White Collar - as an unofficial novel - part 3

Lao

Neal placed his foot on the edge of the desk in the van, letting Lauren cut the band. With a quick maneuver, she was done and Peter made his way behind Jones and her with a new gold watch in his hand.

"Anklet off. You better not break this one. When they scan you for bugs, manually deactivate the transmitter."

He pressed a button on the side.

"Press it again, it turns it back on. And you damn well better turn it back on."

"I will, Peter."

"Once you give Lao our account number, we'll be able to scan the dirty money. Between that and the audio from the watch, we'll be able to put this guy away for good."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah..." Peter gave him a long glance. "Good luck in there."

Neal got a feeling that what Peter really wanted to say was that no matter what happened they would take him out of there alive. They would not abandon him even if he broke their deal. Send him to prison, sure, but they would not leave him in the hands of Lao. That was comforting.

He left the van and enjoyed the few minutes of anklet-free walk to the building where Lao lived and he would meet Meilin.

"Good to see you, Mr. Halden," she greeted him.

They walked to the elevator together.

"Do you have the account number?" she asked. He pointed to his head. "And you're ready for this?"

"Ready."

He placed his hands behind his back and pushed the button, cutting the signal. It was long before they would check him for bugs but whatever he and Meilin had to say to each other he did not want anybody else to hear it. The FBI knew he was in the elevator and would not be nervous.

"I'm gonna give you a new account number to use," Meilin said. "One the FBI can't trace. One three one two seven eight eight seven one."

A saguaro that turned into a tree and back again, leaning over and got two pairs of glasses, leaning the other way and then straight up.

"Got it?"

Of course.

"Repeat it to me."

"I got it," he assured her.

"Relax, Neal. It's almost over."

Was she nervous? He was not. He would take a risk tonight. But he was not nervous. He knew what the stakes were.

The elevator door opened and they walked into Lao's penthouse and into a living room with a view over Manhattan that beat his own. Two thugs halted him and patted him down. They were pros. Not even a toothpick would have passed unnoticed.

Lao sat by a table playing Pai Gow with another man. He smiled and rose to greet him once his thugs were done.

"I apologize for the scene the other night," he said. "As you know, you can never be too careful."

"Oh, I completely understand," Nicholas Halden smiled. "You'll find this to be the beginning of a very rewarding relationship for us."

"I hope so. Meilin speaks very highly of you, Mr. Halden."

Lao gestured towards the table and as they walked there a man with gray hair and a laptop joined them and placed the computer on the table. Neal made a bow to the senior man.

"The account number, if you please," Lao said.

Neal exchanged a look with Meilin.

"One three one two seven eight eight seven one." The number Meilin had given him. Not the number Peter expected him to say. But he did not hear. As he said the account number Neal slipped two Pai Gow tiles in his pocket, two with low value. Meilin probably saw but did not say a word. Peter was probably nervous by now, watching the account and see no activity on it.