Caffrey Flashback

Chapter 45: Happy Endings

Neal's loft. Monday evening. March 8, 2004.

Not long after Peter called, Neal's cell phone rang again. This time it was his aunt Noelle.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the dinner plans," Neal said. "I guess Graham decided Henry needed to get back to Baltimore."

"Yes, I spoke to Graham when he returned from the hospital and I agreed it was best for Henry to go home. While we were packing he filled me in on the events at the airstrip." She sounded stuffy, as if she had a cold. Or...

"Have you been crying? You know Henry's okay, right? It was just a dye pack." Neal glanced at the shirt Henry had left behind when he'd packed up this afternoon, the red dye now dried in place. It should probably go in the trash, unless he'd need it to pull off a con someday where he pretended he'd been shot.

"Graham said things didn't go according to plan."

It was tempting to mention there hadn't been much of a plan, but Neal only said, "Once things fell apart and Peter got there, I thought the best way out was to make the pilot and Gil believe I was dead. Then they could leave without fear that I'd tell the FBI what I'd learned about their plans. The person in all of this who most wanted to kill me was Robert, so we had Peter impersonate him. It was all a con. Fake Robert, fake gun, fake bullets, fake death."

"Do you have any idea what that plan did to your psyche? Not to mention Peter's? You set up a scenario where your father figure had to shoot you. Peter must have hated that."

Recalling what Peter had said immediately afterward, Neal answered, "Yeah, I got that. He let me know he wasn't thrilled about it. But I think we're okay now."

"We'll see. You may have set yourself up for another round of nightmares." She paused. "And Henry made it worse."

"I think he decided to spare me the physical and emotional stress of being shot by Peter. I didn't know Henry was going to jump in front of me. It was probably a last-minute decision."

"And a poor decision. It makes me even more worried about him. Normally Henry would have realized that scenario was too close to what happened when you were a child, when the abuser who was supposed to be your father figure shot the man who was trying to rescue you."

Neal hadn't thought of it that way, but Noelle was right. Henry at his best would have considered the similarities and avoided making Neal relive that experience. It was another sign that Henry wasn't holding things together. "Good thing we've already covered those memories, huh? It shouldn't be as bad, now."

"Unfortunately I'm still too upset by it all to think like a therapist. And I came back to Baltimore before I realized how all of this might hit you."

"Have you talked to Henry?" Neal asked.

"A little louder than talking," Noelle said. "Fortunately airports are loud places. He took a painkiller before boarding the plane and slept most of the way home, so I had to stop yelling at him."

"Are you going to yell at me?"

"Graham assured me that Peter took care of that."

"Yeah, but Peter was too shaken by almost shooting me to give it his best effort. C'mon. You don't want me to be jealous of Henry, do you?"

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the call. "Neal, are you teasing me?"

"Mmm. Teasing, taunting, whatever."

"The first time you talked to me as an adult, it was a phone call in January after Henry had been released from a hospital. You sounded terrified of me."