White Collar - as an unofficial novel - part 6

The new stadium

The next day Neal appeared in the doorway to his office, glanced around as if he was looking for something, and then did.

"Caffrey, that's my newspaper."

"Relax. I'll give it back."

He saw the kid browse through it.

"Touch my crossword, and I will put you back behind bars."

Neal paused and looked at Peter's favorite page.

"Oh, you do it in pen. I'm impressed." Peter enjoyed the praise and continued to work as his pet convict continued to browse. "I'm looking for inspiration, you know? And I think I just found it. What was the fallout from your meeting with Jennings?"

"Well, he called in some favors, tried to get me fired. Hughes is protecting me, which should frustrate Jennings even further."

"Excellent."

So far everything has worked as planned.

"According to Dylan, he's looking for a new fixer as we speak."

"I didn't doubt you for a second," Neal beamed.

Peter rose from his chair.

"Dylan put your name on the list, but Jennings is still looking at other people, too. So, we need to make sure you get that job."

"Well, I don't have an alias with this type of background."

"Hmm. You're about to get one..." Peter said and continued towards the conference room. "Courtesy of the FBI."

Neal followed, still with Peter's newspaper in his hand, he noted.

"What do you guys need to know about creating a background?" the kid asked the team working in the room.

"Nothing. We're the FBI," Diana answered. "You're good, but we're better." She pointed at a book. "You're now Benjamin Cooper."

"Wow, high school yearbook?" The kid picked it up. "You're definitely thorough."

"They're thorough. Jennings doesn't mess around with this stuff," Peter said. "That means no anklet when you're with him."

Peter watched for that little hint of extra excitement in his eyes but did not find it.

"Yeah," was all he said. "Nice Photoshop work." He had found the photo of him as a high school student. Since they did not have a wit about his childhood, even less a photo, they had used software they got to see what he might have looked like as young and used the result. Neal watched the page of the valedictorian of the year, which of course was Benjamin Cooper.

"We'll add the yearbook to the school's archive in case they check," Diana said.

"I finally get to be valedictorian," Neal said.

Peter blinked.

"You weren't valedictorian?" As skilled as he was, Neal must have had grades high enough, and charm and easy to speak to that.

"You have to graduate for that."

So the best con-man in the world had not finished high-school? Peter studied Neal. What had this kid been through? So bright, he could have been anything he wanted. Yet he did not have a high-school degree. Did he even start high-school?

"We're giving you a 4.0 from Harvard law," Diana continued with the studies.

"Harvard is so pedestrian," the kid complained.

"Don't let Jones hear you say that."

Peter and Diana shared a grin.

"After graduating," Peter said and picked up a piece of paper, "you did a stint at the firm Brexton and Miller in Delaware."