimmy Olsen?" Neal perked up.
Diana nodded. "Henry James Olsen filed for a marriage license, no name listed under spouse, but four months later there was a death certificate filed for him."
"She married Jimmy Olsen." Neal collapsed into the chair. "Jimmy Olsen, is dead."
"I take it you know who that is?" Peter asked.
"Chloe's ex."
"The one before you." Peter asked and Neal wanted to say that Jimmy wasn't before him because he never really had her, except he did so he just nodded. "Huh."
"She married Jimmy Olsen." Neal said to himself. It was going to take a while to get used to that.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Oliver opened the door and stepped into the apartment after a particularly long day at the office. Despite the reason they were in New York, Oliver still had a company to run. "Lola?" Chloe asked, meeting him at the door, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyebrows raised. "I'm an escort named Lola now?"
"Funny story-" Oliver offered.
"I don't care," Chloe brushed him off. "Do you think he bought it?"
"No." Oliver shook his head. "I think this guy wants to find you and he seems like the type of guy not to give up."
"He is," Chloe groaned, remembering how unrelenting he was in his pursuit of Neal and how hard it was for Chloe to stay one step ahead of him. "I can't worry about Peter Burke right now I just can't. I still have no idea what to do about Friday night. Bart is counting on me and I'm starting to worry that I'm going to let him down."
"Hey," Oliver grabbed her shoulders. "Take a deep breath. You're not alone here ok. Bart is counting on all of us and he's never let us down so no way are we gonna let him down."
"Ok. Your right, we can do this. I just have to focus." Chloe nodded.
Just then alarms rang out all through apartment. "What the hell?" Oliver flinched and looked around. "Are we under siege."
"No." Chloe groaned and walked over to her computers as Victor pulled up her system and set off the alarm. "That's an alarm I set up, someone ran my prints through the system."
"You're not in the system." Oliver said. "Right?"
"I'm not, but my prints are." Chloe said. "In quite a few places," she bit her lip. "How bad is it?"
"Red flags are popping up all over the place, damn it. I can't," he turned around annoyed. "I can't do anything, I can't stop it."
"This is exactly what I needed right now," Chloe hung her head and groaned. "Damn it Neal, what the hell are you doing?" she mumbled to herself before pushing off the edge of the desk and taking a deep breath.
She turned around and walked into the bedroom. Victor, AC, and Oliver looked at each other confused. She came out five minutes later wearing Oliver's hoodie, her bag slung over one shoulder and his long bow over the other. "I'll call you when I get settled."
"What?" Oliver asked surprised following her to the door.
"He's not gonna give up. He knows now that I have some sort of connection to you. It's not going to take him too long to start looking into your local real estate holdings, trace this place back to you and therefore straight to me." Chloe explained. "Look, I'm gonna try and get him to back off but just in case, I'll set up a secondary base camp. Better safe than sorry." Chloe reached up on her tip-toes and kissed Oliver's cheek. "I'll call you." She said pulling the hood up over her head and walking out the door.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Neal managed to avoid June as he made his way up the stairs to his room. He knew that she was still waiting for their talk about Chloe and he just couldn't do it, not tonight. Chloe had married Jimmy Olsen. He still couldn't wrap his head around the whole thing. Especially considering the last time he'd seen her she had most definitely been completely over him. And yet she'd married him, and then he'd died.
Peter had looked into and found a very sparse police report. They managed to figure out that he'd been killed by someone named Davis Bloom. Bloom had been a pretty notorious serial killer back in Metropolis for a while but there was speculation that his murder of Jimmy had been motivated by jealousy. Neal assumed that meant it was over Chloe and that had to have killed her. Even if she'd been over Jimmy, she still cared about him, Neal knew that, that was just the type of person she was. He cursed himself again for not being there to help her through this.
