The Collector - Chapter 10 - The Cavalry
For those who have been waiting for Peter and Mozzie, here they are, in chapter 10.
Warnings as always in chapter 1. This story is unbeta´ed. So all mistakes and plot holes are mine.
Ruiz and Peter were working on a case the violent crime unit had been working on for months. Peter´s department was doing well, but they had a low case load, so Peter had promised Ruiz to help out. Ruiz´s unit was building a case against Taylor Bonamis, he was a king pin in a human trafficking ring.
Peter had listened to the surveillance tapes that had been recorded by the team, he had read through the files, but he couldn´t find anything to pin on Bonamis. He grabbed the folder with the surveillance pictures and flipped through the dozens of pictures until suddenly his breath hitched. This couldn´t be right, it just couldn´t…
Neal was dead, he couldn´t be in this picture. He had seen Neal´s body; had felt how cold and still it was…
When he looked closer at the picture, he noticed that the man kneeling next to Bonamis was different looking, his hair was different, longer, he was heavier and his whole demeanor was different from Neal´s. But the most shocking thing was the collar the man was wearing. And it seemed to be attached to the leash Bonamis held in his hand. Well, it shouldn´t be a real surprise, as Bonamis was a human trafficker. But to just openly sit with another human on a leash in the real world was something different than being in a club.
Suddenly the alarm on his desk went off and Peter startled. It was six o´clock, he had promised El to be home in time, so he quickly threw the folder in his briefcase and left his office.
* * *
Once home, he gave El a peck on the cheek and walked over to Neal.
“Hey Neal, how are you doing?” Neal looked up at him and gave him a big toothless grin. Peter picked Neal out of the booster chair and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch.
“I´m leaving now, hon.” El called out, she walked over to her two men and gave them both a kiss, before leaving the house to meet up with some friends for drinks.
“Come little man, we are going to bed; I will read you a story.” Peter stood up and climbed up the stairs.
He first took Neal to the changing table in the nursery. While he was changing Neal, he started thinking about the picture. But he was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when Neal tried to grab a bottle of lotion.
“Hold on, little man, let´s finish this, so I can read you a story.” He picked Neal up and walked up to their bedroom and lay down with Neal on top of his chest. He grabbed the book that was left there by El and started reading.
I am Sam
Sam I am
That Sam-I-am
That Sam-I-am!
I do not like
that Sam-I-am
Do you like
green eggs and ham
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
green eggs and ham
…
I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am
When he finished the story, Neal was sleeping and drooling on his chest. He gently picked up his son and walked back to the nursery and placed him in his crib.
He went down and reheated some of the tuna casserole, El had left out for him. He looked for a cold beer in the fridge. With his beer and plate, he made his way back to the living room where he turned on the television. But he started thinking again about the picture and went to get the folder. When he looked at the picture for a second time, he was in doubt, the man had a resemblance with Neal, but he couldn´t be sure. The pictures were blurry because they were made from a great distance. He decided to let it go for the moment and focus on building a case against Bonamis. But he made a mental note to ask the surveillance team to try and make a better picture of the man that had been kneeling next to Bonamis.
* * *
Two weeks later…
Peter was signing off on all the requests and forms that were brought in by his assistant, who could have guessed that being ASAC could be so much paperwork?
Underneath in the pile, he found the folder with the Bonamis case, oh right, he had asked if they could get better pictures of the man that was in almost all of Bonamis pictures. When he opened the file and saw the new pictures, he heart stopped, it had to be Neal. It just had to be. He quickly closed the file and got up. He had to get in contact with Mozzie. What day was it? Oh yeah, Wednesday, that mend he was probably babysitting Theo. Peter called out to Diana and got conformation.
He quickly left the building and drove to Diana´s place. When the door was opened, Peter immediately started talking. “Mozzie, I need you to look at something. It´s urgent.”
“Oh, hi suit. Sure, show me.”
Peter grabbed the pictures from his briefcase and showed them to Mozzie, who paled when he saw the pictures.
