"Freeze! FBI!" Peter said opening the door, forcing a smile to his face. El had already rushed out to meet them. Tina Mitchell grinned all over her face as she held up her hands.
"Oh, Peter, you know what you are?"
She threw herself around his neck, giving him a huge motherly hug.
"Yes, I do. I'm a bad boy. Bad boy," he said and she let him go. "Oh, I'm gonna go help Alan and El with the bags."
"Hold on. Let me have a look at you. Oh! You're wearing my sweater!"
El came in carrying bags.
"I'm surprised it's still holding up," she said. "He wears it all the time."
"Oh! Honey, I-I could have helped you with those bags," he said as El and Tina disappeared into the kitchen.
"I got it, Peter," Alan Mitchell said, following his daughter inside. "I've got it."
"Oh, so glad you could make it, Alan." Peter held out his arms for a hug. Alan looked perplexed before he realized what it all meant and handed Pter two bags.
"Ah. Thank you." And then he left Peter to join the others. He watched the back of his father-in-law. This would be a long weekend.
Neal followed Sara as she walked up the stairs to one of the prestigious homes squeezed in between others of the same kind. She unlocked the gate that met all visitors.
"Oh. I see you've been here before," he said, wondering what Sara had not told him. Who has keys to their boss' private home? They walked up the stairs, and he saw Sara snatch one of the photos standing on a shelf and hide it behind her bag, which she had placed on a chair.
"Does Bryan make keys for all his employees?"
He picked out the photo and looked at it.
"A few," she said from the other room, "for work or..."
"Pleasure?" he asked, showing her the photo she hid, with Sara hugging Bryan on some yacht. "And here I thought you were the honest type. What happened to rule number one?"
"My private life is still private, Neal."
"I understand," he said and put the photo back. "Honest women make me
uncomfortable anyway."
"Now, why is that? 'Cause you're not honest with them?"
"I hate feeling at a disadvantage."
"I didn't lie to you," Sara pointed out.
"No, you simply withheld certain truths."
"Yes."
"So I shouldn't be upset," Neal shrugged.
"Exactly."
Neal sent her a glare.
"Exactly!"
"Oh, my God," she rolled her eyes. "You know what? Hiding priceless treasure and hiding an ex-boyfriend are two totally different things. Now, can we please focus? Because Bryan's gonna close this case in two days."
She started searching again. Neal was also about to, but his eyes fell on another photo. This one bothered him a lot more than the fact that she was investigating her own ex-boyfriend.
"Uh-huh. So, if you really want my help solving this case, I have to know why you were in Beijing with Bryan."
"Okay. You got me. We dated. It was years ago."
Neal was disappointed. He had hoped he meant more to her than someone to lie to when it suited.
"You're wearing the same new shoes," he pointed out gently.
"All right, so I might have seen him recently."
"He was your rebound off me," Neal realized.
"Well, that seems only natural, considering you were my rebound off of him."
"Ouch. You know, Sara, I'm starting to see a pattern emerge. You have a type."
"Yes. Apparently, I date criminals."
"Alleged criminals. I get it. More interesting."
"Bryan was not a criminal when we dated, and I left him early in Beijing, right when he became interested in the violin."
Sara was getting furious. He could tell because her search became more and more erratic.
"Yeah, I think you should probably tell me everything," Neal said, leaning at a chair, "starting at the beginning." He was not ready to get into trouble because he was foolish enough to trust Sara.
"Fine. When I first started at Sterling Bosch, Bryan was still working in the field. We broke cases together… valuable objects, intriguing stories, exotic places…
"Quite the globetrotter."
"Well, one thing led to another…" She showed him another photo of them together.
"Tell, don't show," he said, painfully aware that there probably were no photos of him and Sara together. She flipped the photo down.
"Eventually, he expressed his desire to expand Sterling Bosch beyond insurance. I didn't agree with this direction and realized how different we were.
So I broke off our engagement."
"Engagement?"
"Engagement," she confirmed. "Now you know everything. Feels really good to share. You should try that sometime."
So, this was not just an ex-boyfriend. This was a man with whom she had planned to spend her life and backed out, as she had backed out when it came to him. Was she really bothered by the treasure, or was it just an excuse, even to herself?
