Chapter 3
The round trip for Neal took only an hour. Mozzie headed back to his hotel room, vowing to be back by the appointed dinning hour.
Neal walked around his apartment. Not much had changed. He would have to go grocery shopping. And he and Mozzie would have to work on the wine collection. But, otherwise, very little needed to be done. Though Neal did change the sheets on his bed. He loved the smell and feel of fresh linens. And, he did send a few suits out to be dry cleaned. Though his wardrobe was decidedly more casual these days. He still wanted to have a clean suit, just in case. Neal took his duffel into the walk-in closet and emptied it. It took no time. T-shirts, jeans and socks were all that was plus a few nicer items. He had bought himself a few nice dress shirts and slacks while living in France, none of which required jackets. It had all been a part of his more casual lifestyle in Paris.
Neal chose a shirt, a pair of slacks and laid them aside. He then headed to the bathroom to shower and shave.
June had watched Neal walk up the stairs, suitcase in hand, until she could no longer see him. She could not believe that Neal was back. She couldn't believe he was in her house again. She took the wine bottle Neal had sent her and put it out to drink that evening. She had planned a very special toast with it.
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El stood and looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she only had a few seconds to check herself out before she would have to rush her men out the door. Or they would all be late. She started with her little man. Neal was in his bedroom fully dressed playing with his toy truck on his bed. And delaying the inevitable.
"Comb that hair and brush those teeth, Neal." El called out to him as she passed by the bedroom door. Little Neal sighed, jumped down off the bed and headed to the bathroom.
El then headed back to her bedroom with the attached bath. Peter was still in front of the mirror, bare-chested and shaving.
El stood behind her husband and sighed.
"What is it, El?" Peter asked, noticing his wife's distraction.
El sat down on their bed. "I just…it's been a decade, Peter. Why do I still miss him so much? Why have I not gotten over his death?"
Peter finished shaving, washed his face and put down his towel before he spoke. He knew exactly who is wife was speaking of, Neal Caffrey. "It's that storage locker. He left me so much evidence to indicate he…."
"Then why hasn't he come back? Gotten in touch with you?" El asked. "He has to know the statues of limitations have expired. He knows those laws much better than even you do. If he…."
"It hard because it's been so hard on June, El. Remember, that first year or two, she hardly left the house. Then she got to where she was never home." Peter stated. "I wasn't sure about our dinner together this month until she called you. I just…I know you try to stop by and see her. And I stop by when I can, but…."
"June thought of Neal as almost like a grandson." El said. "It's not been easy. She's never getting over him. I felt like he was a brother. I…You felt the same."
Peter nodded. "I know, Hun. And I just…I had to keep what I found in the locker from her. When I finally figured out that Neal and Mozzie had not told her anything, I had to make sure I didn't let anything slip."
"Okay." El said looking Peter in the eye. "I've never asked you this question because I was pretty sure I knew the answer. But…for the record. Why didn't you hunt for Neal after you found all that evidence in the locker?"
Peter considered his wife's question. He had expected her to ask him this long, long before now. "I…we had a newborn baby. I had promised you, and myself, no more obsessions. I knew Neal better, after working with him. That was true. But, the downside to that was he knew me better to. He knew more how I work, my process. He would have employed new, better ways to make him harder to find. He knew FBI capabilities, too. So, he would had more of an idea of what he would need to do to fly under the radar. It would have taken much longer to catch him this time. And I just…I didn't have it in me." He sighed and sat down on the bed. "As much as I loved you then…and you know it's true. Before Little Neal came along, I was an FBI agent who was also married. After the little man came along, I became a family man who just happened to be an FBI agent." He paused. "I had a huge shift in priorities. I just needed to take a step back and…."
El nodded. She was satisfied. The answer was everything she had expected. She looked at her watch. She would have to hurry her two men along if they wanted to make it in time.
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The Burkes were welcomed into June's home by the house maid Carlotta. They were greeted by June as she brought them further into the house. They stopped when they saw another person sitting in the living room. They could only see the back of the man's bald head.
TBC
