"You're not meeting de Luca," Neal told Mozzie with even more emphasis than before.
"I'm not going alone," Moz said, flying with his little toy helicopter with a camera in the room, watching its image on a screen. "I'll have this in the sky to scan the area's weak spots while you go to a higher-ground position." Moz put the control down, and the chopper dived right at Neal. He jumped aside. "With your laser—"
"Moz! Are you actively trying to die? You can't take on de Luca."
"Neal, I'm on a rescue mission! Mr. Jeffries is in trouble."
"Let's keep talking this through," Neal said, feeling he needed to change his approach. "How did de Luca find you?"
"Well, he knew I was connected to the group home. He must have tracked my donation."
That it would be possible to track Moz through a financial transfer? That did not sound like his friend.
"Did you shore up your account?" he asked.
"I had to transfer the cash immediately. Only had time to dummy back one account, not my usual four."
"There you go." Alright, they had their explanation.
Someone came up the staircase, and Mozzie rushed off and grabbed one of his odd gizmos. It looked like a rifle.
"What are you doing?"
Mozzie hid behind a pillar and folded the 'rifle' around the corner.
"In case it's de Luca."
Neal did not want to be anywhere near the front of whatever Mozzie held in his hands.
"I'm gonna stand behind you."
"That's wise."
Now Neal saw that it was a gun but also a camera so he could see what was on the other side of the pillar on a small screen.
"That looks remarkably like Peter," he said when the man walking the stairs entered the room.
"Hey, guys," Peter said, walking right up to them. "What you doing?"
Peter took Mozzie's gizmo very carefully at its edges and took it away from him.
"Oh, just being oppressed by the man," Moz replied. "The usual."
Peter placed the gun-camera-gizmo on the nearest table and took a look at the other items there. A Canary in a cage was the most normal thing there.
"Something for the crazy man who has everything?"
"Oh, that's Sweet Darnell, my taste-tester. You can never be too careful."
"Are you in danger, Mozzie?" Peter asked upfront.
"I live in danger, Suit."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Frank de Luca, would it?" So Peter had figured it out. "Come on, guys. Organized crime's been following de Luca. I know he was here." And Peter knew were he was due to his anklet, probably knew they had met.
"He's forcing a meet with Moz using an old friend as leverage."
"Neal!" Moz protested.
"Why?" Peter frowned. "What does he want with you?"
"I-I'm a man of many secrets, but I am going to that meeting."
"Absolutely not. De Luca's dangerous."
"I'd like to see you try and stop me."
Neal sighed, and he knew that look on Peter's face.
"You will see me not only trying but also succeeding unless you tell me what he wants with you."
"Your intimidating methods do not work on me, Suit."
Neal knew what was going to happen before the agent pulled his cuffs out.
"Peter…" he started but got a look from his handler that shut him up. Peter could not know that Neal was on his side. Mozzie was not violent, and that was to his credit, but he was also naive when it came to violent people. He thought everyone could be talked to.
"See these, Mozzie," Peter asked, holding his pair of cuffs on one finger. "I have every right to put these on you. If you try to run, an agent downstairs will catch you, and you will be in deep trouble. I am willing to skip the cuffs if you agree to follow me downstairs to the car without fuss, but you will get into that car. And trust me, you do not want to experience what it's like when you don't want to."
Neal let him make up his own mind. It took a while. Peter waited patiently.
"I agree to follow you downstairs and to the car, Suit. But only because you have a gun."
"Good." Peter grabbed Mozzie's arm and walked towards the door. Of course, Mozzie protested.
"Relax, Moz," Neal tried, but this was between his two friends.
"Is this an arrest, Suit? Because if it is—"
"It's not."
"Then what is it? Because I have the right to know. According to the Constitution— "
"The FBI's mission is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. You're in safe hands. We're also here to protect you and all the American citizens."
Somehow Neal got the impression that Peter was stalling the answer to get Mozzie out of the building and to the car as quickly as possible.
When they got out, Mozzie tried to stop.
"That's not your car."
"I never said it was."
"Suit!"
With years of experience, Peter got Mozzie inside the backseat of the car without him having time to realize what was happening.
"Consider yourself a protected witness," Peter said and shut the door.
"You can't do this!"
"Oh, I can. What does de Luca want with you?"
"He wants —" Neal started.
"Don't say it, Neal!" Mozzie told him through the open window.
"De Luca wants Mozzie because he's the Dentist of Detroit."
"Neal!" He was disappointed. "Et tu, Brute? Et tu?!"
"I'm sorry. It's to keep you safe." Was he really like Brutus betraying Julius Ceasar?
"Mozzie is the Dentist of Detroit?" Peter stared at him, not sure what to believe.
