Old Habits Die Hard (Private)

write.explore.imagine

write.explore.imagine

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Harper smirked as she slid into the art museum. It was almost too easy, their alarm system was two years out of date and after a trip here earlier as a potential buyer she'd got all the information she needed. She flicked hair out of her face, despite putting it up it still seemed to get in the way. She was dressed in all black, normally night robbery wasn't her style but circumstances called for a change of pace. She smiled, sliding over to the wall and looking over the painting. It was good, but not extraordinary. Simple but elegant. Still if she were going to pick one to steal there were more valuable paintings. So why this one... well that wasn't her concern at the moment. She looked over the alarms around the painting, pulling out her kit and getting to work.


Within 10 minutes she had the painting off the wall, cut out of the frame and rolled up in a tube. She looked over the empty frame for a minute before putting it back on the wall and making her exit. She figured she had about 6 hours before the painting was discovered as missing. She couldn't get out of the country, not yet so she had 6 hours to find a safe spot to lay low.

​



@Nerdygeekflower
 
Neal was staring at his alarm clock daring it to ring. Which was ironic since he was already up so if it did it wasn't like it would wake him early. He rolled over in his very comfy and very expensive bed and had another thought that he really should just marry June or maybe get her to adopt him. It was an insane thought but he would be less of a free loader. He shook the thought out as lack of sleep. He didn't sleep very much. It was an old habit of a con, that they didn't sleep heavily. The lightest noise could wake one. Which left him thinking about how nice June was to him and he really should hug that women more... He shook it off and checked the time. Heist time, as they say in the criminal world. He shook his head, bed time in the anklet world. Neal shook his head and rolled out of bed to get some milk. Warm milk. He found some, because June -good lord that women is perfect- hd made cookies and milk before she left late to go visit her sister-or cousin or family person- .
 
Peter had been up early that morning, even gone for a jog by the time he got the call from the office. He'd woken up early and it was a shame to waste that time he could be using. He'd gotten up, fore for a run, showered and ever started breakfast when the office called. Too bad... he was going to make breakfast for El... He glanced at the clock and sighed. He supposed he could finish the eggs before he had to go get ready right? From what Jones said is sounded interesting, better than the fraud cases that had been showing up on his desk for the last week. He shot Neal a text, telling him where to meet him before driving to the museum.
 
Neal got Peter's text and rolled over in bed, milk and cookies gone, it was a museum heist. He smiled to himself. That was so much better than what they might have been doing today should this not have come up. He shot Peter a test requesting a pick up, it wasn't like he had a car and though he could get a cab why the hell would he? He shook his head to himself before heading in to his closet to find something to wear, which didn't take long, simple yet stylish suit, tie, handkerchief. He slipped on a jacket and scarf against the winter chill and flipped his hat up and on to his head. He headed down to wait for Peter and shot Moz a text, already on the case and asking if there was anyone who had 'heist' on their to do list that would be in town.
 
Peter headed downstairs as he do owned getting ready. He was in his normal work suit and with a cup of coffee from El he went to pick Neal up. He'd expected to go and pick him up anyway, he was used to it. He waited outside for him, it didnt take long. On the way over he filled him in, museum robbery, the intruder had gotten past all the security without setting them off before leaving with the painting. Before leaving they had put the empty frame back on the wall. "It should be a good one," He told Neal as he got out of the car and headed inside.


Inside Feds were combing the area. They walked past dozens of priceless paintings before stopping at the empty frame. It was in an area with other 'less valuable' paintings that didnt see a lot of traffic. Someone had wanted this one specifically
 
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Neal surveyed the scene, It was clear that whoever had taken this painting had already had a buyer since it wasn't the kind of painting you could sell, nor was it worth a whole lot. It was worth something but of the paintings in the museum this one would not have been Neal's first choice to take. It was worth something to the person, enough to bypass decant security and other more expensive art to get to this one. He turned to Peter. "There is probably already a buyer in play, if there is a buyer and money was the aim of this. It wouldn't be my first choice of the room, and security would be hard, he wanted that painting and only that painting, but had experience..." Neal trailed off and moved closer to the frame looking at the cut that had been made in the canvas.
 
Peter watched Neal with a small smile. This had become a familiar scene. If 5 years ago someone told him this would happen, standing with Neal Caffery at the scene of an art thief would become normal, he'd of called them crazy. Yet here he was. His thoughts were broken by Neal's analysis. He nodded, "Mu thoughts exactly." He grinned, looking away from Neal to the rest of the room. "Of all these paintings... Why this one?" He asked. "Do you see something?" He asked, watching Neal lean closer.


