AN- Sorry for the hold up. My mother is starting chemo the 22 and the cord to my laptop died again. (The one before actually caught fire.) Things are crazy here, but here it is, all 24 pages. Thanks to VolceVoice for proof reading it and giving me the emotional boost when I needed it. It means so much.
Chapter 3- The Days and the Miles Back Home to You
Eliot's eyes scrutinized the newcomer for signs of her being a threat. She leaned on the door frame, unmoving. Her eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, even now at night, but something told him she was sizing them up as well. A battered straw hat topped her six foot frame. The work boots and vest that completed the t-shirt and cargo pants look were equally worn.
"You didn't lock the gate. That might have been noticed. I brought extra towels for the bathroom and kitchen both." She gestured towards the canvas bag at her feet.
"You walked here from the main house in the dark?" Eliot asked.
"No."
"I didn't hear an engine."
"Didn't drive."
"Sophie's right about you not saying much. You rode up then."
A nod, "I say what I need to. He sees better in the dark than me."
"You brought a horse!" Parker backed up and put the table between her and the door.
"Half actually."
"How in the hell do you ride half a horse?" Hardison stared at her.
"That's worse than a whole horse!" Parker shook a finger at her.
"You have a mule. It's a cross between a horse and a donkey. It's half horse." Eliot addressed the last towards his younger teammates.
The woman chuckled and nodded. "Marius is out of Ma's Walker mare and a cousin's spotted jack." There was a loud clattering on the wooden porch and she let out an annoyed huff. "Heard your name, didn't you? I wasn't calling you." A dark head appeared behind her and butted her in the back. Parker gave a yelp and ducked into the pantry, closing the door behind her. "See there, you half-ass? You scared somebody. You are a mean thang, aren't you?" Her hands started scratching him gently. He nuzzled a bit at her vest. "You just want sugar, doncha? Yes, you do. I ought to write a fan letter to Domino and let you sign it." Hmmm, plenty to say to the right species, Eliot noted quietly. He moved towards the door and held his hand out. Marius promptly searched it and, finding nothing of interest, went back to the vest. Their host relented and handed a sugar cube from one of the pockets to Eliot who quickly offered it to the mule. "Marius this is..." "Eliot." "Eliot, this is Marius and he has a shameless sweet tooth."
The hitter was admiring the animal. He was finely made and wonderfully filled out, solid but not fat. His sides and legs had splashes of white, probably from his father. If he had inherited the smooth gait of his mother, he was the Mercedes of the mule world. He wore no tack, not even a piece of rope to guide him. "No bridle?"
"Don't need one. We have an agreement."
Sophie, meanwhile, was torn between talking Parker out of the pantry and greeting her friend who was doing her a massive favor. Hardison stood by the pantry door and watched the scene at the front door.
Additional movement on the porch marked the arrival of a shaggy black and white dog. He looked at his owner, the mule, and strangers and was plainly trying to decide what to do. Taking a deep breath, the woman took the mule by the muzzle with her hands and looked him in the face. "You need to go stand by the gate, okay? I ain't givin' you no more sugar. If you break one of these boards, you're the one I'll have haul the replacement out here." She backed him off the porch and stood looking at him firmly until he started grazing near the van.
Eliot couldn't help but watch her walk. It was a very distinctive walk, both the sound and motion. He'd almost call it a limp, but that implied a limit in the movement. This was just a very different range of motion. Both legs rotated noticeably outward, the right one turned almost completely to the right. It caused the right heel to strike the left ankle enough to wear a spot on the boots. She carried her weight on the balls of her feet like a fighter in an easy and natural stance. Either it was a congenital defect or she'd been little when the injury occurred. Either way, it was probably painful.
Returning to the doorway, she looked down at the dog who had been watching the team the way only a herding dog can and sniffing Eliot. "Lighthorse, leave Eliot alone. He's allowed here. They all are. Keep Marius off the porch." She gestured away from the door and made a down motion. He eyed her a moment, but went and lay down by the step, keeping both the mule and the humans in sight. He'd do what he was told, but he kept his options open. The hitter approved.
The woman picked up the canvas bag and walked further inside, following a path that kept her flank protected by the wall. That didn't sit well with the Eliot. It took a lot to ingrain behavior like that into somebody. Those kinds of things were learned and the lessons were painful ones. He knew how he'd gotten those instincts and had seen hints to what had formed them in Parker. No one should have them, at least not in a decent world. She sat the bag on the table, patted Sophie on the shoulder, and, surprisingly, sat on the floor by the pantry door, back to the wall. The movement was graceful, with her left knee raised towards her chest and the right leg flat on the floor, sideways under the other in a way that made his legs ache at the sight. It would be interesting to see her fight and he had no doubt she'd do pretty good.She raised a hand and tapped the door with the knuckles. "I'm sorry about that. He heard his name and came to see me. He's like a little kid sometimes. He doesn't know any better. He just wanted attention and a treat."
"I don't like horses. I saw one kill a clown once."
"I'm not a fan of snakes myself. One got in the house when I was a kid and tried to eat my hamsters. He couldn't get the lid off though and Mom shot him."
"Where is he?"
"He's in the yard and I told the dog to keep him off the porch."
"Oh. What kind of dog?"
"Border Collie, he's really smart and he'll really good at his job."
"He has a job?"
