Chapter 9

Nate had been in Russia for a week and had managed to get an invite from one of the top Russian mobsters to see his man about the shipment he had on offer. That morning he drove towards the man's house with three local hires not wanting Novich to recognise any of Morero's men considering the animosity between the two groups, and he was not sure how involved Novich had been with the altercations that had taken place. He needed to get into the good graces of this man, he was a fixer in the mob and he worked with all the bosses and all the families. He screened all new comers to make sure that they did not offer any danger to his employers or their interests. If anybody would know where Juan was then it would be him. He had spent the better part of the previous days getting to know who was who in the setup and who he would need to get in touch with to be able to reach his ultimate goal. It had not been difficult to get a meeting with the man he was going to see, with the amount of arms he had on offer, it was a deal too good to turn down by the families. He had also during his time planning ensured that a number of deals had gone bad, using up most of his favours to do so, he needed them to need him or he was not going to get any invitations, the mob worked with their known suppliers and very seldom, unless introduced in-house, did they expand. He had been told to go and see Boris Novich, and he knew this was his interview as it were, if he was acceptable then Boris would make sure he was introduced to the right people and if not then he would kill him. He only hoped that his alias would stand up and that this was not the end of the job for him.

"He's on his way to see Novich." Eliot said as they sat in their hotel room.

Parker and Hardison had ensured that the rental car that Nate and his men has secured was tagged with a GPS signal and that they had ears in the car itself. They had also managed to get eyes and ears on the hotel room that Nate as staying in and had listened into the planning over the course of the previous day. They had also planted a GPS tracker as well as a transceiver on his jacket so that they could hear what was going on but would not be able to communicate with Nate.

They had arrived in Russia only a day after Nate and had taken up residence in a hotel not too far from the one he was staying at. It took all of Sophie's willpower to resist letting Nate know they were there and that they would help him in any way possible. They had to keep a low profile, and play the game out. They would be there for Nate when he needed them but could not interfere openly, that would be bad from the perspective of the Russians and of course Morero. They were as much committed to this job as Nate was now.

Nate's plan was bold and daring and they all knew that this meeting was pivotal and that if it went wrong then it was going to go horribly wrong, and they also all knew there was nothing they could do but sit and wait for the outcome, if things did go wrong they would not be able to help Nate. They sat listening as the man drove towards the house and then arrived at the gates.

"I am here to see Novich." Nate said in a harsh tone as he stopped.

"You are?" A deep voice asked in a heavy Russian accent.

"Abraham Connor." Nate said.

There was a slight pause and then Nate was told he could proceed to the house.

"Well here we go." Eliot whispered.

"Mr Connor you will come with me." They heard a man say.

Nate walked along behind the man leading him to meet with Novich. He was lead out onto the landing and was told to take a seat at the table and that Novich would be with him in a few minutes. Nate nodded but did not sit he walked to the railing and looked down over the city. The house was situated in the hills and it had a magnificent view of the city and its surrounds.

"Good view is it not?" A voice said from behind him.

Nate smiled and turned around looking at the man who stood before him. He was a shortish man with thick black hair. His face was soft and smooth but his eyes were hard and as black as the night. He was stylishly dressed and sported two heavy looking solid gold necklaces.

"It is." Nate said.

"So Mr Connor…"

"Please call me Abraham." Nate said as he took the seat that Novich offered him.

"So Abraham you want to make a deal with us?"

"Well I have guns, you need guns…" Nate said accepting the cup of coffee that the young woman who had come out offered him. "A good match don't you think?"

"I don't know you." He had agreed to take this meeting because he had been instructed to do so. They did not normally deal with unknowns, there were too many police agencies out there now and with the anti-terrorism drive there were a lot of other agencies to consider as well.

"True." Nate replied. "You don't want the guns I can take them elsewhere."

"I did not say that." Novich said not liking the arrogance of the man sitting opposite him. "But you understand that I have to be cautious when dealing with unknowns."

"I don't know you either Boris…" Nate said seeing a dark look come over the man's face as he used his first name. "I can call you Boris…? Well Boris I don't know you either and I am taking a chance here. The only reason I came to you is because I believe you lost a shipment recently and need replacements but there are a lot of options, a lot of people who are happy to do business with me so if you have a problem…"

"There is no problem." Novich said wondering where Nate had heard that they had lost a shipment that was something they did not advertise. Nate could hear the irritation and a little suspicion creeping into the man's voice. He was taking a chance and he was playing it close to the edge, but he needed to seem arrogant and he had to let Novich know that he knew more about his business than he thought he did without stepping too far over the line.