"I know. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
"You know, I resent your judgment and your misguided misunderstanding of things you do not understand— " Peter signaled to the car to leave, and it did. They watched it leave. Neal wondered if he had done the right thing, but he trusted Peter, and he knew in his heart that the path he was on now was better than how he had lived before.
"Neal, the Dentist is linked to hundreds of crimes going over decades." Peter was serious. "Some really bad stuff."
"Mozzie's a lot of things, but he's not bad." He was sure he knew his friend well enough to be sure he had no violent past. "Can you protect him?"
"I can. But I can't ignore what he's done."
If Mozzie went to prison, he would never forgive him. Their friendship would be ended. On the other hand, if Mozzie had done a lot of bad stuff, maybe he deserved prison? Better prison than being shot by a gang boss. At least, that was Neal's priority.
"Are you in danger, Mozzie?" Peter looked at the man who could not seem more harmless.
"I live in danger, Suit."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Frank de Luca, would it?" He glanced at the kid, who could not hide his surprise but did not reply. Mozzie's acting skills were horrible. It was all over him. "Come on, guys. Organized crime's been following de Luca. I know he was here."
"He's forcing a meet with Moz using an old friend as leverage," Neal said. That was a good start. Mozzie did not agree to this conversation and wanted Neal to shut up, but this just made Peter even more interested.
"Why?" Peter frowned. He stared at Mozzie. "What does he want with you?"
"I-I'm a man of many secrets, but I am going to that meeting."
"Absolutely not," Peter said. "De Luca's dangerous."
Mozzie looked like it was a totally free world where you could do whatever you liked.
"I'd like to see you try and stop me."
The kid rolled his eyes. Peter stared in disbelief at a man that was supposed to be educated.
"You will see me not only trying but also succeeding unless you tell me what he wants with you."
"Your intimidating methods do not work on me, Suit."
Intimidating? He was just stating the facts!
"Peter…" the kid started, but Peter sent him a look. He wanted to handle this. He pulled his cuffs out of his pocket. A part of him wanted just to slam the little guy up the wall and put them on for being so obtuse, but Mozzie was not a criminal at the moment. He could not arrest him. But he could put him in protective custody. In cuffs if needed.
"See these, Mozzie," Peter asked, showing them to the man. "I have every right to put these on you. If you try to run, an agent downstairs will catch you, and you will be in deep trouble. I am willing to skip the cuffs, if you agree to follow me downstairs to the car without fuss, but you will get into that car. And trust me, you do not want to experience what it's like when you don't want to."
Peter glanced at Neal, but the kid kept quiet, staying out of it.
"I agree to follow you downstairs and to the car, Suit. But only because you have a gun."
"Good." Peter grabbed Mozzie's arm and marched towards the door to get him down and away as soon as possible before neither of them regretted it. Mozzie was not all too willing to follow along.
"Relax, Moz," Neal tried behind him, in vain.
"Is this an arrest, Suit? Because if it is—"
"It's not."
"Then what is it? Because I have the right to know. According to the Constitution— "
"The FBI's mission is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. You're in safe hands," Peter assured him. "We're also here to protect you and all the American citizens."
"That's not your car."
"I never said it was."
"Suit!"
The trick was not to stop but keep everything in a fluid motion, as if it was meant to be, nothing you could stop. And so he got Mozzie in the back seat of the FBI car.
"Consider yourself a protected witness," Peter said and shut the door to a stunned Mozzie.
"You can't do this!"
"Oh, I can. What does de Luca want with you?"
"He wants —" Neal started.
"Don't say it, Neal!"
"De Luca wants Mozzie because he's the Dentist of Detroit."
"Neal!" Mozzie yelled. "Et tu, Brute? Et tu?!"
"I'm sorry. It's to keep you safe."
"Mozzie is the Dentist of Detroit?" Peter was not sure what made him most surprised, that statement or that Neal exposed his friend in crime. He hoped to be able to live up to that trust.
"I know," the kid nodded. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
Mozzie got started again, but Peter was not interested in listening. He knocked on the car's roof, signaling to the driver to leave. And it did.
He thought he had brought the man in to protect him. Now he was told the harmless annoying man was a brutal hard-core criminal. He sure had not seen that coming. Were his instincts so wrong?
"Neal, the Dentist is linked to hundreds of crimes going over decades." He had told him to protect his friend, but now Neal might have put him in deep trouble instead. "Some really bad stuff."
"Mozzie's a lot of things, but he's not bad." Neal sounded confident. Too confident for comfort. But he had a desperate tone in his voice when he asked: "Can you protect him?"
"I can." The FBI was good at protecting their witnesses. That was not the issue here. "But I can't ignore what he's done." Neal did not comment on this. Peter brought out his phone.
"Yeah, boss?" Diana answered.
"Diana, get me everything you can find on the Dentist of Detroit." He glanced at Neal. "We've got our next case." This could be hard for both of them, Neal in particular.
