His Green-Eyed Puzzle

The Suite

...

It was Saturday morning of the next week and Peter was literally burning holes in the floor with his pacing.

Neal was sitting on the couch with Brandon in his arms, disappointment evident on his face.

El stopped the pacing Peter and tried to calm him, "Hun, don't be so tensed, you both will surely find Ves Quentin. Just give it some time."

"Give it some Time El!" Peter exclaimed, "It's been a whole week since I found out that the car in Faulkner's alley belongs to Quentin! He's been smartly underground from before that day. It was as if he had predicted that we would come looking for him. The whole department is tracking him yet he disappears every time he pops up on the radar. I can't bear the suspense anymore El! He is the only one who knows where Patrick's daughter is; maybe he is keeping her captive. I need to find him, not later but now!"

Peter ran a hand through his hair, even more frustrated now after recalling how Ves Quentin had taken the FBI on a run.

"Neal, how can you just sit there, playing with Don?" Peter questioned, "Don't you want to find my niece?!"

Neal sighed, handing Brandon over to Elizabeth he said, "Peter first of all, it's not confirmed yet whether your niece is indeed alive. But, assuming she is, I want to find her too. You should understand Peter, Ves Quentin wasn't born yesterday; he knows how to evade the police. Hell he HAS been evading the police all his life! He won't be so easy to catch."

"Neal, find a way to trap him," Peter slowly said rubbing his forehead, "Think something quickly  or I'll go crazy."

The doorbell rang; El opened the door to find Mozzie standing outside.

"Hey Moz, long time no see," El greeted while Brandon giggled on seeing Moz.

Taking Don in his own arms Moz entered, "Hello Jr Caffrey, it's nice to see you so bubbly. You seem to be getting along well with your new found family here."

"Here is a new toy for you, Caffrey," Moz said handing a little truck to Brandon and placing him down on the floor to play with it, "You can load your own treasures on it and travel far away."

"Moz," Neal warned, "Don't mislead my son."

Moz sighed, "You are no longer fun Neal, since you became a dad, it's as if you have aged 20 years!"

"Are you here to tell me this Mozzie?," Neal asked.

"Oh no," Moz replied, "Remember you told me about Ves Quentin, well it seems I have a way to locate him."

"How, tell me!" Peter exclaimed.

"Well I know a guy who knows the guy, who makes Ves Quentin's business appointments, so I dropped a hint that 2 gentlemen wanted to invest in Quentin business and a meeting has been fixed, for next Sunday."

"Oh thank you Mozzie," Peter gushed, "I could almost kiss you now."

"Then I better get going," Moz said, gathering his stuff, "I don't wish to defile my image further by being chummy with Feds too."

As he walked towards the door, Moz turned and said, "Remember, the meeting is on next Sunday 12p.m. at The Hungry Belly."

El closed the door behind him and walked towards her husband and Neal. Placing a hand on Peter's arm she whispered, "Hun I need to talk to Neal, can you give us a minute?"

Peter knew better than to question his wife, when she had her serious face on.

So he simply nodded, got up and stretched himself and said, "I will go and lay down for some time, my head has been pounding since yesterday."

"And take Brandon with you, will you?" El added, "His milk bottle is already upstairs, he will go back to sleep if you feed him."

"As you say hun," Peter walked towards Brandon and picked him up.

As the toy truck fell from his hand he started crying.

"Shhh baby," Peter cooed, "How about I tell you a story while you sip your milk?"

Brandon calmed down as Peter carried him upstairs.

Neal raised his hands, surrendering himself already, "Am I in trouble El?"

"I don't know," El replied, "Tell me something Neal. I can understand why Peter is so excited to find Quentin, it's his only way to find Patrick's daughter. But you have a more solid reason to be agitated about not finding him, yet here you are so calm and so sure of yourself."

"Maybe I'm just built that-" Neal started to say, but on noticing the look on El's face he sighed and got up.

It was Neal who started pacing now, "Everything is happening so quickly El. I met Brandon just 2 weeks ago! I know I have been curious to know about his mother since then, but now that the chance seems near my heart is not into it. I don't know what to expect once we find her. I mean, Quentin could be keeping her captive but I think she was there with him in that car willingly."

"How can you say that Neal," El asked.

"El, the woman who wrote the letter I received loves Brandon a lot," Neal answered, "If she was giving up her child by force, she would have attempted to get him back from the basket at least once. But she never even stepped out of the car and she was sobbing, not wailing or screaming at Quentin. What if she was not Brandon's mother? What if we don't find her at all?"

El reassured Neal, "But there is also a possibility that you both May find her. Don't you want to meet her Neal?"

"I do!" Neal exclaimed, "I so desperately want to know her! Those eyes have been consuming my dreams since the night we found Don. But I'm scared thinking about the future El. What after that? Will she take Brandon away? I can't live without my son El. Will she give us a chance at a life together? Do I even WANT to try a life together?"...

Neal sighed and smiled, "You must be thinking I'm such a wuss and soft hearted. But I really am scared to know the end of this suspense. For Peter this is a family reunion. For me, it could turn into my son being taken away from me. I don't want Brandon to grow up in a broken family the way I did."

El could see from Neal's troubled face, how torn he was between his desire to meet the mother of his child and the fear that he would lose Brandon.

El placed a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks, "Neal everything will be fine. We won't let Brandon be taken away from us. He's our family too now. And so are you... And no I'm not saying this because Brandon's mom may be our niece, but because I know Peter looks at you like his son. Even before Brandon came into our life, you have been our family Neal. And you are not soft hearted; you are just a father who loves his son."

Neal placed his hand over El's, "Thank you El, I guess I needed this. I cannot hide from the truth, its better I face it quickly so that I can deal with it with equal efficiency. And no matter what, I won't let Brandon be snatched away from me, not at any cost."

"That's the Neal I like," El smiled, "Its Saturday today, you will be taking Brandon to the park in the evening, while I, am going to enjoy an early dinner with my husband. I haven't had him to myself for so long"...

Neal laughed, "Ok El, you go out with your husband tonight while I will look after my son, and believe me we'll have more fun tonight"...

Neal walked upstairs while El started setting the table for lunch.

Neal walked into Peter's room. Brandon was fast asleep, while Peter had just gotten off the phone.

"I can't believe the whole world is conspiring against me," Peter said, "I can't even sleep now."

"Why what happened?" Neal asked.

"It was Jones on the line," Peter said, "He enquired at The Mirage about the night of 2nd June; the receptionist said that you booked a honeymoon suite that night... On the name of Mr and Mrs Caffrey."

Neal just stared.

"And the receptionist still remembered you," Peter continued, "He said you had the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, in your arms that night. You both couldn't get enough of each other that night. And yes she indeed had enchanting green eyes"...

...