White Collar: An unofficial novel - part 9

Queen of hearts

It was Saturday but Peter could not keep the name Vincent Adler out of his head. He drove to the office to research. He had a nagging feeling he had heard the name before and he was right. Vincent Adler was the billionaire who had disappeared unexpectedly taking a lot of people's money with him in a giant Ponzi Scheme. A con never solved.

A man with that kind of money could reach far when he wanted something done. But why? He had taken the money and disappeared. He had money enough to last ten lifetimes. And he had disappeared without a trace. Why risk this?

As he browsed through the FBI's investigation for the scheme he saw a photo of Vincent Adler. And close behind him was... Neal. A younger version, naturally, but Neal Caffrey never the less.

Baffled, Peter stared at Neal's empty desk.

Neal? His Neal? Involved with Vincent Adler? Did Neal not know who was behind all this, or did the young man still keep secrets from him? And a secret of this magnitude too?

Peter took a long walk and finally decided what to do. He stopped by a liquor store to buy some beer and wine and went to see his pet convict.

He knocked and it did not take long for the kid to open.

"Peter."

"Hey." Peter marched right inside. Neal closed the door behind him.

"It's late." The tone and the body language said it all but Peter would go through with this anyway.

"Yeah," he agreed. He stared at a painting under work on the aisle. "That's not supposed to be one of Monet's lost frames?" he asked.

"No, just trying to clear my head."

"Good. About that." He pulled the photo he had found from his inner pocket. "Vincent Adler... Seven years ago, he ran a huge Ponzi scheme and disappeared with a billion dollars. You knew him?"

The kid stared at the photo.

"He's the man who made me who I am today."

"Mm-hmm," Peter said, pleased that the connection as such would not be an issue at least. He returns the photo to his pocket. "He's rained hell down on both our lives. You knew? You knew, and you didn't say anything?"

"I just figured it out myself, okay? I'm trying to reconcile the Adler I knew with the man responsible for—"

"For Kate? For Mozzie?"

"Yeah."

"So let's get him." He walked over to the table and unpacked his bag. "Come on. Start talking."

The kid remained by the door.

"Yeah, I'm not much of a beer drinker, so..."

Peter grinned.

"I know. That's why I brought you this." He handed him the bottle of red wine.

"Oh. I don't recognize the bottle."

"That's because it cost as much as the beer."

"Wow. I don't even need a corkscrew."

"Nope." Peter put five of the six beers in Neal's fridge. "Okay. Now..." He found a wineglass in the cupboard. "How do you know Adler?"

"It's a long story."

Peter opened the bottle and poured the kid some wine.

"If we are gonna catch this guy, just like I caught you, I need to know everything."

"There's too much to tell."

Peter sighed and looked at Neal. It was the reaction he had expected but still, he had had a vain hope for a more helpful attitude.