White Collar: The Nightingale

Chapter Twenty-seven

"It really is breathtaking."

Neal admired the Nightingale sword while working to remove Liao's blood from it with a wet cloth. Removing the last of the blood he polished it to a mirror shine and inspected the detailed nightingale bird engraved into the blade. Each feather held fine detail as the bird flew away as the sword glinted in the morning light.

"I don't have the skill to get the tracking device out of it, but it's a simple one that can be disabled with a rare earth magnet. "

"Where can we find one of those?"

"I keep one around for occasions just like this." Neal smile.

Neal went over to one of the kitchen draws and rummaged around for the small powerful magnet. He had tried using it to deprogram the computer in his anklet once, and it had sort of worked. The anklet went into instant default, which meant calling the F.B.I. Neal had claimed that he had no idea why it had suddenly malfunctioned and since there was no proof of tampering Peter had been forced to believe him.

Finding the magnet Neal brought it over and pressed it against the hilt of the sword where the tiny tracker hid beneath. Removing the magnet he carefully put it back in the drawer to keep it from accidentally erasing any number of the digital items in his apartment. Hsing picked up the Nightingale and smiled shyly.

"Would you like to hear it sing?" Hsing asked.

"It sings?"

"I am not an expert at the art, but I know a little."

"I'd love to hear it."

Hsing moved into the open space near the front door with the sword held in her hand lightly. Slashing the bright weapon through the air it sang out with a slight warble. Hsing did not have the skill with the blade that Tachi had, however the sword still sang a sweet song for her. Neal watched the performance with a smile. He could see her relaxing and regaining some of her confidence as she danced with the sword. Her training as a performer had been cut short when Liao had stolen her, but the potential was still there.

"That was beautiful." Neal praised with a light applause when Hsing was done.

"Thank you." Hsing said with a demur bow.

Hsing physically jumped with fright when there was a knock at the door.

"Neal, it's June."

"Coming."

Neal took the sword from Hsing and threw it on the bed before covering it with the sheets. He figured the less June knew about his guest the better. He came to the door and opened it. June offered him a grocery bag of medical supplies that he had asked for.

"Thank you so much, June." Neal said as he took the offering.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before you got yourself shot."

"My ratio of having guns drawn on me and actual bullet holes is still very favorable." Neal chuckled. "June...I hate to chase you out of your own house, but..."

"I have a friend upstate that I've been meaning to visit for a while." June said knowingly.

"Thank you, June. I'm really sorry, it will only be a few days. I doubt there is any danger, but I'd hate to get you mixed up into anything."

"Oh it's a little late for that." June mocked.

"Good point."

"Take good care of her, she seems like a sweet girl."

Neal looked over his shoulder at Hsing who was standing over by the glass patio doors. She looked like she was trying her best to be invisible. When she saw that they were looking at her she bowed. June said good bye and left to pack. Neal put the supplies she'd given him on the kitchen counter, he needed to redress the wound but he wasn't really looking forward to messing with it at the moment. Neal looked at the clock and noticed it was almost noon. Pulling out his cell phone he called Elizabeth.

"Hello, Neal." Elizabeth greeted.

"Good morning, Elizabeth. How is Peter doing? Is he awake yet?"

"No." Elizabeth sighed in stress. "His blood pressure has stabilized, but he still has occasional arrhythmia, and he's still unresponsive. The doctors tell me I shouldn't worry, but I can't help myself."

"He'll pull through. I don't think the Marshals are going to let me come visit if he's not awake, but I can try to get there if you need me."

"You have your own wounds to heal. Get some rest. I will call you if anything changes."

"Thank you."

Neal hung up the phone and just stared at it for a moment. He wasn't sure what he would do if Peter didn't survive. Neal decided against thinking about that particular scenario at the moment. Calling another number he paced restlessly.

"Hey, Neal." Mozzie answered brightly.

"Moz, have you gotten in touch with Alex yet?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I've left hints with all the right people, but she hasn't surfaced yet. I know a few other fences you could use..."

"I'd rather deal with Alex." Neal said. "We should have plenty of time. Hsing's safe here."

"Can I come over and see the Nightingale?" Mozzie asked hopefully.

"Only if you bring Alex along with you."

"I'll find her." Mozzie said confidently. "I've also got some feelers out for the new ID, but such short notice won't make it cheep."

