Neal and Mozzie faces Reilly
Peter sent in Jones and a team under him inside the airport to check if they saw Neal or Reilly. They were all undercover and there to keep a low profile and not blow anything. After a minute or two, Jones reported that it was nothing of interest inside.
Peter waited outside, dressed in a jacket and a cap. He scanned for Neal among people walking towards the terminal.
Then he saw the kid. Not the smiling charmer, but a grave and worried appearance. To Peter's amusement, the always observant young con-man passed him without noticing his friend and handler. Peter hurried after him.
"You know where I can catch a shuttle to the city?"
Neal turned, and Peter saw a brief smile of relief.
"No need for the cloak and dagger, Peter," he said and walked towards the entrance door Rice held open. "Wilkes isn't here."
"We're here to help you get out of this," Rice said as the kid passed her.
"That's ironic coming from you, Agent Rice."
So the kid had figured that out. Good. Then it would not come as a surprise later.
"Listen," Peter said, following Neal, "this Loze guy you're going after, it's Edward Reilly."
Before Peter had any time to tell who this guy was, Neal cursed.
"Damn. No wonder Wilkes doesn't wanna be anywhere near this."
Still, the guy did not slow his steps. Whatever the kid was thinking of doing, he was determined to continue. Peter took a step in front of him and stopped Neal.
"You go through with this, Reilly will hunt you down."
"If I don't get his briefcase to Wilkes by four, he'll kill Lindsay."
Neal was so good-hearted it was painful sometimes. Why, oh why, did he had to be a criminal? Peter sighed.
"You sure about that?" he asked.
"Her guard wasn't wearing a mask. And he has a silencer."
"So you saw her," Peter read between the lines.
"Yeah."
"Where?" Rice cut in.
"I don't know. They tased me," Neal cut back in a tone that told her he had no interest in talking to her. The kid turned back to Peter. "Tell me you're close to finding her."
If Neal had seen her, there was not a chance that Peter knew more than Neal.
"She's in an old building near the water."
He thought Neal would sigh, but his eyes lit up.
"Her guard was eating from a restaurant called Wok of Fire."
"Chinese takeout near the water," Rice said to Peter.
"We can work with that." It narrowed it down a lot. "Come on."
"Hey, I'm staying here," Neal said, not moving. "If you don't get to Lindsay in time—"
"Yeah." That was Neal in a nut-shell. Peter did not want to put the kid in danger, but they were short on time. To argue would not get them closer to find Lindsay. He put his hand in his pocket and handed Neal a small earpiece.
"It's a two-way transceiver," he said, and Neal put it in his hear. "Jones will keep an eye on you. His team will stay out of sight." But hopefully able to stop Reilly from killing Neal. "Don't do anything stupid."
Neal sent him a grin.
"Too late."
Peter smiled.
Rice lingered when he started to leave.
"Good luck," he heard her say. Nice try to mend it with Neal.
If he knew the kid, he would tolerate her but never trust her. Once someone had proven unworthy of his trust, there was no way it could be mended. Considering how Neal reacted when he thought Peter had betrayed him, this con-man took it seriously. Criminal or no criminal, he trusted Peter, the FBI agent, his natural foe, for some reason he would never quite understand. Could it be because Peter had never used his power to diminish or humiliate Neal? Peter wished he knew more about Neal's background. If the kid knew what it was like to be used by someone with power, he was likely to trust someone with authority who treated him as a human.
"Jones will keep an eye on you," Peter said, and Neal saw Jones glancing at their direction from an arcade game. "His team will stay out of sight. Don't do anything stupid."
It was not a matter of not doing anything illegal, but merely a request for staying safe. Peter cared for him. Neal smiled.
"Too late."
Peter smiled and walked away.
"Good luck," Rice said. It sounded almost as an apology. Neal did not care. Peter was in command now it seemed.
It was time to save Lindsay. Peter on his side, Neal on his. He continued to walk towards where he would meet 'Loze'. A stewardess in uniform dropped a scarf as she passed.
"Excuse me," Neal called out as he picked it up. "You dropped this."
"Oh, thanks," she smiled at him. Maybe the last smile he got in life. 'Edward Reilly.' Peter was right when he said the man would hunt him down if he screwed him.
"I don't care what you're doing here," a familiar voice said beside him. Neal turned and saw Moz. "As a friend, I insist you pull the ripcord."
"You got my message," Neal smiled. Faithful, trusted Mozzie. He just wanted to hug the man but knew Mozzie would strongly disapprove and would likely take a bath in some antibacterial substance afterward. His friend had told Peter somehow and even turned up to help. Well, that might soon change.
"What's with the driver's outfit?" Mozzie asked.
"I'm about to rob Edward Reilly."
"The Edward Reilly?" Mozzie asked and Neal nodded. It was as if it took a moment for his friend to take in. "What's your plan, a gun in the glove compartment?"
Neal knew that was irony, but, well…
"That's your plan?" Mozzie asked in disbelief. "A gun in the glove compartment?"
"Long story, but one way or the other, I'm taking his briefcase."
Mozzie stared at him silently, as if he expected there to be something more come. When Neal did not say anything more, Mozzie looked as if he was about to faint.
"Well, surely you won't do this, because you're not suicidal."
Neal sighed. Well, he could not insist on help.
"Thanks for the pep talk." He walked away.
"But what if he gave it to you?" Mozzie said behind him. "And was happy to give it to you?"
"Zigzag scam?" Neal asked. And Mozzie thought of him as crazy? But if Reilly did not know he had been robbed…
Mozzie dug in one of his deep pockets and brought out two IDs.