Neal closed the door behind him and sighed loosening his tie when an arrow whizzed past his face, close enough to almost burn him with its sheer velocity and embedded in the wall behind him. He turned quickly to the balcony where Chloe was staring at him with murderous intent, a hood pulled up over her head, a long bow in her arms. Another arrow was already perched and loaded and aimed at him. "Chloe?" He took a step forward and her fingers twitched.
"I won't miss next time," she warned him. "And trust me when I say I had a really good teacher."
"What's going on?" Neal asked.
"You ran my prints?"
"I didn't." He shook his head, not technically lying. "I had Peter run your prints."
"It flew up red flags everywhere Neal, the FBI, CIA, NSA, Interpol-you didn't miss a rock."
"You crawled out didn't you?" he said a little more bitter than he intended.
"To tell you to back off." Chloe lowered the bow only slightly. "Look I can't do this right now. You and your new best friend Peter Burke want to hunt me down that's fine. I'll be the Moriarty to your Holmes. Next week. I cannot have the FBI on my ass this week Neal."
"I know you're in trouble Nicole." Neal said. "Let me help you."
"I don't want your help Neal, I want you to back off. Can you do that for me? Please." Chloe's shoulders collapsed and she looked tired, exhausted actually. "You owe me that much Neal."
"Is that what you really want?" Neal whispered.
Chloe nodded. "That's what I want."
"Ok, fine," he held up his hands in surrender.
"Thank You." Chloe sighed and turned to leave.
"You're in over your head." Neal called out to her and she froze. "Whatever's going on, whatever you're trying to do, you're in over your head. I can tell, I could always tell. You may not want my help Chlo, but if you need it, you know where to find me."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Wow." Elizabeth said as Peter grabbed her plate and headed to the kitchen. "Chloe's back. How's Neal doing?"
"Not good." Peter shook his head. "He's convinced himself that she's in trouble and needs his help."
"Yeah, that's the same thing he said last time." Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and grabbed her wine glass. "What do you think?"
"I don't know." Peter sat back down. "I think he really believes it, I think there might even be some merit to his theory but I also think that she doesn't want any help and until she does, there's nothing we can do for her."
"So how is she connected to Oliver Queen?" Elizabeth asked.
"No clue but I know that she is." Peter grabbed his wine glass and took a sip. "I've got Jones tracking down any real estate he might own locally, but that could take some time. If he's hiding her it's not gonna be under his name."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting someone?" she asked and Neal nodded, picking up the rest of the food and bringing it to the kitchen as Elizabeth went to the door.
"Neal?"she frowned when she saw him on the stoop. "Hey is everything ok?" He looked wrecked and Elizabeth frowned, her heart breaking for him.
"Neal," Peter asked from over her shoulder. "You wanna come in?"
"No. I need you to call of the search." Neal said.
"I don't understand," Peter sat down. "Do you know how many hits those prints got? We're close Neal I can feel it."
"She doesn't want to be found." Neal shook his head. "When I started this search, I thought she was in trouble, I thought she needed me. But she doesn't want me, she doesn't want my help and she doesn't want me to find her so…that's that."
"Are you sure?" Elizabeth reached for his arm. "I know it seems sometimes like—"
"No I'm sure. She showed up at June's again, she made it very clear that she wanted me to leave her alone so that's what I'm going to do." Neal looked over at Peter. "You can tell Jones to call off the search, pull the prints from the system. It's over." Neal turned and walked down the steps.
"Neal," Peter called after him. "Neal!" Peter walked down the steps and looked down the street after him but he didn't stop, he didn't turn.
"Is he ok?" Elizabeth asked.
"No." Peter shook his head and turned to his wife, offering her a sad smile. "No, I don't think he is." He squeezed her shoulder then walked back into the kitchen and Elizabeth pulled out her phone. She loved her husband she really did but sometimes you just needed to handle something, woman to woman.
"Mozzie, I need a favor."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chloe pulled the door to her hotel room open when she heard the knocking without even looking up from the device in her hands, "That was quick, I called you like five minutes ago. So I had an idea. Have you ever seen the Great Escape?"
