It`s been a long time
Since I wore this rattlesnake smile
And a lotta my friends haven`t seen it in quite a while
Rattle Snake Smile ~ Christian Kane

Katie walked down the hallway ahead of him and as soon as she saw Parker's and Hardison's faces she had to walk onto the porch to stop from laughing. She knew Nate and Sophie were not amused at all. And their timing sucked but it wasn't like they exactly planned it.

Parker followed her outside and grabbed her by the arm with grin. "You guys are like bunnies." Shaking her head, she pulled Katie back inside.

She took a deep breath and sat down beside Hardison. Sophie was staring a hole at Eliot who seemed to be ignoring her while he watched the laptop screen.

"Are you two ready to go over the plan or would you like another hour?" Nate asked with his little creepy smile.

"Sorry. I just got a little…emotional about getting my money back and all. And Eliot was…," Katie began, trying to say it seriously but when Hardison's amused gaze shifted to her, she let her voice trail off. Shrugging, she proceeded to stare at the computer screen as well.

They went over the plan and Katie listened intently. It seemed simple enough. But then, she wasn't sure they could pull it off and clear her name and get her out of trouble with the mob. Eliot seemed cool with it so she trusted him.

"Katie, you'll stay in the van with Hardison," Nate said and she nodded.

"She doesn't need to be there," Eliot argued, his voice tight.

"Would it be better to leave her here alone? At least if she's in the van, she'll be close by if there's a problem," Nate insisted.

"Wait! Listen," Hardison exclaimed, before turning up the volume.

They all turned to watch the TV screen which Hardison had rigged up to display the same image as the computer. Thomas' condo was taking up the full screen and Katie felt a little sick looking at him. He was talking on the phone.

"Yeah, I need you to send a few of your men down here. I just got a call from the accountant," he was saying.

Since they had bugged his phones they were able to listen to the other side as well.

"And?"

"He's panicking. Apparently, the damn lawyer called asking him to be in a meeting tomorrow because there is a problem with the estate," Thomas said.

"I don't have men hanging around waiting for you. Don't forget who you're dealing with." The voice sounded clearly annoyed. "Where's the girl? Is she in town? You were supposed to deliver her or the money to us by this weekend."

"She's here. I just need to get my hands on her. That's why I need some of your men. The other guy in the will, Andrew Winchester, some dumb hick her parents practically raised is meeting with the lawyer. If he shows up at that meeting, it's going to put a stop to any further proceeding with the estate. And I'm afraid her accountant might spill the beans if he doesn't skip town." Katie could see how nervous Thomas was. She almost felt sorry for the stupid fuck. Almost, but not quite. He was in way over his head.

"That sounds like a personal problem for you, not me. I just want the girl or the money."

Thomas was flustered as he scrambled. "I think she's probably with this man. If you'd just send your guys down here, we can take him out and then find her. I know he was with her recently. Why else would he show up five months after John's death, immediately after she disappears?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line and Katie wondered if the other man hung up. Finally he spoke. "I'm not supplying anymore services for you for free. The total just increased to five million, two hundred thousand. My men will be there."

When the man hung up without another word, Thomas began breathing heavy as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. His hands shook so hard they could see it on the screen.

As Hardison picked up the remote to turn it down, Thomas started dialing the phone again so he stopped while the others listened.

"Dad, I have a problem," he said when his father picked up.

"What did you do now?"

"They want more money. I need to just give them the money or they're going to kill me," Thomas exclaimed, his voice showing how afraid he really was.

"Why do they want more money?" his father yelled into the phone.

"I asked them to send some guys to take care of something."

"You stupid shit! I told you to start handling things on your own. You're in too deep now. You need to find that girl now. I'm coming up there. I'll bring some of my men with me. Try not to fuck this up before I get there." His father disconnected the line.

Katie watched Thomas for a few minutes before turning to the others. Nate was smiling his creepy little smile again. The one that made her so nervous

"He doesn't know who you are," he grinned at Eliot.

"Wait…you got the part about the men coming down there to kill Eliot, right?" Katie asked, glaring at Nate. "Oh yeah and then again, his father is bringing his men…whatever they do, I'm sure it's not good…to the party as well."

"Thomas doesn't know who he's dealing with though. He thinks it's just some dumb hick," Sophie smiled. "Not Eliot Spencer."

"Okay…let's pretend I get what you're talking about, which I totally don't, how is it good for us?" Katie put her head in her hands.

"We know they're coming. They, on the other hand, don't know who Eliot is," Parker explained. She grinned really happily. "He's gonna kick some ass, is what's good!"

