Chapter 15

It was three weeks later when they all found themselves sitting around their dining table again. Eliot and Parker had arrived back the night before from their trip to England. Nate had taken the three weeks to do some research thanks to the information that Hardison had given him and he had a plan almost worked out. Eliot and Parker had found some information from their trip to London, stuff that Bertram had not kept on his computer or a place where Hardison could get to them but it was valuable information that Nate needed to make his plan work. It also revealed another player in this game which gave Nate the edge and gave him the perfect plan.

"So how is this going to work Nate?"

"Well I need to get Bonano and Sterling's buy-in or it won't. So I need to go and see them."

"That's a big risk man. I mean it's died down a bit but they still looking for you, they have your place monitored and there is a BOLO out for you with all the locals."

"I didn't say it would be easy Hardison." Nate smiled at him. "But if this is going to work I need Bonano and Sterling. Have you done what I asked?"

"Yeah man it's done. Records are all there and done up the way you wanted them to be." Hardison told him.

"Good." Nate said taking a sip of his whiskey. "So first I need to meet with them and then…well then I go home."

"What…"

"Nate you gotta be kidding me man, didn't Hardison just say…"

"I know what Hardison said Eliot, but this is the plan."

"Fine but then you gotta lay it all out Nate 'cause what it looks like to me is you are going back to get arrested and I ain't going to allow that."

"Yes Eliot that is what it looks like and that is most likely what is going to happen."

"Nate…"

"Look guys just trust me ok."

"No way man, not happening." Eliot said. Nate had told them the broad outline of the plan, but he had not mentioned the fact that he was going to allow himself to be arrested.

"It won't work unless I come across as completely unknowing of anything Eliot, that means I have to go back and allow whatever happens to happen. Then Bonano and Sterling will step in and get the ball rolling on the frame up and that will lead to…"

"You being released as a victim of a crime and not a perpetrator."

"Right Sophie." Nate said smiling at her.

"What if Bonano or Sterling won't or can't do what you need him to do?"

"Well that will be a complication." Nate said, if Bonano and Sterling would not play along then they had a problem, the hospital records would corroborate the story, but they needed Bonano to confirm them. They also needed Sterling to steer Interpol in the right direction. He doubted that either man would not do it but he did not want to ask them over the phone, he wanted to speak to him face to face, if this did not work it would be both their careers on the line and he was not sure they might not be willing to risk it all for him. That was why he needed to see them and that meant going back to Boston.

"So…we go back to Boston, but we can't go back to your place until we know all is in place right. So we need someplace to lay low there for at least a few days."

"I have a warehouse."

"Of course you do." Nate smiled at the young woman.

"So we go to Boston." Eliot said not happy at all but realising that this plan Nate had was the only one that would clear his name and get them all out of the mess. Luckily they had been dealing with a very disturbed man in the form of Bertram Barrington and he could see how Nate's plan could work, but if there was no buy in, if Bonano and Sterling did not play their parts, if Interpol did not also go along with their version of events, if…there were so many if's and that is what worried the Hitter.

"I'll make the arrangements." Hardison told him as he rose and moved over to his computer station.

Sophie looked at Nate and shook her head slightly. This was a risky plan and it relied heavily on Bonano and Sterling going along with everything, with Interpol and the FBI making the connections and a lot more, it was dangerous and she did not like it but it was the plan they had and she knew he was going to go ahead with it anyway. The odds were that Nate was going to end up in prison at least for the short term anyway.

"Nate if…"

"There is no other way Sophie, if this does not work then…"

"Then you go on trial for a triple murder and maybe go to jail for life." Parker stated, she was nothing if not forthright and a realist.

"Yes Parker and if that does happen then you guys will let it be."

He looked at them and saw the look of rebellion in all their eyes. He could see that if this all fell apart they would move heaven and earth to get him out of prison, out of the situation and they would then all be on the run for the rest of their lives and not like they had before. None of them had hurt people before, been hunted for murder before, but that is what would happen. He was taking a chance not just with his life but with theirs, but he had a backup, he would not allow that he swore to himself, they would walk away from this even if he did not.

"Nate…" Sophie's voice and touch interrupted his thoughts. "It will work right?"

"Yes Sophie it will." Nate said and his voice held a confidence he did not feel. "But if it doesn't I need to know you guys will walk away if not then…well then I can't do this, I can't jeopardise…"

"We will walk away." Eliot said brining a surprised look to all their faces and a gasp from Sophie as she looked up at the Hitter. "But it will work right?"

Eliot knew that Nate would not even try if he thought that they might get caught up in all of this and that if it did go wrong and he was arrested and tried that they would try to get him out, which with it being a federal and Interpol case would be dangerous on its own, but it would also put them in the spotlight and none of their lives would ever be the same again. He knew that so he wanted to give Nate the reassurance that that would not happen. They needed to try to get themselves out of this and Nate's plan was a good one. It relied on law enforcement making certain connections, it relied on the eyewitness testimony being thrown out and it relied on the district attorney as well, there were a lot of variables and Eliot was not sure if it would work. If the worst did happen, he knew they would try to extract Nate, but he had to believe they would not. Besides the man was bound to do something incredibly stupid if they did not back his plan and probably something he would keep them all completely out of so they could not intervene if needed. No they would do as Nate asked, at least to a point.

"Ok…" Nate said nodding at Eliot although he knew it was a lie, he would let it go for now. "So I need to go over everything again and Hardison I am going to need you to get some things in place, then make the arrangements for us to go tomorrow."

They all nodded and then scattered leaving Sophie sitting beside Nate on the sofa. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sophie turned towards him.

"Nate…"

"You know Sophie for the last almost four years we have been dancing a dance…and make no mistake I love dancing with you but…"

"But…?"

"But I think it is time."

"Time for what Nate?" Sophie said almost afraid of what the man was going to say. Did he want to stop the dance, stop the budding relationship, did he want to end them, end whatever they were now, was he leaving them, leaving her?

"Sophie." Nate said closing his eyes before turning to her and holding her gaze. "I love you." He said. He said it quietly and he said it matter-of-factly without emotion in his voice as if it were a given. His eyes however conveyed the love he felt for her and she felt the prick of tears in her eyes.

"Finally." She said softly smiling at him.

"That's it really, that's all you've got to say?" Nate smiled at her seeing the tears lurking behind her eyes and the love reflecting in them.

"Well it took you long enough." She said reaching out and touching his face gently then leaning in for a soft, gentle, and sensuous kiss.

"So…so now…"

"Now Nate we get this over with. We finish this and we get our lives back."

"Yeah and then?"

"Then my darling, then we are going to go away, just you and me." She said and the promise of what was to come brought a smile to his face.

Yes they would go away and they would get to know each other, not as friends with benefits, not as colleagues, but as two people who loved each other and wanted to spend their lives with each other, even if that was not something he would say just yet he was not ready for that yet and she knew it. That did not matter she thought, she was willing to wait, she had waited for so long for him to reach this point, she would wait a little longer. She also knew it would be a hard road ahead, Nate had not dealt with anything that had happened as yet, he was still not sleeping well, he was not eating well and he was still drinking more than he had been, but she would help him get past it, now that he had admitted how he felt, she was sure he would let her help him, they just had to get through this, get free of Barrington and what he and his sons had done and then they could move on, him and her and their family.