Caffrey Flashback

Chapter 16: Generations

New York hotel room. Tuesday night. February 24, 2004.

Graham Winslow was the early to bed, early to rise sort. He turned in at 10pm on the dot. And Henry wasn't entirely surprised to receive a text from his mother at 10:05. Neal had warned him that Noelle Winslow had stayed in New York, and that after the funeral she had mentioned an intention to have "a talk" with her son. Neal had described her tone as ominous.

Henry texted back to let her know that she could safely avoid her ex-father-in-law. She must have been in the hotel lobby, because minutes later she knocked on the door to the suite.

Instead of hugging Henry the moment he opened the door, she studied him carefully first. "Looking for something?" Henry asked as she finally embraced him.

"You," she said, and then let him go.

"Well you found me. And Pops is upstairs in his room, so you're safe from the inquisition about why you don't want to come back to work for Win-Win. Can I get you a drink?" Henry asked as he led the way to the living area.

"Water will be fine." Noelle stepped out of her shoes and then sank into an overstuffed sofa.

Henry brought her a glass of water and then lounged on the sofa beside her. "Shouldn't you be in Baltimore, inspiring graduate students?"

"I had a PhD candidate handle my classes today. Tomorrow I'll take the red-eye back home. But I needed to talk to you, first."

"You could have just called," Henry said, pretending he didn't see the fierceness in her expression. He was in trouble, and being defensive would only make it worse. The best approach was to remain calm while learning what the issue was, buying time to think up an explanation that would placate her. The fact that she knew exactly what he was doing only made the game more intricate.

"And you could have been too busy to call back."

"You know what Win-Win is like," Henry countered.

"Mmm. Yes, we'll get back to that. But first we're going to talk about Neal."

Henry suppressed a smile, giving his mother an earnest expression. "I'm honored that you're willing to discuss his case with me. How did the session go?"

Annoyance flashed across her face. "You know very well I'm not going to divulge what any of my patients tell me in confidence."

"I know very well that psychologists discuss cases with each other all the time for additional insights and suggestions."

"Not when the patient is someone known to you. Very well known to you, apparently. When you referred Neal to me, you left out some pertinent information. Why on earth didn't you tell me he assisted with your master's degree? You know I would have approached the first session differently if I'd realized he had studied psychology."

"He told you that?" Henry didn't bother hiding his shock.

"No, Agent Peter Burke told me. Which brings me to something else you might have mentioned. Peter has quite the hold on Neal, doesn't he?"

"What do you mean?" Henry asked.

"When he saw Neal doing something he disapproved of on Sunday, and Neal refused to stop, all Peter had to do was call Neal son and Neal immediately obeyed."

That revelation propelled Henry to his feet. "He's using that to manipulate Neal? That isn't how it was supposed to work. I just wanted..." He trailed off, noticing Noelle's satisfied expression. "Okay, you got me. Yes, I knew that Neal thinks of Peter as a father figure. In fact, I encouraged it."