Chapter 9

Once they had returned to their Hotel the rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get the equipment they would need for the search. Luckily most of the equipment the official search would have used was still in town and Parker made short work of stealing what they needed there. By late afternoon they were all set to get back to the site to look for Nate. Eliot suggested that they go have dinner at a local restaurant and then get an early night. None of the four was really in the mood for eating but Eliot's insistence that they needed to keep up their strength because it was going to be a long day tomorrow won them over.

When they had got back from dinner, Parker and Hardison had disappeared after confirming that they would be ready at five the next morning. Sophie invited Eliot in for a drink before going to bed. She did not want to sleep and she did not want to be alone.

"Do you think there is any possibility that he made it out…that he is still alive?" Sophie asked softly taking a sip of her bourbon. She knew there was none but wanted somebody to make it real for her, verbalize it.

"No…no Sophie I don't. Even if he made it through the crash and the explosion, from what I saw of the area there is nowhere that he could have found shelter. That was one hellova storm that passed through there. Let's also not forget that it has been two days since the crash, two days that he would have had to survive, through a blizzard in the middle of nowhere without any shelter." Eliot shook his head as he spoke then lapsed into silence the reality of accepting that Nate was gone, of verbalizing it to the woman overwhelming him briefly.

"What do you mean even if…he wasn't in the plane so he must have made it out!" Sophie reminded him.

"Soph he could have been thrown out after the explosion or during the crash…" Eliot tried to explain.

"No, no he wasn't, he couldn't have been, he must have been in the plane when it crashed and then made it out." Sophie blurted out.

"Sophie…the chances…"

"No Eliot. You don't understand. If he was thrown out then we will NEVER find him. He has to be in that area. He has to!" Sophie said downing the rest of her drink.

"Sophie…we may never find his body…you, you know that." Eliot said hesitantly.

"We WILL find his body, we WILL take him home and we WILL bury him with his son. Is that clear Eliot Spencer, we ARE going to take him home and lay him to rest and give him the peace he deserves. I don't care how long it takes is that understood?" Sophie said forcefully glaring at the Hitter. Suddenly her eyes softened again and filled with tears. "We have to Eliot, we owe him that." She said whispered.

"Yes we do. Yes we will, no matter how long it takes." Eliot said as he stood and replaced her drink for her. "Now I think we finish this up and get to bed, tomorrow is not going to be an easy day…for any of us."

Thanks again for the reviews. Will try and post the next chapter as soon as possible.