Full Circle

Chapter 8 - Take Me to the River

Chapter Description: Peter applies for a promotion. Elizabeth helps with the wedding plans. Neal makes a breakthrough, thanks to Sara.

White Collar offices. July 17, 2006. Monday morning.

Peter uploaded his resume — the one he'd obsessed over all weekend — and pressed the submit button. There was no going back now. He'd officially applied for the Organized Crime Section Head opening.

He almost jumped at the sound of a knock on his office door, and he immediately closed the HR site on his laptop. It's not that he felt guilty about possibly leaving the White Collar unit, he told himself. He just didn't want the pressure of people asking about the status or feeling bad for him if he didn't win the promotion. Who knew how many others would apply? Section Head openings didn't come along often, so there could be a lot of candidates vying for the role.

It was Neal knocking, and he was here surprisingly early. During the school year he worked an earlier shift to have more time for his classes in the evening, but for the summer break he was taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in.

"Come in," Peter said. And when Neal closed the door firmly behind him, it made Peter even more certain why Neal wanted to talk before the rest of the team arrived. "I'm assuming you have news about James?"

Neal nodded.

"I'm trying not to worry, but your frown isn't reassuring me. What happened?"

###

There was a time when Neal would have faked a smile and might even have fooled Peter into thinking he was happy — or at least not distressed. Could the Neal of two years ago have understood the sheer relief of trusting Peter with the truth?

Peter already knew the outline of the plan for Sunday. Henry was supposed to approach James, with Neal and Mozzie listening in. The next step was convincing James to accompany Henry to the Win-Win offices to talk, where the company psychologists could interact with him and refine their initial assessment. The final step was learning exactly what James was up to — which entailed convincing him that Henry and Win-Win could help him achieve his goal.

And that had happened. Sort of.

Peter listened intently as Neal summed up the events of yesterday and then said, "So Henry decided to channel Robert?"

Neal nodded. "He thought it was important to be what James expected. But how much of the reverse was happening? If James was expecting someone like Robert, did he feel a need to say his goal was blackmail rather than clearing his name?"

"What did the psychologists think?"

"That blackmailing Pratt is likely his true goal. James has already served his time, and there isn't much to gain from clearing his name." Neal let his confusion show. "But what does he gain from blackmail? He can't expect enough money to finance staying on the run the rest of his life. And if he goes back into WITSEC, he can't expect the Marshals to let him keep the money."

"Did James specifically say that money was what he wanted from Pratt?" Peter closed his laptop and leaned forward. "Maybe the point is that Pratt pays — that he's punished in some way."

"That's what Mozzie said. He thinks the important thing for James is balancing the scales. And he warned me that for James that could run the gamut from a little money to ruining Pratt's life in some way — even killing him. While I'd wondered if James was playing up what he wanted, Mozzie said he could be playing down what he wants if he doesn't think Henry would be cool with murder. I'm still left with the question I've had from the beginning: Is my dad a killer?"