Silent Planet

Chapter 1: Pirates

Federal Building. Tuesday, January 17, 2006.

"I wish they were called something—anything—else," Neal complained. "They give pirates a bad name."

"I feel your pain," Sara agreed. Neal imagined her green eyes looking at him sympathetically, her mouth drooping at the corners.

Picturing her face was a much more welcome sight than the bare walls of the interrogation room he'd appropriated for a private phone call. White Collar had yet to adopt huddle rooms so he was forced to partake of the prison-like ambiance if he wished to escape the din of the bullpen. With the time zone difference between London and New York, the lunch hour provided the best opportunity for him to catch Sara. She was already at her flat, the workday ended.

"Don't forget, I was the one who hoisted the Jolly Roger on the sailboat last summer," she added. "When we were pirates, the only people we harmed were the real bad guys. Is there anything about the case you can share?"

"It concerns video game piracy, and Richard first brought it to our attention."

The soft intake of her breath was picked up by the phone as Sara undoubtedly cringed. She was friends with Richard too. Neal's fellow art student worked during the day at Scima Gameworks as a concept artist. Neal didn't need to reveal any other details. She was bound to suspect it concerned his company. Richard and his boss Ian Forster were coming to White Collar in a couple of hours to discuss the situation with the team. Ian had also asked for Aidan to be present. The previous summer, Aidan had worked as an intern at Scima, but Neal suspected Ian wanted him present because of his hacking skills, not his ability with audio effects. Aidan's cybersecurity expertise had already resulted in him being hired to work with Travis as a contractor on special projects.

Neal and Sara were still dancing around the tricky minefield of job confidentiality with neither of them able to reveal much about their active cases. She was familiar with a few of his past assignments because she'd been assigned to assist White Collar on them. About all Neal knew about her work was that she was one of Sterling-Bosch's lead agents in stolen item recovery.

"I have good news to report," Sara said. "I may be coming to New York at the end of the month, and it will be courtesy of Sterling-Bosch."

"That rockets out of the good category to the outstanding! Does that mean you'll be able to participate in Aidan's film project?"

"I hope to. Sterling-Bosch wants to hold a training conference in New York, and they'd like me to lead a couple of the sessions. They sent around several date options. I picked the last two days in January—the Monday and Tuesday after the weekend Aidan reserved for filming."

For the short feature Aidan was making in preparation for the upcoming master's exhibition, they'd be on location at the house of Electra Stavrou in New Haven. She lived in a Victorian-era mansion that had a stunning collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass angels. She'd offered to let the cast stay at the house over the weekend during filming.

Last summer, Sara had worked on another of Aidan's film projects. She and Neal had played American spies who'd hijacked a U-boat from the Nazis. That one featured a couple of clench scenes for them. This latest project was a sci-fi horror endeavor. Neal's expectations were much lower. Should he be content as long as Sara didn't play a cadaver?

"All I know is that the stained-glass angels play a prominent role," Sara said. "Do you have any other of the plot details?"

"Not so far. Aidan's being close-mouthed about what he has in mind. Keiko and I plan to use elements from the project for our courses. She's taking a class on nineteenth-century stained glass, and I have a seminar on the Pre-Raphaelites." He paused for a moment as he pictured Sara lounging on the sofa, barefoot, her copper hair cascading over her shoulders. "I have a special affinity for Dante Rossetti. His muse was a gorgeous redhead. We have that in common."