Created in my own nasty little mind for my enjoyment, and hopefully yours. As always – gratitude to all those who brought Leverage into my realm of consciousness. Same praise to be considered continuous for every chapter that follows.
(Author Note: Yes, the multiple subtle and obvious allusions to Christian Kane's music are intentional - that is what happens when you have CDs playing in the background while you write! Make it a drinking game to spot the references )
"You do realize Ms. Carson that you are not exactly representative of our usual clientele?"
Nathan Ford sat at a table at McRory's, Sophie Deveraux at his side. Across the table sat there would be client, Victoria Carson. Anyone watched from a distance would say the woman radiated class, from her finely styled hair, Dolce and Gabanna suit to her Manolo Blahnik shoes. Everything about her was refined elegance.
Close up, there was a very different perspective. Fine lines on her showed the signs for stress and fatigue. Her eyes were darting as she looked back and forth at the duo seated across from her. To say she was anxious was a severe understatement.
"Mr. Ford. My understanding is that you help people who have nowhere else to turn. Believe me, that is my situation. I appreciate your reluctance to deal with me, but I am not here representing my family business. I am here for the people who work for the business, and quite possibly for the public at large. What can I do to persuade you to at least listen to me?"
Nate looked to Sophie. Without speaking, they had a conversation on the merits of the request. Both could see the woman was distraught, and both also sensed a sincere concern in her voice. Sophie nodded ever so slightly, and Nate turned back to the hopeful woman.
"Make your case."
Ms. Carson let out a soft sigh of relief. Crossing her hands on the table in front of her she leaned forward slightly and started her request.
"I'm sure you are aware of the family business. Carson Chemicals is now a fourth generation operation, doing business as a "proud American" company from the beginning. Our reputation has been stellar, and we have never had any issues to put that at risk. Two years ago, my cousin Gerald, as the eldest male of our generation, took over the business when my dad died. Since then, I have had the feeling things have changed. There is more secrecy, more closed door meetings and much less family in the family business."
"A couple of weeks ago one of the factory foremen, Mike Taylor, came to me with some concerns. In the previous weeks several of the employees on his production line had been complaining of headaches or nausea. At first he figured it was some kind of bug going around, but soon noticed it was only happening to those working in certain production areas. He started checking a few things out and told me that our base chemicals, those we use to create our products, had changed. He didn't recognize the supplier's brand, and the invoices didn't match the supplies. He wanted to report it to the EPA, and have a health and safety inspection done. I convinced him to give me a bit of time to look into it." Her voice caught for a moment, and she reached out to take a sip of water before continuing.
"I went to my cousin and explained the situation, and he promised to have an auditor review everything, assuring me it was likely just an accounting screw up. Two days later Mike was killed by a hit and run driver." She stopped again, unable to speak for a moment. If her distress was an act, it was the best Sophie had ever seen.
"Gerald has effectively shut me out. The business has always been a bit of an "old boy's network", so discouraging the executive from speaking to a mere female hasn't been too hard for him."
"Why don't you just bring in the EPA on your own?" Nate questioned. "You don't need any official status to request an investigation."
"Gerald isn't stupid. I'm pretty sure he will have "fixed" any paperwork that would have shown impropriety, and quite likely has legitimate supplies to put on display if needed. And I will be completely honest with you Mr. Ford, Ms. Deveraux. I have no desire to see the family business brought down if I can avoid it. But I cannot allow the public, and our employees, to be put at risk with dangerous chemicals. Make no mistake, I will do what I have to in order to set this right, but I hate the idea that Gerald's greed and stupidity will close our doors, destroy our reputation and put our workers out on the street. That is where you come in."
"So you want us to take him down, without taking down the company?"
"Can you do that?"
"If you will excuse us for a few minutes we need to discuss this." He glanced over to the man behind the bar. "Eliot, could you bring Ms. Carson a bite to eat please."
"Really, that's not necessary."
"Trust me, you'll feel better, and it will keep you occupied for a few minutes." Sophie said as she left the table.
Seconds later a serving of spring rolls and a cup of tea were set in front of her.
"I think you'll like these." She glanced up at the man with the deep, quiet voice as he placed the plate and immediately hoped the little gasp she felt in her throat hadn't been vocalized. Looking into his eyes was almost hypnotizing, and she couldn't help but feel there were depths there that were well worth discovering. His smile managed to be both confident and shy, and when you added the slight country drawl of his speech and that fabulous hair – all in all it made for quite a package. As if that wasn't enough, she discovered on the first bite that the spring roll was amazing.
"These are your creation?"
He nodded, hair falling forward to frame his face.
"Amazing. If you do catering I can get you a good deal of steady work."
Again, the modest smile crossed his face. "Thank you, but I manage to keep myself pretty busy. Don't think I can add another job to the mix. But I appreciate the thought." He turned and left as Nate and Sophie returned. Once he was clear of her line of vision, Eliot looked back at his team mates and raised a questioning eyebrow. They subtly nodded at him, and he glanced down at Ms. Carson and smiled once again. Sophie noticed the shy grin, and thinking it was a very unEliot kind of gesture, filed it away for future consideration while Nate confirmed the acceptance of the job with their newest client.
It took the better part of an hour for Ms. Carson, or Victoria as they were now calling her, to fill them in on everything she could about the operation. Nate was working on a plan to have get Hardison into the offices to directly access the files. The hacker had been frustrated in his effort to do a simple computerized break and enter by the fact Gerald was not fond of leaving a computer trail accessible to the outside world, although their client assured him that everything would be on the in-house, stand-alone servers. She also confirmed that there would be no problem getting any or all of them brought into the company, especially for such a short term basis. Now it was simply a matter of establishing the roles, and setting everything in motion. Leaving the team to work out the details, Victoria expressed her gratitude to Nate again and smiled her compliments to the chef one more time on her way out. Eliot watched her every step as she left. Glancing back at the table, he spotted her sweater left draped over the chair, and quickly grabbed it, running after her.
"We could have just given it to her tomorrow at the offices." Nate mumbled, startled by Eliot's speedy chase.
"Leave him alone, Nate. He is intrigued."
"Seriously –Eliot and Victoria Carson? On what planet is that going to happen?" Hardison chuckled. "She is so out of his league, and considering we are talking about Eliot, there are not too many women we could say that about."
"I think that is what intrigues him." Sophie replied.
Eliot had almost caught up with her as she crossed the street ahead of him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the movement of a vehicle, and reacted instinctively. Putting on a burst of speed he caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her quickly out of the path of the speeding SUV. In so doing, he put himself in that same path, and managed to turn only partially away himself. He felt the vehicle brush by him, catching him enough to send him sprawling to ground slamming his shoulder into the curb. The screams of witness and the squealing of tires brought the team running out of the Pub. Victoria was kneeling beside Eliot, beseeching him not to move while shouting for someone to call 911.
"Don't bother." He winced slightly as he stood, trying not to show the pain that shot through his arm when he moved. He also could tell his hip would have several shades of colouring on it soon, but overall he got off lucky on this one. "I'm fine. Are you ok? I think I was a bit rough on you there."
The team had reached their position. "Everyone ok here? What happened?"
"Well, I would say this man just saved my life. But he needs to go to the hospital."
"Yes. Allow me to introduce the 5th member of our team – Eliot Spencer. He doesn't like hospitals. As you might have guessed, he is in charge of protection, and as of this moment, he is your full time body guard."
Given the circumstances, Victoria hoped the smile she had inside didn't reach to her face. "But," she thought to herself, "this day had just gotten considerably better."