Disclaimer: I own nothing here and am just doing this for fun and to pass the time between episodes.


After the tour, Eliot and Hardison caught up with Nate, who told them that he was considering making adjustments to their plans. He'd already sent Parker out for a little surveillance work and Sophie was making some arrangements.

"What kind of adjustments?" asked Eliot, eying Nate uneasily. He didn't like when the plans changed, especially when they seemed to spontaneously change for no reason at all.

"Just....adjustments. Nothing for you to worry about. I want you guys to stay here today. Both of you keep an eye out for our guy, but Hardison, you hang back. Eliot, don't go seeking him out, but if you happen to be in the same place with him, some friendly conversation would be just fine. Got it?"

Both men nodded. "Good. Meet back at the office after the racing and I'll go over the new plans," said Nate before he walked away.

Hardison and Eliot got some lunch and then settled in for the races. Kayleigh was riding in the second, fourth, seventh, and ninth races of the day. She did poorly in the second and fourth, but then placed in the seventh race. Hardison and Eliot hung out near the entrance to the clubhouse to congratulate her.

"Second place is just first loser," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Why you gotta be that way?" asked Hardison. "Nana would be very disappointed in you."

"How you feeling about the ninth? Signal Fire had a couple of good starts at Santa Anita in the last few months," said Eliot.

"How do you know this stuff?" asked Hardison.

Kay just smiled. "I feel good. Worked him out two days ago and his legs are fresh. He's made for anything over a mile, so I like his chances over eleven."

"Eleven what? Miles?" asked Hardison.

"Furlongs, you idiot," replied Eliot.

"Alec never did get racing. But," she emphasized, with a smile, "he always got that it was important to me. I'll see you guys after the race."

Eliot watched her walk away.

"Hey, you want to do our job or you want to watch my sister?"

"What?"

"Our guy just arrived," said Hardison, handing Eliot an earbud. "I'm gonna make myself scarce. You want to follow him, do what Nate said?"

Not really, Eliot wanted to say. But he would. The job came first, after all. He'd always been that way, but having a team depending on him made the impulse a thousand times stronger.

When he looked up, Hardison was gone and the mark was headed for the grandstand. Eliot followed him into the bar and took up a seat at the opposite end. He watched the guy pull out a horse-racing newspaper and the program of the day's races.

They stayed in the bar through the eighth race, then the guy was on the move, headed out to the paddock where they were getting the horses for the next race ready. Knowing that's where the guy had to be going, Eliot walked faster and got there first, hoping that the mark ended up standing next to him.

He spotted Kayleigh coming out of the clubhouse, saddle under her arm. She stopped at the scale outside the paddock for the official weigh-in and then headed over toward stall two, where Signal Fire was waiting. He was a tall, muscular, black horse with a white blaze.

Eliot registered that the mark was standing next to him, looking up from his paper to the horses, comparing and thinking. He stole a peak over the guy's shoulder and could see he was trying to choose between Signal Fire and Lady of the Lilies.

Kayleigh spotted Eliot at that moment and gave him a little wave, which he returned. The mark noticed and looked at Eliot with curiosity.

"You know her?" the guy asked.

Eliot shrugged. "You know, a little. We got mutual friends."

"Yeah? How d'you like her chances then?"

"I'm betting on her. Horse got a good workout the other day and his legs are fresh. Closest competition would be Lady, who's never run over a mile before, and Summer Riches, who just raced four days ago."

The guy nodded and then went back to appraising the horses. The jockeys were all up on their mounts now and the post parade had started with a lap around the paddock.

Eliot smiled at Kayleigh when she passed, but he didn't think she'd seen him. She was focused on keeping the horse under control. Signal Fire was skipping underneath her, like all of his energy could just barely be contained in his body.

"Damn," said Eliot in a low voice. "That is one hot horse."

He ignored Hardison's retort in his ear. ("Now see, that's just sick.") He'd explain later that calling a horse hot didn't mean what Hardison thought it meant.

The mark laughed. "He's just bursting to get out to the track, isn't he? Okay, my mind's definitely made up."

Eliot followed the guy to the betting window and watched as he bet $1000 on Signal Fire to win. Eliot placed his own bet, just five dollars, in case the guy was watching. Eliot knew the 8-1 odds meant that if Signal Fire won, the mark would be taking home close to $10,000.

The mark headed out to the rail to watch the race. Eliot slipped into the grandstand and found Hardison, taking a seat next to him.

"Guy just dropped a grand on Signal Fire to win."

"Seriously? Damn. Nate's right. Gambling is definitely the way in with this guy."

The horses were loading into the starting gate and Hardison looked away.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate this part. Watching her get crammed into that little space with a jumpy horse. This is why I hardly ever watch her race."

"It's okay, Hardison. She knows what she's doing." Eliot didn't add that if he really wanted to worry, he should worry about the fact that in a few seconds, his sister would be hurtling along at around 40 miles per hour on the back of a thousand pound horse, at the mercy of the laws of physics and just plain dumb luck.

