"Twice in two weeks. This could become harassment" Morgan Flannery said softly… her voice bearing a hint of steel "or maybe you lads just like me." Her teeth glittered as she smiled.
"You are under arrest" Thomas Reynolds grinned fiercely
"On what charges?"
"We'll start with the illegal import and sale of firearms…" Peter stepped forward to cuff her as he answered "and go from there"
"You never make it stick, Agent… Burke wasn't it" her hard cold eyes glinted savagely though her smile didn't slip
"There are also 3 murders and two counts of kidnapping and attempted murder someone has to answer for…and you are looking pretty good for them too."
"You will regret this…My friends will not be happy"
"Oh…You mean Clarence Walker?" Glancing at Reynolds, Peter's grin broadened "There is a warrant out for him as we speak." Her face paled slightly but her chin came up defiantly. "We know he has been paying agents off to look the other way for you… those days are over." Flannery laughed…threw her head back and laughed out loud at that.
"You find this amusing"
"If someone as respected as Mr. Walker wanted any given person to look the other way…do you think that he would stoop to bribery?" she continued to chuckle… "You are out of your depth lads… far, far out of your depth." Her green eyes sparkled as she was led away. Flannery called over her shoulder "I hope you don't drown"
The two agents exchanged a look. She had a point… Walker would not have left a financial trail… he could barter on his reputation… a word here… a hint there…directing investigators off the track and until six months ago he had held a position of power that voided any argument…even now a suggestion from the former director would almost be considered an order by a large portion of his old division… and his friends in other agencies…most likely weren't going to react well to the warrant …
"We need more evidence" Peter finally muttered. "We need Martinez and Flannery to talk"
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Staring Neal down was a lot more challenging when he wasn't injured and drugged, Peter decided as the blue eyes broke contact first.
"Fine" he sighed... "What do you want me to say…Dr. Cole was right…from the beginning… my brain is damaged… happy now…" he studied the blanket intently…
"No I'm not happy." He placed his hand lightly on his friend's chin lifting his eyes…he tried not to notice the tears that Neal barely kept from falling… "But we can't help you if you aren't honest with us…" the younger man wrenched his jaw away from Peter's fingers… turning his face to the opposite wall.
"Dr. Cole said I didn't have a head injury…." He finally said softly
"Yeah… not a significant one anyway"
"So why is this happening… is it the drugs…?"Peter took a deep breath struggling to find a gentle way to explain…
"When you were first hurt…Neal, look at me, please… it was bad… really bad…they had trouble stabilizing your heart beat and breathing… quite a bit of trou-." Neal's nod cut him off…he understood
"So this is… permanent…?"
"I hope not…" he sucked in another deep breath… "How bad is it…?"
Neal smiled… it was a little forced but… "I'm ok" his grin broadened briefly "You can relax… you don't have to try to explain who I am or what I've done…"
"Well that's good because that would be a complicated conversation." He returned Neal's grin
"Wouldn't it though…" he managed a bit of a laugh. Peter briefly considered letting it go, then pressed on gently keeping the tone as light as possible.
"I know it isn't that bad… I would have definitely noticed that." the younger man chuckled gingerly
"Yeah I …doubt I could… have hidden that…" mischief flitted across his features "even from you". Peter chose to ignore the jab.
"Honestly… how much can you remember?"
"Everything… mostly..."
"You didn't know Mozzie…" Peter almost choked on the horror on that
"I did… I do" he sighed, resigning himself that Peter wasn't going to let it go "I know …everything about him… well, as much …as…as it's possible… to know about Moz…" he shook his head his lips pulling up lightly, a hint of sadness creeping in despite his reassuring smile "I just …didn't remember…his face….It's little…things… like… that, things… that I know… should be there… but …they just …aren't."
"I see…" Neal shook his head at the look his friend gave him…
"Stop that."
"What?"
"Looking like… I'm made of… glass…"
"I will." Peter patted his arm absently… "When you can breathe without help" the younger man's face fell slightly…
"You know …that …might never… happen…right?"
"You heard that?"
"Dr. Cole… talks …to me…too…you know…" he shrugged. "Like I'm …six, but…she does…talk to me"
"You're deflecting."
"I am…" he countered the admission with an innocent smile
"You're going to have to deal with this…"
"Suddenly… you're the… expert…on this …kind of thing…"
"Neal…"he sighed 'you're right I'm not great at this but…whatever you've got…whatever you need…I can handle it."
"I know…you can… but…I'm ok…" he chuckled gingerly "might be …the drugs …talking but…right now…I'm ok…really."
"Ok" Peter stood up "then let me know when you're not…" he walked to the window… and stared out… "I'll be here" he finally said.
