"Thank you very much," the diplomat said shaking Peter's hand with both hands.
"We'll do our best," he assured him.
"Appreciate it." He left with his colleague at the same time as the kid returned.
"They look important."
"From the Egyptian Embassy," Peter said. They walked into his office room. "What do you have?"
"Heard from Raquel."
"So, when is the rendezvous?" Peter asked as he sat down by his desk.
"Two o'clock tomorrow. Her lab."
"Good. We've got her place staked out, and her phone's tapped."
"No more leads on Keller?"
"No." Peter sighed. "But I wasn't expecting any." He watched the photo of him and his wife on the desk.
"Listen," Neal said, softly, "you may want to say something to El now that we're sure Keller's back."
Peter sighed. He knew his pet convict was right. El did not want to be protected without her approval. Then he realized something else. He stared at the man across his desk.
"Neal Caffrey suggests that someone shouldn't keep secrets from their partner.
Where's this coming from?"
"From someone who keeps a lot of secrets."
The honest blue eyes of Neal Caffrey stared back at him. He chuckled. Yeah, the kid had secrets alright, no matter if the sub was one of them or not.
"Yeah."
"Let's nail Keller this time."
Peter nodded.
"Let's."
"Hey, Mozzie, what's going on?" Neal answered the phone, walking on the sidewalk.
"Keller's been posing as an Interpol agent," Moz said at the other end. "He met with Sara."
"What?" He stopped.
"She had no idea who he was," Mozzie said. Neal looked around. He was pretty alone.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes, but she did give up the I.P. address."
"No." He felt the world sway. The only thing that could verify that the treasure was real, except being where it was.
"I reset the feed."
"Is it secure?"
"It is now."
"All right. If he's seen the feed, he knows the treasure is real."
"Look, even if Keller did get a glimpse of it, there's no way he could trace it back to the warehouse."
"Like there's no way a swatch of my canvas could have survived the fire?" There was nothing secure about 'no way'. Keller would find the treasure unless he and Peter found him and fast.
"I'm going to put a backup plan for Keller into place," Mozzie said.
"You take care of securing the art," Neal snapped back. "I'll handle Keller."
He hung up.
He called Sara.
"I'm sorry, Neal!" she answered on the first ring. "I'm so sorry!"
"I'm not upset, Sara. I know Keller. Are you alright? Did he harm you in any way?"
"No. No, he didn't harm me, Neal." He listened to her, frowning.
"You're crying, Sara." She sobbed at the other end.
"Yes. Remember when we bought those helicopters? He had photos of us. Took that as proof that we had money to spend."
"Like the treasure."
"Oh, Neal, he said I had to give him something, or you would go back to prison for life. And I would go to prison as well. I didn't know what to do."
"I understand, Sara, I really do." Keller had played a really dirty game where Sara had ended up defenseless.
"I went straight home to you to tell you. Mozzie was there, and on the table was a photo of the agent at Interpole I had just been talking to, and he told me the man is a killer. That he wants to kill you!"
"He does. It's a long story. But I need you to do something for me."
"What?"
"Pull yourself together. Keller pulled a dirty trick on you. It's not your fault." He wanted to hug her but couldn't. "I love you, Sara."
She was silent for a moment.
"Thanks, Neal."
"Will you manage?"
"Yeah. Thanks again."
It was time for his meeting with the beautiful and clever Raquel. Neal joined Peter and Jones in the van in good time.
He put his feet up so Peter could remove the anklet.
"Thank you."
He must have looked too happy because Peter just gave him one of his grim glares.
"Here you go." Jones handed him the FBI unique wristwatch.
"Jones, we have to stop meeting like this," he mumbled close to it.
"I bet you say that to all the agents," Jones replied from his headphones.
"Turn it off only if she sweeps for bugs," Peter instructed. "If I lose contact with you for more than a minute, I'm coming in."
"Got it."
"And the password for the day is...?" Jones asked.
"Inscription," Neal said.
"No chances. Keep it simple," Peter said. "The instant you know it's the real scarab amulet, you call us in."
Neal had no intention to do otherwise. He put his glasses on.
"Here we go."
He left the van and walked to Raquel's lab, just a block away. It was like entering a bank vault. Many doors and lots of security.
"Hello," he greeted her when she opened the last door for him herself. He was let inside, and he walked past her, watching his surroundings.
"Not so fast," she called out. "My wand." She held up a handheld scanner. "To make sure we're alone."
"Of course."
He pressed the button on the watch with a discreet move as she passed behind his back and then held out his arms so she could scan him. One minute. He kept count of the seconds. He knew Peter would, too.
She moved slowly like she was doing something sensual. It could have been. And he had to keep the attitude that it was.
"Very nice," she said when she was done.
"Wasn't so painful."
"Without it, we'd have to work in the nude." Did she look disappointed?
He was about to push the button again but smiled. He decided to tease Peter just a little.
There was a rusty, rumbling sound from the ceiling.
"Ancient spirits?" he asked.
"Air conditioner. It has a life of its own."
He paused behind her and glanced at some chemicals. And pushed the button on the watch. If he had counted correctly, he would have had it off for fifty seconds.
"This is what I want you to see." She pointed at a pyramid on a shelf with a base as big as the palm of his hand. It seemed to be made of plexiglass with a little plastic trinket included in the middle. He picked it up, feeling it, smelling it. Nothing could tell this was anything but an ordinary, legal souvenir.
"Genius." It was his genuine emotion. "Looks like a twenty-dollar paperweight."
"Let's hope it's not." She smiled. He moved towards the working space. She placed her hand on top of his. "Be careful with it. This one's special."