Tsunami

Chapter 1: Summons

Federal Building. June 27, 2006. Tuesday morning.

Why hasn't anyone noticed?

As Neal scanned the bullpen, he felt out of sync with the agents. Surely someone would have said something. Was this the unfortunate result of being an expert con artist?

He and Sara had returned to New York yesterday evening. Two hours later, her plane departed for London. Neal had held off telling anyone so he could do it in person, but now he was beginning to regret his decision. He'd left a text message for Mozzie, who was currently in Tokyo, but Mozzie had been involved in the preparations and he wouldn't have passed on the news.

At the start of the workday, Neal had lingered in the breakroom over his first cup of swill from the coffeemaker, but no one was in the mood to chat. If it had been Monday, he probably would have had better luck, but on a Tuesday everyone was in work mode. Diana razzed him for playing in Disneyland while the others did his work on top of their own, but she left before Neal could reveal anything.

When Sara returned to her office, she could sit back and let others ask her. Although perhaps she too might need to explain. The tangible sign she wore wasn't a traditional design.

Neal was beginning to think Travis and Richard's approach was by far preferable. White Collar's tech expert and his partner had returned from a vacation with rings to symbolize the commitment they'd made to each other. If Travis were here, Neal could compare notes, but Travis was spending the week in Los Angeles.

"Caffrey, are you going to stare off into space forever?" Diana mocked, strolling over. "Don't tell me you're already dreaming about how you'll spend your loot."

"Take it easy on the guy," Jones chided as he approached them. "Figuring out what to do with millions of dollars isn't easy."

Neal snorted. "I still have lots of time for daydreaming. The auction will be several months from now."

"Be sure to let me know how to bid," Diana said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've always wanted an original Raphael for my living room."

Neal restrained the size of his huff. He knew that he'd be subjected to a round of teasing if the painting was authenticated, but he'd hoped that it would have faded away by the time he returned from vacation. Evidently not. Suddenly letting them in on his news didn't seem so necessary. That warm glow in his heart was all he needed.

"It's been so long you've probably forgotten," Jones added, "but we're scheduled to have a morning briefing in a few minutes."

"You'll have a lot to catch up on," Diana warned. "While you've been relaxing at a guest ranch and playing with Mickey Mouse, we grunts have been shouldering all the work." She turned to Peter's second-in-command. "Jones, didn't you tell me you had a stack of files with Neal's name on them?"

Jones tried to keep a straight face. "There are so many, I'd planned to wait till after the briefing to give them to him. If Caffrey had seen them piled on his desk, he would have turned tail and run."

She grinned. "Welcome back to our world, Neal."

"It's good to be back. I've missed your teases."

Neal's first chance to see Peter was at the briefing and he was in work mode as well. Neal stashed that warm glow to bring out at a later time. Neal Caffrey, White Collar's ace consultant, could be a team player.

He was a little surprised to see Tricia Wiese there. The agent was the profiler for the Mansfeld brothers but she didn't attend routine briefings. Her presence was quickly explained.

"I invited Tricia here to give an update on Victor Liu," Peter said.

The recent MIT graduate was a member of the Pod hacker group. He'd been involved in the theft of a Turner painting in London a month ago while working as an intern at a film production company's campus outside London. He'd been a key player in the attempt to frame Mozzie for the crime.