"And your ex is sinking fast. He wants to bail and just give them part of the money he stole from you. Which he doesn't have," Hardison reminded her.

Katie smiled quickly at him. "Thank you for that. I'll thank you properly later, but can someone explain to me how you guys are going to manage to do all this without Eliot getting killed?"

"That's what he does, baby," Hardison grinned.

"What? Dodge bullets?" Katie jumped up and began pacing. Finally she stopped and looked at Eliot. "It's too risky. We can wait it out, he's only got until the weekend to give the mob the money and then they'll solve the problem for us."

"Trust. Me." Eliot gave her a look that made her want to throw something at him again. All of them glanced in her direction and she totally lost it.

"If I have to bury one more person I care about, I'm going to make all of you regret the day I ever walked into that bar," Katie yelled and stormed onto the porch.

Katie was surprised when no one chased her down. It seemed like they weren't really fond of giving her space up until now. She was grateful that they did now. Leaning against the wall, she slid down it to sit Indian style. She tried to calm herself down but she was so damn pissed off and terrified.

"I can't lose him," she whispered to the night.

oOooOo

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Sophie offered.

Eliot sighed and shook his head. "She'll be fine. Just give her a few minutes."

He watched Thomas for a few minutes before turning to Hardison. "Did you find out anything more about the crash? Can we prove he did that as well?"

"Actually, there was something. Katie didn't have an autopsy done. There were just empty bottles in the car and a blood sample that said he was drunk. Sterling has started digging into the accident in the last few days, talked to their lawyer," Hardison flipped the screen to show them the documents from the lawyer's notes. "Sterling interviewed some people that were at the party he was at before the crash and no one actually saw him drinking. His date said he was fine when he left her house fifteen minutes before the accident."

"Was the car ever inspected?" Eliot asked. He glanced towards the door to make sure Katie wasn't about to walk in.

"No."

"Pictures?"

Hardison hesitated and asked, "Are you sure you want to see this?"

"Yes."

The car was beyond what he had expected. Grabbing the laptop away from Hardison, he flipped through the pictures. Sophie left the room, moving into the kitchen and Parker began studying her feet intently. Eliot couldn't even tell the make of car. When he got to the pictures of them removing John's body he felt so furious it almost made him sick.

Returning the laptop to Hardison, he was quiet, trying to absorb it all without actually processing the grief. Finally he turned to Nate. "So how long would it have taken him to be cut out of that?"

"Probably a couple of hours, at least," Nate answered. "Does it say anything on the police report?"

"The report of the crash is pretty limited." Hardison shook his head. "Nope. Nothing about the time."

"So, according to his date, he was fine fifteen minutes before he crashes. Then he's in the car a minimum of a couple of hours at least," Eliot ran his hands through his hair and stood up. "But the blood test showed a high concentration of alcohol in his blood; so high that the police told Katie that they were surprised he was able to drive to the point where he crashed. Does that seem likely?"

"No, it doesn't. The blood test was probably a fake," Nate nodded. "But if he died on impact, his blood alcohol levels wouldn't have changed. If he lived a few hours, then it would have started metabolizing in his system. But with no body…"

"There's no way he survived that crash. The car is practically crumbled into a ball. God, I hope he died on impact," Eliot muttered, not wanting to think about the alternative to that. "Hardison, does the hospital have security cameras?"

Eliot sat down again and watched the hacker work. Not surprisingly Hardison found them relatively quickly.

"Here's the night of the crash," Alec flipped it up on screen.

Parker got up and walked to the door, glancing out to make sure Katie stayed outside. Eliot watched as the paramedics brought him in. John was already in a body bag. A policeman talked to a nurse and he said, "Can you follow that nurse?"

"It's not real time, remember? I can try to see if they have one at the nurses' station but it seems unlikely."

"There's Thomas," Nate pointed at the screen just as the camera caught him walking in.

"Son of a bitch." Eliot growled. Hardison turned the screen off and they all sat in silence.

Sophie startled Eliot out of his thoughts when she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Eliot, we're going to get this guy."

"Did you trace that call Thomas made?" Eliot asked suddenly.

"Yeah, of course," Hardison pulled up the info.

"Change of plans, Nate," Eliot said, dialing the number. "Don't say anything to Katie." When Nate attempted to argue, he held up his hand.

When the man answered the phone, he said, "This is Eliot Spencer. I believe you're looking for me."

There was a brief pause on the other line. "Mr. Spencer, how nice of you to call. What can I do for you?"

"It's what I can do for you that I think will interest you most." Eliot turned the phone on conference.

