Nate knew the ruse with Lucille would only buy him so much time, and he needed to get this done before Sterling got back. As he approached the room Hardison said Caldwell was in he spoke quietly to the hacker through his com. "Hardison, I'm going in now."
The parking lot was lights and sirens as Caldwell looked out the window from the unattended conference room. Just as the CEO grabbed his briefcase to make a hasty exit Nate walked in, his dark blue jacket a stark contrast with the bright yellow 'FBI' lettering.
The mastermind blocked the doorway as he addressed the CEO. "Mr. Caldwell, I'm deputy director McCumber. We spoke on the phone." He held up the badge he had hanging on a chain around his neck.
"Yes, I uh, didn't expect to see you here," Caldwell said, clearly surprised by the mastermind's appearance. "What's going on?"
Nate threw Caldwell's entry card on the table in front of him. "You know exactly what's going on. I just caught a thief trying to hack into the servers on the 21st floor. Your servers."
The CEO feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm disappointed," Nate went on. "You lied to me the first time we talked. I looked into similar incidents at other companies you've worked for in the past and turns out that stolen intellectual property is a bit of a common thread. I also couldn't help but notice you weren't charged in any of those cases, so that tells me you must have someone on your payroll."
Caldwell shifted his weight ever so slightly. Most wouldn't have even noticed, but the mastermind didn't miss the nervous cue.
Nate continued. "And in case you're wondering why that mole of yours didn't warn you, I kept you out of the official investigation, made sure I was the only one to personally see to it. You knew Leitinger was the only one working late that night and you went in after him, then set him up as the fall guy. Using server upgrades as a cover to erase the footage and move the files was a nice touch. Very elegant."
Caldwell finally gave up on the charade, and set his briefcase back on the table. "You're very clever. Maybe we can work something out."
Nate smiled, the CEO was playing right into his hand. "If you give me the name of the agent you have on the inside, I can guarantee a plea deal. Drop a few years off of your sentence."
"Actually, I was thinking you and I could make a deal right here, right now," Caldwell said as he turned the briefcase towards the mastermind. He clicked it open, revealing a substantial amount of cash inside.
Nate looked at it for a moment, then locked eyes with the CEO. "So let me get this straight: you're offering me a bribe to what, just let you walk away?"
"I like to think of it more as...financial persuasion," Caldwell replied. "Just look at it this way: you're retiring in a few weeks, you caught your thief, and I'm getting quite a sum for the designs. There's no reason you don't deserve a, shall we say, hefty bonus, for closing the case as-is." After a few moments of silence between the two, Caldwell closed the briefcase and slid it towards the mastermind.
Nate paused, pretending to weigh the offer. He glanced past Caldwell and out the window briefly, seeing Sterling and Nevins just as they were reentering the parking lot. Perfect timing.
He grabbed his phone and pretended to make a call. "Agent Mills, we're done here. Have our thief booked and let's wrap this up."
Caldwell gave the mastermind a sly grin as he reached out and shook his hand. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."
Nate nodded as he grabbed the briefcase and walked out. "The pleasure is all mine."
.
.
.
The two agents arrived back at the Reliant Building in record time, slamming the car into park right in front of the large glass structure. Sterling wasn't a believer in putting all of his eggs in one basket, so he'd made sure that local police took charge of the parking lot while the rest of the FBI agents stayed behind to sweep the building from top to bottom. Nevins followed as he walked up to the lead FBI agent on the ground floor, hoping for any sort of favorable update. "Please tell me you caught at least one of them."
The man he approached shook his head. "We checked the entire building. They're definitely gone."
Sterling sighed, that sinking feeling that he missed them turning into a sad realization. "What about the checkpoints in the parking lot?"
"Nothing, we checked every car that left and all of those damn vans, too. Backseats, trunks, cargo areas, you name it."
This was the second time that the band of criminals had slipped her grip, and Nevins was clearly as upset about it as Sterling. "We had agents watching every door to the building the entire time. How the hell did they get past us?"