"He's a stock dog. He watches the other animals and keeps them where they belong and protects them. He tries to herd the geese sometimes and that pisses them and him off." She smiled at the mental image.
"He's like Eliot. He takes care of us even when we make him mad. I'm Parker. What's your name?"
"Not sayin' what Ma put on my birth certificate, but they call me Billy." There was movement in the pantry and the door opened. Parker waved from inside and Billy waved back.
"I don't touch. Sophie says that's not normal."
"I ain't big on the touchin' either. If they can touch you, they can hurt you. I'll pass on that. Not big on people really. I like animals. They're honest. They don't hate for no good reason. I have to think hard about likin' a person."
Eliot's hands curled into fists at that. There were times he hated being right. He looked at the familiar blond hair and the dark hair that curled out under a hat brim and knew ugly memories lurked beneath both. Kindred souls, he thought. Both were survivors who refused to let something happen to them again. They watched their surroundings, the people, the exits, always seeing, but rarely trusting the world that had made them this way. Parker's eyes always had that wild look about them, desperate, dangerous, and he didn't doubt the mirrored sunglasses and wide brim hat hid the same. They shared scars, but they differed enough that what they held on to and the results had been very different.
"You like Sophie though." Parker pointed out.
"I do. She was honest about being dishonest. That means somethin'. If she'd have lied about what she was doin', I'd have turned her in on the principle of it. The guy needed the lesson she taught him."
Eliot turned back to putting the groceries away, dodging Hardison's computer cord. He was a man that studied people. It was what made him a good retrieval specialist and it came in handy when he grifted. Parker had been in the system. She'd been cast about and damaged by what was meant to protect her. Where this Billy had been traumatized wasn't as clear. He was certain it wasn't home, but he still wondered where and if they'd been punished. He hoped both women had gotten justice, but, in his heart, he doubted it. Where Parker had lacked support of any reasonable sort, Billy had had home if nowhere else to turn to, at least. That simple difference had shaped the defense mechanisms that had formed. He knew Parker well enough to know her ability to disappear and reappear, to be unnoticed and silent, was her defense. She had clung to the fear of being trapped, of having nowhere to go. But Billy had had somewhere to go and had held on to the anger instead. She had had a refuge and would plant her feet and make a stand. The distinctive signs of at least two knives in sheathes and a heavy caliber pistol, Desert Eagle by the look of it, tucked away in easy reach made it clear being the victim was no longer an option. She watched those around her and threats would be met with "extreme prejudice". When danger appeared the slim and agile Parker slipped away like smoke; the tall and muscular Billy became the dominant predator in the room, lethal and merciless. He knew better than to expect either of them to be predictable and setting either one off was dangerous at best. Expect the unexpected.
"Why are you helping us?", Parker asked quietly. Everyone was listening now.
"Well...sometimes, what is legal and what's right ain't the same. Sophie's mentioned she'd been workin' with some people that helped when the law couldn't or wouldn't. I figure somebody didn't like what you were doin' and you needed somewhere to go. I guess I'm the somewhere. If you guys are goin' to stay in a few days, I'll turn the sheep into the field the lane's in. No one wanders around with them in it. Not for long anyway."
"Why would someone be afraid of sheep? They aren't mean, are they?" Parker's eyes were wide at the idea of another murderous farm animal.
"No, they aren't, maybe a little ornery, but where the sheep go, Bootsy goes. He's not a bad llama exactly, but if you don't show him respect, ask before crossin' the field he's in and such, he's a terror. He can really live up to his name. Otherwise, I can just slip a hay string 'round his neck and lead him anywhere. Not even sure I still need the string. He comes when and where I call him, anyways."
"What is so scary about the name "Bootsy", anyway?" Hardison laughed from a chair, entering something in the laptop.
"He's like me or Lighthorse. What we are called and what we are named aren't the same. We call him Bootsy, because that is what his name means, Little Boots."
"So his name is..." Hardison prompted, curious. The smile he got in return reminded him unpleasantly of Parker and explosives.
Sophie was the one that answered however. "He must be...unpleasant, for you to name him Caligula."
Eliot looked up sharply from surveying the contents of the refrigerator with a cock of his head and a chuckle. "Didn't like 'Attila'?"
"We already had a goat we named that. Tilly doesn't respect boundaries and likes to wreak havoc."
Hardison nervously asked, "Is everything out to kill someone around here?"
Billy cocked her head and peered over the top of her glasses at him, annoyed. She eased something out of her vest and held it in front of her face. "You a stone cold killer, Chi?", she asked the fuzzy, white kitten, who blinked awake in the bright light. Parker leaned closer and Sophie smiled. Eliot couldn't resist giving Hardison a hard time. "Looks awfully dangerous, Hardison. I'd be careful around him." He offered the grocery list to Hardison for his additions.
"That's not cool, man." The hacker glared at the hitter and reached for his bottle of soda.
Billy laughed. "He's utterly vicious." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head before offering him to Parker. "Here, hold him. He doesn't bite, not hard anyways." She passed Parker the kitten and moved to get up, headed for the sink.
Parker cuddled him against herself. "What happened to him?" She wiggled the back leg sporting a splint.
Billy glanced back from mixing something. "Got it caught climbing a wicker trash can and broke it when he pulled it over on himself trying to get loose."
Sophie leaned down from her seat to pet him. "But keeping him in your pocket? Certainly unorthodox, don't you think." Hardison had passed her Eliot's grocery list and a pen. A glance showed Eliot had already included her tea and Parker's cereal.
