NOTE: I took some small liberties with technology on this chapter, but trust me White Collar does that *all* of the time, so I figured I can too.
White Collar : The Eye of Sita
Chapter twenty-eight
"Something's wrong."
Peter stared at the small dot on the screen that told him where the necklace was as though the sheer intensity of his glare could make it move. The voice had cut out long ago, and now after an hour of constant travel the GPS had been in the same place for nearly half an hour. Sara sat next to Peter in the surveillance van with an anxious expression. Walters looked exhausted and not looking forward to the paperwork involved in the death of a CI.
"We should move in." Walters said.
"What if Neal and Daniel are negotiating for Liam?" Sara asked. "If we show up things will go from bad to worse."
"No." Peter shook his head. "Things have already gone from bad to worse. The kidnappers would not hang around for half an hour."
"The deal went South." Walters said coldly. "They didn't buy Caffery's story, they cleaned up their loose ends and left us with the mess."
"Loose ends?" Sara snarled. "You're talking about our friend, and the life of a child!"
"Easy, Sara." Peter reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "We don't know anything yet, Walters. Neal is amazingly good at talking people out of killing him. Let's get close enough to get the audio back up."
Peter's words were mostly for Sara's benefit, deep down he was terrified that they were about to come across a slaughter. The kidnappers had already shown that they had no problems with using violence to solve their problems. If they caught the scent of FBI on Neal they wouldn't hesitate to kill him, Daniel, and the kid. Peter knew he wasn't prepared to see the recently reunited family murdered, but he had no idea how to prepare for something like that.
As Walters had the driver take them closer to the GPS location Peter looked over at Sara. She had her arms wrapped over her stomach as though she was going to be sick. When she saw that Peter was watching her she forced a brave smile. Peter did the same in return, but he knew that he didn't look hopeful. They had been distantly tailing the van that Neal and Daniel were in so it only took about fifteen minutes before they came to the lonely stretch of road that would lead them to the necklace.
"Voice is back up." Walters announced.
Peter turned up the volume on the speakers. His greatest fear was that there would be nothing but silence. However there was a faint sound coming through. Peter furrowed his brow as he tried to pick out the sound.
"What is that?" Peter asked.
"That's someone crying." Sara answered confidently.
"Doesn't sound like a man," Walters added "sounds like a child."
"Liam." Peter whispered.
"Step on it." Walters demanded of his driver. "Get us there now."
The GPS location lead them to an abandoned parking lot. The building had been torn down long ago and the weeds were taking over. There was little in the way of cover, just a small piece of concrete barricade off to the North side. Peter stepped out of the van with his weapon in hand, asking Sara and Walters to stay back for the moment. The van that Daniel and Neal had driven was no where in sight.
Peter didn't like being out in the open as he walked towards the middle of the lot. There was really only one direction for fire to come from and that was the concrete barricade. However, the night remained quiet as the night breeze brushed past. Coming to the center of the lot Peter glanced down at a shiny black stain on the broken asphalt. Keeping alert to a possible ambush from the North he crouched down and dabbed one fingertip in the stain. Looking at his hand a chill ran down his spine as he realized that the stain was blood.
"I've got blood out here." Peter said quietly.
Walters acknowledged Peter through the ear piece and asked if he wanted back up, but Peter said no. The last thing he wanted right now was to put someone else in danger. The blood wasn't enough to be fatal and there were no drag marks. If someone shot Neal and Daniel they took them behind the concrete barrier first. Since there was no reason to do that Peter had renewed hope that his partner was still alive somewhere.
Coming to the barricade Peter looked over the four foot tall structure. Curled up on the far side with his back up against the concrete lay Liam. Peter instantly caught sight of the gold clay covered necklace that had been stuffed into his back pocket. Liam was shivering and gasping for breath between his quiet tears. Peter's heart stumbled in its rhythm in sympathy as he looked down on the miserable frightened child.
"Liam?" Peter asked softly.
