A/N: Here's chapter 21. Hope you enjoy. Usual disclaimers apply. Thanks to all of the followers, favoriters, readers and reviewers. Reviews really make my day. Please keep them coming. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 21

Hardison spoofed the electronic locks, and they slid back soundlessly by themselves. Eliot opened the door and entered first, in case there were guards stationed near the doors. There were, and Eliot took them out in a matter of seconds. Moments later, they found Wellesley and his wife in the living room. Wellesley was seated at a massive mahogany desk, working, while his wife was seated on the sofa, deeply engrossed in a book she was reading. Sophie sat in the chair across from her, while Nate and Eliot moved up next to Wellesley.

Suddenly, Wellesley felt eyes on him, and looked up to see Nate sitting across from him. His eyes grew wide, and he cleared his throat. "Mister Ford, you could have-"

"Called first? Yes, Mister Wellesley, I could have called first."

"Should I be worried that I can't call my guards? I'm assuming I can't." He said, eyeing Eliot with an expression of grudging respect. Eliot shook his head.

"Sorry," he said.

Nate spoke up. "We aren't here to hurt you. You might not be safe here, and I may need to call in that favor you promised me."

Eliot interrupted. "It would be best to discuss this somewhere else."

"My security is top notch. It'll keep any security threats away."

"We're not dealing with an ordinary security threat, and believe me, if we got in, the people we are dealing with are more than capable of getting in as well."

"What do you suggest?"

"Accompany us somewhere safer."

Walt Whitman Wellesley hesitated for a moment, considering what they had said. He had trusted them once before, but leaving his home, and going with them somewhere else. He wasn't sure it was necessary. He owed them a favor, but it didn't involve leaving home and potentially putting both himself and his wife in danger.

It was Lacey who solved the issue, finally. She said, "They more than earned our trust the last time. If they say it isn't safe to stay here, I have to believe they would know. I think we should go with them, Darling."

Wellesley nodded, and said, "On the condition that my security accompanies us."

Eliot wasn't sure he liked it, but he nodded to Nate, who had looked to him to see what he thought.

"As you wish," Nate said.

Eliot led the way back out to the van, and he helped Nate and Wellesley load the unconscious security guards. They picked up the rest of Wellesley's security, along with Parker, at the gate, and sped off toward parts unknown.

"Where are we headed?" Nate asked.

"Nowhere yet. We're going to be sure we aren't followed, and then we'll go someplace safe to talk, with some extra security. The results of that conversation will determine where we go next, and when."

Eliot drove out into the countryside, along several back roads, circling back around to cover ground they'd been over before. When he was sure they weren't being followed, he drove out to one of the safe houses the team still maintained in the suburbs around Boston, Massachusetts. Even when the team had moved to Portland, they had found it prudent to keep some of the safe houses they had held when they were in Boston. Those were off the grid places that even Interpol knew nothing about. They had paid the purchase price in cash, and since there was no requirement to file the deed with the county or the state, they hadn't done so. In Hardison's mind, that had been the best way to ensure that no one could trace it back to them. It was even better than connecting it back to a shell company. Finally, he pulled into the driveway of a house in a non-descript neighborhood, in the suburbs. Opening the glove compartment, he took out a garage door opener, and pressed the button, watching as the garage door rose. When it was up far enough, he drove inside, and hit the button again, to close the door behind them. No one moved until the door had closed completely. Then, all at once, the doors of the van opened and they all piled out.

Eliot took two of Wellesley's men with him to secure the perimeter and then do a security sweep. They finished inside the house, and Eliot walked out and opened the door to the garage, ushering everyone else in. Putting a finger to his lips for silence, he ushered them all back to an inside room without windows. When they were seated, with Wellesley's guards stationed throughout the house, he looked at Nate, and motioned him to ask his questions.

"You went to college with a man named James Conrad, correct?"

"James Conrad. I haven't heard that name in years."

"The name's familiar then?"

"I wish it wasn' scandal cost me a great deal, both personally and professionally. It was a black eye on my family's good name for years. If my parents hadn't had a reputation that was above reproach, we might never have recovered."

"Well, then, you might not wish to help us, and I respect that."

"I owe you a favor, Mister Ford. I take that seriously. Ask."

"Mister Conrad has become a highly placed member of a particular government office, and we ran afoul of him when we were trying to help one of our clients."

"Must have been some client if you ran afoul of the CIA." Eliot looked at the man before him, and when their eyes met, they understood one another.

"Surprised?" Wellesley asked, looking each member of the team in the eye, one at a time. "Part of the reason my security is so tight. The man almost cost me my livelihood once, so you can be sure I follow him closely. My men probably know his schedule as well as he does."

"Does he know that?"

"It wouldn't surprise me, but I haven't made it known, if that's what you are asking."

"Good. After we took down a protege of his, he made it clear that we were on his radar. It was only a matter of time before he would come after us." Nate paused and glanced at Eliot, unsure of how much of what happened to the hitter he should tell.

Eliot spoke up, "He tried to kill me, and almost succeeded."

"What do you want from me?" Wellesley asked.

"Most business executives have some connections. We were hoping you might use some of them to help us take him down."

"With pleasure."

"If he catches wind of what you are doing, both you and your wife are in danger. I would like for you to stay here, and I'd like to send some friends of mine to enhance your security. You have plenty of space to work and make any calls you need to make, and we'll meet you back here as soon as we put the next part of the plan in action. If all goes according to plan, this shouldn't take more than forty eight hours. You'll be back at Wellesley Manor before you know it."

"I suppose you can't guarantee our safety."

Nate shook his head. "There are no guarantees."

"All right. Forty eight hours. In that time, I'll make contact with the friends I have in the government, and see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"Seeing that SOB get what's coming to him is thanks enough for me."