White Collar: The Nightingale

Chapter Eighteen

Neal kept quiet while Peter continued to stare at the drawing of Liao who he had identified as Jian Zhang. His tone made Neal believe that Zhang wasn't the only one who blamed Peter for the death. Eventually Peter put the drawing down.

"We thought that we were closing in on a small money laundering operation." Peter began explaining. "What we didn't know was that they had also just received a large shipment of meth. We walked in on a much more volatile situation than we had the man power to deal with. They scattered like rats and it was only instinct for us to chase them. I cornered Li Zhang, he pulled a gun and he wouldn't surrender it. He was screaming and yelling...when he took a step towards me I shot him. He was only eighteen."

"His death isn't your fault."

"The gun wasn't loaded, he was high as a kite."

"You couldn't have known the gun was empty." Neal pointed out.

"It was a bad situation that none of us were prepared for and it's no surprise that it went badly. Zhang made a media circus out of it. When a kid ends up dead at the hands of a Federal Agent it's very easy to make us look like coldblooded trigger happy murders. There was an inquiry, he tried to get my badge, sued the F.B.I for wrongful death, it went on for months."

"You were just protecting yourself."

"The Bureau was on my side. Eventually Zhang backed down. In all honesty we thought he left the country for good. Zhang had always been a very careful criminal and we were never able to make any charges against him for his various 'businesses' stick. He could have had me killed, but he never came after me violently."

"Until now."

"I still think you were the main target. Getting me arrested for your murder would have just been an added bonus."

"Kill two birds with one stone." Neal chuckled.

Peter rolled his eyes. The phone on the night stand next to Neal's bed rang. Neal automatically went to reach for the phone. He tried to ignore the breath taking stab of pain, but Peter noticed and answered the phone for him.

"Burke here." Peter answered.

"It's Jones."

"What's happening?"

"The Geisha's tattoo is a fake." Jones announced proudly.

"I know."

"Does that mean Caffrey's awake? How is it? Tell him I say 'hi'."

"He's doing well." Peter turned his attention to Neal. "Jones says 'hi'."

"Right back at cha, Jones." Neal said loud enough to carry over the phone.

"Good to hear he's alive." Jones said. "Although he may not stay that way when you hear the rest of the coroner's report."

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"They found Caffery's fingerprints all over her...literally. One of the prints is in ink."

"A signature, typical Caffrey." Peter sighed.

"Hey," Neal said defensively guessing at what Jones had said "that was not a signature, it was a cry for help. If I had truly signed it you'd never find it. I made that print obvious."

"There's more, Peter." Jones suddenly lowered his voice even though Neal hadn't be able to hear him before. "There was recent consensual sexual activity, they've sent DNA out for testing."

"Okay, keep me updated." Peter said dismissivly and hung up. Peter glared at Neal.

"Everything alright, Peter?" Neal asked nervously.

"Neal, please, please, *please* tell me you didn't sleep with Zhang's assassin 'Geisha'."

"Um..." Neal flashed Peter his most convincing innocent smile, but it didn't work.

"Damn it, Neal!" Burke growled.

"Does it really matter? Now that we know that Liao is Zhang we can just go and arrest him."

"We still don't know where he is and even if we did we can't arrest him."

"Why not?" Neal asked.

"Because all we have is your word, and your word is *worthless*." Peter snapped.

"'Worthless'?" Neal repeated offended. "We've arrested people on eye witness testimony before. I'm a the victim of a violent crime who can positively identify his attacker."

"You're a convicted con artist, who had a sexual relationship with a murderer who couldn't have gotten anywhere near the Yakuza without your help, and the only thing that links Zhang to any of this is your 'word' that kidnaped you and forced you into all of this. There isn't a jury in the world that is going to believe you. If anything they'll pin you as the mastermind behind all of it."

"What about you? Do you think this is all a con that went South for me?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. Zhang will have the best defense team money can buy. They will tear you apart, you go up against him and you'll be lucky to step down from the witness stand without another ten to fifteen added to your sentence."

"Peter, you didn't answer my question. Do you believe me?"

Neal got a sinking feeling when Peter didn't answer right away. He couldn't really blame Peter for not trusting him, but in this case he was telling the truth and it hurt not to be believed. Peter dragged his hands through his hair with a heavy sigh.