"Ahh, it's a hunting vest, designed to carry dead game. One live kitten isn't a stretch. Ain't like he's the first anyhow. I've been keeping him nearby so he stays out of trouble and sometimes the pocket is easiest. Got a little basket I use most of the time. Got to keep an eye on him, he's a pretty mellow guy, but his sisters are little terrors and they liked roughing him up before this happened. Doty had him by the tail earlier." She was shaking it now. She leaned past Eliot for a paper towel, before heading back to sit on the floor. She offered the kitten bottle to Parker.
The thief looked up, surprised, from where the little furball had been playing with her fingers. "You want me to?"
"If you want; ain't hard. He's not a baby-baby. He eats pretty good." She shook the bottle again. "I mixed his vitamins with a bouillon cube. He won't take it if I offer him formula. Ain't his mama's, I reckon. Chi's picky. Been giving him extra to help heal that leg back." She pulled a paper from a pocket and offered it to Sophie. "That's a map of the whole place. I wouldn't advise goin' into the red areas for long periods. Those are the sheep paddocks. You never know for sure where Boots is."
Sophie laid it on the table and the two men peered at it with her.
"Cemetery!" Hardison choked out. "Why y'all have a cemetery? That's just creepy."
"It's where you put dead people. We've needed one in the last 220 years or so. If you would wander over there, keep the gate shut. I hate havin' to reset headstones. Just stay back from the road and avoid the main house mostly. I'd stay out here in the eve'nin's. Ma's home and either checkin' the stock or tendin' her plants 'til about nine. Stay back from the road. It ain't safe."
She continued at the curious looks. "Well, we've had a few incidents lately. Some boys have been drivin' out though here after dark and shootin' things with a pellet gun, lights, cars, windows... They grazed one of the horses...killed one of the cats.
"Jaden was Chi's brother from last year's litter. Their mama, Fancy, brought Chi and Doty and Ami up to the house the next night and left 'em, wouldn't take them back and brought them back when I took 'em back to the barn myself. I've kept them in the house at night since. She comes for them in the mornin', brings 'em to the steps at dusk. I've been workin' outside so she's been with him most of the day even with him splinted up."
"That why you have the pistol? Figure if they come back and you catch 'em, you'll take care of it. It takes a lot to kill somebody." Eliot fixed her with a gaze.
He was a little surprised when she slipped the pistol out and checked the clip. She glanced at the kitten sucking the bottle Parker held for him and returned the pistol to the holster, before looking back at Eliot. Her sunglasses had slipped again and he saw a pair of very dark gray eyes fixing him with a stare. What he saw in them made him a little nervous if he was willing to admit it.
"I think you're confused. I like the night, the darkness, always have, but now my ears listen for things my head still hears. Big'en screamin' from a pellet in his flank, Fancy's panicked pawin' at the door, beggin' me to bring her little'ens inside, Dutch and Ebby yowlin' and fussin', tryin' to get the litter mate they still slept with at night to get up…" The mad little chuckle she released shook all of them a bit.
"See I understand somethin' those simpletons don't, but they will. In death, is no suffering. It is a release. I want them trapped... I don't them to die. I want them to suffer."
Not anger, rage, Eliot thought at the feral growl that ended her words. A lot of rage.
"Worse part, I know who's doin' it. They been doing shit for three years now." That had everyone's attention. "They sat right there in the cafeteria, braggin' and laughin' at the table behind me. The one dumped a bottle of water over my head sayin' I seemed hot under the collar and ran like a damn puss 'cause he's got enough sense to be afraid of me, not enough to leave me the hell alone though. He won't tangle with me directly. Last time, I had a hand print on my face, but I ripped that earring right outta his head. He's trying to hurt me and he's gonna pay."
"Told the damn deputy what I knew. Gave him the pic I took of the one's Blazer that had the imprint of our front gate in it where they side swiped it. How many damn gates you think have our family crest welded on it? Two sets, we made of 'em and the one ain't up yet. It's on my to-do list. There's a horse hurt, a cat dead, and a hole in my bedroom window. I don't have time for these little shit-heads and I don't need the stress. I have enough without idiots in play. Commencement is Saturday, so there's a day of my life I'll never get back, but Ma and Gran wanna see me walk. I want to be rid of the place for good, but no I get to sit through 'Pomp and Circumstance'..." The muttering became quiet and garbled, hands flexing into 'choke-the-life-out-someone' position for a moment. She slumped forward against her leg, breathing hard. She pulled something from her shirt pocket and fussed with it, forcing herself to breathe. The room was silent; the four thieves exchanging looks.
"Sorry, y'll got your problems to deal with; I got mine. I feel better though." She reached beside her and stroked the kitten that had fallen asleep in Parker's lap. She slipped the empty bottle back in her pocket and craned her neck to look at the shopping list that Sophie held loosely in her fingers. "Eggs are easy enough. Got a preference? Brown or white? I'll see what we got up at the house. One of the perks of Ma buying the groceries and Gran cooking is that stuff can disappear and no one really notices. Limits the suspicions at the store. People 'round here notice things. I'll bring the flock up in the mornin' then. You're welcome fer as long you want. I think this is what they call granting lokhay in some places."