"Yes I have." Elizabeth smiled at Chloe hesitantly from the hallway. "It's a great movie. Steve McQueen and James Garner, how can you go wrong?"
"I—"Chloe looked up and frowned at the semi-familiar voice. She'd been expecting Victor so to say she was surprised was an understatement. "Hello." She said cautiously.
"Hi. I'm not sure if you remember me from last night. I'm—"
"Elizabeth Burke," Chloe whispered. "Yeah I know who you are."
"Can I come in?" Elizabeth asked, not bothering to wait for an answer before pushing her way into the hotel room.
"How did you find me?" Chloe stuttered. "Mozzie-"
"Don't worry, he didn't give you up." Elizabeth took her jacket off and draped it over the side of the couch. "No matter how much I begged. There's not that many people who can instill that kind of loyalty in him."
"When Neal went to jail, I was the only one he had and I took that responsibility seriously. I think that earns me some loyalty." Chloe said stiffly.
"Of course," Elizabeth nodded. "You're right."
"So if Mozzie didn't tell you, then how did you find me?"
"Please." Elizabeth scoffed. "I've heard the story of how you guys met a hundred times. It didn't take too long to call a few hotels, look for a reservation under the name Nicole Bonnet." Elizabeth sat down on the couch and looked up at Chloe knowingly.
"I only used that name because I figured he'd assume I wouldn't." Chloe felt the need to defend herself.
"Of course," Elizabeth nodded. "That makes perfect sense."
"I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" Chloe asked her.
"I came to talk to you. About Neal." Elizabeth clarified.
"Yeah, I figured you didn't come here to recruit me to your book club," Chloe snorted. "What makes you think I want to talk to you about Neal?"
"If you don't, I'll just tell my husband where to find you," Elizabeth shrugged. "I know you'd probably be long gone before he could get to you, but the hassle of having to move and come up with another alias."
Chloe stared at the other woman before sighing, "Can I get you some coffee?"
"That would be lovely," Elizabeth leaned back on the couch as Chloe went off to start a pot of coffee. Neither of them spoke as the coffee dripped slowly into the carafe and Chloe knew how ridiculous this whole thing was. Elizabeth freakin' Burke was sitting on the couch in her hotel room. She should be running, she should have slammed the door in her face, packed her stuff and climbed out the fire escape but she didn't and she really had no idea why.
"Cream or sugar?" Chloe asked, grabbing two of the hotel coffee cups.
"No, black is fine, thank you." Elizabeth smiled at her and Chloe poured two cups, bringing them over to the couch and setting them on the coffee table. Elizabeth grabbed her cup and took a sip as Chloe did the same. And still neither of them said anything.
"You wanted to talk?" Chloe eventually prompted her when the silence stretched out from uneasy to awkward.
"Yes," Elizabeth set her coffee cup down. "I guess, I just don't really understand what's happening here."
"I'm not quite sure I understand either," Chloe said cautiously. "But you're the one who showed up on my doorstep so…"
Elizabeth smiled at her softly, "No, I didn't mean here here, I mean in general. I don't understand what's going on, with you and Neal."
"There is nothing going on with me and Neal," Chloe said stiffly.
"Oh honey," Elizabeth leaned over and patted Chloe's knee with sympathy. "I'm sure you're a better liar than that."
"Look, Mrs. Burke—"
"Call me Elizabeth," she smiled.
"Elizabeth," Chloe said through partly gritted teeth. "If there was something going on between me and Neal I don't know how it would be any of your business."
"It's hurting Neal. So I'm making it my business." Elizabeth said, her tone a bit harder now.
"Hurting Neal?" Chloe scoffed as if that were the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "I hate to sound insensitive here Elizabeth but I could honestly care less whether or not I'm hurting Neal."
Elizabeth softened then and shook her head, "Now I know you're a better liar than that."