Harper sighed, sitting in her hotel room. A hotel known for its decresion and secrecy. She stared at the rolled up painting in front of her, twirling her unique knife though her fingers. It had been a gift, a long time ago. She'd been hired, if you could call it that, to steal this one and a few others. Why? She had no idea but... Hopefully this would all be over soon.
 
"Probably a buyer who know something we don't or history..." Neal took a closer look at the printout of the painting he had been given and traced a line over with his finger. "hmmm not an overly famous artist... but I have heard of them..." Neal looked at the painting. It was a landscape, no figures. If it was a personal want in the painting it's self it would likely be a portrait. So it was probably a personal history with the painting.


"Not a portrait so it's not a 'girl with the locket' situation..." He looked closer at the edge where the painting had been cut. The cut was very clean, and looked... different. He whistled low. "Boy would I like to see the knife that did that."
 
Peter listened to Neal and nodded. "I agree. We have FBI checking to see where this painting has been and if there's anyone in its past that would be willing to pay for it, or stolen it. As well their checking our data base to see if they can figure out what sort if blade would do that, but it's different than anything I've seen, seems to be something designed for canvas. At this point Forensics are guessing a round curve with small ridges." Peter told him thoughtfully, looking over the scene for a moment. "Would you take the time to put the frame back on the wall if it was empty?" He asked after a second. The alarms are disabled, it's not going to set something off... It's like they took the time to out the frame back on display and reengage the security system when they didn't have to..." Peter thought aloud.


Harpers thoughts were broken when her phone went off, well one of them. She sighed, sliding her knife into her pocket and checking her phone. It was a text message giving her instruction for the switch. She sighed, pulling out an outfit that made her look like a college student, sliding the painting into a backpack before heading out.
 
Neal snorted. "Showing off. I would, but only to throw it back in their faces, make and impression..." Thieves could be arrogant, but you couldn't boats about stealing something at the local bars... well at the right ones... but still Thieves liked to brag however they could in public, so they did things that would make their thefts end up on the front page. Neal tilted his head, his artist's eyes wandered over the frame taking in every detail. "It's elegant... It feels familar though... like when you see a scarf an old friend used to...." Neal stopped. But that wasn't possible.
 
Peter sighed, he had kind of suspected as much but he had been hoping there would be more than a criminal's pride, a signature of some sort maybe? "Alright... well let's finish up here." He turned back to the FBI crew, they had gotten almost everything they were going to get out of the crime scene. He looked around again, just in case there was anything he missed but it was a clan con. He turned back to Neal as he started to speak again, eyes narrowing slightly, frowning as he trailed off. "Neal?" He asked, watching the male in front of him. He knew that look. "What is it? I've seen that look before." He told him. He looked back at the frame as if looking for the clue he had missed but whatever Neal saw, Peter wasn't seeing it.


Harper made her way down the street, hat pulled down over her face. She held tightly to the backpack as she made her way to the local train station. She kept an eye out in case she was being followed, but there was no sign of anyone following her. She sat down on a bench, setting the bag down and keeping the baseball cap hidden over her face against the camera angles. She waited for 10 minutes before a train got there. She stepped on, leaving the backpack by the bench to be picked up by her anonymous employer as he'd ordered.
 
Neal was trying to think of all the thieves he knew- god this looked so damn familiar!- he could only think of once that he had put the from back on a wall like this during a heist. As he remembered it had been UN-planed. He had helped with the security and gone off in a different direction to locate another piece, when he had come back his partner had cut a few of the paintings and begun to replace the frames. . . She had never let him use her knife normally in a heist they would only bring one because it was easier, but she had said that it was her knife, and her's only. He hadn't pressed the issue. It was adding up, weaving in. He turned to Peter. "Nothing... Just Art museums... Kid in a candy shop ya know?" He gave a easy smile. . . He needed to get away and drop a line to Moz, see when he last heard of Harper...
 
Peter watched Neal carefully. There was something going on there, he wasn't stupid. He knew it, and Neal probably knew he knew he it but when he spoke again... He denied it anyway. Peter frowned, leaning back and watching Neal as if trying to read him mind before looking away. "Oh yeah... I know." He smiled, acting as though he had brushed it off, forgot about it. But if Neal wasn't sharing that meant that there was something going on he wasn't telling him, and that worried him. Was if connected to one of Neal's old heists? Someone Neal was protecting? Or was it connected to something else? Peter had no way of knowing. "Alright well, we're about to head back to the office and look over the files, see if we can find something." Peter told him. "Are you coming?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, testing him. He smiled, following the FBI team out.


