It was a normal wintery snowy night at the bar. Guests filled the bar, mostly drinking in honor of the owner of the bar, John McRory. Kaira was standing next to Nate and Parker, watching the guests, against a wall. "So, this is paying respects, hmm?" Parker questioned. "Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, it's an Irish wake." Nate said. They walked over to a doorway, where Eliot and Hardison came down. "You know there's a poker game going on in the backroom?" Hardison asked Nate, the group walking with him. Eliot put his arm around Kaira's shoulders and kissed her forehead. She smiled. "Yeah, hey, at one time or another, every man in this neighborhood played in John McRory's Friday-night game. It's an honor. I mean, hell, my - my father played in it for 10 years before -" Nate said before Eliot cut him off. "This was your father's local?" Eliot asked, joining him in the center of the room. "Oh, hey, this - this was my father's office, right here. And he held court right there on that stool. And he would just..." Nate indicated the stool and walking up to the bar. "I mean, I grew up in this place." Nate said. "That must've been an interesting education." Hardison said. "No different than when I lived with my uncle after my parents died. He taught me what I know now." Kaira said, smiling slightly. Nate smiled at her. "Yeah, better than prep school." Nate said. "What kind of crook was your dad?" Parker asked. "Parker, you just -" Hardison told Parker off. "He ran numbers." Nate said. "Let me get this straight - so you stop stealing, you stop drinking, and you moved upstairs from a thief bar?" Eliot questioned. "He did. I-I get that. You don't get that? Why does nobody else get that?" Parker asked, looking at the team. "No, the thing about it is, I mean, now, it's just a neighborhood bar. I mean, back in the day, you know, you never knew who you were drinking next to. You had the mob on one side, the law on the other." Nate explained. "Times have changed." Hardison said. "Yeah. My uncle taught me that any business at a bar was done out of respect. You needed to get dirty, you took it outside." Kaira said. "Yeah... Cora here - I remember the day she was born." Nate said, pointing to a redhead woman, going to a cash register. Kaira immediately picked up on her anger. Something wasn't right with her. "She grew up here, too, and she turned out all right. Huh, Cora?" Nate called to her at the end. She just looked and walked away. "Ooh." Kaira breathed. The team noticed she handed the cash to three dudes. They watched the shorter goon write something down. Then, Cora walked away in a huff, not happy. She walked behind the team. Kaira gave the silent signal and they tracked down Cora.
They walked up to Nate's office and consoled her as she explained what happened. "His name is Mark Doyle. He's Irish." Cora said, sniffling. "You know, he says dad took out a loan from him a year ago. I didn't believe him at first. Thank you." Cora said, after Eliot gave her a cup of coffee. "But I realize... that it was just before the cancer took mom." Cora explained, getting emotional. Kaira was too, thinking of Kasey. "You know, I tried to help him with the bills. He swore he had it under control." Cora sniffled again. "I could have stopped this!" Cora yelled. Kaira started whispering no, giving Cora a hug. "Guys like Doyle, he's a loan shark. There was nothing you could have done." Kaira said, still hugging Cora. Cora let go and Kaira held her shoulder in comfort. "But maybe we can, huh?" Nate said, agreeing to help. "No, he wants 15,000 in the next two hours, Nate, or he's taking the bar. I mean, I can't get that kind of money in two hours?" Cora explained, wondering how Nate could help. "Why don't you do this, okay? Why don't you go back downstairs and tend to the guests and everything? And we'll try to figure out something here. Okay?" Nate laid down the plan. Kaira went back up to Cora. "Okay. Thank you." Cora said.
Kaira walked Cora out. "Hey, Cora, I'm sorry about your mom. I lost my sister to cancer, so I know how it feels. I also know what it's like to lose both of your parents. I live beside Nate with my husband, so if you ever need anyone to talk to, come find me." Kaira said, comforting Cora as she left. Kaira rejoined the group, who had watched the interaction. "Okay. Now what?" Kaira asked the team but aimed at Nate. "Why don't we just send her to the police? I mean, I don't use them, but this is what they're for, right?" Parker asked. "No, if Cora says to the police that she owes Doyle money, Doyle denies it. Six months later, he comes and burns down the bar. And that's assuming that he doesn't have a couple of local police on the arm." Nate explained. "That's what sucks about the credit crunch. Honest people can't get loans, sharks move in. 12 points on the interest every month - there's no way to get out from under that." Hardison said. "I don't care. You don't collect debts at a wake. You just don't do it. Want me and Kaira to go downstairs, break this guy's knees?" Eliot offered. Kaira agreed to Eliot's idea. "I can call an old contact to put the squeeze on Doyle. Convince him to get out of Boston. Or I could go down and threaten him?" Kaira suggested. Eliot showed he liked the idea. "No, we need some reconnaissance, like you know, why is this Irish loan shark here? And what is this two hour timetable?" Nate said. "I'll call Tara, tell her we got a job." Kaira said, walking away to pull out her cellphone. Eliot groaned. Kaira gave him a look and dialed Tara. She said she'd come. They waited a few moments for Tara to arrive.