"Why are you here?" Chloe asked a bit more harshly than she intended, moving away from Elizabeth before she could pat her knee again.
"Neal is my friend and—"
"He's your friend?" Chloe stood up suddenly angry. "Neal Caffery is many things, he's a thief and a conman and a forger but I learned a long time ago that he was no one's friend."
"The Neal I know now isn't like that. The Neal I know is kind and generous and willing to do anything help someone he cares about." Elizabeth said confused. "And he cares about you. No matter how hard you try to deny it, he cares about you and he wants to help you and—"
"He works for the FBI," Chloe said. "I spent years making sure that your husband didn't get anywhere near him and now they're partners and I don't know what to think about that." She stood up and grabbed Elizabeth's now empty coffee mug and turned toward the kitchenette.
"Ok," Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I can see, from your perspective, where that might make the situation a bit confusing." Chloe nodded and Elizabeth frowned. "But, he did it for you."
Chloe stopped and turned around. "What?" Elizabeth looked at her confused. "What do you mean he did it for me?"
"It was a part of the deal he made with Peter after he broke out of jail." Elizabeth said slowly.
"He broke out of jail?" Chloe sat back down. "But I thought, I mean he said…" Chloe paused remembering him at June's party the other night. "I got out. Time off for good behavior." Last she checked breaking out of jail was basically the opposite of good behavior. "That doesn't sound like Neal. Why would he do that? Why would he break out of jail?"
Elizabeth smiled then. "For you of course."
Chloe shook her head. "For me? What do I have to do with it?"
"Everything." Elizabeth chuckled then shook her head. "It can't be that much of a surprise that he broke out of jail for you, hell he went to jail for you."
"What?" Chloe blinked at her stupidly.
"You-" Elizabeth stopped at the look on her face. "You really don't know?"
"H-h-he went to jail because he cashed in his last bond, even after I told him that it would lead Peter straight to him, even after I told him that Peter would be watching for that thing like a hawk, but he didn't listen to me, sometimes he doesn't think." Chloe shook her head.
"He cashed the bond in on purpose," Elizabeth said slowly. "He cashed it in because he knew Peter would be watching for it, he wanted Peter to find him."
"No, that doesn't—"
"Look my husband is great at his job. If there was anyone in the FBI who was going to catch Neal, it would have been Peter but he didn't. Neal called Peter, said he wanted to turn himself in, said he wanted to make a deal."
"A deal?" Chloe asked, her throat suddenly dry.
"He said that someone very important to him had gone missing, that he'd done everything he could do to find her, he'd called in all his favors, followed every lead and came up empty handed every time. He told Peter that he would plead guilty to the bond forgeries if Peter used his connections to keep looking for her. To keep looking for you."
"He turned himself in for me?" Chloe frowned. "But that doesn't make any sense."
"It always bothered Peter because Neal came through on his part of the deal but Peter could never find you. He tried for four years but you were gone." Elizabeth said. "And then Kate came back and told Neal that she'd found you, that you were in trouble and that he was the only one who could save you. So he broke out."
"Wait, Kate did what?" Chloe shook her head, none of this made any sense.
"She visited Neal in prison. She told him that she'd found the people who had you and that if he gave them the music box they would let you go."
"So he broke out," Chloe said. "He broke out to get the music box, so that he could save me?" she frowned. "If he was trying to find me then that means the he didn't know where I was. Which means that Kate lied."
Elizabeth snorted. "Is that really that surprising to you?"
"No," Chloe shook her head. "I didn't want to believe her but she had…there's no way she could have had that if Neal hadn't given it to her, she wouldn't have even known about it, how did she know about it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Elizabeth said slowly.
"No, you don't." Chloe said but she didn't bother to elaborate. "You tracked me down, you came out here in the middle of the night, I'm pretty sure you didn't tell your husband where you were going, and you did all that for Neal."
"Yes."