"Neal to be honest when it comes to you I never know what to believe." Peter admitted.

"I see." Neal said coldly.

"Try to see things from my point of view. You never give me the full story the first time around. I have to back you into a corner, or catch you in a lie, or have some information that you want in order to hear even half the truth."

"Granted, I haven't always been...up front. But I swear I've told you everything this time. You know me, would I bolt in the middle of the night to join forces with a man I don't know to steal an object I'd never heard of? What would I even gain other than a chance to be double crossed and killed?"

"Your right, and I'm sure that in this case you're telling me the truth. But I want you to understand that when you constantly twist the truth you can't be surprised when the people around you stop listening when you cry 'wolf'."

Neal didn't really have a response for Peter so he just kept quiet. Peter didn't seem angry anymore, he looked more disappointed than anything else. Neal had seen the expression countless times before whenever Peter didn't approve of his actions, which happened more often than not. Peter got this particular look of defeat about him when Neal hadn't technically done something illegal, but whatever it was still fell under Peter's vast category of 'poor decision making'.

"What were you thinking?" Peter ask suddenly with an exasperated tone.

"What?"

"You weren't even safe."

"Oh, Tachi, right...at the time I was fairly certain that I was going to die violently before any disease could kill me."

"Sometimes I think you make every decision as though you think you're going to die before the consequences catch up with you. You need to stop li..."

"This uncomfortable little 'father/son' type talk is great and all," Neal interjected "but what are we going to do about Liao? We can't just walk away, he has Hsing."

"I'm going to have to go to this 'meeting' and try and find a way to catch Zhang with the sword. We'll need some solid evidence if we want to bring someone as crafty as him down. He's been playing in our backyard again and we didn't even know he was in town."

"Whatever he's been doing he's been making an obscene amount of money doing it." Neal shuffled through the drawings once more and held one up that held a detailed city scape with the sunset location marked on it.

"What's this?"

"The view from my room." Neal handed Peter the drawing and another one with less detail. "The first is from the West the second is the view from the East side of the building, I only saw it once and it was night so I don't have as much detail."

"Is this Hsing woman being held against her will?"

"She told me she was a prisoner there, and Liao's been abusing her."

"That's enough probable cause to get a warrant." Peter nodded. "I'll get these drawings to our tech guys, they might be able to pinpoint a building. We can also check and see if Zhang has put the Liao Hua allis on anything."

"Let's go." Neal said enthusiastically.

"You're staying here." Peter said firmly.

"Peter, Federal Prison couldn't hold me, what chances does this hospital have?"

"Neal..." Peter said threateningly.

"Peter..." Neal shot back in the same tone.

The pair stared each other down for a moment until Peter closed his eyes with a sigh of defeat.

"Fine." Peter grumbled. "Prove to me that you have the strength to walk across the room and you can come back to New York with me."

Neal smiled brightly even though he cringed inside at the thought of actually moving. Determined to prove himself he pulled the blanket off. He had to fight a bit with the hospital gown he was wearing to swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He tried to hide the instant nausea caused by the motion. Peter crossed his arms over his chest and watched Neal doubtfully, making it clear that he had no intention of catching Neal if he fell. If Neal was going to get to his feet against all medical advice he was going to have to take the consequences.

Taking a deep breath Neal got to his feet. He grabbed the IV stand, trying to make it look like he just wanted to take it with him not that he needed it for support. The first few steps across the cold ICU room floor were the most difficult. Pouring all of his concentration into not passing out Neal walked away from Peter towards the glass doors of the ICU. Getting to his destination he turned around and smiled confidently. Peter didn't look impressed.

"Well...what do you think?" Neal asked proudly.

"I think that's the second outfit that I've seen in the past twenty four hours that's open down the back."

It took Neal a second to figure out what Peter was talking about. He was working so hard on just staying on his feet that he didn't notice the back of his hospital gown was doing a poor job of covering him. Neal looked over his shoulder out the glass doors that formed the wall of ICU room at his audience on the busy ICU floor. One of the nurses winked at him, he flashed her a smile right back. Neal looked back at Peter who was blushing for him.

"They're medical professionals," Neal shrugged "it's nothing they haven't seen."

"I wish I could say I hadn't."