Unintended Consequences

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

Chapter 8

Wednesday 7:00 pm

"I like what you've done with Thursday!"

Elle looked over at Mozzie and smiled.

"It definitely has a beautiful view."

"Indeed it does. Would you like a glass of wine? It might help take your mind off your current troubles."

"Sure, that would be nice. So, tell me again why am I in danger?"

"Did you know Peter has a sister?"

"A sister? He's never mentioned one. Both his parents died several years ago, but anytime we went there for any holidays it was never mentioned. Why would you think so?"

Mozzie didn't respond immediately and Elle was also quiet for a moment before another thought hit her.

"Mozzie, Peter was acting strange this morning. He called and asked me to look for something. It was a pink index card. I thought it was strange, but that might explain something. He was interested in indigo. It meant I'm scared, but I'm sure it wasn't Peter who was scared."

"Someone is trying to frame Peter for something. The painting delivered to your house…it's a forgery…I…I saw it being made. I overheard a conversation and I knew you were in danger."

"Do you know who it is? Can we tell Peter?"

"Peter and Neal are both in danger, but I'm sure they can take care of themselves; they don't need to worry about your safety as well. I didn't tell Neal what I was doing. He didn't know you were in danger. I have no idea what Peter is up to, but this guy Frank seems to have it in for him. It seemed more urgent to me to rescue you and the painting. If someone gets a hold of this painting it would be serious trouble for both Peter and Neal. It should be safe in a few hours to make contact. This guy Neal is working with is bad news. I don't want to tip him off where we are or that we have the painting. This event was scheduled at 9 p.m., if they want to make contact before then they'll have to contact us."

"Does Neal have something to do with this painting? Are they trying to frame him or Peter? Why was it delivered to our place?"

"Please don't worry about the painting. We'll figure out what to do. I'm just not so sure we want the Suit involved."

"Mozzie, Peter's already involved. The painting was left for us at our house. Someone is intentionally out to get us.

"Never argue with a lady when she's right."

"Thanks Mozzie. I really appreciate your help."

Wednesday 8:00 p.m.

The elevator doors opened at the 21st floor of the FBI building and Peter stepped out. He pulled open the glass doors and saw Jones and Diana having a discussion. Jones looked up and saw him approach the desk.

"What did you find at your place?"

"The rookie I talked to wasn't aware they found anything. There was a large bouquet of flowers on the table that was apparently part of the delivery, but no painting. Elle was at home to sign for them. She left me a voicemail letting me know about the delivery, but she wasn't there when the police arrived. I've tried her on her cell, but it's going directly to voicemail. I'm concerned this is somehow connected to the kidnapping, but why take her and the incriminating painting? If someone wanted to nail me, why go through all the trouble of having the painting delivered and then have it disappear? I can't figure that out and it's driving me nuts."

Jones put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"It's ok. We'll find them, both of them. What did Caffrey have to say?"

"He swears he had no idea where Elle is. He says he would never hurt her. I believe him. He has always been very loyal to her. I don't think he faked the tracking data either, so we're back to square one. I have no idea where she is. What did you find?"

"This is what we found on the blueprints."

Jones pointed to the blueprints laid out on his desk that he had been discussing with Diana when Peter approached.

"It looks like a fairly simple layout. One rear entrance and a garage door with a loading dock. It's one level so there shouldn't be any stairs. There are some offices on the left hand side. My guess is this is where the exchange will happen. I doubt it would happen in an open warehouse area because it's harder to protect your back in an open area."

Peter had to admit he was impressed with their resourcefulness.

"Have you found a good place to park the surveillance van? It needs to be a block or two away so they don't get suspicious, but close enough so that you have a good response time."

Jones moved the blueprints out of the way and pulled over a map.

"We think the best place would be here. It has a line of sight down the alley but still enough traffic so it doesn't stick out."

"What's your opinion, Diana?"

"I agree with Jones. Probably not as close as we'd like to be, but based on the circumstances that is the best possible location. You can wear a wire and we can monitor the situation.""Sounds good. Do we have the money ready for me to take?"

"Yes, it's all been marked and processed. It's ready to go."

"How much time do we have left?"

"Less than an hour Boss, we should get going and get set up."

"Ok. Let's do this."