"You trust him that much?" Chloe asked. "You trust him in your home? You trust him with your life and your husbands life?"
"Of course." Elizabeth answered.
Chloe frowned confused, "You didn't even hesitate."
"No." Elizabeth shook her head. "Why do you?"
Chloe opened her mouth and then closed it. Ten minutes ago she would have had an answer to that question, she would have had a really good answer. Ten minutes ago she could have told Elizabeth Burke exactly why she didn't trust Neal. But now, she really didn't know.
"Think about that," Elizabeth stood up and grabbed her jacket and turned to the door. She froze when she saw Chloe's makeshift command center. She had a desk set up in the corner with three computers set up, all running a different program. The wall behind the desk was covered in security schematics, blueprints, and exterior and interior shots of the Met. In the middle of it all was a picture of a young man. He was wearing a red hoodie and his hair was falling just slightly into his eyes. His lips were curved up into a smile like the picture was taken in mid-laugh. It was circled about ten times in thick red lines.
"I think Neal's right. I think you're in trouble. I think you need his help and more importantly, you want his help." Elizabeth said. "But he's done offering, so this time you're going to have to ask."
Chloe didn't say anything as Elizabeth let herself out, she didn't even move, she wasn't sure if she could move. Neal had been trying to find her, all this time. He'd been so desperate in fact he'd made a deal with Peter Burke and gone to jail. And then when he thought she was in trouble he didn't even hesitate to bust out and come after her. That meant something. It had to. It meant more than the evidence that Chloe had suggesting he was the reason she'd gone missing in the first place, more than the belief that he'd betrayed her for that damn music box.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Peter reached out to grab the door to the building but someone beat him to it. He looked up to see Neal there, hat in hand holding the door open for him. "Morning," Peter said, unsure exactly what to say to Neal after the way he showed up at his house the night before.
"Morning," Neal nodded and followed him.
"How are you?" Peter asked.
"I'm ok." Neal said letting out a deep breath.
"Good, ok's not good but it's not bad either so that's good." Peter smiled.
"Peter, Neal," Diana said stepping out of the elevator. "Going on a coffee run, your usual?" They both nodded their thanks at her. "Oh, Peter. There's a woman in your office, she didn't have an appointment but she says it's important. Something about a forged Cellini."
"A forged 16th Century sculpture." Peter turned to Neal as they stepped into the elevator Diana had just vacated. "That sounds right up your alley." Neal didn't say anything.
"She said Cellini?" Neal asked and Peter frowned.
"Yeah," Diana nodded. "Does that mean something to you?"
"In the movie, How to Steal a Million," Neal said slowly, "Audrey Hepburn's character asks Peter O'Toole's character to steal her a forged Cellini." He swallowed hard. "Did she leave a name?"
"Yeah," Diana grabbed her pad and flipped it open. "Nicole Bonnet."
Neal smiled and jumped out of the elevator, shoving the doors to the stairwell open and running up the steps too impatient to wait for the elevator, Peter hot on his heels. He busted into the main floor offices and doubled over trying to catch his breath, to compose himself. He looked up to Peter's office and managed to catch a flash of blonde hair. He took the steps two at a time and yanked the door to Peter's office open. The blonde jumped in surprise and turned around.
"Chloe," he let her name out on a breath and she offered him a small smile. And then Peter came up beside him and her whole body stiffened. "What are you doing here?"
"Elizabeth says I can trust you. She says that she trusts you with her life, that she trusts you with her husband's life," Chloe told him.
"Elizabeth talked to you?" Neal asked, a soft smile on his face.
"She tracked me down. Peter's been looking for me for five years and she tracks me down with four phone calls. She's kind of amazing." Chloe laughed and Peter opened and closed his mouth. He had no idea what to say to that. "The thing is I want to trust you Neal, you have no idea how much I want to trust you."
"I want you to trust me." Neal said.
Chloe took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok then. I need your help."