A/N: Okay, I've decided that I'm going to pair Lizzy with a guy, so sorry to all you Sara/Neal fans. At the moment, I'm considering a Lizzy/Jones pairing, because I like Jones and he's a much underused character. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: The Portrait
"Kate leaves you a bottle with a map on it and this is where it leads us?" Mozzie complained, glaring at his adopted sister. "Grand Central Station?"
"We're looking for something I'd recognize, Moz," she reminded him, spinning around. "Something significant or familiar."
"Something significant? Grand Central Station!" He repeated, as if she didn't already know where they were. "She could've sent us anywhere, so she sends us to a place that leads everywhere?"
"Moz," she warned, something catching her attention from the corner of her eye.
"You know," Mozzie continued obliviously. "There's a great oyster bar in there."
She let out a chuckle and called him over. "I think there's something in here."
"X marks the spot?" He sighed tiredly. "Again?"
"Kate likes the classics," she grinned, opening it to find a message inside. Mozzie took the message off of her before she could read it.
"Dear Neal," he read out. "Heard you're looking for me. Wish I could explain more, but time is not on our side. But you need to stop looking. No one could deny what we have, but it's over. Please move on. Kate."
"All this for move on," Lizzy muttered, unable to just let it go. If Kate had really intended to break up with her, why bother with any of the secret messages at all? Why didn't she just say goodbye at the prison and leave it at that?
"Oddly bipolar," Mozzie commented, steering her towards the building. "I'd rather have some oysters."
Peter came to get her the next day for a new case, something about a Haustenberg painting being stolen. What made it interesting for her was that it was a residential robbery which meant somebody had an expensive Haustenberg just hanging over their mantel. Peter thought that the temptation might be too much for her and she was annoyed to discover that he still checked her anklet every day.
The woman who owned the painting was young and acted like she didn't know how much the painting had been worth since it hadn't even been insured. Her Uncle; a man named Gary, lawyered up as soon as Peter started asking questions. Luckily, he spoke to her straight away when she hinted that she might have been working for whoever had stolen the painting.
Gary made out a check to Gerard Dorsett, who Peter convinced her was a very bad man. He sounded kind of violent and she was a bit worried about what would happen to Julianna if he found out that she was talking to the FBI.
"We got him," Jones told them. "We've been sitting on him for two days. Been going to every high end gallery in Manhattan offering the Haustenberg."
"Who's that?" Peter nodded towards the screen.
"The big guy?" Jones clarified. "Joshua. Ex-military, the muscle who stole the painting."
"Julianna wasn't kidding about that punch," Lizzy commented, examining the damage done to the man's face with a sort of vindictive pleasure.
"Girl's got an arm," Peter complimented. They discussed the other men with him and then Peter introduced her to Taryn Vandersant; a buyer at the Lambert gallery who was going to be helping them out.
"What?" Lizzy asked once Taryn had left and she saw that Peter was giving her a look.
"Have you ever met a woman who didn't…?" He trailed off, making his question quite clear.
"Brittney Nicole in second grade," she answered cheerfully. "I had a gap in my teeth." He shook his head as if he didn't know how she did it. "Women are just drawn to me," she smiled cheekily at him. "Some men too."
She wandered off to talk to someone else while he processed her final comment. She'd been dropping hints that she might like guys too since she'd started working with him, but she wasn't sure if he'd put it together yet because he always seemed surprised by her comments. Knowing her luck, he probably thought that she was just joking around to get a reaction out of him…maybe she should try flirting with a guy in front of him.
Thoughts of flirting flew out of her head when she folded up Kate's letter and discovered that it read 'Here Friday Noon'. She hoped that she hadn't found that message because she wanted it to be there; she would be really annoyed if she found out that Kate had led her on a wild goose chase just to break up with her again.
