Caffrey Envoy

Chapter 1 - Surprise Visitor

A/N: If you've read "By the Book" in the Caffrey Conversation AU, you may recall I mentioned a babysitter who called Neal and his cousins "the spawn." Here, the babysitter will tell his side of the story.

Includes a child who has an upset stomach, and another child with bloody nose. The third child just screams. Ear plugs are recommended.

Content Warning for references to a miscarriage.

White Collar Division, New York. January 16, 2004 - Friday afternoon.

When Special Agent Peter Burke returned from lunch, an administrative assistant informed him that General Eccles of the U.S. Air Force had called with a request to meet Neal Caffrey. The general would be available to stop by the Federal Building that afternoon.

"Where's Neal?" Peter asked Jones.

Jones looked up from a case file he'd been reading at his desk. "He's with Agent Wiese. We want to do surveillance on a suspected fence, and they're deciding on the best location to set up the van. They should be back any minute. Something up?"

"Maybe." Peter mentally ran through every con, fraud, forgery and theft Neal had confessed to, but could recall only one that involved the military. He still couldn't believe someone as young as Neal had passed himself off as a British Admiral. Neal had simply said it had been dark, and left it at that. "Has Neal worked any cases recently that the Air Force might be interested in?"

"There was that fake mortgage lender scamming military families, but I think all the victims had Army ties."

"See what you can find out about General Eccles. There's a chance he'll tell me his interest in Neal when I call him back, but I doubt it. Nothing's that simple when Neal is involved."

"On it," Jones answered, and Peter went to his office to return the general's call.

Peter spoke to an aide who politely declined to describe the reason for the general's interest in Neal. They set up the meeting for 2:30, and Peter returned to check in with Jones. "Got anything?"

Jones shook his head. "Eccles has an impressive military record. No ties to recent crimes as a victim or suspect. Nothing pops as a reason he'd be interested in Caffrey or the FBI."

Neal strolled off the elevator with Agent Tricia Wiese, both of them holding cups of coffee. "Neal! Get over here."

Neal leaned against Jones' desk and took in Peter's expression. "Should we have picked up coffee for you, too?"

"I don't care about your overpriced beverages. Tell me why General Eccles of the U.S. Air Force is interested in you."

Neal sipped his coffee as he thought, and finally said, "I don't recognize the name. There was that mortgage case last week, but the victims were in the Army." Another sip of coffee. "Do you have a picture of him?"

"Jones?"

With a few keystrokes, Jones had a picture on his computer screen. "Here you go."

Neal walked around the desk to look at the picture over Jones' shoulder. "Still not familiar."

"I don't like this," Peter said. "He's going to be here any minute. Jones and I will keep looking for information about him. I'll have you meet with him in Hughes' office, so we can see you from here. Wave at us if you need help, and I'll come upstairs. Is there any way you can signal us details of what he wants?"

"We could plant a bug," Jones suggested.

"It takes half an hour to set up the monitoring equipment," Neal said, with the resignation of someone who had been assigned that task more often than he liked. "Do you know Morse code?"