She eased the kitten back into her pocket and took the list from Sophie. "I'll see what I can do. Well, I'm headin' home to bed. I've got a wall to work on tomorrow." She went to the door without a backwards glance. There was a whistle outside and then the sound of the gate.
The room was still a moment. Eliot settled into a chair and fixed Sophie with a hard look before speaking. "You're hiding us with a high schooler on the verge of killing somebody? What is goin' on in your head exactly?"
Sophie looked at the other three before focusing on Eliot. "It fit what we needed. This place can't be traced to any of us. Few people will see us. It is remote. We really aren't very far from Nate, a day at most, but far enough. I've got a contact I can trust to help with whatever we need. You three didn't expect this. Why would Sterling? Don't confuse age and maturity."
Eliot said nothing, but his expression let her know he wasn't certain about the situation.
"I like it. Not the part-horse thingy, but Billy is nice and I liked the kitty", Parker offered from the floor. Leave it to Parker to ignore crazy.
Hardison shrugged. "It's different, but I'm good."
"We're staying then?" Sophie looked at Eliot and waited for him to nod. "Alright then, I'm going to bed." Sophie left the others for the bedroom to start preparing for bed. She reemerged a few moments later with a pillow and a pair of blankets and offered them to Parker, before vanishing again.
While Parker was making up her 'bed', Eliot leaned close to Hardison. "Do whatever you need to keep an eye on Nate and keep our trail covered, but I want to know about our new friend. Keep Sophie out of the loop, would ya?" Hardison nodded and pulled over a fresh bottle of orange soda. Eliot moved to finish arranging the kitchen and tried to decide what he needed to do to be comfortable with the situation.
Sleep came hard for Nate. Even with painkillers, the hospital environment was making slumber elusive. He was a little worried. Sterling hadn't been around as much in the afternoon and Nate hoped it was a ploy to unsettle him and not a genuine lead on the team. He was sure it was a ploy. His team was the best. They weren't just gifted at breaking the law, they were experts at getting away with it. Sophie could hide in plain sight, drop off the world, and still be completely in touch with the situation. This last job proved that and her ability to plan without him. Still, Sterling was right. He missed them.
God help him, he missed them. When the hell had that happened? When did theater fliers and
play books stop reminding him of Sophie and start finding their way home with him on their way to her? When had he converted his under-used kitchen to become Eliot's other arena? When had he stopped minding the orange soda and gummy frogs that Hardison stashed at his place? When had he started keeping extra blankets and towels and cereal around for the nights Parker slept in his apartment and when had he started breathing easier on the nights he knew she was there, because that meant he knew she was safe? When had Hardison's geek tendencies stopped being annoying and became amusing instead? When had he started treating Eliot as leader of the 'junior' team and knowing that the gruff hitter would do the job and take care of Parker and Hardison no matter what? When had his life stopped moving in the same direction as Sophie and started moving with her?
If he replayed each moment he'd shared with the four (and he had plenty of time for it), he could see hints and signs. They'd been there as plain as this hand in front of him. Part of him wanted to blame the liquor for blinding him to them, but that was another lie he wasn't going to tell himself anymore. He hadn't wanted to see them. It was that simple. He had wanted everything to be like it was before Sam died. He was everything Jimmy Ford wasn't. He was a faithful and devoted husband and an all-powerful and kind father. He was an honest man among thieves who was in control of himself. Except he wasn't. He wanted to laugh at the irony. At least Sophie accepted that who she was and who she pretended she was weren't the same. When that illusion had started to crack, he'd thrown everything away and destroyed any hope of getting it back. His wife and his job had been the obvious ones. His confidence had been the main one. Four thieves had given him back what his own denials and fate had taken from him. He had a purpose and a family again. Lies had taken those from him once. He wouldn't repeat that mistake. He would cling to the truth and fight for what mattered. He would slay his demons one tiny regret at a time. He'd admitted that they were his family and he'd told Sophie he loved her. Those would be the foundation of what came after this. He made promises to himself for them and he'd keep them this time.
He'd let Eliot flex his other muscles. He'd give him opportunities to use parts of himself other than his fists. Eliot was a man of many talents and Nate would embrace them all.
He'd show Hardison that being a man meant having no one to prove anything to but yourself and that the key to respect was respecting yourself. He'd teach him chess and all the things he'd wanted to do with Sam. Nathan Ford had been a father without a son and Alec Hardison was a son without a father. Nate would fix that because Hardison deserved it, not himself.
He'd never had a daughter, but then again, he was fairly certain Parker never had any kind of a decent father either, one that gave and didn't take and kept his promises. He had a lot of regrets about the team and, barring the mess with Sophie, he'd made the most mistakes with Parker. He'd told Victor Dubenich, Parker was insane. As much as he thought that was true then, he cursed his ignorance now. Parker didn't form her life from insanity and apathy. She formed if from fear, confusion, and a lack of self-worth. She didn't understand people and she'd never found ones she could trust, so she stayed away, besides the only thing she was good for was stealing and no one would miss her if she was gone anyway. At least that was what Nate figured everyone told her and, like the child she was, she believed them. Sophie had had to point out to him when Parker had asked for their help with the trial. She'd seen what he hadn't. He'd congratulated Hardison for winning the trial, but he'd said nothing to Parker for wanting to do what was right, not easy, to begin with. He was a fool. He complemented her on her skills, but never anything else. When he saw her, he'd tell her he'd missed her and that he was proud of Parker, not Parker the thief. He'd build her self-esteem and teach her about people and if he ever found the people who'd made her this way, he'd help Eliot pummel them. A father protects his family from their pasts and themselves. He'd just need to prove that to Parker.
