The Dreamer

Chapter 9: Say It with Flowers

The Aloha Emporium. January 27, 2005. Thursday afternoon.

"You're positive this won't injure the orchids?" Maggie studied uneasily the array of electronics Travis had spread out on her workbench.

Neal's main role since arriving at the Emporium was to maintain harmonious relations between Maggie, Mozzie, and Travis. They'd gathered on the second floor where the green rooms and Maggie's workroom were located. Maggie had the floor plan of the mansion spread out in front of her and was finalizing the flower placement. The countertops were filled with flowers with many of the arrangements already assembled.

Maggie was unique among New York florists in her use of living orchids for arrangements. By incorporating the entire orchid plant in her designs, she could provide rarer orchids without harming them. The customer in effect rented flowers for the occasion. It was a marketing technique that was attracting a growing clientele and also was ideal for White Collar's purposes. For the Rinaldi party, Travis and Mozzie were turning the orchids into floral spies. They were being equipped with tiny bugs which would be removed when the plants were retrieved on Sunday. Once the bugs had been placed in the arrangements, Neal's assignment was to paint them to blend in with the plants.

Neal turned around when he heard footsteps on the stairs. A few seconds later, Peter stepped into the room. Travis and Mozzie only gave him brief nods before resuming their work. Peter approached Neal, asking in a low voice, "Everything going okay?" with a nod to the two of them.

"They've been maintaining a running dialogue about listening devices. If I could understand more of what they were talking about, I'm sure it would be an education. I'm here primarily to act as a facilitator, but they don't need me."

"Not true," Maggie retorted. "I rely upon you and particularly your artistic eye." Wiping her hands on her garden apron, she showed Peter her diagrams for the events.

"There are enough of us that we hope the staff won't notice us sneaking into rooms not being decorated," Neal said. "Mozzie will search the upstairs while Jones, Maggie, and Steve stay in the event rooms. I'll case out the ground floor. We're taking extra bugs to plant. The decision to add more will be made based on how much detecting equipment we find."

"I suspect you won't have much luck," Peer warned. "The orchids in the dining room will be our best bet. Rinaldi's so security-conscious, even those bugs may not be able to be activated."

"Not necessarily, Suit," Mozzie replied without looking up. "With the cell phones everyone carries, attempts to monitor conversations during a party could be fruitless."

"At least, that's our hope," Travis said. "If we find a detector in the dining room, Jones will plant a device that will allow us to activate the bugs once the detector's turned off."

Mozzie's nose wriggled when Travis mentioned the device. "Don't you need me to test it before we go in the field?"

Travis pondered the question. "I've already checked it out. However, I might be willing to exchange tips if you'd let me have a look at your superheterodyned amplitude spectrum analyzer."

"I can't be bought, Space Suit," Mozzie scoffed as he tweaked a bug into position.

Travis raised a brow. "Not even if I indoctrinate you into the inner strategies of SETI?"

Mozzie wavered, tweezers in mid-air. "Including the Air Force confidential reports from Project Blue Book?"

Peter rolled his eyes as he listened to the two of them. "Obviously, two of a kind. I'm going to take off. El knew I was coming and prepared a shopping list."

Mozzie jerked his head around. "That better include honey wine."

"Two cases," Peter assured him. He turned to Neal "Don't forget, I expect to see your Owen Wilson look tomorrow. The bullpen insists on it."