"We just need to get her home, there doesn't have to be any money left over."

"So...no finders fee?"

"Mozzie..." Neal warned.

"Okay, okay. I'll keep you up to date."

Neal hung up again and slipped his phone into his pocket. Feeling increasingly stressed he paced back and forth a few times. He had not been comfortable being locked up at Liao's, but he was discovering that it was only marginally better to be pent up at home. Neal felt guilty for not being at the hospital with Elizabeth, but he didn't want to leave Hsing alone either.

Feeling the start of a powerful headache coming on Neal closed his eyes, reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes again he was startled to find that Hsing was standing right in front of him. She pushed herself up on her tips toes and kissed him with far more affection than a simple 'thank you'. Taken off guard it took Neal a second to react, he put his hands on her shoulders and took a step to put some distance between them.

"What are you doing?"

"You look stressed." Hsing said honestly.

"And this is your solution?"

"I owe you a great deal."

"You don't owe me that much." Neal said firmly.

"You did not mind when Tachi offered you a similar deal."

"Yeah, poor judgment on my part." Neal admitted. "At the time I was fairly certain I was going to die, and I wasn't nursing a gun shot wound."

"I did not mean to offend you."

"I'm not offended, Hsing. I just don't want you thinking you need to offer me your body as some sort of 'payment'."

"It's all I have."

"Yeah, but it shouldn't be for sale."

Hsing smiled and took a step back so she could offer Neal a deep bow. Neal bowed back to her in return, which he regreted as his side lanced painfully. The rest of the day went by without incident. Neal called Elizabeth several times, but each time the repot was the same. Mozzie was still hunting down Alex with no success. Neal decided that he would give Mozzie one more day to find her before going with a different fence.

After watching a few classic movies Neal offered Hsing his bed for the night and took the couch. It was getting late so Neal decided against giving Elizabeth a call in case she was finally getting some sleep herself. Settling into the couch Neal fell into a light sleep.

This time when someone scratched at his door lock with a pick set Neal snapped awake. Jerking up Neal looked over at the door. The stairway light was on and he could see the shadow of someone standing outside as they tried to unlock the door. Neal went over to where Hsing was sleeping and pressed his hand over her mouth. Hsing jolted awake and looked up at Neal in terror.

"Hide under the bed," Neal whispered "and keep quiet."

Neal released Hsing and she instantly scrambled off the bed and crawled underneath. Neal tugged on the sheets so they reached the floor to hide her further. A chill ran down his back when he heard the lock click as the intruder succeeded in turning the lock. He glanced around for a weapon, but the closest thing was the Nightingale sword that was under the bed with Hsing.

In a last minute decision Neal decided to get into bed and pretend to be sleeping. It was a risky move, but he feared that if he was caught on guard the intruders would be more likely to search for Hsing. If it looked like they had walked in on him sleeping alone peacefully it would be more believable when he told them he didn't know where she was. His plan depended on them being after Hsing and not him, but he couldn't do much if they just wanted to kill him anyway.

It wasn't easy to lay still while he listened to the door open. He was laying on his side with his back to them to help it look like he was just sleeping. Neal forced himself to take slow breaths as they approached even though his instincts were screaming to either fight or run. Since he knew he wouldn't get far with either option he managed to stay still.

Neal was almost relieved when someone grabbed him if only because it meant that they didn't mean to just shoot him and leave. Crying out in genuine shock Neal did his best to fight back against his attacker. Hauled out of bed he was quickly thrown back first into the wall. Already knocked breathless Neal's breath caught in his throat when his attacker gave him a sharp blow to the stomach. Instantly nauseous the jab dropped him to the floor. Gasping for breath Neal wrapped his arms over his stomach and curled up to try and protect himself from further assault.

When he was lifted up off the floor Neal realized that there were at least three men involved. Two of them dragged him over to the dinning room table while the other cleared the two bottles of wine and the centerpiece off it, letting them crash to the floor. Despite his best effort to stop them Neal still ended up on the table pinned down on his back.

Neal continued to struggle until the third man stepped up and gently put his hand directly over the now bleeding wound in his stomach. Forcing himself to relax Neal glared up at the leader of his attackers. In the silver moonlight Neal could clearly see the man's slicked back Yakuza style hair and sharp Asian features.

"Where is it?" The man growled darkly.

