"How am I supposed to break into a safe not knowing what I am looking for?!" Parker hissed once she was in the dark office.
"Just unlock the safe for now and I'll tell you in a minute." Nate said over the comms.
"Ughh." Parker closed the office door quietly and made her way to the safe. She crouched in front of the not-so hidden safe underneath the cabinets and studied it.
"Hmm, a Hollon TL-15 Series." Parker scrunched her lips. "I should have this open in 3 minutes."
She pressed an ear against the cold wall of the safe and turned the knob, listening as the gears clicked.
After a moment, Eliot's angry voice came over the comms. "Hardison! You didn't mention the three human guards in the hallway!"
"Hey, man!" Hardison replied. "I can't warn you about everything. Do you wantmy job?!"
"Want mine?!" Eliot shot back.
"Be quiet!" Parker cut into the conversation. "I can't unlock the safe if you guys are so loud!"
Everything was quiet on both ends and Parker was able to concentrate. She heard the master lock click and the handle on the safe door swung open for her to open.
"Haha." Parker celebrated, pulling the door open. "Now, will you tell me what I'm looking for, Nate?"
"Okay, Parker, you're looking for a red envelope. Take that and nothing else."
Parker spotted the envelope and grabbed. "Got it."
At that moment, she heard something behind her. She whipped around and came face-to-face with two men.
"Uh oh." Was all she said.
In the hallway where he was stationed, Eliot held a finger to his ear. "Uh oh? What uh oh?" When no one replied, he started running towards the office. "Parker!"
Back in the office, Parker was laying limp on the floor. One man was aiming a gun at her while the other had a cellphone to his ear.
"Mr. Colan? We caught the intruder in your office. However, we can't find the envelope. It isn't in the safe or the office."
The man listened for a while. "Understood, sir." The man hung up and turned to his companion. "Take her."
His companion nodded, picked up Parker's limp body and swung her over his shoulder. The first man went to the wall with the huge portrait of the founder and pressed a corner of the frame. A small keypad popped up and the man typed in a 4-digit code. The keypad beeped, then disappeared back into the frame. Half a second later, a portion of the wall next to the portrait swung in and a light illuminated a set of stairs going down.
The first man motioned to his companion and they both walked down the set of stairs, Parker with them. After they passed the threshold, the secret door swung closed and sealed shut.
Two seconds later, Eliot burst into the office, slamming the door against the wall. He surveyed the room for a while before cursing. "She's gone, Nate. They took her."
There was an explosion of exclamations from Hardison and Sophie, but Nate remained quiet.
"Okay, Eliot, I need you to look around the room. Is there anything that looks out of place?" Nate said calmly.
"No." Eliot said, then noticed something sticking out of the coffee machine. "Wait." He tugged at the corner of red paper in the coffee reservoir. He pulled out the red envelope with only one corner wet from the water. Eliot sighed. "She stored the envelope in the coffee machine."
Flashback
"Uh oh." Parker said. The envelope was still behind her back, and she realized she had to think quickly. She opened the coffee machine lid with one hand and stuck the envelope in.
Not a moment to soon, either. One of the men leapt forward and slammed her head into the cabinets before she could blink. Parker crumpled to the floor, blood seeping from the wound on her head.
Present
"This is your fault!" Hardison yelled at Nate, pacing back and forth in Nate's apartment. Eliot was sitting on the couch, arms crossed, glaring at nothing. Sophie had her head in her hands and Nate was standing in front of the TV's studying the plan they had gone over beforehand.
"Whatever is in that envelope cannot be worth more than Parker!" Hardison yelled again, pointing at the envelope laying on the table.
"And it's not." Nate said, turning to Hardison. "Colan obviously wants Parker for what is in the envelope."
"What is even in there?" Eliot asked.
Nate sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's a list of all the illegal connections Colan has around the world."
Hardison opened his mouth to shout at Nate again, but at that moment, Nate's phone rang.
Sophie picked up her head and looked at the mastermind.
"Nate…." She said cautiously.
Nate answered the phone, put it on speaker, and set it on the table. "Go."
"Nathan Ford." Colan's smug voice came on the other line. "It's a pleasure to finally hear your voice."
"Yeah, cut all the nonsense and tell me what you want." The whole time Nate was talking, he was motioning at Hardison and pointing at the TV's.
Hardison nodded in understanding and rushed to the couch and started typing furiously on his keyboard. A map appeared on the screen behind Nate, and he nodded.
"A man of business." Colan said. "I can appreciate that. Look, you know what I want, and I know what you want, so why squabble?"
"I need to proof of life." Was all Nate said.
Colan chuckled. "Well, I'm looking at her right now. But since you obviously don't trust me, I'll have my men send proof of life soon."
"No." Nate said firmly. "I need proof of life before I do any negotiating."
"Alright, alright." There was a pause then Colan's voice resumed. "There, I just sent a picture of your girl. It should be arriving any moment."
Sure enough, a new text message popped up on Nate's screen and he clicked on it. Eliot, Hardison, and Sophie all leaned in to look at Colan's proof of life. It did not make any of them feel better.
Parker was slumped, unconscious, against the corner of a dark room, chains around her wrists, dried blood all along her face.
Sophie sucked in a breath and Hardison stood up and launched his keyboard at the couch cushions. Eliot only glared then stood up and walked out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him.
Colan's voice came back on the line. "Good enough for you, Mr. Ford?"
"How do I know she's still alive?" Nate asked.
"You don't. I guess you'll just have to trust me. I'll be touch." With that, the line disconnected and Colan was gone.