"Thanks... Peter." He took a few breaths … "you …found …the papers?"
"I did." We just picked up Flannery and Martinez, the contracts are pretty clear… Walker agreed to overlook three shipments a year for each of them and misdirect anyone else that looked to closely… in exchange for four percent of the profits… You already know that though, right." Neal nodded "We are picking up Nolen too since he drew the contracts up… looks like this was enough for a warrant against him…"
"That's great." He sounded tired…
"We're working on finding Walker…" he smiled softly "get some rest, Neal… this is almost over."
A nod… his eyes slid shut…but his body remained tense… "You hurting…?" he shook his head… Peter waited…the silence weighed on him…
"Peter?" the voice trembled slightly and his eyes stayed closed "Can you tell …me about…about …the day we…first… met?"
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Kyle Nolen glared at Tomas…exuding offended innocence.
"I defend my clients…" his grey eyes snapped angrily "That IS my job" he took a sip of his coffee as if he were not the one under arrest…
"Does that job include drawing up contracts between drug runners, weapons smugglers and NSA directors."
"I have no idea-."
"We have the contracts, Nolen." He waved the crumpled pages in front of the man. Nolen paled slightly at the old blood staining the papers…
"How is that possible" the lawyer muttered under his breath…he gulped his coffee nervously
"One of the young men you had taken out to be killed 15 years ago, Nolen, he got away… with these" Reynolds leaned in close. "Now you want to tell me what this means… Party in the first part will not acknowledge or impede the party in the second part from the receipt and delivery of not less than and not to exceed 3 shipments yearly of …" he read.
"Attorney, client privilege…"Nolen smiled but it twitched slightly… his face paling.
"I don't think that will cover you on this…" Reynolds leaned in closer "How about this question, who did you call that night?"
"What night?"
"The night Donny Martin, Leo Davis, Rico Mendez, and Neal Caffrey broke into your house… three of those boys died, the fourth barely survived and he said you called someone… then handed them over to the thugs who murdered his friends… Who was it?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about?"
"You are going down for a long time for this"
"I think somehow…I will be fine…" the twitching in his lips became more pronounced…his skin positively washed out now.
"We know about Walker… he can't help you now"
"I don't know who that is."
"Talking to me is your best option Nolen… we have a witness… and the contracts…"
Nolen shook his head, he was gasping now…and the twitching had spread to his hands.
"Are you ok?" his reaction suddenly looked like more than nerves.
Nolen didn't answer. Instead he collapsed, his breath coming in strangled wheezes. The twitching was rapidly expanding to the rest of his body. Reynolds knelt beside the man holding his head steady…
"Nolen? Can you hear me?" glassy unfocused eyes stared through him "Get an ambulance in here!" he called to the agents watching through the two way mirror "Hang on Nolen…"
He was no longer twitching… his whole body convulsed violently now… his chest heaving… desperately struggling for air. His eyes rolled back in his head then peered sightlessly at the room… Thomas attempted to pin the lawyer's erratically shuddering body and stabilize his jerking head…to keep him from injuring himself…
Suddenly the grey eyes focused momentarily filling with absolute horror… his juddering fingers grasped Reynolds wrist in panic… "H-help… m-me…he's… c-c-cleaning…h-house" he gasped
"Who is, Nolen?"
"W-walk-ker" he whispered. His eyes rolled back until only the white showed under his trembling lashes. The body under Thomas' arms grew rigid as stone… the surging of the chest reduced to frenzied quivering… the little air that seeped into the frozen lungs whistling painfully.
Thomas felt the muscles in the man collapse abruptly… With one last brutal jerk of his contorted body, Nolen wilted motionlessly to the floor…taunt limbs becoming instantly slack, sagging inelegantly around his unconscious form… his head lolling to the side, his chest stilling, his face sickeningly grey, and his eyes rolling forward…empty… The paramedics were there suddenly…
Reynolds watched the medics work… intubating and trying to revive the apparently lifeless man…Nolen remained pallid and boneless through all of their harried ministrations, grey eyes staring unblinking, at nothing. They whisked him away, within 2 minutes of arriving…still endeavoring to resuscitate the unresponsive lawyer.
Thomas stood on shaky legs… surprised how much those few minutes took out of him… then the implications of Nolen's words hit him.
"I need protection on all of our suspects… Make sure Flannery and Martinez know Walker is cleaning house… it may getting them talking. Tell them Nolen is most likely dead"
He spun rapidly out the door
"Where are you going?'
"Collins is definitely high on Walker's hit list. His safety is absolutely the priority! Walker doesn't get near him, is that clear?!"
He dashed for his car then… pulling out his phone as he ran…