Skating on Thin Ice

Chapter 1: Subliminal Signals

Winston-Winslow. Friday, January 12, 2007.

Peter stopped at the coffee bar in the lounge to fill his mug before heading to his office. He'd worked two weeks at his new position. No longer a Special Agent for the FBI, he was now the lead financial investigator for the top private investigative firm in the country. The fact that the New York office was run by Neal's half-brother Henry and that Neal and Sara were both working for the firm was purely beside the point. Or was that really all he'd needed to know to make the switch?

Yesterday not only did he and El celebrate his birthday but also the new normal in his life. Neal, Sara, Henry, Eric, Mozzie, Janet, Michael, Angela, and June joined them at Donatella's for the party. The gifts reinforced his new reality. El gave him a cue stick to be kept at the office for the pool table in the lounge. On behalf of Satchmo, she presented him with a coffee mug decorated with a photo of the three of them for the office. The old FBI mug was now a relic of a former life.

Baby Burke, conceived only a couple of months ago, also provided a gift—a poster of Steppenwolf. Peter announced his intention to display it in his office where it would blend in well with the rock posters lining many of the walls in other offices and corridors. Only a privileged few family members would know that Baby Burke had been conceived on the night Peter sang "Born To Be Wild" at the party before Neal and Sara's wedding.

If he ever wondered why he'd kicked off the FBI bureaucratic dust for the comparatively freewheeling ways of Win-Win, all he had to do was look at the poster to know why. His destiny had been lying in wait for him ever since he played in a garage band in high school.

Neal hadn't given him a gift at the restaurant. He said it would be waiting for him in his office. Peter suspected he'd find a framed photo of him in his Julius Caesar costume along with Neal as Mark Antony. They'd worn the outfits for a sting at a gaming convention a few years ago. Neal had already presented him with a bust of Julius Caesar. A photo would be the perfect accompaniment.

Although Peter liked to grouch about costumes, that was the old Peter Burke. Now that he was a member of Win-Win, disguises might be necessary. And if nothing else, the photo would be an ice-breaker.

But when he stepped inside his office, instead of the photo, he saw the painting from their puzzle niche at La Palette bistro. Neal had painted it just before he started working for Adler. The painting was in the style of Matisse and depicted a green sun over a cityscape as seen through open French doors. Peter had spent three years trying to figure out which one of the many paintings at the restaurant was Neal's. He only guessed the solution after being given some gigantic hints.

Neal told him about the painting when they were preparing to embark on separate career paths. Back then, Neal was leaving for Win-Win, and Peter would be the Section Head of Organized Crime. The puzzle table at the bistro was an attempt to stay connected.

Neal told him the sun represented the green lollipop he'd given Peter long ago, but more than that, it was a signal that he needed to shake off his preconceived notions about the future and start along a fresh path. In 2003, Neal reached out to him in St. Louis, challenging him to change Neal's trajectory. Exit Neal Caffrey, art forger and thief. Enter Neal Caffrey, consultant to the FBI.

Peter had often thought about that moment as he contemplated Henry's offer to join Win-Win. Despite the attractiveness of the position and the large pay increase, he'd hesitated over leaving the organization where he'd assumed he'd spend his entire career. But when Henry dangled that green lollipop of working at Win-Win, was it any wonder he accepted?

Now he'd have Neal's painting in his office as a reminder to dream big.

When he texted Neal to thank him, he replied that he was on the phone with John Hobhouse, the head of the Interpol art crimes task force. Peter had resigned from his position on the task force when he assumed the role of Organized Crime section head at the Bureau. Since the FBI no longer wanted their agents to work part-time for the international policing organization, Neal negotiated an agreement with Win-Win instead. He was Win-Win's representative on the task force, with the firm providing additional resources as needed.