Liam gasped in terror and looked up at Peter. Trying his best to look unthreatening Peter smiled. The only thing Liam saw was the gun in Peter's hand. Welding his eyes shut Liam took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs. Peter realized his mistake and put his gun back in its holster. The damage had been done and Liam just continued to scream.
"Sara!" Peter called. "Get out here!"
Sara got out of the van and hurried over. She came to the barricade and looked over at Liam. Curled up even tighter he was continuing to cry out in panic. He hugged his injured wrist against his chest.
"Do something." Peter urged.
"Like what?" Sara asked seriously. "I...I don't know anything about kids, not really my thing."
"Just try to calm him. I don't think he's going to trust a male at this point."
"Um...right. Okay..."
Sara stepped around to Liam's side of the concrete wall. She reached out to touch him, but hesitated and pulled her hand back. He had stopped screaming, but was weeping bitterly. Sitting down on the ground a few feet away from him Sara looked to Peter for help. He motioned for her to say something.
"Liam?" Sara said gently. "Liam, my name's Sara. I'm here to help you."
Daring to open his dark eyes Liam looked up at Sara. There was clear relief in his expression to see a woman rather than just another strange man. Scrambling to her Liam threw himself at Sara. Gasping in surprise Sara automatically wrapped her arms around him as he pressed against her for comfort. Sara reached up and smoothed out his hair and held him close as he shivered and continued to cry.
"He's freezing, Peter."
"Here." Peter took off his jacket and handed it to her.
Sara took Peter's jacket and wrapped it around Liam's shoulders. Peter came around to help Sara get to her feet with Liam still in her arms. Liam made no protest as they brought him back to the van where Walters was waiting just outside the door. He noticed the necklace and pulled it out of Liam's back pocket before helping Sara back into the van. Sara sat down with Liam curled up in her lap in Peter's jacket. He kept his face hidden against her chest as she gently rocked him.
"He needs medical attention right away." Walters noted. "Peter, I'll have a forensics team come out here, but we should get him to the hospital."
"Absolutely." Peter nodded.
The driver started to take them back towards the city. While they drove Walters started taking apart the tracking necklace. Peter looked over in curiosity.
"Walters, was that recording?"
"Of course."
With Liam slowly calming Peter turned his attention to listening in to Neal and Daniel. Walters fast forwarded through everything that they had heard and cut to the sounds of the van moving. There was a long stretch where nothing was said, just the sounds of the traffic. When Neal's voice came through the speaker Peter leaned in closer to listen.
'Just in case you can hear me, Peter,' Neal spoke calmly 'I want you to know that I will have no regrets about how this turns out as long as Liam is safe. If it does come down to me or him, save Daniel's son.'
Peter closed his eyes against the sudden sting of tears. His breath had caught in his throat at the sincerity and finality in Neal's voice. Peter realized that at least part of Neal must have never expected to live through this. Peter couldn't ever recall a time when Neal truly realize that there might be real consequences to any of his actions. Until this moment he had always portrayed himself as somehow immune to death, cocky to the point of recklessness. Peter looked over at Liam huddled in Sara's arms, he reached out and gently touched Liam's blonde hair.
"Neal's come a long way in two years, hasn't he?" Sara asked softly.
"He certainly has." Peter replied with a touch of pride.
"Peter, we have to find him." Sara practically begged.
"We will."
"How?"
"I have no idea." Peter admitted. "One step at a time. We need to take care of Liam first."
"Peter," Walters said "there's more...it sounds like Daniel double crossed your boy."
Peter turned his attention back to the recording. He listened as Daniel surprised Neal with a needle and drugged him. He ground his teeth in anger at himself for trusting Daniel, or rather for listening to Neal when his gut had told him that this was the wrong move. Ultimately he was responsible for Neal.
"Damn it, Daniel," Peter growled "you're going to get Neal and yourself killed."
'Neal Caffery.' A dangerous voice sang. 'The FBI's favorite pet.'
