Chapter 37

Nate stared at the man. He remembered the last time he had seen him. He asked him then if he thought he was afraid of him. Ian Blackpoole stared back at Nate his eyes glinting with the superiority he felt at having the man helpless before him.

"No he's not scared. The great Nathan Ford is not afraid of anything is he?" The man to the left of Blackpoole said with a smirk on his face. "Not so high and mighty now are you Ford?"

Nate tore his eyes away from Blackpoole and focused on the man now speaking. Nate recognized him as Reed Rockwell. He looked older and more haggard. Prison can do that to you Nate thought. He then swung his eyes to the next man in line. Nate immediately recognized him as Greg Sherman. The con man they had stolen from and then had arrested by the FBI. He was a smug bastard then and is a smug bastard now Nate thought to himself.

"Not so full of himself at all Reed. No, now that the shoe is on the other foot I bet he is peeing in his pants as we speak." Brad Culpepper III laughed sadistically, he still remembered the fear he had felt when Nate had pretended that he was going to torture and kill him. He wanted Nate for feel that same fear that he had felt, feel he was going to die. Only he was going to make sure Nate did die. He smiled at the thought of watching the man in front of him killed. It was only justice he thought to himself.

"What nothing to say Ford? No witty comeback? Can't con your way out of this can you?" John Drexel the fifth man in the group said caustically. "Where is your precious team now…hung you out to dry?"

"His team, what a joke…a bunch of criminals who cut and run when there is no easy mark." The sixth and final man in the room said. Nate turned to look at the man closely. It took a moment for Nate to recognize him. Charles Dufort once the head of Castleman Security.

Nate looked at all six of the men before him. There were there to watch him die. They were there to watch him suffer before he died. He saw the contempt and pure hatred on all their faces. He need to draw this out a little more, he needed time.

"You seem to be missing someone." Nate spoke for the first time.

"Well he could not join us today. No he is one of your victims that you actually did kill." Blackpoole said giving Nate the answer as to why the seventh chair was empty.

"You must be mistaken Ian, I have not killed anybody." Nate replied trying to think who he could mean. He had kept tabs on all of the teams' ex-marks. Obviously he had missed some things, hence his present predicament, but he knew that none of the marks were dead, not even Moreau. He was still back in San Lorenzo in prison.

"Well technically you did not physically kill him true. But you did rob him of his only hope of survival. You literally stole his heart…Ring any bells Nate?" Nate just stared at Ian. Dean Chesney…Nate recalled his last conversation with the man. Ian was right, he had not killed him with his own hand, but he had ensured his death.

"Ah yes I think he remembers now Ian." Charles Dufort said. "Well Chesney died before he could get to see this but he did ask us to tell you that he did not kill you…he said you would know the rest of that sentence. He financed this little job, he has brought you to your knees, you, Nate stole his life, now he steals yours, with our help and Mr. Blacks assistance of course. You took all our lives, every one of us, not literally but took them none the less, now its' payback." Dufort finished with a snarl.

Nate just looked at them all and then at the empty chair. He had missed that. He had told Chesney he was watching him. Watching his every move, he had kept tabs on Chesney until the day he had died, but he had missed all of this. How he did not know. Maybe he was getting sloppy in his old age he thought. His mind was racing, he needed to find a way to slow them down; he needed to give Eliot time. Suddenly he threw his head back and laughed loudly, a haunting, insane laugh that took everybody by surprise.

"Care to share the joke Mr. Ford?" Rockwell asked.

"The joke Rockwell, well the joke is on all of you. My team will have got the backup and are probably waiting outside ready to come in and take you all down. Do you really think I would come in here unprepared? Huh, do you think I am stupid enough to just wait for your hired gun to pick me up and then let him bring me here to kill me without a fight. Did you not learn from our first encounter with each other?" Nate said hoping to put a little fear and uncertainty into the men.

All the men looked at each other then back at Nate. Nate forced himself to relax, forced the smile to remain on his face. He needed to show them that he was not at all worried. That he knew he was safe. He was sure Eliot was outside with the rest of the team. He just needed to give him time. He could see his demeanor was having the desired effect, uneasiness had settled upon all of them.

"Last ditch attempt at a con Ford, do you take us all for fools? Mr. Black is very good at what he does, that is why we hired him. Mr. Black, I take it this is a ruse on his part?" Culpepper asked the assassin an uneasy note in his voice.

"We are quite secure in this warehouse. The security is state of the art and nobody…nobody is getting anywhere near the building without me knowing. I assure you gentlemen there is no danger whatsoever." Black said quietly.

"Very well, well let's get this done then." Ian said to Black, suddenly he wanted this over with, before Nate could pull a rabbit out of his hat again. "Kill him…and make sure he suffers a little." He added for good measure. The rest of the group nodded their assent to the instruction and Mr. Black stepped in front of Nate holding a wicked looking blade in his hand.

Has Eliot waited too long to make his move…Will Nate survive… Thank you all for your positive reviews…hope you not too disappointed that it is not Moreau.