Sophie...he'd made a mess of that so badly, he still was sorting it out. He'd told her he loved her, that he needed her. If he did nothing else, he'd prove that to every single one of her for the rest of his life.
He sighed, settling back on the bed. He was hand-cuffed to a hospital bed, but he felt freer than he had in a while. He closed his eyes to get some sleep. He needed his strength. He had to work his way out of Sterling's grasp and figure out what he was going to do with Sophie. He owed it to his family.
Sophie ran her hand over the soft quilt covering her bed. The comfortable bed felt wrong. Nate was handcuffed to a hospital bed and she was curled up under a down quilt tucked away in the foothills of Kentucky. This was what he wanted, but she didn't have to like it. Even with the plan working, it still felt like Sterling was winning. The team was separated by force and Nate was in custody.
She clung to the knowledge it wouldn't last. They'd be back together eventually. She would take care of the rest of the team, because Nate wanted her to and she needed to, as much for them as for herself. She had missed them. That had surprised her. It had been a long time since she had missed anyone, well besides Nate. At first she had thought she had just been accustomed to them, but it had settled into a dull ache of longing almost as painful as the one for Nate. It hadn't been Nate she came back for. It had been Parker. She'd instructed Tara to keep an eye on Nate mostly, but when when the other woman had called and told her Nate had allowed a mark to reduce their emotionally scarred thief to flight and tears, Sophie had been picking out her travel identity before the call had ended. Only seeing him at gunpoint had kept her from strangling him. The slap had still been extra satisfying.
Of all the men Sophie had known over the years, Nate was the only one who had never given in to her charms completely and had never been driven away no matter how cruel she'd been. She'd bloody shot him and he'd shot her and called them square. The man was absolutely infuriating...and she needed him. She could be herself with him. He gave her the honesty she needed for the convincing roles she played. She knew that the longing she'd used on many marks in the years since meeting Nate had been fueled by him. He'd made her a better thief. When she'd felt like she'd lost too much of herself to be convincing anymore, he'd helped her find the truth the lies needed. He loved the woman she'd protected with the "bodyguard of lies" Churchill had spoke of. For that, she loved the man who pretended he was in control, especially when he wasn't.
Nate had surprised her. She expected the team to need her then. She waited and worried, almost terrified when Tara would call with an update. Parker had kept it together even after being exposed like that. Hardison's magic was flawless as usual, even under pressure his confidence didn't falter. Eliot hadn't complained or hesitated at being relegated to grunt work. Nate had taken down Rand for their client and for Parker. He'd even put a bank robber away as a bonus. The tone Tara had used had told Sophie she finally understood why they did it and she'd felt her eyes well up when the other woman had told her Parker had done a little side job and had given the bank robber's money to the client. They'd been okay without her and they'd grown and she'd missed it. She thought maybe she understood a little of the pain in Nate's voice when he'd missed moments in Sam's life and Maggie would call.
She had to find her place again and try to be Nate at the same time. The task wasn't impossible, but she wasn't going to underestimate it.
Nate had his own plan and that required them to stay free while he put Culpepper and Kadjic away from the witness stand. That meant two things for the team: stay out of sight and wait. She understood. She hated it passionately, but she understood. She would wait until he needed her, again.
Right now Hardison was the easy one. He could do something. He could watch and gather information. He could pull a string or two for Nate and keep them hidden from the world at large. When he started feeling safe and felt he wasn't doing anything for Nate, then he would be a problem. For now, she would encourage him and coax him along as best she could. She had her hands full with Parker and Eliot.
Eliot was feeling like he'd failed Nate. He'd let him get caught and Sophie had been the one to get the four of them out of there, while Tara had taken care of herself. The only things he'd found to do since then was patch up Parker's hands, drive where Sophie said, take care of the food, and brood. He was desperate to protect them from anything he could come up with at this point. Sophie was confident in her choice. This place couldn't be tied to them and they had a solid ally. She couldn't convince Eliot of that. She had to let him decide for himself. She just needed to give him the time he needed to agree with her. The digging she was sure he was having Hardison do and his own would be enough. Billy wasn't hard to like. She was smart, kind, and witty, if you could deal with the temper and stubbornness.
Parker had her worried. The blond was withdrawing back into herself, raising her defenses like they'd been when they met. Sophie was certain she was still shaken from her "psychic" reading and everything with Nate had gotten to her. If she had any doubts she simply needed to recall the panic attack in the helicopter and the cuts and scrapes on the nimble hands from her frantic attempt to...to...to do what exactly?
Sophie still wasn't sure if Parker had been trying to get back to Nate or if she'd been simply trying to run and hide from her own fear, the way she had when Dalton Rand had drug old memories to the surface. Even after she'd gone with the thief to gather her belongings for their escape and taken the drive out here to think on it, the swirling thoughts in the other woman's head were still a mystery. Part of Sophie was pained at Parker's confusion and a very small part of her was wondering if her people-reading skills were getting dull. She'd thought for a moment that the horse on the porch had been too much and had broken something worse in the already broken soul. Thankfully, Billy had gently coaxed Parker out. She'd keep an eye on Parker and watch for opportunities to help her work through what was going on in her head. Keeping her occupied would be the problem right now. Bored Parker was dangerous and unpredictable. It turned her into a bundle of energy. Sophie suspected she wanted to distract herself from the darkness in her own mind. Maybe she could help Hardison listen to recordings of phone conversations for a while at least.