“How long have you known?” was all Mozzie said, his tone accusingly.
“Two weeks, I was not sure, are you?”
“That´s Neal, Peter. We have to get him, who is this guy?”
“He is a human trafficker we are investigating, his name is Taylor Bonamis. You know him?”
“I don´t tend to associate with human traffickers Peter, it is not my style.” Mozzie sounded a bit offended. “Do you have moving pics? We can´t assess Neal´s condition on stills.”
“No, but I will ask the surveillance team if the can record some.”
“He is not dead.” Mozzie whispered.
“I know, I can´t wrap my head around it either. But we will get him back, I promise.” Peter put his hand on Mozzie´s shoulder.
* * *
Peter knew Ruiz had someone inside Taylor´s organization and he asked for a private meeting. The undercover agent was reluctant, and only agreed when Ruiz explained that they suspected one of their CI´s to be in danger.
When they were finally able to meet, Peter explained that he needed to verify whether one of the persons held by Taylor was indeed a former FBI CI. He showed the picture of what he believed was Neal.
“You mean Taylor´s pet. I don´t know his name, he is referred to as pet. He is FBI?”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn´t strike me as a captive, I thought this was one of those 24/7 deals where people chose to live like this.”
“Well, if this is Neal Caffrey, he didn´t chose this life. We suspect that he was kidnapped.”
“It will be a very hard extraction, he is Taylor´s favorite pet and nobody has been allowed to take him outside the penthouse.”
“What do you mean, nobody is allowed to take him?” Peter´s heart sank, he could imagine what was implied.
“Business partners are allowed to use Taylor´s pets, but he is very protective of this one. Now that you mention it, I only know of one person that has been allowed to play with him, a woman named Cindy. She is known for her cruelty, but as far as I could see, no real damage was done physically to your CI. But I can only imagine the psychological damage. Have you seen him, his behavior? I have seen him only once before, but he wasn´t playing submissive. I guess they have broken him, I´m sorry Peter.”
To be continued in chapter 11.
Warnings as always in chapter 1. This story is unbeta´ed. So all mistakes and plot holes are mine.
Ruiz and Peter were working on a case the violent crime unit had been working on for months. Peter´s department was doing well, but they had a low case load, so Peter had promised Ruiz to help out. Ruiz´s unit was building a case against Taylor Bonamis, he was a king pin in a human trafficking ring.
Peter had listened to the surveillance tapes that had been recorded by the team, he had read through the files, but he couldn´t find anything to pin on Bonamis. He grabbed the folder with the surveillance pictures and flipped through the dozens of pictures until suddenly his breath hitched. This couldn´t be right, it just couldn´t…
Neal was dead, he couldn´t be in this picture. He had seen Neal´s body; had felt how cold and still it was…
When he looked closer at the picture, he noticed that the man kneeling next to Bonamis was different looking, his hair was different, longer, he was heavier and his whole demeanor was different from Neal´s. But the most shocking thing was the collar the man was wearing. And it seemed to be attached to the leash Bonamis held in his hand. Well, it shouldn´t be a real surprise, as Bonamis was a human trafficker. But to just openly sit with another human on a leash in the real world was something different than being in a club.
Suddenly the alarm on his desk went off and Peter startled. It was six o´clock, he had promised El to be home in time, so he quickly threw the folder in his briefcase and left his office.
* * *
Once home, he gave El a peck on the cheek and walked over to Neal.
“Hey Neal, how are you doing?” Neal looked up at him and gave him a big toothless grin. Peter picked Neal out of the booster chair and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch.
“I´m leaving now, hon.” El called out, she walked over to her two men and gave them both a kiss, before leaving the house to meet up with some friends for drinks.
“Come little man, we are going to bed; I will read you a story.” Peter stood up and climbed up the stairs.
He first took Neal to the changing table in the nursery. While he was changing Neal, he started thinking about the picture. But he was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when Neal tried to grab a bottle of lotion.
