AN- FYI, the next few chapters will be primarily con focused; it was the only way I could make things work out.
"Chase was it?" Carter asked and Eliot silently cursed Hardison for giving him such an idiotic name. The pair shook hands.
"Carter this is my boss, Seamus Hunt," Eliot, as Chase, said as he introduced Nate, posing as Hunt, whose hair had been slicked back in a purposefully large amount of oil, but his clothes were expensive; and Armani suit to give the mark an impression of wealth and success, as though he was not to be messed with.
"Mr Carter a pleasure to meet you," Nate said, as he loudly chewed a piece of gum and shook the mark's hand. "I've heard great things about you."
"I wish I could say the same about you," Carter replied.
"Oh you've heard bad things about me, have you?"
"No, I just haven't heard anything about you. At all."
"Well then, my men are doing their job," Nate said as he gestured to the man to sit. "Now, what made you drag me all the way across the country huh? My man says you wanted to talk about Decan?"
"Yes," the mark replied, "but perhaps we could do so without our pets?"
"Very well," Nate said reluctantly as he motioned Eliot to leave; Carter did the same for his bodyguards.
"I'm very interested in your proposal Mr Hunt, but you'll forgive me for being cautious. I'm sure your man has brought you up to speed but I want to know how you are certain that Decan will not turn states witness."
"It's really quite simple," Nate said leaning forward. "I have a high ranking police officer, a judge and several members of the government on my payroll. They will do what I say."
"You have a judge on your payroll?" Carter asked and Nate raised his eyebrows ever so slightly out of surprise; he had miscalculated, expecting that it would be the government official that he would hone in on, not anyone involved with the judicial process as, as a rule, gang members and anyone affiliated with them, stayed well away from anyone who could arrest them.
"Forgive me, I'm a little hard of hearing, you want to know about the judge?" Nate said, hinting to the team at the other end of the comms.
"Working on it Nate," Hardison said.
"Yes," the mark replied. "What is their name? Perhaps I've heard of them?"
"Okay umm.. looks like there's a Judge H. Jones away at the moment, we can steal him" Hardison said.
"Judge Jones," Nate said to Carter.
"Who Jones?"
"Who Jones? And by that you mean what is his first name? Again, hearing problems," he said, again hinting at the hacker.
"Uhhh, H Jones, H Jones..." Hardison said as he searched through computer files, trying to find the Judges first name
"Henry," Nate finally said, growing impatient and worried that he may lose the mark.
"Henry Jones Nate? Really? You couldn't come up with something more original?"
"Yes, Henry Jones," the mastermind confirmed.
"I want to meet him," Carter said.
"Meet him? Well, I can set it up for..."
"Nate, don't worry, Hardison can play Jones." Sophie said, reaffirming the decision that had already formed in Nate's mind as she drove towards Decan's office.
"For Monday," Nate continued, but the mark shook his head.
"I'm afraid the only time I have available is now," He said and Nate froze momentarily.
"You want to go see the judge now? Hard of..."
"Hard of hearing, yes I know," He interrupted angrily. "I want to go see the judge, now," he said again, over enunciating.
"No need to be rude Mr Carter. Very well, we shall go see the judge. Now."
"Now? Really Nate, you're killing me! Look, just try to stall," Hardison said as he moved to the front of Lucille to drive to the courthouse with Parker.
"MR DECAN," Sophie said to the mark in character. "Have you thought any more about my offer?
"Miss Croix, I told you I already have business partners. I don't need any more clients," the mark replied; he was playing hard to get.
"Look, I know you're happy being a big fish in a small pond but do you think these small time gangsters will stand the test of time?" The man raised an eyebrow in response and Sophie could see he was getting hooked. "They're already falling apart at the seams. I heard they 'ave a snitch, a power struggle. Mr Decan I'm offerin' you a chance to do business with real established enterprise; men who can offer you real, consistent money that looks legitimate."
Carter stood silent for a moment, recalling several rumours he had heard that the Carters indeed had a snitch and that there was a play for power. Rumours, of course, set up by the Leverage crew through subtle manipulation and suggestion.
"What would it cost me?" He asked and Sophie grinned.
"These small time gangs Mr Decan, are a real bother in our business. You have information on them yes? Give this information to the police," the man opened his mouth to protest but Sophie shushed him, raising her hand. "Anonymously, Mr Decan. The police are good at very few things, weeding out the opposition is one of them."
"You want to get rid of the competition and take it for yourself?"
"That's right Mr Decan and we want you to be a part of it."
"How do I know Carter won't do the same to me? Turn me in as well?" He asked cautiously.
"I have lots of people on my payroll, people who will do what I say," she replied.
"Like who?"
"A judge for one, but the list is endless."
"You have a judge on your payroll?" he asked.
"Yes, Henry Jones, has been a good friend of mine for several years if you'd like to meet him?"
"I would," Decan interrupted.
"I think he's in a meeting at the moment but we could start getting on our way? I suspect he'll be ready for us in roughly half an hour," she said, hinting at Hardison.
"Sounds like a plan," the mark replied.
I hope that you guys can follow the story okay, my beta kind of vanished off the face of the earth, so no one (other than me) has checked to make sure it all makes sense so I could very well have missed something.
So let me know if you don't understand anything/something's amiss and I shall do my best to explain and rectify the situation.
BUT... I hope you guys are enjoying the story and thanks again for reading and reviewing =)
Ta ta