Nate and Kaira met her at the door. "What's the game?" Tara asked, taking off her coat. "20 questions." Nate said. "I'll do it in 10." Tara said. "That one. In the leather jacket. Mark Doyle. Irish mob guy." Kaira informed Tara. She handed Nate her coat and purse and then moved her skintight black skirt up, revealing more of her legs, and pulled down on her shirt. She took her hair out of her ponytail. She grabbed a glass of whiskey from a server walking by and drank it. Nate handed Tara her purse back. "I'm Trish, and I'm lonely." Tara said to Nate. She walked over to Doyle. Kaira caught Nate looking at her ass. Kaira chuckled as Nate left. Kaira caught Tara sitting down. Kaira sat at the end of the bar, trying to keep an eye, but also subtle. Tara ordered a shot of Jamie on the rocks. Mark went to go sit next to Tara, leaning on the bar, sitting his black bag on the barstool next to it. "That's only a bit of Irish. How'd you like a whole lot of Irish?" Mark asked Tara, flirting. Tara chuckles and Mark laughed. "And what do you do?" Tara asked. "Typical. Only Americans ask for your occupation before your name." Mark said when Kaira saw Parker lifting a passport out of the bag and passed it to Eliot. "I'm a bank, sweetheart." Mark said. Kaira stood up and walked up to Eliot, leaving some cash on the table. "You're a bit short for a bank." Tara said. "Very clever. It's a family business, mine - based back in Belfast. I'm the V.P in charge of overseas expansion." Mark said, trying to impress Tara. Tara laughed. "Slow down. I love it. I love it." Tara said, impressed.
Eliot got out his phone and scanned the passport. "Nothing but cash and an I.D." Eliot said. He clicked the phone shut and put it away. "I'm running it, but we got next to nothing on this guy. No bank accounts, no credit cards. H-he's totally off the grid." Hardison reported as Kaira heard laughing from Tara's comm. "Well, he's mob. Of course, he's gonna be off the grid. Who do you think taught me how to go dark?" Kaira said, not surprised. She saw Mark grab Tara's hand. "Mark Doyle, loan shark." Mark said, kissing her hand. Tara chuckled in shock. "If I were ashamed, I couldn't do my job, could I? I provide a service for people with no recourse, help those with nowhere else to turn. Society needs me." Mark said. "Right. But isn't it, um... illegal?" Tara whispered, going along with how open Mark was. "As me da says, we pick up where the law leaves off." Mark said. Kaira chuckled a bit, seeing the irony. "Care to explain, Nate?" Kaira whispered in her comm. Nate went silent. "Got something on dear old da - Tim Doyle. He not only runs the family loan-sharking business but used to kill people with nail bombs for the IRA." Hardison reported. Kaira heard Mark talking with Tara, sweet-talking each other. Kaira took the passport from Eliot and put it back. She walked back over to Eliot and waited to see what was going to happen, "I got plane tickets. Doyle's headed for Belfast in a couple of hours." Hardison reported. "That explains the deadline." Kaira said. "But why take the bag of cash? Tara, I need you to ask something." Nate said. Nate told her what to say. "How long are you in town?" Tara asked. "Leaving tonight. Annual review, sort of. Show my new branch of the business is profitable." Mark said. "How profitable?" Tara asked. Mark chuckled as Tara started chuckling, impressed. They both cleared their throats. "That's not all of it mind. Just enough to repay me da for his investment and prove that this branch is very, very profitable indeed." Mark said. "Well then..." Tara took a sip of her drink. "You can buy a girl a drink. I'll be right back." Tara said. She got up and left.
They rendezvoused back at the office. "We can't just steal the note. It's only gonna tick this guy off." Eliot said. "Can we con him in two hours?" Parker asked. "More like an hour and a half." Tara said, joining in a circle with the team. "We can't pull something together this fast." Tara pointed out as Nate was counting the cash he had. "50 bucks. All right, I got 50 bucks. Hardison, I need you to tell me what live sports are being broadcast right now. Tara, set the hook. You guys, I need cash." Nate said, laying out the plan. "No. It's impossible." Tara said, realizing the con. "You want to run the wire in an hour and a half?" Kaira questioned. "Wire's three weeks, minimum." Eliot pointed out. "Look at it as the wire in a bottle, okay? And just because no one's ever done it before doesn't mean it's impossible." Nate defended his plan. "Yeah, it does. What are we supposed to do, steal the wake?" Tara questioned. "Whoa, have some respect - borrow the wake to save the bar." Nate said. The team reluctantly agreed to the plan. They all got ready. Nate walked into the bar while Tara distracted Doyle and the quartet in the office was at the bookcase, grabbing what hidden cash they had. "Okay, guys, nothing fancy. Classic wire. You delay the sports feed. Now I know what's gonna happen, he doesn't, I get him to bet. Now, where's my cash?" Nate said.
"Look, man, it's 9 pm on a Friday night. All the banks are closed." Hardison said as Eliot and Parker pushed over chairs to grab books off the shelf. "ATM's." Parker suggested. "Daily withdrawal limit. Look, if y'all want me to do an electronic wire transfer of 100 grand between the Caymans and Madagascar, I can do that. But if you're talking cold, hard cash, you're out of luck. I'm sorry. Welcome to the future." Hardison said. "Just use your little slimmer thing, man, and gank the ATMs." Eliot suggested. "It's called a skimmer. But thank you for trying. And, no, I don't have that thing anymore. Look, we're the good guys now. I haven't used that thing in months." Hardison said. "Months?" Parker questioned. "Yeah." Hardison said. Kaira looked at Hardison. "We've been the good guys for two years, Hardison." Kaira pointed out. "Well, we had a break." Hardison said. "Can we please focus?" Nate said, getting them back on track. "Emergency fund." Hardison suggested. They split apart. Eliot went to the recliner with Kaira and grabbed her knife, smiling at her in the process, and flipped over the recliner and cut the bottom. Parker went to the cereal and poured it out, grabbing the cash in it. Hardison took down the Old Nate painting and laid it on a desk and started cutting it. Parker heard the cutting. "Whoa! What are you doing?" Parker asked, causing Hardison to stop. "What, you thought I kept Old Nate around for sentimental reasons?" Hardison asked as Parker walked over. "Yes!" Parker exclaimed as Eliot and Kaira walked over. Hardison peeled back the paper and they handed the cash to Eliot. Kaira pecked his cheek and he left.
