Chapter 37

Nate was wheeled out of the room and taken down to the basement before being loaded into an ambulance. He has accompanied by the doctor and his nurse. Bordoli, Rites and Smythe-Jones climbed into a sleek black BMW ready to follow the ambulance out. Two of Bordoli's men climbed into the front of the ambulance and the little convoy set off. Unseen another three cars joined the convoy keeping a good distance away but ready for action. Bordoli and the other two had agreed that the most likely place of attack would be when they were in the one tunnel they would have to go through; they had planned the route meticulously in order to narrow the possible intercept places to a minimum.

Eliot watched as the ambulance emerged from the darkness of the underground and into the road, followed by the BMW carrying Bordoli and his group. Eliot did not immediately pull of as they drove out, he waited and watched as the three other members of the convoy joined the group, trying to keep a decent distance and keep as unobtrusive as they could. This confirmed Eliot's believe that they were using Nate to draw out the Milliards hoping that the men would come after them as they transferred him. Eliot waited a good five minutes before pulling out and tagging behind the group. Tension in the van was high and every one of them was on edge waiting for something to happen.

Rudgar and Samuel sat in the front seat of the van they had commandeered from Kovski. In the back they had six of Kovski's men ready and waiting for the ambulance carrying the man they were after. They waited patiently having prepared thoroughly for this. They knew when and they knew where they were going to make their move. They were sure that the ambulance would be protected, but they were ready for that too.

Every minute brought the three groups closer to confrontation. Rudgar gave the order to his men to deploy, Samuel would make sure they were organised and ready for when he brought the ambulance to a stop. They had to be ready for the protection that he was sure that Nate would have on his journey.

Hardison had mapped the route that they would have to take once they had travelled a short distance, extrapolating from the direction they were headed and knowing where they were probably going. All of them agreed that they would head for a very private, very exclusive rehabilitation hospital which Eliot knew was used by government operatives.

"Approaching the tunnel…." Joseph Kutcher reported to the doctor as they approached where they thought the attack would happen. "Get ready doctor…"

"They are coming after me…?" A weak voice brought the doctors attention back to his patient.

"Well, this is a great time for you to wake up." The doctor said as he leaned over Nate.

"What is happening…where are we?" Nate asked looking around and feeling a little disorientated.

"We are transferring you to a more secure hospital." The doctor told him.

"But there is something else right?" Nate asked trying to sit up.

"Hey...no just lay back…" The doctor said pushing Nate back down into the gurney.

"What is going on Doctor?" Nate asked as he lay back.

"I told you…"

"They are using me to draw out the Milliards right?" Nate asked softly.

"Listen…"

"Doctor…I don't think you know what you got yourself into…" Nate smiled tightly at him. "Better hold on…"

"We'll be fine…" The doctor assured him and then strapped Nate in tightly as the ambulance sped up.

The Leverage team followed behind and as they approached the tunnel the tension started to become almost unbearable. Not only was Eliot worried about Nate and what was about to happen, but about Sophie who was in the van with them, the others could take care of themselves but Sophie was injured, she was vulnerable and this was going to be intense.

"Hardison…" Eliot called to the back between clenched teeth from the front as Hardison worked furiously on his computers.

"Yeah…ok…well there are a lot of cars on the road man…" Hardison said. He was desperately trying to isolate the Milliards and the car they were in. "Wait…yeah…it's headed into the tunnel…" Hardison said honing in on the van that Kovski had informed them that he had given to the Milliards to use in the assault.

"The ambulance is also going into the tunnel…" Parker said keeping her eyes fixed on the vehicle.

"Here we go…" Eliot said slamming his foot down on the accelerator.

OK…sorry a little short and a little cliff hanger…hope you all enjoyed. As always your reviews are greatly appreciated.