Caffrey Flashback

Chapter 24: Switched

Jacobi Hospital. Friday morning. February 27, 2004.

In a generic janitorial uniform, Mozzie passed unnoticed through the hospital halls. Inwardly he shuddered at the thought of the accumulated germs he was being exposed to, but he was determined to do this. He timed his entrance into the ICU during the morning shift change, when visitors were temporarily banished. But he faced a dilemma when he reached Neal's room.

Neal was asleep, and not inclined to wake up. Shaking him only elicited a sleepy, "'nry?" When Mozzie didn't answer Neal's eyes partially opened and he repeated, "Henry?"

"No, it's me," said Mozzie. "Listen, do you –"

"Where's Henry?" Neal interrupted. "Said he'd keep her away."

Mozzie didn't need to hear the beeping of the machine monitoring Neal's heartbeat to tell that the young man was distressed. And if that beeping didn't slow down, someone would be here soon to investigate. "He sent me to help."

"Mmm," replied Neal, conveying a great deal of doubt in a single syllable. "Where'd he go?"

"I'll find him, okay? Just calm down."

According to the beeping, Neal was partially satisfied with this answer. Mozzie departed, following the arrows to the waiting room. Clearly Neal wasn't able to answer his questions. Hopefully Henry could fill in the blanks, because there wasn't a lot of time.

The tricky part would be making the contact without making the suits suspicious. Mozzie snuck into a storage area to slip off his blue coveralls. In his street clothes he would blend more easily among the denizens of the waiting area.

Standing next to a potted plant, he spied Special Agent Peter Burke with several people Mozzie didn't recognize. Probably more government lackeys. Then he heard a voice from behind him. "Mozz?"

He turned to see Neal. But that wasn't possible. He had seen Neal in the ICU, barely able to keep his eyes open much less walk around. Now Mozzie saw Neal standing in a signature vintage suit, fedora in hand, blue eyes wide in surprise. There was only one explanation. His fears regarding Western, industrialized medicine had been proven correct. "Neal, they cloned you!"

Neal started to laugh. But it wasn't Neal's laugh. It sounded like Henry. And a closer look revealed Henry's jaw and broader shoulders, and shorter hair styled to look like Neal's.

He considered the possibility that some of Henry's DNA had been added to the clone, but reluctantly discarded that theory. "Contact lenses?" Mozzie asked.

Henry nodded. "I'm supposed to impersonate Neal when they question Churchill. Peter thinks it will rattle the guy enough to reveal more information. I just put in the contacts and was on my way back to see if I pass inspection. Neal's doing better but he's still in ICU."

"I saw him. Listen, we don't have much time. Take this." Mozzie handed Henry an Atlantic bond. "In the confusion after the Feds swarmed the place yesterday, I grabbed Neal's things from the laundry. This was in his jacket pocket."

"The bond Kate gave him." Henry slipped the bond into his jacket.

"I checked it under polarized light to see if it was an original, or one of Neal's forgeries. I saw where Neal had signed it, and I saw something else. It was a code. Or from the looks of it, an encryption key."

"Do you think it was a message from Kate?" Henry asked.

"No, Kate loves the classics. Encryption is more Adler's style."

"Why –" Henry started, but Mozzie didn't have time to hang around and chat.

"The Suit's coming this way. You have to decide if Neal would want to keep the bond, give it to Kate, or hand it over to his government overlords." Mozzie scurried away, disappearing behind the door to the ICU before he could be intercepted by the Feds.