Spring Break

Chapter 7

After waiting in line to get slices of pizza, Neal carried his plate and drink over to the end of the table where Henry sat with Diana. She was describing an experiment they were running on a cybercriminal whose code name Azathoth was inspired by his fascination with the works of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. With coaching from Tricia, Diana was writing fan fiction based on the Cthulhu Mythos, with lead characters based on members of the White Collar team.

"No characters based on me?" Henry asked.

Diana shot a glance at Neal. "No. I promised not to bring Azathoth's attention to Neal's family. And honestly, I have plenty of characters already... Everyone seems to want a role, and they provide so many 'guidelines' about their characters." She shrugged. "Mozzie wanted to be at least six inches taller and suggested sexcapades for his character that... Well, let's just say I wanted to bleach my brain after that particular discussion."

Henry chuckled. "I can imagine. Don't worry about me, though. I won't petition to be included. I like the idea of being off Azathoth's radar."

"You'll be our secret weapon," Neal said, guessing where Henry was going.

"Yeah... and, umm... speaking of secrets..." He shrugged. "I'm sorry if I got carried away with the birthday thing." He finally provided the details of when and where they would have dinner that evening, and also listed who would join them. "And I'll call Fiona after lunch to invite her. I wasn't sure if I could trust her to keep the secret, but I know you'd like to have her there."

It was more people than Neal had expected. "You've got our relatives flying from D.C. and Baltimore in order to attend. They didn't have to do that."

"And you didn't want a big fuss this year. Angela told me."

"Then why arrange such an elaborate dinner?"

"Partly because June missed out on the big party last year, but mostly... guilt."

Neal blinked in surprise. "I don't follow."

"My last birthday party was massive," Henry explained. "Must have been more than a hundred people there, and the festivities went on for days. I know you wanted to keep things simple but... It didn't seem fair."

Diana listened intently, and she wasn't the only one paying attention. Conversations had come to a stop at their end of the table. Most members of the FBI team knew little about Neal's family, and the Win-Win contingent had been fixated on Henry all morning.

Neal suspected it wasn't just the size of Henry's last birthday party that was causing the guilt, but also the number of parties his family had thrown for him over the years. Only recently had Neal reconnected with most of his Caffrey relatives, and birthdays growing up with his mom hadn't amounted to much more than an excuse to play hooky. Pizza and a beer had been his mother's idea of a sufficient celebration when he turned eighteen.

No wonder he didn't love pizza the way Henry did. It was okay for gatherings of his college friends, but not today. He pushed away his plate, admitting to himself that he had no desire to keep eating what had become his default birthday food as a child.

"Your birthday falls in the summer," Neal pointed out, "when it was convenient to schedule the family reunion our grandmother was dreaming of. Those people would have gathered with or without the excuse of your birthday. And anyway, you weren't exactly having fun."

Henry nodded. He'd been a mess last summer.

"Any other surprises you should warn me about?" Neal asked.

"Well, Angela said she wanted to bring the cake."

"Odd, but okay. What else?"

"I've arranged a gift for June. I'd noticed she was feeling low, and often pets are helpful for someone who's grieving..." Henry paused as several people around him gasped. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not springing a pet on her without notice. We'd talked about it several times these last few weeks while planning the dinner party. She thought it over, did the research, and told me what she'd decided would be an ideal pet — in fact she's already met him. She picked him out herself, but he wasn't old enough to be adopted yet. We thought it would be fun to introduce him to everyone during the party."