Soon, Eliot met with Nate at the bar. "Just a little over 9 grand. That enough?" Eliot asked. "Yeah, I don't need enough to win, just enough to lose. It's perfect." Nate said. "I'll take care of the muscle." Eliot said. "All right. Hardison, let me know when you got control of the feeds." Nate said. Kaira saw Hardison sawing through the wall to get to the cable. "Babe, I'm coming down." Kaira said, getting up and leaving. "Here, this is the cable to the television to the bar downstairs." Hardison said. Kaira then heard the cables being dragged out. "Nate, we're ready down here. I'm about to splice... well, everything." Hardison said as Kaira walked in and saw Eliot. Kaira caught Nate walking up to Tara, who was talking to Mark. Nate came up behind her and tried to give her a hug, but Tara objected. "Ugh, perfect." Tara said, showing she didn't like that. "Oh, come on. Trish. Don't be like that, huh?" Nate told Tara. Nate still held her. "It was nice meeting you, Mark." Tara said, leaving. "Hey." Nate said, watching Tara leave.
Mark followed a bit, but then turned to Nate. "Thanks a lot, you Goby. I was making headway there." Mark said, not pleased. "Sorry. I'll make it up to you. Get this guy a drink - whatever he wants." Nate said, going to the bar with Mark. "Give me an empty glass and a bottle of the most expensive scotch you've got." Mark said. Kaira tuned out of the bar conversation and waited at the bar, glancing at Eliot, flirtatiously to sell her character. "Okay, we are up and running. Now, I've got the tv in the bar on a 20 second delay. Oh! Sisko just hit a jumper from the baseline." Hardison said, watching the basketball game, which was the only thing on at the moment. "All right, we need info from the bodyguards, but I'm burned." Tara said. "On it." Parker said. Kaira heard the door shut, telling her Parker was on her way. "You make book on this game?" Mark asked Nate, who went by Jimmy Ford. "No." Nate said, watching the game. "How about a little action?" Mark suggested. "Without the juice, of course." Mark said. Nate agreed and they both pulled out cash. "100 that Sisko misses." Nate said. "I'll take that." Mark said.
Kaira tuned out of the betting match and focused her attention with Eliot at the dart board. She walked up to him and they started flirting, watching the goons. The goons threw a couple of darts and Eliot started laughing, walking up next to the goons. "What's your problem?" The shorter one asked. "You remind me of my sister." Eliot said. The goon got up in Eliot's face. Eliot threw the dart, hitting a bullseye without looking. Both of the goons were impressed. "Yeah. It's all in the wrist." Eliot said as Cora walked over to them to get their drinks. "Hey, how are you? Good to see you. Can I buy a couple of beers for my boys and one for me, if you don't mind? And whatever my girl wants, too." Eliot said. Karia smiled. "I'll have a glass of Jack on the rocks, please." Kaira said. The boys looked at Kaira as Cora walked away. Kaira just stared at them. "What?" Kaira questioned the boys. "Only certain people can handle Jack straight." The shorter goon said. "Well, I am known to be different." Kaira smiled as she focused her attention on Eliot. "Do that again." The shorter goon said. "All right." Eliot said, throwing the dart at the bullseye. They all started laughing."I'll show you how to do that." Eliot said, grabbing the darts from the board. Eliot went to hand the goons the darts when Parker walked over with the beer and the drink for Kaira. "Oh! There it is. Look at that - some ale." Eliot said, setting the beers on the table and handing to drink to Kaira, who gladly took the drink. She didn't react and turned to look at Nate at the bar. One of the boys smacked her ass, so she pretended to like it and smack the other boy's asses, grabbing the goon's wallets and cell phones and passed them to Parker before she left.
Soon, Parker was upstairs and Eliot and Kaira distracted the goons as Nate kept betting with Mark. "Kaira got their cell phones and their wallets. Also lifted this - Doyle's ledger." Parker said. Kaira listened for what they said. "It's written in code." Tara reported. Nate betted again and lost. Kaira walked up to see what Nate was doing, acting like she went to the bathroom. There was a glass of scotch still on the table, undrunk. "What, you too good to drink with me?" Mark asked Nate. "No, no -" Nate tried to play it off. "I'm not betting again if you have the advantage of me, Jimmy boy." Mark said. Kaira looked at Nate, regretting what he'd had to do. "Ah, yeah, well, you're right. I mean, I might as well. You know, I mean, I'm getting my ass handed to me. You know, drowning my own sorrows here, right?" Nate said.
He took a drink of the scotch. And in that one instant, months of work being clean and months of trying to make sure Nate didn't go crazy was gone. Kaira walked back to Eliot and saw Nate looking at them, regretfully. He took another sip and continued betting with Mark. "So, this is -" Tara said. "Not good." Hardison said. Kaira turned her attention back on Eliot, distracting herself from the regret she had that Nate was forced to drink again.