"One for me. One for you." Neal glanced at the ID Moz gave him. 'Halden'. When did he had these made? "Time to get into character," his friend continued and switched his pair of glasses for an identical pair.
"You're a chameleon."
"Yeah."
Did he know that ordinary people did not see the difference? Well, if it made him feel more ready to take on a killer, then it was fine by Neal.
Neal did not know what Reilly looked like, but drivers rarely did. So he wrote a sign with 'Thomas Loze' on and waited where booked drivers usually picked up their clients.
A man with a metal briefcase approached him. Neal put on his innocent, naive smile.
"Mr. Loze? My name's Nick. I'll be your driver today."
"Been on a plane for 22 hours. I don't give a damn what your name is, kid."
"Got any other bags there?"
"No."
"Let me take your case for you."
Reilly pulled it away from Neal's eager hand. So many times he had stolen things for the challenge, why could it not be just that easy when he wanted it too?
"Just take me to the car."
Neal walked ahead with a tired and grumpy killer behind him. Even if the killer in question had no interest in him, Neal was not comfortable and was pleased to see Mozzie walking towards him.
"Thomas Loze? Agent Haversham. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Mozzie flashed his ID. "Word is you're bringing something into the country we should know about."
"This a joke?"
"Do I look like I'm joking, Elvis?"
Acting had never been Mozzie's strong suit, and Neal felt it was time for the next surprise. He flashed his ID too.
"Agent Halden, Joint Task Force. We're gonna need you to open the case." The man's eyes passed from one of them to the other. They were in the terminal with hundreds of other people.
"Doesn't have to be a scene if you don't want it to be," Neal assured him.
"Okay," Reilly said and held up the briefcase. "You guys really want to do this? Knock yourselves out."
Neal grabbed the case and wished he could just run with it.
"Let's go."
They walked to an empty part of the terminal, and Neal placed the briefcase on a table.
"Open it for us, please."
Reilly rolled to the right figures on the code locks and unlocked it. When they snapped open, Mozzie pointed at him.
"Palms on the table!"
The killer backed away and did indeed place them on the table at the far end.
Neal opened the lid and stared at the ordinary contents of any traveler's suitcase. A hairbrush, toothpaste, some clothes. It was even used stuff.
"Looks like an overnight bag," Mozzie mumbled.
"When this is through, I want badge numbers," Reilly barked from the end of the table. "You can't prove probable cause; it'll be both your asses."
"Shut your hole and kiss wood, Reilly," Mozzie called back. Neal looked up and saw the man's stunned face. He had not missed that he had just been called by a name he should not. "Yeah," Mozzie continued, "we know who you really are!"
Damn, Neal thought. This could be really troublesome. Neal kept on searching.
"I just said that to a guy who enjoys killing people with his bare hands," Mozzie mumbled to him with his back to the man.
"Keep it together, Moz," Neal said.
He knew there must be something in this bag. Wilkes wanted it, and Reilly had begun to rattle them when they searched it. Then he saw it. Metal buttons where there was not supposed to be something to keep together.
"Hold on a second," he said and pulled. The lid of the briefcase held another layer. Neal and Mozzie were staring at least a hundred of gold cards so shiny that it made the bag glow in front of their eyes. They were neatly arranged like they were on display in a store.
"Wow," Neal breathed.
"Pure gold. Think they're preloaded?" Mozzie asked.
"Well, that would explain Wilkes' interest in them," Neal said, not caring if Reilly heard the name. "Load them up, couple hundred thousand each—"
"And you've got a portable fortune," Mozzie finished. "Perfect for the smuggler on the go."
"I want my lawyer," their killer said.
"Oh, you'll need him, Chachi," Mozzie yelled back.
"I'd say you're staring down at ten years, easy," Neal told the man and turned to Mozzie. "Call the cavalry."
"Imagine what you could do with just one of these babies, huh?" Mozzie said when he was fumbling with his phone.
"Make for a great night out," Neal agreed and then stared at his unwilling, tempted partner. "Call it in, Haversham."
"It's just I promised Sarah that necklace. With the diamonds."
"So?"
"So she's gonna leave me, man."
"And you think this is the way to keep her? This isn't the way."
"Oh, don't tell me how to keep a woman, blue eyes. Guys like you, with your million-dollar smile and your thick, perfect head of hair, you don't get it."
Mozzie was no actor, and he was talking way too loud for someone who should be tempted but ashamed and not bragging about it. Neal glanced at Reilly, who seemed amused.
Neal leaned close to Mozzie and whispered:
"Don't do this to yourself."
At least one of them had to do this realistic.
"Listen. This is my suitcase, right?" their bad guy suddenly interrupted their moral dilemma. "So maybe I left it on the plane."
Neal stared at him.
"What, I gotta spell this out for you, gentlemen?" the man continued and left his position at the table.
Oh god, they had successfully conned Edward Reilly. Neal took a deep breath.
"All right, call it in," he told Mozzie. "Tell him Loze was clean, we cut him loose. Come on. Call it in."
"You guys are all right," Reilly said with a smile, stretched his hand out into the case, and took one of the cards. "Gotta get home somehow, right?"
None of them objected, and Edward Reilly turned and walked away out of their lives. And there they stood with the briefcase and Neal's only remaining trouble was Wilkes.
"Closest I've come to death this year," his friend said.
"All right, thanks for your help, Moz." Neal started to get the briefcase back into the original appearance.
"Could I— ?"
"No." One card missing could be overlooked by Wilkes. Two, no. And besides, the FBI was listening. Mozzie had been smart enough to use aliases already known by Peter and his team for the IDs. He locked the case and took his driver's hat. It was time to meet Wilkes.
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