Sophie had been surprised when Billy had talked Parker out of the pantry. She clearly recalled a conversation with her young friend at the expo where she'd professed a lack of people skills, but had glazed over it with a smile and shrug before adding that animals and small children were a different matter, and Parker apparently had joined the list. "The purest souls are the best judges of character. Innocence will always see the lies, even if it can't understand them." That had been the reason Billy had given for her distaste of people. She'd seen through Sophie's lies as if they weren't there and she refused to lie herself. That told the grifter a lot. For a person who had no use for lies to always see them in others had to be a form of torture. She'd liked Sophie anyway, because Sophie had admitted to the lies. She'd liked her enough to hide her and three more internationally wanted felons. She was having enough problems of her own that four counts of aiding and abetting didn't concern her and that worried Sophie a little. The grifter hoped she wasn't making things worse. She'd have ask a few questions if she got Billy alone.
Sophie sighed and rolled onto her side. She missed Nate. He did the planning and she handled the people. It really was a headache doing both. She needed to sleep if she was going to be of any use at all in the morning. She took a deep breath and started going over all her identities in her mind. By the time she'd gotten through the first eight years of her career, she was in a fitful sleep.
Parker folded one of the blankets Sophie had given her to form a pad. She had used her shoes laces to tie the doorknob to a nail. She'd have some warning if someone wanted in. The pantry was a nice size and some light came under the door. It was certainly enough to see by, even without the light, and quite nicer than some of the places she'd spent the night. Placing the pillow at one end of the bottom blanket, she pulled the other up around her shoulders. She was tired, but if she slept much at all, she'd be surprised. Her world was disappearing again, one piece at a time. Every time Sophie promised they'd get Nate back, she heard her first social worker reassuring her that her father would be back for her in a few weeks. He just needed time to do some things and then they'd be a family again. She just needed to wait. She had waited so long, she'd forgotten what she was waiting for.
She was waiting for another broken home, but this one had been hers. She wouldn't come home to her little brother's sticky hands showing off his pictures. Her mother wouldn't be there asking about grades and homework and what she wanted for dessert. She wouldn't splash her brother in the tub when their mother got ready to put them to bed. But the smoke would be there.
The scent of smoke and wind that people feared, that she waited for, would be there. The smoky smell would linger and, late at night, when Daddy came home from work, he'd open her door to peek in on her and she'd smell smoke and the wind and know he was home safe. Aftershave and soap never erased it from his skin. No detergent got it out of his clothes. Nate hadn't even promised to comeback like he had. Everyone else said he would. At least, if she never saw Nate again, he hadn't lied to her. He never lied to her and meant it. She liked that. It made him special. Eliot and Hardison never lied to her either. They were special too.
Eliot protected her. She wasn't used to it, but it was nice. He'd quit telling her that she wasn't right. He just said something wasn't normal, but didn't say she wasn't. It took getting used to. Normally people blamed her for things that were weird. When she'd been confused by him opening the door for her once, he'd been mad, but not at her. Sophie said that he was being a "gentleman" and to let him, but didn't tell her why he was mad or who at, just that it wasn't her. Nate and Hardison did "gentleman" things too sometimes. They opened the door mostly. Sometimes Hardison pulled a chair out for her. That was really strange. She could do that, but she could open doors too, and sometimes faster. Maybe Sophie could explain it again. Eliot cooked too. Sometimes, he let her steal bites when he was working, even after he'd yelled at Hardison for trying to. Even when he was really mad, he'd never threatened her like he did Hardison. He'd never offered to hurt her and she knew he could if he wanted to. He'd taught her ways of taking care of herself instead.
Hardison was nice too. It was sort of like having P.J. back. She could play with him and tease him and watch out for him. He did nice things for her like download the specs on safes and security systems and he worried about her. He wanted to do things together like go to museum, but not to see how to break in which was confusing. They were thieves. They stole. Maybe he wanted to pretend to be like people who didn't steal things, like a disguise. A thief can't be a thief if they don't steal. She should pay more attention when he's trying to teach her things. She needed to ask Sophie about explaining she needed to start the lessons over, because she didn't know they were lessons.
It was nice having Sophie back. Sophie was good at explaining things. Most people didn't bother explaining things to her. They just did them and sometimes they hurt, a lot. Sophie hadn't hurt her, ever. Okay, once she sent her to Sterling, but Sophie hadn't meant to and she'd gotten Parker back. Parker had liked being stolen. It was new. She hadn't been on that side of a heist before. Sophie showed Parker lots of new things. Some she didn't like, knocking and using doors. Some she did like, British foods and theatre, but only plays that were really bad. She actually learned from it. If she could figure out what they did wrong, then she might be able to do it right if she had to. It was like reading the articles in the paper about crime. Never make other people's mistakes.
She felt comfortable in the small space. No one had said anything about her sleeping here and Sophie made her comfortable. She'd pocketed the map earlier and studied it by the bare bulb. She'd go exploring tomorrow and wanted to avoid the horses. Just because they weren't all murderous, didn't mean she'd chance it. Finally, she pulled the string on the light and curled up in her bed. She laid there a moment, still, then reached into the bag she had to one side and worked her hand into the bottom compartment. She hesitated only a moment before withdrawing her oldest friend.