"You're going to bring me the woman I assume, for the money," the man said cockily. "I wouldn't have expected your price to be so low."

"Actually, you're right. My price would be much higher," Eliot smirked.

"What is your price?"

"Thomas Whitehall is the one you want. Up until tonight, he has stolen over twenty million dollars from Ms. Stanton-Williams and, rather than paying you the five million he owes, he and his father are stalling you."

There was a long pause and Eliot wondered if he'd take the bait. "And what can you provide as proof of this?"

"I know you have men planning to be at my meeting with her lawyer. Have one of them come with me, I'll get it Thomas to admit everything to me."

"And if he won't?"

"He will. I believe you know my reputation. I'll get the answers out of him. In exchange, you can have him and his father. But you have to leave Ms. Stanton-Williams alone," Eliot replied calmly.

"That still doesn't resolve the money issue."

"Did you ever wonder why her brother was killed? Thomas isn't very careful and John got too close," Eliot asked. "How soon before the FBI finds out about your association with the situation with Mr. Whitehall? Five million dollars doesn't seem worth your exposure, does it?" He sat back on the couch. "Either you agree to this or I'll make sure that our information, which I assure you is quite extensive, finds it's way to FBI headquarters. They're already investigating the money that was stolen from John Stanton-Williams' accounts that is linked back to you."

"And why do you think you can trust me, Mr. Spencer?"

"Because I know you'd rather kill a man who is cheating you than a woman who did nothing but get engaged to the scumbag. You have a daughter or a niece I'm sure," Eliot guessed, hoping he hit close to home. "We're business men. Let's take care of this business now."

"And if I don't agree to this meeting on your terms?"

Eliot chuckled darkly. "Then you'll have to deal with me personally. I don't think you really want that, do you?"

He waited for a response and, when he looked over, Nate was rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"It's a very tempting offer, Mr. Spencer. But I must insist on one condition. If this plan of yours doesn't go as you expect it to, you have twenty-four hours to deliver the money or yourself to me. I will cancel the contract on Ms. Stanton Williams tonight, if you don't make me hunt you down."

"Done. Have your man meet us at her lawyer's office at one tomorrow."

"I will and I'll come as well, Mr. Spencer." The man hung up.

"Eliot, what were you thinking?" Nate yelled.

"Mikel Dayan was hired by the mob, who knew that I was involved - Eliot Spencer, not Andrew Winchester. They knew who I was even if Thomas didn't and I'm sure they did their homework. So I'm thinking you better make sure we're set up to get Thomas to fess up," Eliot shrugged.

Eliot stood up and walked to the porch. He was surprised to find Katie sound asleep. He picked her up, and carried her back to the bedroom. After he placed her in bed he went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer on his way back to the living room.

"So you got a plan, Nate?" He sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the table.

"I had a plan but you blew that out of the water. We're moving on to your plan," Nate glared at him. "Hopefully, no one will get killed your way."

"That sounds like a good plan then," Eliot smirked before sipping his beer.

oOooOo

It was the early morning hours when Eliot finally crawled into bed with her. Katie, wearing only one of his t-shirts and a thong, rolled over and wrapped her arms around him. Not that he noticed her ass or anything when she snuggled up to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, when he was silent.

"Rough night," Eliot replied. He was conflicted because he knew he was keeping a lot from her.

Sitting up, she turned on the light and studied his face. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't want to put her in further danger or argue about what had to be done.

"You're keeping something from me." It was a statement, not a question.

"Would you accept it if I said it was for the best that you don't know?"

"No. You told me to trust you so you have to tell me," she said, watching him. He could see the anger in her eyes already.

"I made a deal. One that will protect you and take Thomas out," he confessed, hoping she wouldn't press him for too many details. Wishful thinking, he knew.

Katie nodded, waiting for him to continue, but when he didn't, she grew more angry. "You're putting yourself in more danger because of me, aren't you? Dammit, you promised me!"

"I promised you I wouldn't get killed and I won't. I've done things in the past…things I really don't want to talk about with you, but I can handle myself," he glared at the ceiling to avoid her gaze.

He didn't want to tell her what he was capable of or what he had done in the past. He couldn't bear for her to look at him with shock in her eyes or worse yet, the disgust he knew would follow. Eliot had never done anything that hadn't been completely necessary, but that didn't change who he was and what he was capable of.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" she whispered, her voice sounding so young and innocent. He couldn't answer her for a few moments. It was unreasonable but he grew angry with her. He knew it wasn't fair, but the anger was too close to the surface and burst through.