Peter stopped and looked at both Jones and Diana with a serious expression on his face.

"I should have told you this earlier, but I'm fairly certain the kidnapper is out for revenge against me. I'm not sure how it all comes together yet, but the kidnapper is one of the suspects in the Gardner museum robbery. One of the paintings just so happens to be the very painting someone is trying to frame me with at my house. Hughes informed me earlier that the NYPD had a search warrant for my house. When I went there, they didn't find anything. I'm not sure what has happened with the painting but they left a beautiful bouquet with a sinister warning 'You don't know what you have until it's gone.' This is revenge and we have to stop it before it's too late."

Jones held up his hand for Peter to pause.

"Slow down Peter; we're not caught up with you yet. Who is the kidnapper? Do you think he has Elle and Grace?"

Peter looked over at them with defeat in his eyes, he really didn't want to tell them about what he thought was a failure on his part to protect his sister and his wife, but Jones and Diana had a right to know why they were putting their lives in danger.

20 years ago…

"Grace, don't do this!"

"I can do anything I want Peter, you can't stop me."

"Don't throw your life away Grace, Frank is a criminal, he's never going to change!"

"I'm in love with him Peter, he treats me like a lady. He gives me anything a woman could want."

"Have you ever stopped to think how he acquired the diamond necklace he got you last week?"

"Why does it matter? He gave it to me because he loves me."

"Someday you're going to grow up Grace. Someday you're going to realize I'm right. You have so much potential, there is a good man out there for you…it's just not Frank. Please don't do this."

"I am marrying him Peter and you can't stop me."

"I'm trying to protect you Grace. That's what big brothers do!"

"I don't need your protection anymore Peter. I'm a big girl now and I can take care of myself!"

"You're 18! You don't know how the world works."

"Frank is going to protect me, Peter. I don't need you anymore and I don't need you to tell me how to run my life. Back off."

"Grace, I'm just trying to help."

"I don't want your help again, ever!"

Peter had only spoken to Grace once since then. The first Thanksgiving that Grace and Frank had been married they had come to see Peter and their parents.. They had a huge fight over the way to cook the turkey. Peter was certain that it was more because of his continued dislike of Frank and his criminal activities, but the evening ended with Grace promising that she would never come for Thanksgiving again and if she never saw him or their parents again it would be too soon. Peter told her that someday he would say 'I told you so' which only made Grace more angry. She slammed the door as she followed her husband to the car.

##

Both Jones and Diana were frozen to their chairs listening to Peter recount the story about his childhood; both were blown away with this information. They had never imagined Peter had a sister. Jones managed to find his voice first.

"So, she's your little sister? You've never mentioned her."

"She was…She was a great little sister. I was always trying to protect her. One day the school bully had gotten to her and I tackled him. She was so scared she was crying…We had this code system that we had made up for fun. It told us how the other was feeling without having to let anyone else know."

Realization hit Diana.

"That was a code word then…indigo. That's what tipped you off."

"It had been so long, I haven't thought of that in years, but it was her voice. I knew something bad had happened. I realized I knew who the male voice was as well; he was taunting me. He knew I was furious with Grace when they got married."

"The kidnapper was her husband?"

"I'm afraid so…well, I doubt he took her himself, but he was definitely the force behind it. He said he was giving me the opportunity to buy her back. The amount was so low that it had to have a specific purpose and it had to be related to Grace. When you brought me that report, I realized that he had bought our childhood home for Grace. I have no idea what happened, or why he would resort to something as foolish as this for a mortgage, but I think there's more to it than this. I'm just not sure what yet. I always knew that someday Frank would do something to Grace. I told her he would, but she would never listen. We had a huge fight and we've never spoken again. It's been 20 years."

"So, even after all this you want to help her. Are you sure she wants your help?"

"I'm her big brother…I have to…She used to think I could protect her from anything. Things changed, but she is my sister even if she doesn't want to be. I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier the danger you were in. Frank, her husband, seems to have a vendetta against me and anyone associated with me is in harm's way."

"I'm in. Let me know what you need me to do."

"Thanks, Jones."

"I'm in too boss, whatever you need."

"Thanks, Diana. I really do appreciate this, both of you. The exchange is at 9 p.m. Remember my sister's life and possibly Elle's are at stake."