White Collar: An unofficial novel - part 1

Meeting

Peter Burke walked up the stairs. The landlord had told him that Kate Moreau returned her keys to him two days ago. Rent still paid for another four months though. She had moved out but left something for Neal to find. He hoped that whatever lead there was to her current whereabouts he could figure it out faster than Neal.

He was not surprised to find the door to her apartment ajar. A Jaguar registered on a man living on a completely different address was in the garage. Probably something Neal had picked up along the way. Of course, he had been there before him, with four hours head start.

Peter pushed the door open and stepped inside. The apartment was silent, deserted. Or was it? He took another step, sideways, to get a better view. A leg. Someone was sitting on the floor, leaning against the pillar. Neal? He did not believe it. It was too easy. It was not the way it was supposed to be with Neal. The kid knew he was a fugitive, a hunted man. Yet he stayed?

He walked closer. No reaction. Neal sat with a wine bottle. Had he been drinking? Not likely. Not Neal, not now.

"I see Kate moved out." He announced his presence. He saw Neal startle but then remained seated, passive. It was not the resourceful, optimistic Neal he had before him, the one who escaped a maximum security prison to visit his loved one. It was the devastated, heartbroken kid who had given up everything only to end up empty-handed.

Peter stopped a few feet behind him. Neal still held the bottle.

"Did she leave a message in that?"

"The bottle is the message," he got as a reply.

"It's been awhile."

"Yeah. A few years give or take." It was Neal alright. He had seen Neal's cell. The kid had perfect control of the number of days he had been inside. And he knew that Peter knew.

"Are you carrying?" A question he needed to ask.

"You know I don't like guns." It was not a 'no,' but he figured he knew Neal well enough to guarantee he was not armed, not even with his wit and charm it seemed.

"They asked me what makes a guy like you pull a boneheaded escape with four months to go." Peter began to round the pillar to face Neal. He still was not entirely sure if the scene was as it seemed. You never quite knew with Neal.

"Guess you figured it out."

Peter smiled at Neal giving him credit. After all, he had just caught up with him.

"Kate says adios to you at prison then gets busy with her disappearing act. Her trail ends here." Peter had passed the pillar and looked at Neal. The kid was a wreck. "But you already know that."

"I missed her by two days."

"Still, only took you a month and a half to escape a super-max. Damn impressive." It was. You were not supposed to be able to escape at all, but this kid, once he got into his head to do something he did it. Neal agreed as if there was nothing to it, but it was. It was what made Neal so special. And dangerous. Not in a violent way, but in an unpredictable way. In the way that made it necessary to mistrust and consider everything he did from every possible angle. Which was sad, since Neal was a nice guy.

Peter picked up is com-radio. Time to tell the rest of the team.

"All clear. Subject identified and unarmed."

"Roger that," an unknown voice from the other end returned. 'Subject'? He wanted to say 'Neal is here, I'm bringing him out now'. But he was part of a massive crew of people who did not know Neal or cared for his distress. He was an escapee who made them embarrassed for every second he remained on the run. The marshals had asked for his help. This was their case, not the FBI's.