Lizzy was careful to put her wires on in places that wouldn't expose her secret while in front of Taryn. Taryn was clearly fascinated by the fact that she'd escaped from jail for Kate, but she didn't want to talk too much; Kate's message was still fresh in her mind and she worried about what would happen if Kate did show up on Friday.
Dorsett escaped with the hundred grand and Peter had to arrest Lizzy and Taryn to keep their cover. It wasn't their most successful mission, but at least no one got hurt. An administrative inquiry was started on Peter since it was his job, but everything would be fine if/when they recovered it.
"You and Taryn were getting along pretty good yesterday," Peter mentioned in what he probably thought was a subtle way.
She snorted, seeing through his misguided attempt at matchmaking. "She's not my type."
"What?" Peter seemed genuinely shocked. "Not your- Why isn't she your type? She loves art, she looks like Lara Croft in khakis-"
"Really," she said sarcastically. "Does she bake cookies for orphans too?"
"She does," Peter nodded, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth.
"I get it," she sighed. "Meet a nice girl. Maybe settle down…"
She trailed off and made sure that none of her emotions were showing on her face. Truthfully, she did want to settle down with someone she loved and have a family. After her questionable childhood, she wasn't sure what sort of mother she'd make, but the idea of children warmed her heart.
"Simplify my life," Peter agreed. "Probably save yours."
"You're lying about the cookies," she accused, purposely changing the subject so that she wouldn't have to linger on her thoughts any longer. Thinking of her future always made her feel nervous and it was even worse now because of what was happening with Kate.
"Prove it," he most likely saw through her attempt at getting off the subject, but he let it happen anyway.
A curator from Channing museum reported that the painting belonged to them and she found out that Julianna's grandmother had stolen the painting. Most likely, the reason behind it was because she had been the girl in the painting. However, before they could talk about who the painting went to, they needed to find it.
They began by looking for Dorsett's girlfriend. There were seven possibilities, but she chose the one that was staying at a hotel where she would have stayed. Unfortunately, she hadn't accounted for the fact that she'd be stuck in a car with Peter for the night while he ate devilled ham sandwiches and listened to the game on the radio.
At last, she managed to convince him to allow her to enter the bar for a drink. Once there, she sipped at her wine while listening in to two French women, one of which she was sure was the girlfriend. Her luck stayed with her as the girls invited both her and Peter up to their room. The tricky bit was persuading Peter to accept the offer, but a quick mention of the fact that the painting and money could be in the room made sure he would agree.
It was with the highest degree of amusement that she left him alone with the two ladies while she searched the bedroom for the painting. She stifled her giggles at the sounds coming from the main room as she looked. She found the painting behind the mirror and read the private message on the back that instructed Julianna to keep it forever.
Peter may have been right when he'd worried that this case might tempt her. She stole the painting away from Dorsett without telling Peter, but she only did it because she wanted to return it to Julianna and she knew the FBI would give it to the museum. It didn't work out like that though; Dorsett rang her up and told her that he wanted it back or Taryn could get hurt.
"You stole the painting," Mozzie rubbed a hand over his head and stepped closer to examine it a bit better.
"I was going to give it back to Julianna," she claimed, smiling her 'I'm-innocent' smile at him. Unluckily for her, he hadn't been fooled by that when she was younger and he certainly wasn't going to fall for it now.
"You're like a child," he told her. "No sense of consequence."
"Okay," she began, giving him her reasons behind taking it. "Will you look at the inscription? The Channing curator said he authenticated the painting before it was stolen. He saw that it belonged to Julianna and chose to ignore it."
"And you're Robin Hood," he deadpanned. "And did I forget to mention the part where you stole the painting!"
"I didn't think Dorsett would get away," she protested, spreading her hands hopelessly.
"This is because you don't like the guy from the Channing," Mozzie realized. "You did this for spite."
"I've done things for less," she reminded him. It was implied that he had too, since they'd pulled their fair share of cons together. "I can't let him go after Taryn."
"What are you going to do?" He questioned suspiciously.