"You know, I'm grabbing all I can off of Liam one and two's cell phones. We may be able to use any common GPS coordinates to triangulate the location of Doyle's office." Hardison said. "And I'm close to decoding this ledger." Tara said. "Names?" Kaira asked. "And alphanumeric substitutions." Tara said. "You know how to read that?" Parker asked. "Yeah, I trained in Cryptog- nevermind." Tara said. Kaira was intrigued. Hardison then whistled. "Archer just got robbed. Layup at the other end." Hardison reported so Nate could bet again. "Okay, 1,000 says Archer gets schooled." Nate said, laying down the money. "No way." Mark said, laying down his bet. The game on the tv showed what Hardison said. "Archer gets payback. Double or nothing." Mark said, laying down the bet. "No, turnover. You're good. You're good." Hardison said, giving Nate the go ahead. Nate won and Mark wasn't happy, but they kept betting. "So, I got Mike Duffy, 78 Oak Street." Tara said. "Borrowed money to put his mom in a nursing home." Hardison reported. "Okay, Alison McCoy." Tara said. "I got her. Special needs child. School bills. You know, Nate, we just cracked this ledger, and Doyle is way, way deeper into this neighborhood than we thought. Okay, uh, Nate, Boston wins with a three pointer. Nate? Nate?!" Hardison said trying to tell Nate to bet. "That pile of cash in front of you looks mighty inviting. I got a plane to catch. One last bet?" Mark suggested.
"Well, I mean, there's almost 10,000 dollars here. I mean, you have the cash to match it?" Nate asked Mark. Mark looked at his bag with cash in it. "Nah, my cash has... other obligations." Mark said. He slid a napkin across the floor. "Oh, no, no. I'm not gonna take a marker." Nate said. "You don't have to take my marker. Take hers." Mark said, indicating Cora. "No. How do I know she's good for it?" Nate asked. "You don't. That's why it's called gambling." Mark said. Kaira saw Parker approach the brothers at the door and smacked the taller one's ass to put the stuff back. Parker approached Eliot and Kaira, who were looking at Nate and Mark. "What's Nate thinking?" Parker asked. "He's not." Eliot said. "Nate, Y-you got 10 seconds. Place the damn bet!" Hardison exclaimed, worried about what Nate was doing. "Don't be cocky, Nate." Tara warned. "All right. Let it ride. Boston wins, hmm?" Nate said, finally placing the bet. "Done." Mark said. "Whoa! Yeah, baby! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about right there! Yeah!" Hardison exclaimed, way to excited. Kaira breathed in relief. They had done it. "I didn't realize you were quite that into basketball." Tara said, confused. "Ba-basketball? Woman, we just pulled off the wire in the time it takes to get a pizza delivered. This is a big win - big! They're gonna talk about this one." Hardison said. Mark went to leave and Nate stood up, putting his coat on. Eliot handed Kaira her coat as he put his on. They walked up to Nate. "We got lucky on that one." Eliot said to Nate. "We're not letting him go." Nate said. "But we saved the bar." Parker said. "We're not letting him go. The night's just getting started." Nate said, clear he had a plan. "Dammit, Nathan. What the hell are you thinking? I knew this was gonna happen as soon as you took that drink." Kaira asked Nate, not happy with what Nate wanted to do.
They met in the back room. "He goes back to Ireland, and flashes that money to his father, he'll be back here within a week and with more muscle, heat, and protection. And then he'll be in every corner of this neighborhood. We won't be able to pry him loose." Nate pointed out his reasoning. "How can you be sure?" Eliot asked. "Because that's what my father did. No, I know this guy. I know what he's about. Right now, right here - this is the time to put a spike in him for good. It's our only shot." Nate said. "Final sh - Nate... do you have another con up your sleeve?" Hardison asked. "Uh, no. Y-Yeah. Well, this one's maybe a little bit more... impossible. Guys, let's go to the storage room. Tara, stall him. Stall him." Nate ordered.
They walked away as Tara walked in to the bar. "Hey, beautiful." Mark said to Tara. "Don't beautiful me." Tara said. "Sorry. Men's business. Money's money, love. Look, I'm heading out. Give you a ring when I'm back?" Mark said. Tara scoffed. "You're not going anywhere. It's turning into a blizzard out there." Tara said. "Doesn't look to bad." Mark said. "I couldn't get to the corner shop for smokes. But, hey, you want to sit in the tunnel for three hours, be my guest." Tara said. "Can't have that. Liam's brother here is claustrophobic. Fair enough. Let's check the weather on the telly." Mark said. Kaira perked up. "Hardison, get ready to fake a weather report. Now!" Kaira warned Hardison. "Yeah. Let's check the weather on the telly." Tara said. "C-c-check the weather on wh-woman, you did not." Hardison said. "I warned you." Kaira said. Hardison then started grumbling, getting ready as Tara stalled.
