Chapter 5

"Morning Eliot." Sophie said as she moved into the kitchen four days later to find the Hitter there making breakfast.

"Morning." He said smiling at her and then moving to make her tea.

It had been a tension filled four days. Bonano had been round and told them there were no leads on the car or the man in the sketch and the bullet has also turned up nothing, but he had a bolo out for the car, there was also nothing on the two crime scenes either. They were all getting very frustrated with no leads, nothing to go on and not knowing who when the unknown assassin would strike again.

"Ok let's try this again." Nate said as they all sat together after breakfast. "Parker you and I are going to go for lunch."

"Nah ah man, you are still recovering, and she is…well they want to kill her."

"Precisely Hardison, so he might strike again."

"I'm coming with you." Sophie said and her tone told the man she would brook no argument on the subject.

Nate looked at her and then pulled a tight face before turning to Hardison and Eliot. "Hardison we will pick a place that has camera's outside to go to, you need to monitor them for if this guy makes a move, hopefully we can catch him on camera, Eliot you follow us but hang back, if they come you know what to do."

Hardison nodded at the instruction and then go to work on his computer to find the perfect place to send them for lunch so that if the man made an appearance he could catch him on tape. He did not like the plan, he liked it even less that he was not going to be with them, but logically he knew it was about the only way they were going to get a handle on the situation, the man had to try again, he just hoped he failed.

By 1pm Hardison had everything set up and Nate, Sophie and Parker set off for their lunch date with Eliot following behind at a discreet distance. They arrived at the restaurant and made their way inside. Lunch was a tension filled affair for them, if the man had not made his appearance now he might when they left. Eliot had informed them that he was ready and Hardison had confirmed that they were covered by all angles outside, so if he did make a move they would have him on camera.

"Ok, ready?" Nate said as he finished paying the bill. Both women nodded and he stood up leading them out of the restaurant.

They almost made it to their car when a man came out of nowhere and called out Parker's name. Nate moved swiftly, pushing Sophie out of the way, and then moving towards Parker as Eliot came out and ran directly for the man. Parker also turned to move towards him but was caught by Nate and pulled to the ground as a shot went off. Within seconds Eliot was on the man then he felt the burn of a bullet as another man appeared firing at him. He let the first man go putting a fist in his face then turned towards the new threat but was hit on the head by the first man and then a car screeched to a halt and both men climbed in before the car sped off.

Eliot watched the car go, cursing as he did then turned back towards the others, Parker was up and watching the car go, Sophie was at Nate's side who was still sitting on the pavement where he had pulled Parker down trying to catch his breath.

Sophie reached down to help Nate up, the Mastermind took her hand with a smile and she saw him wince slightly as he rose and then he saw a look in Sophie's eyes and raised his eyebrows.

"You are hurt Nate." She said looking down at his side.

"What…oh…well I didn't see that." Nate smiled at her. "Just a flesh wound."

"Let's go." Eliot said as he looked around although he did not think the men would be back.

Arriving back at the safehouse Eliot took Nate into the bedroom and tended to the graze to his side and Nate cleaned and dressed the wound he had sustained in the skirmish.

"I can't stay here, that is the second time Nate almost died for me." Parker said as they waited for the two men to come out of the room. "And Eliot was shot…this is all my fault."

"I didn't nearly die." Nate said as he and Eliot walked into the room. "And you are going nowhere Parker."

"Nate."

"Not arguing Parker." Nate said smiling at her. "You are not going anywhere understand."

Parker did not answer him and could not hold his gaze looking away and nodding.

"Good, now that that is settled let's figure out who is doing this and why." Nate said walking over to the wet bar and pouring himself a drink.

"And just how are we going to do that?" Eliot asked, they were no closer to knowing what was going on as they had been before.

"Well Eliot I have no idea. Hardison do we have footage?"

"Yeah man we got a clear shot of the first guy but not the second and I have the number plate of the car that picked them up, running facial recognition now but it could take a while."

"I don't know them." Parker said before he could ask, she had already looked at the footage to see if she could identify the men in question.

Nate nodded and then finished his drink before pouring himself another one. Then he told them he needed some time to think and disappeared into his room without another word.

"The hell?" Eliot hissed out watching the man leave and close the door behind him.

"I don't know Eliot, but I am sure he will tell us when he is ready." Sophie sighed.

The rest of the day Nate spent in his room, Sophie checked in on him after a while and found him passed out on the bed, she leaned in and kissed him then arranged him gently before throwing a light blanket over him and left. When she returned to the room she found him sitting at the desk reading through some files.

"Nate."

"Hey Sophie." He said turning to look at her.

"You look awful." She said as she took in his dishevelled appearance and the tired look on his face.

"Why thank you." He smiled at her. "I could use a shower and change."

"Dinner will be ready soon." She told him as he stood and pulled her into an embrace and gave her a kiss.

"Mmmm, yes well let me get cleaned up and then I will join you." He smiled down at her.

"Need some help?"

"Not today Soph…but hold that thought." He said kissing her again and then making his way into the bathroom. She watched him go and then sighed and made her way back to the others.

After dinner they all retired to the living room to discuss what to do next.

"So I sent the video to Bonano to see if he can get a lead on the guy, also sent him the number plate of the car." Hardison said as they all took their seats.

"Ok and Parker you are sure you have no idea who these guys are?" Nate asked.

"I've never seen them." Parker confirmed, it was frustrating her as much as it was him that she could not identify one of the men and give them something to work with.