"If I have to. Why do you care? Don't you think he deserves it?" Sitting up he grabbed her arms, speaking through clenched teeth. The thought of Thomas touching her just made him more furious, and he took it out on her. "Maybe you can forgive your old lover for killing John but I can't."

When he shoved her away, fear and grief crossed her face for an instant then she flew into a rage, slapping him across the face as hard as she could. He caught her wrist before she did it again but released it as soon as he realized what he'd said. "You son of a bitch. How dare you say that to me?" Katie seethed, through clenched teeth.

Realizing how much he just fucked up, Eliot opened his mouth to say something to try to fix it but Katie jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. He reached for her, but she sidestepped his grasp, storming out of the room.

Jumping up, he ran after her. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Anywhere but here sounds good. Hell, maybe I'll hire your old girlfriend. I already know her price. I'll just offer her more to take Thomas out myself," Katie flung back at him. Hardison woke up with a start at the sound of the two of them screaming at each other.

She grabbed her purse off the table, headed to the door and reached for the knob. But Eliot was faster and stepped between her and the door. When Katie reached for the knob again, Eliot grabbed her arm.

"If you don't let go of my arm, I'm going to fuckin' kick your ass myself," she warned while attempting to get away from him.

"You're going to have to go through me to go out that door."

He had to give her credit. She really did try to kick his ass. Eliot had a hard time subduing her without hurting her in the process and she wouldn't back down. She was also a fast and wiggly little sucker. He finally got her pinned against the door with her hands above her head, so she couldn't hurt either of them. Or so he thought until she bit the hell out of his inner bicep.

"Fuck! Katie, settle down," he demanded, shifting their position again to keep her mouth away from him. He had to put her in a hold with her in front of him facing away, but she continued to try and get loose.

"What the hell is going on?" Hardison asked, at a safe distance from Katie's kicking.

"Hardison, I'll give you a million dollars to punch him in the face," she seethed, attempting one more time to backwards head butt him. The hacker gave her a look like she was crazy.

"A million? Really?"

Eliot glared at him when he appeared to be thinking it over, weighing the reward versus the cost.

"Katie, I'm not letting you go until you settle down," Eliot growled, tired and not in the mood to wrestle with her. Instantly she stopped struggling, like he would fall for the ruse and let her go.

"Listen to me," he attempted to sound calm.

"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling again.

"Katie?" Hardison approached cautiously. "I don't know what happened but I'm sure it's probably Eliot's fault. If you calm down, I'm help you straighten this out."

"Dammit Hardison, you're not helping!"

Hardison wasn't the only one the shouting had woken up. Nate stood in the doorway attempting to assess the situation.

As soon as she saw Nate, Katie had a burst of angry energy in her body. "He's going to do something stupid, isn't he?" she yelled at Nate, still trying to get away from Eliot. "You told me to trust you dammit and now he's going to…damn you both!"

Walking over, Nate replied, his voice tight, "We know what we're doing." He got in Katie's face and continued, "But what I don't have time to deal right now is you freaking out and screaming at me like a shrew. You're going to end up messing this up if you don't calm down and let us do our jobs. And then people will get hurt."

Katie appeared to consider what he said but Eliot thought Nate's no-bullshit tone had a more calming affect on her than anything else. "I want you to promise me," she finally answered. "Promise me that if it gets too close, you'll put a stop to it. Don't let anything happen to anyone. It's not worth it. I want your word, Nate."

"You have it." Nate nodded and Eliot felt Katie sag against him, exhausted and relenting. "Let her go, Eliot."

He cautiously released her and she stepped away from him quickly. After a moment she took a deep breath, then whispered an apology to Nate and Hardison and returned to the bedroom.

Taking a deep breath and looking between the two other men, Hardison was silent for a moment before saying, "Damn wildcat. Something must be in the Kentucky water here – I'm not drinking anymore." Eventually he returned to the couch. Eliot banged his head back against the door.

"She's almost as hotheaded as you. What set her off?" Nate asked.

"My mouth…my temper…me," Eliot muttered, looking at the ceiling.

Nate sighed and then asked, in a low voice that only Eliot could hear, "Do you remember when you told me that you couldn't trust me when I was drunk?"

The hitter glared at him, knowing where this was going to lead.

"Do I need to worry that you can't handle this? Is this too personal?" Nate's tone wasn't accusing, just genuinely concerned.

Eliot merely grunted before saying, "No." Nate raised his eyebrows and, with a shake of his head, went back to bed.

Running his hands through his hair and pulling it back into a ponytail, he tried to ignore the headache that was starting behind his eyes. He walked to the bedroom and was surprised the door wasn't locked.