She'd needed him more lately, since Rand, since he'd pulled the memories out in the open. She drew deep breathes to force away the scream of the brakes, the wet impact, her own voice pleading for him to get up. Instead she reached deeper into her memory, Daddy carrying her through the building and setting her next to Mommy and gazing down at a red face. 'Look Sweetie. He's so glad to meet you, he got you a present.' The stuffed bunny being tucked into her arms, cuddling him to her the way her mother had P.J. He was the last of her old family and she meant to keep him close. He was a reminder of the family she had had before and one to keep her new one safe.
Hardison stared at the screen. He finally felt in control for the first time since Lucille… He couldn't think about it. It was too fresh. He'd set up his spare laptop to serve as a passive monitor, keeping his primary free for active work. One passive window displayed the phones he was monitoring, Sterling's, Niven's… Another was set up to alert him to updates made to files, Nate's at the hospital, the cases against Culpepper and Kadjic, everything on the team… The active screen was a little more complicated. Mostly he was checking and repairing their cover. He tweaked identities. He moved funds. He carefully obliterated anything that linked them to their clients. He hid his assets and everything of the team's he knew about. He'd even wiped the trail their GPS had left in the system. He'd set up a set of windows with a quick hid command and configured to not record the history for Eliot's "side job."
So far he'd found pretty basic stuff with a few surprises thrown in. He'd shaken his head at her birth certificate. He'd avoid using a name like that too. Her school records showed she was well behaved, but had been the focus of a lot of bullying and harassing that led to fights, most of which she'd come out on top of, but never throwing the first punch. Her grades were good, really good. She'd been in the gifted program and had gotten a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky. It had been the only school she'd applied to, oddly enough, but dozens had courted her. She had a semester and a half of credits racked up from duel credit and a couple night classes. The local vocational school had issued her certificates for carpentry, small and large engine repair, and welding. She had designed software that had done well in competition. It wasn't his level, but it earned her some cash doing websites for local groups and businesses. She kept an online presence. He'd never admit it, but he'd actually recognized her username on a couple sci-fi sites. Not anything really extraordinary for an eighteen year old or anything to be concerned about.
Financials were squeaky clean. There was a savings account that was nearly as old as she was, a checking account that dated back only six years, a couple of C.D.'s in her name (the largest being set up by her grandmother), a small, well-managed stock portfolio, and a checking account she'd been added to only recently used for household expenses like utilities, groceries, repairs… She did most of her personal spending on copies of old public records, books, and model kits. The only recent activity on her personal account was a purchase at the local pharmacy. He took a peek into the system. Two prescriptions that hadn't been filled in a while and one that he noticed had been filled twice in the last three months. Explains earlier, Girl's got a lot on her plate. He browsed her medical records at the local family doctor and hospital. Not much, a couple accidents and a mild, inherited heart arrhythmia she hadn't been taking anything for regularly for over five years was it besides shots and school physicals and well… none of his business really.
The family itself was deeply rooted in the area. Over sixty close relatives were nearby and many of the neighbors were related distantly according to an online family he found. Explains the old records she got copied. The farm they were staying at had belonged to the Carlisle family for as long as it had belonged to any one family, at least in written records. The county history stated it had been the first home settled in the area and it having been used as a church, government office, and marketplace when needed until actual facilities were built. Lots of prominent family members over the years and a couple of second cousins were minor officials still. The bank, inn/restaurant, town and county offices were seated on the four corners of the intersection of Main and Carlisle Streets. There were reunions, births, deaths, and the odd history piece in the local paper's archives. One article had him laughing. He saved that one to share later. The team would like it.
It was weird having Sophie back. She was doing pretty good considering they'd had to leave Nate behind. That had to hurt. She was holding herself together by holding them together. He'd have to check on her later. She'd done good, he acknowledged looking around. This was the last place he'd look for them. He could see the situation from both sides and wasn't going to get between Sophie and Eliot on it. As long as he had his computers and orange soda, he'd be fine. They'd just lay low and wait things out.
Nate was the least in danger of all of them. He had leverage on Sterling and a plan. They were on the run and taking things as they came. Nate always had a plan or six and the hacker missed that. It wasn't as steady with Sophie in charge, but if they couldn't have Nate, she was their best hope. That woman could talk her way into or out of anything and she'd take them along for the ride. Hopefully when they got Nate back, he'd fix things with Sophie. If he didn't, the younger man was sure he could get Eliot and Parker to help him help them.
Eliot was on edge. He'd tidied and fussed over everything inside and had wandered outside to look around. It wasn't his fault Sterling had Nate. He'd offered to get Nate out of there, but Nate said no. The hitter had done what the boss wanted and was taking care of them as driver, cook, medic, any job he could think of really. No one blamed him. He was doing enough blaming for all of them. Hardison would do anything the hitter wanted if it kept him distracted and he was more than willing to take the initiative if he had to.
Parker had scared him earlier. He kept seeing the panic in her eyes and was frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it for the second time in weeks. He hadn't been able to fix Rand for her then and he couldn't get Nate back now. Tara and Nate had shown her Rand was a fake and how he did it. Eliot had fussed over her in his own way and Hardison just felt like an idiot. No wonder she wasn't dating him. She didn't need him. Not the way he needed her anyway.
