Chapter 29
Eliot turned and quickly moved out of the morgue then came to a full stop as he stepped into the hall.
"Eliot…" The tall sturdily built man who stood between two others of similar build and stature.
"Hardison…get to Kate now and get them to Bonnano." Eliot said bending his head slightly away from the three men in front of him. Then he looked up and smiled a hard tight smile. "Conrad…"
"I'm sorry about this…" He said lifting a gun and pointing it at the Hitter's chest.
"I'm sure…" Eliot said assessing his chances of taking Conrad before he pulled the trigger. Then there were the other two men who flanked him to deal with. Eliot relaxed slightly then, there was no chance, the hallway was narrow and the distance between them to great. "You had to bring two helpers I see."
Conrad smiled at Eliot and shook his head slightly.
"I know you Eliot. You might be out of the game, but you are still Eliot Spenser. I never thought I would be the one to finish you though." Conrad said. He had worked with Eliot years ago, they had partied together and they had killed together and he respected the man, but business was business and he had been paid to end him and that was what he would do.
Eliot narrowed his eyes, concentrating on the man's movements. He had to try because his family needed him and he had to try. He tensed slightly as Conrad raised his gun and put his finger in the trigger guard.
"You know Conrad I could better any offer you have." Eliot said trying to distract the man as much as he could. "Fix figures…"
Conrad smiled again. "You know better than that Eliot. I took the job, now I will finish it." He said aiming the weapon.
Everything happened in an instant then. Eliot moved throwing himself forward and keeping low. He felt the bullet hit him in the shoulder slowing his movement slightly but then he was on Conrad, knocking the man sideways as he ploughed into him. The two men with Conrad were taken by surprise at Eliot's sudden movement but recovered quickly. Eliot pushed himself up of the ground pulling out one of the knives in his holster swinging his arm around and sinking the weapon into the gut of the one goon before swinging around and pulling the second knife in the same movement flicking it expertly. The knife flew true burying itself into the chest of the second oncoming goon. Then Eliot turned around to face Conrad who had recovered from the knock Eliot had given him. He stood straight and looked at Eliot who was leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. Then he cast his eyes on his two companions who lay unmoving on either side of the Hitter.
"You haven't lost your touch." Conrad said softly.
"You have." Eliot hissed.
Conrad's eyes narrowed and he eyed the gun lying between himself and his target, exactly where it had fallen when Eliot knocked him down. Then he looked back at Eliot who was still leaning against the wall. He could see his shirt was now soaked in blood from where the bullet had hit him. He could see that the man had very little left to give and fancied his chances of taking him. He moved slightly forward and smiled at Eliot.
"Let's play…" He said as he moved.
Eliot pushed himself of the wall and threw himself forward sliding along the slick floor his hand outstretched. Conrad's eyes widened slightly at the move, he had not expected that. He expected Eliot to come at him directly and an instant before the bullet pierced him in the centre of the forehead he cursed himself for a damn fool. Conrad stood for an instant before crumbling bonelessly to the floor.
"Eliot…Eliot…" Hardison's anxious voice came over the coms. "Eliot talk to me…"
"Do you have Kate…?" Eliot gritted out as he felt the darkness start to creep over him. "She's going to come for you…get to Bonnano…" Eliot said his voice weak but urgent.
"We are coming…"
"Dammit Hardison…get…to…Bonnano…" Eliot hissed out with all the strength he had left.
"Eliot…Eliot…dammit Eliot." Hardison shouted as he drove on towards the police station where they would find Bonnano. The com was silent and he felt his chest tighten as he realised that Eliot may be dead. He wanted to veer off and speed towards the hospital but he knew he had to get Sophie and Kate to safety and that was with Bonnano.