Peter could not help it. He called Diana. No one missed him anyway. El and her parents had a lot to catch up.
"How's it going? Sara and Neal okay?"
"I suppose," Diana answered. "Jones keeps an eye on his location."
"Did Kramer arrive safely?"
"Sure."
"Something wrong?" Peter asked, hearing something in her voice.
"I don't know. He's asking a lot of questions."
"About Neal?"
"Yes, but also about you and why I returned to New York," she said. Peter could not hear anything wrong with that, but Diana seemed concerned. "Peter, I know this sounds silly, but he sounded jealous."
"With every right. We're a great team."
"Neal has been doing a good job, right?"
"Right," Peter confirmed.
"Then why would Kramer need all our material on him unless he wanted to dig something out?"
He could see what she meant. But he also knew a bit about his former mentor.
"He just feels there needs to be a voice representing the FBI that can look at the situation objectively."
"I hope you're right, boss."
"How long's Bryan been into synchronized meditation?" Neal asked as he searched a drawer.
"Bryan's in phenomenal shape."
"No wonder you went back to him."
"I did not go back to him. We flinged. People fling after a few glasses of wine."
"That's lucky. My flings never landed me in Beijing."
"Bryan was trying to rekindle something that's not there anymore, okay?"
Neal opened an envelope and brought out two tickets.
"Well, we don't know where he hid the Strad files, but we know where he'll be this afternoon."
He and a plus one would listen to The Empire Philharmonic playing Hayden's Symphyony No 1 in D major.
"First we go in Beijing, and now he's going here?" Sara was baffled, and Neal enjoyed her standing so close. "Bryan hates the symphony."
"Well, he must be going for something else." Neal saw Bryan at the front door on a screen. "And we need to go."
"What, to the symphony?"
"'Go' go. Bryan's home early."
"You can't go that way! We have to hide!"
"Sara, I'm not gonna hide," he objected. It was a terrible idea. In what way was it easier to get out later? She pulled him into a dark corner in a gap between a bookshelf and the wall. They were so close together that Neal, for a second, forgot their awkward situation. He almost moved for a kiss. Then Sara moved to leave.
"My purse!"
"No, Sara!" he whispered after her as she hurried away.
"Sara?" Neal heard Bryan's voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Um... Oh, I'm here 'cause you gave me a key."
There was silence. Steps moved closer to him.
"The last time I saw you..." Brian said, and Neal saw the big globe that was the man's target. "We were there," he pointed. "Now you're here. Why?"
"Well... I think you know why."
"I want to hear you say it."
"Okay. I missed you."
"From the withered tree, a flower blooms. I knew you'd be back."
They left the room, and Neal slid out of the corner and to the edge of the doorway, closer to the globe. The first thing he did when he got home and found an intruder was to check out the globe.
"Sorry I left you in Beijing."
"Mm, that hurt. There I was, in a foreign country, getting savaged by customs, and my girlfriend... abandons me." Brian moved even further away, and Neal dared a peek. He made eye contact with Sara and gestured for her to move further away.
"Um, why did they target you?" she asked, following Bryan away from Neal.
"Bureaucratic nonsense. They have to look like they're doing their job, and they chose me as the example."
"That's terrible."
Neal moved to the globe while he kept an eye on Bryan's back. He whirled the globe. Since he had no better clue, he pressed his finger at Beijing. A button was under the map, and a hidden compartment opened, revealing a tape and a folder. He grabbed both.
"Worst part is, it ruined our trip. I hated thinking the girl that got away got away again."
"Well, you know how you could make it up to me? Take me to the symphony. We had so much fun in Beijing."
Neal pushed the compartment closed and returned to be out of sight. He browsed through the papers in the folder.
"Yeah. You're good. Clever girl."
"What do you mean?"
"You saw the invite, didn't you?"
"Oh, well... What can I say? I love the symphony."
"But I don't."
"Let me convince you."
He glanced around the corner of the doorway and saw her kiss him. She waved for him to leave. Yeah, it was time for that. It felt sad that she had to take such measures, playing with Bryan's feelings. Neal admitted he was a conman and a criminal, but he tried not to presume he loved someone.