Nate, Eliot, Kaira, and Parker were in the storage room. "Okay, so we're gonna lure him into a high-stakes poker game." Nate said the plan. "Except we have no high stakes." Eliot pointed out. "And no poker game." Parker pointed out. "Well, I have enough to slowplay him for maybe half an hour or so. Hey, Hardison, have you found Doyle's address yet?" Nate said. "I'm a little busy." Hardison said. "Hey, Nate, this green blanket have any special memories?" Hardison asked. "Uh, no. Why?" Nate asked. "Uh, no reason. Okay, the computer's still grinding out the cellphone information. I will hit you as soon as I get an address." Hardison said. Tara was still stalling Mark. "Okay, you guys hit the road. Hardison's gonna text you the address. Now, Doyle - he deals in cash. The rest of it will be at his office, so bring it to me." Nate said. "His money?" Eliot questioned. "You wanna play with Doyle's money? Dammit, Nate, why do you have to do this?" Kaira asked, not happy. "If we pull this off, Doyle is gonna leave every dime he owns on that table. Now, I assure you, his father will never forgive him for that." Nate said. "What if I can't crack his safe?" Parker asked. "Seriously, Parker? You're the best damn thief I know." Kaira retorted. "Let me ask you one more question - would you even consider trying this if you were sober?" Eliot asked Nate. Kaira showed that Eliot had a point. "Uh... I'd consider it." Nate said. Eliot growled, showing he didn't like the answer. "I'm staying with Nate. Babe, Parker, you hit Doyle's office once Hardison sends you the address." Kaira said as Eliot and Parker left. She looked at Nate. "The only reason I'm here is so you have backup. And I wanna mess with Doyle too. But Nate, you have got to be careful." Kaira said, almost threatening Nate. They walked out and watched Hardison do the weather.
Mark left to talk to his goons. "All clear. Is that my jacket?" Nate asked. "You know what, man? You're lucky I'm not wearing your underwear. And the next time y'all call me, it better be for something easy, like faking a moon landing." Hardison said. "Okay, Tara... here's what I need you to tell him." Nate said. He gave Tara the cue. "Looks like we have some time to talk after all, Macushla." Mark said, getting close to Tara. "Should have played with me instead of Jimmy the first time." Tara said. "Fair enough." Mark said. "You wouldn't have got cheated that way. Can I get a rum and coke?" Tara said, quickly. "Wait, what?" Mark questioned Tara. "He cheated you. He does it to all the tourists who come in the bar. Rum and diet coke actually." Tara said. "Oi! Explain." Mark told Tara. Tara scoffed. "The crappy cable TV in this bar - the sports channels are all on a local 5-minute delay, so Jimmy spots a mark, calls a friend who's watching on satellite, and he gets the action texted to him on his phone. You didn't see him looking at his phone?" Tara explained. She chuckled. "He ran you right up." Tara said. "Why didn't you tell me this the first time?" Mark asked Tara. "Men's business. You hurt my feelings." Tara said. "Stay here. I'm gonna kick his arse... then I'll be back - hurt your feelings a bit more." Mark said.
While that was happening, Nate and Kaira went down into storage to talk to Cora. "Nate, did you find the money?" Cora asked Nate. "I need you. Uh, uh, Tara? Look, here - here's the trick. We're not gonna cheat him. He's gonna cheat us." Nate said. Cora asked who Tara was. She stopped Mark. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. You can't go back there. Wait. He's playing cards." Tara said. "So?" Mark questioned. "So, it's a protected game. All right, you've heard about McRory's, right? Everybody in the neighborhood comes here. Well, everybody back in that room is a heavy hitter." Tara explained. "How heavy?" Mark asked. "Local families - Irish, some Italians from the North Shore, um, sometimes a guy comes up from Providence. But you start something in there, it... look, come back to the bar. Buy Trishie a drink." Tara said. "Ford's back there playing? I'm not a bad card player myself." Mark said. "I don't know about this. My brother's not so sure either." Liam said. "See? Liam and... Liam's brother are right. He's already shown he can beat you." Tara said. "Cheat me, and nobody cheats a Doyle." Mark said. "Well, it's not like you can go in and cheat him back, okay? He's the best at this. This is how he makes a living. Listen, your father never has to know that you got burned. Your dad never has to find out." Tara said. "He was sweet on you, right?" Mark asked, referencing the introduction they had. "Yeah." Tara said. "He didn't see you with me just now, right?" Mark asked. "I don't think so." Tara said. "What would he do if you went in there and sat on his lap?" Mark asked. "What would you do?" Tara asked. "I think this'll work." Mark said.
Kaira was walking with Nate and Cora, going to the poker game. "This will never work." Cora said. "Of course it will. Gentlemen, I have a proposal for you." Nate said, walking into the room with three guys at the table. "Who the hell are you?" The shorter, stout older man asked. "Mickey, this is Jimmy Ford's son, Nate." Cora said. "You anything like you father?" Mickey asked. "No." Nate said. "And you?" Mickey asked Kaira. "This is Kaira Newton. She's a friend of Nates." Cora introduced her. "Nice to meet you gentlemen." Kaira gave a smile. "You anything like your uncle?" Mickey asked. "No." Kaira answered, truthfully. "So, what is your proposal?" Mickey asked. "Okay, you let us and my friend, Doyle, uh, in on your game, and I guarantee you he will leave his money on the table and confess to at least one felony, probably more." Nate said. "So, you're telling me this Doyle kid's gonna march right in here, confess to a crime, and give us all his money?" The taller, skinner older man questioned. "If all goes to plan." Nate said. "I don't know what kind of schmuck would do that, but I'd sure as hell pay to see it." Mickey said. The boys chuckled a bit. "I don't know about this, Cora." Cabella said. "We'll take the heat if it goes wrong." Kaira said. "All you guys got to do is just keep playing." Nate said. "Please... for dad." Cora pleaded. Mickey contemplated it and agreed. "Buy-in's 20 bucks." Mickey said. "Okay, all right." Nate said, then Cora. "Blues are ones. Whites are five." Mickey said. "Okay, now listen, he may want to buy in for slightly higher. Are you okay with making him think there's more in the pot?" Nate asked. "The less I know about this, the better." Cabella said.