Sophie clung to her daughter in the back of the car as Hardison sped on. She had heard everything and now Eliot may be dead. Parker's eyes were dark and hard as she too realised that they may have lost their Hitter. Her eyes however were fixed on the mirrors watching for any sign that they were being followed. When they had got to the house they had found it quiet and everything was normal. Sophie had thanked Natalie for taking care of Kate and then sent her home after paying her for her work. That was when Hardison had got the word from Eliot to go. They were all still reeling from the revelation that Nate's body was not in the morgue and that Penelope had orchestrated the whole thing. Sophie quickly grabbed the sleeping child wrapping her in a blanked and moving quickly back out of the house and to the car. Parker followed keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of company. Hardison climbed into the drivers' seat with Parker riding shotgun. He started the car and sped off.
"I think we have company…" Parker told him as they turned into the corner into the main street.
"Sophie you and Kate stay down." Hardison ordered and floored the accelerator.
The car behind them sped up too as Sophie spoke to Bonnano telling him what was happening and where they were. She had Kate pinned beneath her on the back seat protecting the little girl. The car that was following them sped up and was getting perilously close when suddenly the back window shattered sending glass flying into the back seat and over Sophie.
"They are shooting at us…" Hardison said as he swing the car around another corner the tail for the vehicle fishtailing.
"You think…" Parker said turning around to watch the following car come around the corner. "Sophie…"
"We're fine…" Sophie said still covering her daughter with her body. She could feel her daughter squirm beneath her and she knew the child was terrified. "It's ok Kate just lie still ok…just lie still for Mommy."
Sophie could hear sirens in the background and knew that Bonnano had sent help. They just had to keep out of touch of their pursuers until the police had time to catch up to them. Another bullet whistled past embedding itself in the bodywork of the car. Then another one passed right through shattering the front windscreen and causing Hardison to veer left as the glass flew out. Just when he thought that he was not going to be able to get them to safety two police cars appeared in front of him. He steered the vehicle between the two as they sped past and directly at the car chasing them. The lead police car swung around in front of the oncoming vehicle which in turn slammed on brakes. The second police vehicle hit the brakes too and stopped at an angle to the first blocking the way forward. The chasing car came to a halt and then reversed out with wheels spinning throwing up smoke as the driver swung it around and then sped off. The officers from both cars did not attempt to follow, they instead turned and ran to the car holding Sophie and the others. They were under instructions to protect the people in that car and get them to safety and that was what they were going to do.
"Mrs Ford…" One of the officers called out as they approached the vehicle. "Captain Bonnano sent us to get you all to safety." He continued, he did not know if the people in the vehicle were armed but they were being chased and he did not want to get shot trying to help.
"Thank you…" Sophie said emerging from the car with a crying child in her arms.
"Come quickly." The man said motioning them all towards the patrol cars.
Sophie and the others quickly climbed into the car and they set off to the station. Sophie was trying to soothe Kate and Hardison and Parker not relaxing for a second, their eyes scanning the road ahead and behind them watchful for any possible danger. They had seated themselves on either side of Sophie protecting her from exposure to the windows of the car. Nobody followed though and they pulled into the protected basement parking where they were met by Bonnano.
"You have to get to the hospital…" Sophie told him urgently as she climbed out the car.
"I have two officers there now. We were notified by the coroner of the incident with Eliot."
"Is he…"
"No, he took a bullet and is in surgery now." Bonnano told her. "My people will let me know what is happening and they will stay there to make sure he is safe. Now let's get you upstairs." He told them.
"Parker you're bleeding…" Hardison said turning to the Thief and seeing for the first time that her arm was soaked in blood.
"It's just a flesh wound…I'll be fine." Parker assured him. She had hardly noticed the wound until then. One of the bullets from their attackers must have grazed her.
"We can have that looked at once we are in the office." Bonnano said. He would feel much better once he had the four of them safely ensconced in their offices. Hardison nodded and putting his hand on Parker's back steered her towards the waiting elevator.
Thank you all so much for the great reviews for the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this one too…sorry for the little cliffhanger….