Harper sighed, collapsing back onto the bed as she arrived back to her hotel. All and all it went over easily. With luck she wouldn't have to worry about anyone checking security tapes but she'd taken precautions. She sighed, staring up at the ceiling in thought. She'd been told to be discrete, come in, do the jobs and leave. But she was going crazy, thinking about these jobs day and night was driving her insane. Maybe she'd go out... a bar out of the way, out of trouble, what harm could it cause? She'd always been good at bending the rules.
 
Neal shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna go... out.... with... Moz.. yeah... See if he knows anything... talk to the streets.... I'll call you if I hear anything. Promise." Neal nodded and took his coat starting for the street, taking his phone from his pocket he it speed dial 19. Moz was weird like that he insisted that Neal not put him as speed dial 1 -that was peter- since it was too obvious and his phone could be at any moment taken by the feds where his number could be found. It was also in his phone as Mrs. N, for whatever reason. Neal shook his head just thinking about it only to discover that Moz was currently either in Peru or screening his calls. Neal shook his head and looked around. Harper. It had to be Harper, he should find her...how would he get her attention.
 
Peter watched Neal. Of course he knew he wasn't going out with Moz... well, he might be but it was to talk about this case. He'd never tried to enforce the whole 'don't talk about work' concept with Neal... he wouldn't follow it anyway. He just nodded, smiling as if he didn't know he wasn't keeping something from him. "Alright, if you come up with anything, you know how to reach me." He smiled, though again he knew he wouldn't. he already knew something. He nodded as he walked out, when he was out of the way his smile dropping. He turned to Jones, "Follow him." Was all he said before going back to his car and heading to the office.


Harper glanced at the clock, it was getting dark out, and she was getting antsy. She glanced at the secure phone sitting on her bed side. She wasn't getting any more orders tonight, and it wasn't like she was going to a club with cops crawling it. She sat there, wanting to go, not wanting to go. What if something happened to him because she went out. It seemed stupid but it was possible. Finally she turned on the TV, flipping it to the news deciding to watch for a bit. It was still early, if she decided to go out later she still could. She hated the indecisive position she was stuck in, not her style at all.
 
Neal roamed the streets that he was free to. Free to? Ha. The painting didn't have anything -that he could think of, he hadn't seen the music box with Alex coming either - to do with Harper, so maybe she had taken a job... Which meant she could be A. on the streets killing time and newly earned money. Or B. holed up watching the news waiting for orders. So he had two goals to get her attention. A. Get his face on the news and B. Make a lot of noise and draw attention to himself. He smirked looking down at his anklet, he reached out and hailed a cab.


"Where to?"


"Bout, 4 miles, pick a direction."


~


El spent the day at her firm, getting coffee as she got to the counter she hesitated before ordering coffee for her absent husband as well and dialing his number as she waited. She was going to bring her husband coffee dammit! She waited as the phone rang...


"Hi hun."


((not a long post for El, she needs some dialog with peter... xD ))
 
Harper glanced at the clock. She was going crazy. Finally she sat up, deciding that, if nothing else she could go out for a while. She wasn't on a leash. he had never told her she couldn't go out, just told her to keep a low profile, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She kept it simple, didn't want to draw too much attention on the streets. She pulled on a pair of dark fitted jeans and a studded blouse, She pulled on her coat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. Not enough to draw too much attention on the street, nice enough that if she wanted to go to a club it would do the trick. With that taken care of she grabbed what she needed and headed out onto the street. She looked around, breathing in the city air and heading down the street.


Peter glanced at his phone on the way to the office. He smiled when he saw the number, turning on Bluetooth through his car. "Hey honey." He smiled, turning his attention back to the road. "To what do I owe this surprise?" He asked.
 
"Where are you I have coffee and a dirty mind." She teased as she took the coffee from the barista and paid with an easy smile. "Or rather, I am your wife and I have coffee and a wedding ring and time." She took a sip of her coffee as she waited for her answer. Mmm the coffee was amazing they needed to come to this shop more often.


The cab ride was long and Neal stared out the window, the driver seemed annoyed with him for being so vague and all the traffic. They were at a stand still, and almost to the end of Neal's radius. Neal slowly blew out some air from his cheeks and thought about walking. He shook his head and paid the driver, slipping out from the cab, the driver looked irritated as he put on his light, Neal pulled his coat tight and headed down the street.
 
