"Nate, are you high as well as drunk? She can't meet with him – you know what he did to her!" Eliot was practically yelling; it was bad enough that Nate constantly pushed the envelope with the team but to put a regular person in danger was ridiculous.
"Oh she'll be fine Eliot, besides we need to draw Westerhoff out if we're ever going to find the evidence that he's hiding. What better way than to give him the woman that gave him the old heeve ho?"
"So we just put her out there like bait?"
"Look, you're going to be right there in case he tries something, which he won't because he's not going to want to draw attention to himself by causing a scene."
"I don't like it Nate I don't think that –"
"Can you PLEASE stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Nona shouted, causing a deafening silence in the room
"I'm sorry Nona, I just don't want-" Eliot started, but she cut him off
"You're the one that said I needed to move on, to show him that I'm not scared anymore, to trust someone again" Nona replied giving him a meaningful look. Turning to Nate she asked
"What do I have to do?"
"Just speak normally" Hardison told Nona the next day as he got her ready for her meeting with Steven. Taking the tiny ear bud she placed it in her ear and tested it
"Is this ok?" she asked and Hardison gave her a thumbs up
"So basically you're going to go in there and let him know that you've got something on him, but don't give away the whole kit and kaboodle. We want just enough to spook him into leading us to the evidence we need to get him arrested." Nate said as he went over the plan with her.
"And how exactly do I do that?"
"It's all about confidence; if you act like you know what you're talking about, he'll believe it."
"But I don't know if I can do that, Steven knows that I've always been scared of him and what if he –"
Eliot cut her off by grabbing her by the arm and pulling her aside. Taking her face in both her hands he said
"You are NOT that woman anymore; you are strong, confident, and beautiful." He had to swallow his desire to show her just how beautiful she was
Nona sighed
"But what if he –"
"If he so much as lays a finger on you, I will kill him" looking into the ice that came over his eyes told Nona that he would do exactly that.
"You can do this, I know you can; just remember I'll be with you the whole time" indicating her ear bud.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded
"Ok let's go, meeting's in 10 minutes" Nate reminded them
Twenty minutes later Nona was sitting in the restaurant wondering if Steven was ever going to show
"Well well well, Winona Flynn in the flesh" her skin crawled at the sound of his voice
"Hello Steven" she squeaked out. He still looked the same; his blonde hair was cut shorter but the tailor made suit, and air of supremecy was still the same.
"I almost didn't come, but I had to see what would make you forget about your restraining order" he said handing his coat to an attendent. Nona was startled as she looked up and saw that the attendent was Parker.
"Well um, actually I wanted to –"
'You wanted to see if he was man enough to show up' Nate said in her ear
"I wanted to see if you'd be man enough to show up" she repeated with a bit more confidence
"Oh you know how manly I am" he said running a finger down the side of her face before he sat down. She could hear Eliot grunting in her ear and glanced over to the table where he and Tara were sitting. Before he could get up Tara laid a hand on his arm, reminding him that they were on a job.
Nona wanted to vomit, but she thought about what Eliot had said and swallowed
"I remember too much sometimes; so how are you Steven?" she said changing the subject
"I'm good, as always; I'd say you're looking good but it looks like you've put on some weight." His brown eyes flicked over her figure
'You are a strong, confident, beautiful woman' she heard Eliot in her ear and smiled.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you Steven"
"Look, let's cut to the chase and tell me what this is about" he leaned forward and his eyes flashed with anger
"Let's just say that I have something on you, and if you don't leave me alone, I won't be afraid to use it"
He laughed
"Oh really? What's that? We both know that you won't file rape charges, and even if you did you know I can make it go away"
Nona knew he was right on that; lord only knew how many cops he had in his pocket. Steven was always paying off someone.
"It has nothing to do with that, though don't think I haven't considered going after you for that. No this is something new; something I've discovered recently."
That made him sit up and take notice
"If you know what's good for you, you'll keep it quiet"
"And if you know what's good for you then you'll leave me the hell alone"
'Now get up and walk away' Nate urged
"I'd say I'd see you later Steven, but if you don't want trouble, I won't see you at all" she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Her legs were like jello and she barely made it to the door. She was just about to collapse when strong arms wrapped around her
"I've got you" Eliot said; she'd been so focused on what to say to Steven, she hadn't seen him slip out
"Let's go" he said and started walking down the street with her; once they rounded the corner she spotted Hardison's van
"What've you got?" Eliot asked after they'd climbed inside
"Westerhoff's still at the restaurant, but it looks like he's making a call" he replied as he focused in on one of his laptops
When Nona looked at him questioningly, Eliot explained
"Parker dropped a tracking device in his coat pocket and cloaned his phone"
"But she was only with him for a couple of seconds"
"For Parker that's like half an hour" Hardison smiled affectionately as he thought of his thief.
"Who's he calling?" Nate interjected over the comms; he'd met Sophie outside the restaurant and the two headed back to headquarters.
"I don't know, it's a burn phone, but let's take a listen" he said turning up the volume. Suddenly the van was filled with the sound of Steven's voice.
"Do you remember what we discussed?"
"Yeah boss, I remember" came a dark voice
"Get it done" and with that he abruptly ended the call
"Hell of a lot of good that did us" Nona said, sounding defeated
"Don't worry girl, we'll get something as soon as he's on the move" Hardison assured her and as a blinking light moved across the screen he said
"Which apparently is now."