*Flashback*
Nate headed upstairs after they finished loading Lucille, carrying the jacket for his next disguise in his hands. "Alright guys, time to go. And remember to silence your phones, we don't need to blow it now just because someone's prescription is ready at CVS."
Eliot made sure the coast was clear, then ushered Sophie, Parker, and Hardison out of the building through a large but unassuming vent. He growled back at the mastermind. "Got it, Nate."
They weaved carefully between the parked cars, staying low and out of sight of the officers in the lot. As they approached Nevin's car Hardison hit a few buttons on his phone, engaging the sedan's trunk release. Eliot motioned for them to get in, then took one more look around before hopping in after them and closing the lid.
Ten minutes later with lights and siren, Sterling and Nevins pulled over Lucille. They exited and approached the van, and the moment they were far enough away Hardison opened the trunk again. The four of them quickly yet quietly piled out, closed the trunk, and sprinted for the neighboring alley.
*End flashback*
Behind a dumpster in the alley Eliot, Parker, and Hardison watched Sterling's cake reveal on the hacker's phone via a small WIFI camera he'd set up in the back of the van. As the agents quickly departed on the screen Parker punched Hardison's shoulder playfully. "I love it. And that cake is bad-ass!"
Eliot turned to him, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Yeah, you frost that yourself?"
"Told you I'm gifted man. You think my skills only apply to digital goodies?"
Just then Sophie pulled into the alley to pick them up, having returned from retrieving the backup getaway vehicle from a nearby parking lot. She rolled down the window and called to her teammates. "Let's celebrate once we get back, shall we?"
.
.
.
Caldwell got in the elevator and pressed the button for level 1. He despised having to give up any of his not-so-hard-earned cash, but if it kept him out of federal prison then it was money well-spent. And besides, he thought to himself, it's just pocket change compared to the rest of the money I'll be getting.
The elevator chimed and the doors opened as it reached the ground floor, but the CEO stopped mid-stride as he exited. A group of FBI agents were standing in front of him, completely blocking his exit from the building.
"Dennis Caldwell," the lead agent said. "You're under arrest."
*Flashback*
Nate spoke into his com. "Hardison, are any of the FBI agents here working the SenTech case?"
The hacker did some more quick typing, cross-referencing the list of field agents with the case. "Yeah, the supervisor and the two that interviewed him before. Why?"
He grabbed the FBI badge out of his pocket, inspecting the small camera lens in the center of it before putting the chain it was on around his neck. "I'm going for Caldwell, I need you to get an audio and video feed to their phones. Send it with a bit of a delay though, I'd hate to run into them on my way out."
Hardison pulled up the phones numbers of the agents in question and started hacking. "You got it."
Nate knew the ruse with Lucille would only buy him so much time, and he needed to get this done before Sterling got back. As he approached the room Hardison said Caldwell was in he spoke quietly to the hacker through his com. "Hardison, I'm going in now."
*End Flashback*
Nate kept just out of sight in the parking garage, and smiled as he saw Caldwell being walked out of the front door in handcuffs. Sterling and his agents were still inside, doing a sweep of the upper floors in case they'd missed anything.
The mastermind thought back to his quick deal with the CEO. The man's lying skills were sub-par at best, but making sure he had cash on him in case he needed to make a quick bribe was a smart precaution for someone in his position. If Nate hadn't been conning him, it likely would've worked. Definitely not his first rodeo, Nate thought. At least it'll be his last.
Across the street he saw Sophie and the team pull up in the backup vehicle and park, a large ice cream truck between them and the agents' line of sight. He'd traded his FBI jacket for a black hoodie, and kept his hat pulled down as he left the garage and crossed the street to meet them.
Sophie was driving and Eliot was riding shotgun, so Parker and Hardison squished over to make space for the mastermind in the back. He got in and buckled his seat belt before turning to the team. "Great job guys, let's go home."
A/N: The 'CVS' bit was inspired from a scene in The Big Bang Theory, while 'we spoke on the phone' and 'agent Mills' are references to the movie Taken. I like to hide Easter eggs :)