“Hold on, little man, let´s finish this, so I can read you a story.” He picked Neal up and walked up to their bedroom and lay down with Neal on top of his chest. He grabbed the book that was left there by El and started reading.
I am Sam
Sam I am
That Sam-I-am
That Sam-I-am!
I do not like
that Sam-I-am
Do you like
green eggs and ham
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
green eggs and ham
…
I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am
When he finished the story, Neal was sleeping and drooling on his chest. He gently picked up his son and walked back to the nursery and placed him in his crib.
He went down and reheated some of the tuna casserole, El had left out for him. He looked for a cold beer in the fridge. With his beer and plate, he made his way back to the living room where he turned on the television. But he started thinking again about the picture and went to get the folder. When he looked at the picture for a second time, he was in doubt, the man had a resemblance with Neal, but he couldn´t be sure. The pictures were blurry because they were made from a great distance. He decided to let it go for the moment and focus on building a case against Bonamis. But he made a mental note to ask the surveillance team to try and make a better picture of the man that had been kneeling next to Bonamis.
* * *
Two weeks later…
Peter was signing off on all the requests and forms that were brought in by his assistant, who could have guessed that being ASAC could be so much paperwork?
Underneath in the pile, he found the folder with the Bonamis case, oh right, he had asked if they could get better pictures of the man that was in almost all of Bonamis pictures. When he opened the file and saw the new pictures, he heart stopped, it had to be Neal. It just had to be. He quickly closed the file and got up. He had to get in contact with Mozzie. What day was it? Oh yeah, Wednesday, that mend he was probably babysitting Theo. Peter called out to Diana and got conformation.
He quickly left the building and drove to Diana´s place. When the door was opened, Peter immediately started talking. “Mozzie, I need you to look at something. It´s urgent.”
“Oh, hi suit. Sure, show me.”
Peter grabbed the pictures from his briefcase and showed them to Mozzie, who paled when he saw the pictures.
“How long have you known?” was all Mozzie said, his tone accusingly.
“Two weeks, I was not sure, are you?”
“That´s Neal, Peter. We have to get him, who is this guy?”
“He is a human trafficker we are investigating, his name is Taylor Bonamis. You know him?”
“I don´t tend to associate with human traffickers Peter, it is not my style.” Mozzie sounded a bit offended. “Do you have moving pics? We can´t assess Neal´s condition on stills.”
“No, but I will ask the surveillance team if the can record some.”
“He is not dead.” Mozzie whispered.
“I know, I can´t wrap my head around it either. But we will get him back, I promise.” Peter put his hand on Mozzie´s shoulder.
* * *
Peter knew Ruiz had someone inside Taylor´s organization and he asked for a private meeting. The undercover agent was reluctant, and only agreed when Ruiz explained that they suspected one of their CI´s to be in danger.
When they were finally able to meet, Peter explained that he needed to verify whether one of the persons held by Taylor was indeed a former FBI CI. He showed the picture of what he believed was Neal.
“You mean Taylor´s pet. I don´t know his name, he is referred to as pet. He is FBI?”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn´t strike me as a captive, I thought this was one of those 24/7 deals where people chose to live like this.”
“Well, if this is Neal Caffrey, he didn´t chose this life. We suspect that he was kidnapped.”
“It will be a very hard extraction, he is Taylor´s favorite pet and nobody has been allowed to take him outside the penthouse.”
“What do you mean, nobody is allowed to take him?” Peter´s heart sank, he could imagine what was implied.
“Business partners are allowed to use Taylor´s pets, but he is very protective of this one. Now that you mention it, I only know of one person that has been allowed to play with him, a woman named Cindy. She is known for her cruelty, but as far as I could see, no real damage was done physically to your CI. But I can only imagine the psychological damage. Have you seen him, his behavior? I have seen him only once before, but he wasn´t playing submissive. I guess they have broken him, I´m sorry Peter.”
To be continued in chapter 11.