Chapter Text
The obvious answer was to ignore it. He had a new life now, a more honest life. Running cons and jobs of various repute had served him well for so much of his life, but how many people had he seen whose past caught up with them in the end?
Mozzie glanced over at Theo, still sleeping as though nothing had happened. No. He would ignore that tingle in his brain, the twitch in his fingers to do something different, something so familiar but now so painful. He had a different life now. He was Teddy Winters again, for the first time in ages. He was through with cons, with conspiracy theories and wild ideas. He had responsibilities to the shop (though well protected and hardly necessary), he had made promises to Theo, to the slowly growing friendships he was eking out with the group of people he played chess with at the park, to himself, and to the memory of Neal. He couldn’t go down this road again.
The bell above the door chimed.
“How has Theo been today, Mozzie?” Diana asked.
“Good as ever! We did a puzzle and I read him Epicurus and then he was out like a light. Not even the phone could wake him!” Mozzie replied.
“That’s great. Anything interesting happen today?” she asked, leaning down to pick up her son.
“Nah, not much. You know me, living a simple life now.”
“Uh huh. Well, thanks for watching Theo. We’ll see you tomorrow? The usual sitter’s still sick with that nasty virus going around, half the kids have it and the service is just asking parents to keep their kids home unless absolutely necessary, but we’re just about to crack that embezzling case and they need me in the field.”
“Oh, absolutely! It’s my pleasure to get to introduce a young mind to the classics. It’s great to get to spend time with him.”
“Thanks, Mozzie. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mozzie waved as they headed out the door, the bell chiming again. He headed over to lock up, and went to sit at his desk. Idly tapping a pen as he looked over some documents, his mind returned to the odd phone call from earlier and the offer that had been made.