Unintended Consequences

DISCLAIMER: White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.

A/N: Another chapter just in time for Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy! Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! There is much to be thankful for (including the show ; )

Chapter 7

Wednesday 5:15 pm

Mozzie & Elle had run a few feet down the alley when Elle pulled on Mozzie's arm and led him behind a privacy fence into the neighbor's yard. They could hear the police cars screech to a halt not too far away. He and Elle were both breathing heavily leaning against the fence as adrenaline was coursing through their veins. He knew they would never have been able to outrun the suits, especially with the painting, so he was glad Elle had pulled him in here. They could hear cops shouting in the distance, but they couldn't make out the words.

"That was close Mozzie. Too close. What is going on?"

Mozzie leaned a bit closer to hear Elle's whisper and responded with his own.

"We're not out of the woods yet. They're looking for the painting. I'll explain more later, but we need to shut our cell phones off. The cops will hear them if they're outside. I'm sure someone will be stationed on the back patio. We have to stay here until the coast is clear. They won't find the painting, so it shouldn't take too long."

Both were busy trying to shut off their cell phones as quickly as possible when they heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. Both Mozzie and Elle held their breath as the footsteps retreated back toward the Burke home. Elle leaned toward Mozzie's ear whispering again.

"I told Peter I would be home. He'll be expecting me."

"He's concerned for your safety. As long as you stay with me you'll be safe. If you go back into that house, you're in danger. You can call him in a bit, but right now, we cannot afford to make noise; voices carry. We have to wait for an opportunity. 'Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold'."

"Who said that?"

"Leonardo da Vinci."

"I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there. Thank you, Mozzie. You never cease to amaze me."

Elle wanted to reach over and give Mozzie a hug, but she didn't want to offend the little guy or make too much noise.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Mrs. Suit."

Mozzie whispered back and then slid over to the fence entrance and peered around at the Burke home. There was still a cop pacing back and forth by the back patio entrance.

"He's just not going to go away. We may be here for a while. Why don't you sit down. It will be more comfortable. Do you know if this neighbor is home? We really don't need them sneaking up on us."

"They're gone for a week. Their daughter just had a baby, so I figured it should be safe here."

##

Wednesday 7 p.m.

Neal was perusing a new issue of an art history magazine to pass the time until he needed to get ready. Frank had left not too long ago telling Neal he needed to take a walk to clear his head; that was fine with Neal. He had gotten sick of Frank's attitude anyway and just wanted this evening to be over. Part of him was wishing that he and Kate had never met Frank and Grace, but he remembered they did have a lot of good times before the little museum incident. Neal was startled from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He opened it to find an angry looking Peter.

"Where's Elle?"

Neal tried not to look shocked. He hadn't seen her in a couple days and couldn't imagine what had happened to make Peter this angry. He tried to deflect with his usual chipper tone.

"What? No hello, No sorry you're sick?"

He stepped back to let Peter into his apartment.

"Seriously Peter, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't look sick. Are you lying to me? I need to know where Elle is. She said she would be at home, but she's not. She's not answering her cell and I know you took her."

Neal held up his index finger to motion for Peter to be quiet.

"You should really stop and listen to yourself. Do you even know what you're saying?"

"I'm saying a painting and some flowers were delivered this afternoon to my wife. There was a threatening note with them and now Elle and the painting are missing. The cop said that Satch wasn't barking or tearing up the place when they arrived, so that means she had to have left with someone Satch knew. It had to be you."

"Peter. Look at me."

Neal waited until Peter was looking directly at him.

"I would never hurt Elle. Never. I may be suspected of a lot of things, but never this. You can search the place if you want, but she's not here. I haven't seen her since we had dinner at your place a few days ago."

Peter walked through Neal's apartment and out onto the roof terrace. There was no sign of Elle. He walked back inside trying to figure out what to do next. Neal was still standing by the couch with a hurt look on his face.

"Peter, check my tracking anklet. I haven't left here all day. I wasn't feeling good this morning, but I'm feeling much better now. I'll see you at the office in the morning, ok? I will even help you track her down if you need me to, but I swear I haven't seen her, touched her, or harmed her in any way."

"And you expect me to believe you?"

"Peter, if it was anyone else you might have a case, but this is Elle we're talking about here. She believes in me. She accepted me as I am; a convicted felon. I will never forget that, and I would never do anything to hurt her."

Peter looked like the wind had been taken out of his sails. He put his hands over his face, took a couple deep breaths and finally looked over at Neal.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. She's obviously not here. I did check your tracking data and it confirmed that you've been here all day. I just…I didn't want to believe it. I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

"Already forgiven, Peter. Are you certain she's been kidnapped? Has there been a ransom demand? It seems like something else is bothering you. Is there something other than Elle? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Peter realized Neal really did seem sincere about his loyalty to Elle and his desire to help, but he didn't want to bring Neal in at this point in the operation; he simply didn't have the time to explain everything. He was also still a bit embarrassed he had thought Neal was the culprit.

Neal felt bad for him. He knew what it was like to be worried about someone you love, but he really had no idea where Elle was. He also couldn't really help his partner at the moment because he was trying to save Grace. He wanted Peter's opinion on what he would do in this situation and how he would look for Grace, but every time he had picked up his phone to call something had happened to distract him. He hadn't been part of the search team during the Gless kidnapping because he had been kidnapped himself and had been playing chauffeur to Mr. Loze. He really wanted to pick Peter's brain about what the right process for searching was, but now it seemed like he was out of time and Peter had enough problems of his own to deal with. He was a little worried because Grace was too important to mess this up and even though he knew Kate was dead, somehow he feared she would never forgive him if he let something happen to Grace. Neal looked up to see Peter grimacing as if fighting some inner battle. He sighed once and turned toward the door shaking his head.

"No, there's nothing you can do. I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'm sorry I didn't trust you more. I know you wouldn't hurt Elle. I'm not sure what came over me. It's nothing I can't handle myself. I'll see you at the office tomorrow."

Neal closed the door behind Peter and leaned against it breathing a huge sigh of relief. He really wished he could offer to help find Elle right now. He could see that Peter was obviously distressed, but Grace was taking priority at the moment. Hopefully if all went well, he could call Peter later and ask to help find Elle.

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