By the Book

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Nightmares: The Trap

A/N: In the last chapter, Neal said 90% of what Henry had planned was the set up, and the rest would be a trap. We're about to fall into the trap.

Burke residence, Brooklyn. January 7, 2004 – Wednesday night.

When Neal returned to the living room with a glass of water, he was glad to see Henry's laptop closed. The crime scene photo Henry had been displaying, showing where Neal had been found almost dead after being abducted as a child, made Neal queasy.

He wasn't surprised that Henry had looked up information about the ordeal. They both had inquisitive minds, and Henry often acted like a protective older brother. He'd want to understand the demons in Neal's past and try to help slay them. But Neal didn't want to talk about them. And that meant he didn't want Peter to get too curious about them, either. Neal was starting to think that while having a big brother or a father figure was nice, dealing with both of them at once was overwhelming.

It was a relief when Henry jumped to yet another topic: the experiment he'd first mentioned in the pub.

"We're going to try a variation on the question session about my background, but this time we'll let Neal answer the question. Agent Burke, you can use any means you want to convince Neal to tell you the name of the city where I live. Neal, you can lie, evade, or take any other means to avoid telling him where I live. But you can't leave. You both have to stay here in this room, until I say the experiment is over. Got that?"

Neal got it. This was where the set up ended, and the trap began. Clearly Henry had noticed that Neal couldn't seem to lie to Peter. That was embarrassing, but maybe at the end of this experiment Henry could explain the cause and the fix for the situation. And honestly, Neal was curious about the outcome of this experiment. He nodded, agreeing to walk into the trap.

Peter also nodded. He turned on the sofa to face Neal. "This doesn't have to be a big deal. Tell me the name of the city, and we can have this over with."

Neal grinned. "Where would be the fun in that?"

"You've already told me he doesn't live in D.C."

"Did I?" Neal countered. "I said his mom moved away from D.C. when she got married. That only means he didn't grow up there. He could have moved there as an adult."

"Then why stay at his grandparents' home the weekend you were both in town?"

"Oh, you should see their house, Peter. It's amazing."

Elizabeth walked downstairs wearing a fuzzy green robe over a pair of pajamas. "Still going?" she asked with a yawn. "I have the guest room ready whenever you want it."

"I'm sorry, hon," Peter said. "I didn't realize it was getting late."

"That's fine," she said. "If you're all good down here, I'm going to grab a book and take it upstairs to read. Is there anything you need?"

When they said no, she pulled a book from the shelf and went back upstairs, yawning again. Neal almost yawned in return, and wondered about the time. He couldn't check, because Henry had taken their watches almost as soon as they arrived at the Burke residence.

"Does he live in D.C.?" Peter asked.

"No."

"In the United States?"

"Yes."

Henry spoke up. "At this rate, we'll still be at this until dawn. Are you going to name every city in the country and ask if that's it? I expected something more impressive from an FBI agent."