A little while later, the two men and one little girl had just finished eating dinner. Neal sat on the couch, and Katie immediately climbed into his lap.
"Where's Mommy?" She asked, her eyes tearing up.
"She'll be here soon." Neal said, praying he was right.
"I want Mommy." A few tears slid her cheeks.
"I know, Sweetheart." Neal said, wrapping his good arm around the girl as she snuggled to his chest. "I know."
Neal continued to hold the girl until her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep.
"I guess we don't get to play hide and seek tonight." Peter said, as he gently picked the little girl up off of Neal and laid her on the sofa.
"Go ahead and hide, I'll seek." Neal said, as he stood up.
"Think I'll pass."
/
/
The next morning, the FBI and Neal were getting ready for the meeting. They were inside a surveillance van.
Neal's phone rung and he looked at it.
"It's Kingman." He said.
"Put it on speaker phone." Peter instructed.
"Hello." Neal said.
"Change of plans." A voice said over the phone. "An acquaintance of mine will make the exchange."
"I don't like changes." Neal said.
"This one is unavoidable."
"Who is this acquaintance?"
"She is a lovely woman wearing a blue summer dress, you can't miss her."
"She has the money?"
"Yes."
"Okay."
Then the phone went dead.
"He's making Maureen do the exchange." Peter said. "He's probably going to be watching and listening."
"Why don't I just grab her and get her to safety?" Neal asked.
Peter rummaged around in a drawer, then handed Neal a small electronic device.
"A scrambler?" Neal asked.
"It's effective for three feet." Peter said. "Convince her quickly that you are there to help her, then get her out of there. After you convince her, turn it off so it won't interfere with our radios. I will have some agent following you and some searching for Kingman, my guess is that he will be close."
"Okay." Neal said.
Peter handed him the pouch of diamonds. "Just in case. If you have to choose between her life and the diamonds, you know the chose to make."
Neal nodded, then left the van and headed for the meeting spot. Once there, he saw Maureen. She was carrying a briefcase. As he walked up to her, he noticed that her dark sunglasses didn't cover her black eye all he way.
"You." The woman hissed angrily.
"We meet again." Neal said.
"Give me the damn diamonds."
"I work for the FBI now." Neal said. "I'm here to help."
"No." She said franticly. "Go away, please."
"I won't let him hurt you, I promise."
"He's got my daughter." She said, near tears. "Please….."
"No he doesn't." Neal said. "Katie is safe."
"What?"
"Katie is safe."
"Prove it."
"She loves pink and loves playing hide and seek. And the kid only has two gears, full throttle and fast asleep."
"She's safe?" Relief was evident in her posture and her voice.
"Yes."
"How can I trust you?"
"Sometimes you just have a little faith."
"If you are lying, I will kill you."
"I don't doubt that."
"What's the plan?"
"Where's Kingman?"
"No idea."
"We make a run for it, we have FBI agent watching our backs."
"Okay."
Neal turned the scrambler off, grabbed Maureen's hand, and then took off running.
/
/
Peter, Jones, and Diana watched as Neal and Maureen ran. Then they saw Kingman chasing after them.
"Go!" Peter yelled into the radio.
Several agents drew their weapons and aimed them at Kingman, he had no chose but to stop and raise his hands. He knew he was caught.
"We've got him." Neal heard Peter's voice in his ear wig. He stopped running, and pulled Maureen to a stop as well.
'They've got him." Neal said.
"That's because Kingman is an idiot." A voice said. They turned and saw a middle aged man standing there aiming a gun at them. "But I'm not."
"And you are?" Neal asked, as he stepped between him and Maureen.
"Someone who wants those diamonds, and the money. And don't count on any help from your FBI buddies; I have a scrambler of my own. They can't hear you." He motioned with his gun to a parked white van. "Get inside."
Neal knew he had to do as he was told. He just hoped that the man didn't know about his anklet. Him and Maureen climbed into the back of the van, and the man followed. "Go." He told the driver, who pulled out into traffic.
/
/
"We lost all audio on Neal." Jones said, flipping switches. "It's being jammed."
"By who?" Peter wanted to know.
"Probably whoever hired Kingman."
Peter pulled out his phone and called the Marshals to get the location of Neal's tracker. He hoped that the scrambler wasn't strong enough to interfere with it.
/
/
"It was a perfect plan." The man who held a gun on Neal and Maureen said. "Hire Kingman and Foster to steal the diamonds and frame the auctioneer. It would have worked just fine if that little brat hadn't run with the diamonds; kid probably didn't even know what they were. Foster must have given them to her to play with to shut her up. He's an idiot too. But now he's dead, and you two will be joining him very soon."
"She's an innocent child." Maureen said. "And I know that she is safe, so my cooperation ends now."
"I don't need your cooperation now." The man said. "I just need a shield in case the FBI finds us."
"You have what you want." Neal said. "Why don't you let her go, you only need one hostage."
"The man with the gun gets to make the rules." The gunman said.
The van pulled to a stop in front of an abandoned warehouse and the gunman motioned for them to get out. Once out of the van, he motioned towards the warehouse. Neal and Maureen walked towards it, with the two criminals following close behind.
"FBI!" Peter's voice shouted, as the four people were surrounded by agents. "Drop your guns!"
The two men were out numbered and outgunned, so they did as they were told.
"It's over." Neal told Maureen.
"I want to see my baby."
"Of course." Peter said, walking over. "I will call the agent watching her and have them bring her to the bureau."
"I don't know how to thank you." She told the two men. "All of you."
"Come on." Neal said, with a smile. "There is a little lady who really wants to see her Mommy."
/
/
Peter, Neal, and Maureen walked into the agency.
"Mommy!" A voice screamed out.
Katie ran towards her Mom, who knelt down and held out her arms. The little girl lunged herself into her Mom's open arms and the woman stood up, clinging to her daughter tightly.
The agents in the room applauded at the scene, each thinking that this was why they chose to become agents. For happy endings like this, however rare they were.
"Maureen." She turned to see Tony Benson standing there.
"Tony." She smiled, not letting go of her daughter.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around both of them.
Neal watched the scene with a smile, a genuine one, not the fake one that he had spent years perfecting.
"Makes it all worth it, doesn't it." Peter said, standing next to him.
"Yeah." Neal agreed. "It does."
/
/
THE END
What do you think?