"Well whoever they are they are organised, and they are prepared for anything." Eliot said thinking about what had happened.

"Yes and determined." Sophie added.

"So what do we do now?" Hardison asked looking at the Mastermind. He was scared, more than he had ever been in his life, scared that they would ultimately not be able to protect Parker and that this was going to end badly.

"Why call your name Parker…" Nate asked. "It doesn't make sense, if they had just appeared and shot, well you would have been dead the first time, but they didn't."

"No they call your name like they are warning you, they want you to see them, to look at them when they shoot." Eliot said seeing what Nate was saying, his eyebrows knotting at the thought, why could that possibly be.

"Right so this is very personal Parker." Nate said looking at the young woman. "You need to go over everything from your past again Parker, everything, no matter how small or insignificant a job it might have been ok. Look at everybody you ever did a job for as well as your own private jobs, everything Parker."

"Right." Parker said nodding her head. Nate was right this was very personal, they did not just want to kill her they needed her to know what was coming, that they were there to kill her.

"Good, well it has been a very long day and I am quite tired." Nate said as he finished his whiskey. "I think I am going to call it a night, I'll see you all in the morning."

Sophie rose and gave him a kiss on the cheek wishing him a good night and then he left them alone. Walking into his room he sat down on the bed and sighed heavily running his hands over his face. He had no idea what to do next and he was afraid for his people, for Parker. Then he felt his phone vibrate silently and reached for it.

"Ford." Archie said as Nate picked up.

"Archie…"

"You have to take care of Parker they are going to come for her."

"Who are they and why are they coming for her."

"Just take care of her Ford, I'm trusting you…" Archie said and then Nate heard a barrage of gunfire and then the line went dead.

Nate frowned down at his phone and then walked to the door sticking his head out he called for Hardison telling him he needed something and asking him to come to the room. The others looked at each other and Sophie just shrugged as Hardison rose and went to see him.

"Archie just called I need to know where this call came from." He said as Hardison entered the room and he closed the door behind him.

"Archie…"

"Hardison I don't have time just do it ok." Nate told him as he handed him his phone. "Parker can't know about this or she might just run off and do something stupid."

"Ok man but I need my stuff." Hardison said, he agreed with Nate, if Parker thought Archie was in trouble she would go after the man and that would be disastrous.

"Just do it quietly and quickly." Nate told hm and he nodded before leaving the room.

"Hardison…"

"He just wants me to check something out." Hardison said as he took his seat in front of the computer. "Said we should look at any jobs you did for Archie." He said and saw her eyes go wide at that question.

"He thinks this may have something to do with Archie?" Parker asked and he could her tone change to one of concern.

"No girl I think he is just covering all the bases." Hardison said then turned back to his computer.

"It makes sense Parker you did do a lot of jobs for or with him didn't you?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, but if Archie is in danger as well."

"I don't think that is the case or he would have called you right?" Eliot said seeing that Parker was about ready to leave and go find out if Archie was alright.

"Right." She said hesitantly, she was not sure if he would, but he had always called when he was in trouble or needed something, even when it had got her and the team in trouble so he would have called now too wouldn't he, she asked herself. Then she shook her head and set about weeding out any information she had on jobs her and Archie had done together or at his direction.

Hardison worked for a short while on the computer and then stood and walked back to Nate's room, Parker looked up and watched him go her brows knotting, there was something Nate was not telling them and she wanted to know what and if it involved Archie, but she remained where she was, when Nate was ready he would come out and tell them, she knew him well enough to know he was not going to tell them anything until he was good and ready.

"Ok I can't get a complete fix on it but the call came from LA." Hardison said as he stepped back into Nates room and handing him back his phone. "This is the general area and before you ask, yes that is the best I can do on that one phone call which by the way did not last very long."

"Ok, organise us a flight, and get us set up that side." Nate said, it looked like they were going to LA, whatever this was with Parker involved Archie and he was sure the man was either dead or in the clutches of whoever was hunting him and thier Thief.

Hardison nodded then turned to go with Nate following him out.

"Nate…?" Sophie asked looking at him and seeing something had happened.

"We need to go to LA." Nate said softly then turned to Parker. "We go together Parker and you do not run off on your own and do anything stupid."

"What's going on Nate?" Parker asked standing up and facing the man.

"Archie called me."

"What?" Parker said loudly, how could he have kept that from her.

"Just now Parker and he said to keep you safe that they would be coming for you." Nate said locking eyes with her. "Now Hardison has a partial fix on his location, we are going to go and find him, but Parker, we do this together, whatever Archie is into, he wanted you safe and that is why he called so that is what we are going to do, Eliot..." He said turning to the Hitter. "Hardison is organising us transport and a safehouse that side. You are in charge of Parker."

"I don't…"

"I don't want to hear it Parker, just do what Eliot tells you too, for me ok?" He said taking her arms. "Parker, we have to be careful, if they get to you it could go bad with Archie, I think the reason they call your name is to get you on camera facing it so that they can show Archie they are out to get you, they are using you as well and that is why he called me, we don't know what is going on here and if we rush in we could make it worse, so please, just trust me ok?"

"Fine." Parker said but her tone told the man she was not happy.

"Ok charter is standing by and we can use MC Hammers again." Hardison said. He had not got rid of the place after taking down Blackpoole and IYS, he had meant to but never go around to it.

"Good. Go pack some stuff and then let's go." Nate said turning and going to his room to pack his bags for the trip with the rest following suit. Then they left heading towards the airport and the charter to LA.