"He is pushing the envelope now." Sophie whispered as she listened to the conversation and hearing the same irritation and sensing danger to Nate.

"Good…good Boris, I want to do this deal and you want to do this deal so let's stop playing games shall we?" Nate said softly.

"Agreed." Novich replied. "Tell me."

Nate nodded and then proceeded to tell Novich what he had and what he wanted for it. He also let drop that he was looking for an introduction to some of the higher placed people as he had other merchandise they might be interested in, that he was expanding his business model and wanted not only to sell to them but form a relationship with them for long term business in multiple fields, but was not willing to talk to Novich about it.

"Very well Abraham." Novich said as they both stood two hours later. "I will be in touch and I will also raise your other requests with my employers."

"Thank you. I do believe we can do good business together." Nate smiled at him and shook his hand.

Novich shook Nate's hand and then abruptly pulled him forward until they were standing almost nose to nose.

"If Mr Connor you are playing me, or if you are not who you say you are I will kill you do you understand." He almost whispered.

"The same goes for you." Nate said without hesitation or a hint of fear in his voice.

Silence followed and then the listening Leverage crew who had been holding their breaths after Novich's words heard him laugh loudly.

"I think we understand each other then." Novich said letting Nate's hand go.

"We do." Nate smiled back at him. "I believe we are going to do a lot of business together."

"I will be in touch later today, you should be available for meetings this afternoon." Novich said.

"I will be waiting for the call." Nate said then turned and left Novich to watch his back as he made his way to his car.

"Ok he has him on the hook, now what?" Hardison said turning to Sophie.

"Well he has to find out where the kid is, if this is about the kid." Eliot said.

"Oh it is about the kid, there is nothing else it would be about." Sophie said with certainty in her voice.

"Well there is nothing we can do, we just have to be ready if he needs us and that is all, if we step in we will put him in more danger than he already is in." Parker told them and they all nodded.

They were here and they were ready but they may not be needed, if they stepped in too soon, then they could put Nate in a compromising position and cost him his life, they had to watch and wait and that was going to be very difficult to do. Nate arrived back at his hotel and they watched through the camera's as he made his way up to his room and then pour himself a drink before sitting down on the chair and pulling out his phone.

"Nate you have news for me." Don Antonio Morero asked as he picked up the phone seeing it was Nate calling.

"I met with Novich this afternoon he should invite me to a meeting with Bronovich." Nate responded.

"That is good."

"Bronovich, dammit Nate he is bad news…" Eliot whispered knowing the man and having done some work for Damian on his behalf.

"Yes it is, but like I said this is going to be tricky, I can't push them because if I do they will catch on and then both your son and myself are dead." Nate said softly.

"I understand."

"I don't know when I will be able to contact you again, if all goes to plan, then we should be out of here by tomorrow at the latest." He said then hung up the phone.

"Well that seals it, it is defiantly about the son." Hardison said as they listened into Nate's conversation with the unknown entity on the other side of the line.

"Yeah that was probably Morero getting his update." Eliot agreed.

"Nate is right, if he pushes to hard he will be dead and so will the son." Sophie said softly. Nate was playing a dangerous game now and she was petrified that even their presence would not be able to prevent him from getting himself killed. "I don't understand how he is going to wind this up by tomorrow though."

"Yeah he said they should be finished by tomorrow but…how?"

"I don't know but Nate is Nate, and he has a plan, what it is…well that is the question." Parker said, she had the utmost confidence in Nathan Ford and his ability to plan and get a job done, they all had, but Parker more than any of them.

They then watched as the men who had travelled with Nate entered the room and Nate briefed them on what he thought was going to happen, laying out the plans of the Russian mobster Bronovich's house and compound.

"What the hell is the plan, break in and get the kid out… that would be…suicide." Eliot said to himself as he watched Nate go through the plans with the men and it seemed to him he was planning a breakout from the compound.

Sophie said nothing she could not see what Nate was planning, she did not understand what he was doing but it did seem as if he was planning to invade Bronovich's compound, but why she wondered. Nate could not possibly know that the boy was there, and they had done their own searching not coming up with anything concrete as to where the boy was being held. She had thought, as they all had that Nate had set up this meeting to feel it all out, to get a sense of where the boy was being held so that he could come up with a plan to get him out of wherever that was. There was something else going on here and she had no idea what, but Eliot was right, it was dangerous bordering on suicidal and that scared the living daylights out of her.