"Wh...where's what?" Neal asked with as much innocents as any other denial of crime he'd made over the years.

"The Nightingale."

"I don't know."

Neal cried out as the man pushed his palm down on his injured side. As the man pushed down harder Neal's strained voice cracked as he came close to passing out. The Yakuza relaxed his grip for a moment and gave Neal a chance to recover before he threatened to dig into the freshly opened wound once more.

"Wait! I...I don't have the sword." Neal insisted as he panted heavily. "I don't know where it is...I swear. Why would I know?"

"Because she stole it for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Neal snarled angrily.

"Save it, Caffrey. I know you were with Zhang, I know he had Hsing, and I know you used the Nightingale to set a trap for him, and I know Hsing killed him and ran off with the sword."

"Then you have a lot more information than I do!" Neal hissed. "I was on my way to the hospital when the sword disappeared. Look at my ankle, I'm on house arrest. How could I possibly have the Nightingale?"

"You are the only person she'd have to turn to."

"I don't know where the sword is." Neal repeated. "Hsing has no reason to trust me."

"Then you're no use to me..."

Neal's mind raced as the man reached into his jacket for his hand gun. He tried one last time to pull away from the men holding him down.

"Wait...wait, you kill me you won't just have local police after you, it will be the F.B.I. You have nothing to gain from killing me and everything to lose. Clearly you have contacts in the F.B.I...will they still back you if murder a CI?"

Neal's only answer was a blinding flash of pain against his temple. The strike hadn't been enough to knock him out, but it had been enough to render him mostly senseless. He wasn't sure if the Yakuza had seen the wisdom in his advice or if he'd always planed to just knock him out enough to make an exit. Either way Neal was grateful when they let him go and went to leave.

Hearing the door close behind the men Neal closed his eyes and just laid on the table trying to catch his breath. He didn't worry about the blood soaking through his night shirt and pooling on the wooden table, he knew from experience that he could lose a great deal more before it became a problem. Neal jerked with a startled gasp as a light touch brushed his cheek. He looked up and relaxed again when he saw Hsing looking down on him with a look of concern.

"Hsing..."

"You were very brave, they could have killed you."

"Yeah, well they would have killed us both if I told them you were here."

"Yes." Hsing nodded sadly. "Thank you."

"Did you recognize them?"

"I believe they were of the Inagawa-kai family, rival family."

"Of course."

Neal closed his eyes again and tried to ignore the throbbing in his side. Eventually he groaned and rolled off the table. He was unstable on his feet so Hsing slipped under his arm and helped him to the couch. Neal sat down and Hsing pulled off his shirt. He looked down at the wound and grimaced at the sight. All the stitches were broken now and most of the steri-strips were ruined.

Hsing fetched the supplies that June had brought by earlier and did her best to fix the damage. His temple was already bruising, but there was nothing she could do about that. When she finished wrapping the wound she offered Neal a new shirt. Neal pulled it on and then took her hands.

"Hsing, this is getting too complicated. I need to call my friends at the F.B.I."

"No, no, please..."

"We need their help."

"I can not, my life will be over. I am sorry I put you in danger. I...I will go."

"Hsing you have no where to go. Stay with me, let me help you."

"I will simply go to the local Yamaguchi." Hsing said sadly.

"They'll kill you."

"It will also stop the Yakuza from threatening you."

"I can't let you do that."

"You are in no condition to stop me."

Hsing pulled her hands out of his and backed away. Neal was slow to get to his feet and by the time he did Hsing already had the Nightingale and the Sapphire Waterfall in hand. With tears streaking down her face she ran for the door.

"Hsing, wait!" Neal called. "Please stay."

Hsing shook her head and left.

"Damn it."

Neal didn't have much time to make a decision before Hsing got too far away to be found. Growling in frustration Neal rushed to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. Grabbing a box of cereal he dumped the contents out on the counter. A heavy duty pair of tin snips fell out of the box along with the flakes. Bring his foot up on the counter he hesitated for one last second before using the tin snips to cut through the tracker.

The severed device made a shrill sound in protest. Neal let the tracker make noise as he placed it on the kitchen table next to the pool of congealing blood. Grabbing his cell phone and pair of shoes Neal went to chase after Hsing. Turning back for a second Neal scrawled out a quick message on a scrap of paper and placed it under the anklet before leaving.