Save Me If You Can

Save Me If You Can Chapter 11

THE PRE-STING

Peter was annoyed at the direction of the conversation, shaking his head in righteous dissent before Neal could further elaborate his plan.

"No...There must be some other way to lure Hauser back to New York that doesn't include exploiting his dead son."

"By all means," Neal spoke without hiding his annoyance, "let's not be too cruel to the man who handcuffed me to a bed for a week and shot me up with heroin."

"Neal," said Peter, hoping to mollify his former C.I., "I hear you, but let's look at everything else first. Let's go back to the day you were kidnapped. What else do you remember? Don't leave anything out, even if it seems insignificant."

Peter paced somberly with arms crossed as he listened to Neal recount his story. Mozzie, Jones and Diana sat at the table, taking notes, attentively noting and absorbing every word, silence, gesture and tick from Neal.

"Beyond what I've already told you, there isn't much else."

"You can't tell us where the penthouse is, but you remember the view," said Peter, somewhat frustrated.

"There was a skylight. The rest is a blur."

"What about sounds?"asked Diana. "Horns, bells, alarms, anything that might have given you some clue about the location."

"Sorry, Diana. Nothing."

Peter returned to the table to sit before Neal. "Okay, then...let's talk about when you woke up on the street."

"It was an alley."

"Fine, alley...what do you remember?"

"Pain. My head was bleeding. I had no shoes, no cell phone. And I was pretty sick."

"How did you get there?" asked Jones.

"Aldo threw me in the back of a vehicle..."

"What do you remember about the vehicle?" asked Peter.

"Nothing. I don't remember the make. But that's not what's important..."

"It might be," said Diana.

"Trust me, Hauser probably had Aldo destroy it. Besides, it's not what I saw – it's what I heard. Granted, some of it may be slightly unreliable. I was somewhat incapacitated at the time...."

"Go on," said Peter.

"Okay...Hauser rode with us. I was in the back; Aldo was driving. They were talking, planning their next move. I fought to keep conscious, to keep up with the conversation. I missed a lot, but I remember a few things...

"...He said something about an airstrip, the one near the Hudson. I remember because it was the same one where Kate... Anyway, he said something about transferring money, no doubt to Aldo, his payment for the job, and that that would be the end of their arrangement."

Diana looked confused. "How does this help us?"

"There's more," Neal said. "Torch the penthouse. I remember Hauser telling Aldo to torch the penthouse and make sure there was nothing left."

Now Diana looked a bit more hopeful. "We can check records with local police and FDNY to find the penthouse. Any mysterious fires around the time Neal was missing. We can track it back to Hauser."

"Perhaps," said Mozzie, "but if Hauser is as smart as he's been in the past, there won't be anything to track back to him."

Jones rapped the table with a knuckle. "We find the place, we check with the fire investigator, find out what kind of accelerant was used and we can track it back to Hauser's goon, Aldo."