Chapter 2

An hour later the party was still going strong but missing the guest of honor. She was in the back room with the three members of Leverage International waiting anxiously for a phone call.

"What else did he say Sophie?"

"Nothing, I told you Eliot, he just told me to be ready for his phone call and to have all of you with me when I got it."

"Well Nate's phone is off, I can't trace it. They must have turned it off as soon as they made the first call. I traced where that came from and it was right outside here." Hardison said "But I will be ready for the next one."

"If I am right then so will they. They named us right Sophie…" Parker said looking at the Grifter. Sophie nodded her head in response. "So they know us, know who we are, that means they probably know our abilities as well."

"Parker is right." Eliot affirmed. "It's been an hour." He said looking at his watch and then at the phone that lay on the table, willing it to ring. The sooner they spoke to whoever this was the sooner they would know what they wanted from them.

They held their collective breaths when the phone started to ring. Sophie reached out and pressed the accept button leaving the phone on speaker so that they could all hear the conversation. Hardison immediately set his computer to work tracing the signal.

"Mrs Ford, I take it the other three are with you?" The voice said. It was the same one as the first call.

"Where is my husband?" Sophie said without answering him.

"All in good time Mrs Ford. For now all you need to know is that he is alive."

"What do you want?" Sophie asked her voice cold and hard.

"Well you have something of mine Mrs Ford, something I want back." Sophie looked up at the others with a frown on her face. What was the man talking about? "I propose a swap, you will give me what I want and I will return your husband as good as…well almost as good as new." The implication in his words and tone sent shivers down Sophie's back, what had they done to Nate.

"You still have not told me what you want." Sophie said trying to control the fear that was threatening to overwhelm her.

"I want 'The Crow'. You will deliver it to me at a place of my choosing. Because I am feeling generous and I…enjoy the company of your husband…after all we have so much in common…" There was a small evil laugh that followed that statement and a slight pause afterwards before the voice spoke again. "I will give you two days to retrieve the painting. I will call you again to give you the details of where we will make the swap."

"I'm not doing anything until I know my husband is alive." Sophie said staring down at the phone, her heart sinking as she realized who she was talking too and what he wanted.

The line went silent and Sophie thought they had hung up, but then she heard a slight shuffle and then Nate's weak voice.

"Sophie…"

"Nate, oh Nate are you alright."

"I'm fine Sophie…" He said and she could hear the pain in his voice.

"Now Mrs Ford, you know he is alive. He will remain that way if you comply with my request. You will wait for my call." Silence and then a slight laugh filled the air. "Mr Hardison, you will not be able to trace this call, but I wish you luck in trying." Then the line went dead.

"Ok well we know Nate is alive and we know what they want." Eliot said looking at Sophie.

"Yes…"

"What I don't get is that he seemed to think you have it. So why would he want us involved?"

"Because he knows I don't have it…at least not anymore, not for a long time." Sophie replied.

"Sophie…"

"It…I gave it to somebody."

"Who…?" Eliot asked a knot already starting to form in the pit of his stomach.

"Joseph Kentakov." Sophie said softly.

"What…you gave it to him…why on earth would you do that?"

"Because…it's complicated and at the time it was the right thing to do. Anyway, as far as I know he still has it."

"Great…"

"Yeah great. Nobody gets near him without an invite, and nobody has ever successfully stolen anything from him either, and I know a few who have tried, they aren't around anymore." Parker said. Every attempt to break into the home of one Joseph Kentakov met with one thing and one thing only, failure.

"That is where we come in. He knew you did not have the painting anymore and he knew who you gave it to. Who the hell is this guy?" Eliot said looking at Sophie for an answer.

"It could only be one man." Sophie said softly. "I thought he was dead."

"Sophie who is he?"

"My…my ex-husband..." Sophie stated tears welling in her eyes as she spoke.

She sat down heavily in a chair and then told them everything. How she had only been sixteen when she met him. How he had trained her in the art of grifting, he had honed her skills and she had fallen in love with him. They had been together for four years and the relationship had progressed from bad to worse. He was possessive and violent, a side she had not seen in the beginning. He had treated her harshly, kept her a near prisoner and punished her if he thought she had so much as looked at another man. She had wanted out. Then one day she had met Joseph at a party they were attending. One thing led to another and Joseph helped to get away from her husband, and made sure that he did not bother her again. In return she had given him the painting. It was one of Jacob's prize possessions, one of the first paintings they had ever stolen together. She had spent a few months with Joseph before she discovered he was just like Jacob and then had gone her own way. She had not seen him since, nor had she seen or heard from Jacob Fletcher, her ex-husband, at least not until today.

"Why did you think he was dead?" Parker asked.

"Because…because I thought Joseph had killed him. I was sure it was the only way he would have been able to get him to not come after me." Sophie said her voice filled with the shame she felt. "I…it has always been…"

"It's ok Sophie…you don't have to tell us anymore." Eliot said sensing that this was something that had haunted her for a long time and now the ghosts were returning to haunt her.

"Do you think you could call Kentakov and get the painting?"

"I don't know, we…we did not part on the best of terms. He wanted to marry me and…well I thought he had killed Jacob and he was...I just couldn't…" Sophie sat upright in the chair wiping away her tears. "Anyway, I left. So no I don't think he would welcome me back with open arms. But I am going to try."

"He's a dangerous man Sophie."

"I know Eliot. I know exactly what he is capable of. But I have to try. In the mean time you guys have to find a way to get the painting back if I don't succeed."

"Hardison did you get a trace on that call?"

"Na Ah…this guy is good Eliot."

"Ok…Sophie you try to get in touch with Kentakov and see if you can get him to help. Parker you and Hardison need to get us into that house and out with the painting if Sophie fails."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try to find Nate." Eliot said. They had two days Fletcher had said to get the painting. But he was sure that Nate had less than that. He was sure Fletcher was not intending on returning Nate alive to them. That meant he had to retrieve him before Fletcher could kill him. That is what he did. He was a retrieval expert and this was going to be the most important retrieval he ever made.

So I hope you are still enjoying the story. Thank you for all of your kind reviews and please keep them coming. I appreciate each and every one of them.