The last horse loaded into the gate and a few seconds later, the bell rang and the horses charged out onto the track. Signal Fire stumbled a bit on the way out, but recovered. Kayleigh kept him on the rail, but was clearly holding him back. He wasn't dead last, but he was close.

Eleven furlongs is a long race, and Eliot wished he had binoculars to see the far side of the track as the horses circled around. He could see that she'd loosen up a little bit and was letting Signal Fire creep up toward the front, moving him deftly along the rail. The horses came around the the final turn toward home and she took the corner aggressively, using it to make up even more ground as the pack swung wide.

Into the final stretch, only one horse was left in front of her, Summer Riches. Kayleigh was urging her horse on with her crop and had loosened the reins entirely. It was all up to the horse now, his long legs covering the ground in perfect strides. They pulled even with Summer Riches and then seemed to float past him as the he just ran out of gas. Signal Fire passed under the wire a full three lengths in front of Summer Riches.

"So, our man is rich now, huh?" asked Hardison.

"I don't know about that. But yes, he's cleaning up on this one."

Hardison and Eliot headed over to the area where Kayleigh would have to pass to get back to the clubhouse. She was late coming out, since she had to pose for pictures with the owner, but finally, they spotted her, pulling off her helmet and taking off her gloves as she walked.

"Way to go, Mouse," said Hardison appreciatively, grabbing her for a celebratory hug that turned into him spinning around with her.

"Thanks, Alley. Tell me, you keep your eyes open for the whole race?"

"You know I don't like the gate," he grumbled as he put her down.

"Congratulations, that was a great run," said Eliot.

She smiled at him. "Thanks... I've got some things to do around here, but I can meet y'all later."

"Oh, we have to go work. But you know, we'll be here for a few weeks at least. Plenty of time to catch up," said Hardison.

She nodded and waved good-bye as she walked away.


Back at the office, Nate had pizza and beer waiting for them. The briefing was more low-tech than they would've had in Boston, but everyone listened attentively.

"So, we sent Parker into the spa for a little recon this afternoon," began Nate. "Parker, you want to tell us what you found out?"

"Our guy, Henry, is an ass. HIs wife hates him, all they do is fight, and it seems like even if they're ripping people off, they still have a big ole pile of money problems."

"Well, he won nearly 10 grand this afternoon," said Eliot.

"How much did he bet to win that?" asked Nate.

"A thousand."

Nate gave a low, appreciative whistle. "Bets big, plays hard. This is going to make him easier to take down, eventually. Here's the plan:

"Eliot and Sophie, you're going to be a married couple, here for the racing season. Sophie rented a house for you both this afternoon - you'll be moving in there tonight. Eliot, you work in finance and have a gambling problem. Your marriage is on the rocks because of it.

"Sophie, you befriend the wife, Eliot, you get close to Henry, and then we'll start moving him towards the high-stakes gambling with us. With me so far?"

"Yeah, only why do I have to be married to Sophie?"

"Excuse me? What's wrong with being married to me?" asked Sophie in a huff.

"Nothing," said Eliot, shooting a look to silence her. "It's just that, Nate, you usually work with Sophie in that.... capacity."

"Yes, well, I need to be the loan shark/bookmaker. The mark's already seen you, so you're going to be the one who builds trust and delivers him to me, okay?"

Eliot nodded. The briefing lasted for another half-hour as Nate went over the possible plans and other roles that might come up over the course of the con. When it was over, Nate offered to drive Sophie and Eliot over to the hotel so they could collect their things.

In the car, Nate glanced at Eliot in the rearview mirror and put on his casual voice. "Eliot, you know this is a small town, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," replied Eliot. What did it matter what size town they were in?

"So for this con to work, you need to be married to Sophie."

"Yeah..." Eliot's voice revealed a bit more annoyance as he waited for Nate to just say whatever it was he wanted to say.

"So I'm just saying, you need to be careful what you do in public especially when you're not with Sophie."

"I'm not an idiot, Nate." No mistaking the annoyance now.

"I think what Nate is trying to say," said Sophie, trying yet again to clean up one of his messes, "is that you're free to do as you please, but you should probably do it either not in public or not in Saratoga."

"Message received, loud and clear." The annoyance had eased off now to minor bitterness. Eliot looked out the window, pointedly ignoring Nate for the rest of the drive. At the hotel, he collected his things and then waited for Sophie in what was going to be their car for the next few weeks, a sporty red Audi TT Roadster.

Eliot was drumming his fingers on the wheel impatiently when Sophie finally got into the car.

"Don't mind Nate," she said. "He's just concerned about this one. You know it's always harder when we're outside our comfort zone."

"Yeah, I guess."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, broken only by Sophie providing directions to "their" house, which ended up being an upscale cabin on a lake.

"You know, you're under no obligation to hang out with me tonight. You seem like you'd want to spend some time out alone," said Sophie as she got out of the car. Eliot gave her grateful smile and put the car in reverse. He did want to spend some time out, but he had much better plans than just being alone.