They got the next hand ready as Tara walked in. "All right. He's in. I'm supposed to be softening you up." Tara said. "All right." Nate said. "Could I borrow him for one sec?" Tara asked the guys, putting her hand on Nate's shoulder. "What?" Nate questioned as Tara pushed Nate to the side. "These locals don't look anything like mob guys." Tara pointed out. "No, they're McRory's friends. They're all I got." Nate said, grabbing a glass. "You actually think Doyle's gonna buy their act?" Tara asked. Nate grabbed a bottle. "They'll be fine, okay? Everything's fine. Hardison, you find out where Doyle keeps the rest of his money?" Nate asked. Kaira tuned out the rest as she chatted with the guys at the table. "I didn't know you're family was in Boston, Kaira." Cabella said. Kaira gave another smile. "No, it's just me. I left the family and joined the army as soon as I graduated. Met a handsome southern boy who treats me good, and just got married. Never been back home since." Kaira answered. "I'm glad, Kaira. I knew your uncle. You know, he lived in Boston before moving up to New York with his sister." Mickey said. "Yeah. He told me about Boston. He liked to tell his stories. He'd always put some advice in every story he told me. He taught me what I know today. We're gonna get Doyle out of here." Kaira said, making a promise. Nate brought a chair over and Kaira stood on the corner, acting like security.
Just then Mark walked in with his money. "Evening, gentlemen." Mark said. "Uh, what do you think you're doing, Doyle? This is an invite-only game." Nate said, walking to Mark as Tara sat down. "Then invite me. And why is she in here?" Mark asked, gesturing to Kaira. "I'm security." Karia answered. "I'd invite you, but it's not my call. Listen." Nate said before turning to face the table, then back at Mark. "You know who these guys are? That's Mickey Donnelly, Johnny "the Fist" Cabella, Danny McCann. I mean, you know, I can't cross them." Nate whispered. Mark shrugged it off and walked to the table. He went to an empty chair and sat his bag of cash down. "Cash plays?" Mark asked. He grabbed a bundle and put it on the table. "Cash plays." Mickey said. "Nice." Mark said. Nate went to sit down. "A lot more where that came from, boys." Mark said, taking off his jacket and sat down.
They played, following the plan. Tara slowed played Mark, and stalled by playing until Eliot and Parker came back with the cash. After a while of playing, Nate left to get a drink. "All right, what's the E.T.A on the cash?" Nate asked. "We're at the safe. Parker wants to take it out for dinner and drinks first." Eliot said. Kaira chuckled a bit in amusement. "This is a Glen-Reader Prestige from the 20's. So many memories." Parker said. "All right, well, tell her to pick it up." Nate said. "Come on Parker." Eliot rushed her. "I would move a lot faster if you weren't stomping around." Parker said. Kaira smiled amused. "It's not me stomping. I don't stomp." Eliot said. "You do kinda stomp, babe." Kaira whispered, getting a growl from Eliot.
"Now, we are gonna do some real business in this town, my father and me. You gents are huge in this town. We should get to know each other." Mark said. "Sure." Cabella said, selling the part. "We're already making our mark. Like Mickey. You remember that deal that went down with the O'Hares last Autumn?" Mark said. "Mm, I remember it." Mickey said. Kaira smiled in amusement. That was their first job back from the break that happened. Oh, how things have changed since then. "You involved in that?" Mark asked. Mickey started laughing. "You could say that." Mickey said. Mark started chuckling. "That job would have been a mess without me. I was the one who told them to use cigar boxes instead of orange crates." Mark said. Kaira soon heard Eliot grunting and getting punched. Mark then looked at Nate, who was still at the bar, getting his drink. "Hey, Ford, are you buggering off already?" Mark asked Nate. He put the glass down. "No, I'm - I'm in." Nate said. "Babe, careful. Parker, move your ass." Karia whispered. Parker then started humming as Eliot burst through a door and Parker told him to be quiet.
Soon Parker got the cash and Nate started playing again. Soon, Parker arrived with the money and gave it to Nate and left. "Cash plays." Nate said, putting the money on the table. Doyle showed some uneasiness. "What's wrong there, Doyle? Cash plays, right?" Nate said. Mark flipped over a stack of the money. Mark stood up and cocked a gun on Nate. "What kind of eejit do you take me for?" Mark said. Kaira was about to disarm Mark, but Nate signaled to stand down. Kaira took the signal, but still was on guard. "Hey, Doyle, what are you getting upset about? We're just playing a little game here." Nate said, trying to calm Mark down. "I know exactly the game you're playing. You're all playing it together - with my money!" Mark exclaimed. Mark grabbed a stack of cash and held it up. "This is my mark. I've just spent the last year running the only bank that would lend to any plank and neddy in this hole. And I marked every damn dollar I collected... like so." Mark said. "So, you're a loan shark." Mickey said, unfazed by the gun. "Aye. I'm a loan shark. And these are my teeth." Mark aimed the gun on Mickey. "No one cheats a Doyle." Mark said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'd put that thing down, unless you want to get yourself killed. You don't know who these guys are." Nate said, still trying to diffuse the situation. "I know exactly who they are. A bunch of local thicks you recruited for this little game of yours. Well, game's over boys." Mark said. He grabbed his bag and sat it on the table. "Start handing over your money." Mark said.