"Neal's cover's blown." Peter said in alarm as the conversation continued. "They were expecting him? How is that possible?"
"Glass must have recognized him." Walters guessed. "He just went along with it. Caffrey had no chance from the start. For all we know Daniel knew Glass would recognize Neal. He may have even been the primary target, why else put out a call for a forger for a legal job?"
Peter resisted the urge to punch Walters, but he knew it was more his anger at himself that made him want to lash out. The recording eventually lead to Liam crying alone as the men drove off with his father. Walters turned it off. Peter had hopped that something on the tape would help them find Neal, but there were no hints. Neal could be headed for anywhere, or already dead from the overdoes of horse tranquilizer
"I hope you meant what you said about no regrets, Neal." Peter sighed.
They quickly arrived at the hospital and from there everything became a bit of a blur. Liam's wrist required surgery and although he wasn't the boy's father Peter took over as his legal guardian. Peter couldn't believe how many signatures were required to get Liam the emergency help he desperately needed. While Liam was in surgery Walters returned to help the forensic's team. Finding Neal was still his best chance of retrieving the Hope Diamond.
Sara stayed with Peter while they waited for Liam to be brought into the recovery room. Sitting on the small couch Peter offered Sara his lap as a pillow so that she could get some sleep. She insisted that she wasn't tired, but as the night turned to to the early hours of the morning eventually she accepted the offer. Peter nodded off at one point as well, only waking when Liam was brought back in.
The doctor informed Peter that Liam had done well despite being dehydrated. Liam was brought in and placed in the hospital bed with an IV helping him with hydration. He was locked in sleep and the doctor said that he would probably stay that way for several more hours. While Peter watched over Daniel's son the sun rose and poured through the window behind him. Sara was jolted awake when Peter's cell phone rang.
"Sorry." Peter said as he fished out the phone.
"Is Liam okay?" Sara asked as she sat up and looked over at the sleeping child.
"He's fine physically," Peter replied as his phone continued to ring "mentally he's been through a lot."
"Are you going to answer your phone?"
"I don't recognize the number." Peter said as he accepted the call. "Agent Burke."
"Good morning," a friendly female voice chimed "I'm looking for Peter Burke."
"Speaking."
"My name is Laurie, from Fido Find."
"Fido Find?"
"Yes, Sir. I just wanted to let you know that we've completed registration on your friend."
"My friend?" Peter repeated her again.
"I just want to make sure we have the details right." Laurie said cheerfully. "I have your dog registered as a mixed breed, white, male, with blue eyes."
"My...dog?" Peter asked confused. "My dog is a yellow lab, and I haven't registered him with anyone."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sir, there must have been some mistake. I'm sorry to bother you."
"Woah, wait a minute, did you say a white male with blue eyes?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Is his name 'Neal'?"
"That's right. Is Neal your dog?"
"He'd be upset to hear me call him that, but yes. How exactly does your service work?"
"The microchip implanted under your dog's skin gives off a signal that is triangulated through cell phone towers so that he can be tracked within a ten meter radius."
"Where is he?" Peter asked quickly. "Right now. Where is he right now?"
"You can down load our Ap and track him yourself, his ID is 712869. I will text you the information."
"Thank you. You're a lifesaver, literally."
"Peter?" Sara asked. "What's going on?"
"It looks like Daniel managed to implant Neal with a dog GPS tracking implant of some sort."
"An implant? That's a much better idea than an anklet."
"If it works I might just keep the service."
Peter flicked through the text he received with the information from Fido Find. The application to track the chip took a few minutes to download. When it did it spent a few more minutes finding the signal. A small color map of DC showed up on Peter's phone with a little red blinking dot that gave him the chip's location. Peter read the cross streets and flipped over to the internet to figure out what was there. When he discovered the landmarks near by his heart sunk.
"That's not good."
"Peter?" Sara asked nervously. "Where's Neal?"
"Technically...India."