Somehow Nate managed to keep Hardison from strangling his phone, which was no small feat considering the amount of rage the hacker poured into the effort. Parker cheered them on as if she was watching an MMA fight, while Eliot just crossed his arms and decided to let nature take its course as the two men wrestled it out. In the end Sophie was able to talk Hardison down, and once things cooled off a bit they were able to get back to the task at hand.

Chaos had sent the footage as promised, and Hardison was running through it on his laptop to select the best frames for his facial recognition software. He'd stopped grumbling about all the evil ways he planned on getting Chaos back, but Nate could tell by how much force he was using to type that the other hacker's insults were still at the forefront of his thoughts.

The mastermind leaned over behind him, wanting to get a closer look at the man Caldwell was with. "Hardison, can you put that on the big screen?"

The hacker wordlessly hit a few strokes on his keyboard, bringing up the security footage of Parker entering the party on the larger screen in the living room. The team watched as she approached the CEO and his companion, had a brief interaction, and then left the area. He then set the footage to loop.

The blonde watched herself on the monitor closely before sighing. "You know it's too bad theft isn't an Olympic sport," she said, elbowing Sophie. "I mean did you see how quick I swiped his wallet?!"

If only social prowess was an Olympic sport, the grifter thought to herself. I'd sure have a room full of medals. She leaned closer to the screen, squinting slightly as she watched the replay. "Honestly, I can't even tell that you took it."

Parker's smile widened. "Exactly! Yep, gold medal for sure. Or maybe I could ask for a trophy filled with money instead..."

"Hey Hardison," Eliot interrupted, pointing out a couple of guys that were just at the edge of the frame. "Can you zoom in on those two?"

"Sure man, why? They look sketchy to you?" Hardison walked up to the screen and used his remote to zoom in the men in question. He didn't really see anything particularly amiss about them, other than they kind of looked like short-haired Eliots with nicer suits.

"Yeah," the hitter said, studying the two men closely. "They're worth looking into. Especially since we're not dealing with just one guy."

Sophie turned to him, not relishing that idea in the least. "Uh, what makes you say that?"

"The car chase," Eliot answered. "If you're a one man show you're gonna be behind the wheel, and it's awfully hard to shoot left-handed."

"Unless the guy is a lefty," Parker added, trying her best to be helpful.

"Lefty or not, he woulda flanked your right side so he wouldn't have to shoot across his truck," the hitter clarified. "Nate's car was riddled on its left, so the shooter was definitely on the passenger side."

Nate hadn't given it much thought at the time, but Eliot was right. During the chase their assailant was either behind them or flanking his car's left side, which made sense if the passenger was doing the shooting. "So we don't know how many we're dealing with, but neither do they. We can use that to our advantage."

Just then Hardison's laptop beeped, bringing everyone's attention from the big screen to the smaller one in the kitchen. The hacker quickly went back to it and sat down, hitting a few keys before a wide grin came across his face.

"Age of the geek, baby! I gotta name."

.

.

.

Hardison ran the name through all the legal and not-so-legal internet avenues that he had, garnishing virtually every tidbit of information on the man that existed. Eliot, Sophie, and Parker were all on the sofa eagerly awaiting the show while Nate was in the kitchen grabbing some cereal for the thief, who'd insisted that he should bring it to her so no one could steal her front row seat.

The mastermind rejoined them in the living room, tossing a fun-size bag of Lucky Charms to her as he addressed the hacker. "All of the background checks finished?"

"Yes they are," Hardison answered, getting up to start the presentation.

The mastermind took a seat next to Sophie. "Great, run it."

The hacker clicked play, bringing up several photos of a well-dressed businessman. "Alright guys, meet Edwin Drake. Forty-seven, divorced, has a large estate and a handful of vacation properties in Houston and the surrounding areas." He clicked through a few more images showing the lavish landscaping, pools, and outbuildings surrounding his expansive house.

The guy has money, Nate thought. That's for sure. Definitely enough to be able to afford the plans for the battery. He leaned forward. "What does he do?"

"He owns the largest oil company in Texas, but they have refineries pretty much anywhere there's crude," Hardison explained. Several images of Drake's business operations came up on the screen as the hacker continued. "Fracking, drilling, refining, transport...you name it. He's even got a couple of nice rigs out in the Gulf, too. According to their financials, they bring in over thirty percent of the total revenue from pretty much any oil-related industry you can imagine."

Parker raised her hand and bounced up and down, nearly smacking Eliot as she struggled to contain her question. Hardison turned to her. "Yes, Parker?"

"Uh, is that a lot?" she asked. "It doesn't sound like a lot."

"Considering there are a couple hundred oil companies in the US and their closest competitor only nets about four and half percent of the total revenue..." He paused a moment, attempting to do the math in his head. "Uh, yeah...it's a lot."

"Oil guy, hmm," Sophie said, a pensive look on her face. "Well, that explains the motive. He's got a lot to lose if the designs go mainstream and drop the price point for EVs. "

"Thing is," the hacker went on. "He inherited all the businesses from his father when he passed, and he leaves literally all of the work to low-paid hires. Pretty much the only thing he does is spend the money or make sure it keeps coming in. I mean seriously, the guy hasn't done a hard day's work in his life."

"Um, is that a bad thing?" Parker asked, looking thoughtfully at her teammates. "I mean I haven't done a hard day's work in my life either..."

Hardison shrugged. "Yeah, but this is different."

She tilted her head. "How so?"

"Because you're not a sleazebag that hires second-rate thugs to kill people," Eliot growled.

"Aww, Eliot," Parker cooed as slid closer to him. "That's the sweetest thing you've said to me all week!" She abruptly threw her arms around the hitter for a giant bear hug, squeezing tighter as he struggled to break free. He tried to stand up but she was unwilling to give up her prize, causing the two of them to tumble off of the sofa and onto the floor.

"Guys..." he gasped as she tightened her grip. "A little help here.."

Sophie looked over to Nate, who'd been unusually quiet for most of the presentation. He was studying the photo of Drake, a calculating look on his face.

"You have a plan, don't you?" she asked.

The mastermind smiled. "You bet I do."