Just then, Mickey pulled out his badge. "I'd put that down if I were you." Mickey said. "What, this another prop for your wee game?" Mark questioned. "Yeah, and this is a prop I got from the Boston Police Department." Mickey said, drawing his gun. Cabella grabbed the gun from Mark. "You point that gun at me again, and I'll be calling my friend in the coroner's office." Mickey said. "You're a friggin' guard?" Mark questioned, not happy. "I think he prefers detective, don't you Mickey?" Tara asked. "Sergeant Detective, Organized Crime Division. And these are my friends, Lieutenant Cabella and Captain McCann." Mickey said as the other boys grabbed their badges. "Nice to meet you." McCann said. "What the hell is going on here?" Mark asked. Kaira flashed back to what Nate told them before the game started. "This is entrapment." Mark said. "Entrapment, huh? You think so? What do you think, Captain?" Mickey said. "As I recall it, I'm pretty sure he came in here, put his money on the table, and asked into our game." McCann said. "And if memory serves, he confessed to being a party to that O'Hare job down by the docks last year." Mickey said. Kaira remembered hearing Mark said that. She then pulled out her cellphone and held it. "First break we've had on that case in months." Cabella said. "Oh, you boys mind if I give you the video I took of you coming in here and asking into their game and of you confessing to being a part of the O'Hare job?" Kaira asked smugly as she pulled up the video on her phone.
The cops agreed and Kaira sent it to their phones, which she hacked during the game and got their phone numbers. She sent it to them. "Videos sent." Kaira said as she put her phone away. "All right. All right. Fair enough." Mark said. He took a swig of his drink. "How's about I walk away with what's mine, you walk away with what's yours? And for your understanding, I'll make a little contribution to your retirement fund." Mark said. Then Nate shot up and slammed Mark to the table, pinning his arm back. "All right, now listen to me. This is what you're gonna do. You're gonna leave this bar, you're gonna get out of town, you're gonna go home to daddy, and tell him that your business went bust. Or I will call him and tell him that you gambled away all his profits to a roomful of cops. You will never set foot in this town again, or they will throw your ass in jail. Understood?" Nate said. "Yeah. Uh-huh!" Mark said, scared. "Yeah, and one more thing." Nate said, breaking his finger, causing Mark to scream. "Nate, get him up." Kaira ordered, unfazed by the display.
She grabbed Mark and held him against the table, facing her. "You don't know me, but you may know my family." Kaira said, anticipating Mark's inevitable question. "Who are you?" Mark asked. "My name's Kaira Newton, though I go by Kaira Spencer now. You would know my uncle. I'm in a different line of work than he is, but I still have his resources. All I have to do is make one phone call, telling him that Mark Doyle showed up at my home and was gambling at the bar my friend owns and you will never be allowed to leave Ireland. I may go by a different name, but my uncle would do all of that for me. So get the hell out of my city. And don't go near my family again, or it'll be more than your fingers that get broken." Kaira threatened, staring at Mark, scarring him. She let him go and shoved him out the door. Kair composed herself and looked at everyone. "You're exactly like your father. But you, you're not like your Uncle." Mickey said. Tara went to gather the money on the table. "So, I guess this is, uh... all evidence, huh?" Tara said. "It'll never make it back to the people it belonged to, but I guess it's how it goes." Kaira said. The cops looked at each other. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been at the movies all night long." Mickey said. "Me and Johnny here had tickets to the game today." McCann said as they grabbed their jackets and left. "Great game." Cabella said. Kaira smiled and mouthed thank you as they left. "The ledger?" Nate said. Tara grabbed it. "Every name. I mean, I'm still gonna take my -" Tara said. "Yeah. Take your cut. I'd expect nothing else." Nate said as they left.
They gathered the names and gave the money to the people at the bar. Eliot and Nate sat down across from Tara and Kaira at a table. "I can't believe you actually pulled this off in two hours." Tara said, closing the ledger. "Hour and a half. I'm softening." Nate said, sitting down. "Definitely softening." Eliot said. Hardison walked over. "You guys get it squared away?" Nate asked. "Yep. Every last dollar." Hardison said, proud. "Every last one." Parker said, bittersweetly. Cora then came by with glasses and whiskey. "On the house." Cora said, sitting down the tray. "It's the least I can do. You guys saved me today. All of us. Thanks." Cora said as Parker, Hardison, Kaira, and Tara grabbed a glass. "Yeah, listen, I'm uh, I'm kind of beat. I'm gonna head upstairs." Nate said. "Uh, wait, I'm sorry. Wait, where?" Hardison questioned. "Upstairs, where - where I live." Nate said. "Okay. Cool. That's cool. Except how bout this? You stay down here a couple more hours, get an appetizer - Cora, what's good on the menu?" Hardison suggested. "Calamari's really-" Cora was saying before Hardison interrupted. "Calamari?" Hardison said, liking the idea. "Yeah, I-I don't really want calamari. I want to go to bed." Nate said. "Cool. You can - in a minute. Y'all want to help me?" Hardison said. "I ain't. This is your mess." Eliot said. Parker left. "What do you mean it's my me- No. You-" Hardison said. A short argument started. "What mess? What are you talking about?" Nate questioned. "I don't understand. What - what mess?" Nate asked. "It's nothing. It's not a me- It's nothing. Just -" Hardison said before Tara interuppted. "I don't clean. I'm going home." Tara said, getting up and leaving. "What do you mean you don't clean?" Hardison asked Tara. "There's no maid service, sweetheart." Tara said. "I bet if it was a bag of dirty money, you'd swing that." Hardison argued. "I bet that. I bet that much." Hardison said. Eliot said something to Hardison before looking at Kaira as Tara told Cora bye. "You coming to bed, sweetheart?" Eliot asked Kaira. "In a minute, babe. I think I'm gonna talk with Cora for a bit." Karia smiled at Eliot and he smiled back as everyone else left except for Cora and Nate.