He always got a bit protective when he knew that there was a chance someone could get hurt. Apparently, he thought she risked herself too much for others, even though he'd warned her against it loads of times. Eventually, she managed to convince him that telling Peter the truth was a good idea, but he told her to call him if the Suit tried to arrest her.
Peter didn't take the news very well, but he didn't arrest her, so she took that as a positive sign. Mozzie informed her again that she had no impulse control as he watched her forge the painting, yet he still helped her age it and examined the final product for her.
It was fortunate that everything went according to plan as they arrested Dorsett. The curator pretended that he had the real painting, knowing that if he played up then he'd have to explain why he'd gone against the wishes of the artist, and Julianna was thrilled to have her grandmother's painting back where it belonged on the wall.
"Forbidden romantic meetings are kind of a personal thing, Moz," Lizzy said quietly, accepting his reassuring presence regardless of her words.
"Yeah," Mozzie snorted in disbelief. "Like I was going to let you come alone. What if the guy with the ring planted that note?"
"He didn't," she was confident about that much at least.
"You'll be happy I came when a red laser dot suddenly appears on your forehead," he stated, shooting her a nervous look and then continued glancing around the station.
"Enough with the hero talk, Dante," she teased. Neither of them wanted to think about what would happen if the other was threatened. Having people you cared about was a disadvantage in their profession, as proved by Kate. So far, they'd been lucky in that no one had realized how much they meant to each other.
It made her feel guilty to think that if the man with the ring had taken Mozzie instead of Kate, she wouldn't have even asked questions or investigated, she would have just given him whatever he wanted if it meant getting Mozzie back. She might love Kate, but the bond she shared with Mozzie was irreplaceable. He was the only family she had.
"Okay, maybe she wrote it three days ago," he suggested, still looking around anxiously, glancing back at her every few seconds. "Or maybe three months ago."
"She'll be here," she wasn't as confident about that statement, but she hoped with all of her heart that it was true. It would be devastating to find out that she was too late.
"Well, it is Friday," Mozzie glanced at his watch. "And it was noon. So where is she?"
A phone began to ring before she could answer him. Without even thinking about it, she picked it up. A strong swell of emotion filled her at the sound of Kate's voice; she couldn't even start to decipher all of different feelings, but one of the main ones was relief. Her relief only got stronger at actually seeing her, though she was incredibly disappointed that Kate had gone before she got to her.
"She's gone again, Moz," she said numbly when she'd walked back to him. "I've lost her again."
"You know she's okay now though," he soothed her, guiding her back to June's. "We're one step closer to finding her."
"Why did she leave?" She asked quietly, following him without any complaints. She just wanted to curl up and sleep in her comfy clothes and wallow for a little while. She'd thought that once she knew Kate was okay, she'd feel better. Instead, she felt even worse because she had proof that she was being held against her will.
"I don't know," he sighed. "But she told me to tell you that she loves you and that it's the only way."
"She loves Neal," she mumbled bitterly. "He loves her back, but by the end of this I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way."
"You are Neal," he reminded her, sounding slightly scared of her dark tone.
"I know," she assured him. "But maybe Kate was just another part of my mask? I don't know how to feel about her anymore. It's like half of me is still so completely in love with her and the other part wants something else."
"Only you can decide which half to go with," he told her. "You don't have to choose now."
She nodded tiredly. Thinking so much about her confusing feelings had given her the beginnings of a headache, which made her feel even worse. She just wanted to get Kate back. It felt like her life was on pause until she got her back. Or maybe it was more that she was paused while life continued on without her. Either way, she just wanted Kate back so that she could get her life back and decide what she truly wanted.
A/N: For those who asked, I update this story every Sunday. If for some reason I can't update, I will tell you the week before not to expect a chapter.
About the pairing: Please feel free to give me your opinion. If you have an idea about who to pair Lizzy with then I'm open to ideas. At the moment I'm leaning towards Lizzy/Jones.