Chapter 16

Nate pulled in at the motel after a long day of driving and parked the car. He checked in and went directly to his room. Sitting down on the bed he uncapped the bottle of whiskey he had procured and grabbed a glass pouring himself a generous portion. Then he sat back on the bed and closed his eyes taking a long sip of the amber liquid. He was tired, he had been driving for almost eight hours when he decided he could go no further, and besides he was halfway to his destination he thought, he might as well stop for the night. Finishing off the glass he sat up and poured another before pulling out his phone. He stared at it for a minute and then put it down, he wanted to call Sophie but at the same time he did not want to have the conversation with her and hear the concern in her voice, so he lay back again propped up against the wall as he considered what he was doing and why.

He was awaked by the feel of a cold metal barrel to his head and a voice he did not recognise calling out his name. Opening his eyes he looked up into the smiling face of a youngish man who held a semi-automatic weapon at him. As he opened his eyes the man stepped back away from the bed.

"Time to get up, we are taking a little trip." He instructed.

"Who are you?" Nate said trying to get his bearings as he took in the man. He was tall and well-built with longish blonde hair and blue piercing eyes. He looked like a Hitter and Nate realised he was in serious trouble as he sat up in the bed.

"Names are not important. My employer has requested that your existence comes to an end, in a most painful way I might add, you must have really upset him." He said smiling down on the Mastermind. "Now get up slowly, leave your keys, watch, phone, and wallet, we don't want that pesky team of yours following us do we now?"

Nate rose from the bed slowly not taking his eyes of the man before him. He looked down at his bedside table and saw the man look as well and then he made his move diving forward and crashing into the would-be assassin, taking them both down to the ground. There was a struggle as Nate tried to incapacitate the man but was quickly subdued and then he felt a sharp pain in his side and looked down to see the assassin holding a knife which he extracted as he watched. Then he looked up at the man who was smiling again with the gun pointed at him and a bloody knife in his other hand.

"I like it when my targets have some spunk." He said then the smiled disappeared. "Do that again and you will regret it do you understand?"

Nate nodded then leaned down to pick up his shoes.

"Leave them. I know all about your Hacker, leave your jacket too and move." He said indicating with the gun that Nate should walk in front of him out of the door. "Make a sound, draw attention and innocent people might get caught up in your troubles…now walk."

Nate walked out the door putting his hand to his side where he had been stabbed and felt the warm wetness of the blood that seeped from the wound. He was directed to a non-descript oldish car and told to climb in. His captor moved swiftly to the other side and climbed in telling him to strap up before he pulled off leaving the motel and anything his team could use to track him behind.

In Portland It Sophie sat at the breakfast table with Eliot, the other two had not yet made an appearance.

"Sterling." She answered recognising the number immediately wondering what the man wanted.

"Where is Nate?" Sterling said foregoing the usual greetings.

"Why…what's happened?" Sophie said her heart speeding up as she put the phone on speaker and laid it on the table.

"It appears that Gavin was not impressed with what happened and although he is safe in prison we have it on good authority that he has put out a hit on him."

"You mean on Chris?" Hardison said using Nate's alias.

"No Hardison I mean on one Nathan Ford, how he found out I don't know but he did, apparently he put the hit out a few weeks ago so..."

"Dammit." Eliot cursed. If the hit had been put out weeks ago they could already be onto to Nate, be following him waiting for the perfect time to strike, which would be now, when Nate was alone and vulnerable and not expecting any trouble.

"Where is he?" Sterling asked picking up on the angst in Eliot's voice.

"On a road trip." Sophie told him. "He left yesterday."

"Well you better find him." Sterling said softly.

"We will Sterling. Thanks." Sophie said then hung up the phone. She immediately dialled Nate's number but the phone was off. She looked up at Hardison who nodded as he pulled out his phone to check exactly where Nate was.

"I'll get the van." Eliot said and Sophie nodded as she moved to her room to finish getting ready.

Twenty minutes later they pulled off heading in the direction Nate had taken, he had a head start on them of a day, although Hardison said he was still in the same location he had stopped at the night before. They drove in silence with Hardison checking all his tracking devices so that they were sure of where they were going and Sophie intermittently calling Nate's phone which remained off.

"Something has happened Eliot." Sophie said quietly after trying Nate's number again and asking Hardison if Nate's location has changed.

"How far still?" Parker asked looking at the Hacker.

"At least another eight hours…" Hardison replied and saw her pout deepen.

Eliot nodded and turned back to the road, there was nothing he could do except get them to where they were going as fast as possible.

Four hours into their journey and Hardison still reported that Nate had not left the motel he had booked into the night before with both his phone showing he was still there as well as the tracker in the car he had placed before he had left on his trip. It took them another 4 hours to make the motel and Sophie immediately recognised Nate's car in the parking lot of the place. She quickly exited the car and enquired as to what room Nate was in.

"Nate Ford…yeah he checked in last night, room 401." The manager said and Sophie smiled and thanked him before they all hurried to Nate's door. Sophie knocked lightly with no response and then a little harder before Parker moved her out the way and deftly opened the door letting them in.

"Oh my God." Sophie said her hand flying to her mouth as she surveyed the room.

"He didn't go quietly and they took him, didn't just kill him." Eliot said also looking around, there had definitely been an altercation here, and there was blood on the floor, whether it was Nate's or not he did not know, but Nate was gone and they had no idea where he was, or if he was injured.