Thanks you, saides for you kind review. I appreciated it very much. Glad you are enjoying the story.

Unscrewing the cap on the mini bottle, Nate poured the amber liquid into a glass. Casually, he dropped the empty bottle into the trash under the mini bar where the distinctive clink of glass on glass echoed throughout the hotel suite.

Leaning against the bar, Nate stared at the sliding glass doors that lead to the small box that passed for a balcony. From his vantage point, he could survey most of the small city. A few multi-storied buildings clustered near downtown, the rest residential sprawl.

The chirp of his phone drew his attention from the skyline and to the well-worn coffee table. Crossing the room, he scooped the phone up. "This is Ford." He listened, occasionally nodding. "That's plenty of time. Not a problem. My team has worked with less and on tighter schedules."

Hardison glanced up from the laptop he had been studying. He looked around the empty room and then turned a sharp look to Nate. "Team? I'm a team? There may be no 'I' in team but there is an 'M-E' and that spells me." An image on the screen drew the hacker's attention and he quickly scanned the information. He stroked his chin and shifted so his elbow rested on the rounded edge of the table.

Well, he's had less to work from, but not by much.

While Nate continued to visit with the woman from Community Hope, Hardison reached over and dug into a brightly colored cellophane package and pulled out three green and white gummy frogs. Biting down on the first, he tugged at it until the frog was bisected between his teeth as he scanned through documents splayed across the small screen.

"Tomorrow then," Nate said and then he disconnected the call. "Sylvia is in." He turned and glanced about the room. "Where's everyone?"

"Rose is making Parker dinner." Hardison bit into another gummy frog. "No one asked if I wanted homemade strawberry rhubarb pie," he grumbled. "And Eliot's cleaning up after working all day. And may I say, thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to hang a forest of those little pine tree air fresheners to air the place out."

Nate shook his head before focusing on the young hacker. "How bad is it?"

"Not that bad. Community Hope has supporters, but well, they're pretty small. They need more. Something significant."

"Working on that."

Hardison eyed Nate. "That's all well and good but they are having this benefit out of their offices." He waved his hand as if offering the reveal of a magic trick. "Already taken care of. There's a little art museum—and I use that term lightly—that I have booked."

"Good. Good." Nate heard the clop of high heels beyond the entrance of the suite and waited until the door opened with Sophie shifting a bag full of sandwiches from one arm to the other.

Dumping the bag on the counter of the mini bar, she then glanced around. "Where's Parker?"

"Probably enjoying strawberry rhubarb pie," Hardison muttered and turned back to his work.

Sophie looked at the hacker and then to Nate who just shook his head. She held up a paper coffee cup. "Here," she said handing it to the mastermind.

Nate took the drink and sniffed at the hot steam that poured out of the half empty cup. "Hazelnut? Seriously?"

"I had to try to make it palatable," Sophie said as she dug into the bag and pulled out a paper wrapped sandwich and carried it over to Hardison. "With extra pickles, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hardison said with a smile as he took the offering. "Thank you."

There were three distinct raps on the door and Nate recognized it immediately. "It's open," he said lest the door might be knocked off its hinges.

The door opened and a scent of soap breezed in with Eliot. He made it halfway across the room to the couch and collapsed into the corner. He raked his fingers through his still wet hair and then stretched his arm across the back of the couch. An ice pack for his shoulder and hand would feel good, but he really didn't want to get up again.

"What happened?" Sophie asked as her gaze fell to Eliot's bruised and cut knuckles and then traced along his outstretched arm, bare up to the rolled sleeves at his elbow. Three deep scratches ran from his wrist and curled around his forearm before fading.

"Cats. Lot's of them," he answered shortly. "The woman must have had fifty crammed in that little house."

Between bites of sandwich, Hardison shook his head. "Crazy cat ladies can be," a beat, "crazy. There used to be this one who lived down the street from Nana. She was always snatching up local strays—"

"What did you find out?" Nate interrupted, as he took up position in a nearby chair. His gaze lingered on the hitter's smashed hand.

Eliot sighed. "While I was rebuilding the back steps of the cat lady's house, Paul did some . . . investigating. I don't know what he walked out with; he kept a tight watch on his tool box. A spare key on a nail by the backdoor also went missing briefly." There were three similar stories after that. Eliot doing the work and distracting the ladies while Paul copied keys, and moved unnoticed through the house. "I don't know if anything was taken." He hesitated a moment. "He changed the price of a pipe repair. Nearly doubling it at the last minute. She wasn't hurting for money, but she could have hired a regular plumber and had the job done a lot cheaper."

"Was she resistant?"

"He sent me out to the truck before she started to protest."

"And?"

Eliot smiled. He had stood outside the door, half ready to bust in and take Paul down if need be, con or no con. Luckily, it had not come to that. He stretched his fingers and then drew them into a fist. His hand hurt like hell, but the damage was comparatively mild. Could have been worse had he not been prepared to take the injury. "He told her if she didn't pay the price, she'd lose the rest of her Home Keepers services."

Shock. Sophie shook her head and retreated to the mini bar. "That's blackmail."

"They have to go down," Hardison added.

Nate nodded toward Eliot's hand.

Shifting his gaze toward Sophie in the periphery, Eliot's tone was slow and even. "A workplace accident. I'll be more careful."

The moment dragged out before Nate shook his head. If Eliot was confident he could handle the situation, then Nate would defer to him. "Other issues?" he asked as he reached for a stack of papers on the coffee table and flipped through them.

"No," Eliot replied as he looked to the bag of sandwiches and then to the pail of ice. "How much longer do I have to keep this up?"

"A few more days," Nate said. "Rose is on schedule tomorrow for an estimate."

"Parker's taken care of everything," Hardison said. "The place is wired up and she's hogging all the strawberry rhubarb." The words drifted off.

Eliot noted Sophie's sharp attention. He knew he wasn't getting anything past her. Still, couldn't blame a guy for trying. "Some of those sweet little old ladies are a little too free with their hands."

Sophie smiled as she sat on the arm of the couch. "If only I could be so spry when I'm at that age." A wicked grin as she handed the hitter an ice pack. "They're old, Eliot, not dead."

The comment earned her a scowl.