White Collar - as an unofficial novel - part 6

The last share

They drove back to the office, both quiet. Neal wondered if he had tipped the robbers off too much. If he heard the sirens the robbers would too, so if he had told them it was time to leave, it would probably not matter. And Peter had not wanted to run after them!

"I hope you know you're in trouble," Peter said.

"What?"

"That access card you didn't return to the bank."

"Oh, Peter, it helped us!"

"That's beside the point. You signed an assurance that you would return all items. I trusted you to do your job!" Peter sent him a glare that hurt. He had broken Peter's trust again. "No one would blink if I returned you to prison for this, do you understand? Why did you keep it?"

Neal shrugged.

"I don't know. Honestly, Peter, I don't. It's just that good-thing-to-keep thing with me. It wasn't intentional. I didn't plan to do anything with it. It's just old habit." He searched Peter's face for a reaction. Did he believe him? "I'm not lying to you, Peter."

"Neal, you have to stop with those things."

"I know." He agreed with Peter on that one. It was a habit he had, to keep things that could be useful someday. In this case, it was a bad habit. Even if it helped them today, Neal had to admit Peter was right. He had promised to return everything and Peter had trusted him to do so. No matter how good he did a job, it was always those little things that would make him untrustworthy. If he was going to live in Peter's world, he had to stop doing that.

They drove down the garage of the FBI.

"You're not taking me back to prison, then?"

"No, not for this. But you're not off the hook, yet, you got that."

They got out of the car and into the elevator. When they got out Jones stood by the door on his way down.

"Jones, get me Walker," Peter said. "I want to talk to him."

Jones changed his plans and held up the door to the office for them.

"He's already here," the agent said. Neal knew who was sitting on a desk with his back to them, with an unknown man in a dark suit beside him.

They walked in and Walker rose and turned.

"Oh, I heard what happened at the bank," he said to Peter with a gracious, lofty smile. "I thought maybe I could save you some trouble."

"So you're here to confess?" Peter asked, hands on his hips. Walker just laughed.

"I figured you're gonna give me a call because I'm sure Mr. Caffrey has my cell number. Arthur?" The other man handed over a few papers to Peter. "You'll find my alibi in there in addition to my company's lawsuit."

"Lawsuit?"

"Yes... unwarranted harassment, defamation of character. And, you know, there's a litany of other charges, but, gee, why spoil the surprise?"

Neal was really proud to see that his handler did not seem to flinch at all.

"Enjoy this game you're playing. It won't end well for you."

"Oh, the game is already over," Walker returned, self-assured. "This architect, whoever he is, has already won." He walked passed Peter. "Mr. Caffrey." He had just about passed him when he stopped. "Oh, if I did do it, do you think they would make me a junior FBI agent, too?"

Neal just looked at him without saying a word or even bother to appear angry. It was guys like this who made him ashamed to be a criminal. Not the crimes, but the total lack of respect for other people. And if Walker thought he had won just because he managed to rob a bank he was wrong.