Peter smiled a bit, eyes on the road. "Oh honey, I'd love to meet you but I'm on my way to the office Neal and I caught a case." He told her, pausing for a moment, thoughts turning over Neal and his strange behavior before shaking it off. "But tell you what. Why don't you meet me at the office and maybe I can get away while they're still processing information." He told her after thinking it over. He was lucky to have such a devoted and understanding wife. His call was interrupted by another call, from Jones. "Hey honey? I have another call, I'll call you right back." He told her before switching.


"Hey Peter?" Jones voice filled the car.


"What is it?"


"You asked me to keep an eye on Neal?"


"Did something happen?"


"Yeah, he left his radius."


Peter cursed under his breath. "Alright get some men over there." He told him before getting the address and hanging up. He called El back, waiting for her to pick up. "Hey, I'm going to have to make a slight detour. I'll be to the office in 10 to 15 minutes." He told her sympathetically.


Harper was walking when she saw a fed car drive by her. They weren't too head to spot and in a hurry. Her first instinct was to get out of there, but then again, she was a curious girl. She followed in the direction of them, keeping a safe distance and sticking to the shadows.
 
El hid her disappointment and took a sip from Peter's coffee, not in retaliation but the bitter taste, made her feel he husband. She smiled to hide it event though Peter couldn't see her.


"Sure hun." She said humming at the bitterness that her husbanded liked in his coffee. "Love you." She said hailing a cab.


Neal heard the feds and doubled back, passing back over the invisible line and retreating into the shadows. He heard a breath, and held his. He wasn't alone in these shadows...


"Harper?"


((god this is so short! I am so sorry))
 
Peter sighed as if sensing the change in her voice. "I'm sorry hon, it's Neal... and this new case We got. He's been up to something... I'll be there soon." He assured her. He felt bad but really what could he do? Maybe if Neal hadn't broken radius. Why was he braking radius anyway? He had just been going home. Unless it had to do with his strange behavior earlier.


Harper looked over as a figure slid beside her. She froze for a minute before turning to look at him. "Neal Caffery." She recognized him, a small smile crossing her features as the words as she turned to look at him. "Are they after you or does there just happen to be another artist in the area?" She asked, She asked, eyes traveling to where the cars had disappeared, for now. She almost forgot why she was hiding out, almost. It had been a long time.
 
"ah Never know with the feds right?" He laughed glancing out of one eye at the cars and sinking deeper into the shadows. He found himself very aware of his ankle. He was out of his radius. "plus how do I know they aren't after you?" He smiled his easy smile, "Or both, it has been a long time Harper..." Neal knew he couldn't rush this or she would get spooked but he also knew that he had to plant it somehow... we should catch up Harper.... how are you Harper.... been naughty Harper.....I miss- Neal shook off the thought with another laugh and smile combo.
 
Harper smiled at him, how long had it been? Years. He sill looked as charming as ever. They had been quite a team. She just shrugged, he'd of heard about the heist by now with it all over the news. She glanced at the sunny New York streets, keeping a sheet of hair between her and the passing cars and she leaned back casually against the the wall. "Me?" She asked in innocently. "Nah, I was just in the area visiting an old friend." She lied, not that it held much weight. She realized she had missed him, she still thought about him. She nodded. "It has been. Too long if you ask me." She told him, adjusting the bag over her shoulder.


"Jones where is he?" Peter asked, having called him back after hanging up with El.


"Standing still on Broadway and 50th."


"Alright, I'm still about 7 minutes out..." Peter muttered more to himself than Jones.
 
Neal looked at the passing cars, a million and one numbers flying through his head. "Hey I gotta dissipate, before this heats up." He winked at her and started back towards his radius " It's a big city Harper, tell me when your it town." He played his voice in a witty and flirty way before picking up his pace and heading in a path that indicated that he had gone on a walk, a lopping lazy path pointed home. He knew it was a loose cover but it may slide by peter.
 
Harper frowned, watching him. She nodded slowly. "I should be in town for a little while." She told him with a smile, standing up from her position leaning against the wall. "I really would like to catch up, maybe you could... give me a call?" She asked, handing him a card with nothing but a number on it. She smiled, winking and watching him before heading away herself.


"He's on the move again." Jone's voice sounded over the car speakers.


A few minutes later he pulled up next to Neal who was walking. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked after rolling down the window, opening the door and telling him to get in.
 
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