Kaira scootched over and Cora sat down. "Thanks." Cora said to both Nate and Kaira. "No. It was nothing." Nate said. "This is what we do." Kaira said, accepting the thanks. "You remind me of your old man sometimes." Cora said to Nate, causing her to chuckle. "Well, that's just an aweful thing to say to someone who has saved your ass today. Come on." Nate said, kind of jokingly. "He has good qualities, Nate. You've just never been able to see them." Cora said. "He uses people and takes advantage of them. Come on, you know that." Nate said. Kaira looked at Nate. "Says the man who uses people to get what he wants." Kaira said, surprised. Nate just glared at her. "Well, he takes care of his friends - like you do. My dad would be really grateful for what you did here today." Cora said, thankful and sad. "Your dad was a good man." Nate said. "He was." Cora said. Kaira smiled at a memory. "You know, my parents both died just before I turned 18. My dad was a serviceman, discharged for an injury and my mom was a don's daughter. My dad tried his best to raise both me and Kasey. Then cancer took Kasey, and he went off the deep end. He still tried, but it was my mom who did the most for me. After they died, my uncle taught me about the real world. He basically raised me until I was 19 and joined the army." Kaira said, reminiscing about the happy memories of her old life. Before Eliot, before Nate, before this job. "They all have their flaws." Cora said. The trio chuckled and sighed. Nate looked at the barstool he mentioned earlier. Nate and Kaira both grabbed glasses. "To fathers." Nate said, toasting. "To fathers and the ones we didn't know we needed." Kaira said, smiling at Nate. "To fathers." Cora said. They clunked glasses and downed their shots. Kaira put her glass down. "I think I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed with my husband. Good night." Kaira said. She stood up and looked at Nate. "Thank you Nate for introducing me to these guys, and to Sophie. And thank you for giving me the courage to tell Eliot how I felt about him. And for filling in as a father to walk me down the aisle. You made me a better person, a better thief, and a better wife." Kaira said, tearing slightly. Nate was too. He smiled at her. Kaira kissed his cheek goodbye and walked outside.
She walked up and was about to open the door to her and Eliot's apartment when Hardison came over. "Hey, Kaira." Hardison got her attention. "Yeah, Hardison." Kaira turned to face him. "What was your uncle like? I know it was after your parents died, and I know what that's like, and-" Hardison asked. "Um... he was an interesting individual. He was smart, cunning, nice, but I'll be damned if he wasn't the best person I know, besides you guys." Kaira said. "What was it like living with him?" Hardison asked. Kaira sighed, thinking back to that time in her life. "Definitely not normal. He did his best with what he had. I mean, he wanted me to run the family business, but I wanted out— needed out. I wanted to be better. My uncle offered to pay for my entire college education. But, I wanted to go in the army like my dad and serve my country. He supported me, but it was hard for both of us. I haven't been back home since I left." Kaira answered, trying to not let the emotions get to her. Hardison pulled her into a hug. "What would you have gone to college for? If you hadn't joined the army, I mean." Hardison asked. Kaira thought a moment. "Probably a nurse or doctor. Just something that would have helped people." Kaira answered, smiling at how ridiculous the thought was. Hardison did too. "Hot damn. What happened that changed your mind?" Hardison asked. "I wanted to honor my dad. I joined the service and thought I could become an army medic maybe. But then I saw a man in my tent that was handsome. He smiled at me and I was done. He told me about his other job and I wanted to follow him. I left and became a thief. He taught me what I know today. We flirted but never admitted our feelings for a long time. Not until I met a group of people who taught me that love was a strength. So, we admitted our feelings, started dating, got engaged after a year, and got married. And the team we befriended became my family." Kaira smiled. Hardison was taken back. Kaira pulled Hardison into a hug to calm him down. "I'm glad I met you, Kaira. You're the best sister I could ask for." Hardison said. Kaira smiled and said goodnight and walked into the apartment.
Eliot was laying in bed, half-asleep. "Babe?" He groaned, hearing the door. "Yeah. Sorry. Hardison stopped me and wanted to talk." Kaira smiled as she started changing. "Okay. I love you." Eliot said, still half asleep. "I love you, too babe." Kaira smiled. She put in her shirt and went to lay in bed. She cuddled up with Eliot. "Hey, Eliot. How do you think our lives would be different if we weren't together?" Kaira asked Eliot. "Well, I wouldn't be a married man, for one. And I would probably have gotten killed in the Army or arrested. I certainly wouldn't be here, I know that. Sleeping next to the woman I love and am married to. Nothing gets better than that." Eliot smiled. "We've come a long way since our days in the Army, huh?" Kaira smiled, causing a smile from Eliot. Kaira kissed his lips and went to bed, thankful she met who he did and was married to an amazing guy.