Eliot was behind the wheel of his truck, waiting for the light to turn green when his phone rang. He grabbed it out of his pocket and answered. "Speak."
He was greeted with Nate's calculating voice. "Where are you?"
Eliot hated that question, it usually meant his free time was about to come to an end. "On my way to Home Depot, why?" He'd come up empty-handed as well, and was hoping that a bit of home improvement would help him feel like he'd at least accomplished something today.
"We need to do more digging on Caldwell, he's got dirty hands. Hardison went in to access the servers but he had all the files moved offsite. I need you to play charmer and see if you can get any details on that out of Caldwell's newly-single secretary."
Yep, he definitely wasn't gonna a chance to redo those soffits at his cabin this afternoon. "Why can't Hardison do it if he's already there?"
"We're lucky he didn't blow his cover as the computer guy when he actually is a computer guy. And let's face it, you're far more convincing when it comes to that kind of thing." Eliot knew Nate was right, Hardison always tended to go a bit overboard when he was playing a part.
Eliot also knew that Nate usually had his com in when any of them were on the job. He quickly ascertained the most likely explanation. "Are you calling so Hardison doesn't hear you say that?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Maybe."
The hitter sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. What's the time frame?"
"Right now if you can," Nate replied. "Sorry about the short notice, but I know you keep a few different outfits in each of your cars."
Eliot knotted his eyebrows together. "How the hell do you know...you know what, nevermind. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"I owe you one," the mastermind said.
"Yeah you do. And put your com in, my battery's getting low."
"I can't, apparently Parker just stepped on it." Eliot heard a muffled 'sorry' in the background before Nate continued. "Just call me with that you find."
.
.
.
Eliot parked a few blocks away from SenTech's headquarters. He didn't want to be too close; his truck wasn't exactly the epitome of a salesman's ride but if he went to switch vehicles now he wouldn't make it back before Caldwell's secretary went home. He tied his hair back in a neat ponytail before grabbing his briefcase and getting out.
He exited the elevator on Caldwell's level, his eyes moving to the large reception area in the middle of the floor. There were three different hallways branching off from the main area, and Eliot wasn't sure which he'd have to go down to find Caldwell's secretary. He adjusted his outfit one last time before walking up to the sharply-dressed man at the front desk to inquire.
"Well, hello..." the man drawled, getting up from his chair to vigorously shake Eliot's hand. He was well-groomed, and every item on his desk was laid out in perfect color-coordinated order.
After releasing his grip the hitter introduced himself, keeping his tone business-oriented. "Adam Sinclair, I'm a sales rep with Solarize. I'm looking for Mr. Caldwell's secretary, Jamie?"
"Well you most certainly found him," Jamie looked over the hitter from top to bottom, clearly liking what he saw. Nate's words echoed in Eliot's head. Newly-single. He immediately switched into charmer mode, casually brushing a lock of stray hair back behind his ear.
Jamie didn't miss the flirtatious gesture. "Now, what can I do for a wonderful gentleman like yourself today?" he inquired as he retook his seat behind the desk and leaned forward, lacing his fingers together.
Eliot leaned on the desk casually, shortening the distance between them. "I noticed you guys do a lot of work in the green sector, and I was hoping I could set up an appointment to discuss a possible business partnership. I think our latest photovoltaic arrays would be a perfect fit for your company."
Jamie smiled, thinking about how 'Adam' himself would be a perfect fit for their company. "Ah, you'll want to speak with the head of Business Development for that. Let me check her schedule..." The secretary hit a few keys and then paused, waiting for his screen to load. "Sorry about the wait, it shouldn't be more than a few moments." He turned his attention back to the hitter. "Of course, sometimes the wait is much more bearable than others."
"Not a problem," Eliot said, setting his briefcase on the floor by the desk. "Is that what the IT guys are here for?"
Jamie sighed. "Unfortunately not, they're doing server upgrades again. All of our files are on cloud storage in the meantime, but it slows everything down to a crawl. I don't know how they expect us to get any decent amount of work done like this…." He refreshed the page, only half hoping that it would actually load this time.
Eliot fished for more details. "That's too bad, is it like that for everybody? I mean, how does the CEO deal with glacial internet speeds?"
"Mr. Caldwell doesn't do much actual work, so he moved his files offsite. Something about better security I guess, like what the rest of us do isn't as important." Just then his screen switched, bringing up the company schedule. "Here we go! Our head of business development is Jennifer Ainsley, looks like she has an opening next Thursday at 2:00 pm?"
The hitter pretended to check the schedule on his phone before turning back to Jamie. "That would be perfect, thank you."
"You're welcome. Is there anything else I can do for you today?" He leaned forward again, taking another glance at Eliot's muscular arms.
Eliot hesitated a moment, contemplating the offer. "Actually, I was asked to look into better security for our servers as well. Do you know what company Mr. Caldwell uses? My boss pain in the ass to please at times, but if it's good enough for the CEO of a successful tech company it almost has be good enough for him."
"Ha, sounds like my boss. Not sure what the company's called, but they're in the Reliant Building. I hope that helps?"
"I'm sure I can look them up, thanks for the lead."
"You're very welcome," Jamie said. "And here's my card, don't hesitate to call if you need anything." He brushed Eliot's hand as he handed him a business card from the front of his desk.
"I most certainly will," the hitter replied, echoing Jamie's words as he flashed him another warm smile.
Just then Eliot's phone ran, and he pulled it out of his pocket to glance at the caller ID. "Speak of the devil...I gotta take this. Have a great weekend, Jamie." He shot a quick wink to the secretary before grabbing his briefcase and turning around.
"Great indeed," Jamie said to himself as he eyed the departing hitter's backside.
"Yeah boss..." Eliot answered the phone as he walked away. It was all for show, as he knew Hardison was on the other end. He got into the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor.
"You know Eliot I could really get used to you calling me 'boss'. Maybe you could answer phones for me, bring me lemonades with little umbrellas in 'em..."
"Shut up." Click. He was glad to be out of earshot of the secretary. The elevator dinged as the doors opened on the ground floor, and Eliot exited the building and headed back to his parking spot.
He opened the door to his truck and threw the briefcase and his glasses on the passenger side before sliding into the driver's seat. Then he grabbed his phone and dialed.
The mastermind's voice was expectant as he answered. "Eliot."
The hitter smiled to himself. "Tell Hardison I got the info we needed, and I didn't even need a flash drive to do it."
"I'll be sure to bring that up at the next team meeting," Nate said. "What'd you find?"
"Looks like we're gonna be hitting the Reliant Building."