Footsteps announced Eliot was back. The hacker rubbed his face and pushed his chair back.
"I got what you wanted. I'm gonna catch some sleep. If anything happens, I've got it set to alert my phone. Close the windows on that one," he pointed, "when you're done."
Eliot had organized everything in the house and van and decided to go outside before Hardison figured out he was antsy. The house was well kept and he explored the rest of the area by porch light. Plants surrounded the house and, he'd have to check in better light, but some of them looked like herbs. A fence surrounded the house, a patch meant for a garden, a garage (he'd have to see if he could hide the van inside in daylight), a corn crib, hen house, and a small barn. All of the buildings looked to be empty, but kept up, though any livestock turned into the surrounding field could use the barn for shelter.
He liked the place. It was different from where he'd been raised, but there was a comforting sameness to it. He'd like someplace like this to retire to someday. A house and some acreage to grow his own food, keep some horses, and grow old.
He'd thought Sophie's plan was a sound one until a teenage girl had greeted them. Then, he'd wondered what Sophie was thinking, trusting a kid. He'd even called her on it. He regretted it now. He'd have to make it up to her later. Thinking on it, he'd realized that at that age any one of the team had been capable. He owed Sophie and Billy both the benefit of a doubt. So far, it was working out. They had a place to stay out of sight and a way of being supplied. He'd been in a lot chancier situations.
Nate would approve, he thought. It was almost crazy enough to be one of his plans. The hitter was still pissed that Nate had sacrificed himself. You lose the king and it is checkmate. There had to be another way. Eliot's job was to protect the team and Nate had deliberately put himself in a situation Eliot couldn't help him from. That was just wrong. Why have a hitter and not let him hit? Nate had asked him to take care of the rest of the team and, by damn, he'd do that.
Sophie was doing good for having been dropped in the middle of things. Tara must have been giving her good intel. She'd gotten them out of there, well the ones who hadn't hand-cuffed themselves to a railing. She'd even found them a safe house when Nate hadn't come with them. She had to be going crazy between the stress of worrying over Nate and protecting the team. He resolved to pitch in where he could to help. He'd have done it anyway, but he owed her and Eliot Spencer paid his debts.
Hardison was too busy being their eyes and ears to be a problem. He was the only one who wasn't just waiting. He was working, and worrying about Parker. The hitter was sure the hacker was concerned about the thief. The other man had shown plenty of interest in the blond and she returned it to some degree. Let her figure out how to be around people before she has to figure out how to date, Hardison. Maybe he needed to drop some hints, oh say the size of Texas, that the hacker needed to go slow. He could keep an eye on Parker. That would be a weight off of Sophie and Hardison both. The things he did for the team…
He was worried too. There, he admitted it. Somewhere he'd started to protect Parker and not just a teammate. He doubled checked her equipment and stayed close in case she needed backup. Now he watched out for her emotionally too. He felt the need to protect her, well, he'd call it innocence, though he suspected that was taken from her too early and too harshly. Whatever was left of it, he'd protect. If part of her still believed in Santa, then he wouldn't tell her otherwise. She hadn't messed herself up. The world had done it and that made him a little angrier at it. His hands clenched in reflex. As much as she frustrated him, he enjoyed her playfulness. Maybe some time together would be good for both of them.
He took a deep breath of the cool, woodsy air and let some of his frustration out with it. He turned back toward the house and slipped inside. Hardison looked up when he entered. He could see Billy's driver's license on the screen. Rising, Hardison said, "I got what you wanted. I'm gonna catch some sleep. If anything happens, I've got it set to alert my phone. Close the windows on that one," gesturing to the computer he'd been using, "when you're done." Eliot nodded and got a bottle of water before taking the vacated seat.
Deciding to start at the beginning, he called up the birth certificate. Her name was as bad as one of Hardison's aliases, he thought, noticing she answered to a form of her middle name. The father's part of the birth record was blank. He closed the window and moved to a birth announcement. Mother, sister, and grandmother under one roof, that's a lot of women. Closing the window, he moved on to the school records. Smart girl. He chuckled at the frequency she ended up in the nurse's office after a fall or other accident. A bit clumsy though. The smile disappeared when he got to the discipline reports. The bullying had started within a week of kindergarten and had never stopped. Taking or destroying her things, name calling, hitting, they'd done it all. Classmates, older kids, younger kids, and, if he wasn't mistaken, a couple of the staff had all done their share. The vice principal had given her detention in January for running in the hall. The boy she was chasing for dumping a trash can on her had gotten nothing, even though a teacher's aide had seen it. That ain't right. His hands clenched again. He closed the records before he hit something.
He moved on to the blurb in the paper about her full scholarship to the University of Kentucky. She had smarts and skills, that he knew, but she kept to herself. Can't blame her. The police report had him grinding his teeth. She'd done their damn job complete with pictures and a fucking recording of them gloating and the little pricks were still wandering around. Inadmissible in court, chain of evidence, lazy bastards was the real reason. The picture of the blood stained gray horse and the body of the cat, the trails caressing fingers left in bloody fur visible, had him boiling. He memorized names, addresses, and faces before closing the window. He skimmed the financials, but froze at the medical records. No wonder she's ready to kill at the first sign of a threat, but there's no way I'm letting it get to that. I wonder if Parker would be interested in a side job. Call it…rent.
