CHAPTER 2
Got You
(Scorpion's Garage)
"Wow! I think I found him!" Walter crowed. "We found him." He looked at Ralph who'd been working next to him.
"You found the hacker?" Paige hurried over. She looked at their screens but could make no sense of the lines of code.
"We've narrowed it down to a building complex on Flower Street." Ralph pulled up a map pointing out the buildings to his mother.
The rest of the team had gathered around to look at the map and the directory that Ralph had pulled up.
"Look," Cabe pointed. "There's a bank in there. When did they get hacked?"
"They didn't." Sly tapped his temple. "I read over the list of affected banks and they aren't on it."
"Well that deserves a second look doesn't it." Cabe scowled.
"They close in ten minutes." Toby pointed at the hours of operation listed in the directory. "With traffic this time of day you're looking at and hour maybe an hour and a half."
"I bet the bank president will be willing to stay late to talk with Homeland." Cabe looked smug as he pulled out his cell phone.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
(Building complex)
"Why did you insist we dress for the gym?" Quinn asked Parker while he glared at a man going past in a business suit. He felt out of place and conspicuous without his suit.
"Because the Health Club's gym membership includes twenty four hour access." Hardison slung a gym bag over his shoulder.
"I can't fit everything into a brief case and we'd look conspicuous if we were dressed nice with bags of equipment. This way anyone that sees us will think it's just gym stuff." Parker zipped her bag and tossed one to Quinn.
Quinn caught it with a grunt as it hit him in the belly. "What on earth do you have in here?" He groused as he slung the strap over his shoulder.
"That's the 'I really hope we don't need it' bag." Parker started walking for the entrance and Eliot pulled away from the curb.
Parker felt a push in the bonds that she assumed was Eliot's way of wishing them luck and reminding them to be safe. She smiled and squeezed Hardison's hand as she sent back appreciation. Quinn set a hand on Parker's shoulder as they headed into the building.
~~o0o~~
As Eliot pulled back into traffic his phone chimed. He slipped his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen.
I hope you guys are safe.
Have a good night.
Eliot smiled at Gemma's text. Keeping an eye on traffic he tapped back a quick text.
We always try to be safe. I don't
know how long this will take.
Can I text you later tonight if
it's not too late?
She sent back a winky face that had a heart on its lips. He took that as a yes and tucked his phone back in his pocket.
He heard the click of his earbud being turned on remotely. "Did you tell Gemma hello from the rest of us?" Hardison teased.
"Shut up." Eliot growled and was glad that no one was there to see his smile.
"We'll leave the earbud lines open just in case." Hardison spoke quietly and Eliot could picture him whispering behind his fist.
~~o0o~~
Quinn pressed the button for the top floor as he entered the elevator and waited on Hardison and Parker to join him. Just as he was reaching for the button to close the elevator doors a man's hand shot out and stopped the door from closing.
"You don't mind if we share this elevator do ya?"
The man was middle aged with his hair slicked back. He was wearing a nice suit but not too nice. Without seeing anything else Quinn knew the man was some kind of fed. He held the door as a younger man and woman closer to Hardison's age joined them in the elevator.
The woman had been facing away from Quinn as she entered the elevator but when she turned, he saw her face and felt all his blood drain to his toes.
The elevator closed with a cheerful ding and Quinn gripped the handrail behind him. He could feel Hardison staring at him and he felt Parker slide her fingers into his free hand, but he couldn't look away. He was standing inches away from Paige and he didn't know what to do about it.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
Cabe hurried forward to hold the elevator door so that they wouldn't have to wait on the next one. "You don't mind if we share this elevator do ya?" There were three people in the elevator already but no one made a fuss as they got in.
Paige was holding Walter's hand as they walked into the elevator and Cabe couldn't help noticing the look on the blond man's face as he openly stared at Paige. For a second Cabe thought the man might pass out.
"You okay there pal?" Cabe stepped a little between Paige and the blond man.
Everyone seemed to focus on the blond, as the man nodded. "Fine. Everything's just fine."
Walter pressed the button for the 20th floor and stared at the lit button for the fifty-second floor. He looked over his shoulder at the three people in athletic clothes. "Shouldn't you be stopping on the third floor?"
Paige gripped Walter's arm and whispered. "Walter it's none of your business what floor they picked."
Walter speaking in a totally normal voice. "Yes, but the gym is on the third floor and they are clearly dressed for physical exercise. I am merely trying to help."
Paige kissed his cheek. "Still not your business." She looked over her shoulder at the other people in the elevator with them. "He really is just trying to be helpful. So have you been here before?"
"Uhm, uh…" Quinn floundered.
Hardison reached past Quinn and shook Paige's hand while he gave her a big charming smile. "Got our memberships a while ago but our buddy here is new to the company so we thought we'd show him around a little before we head to the gym."
Parker smiled and gripped Quinn's hand a little harder.
"Really? What company do you guys work for?" Cabe tucked his sunglasses into his inside pocket.
"Leverage Inc., first floor." Parker smiled at Cabe. "We just wanted to show our friend around the building since it's his second day and he hasn't had the chance to look around yet."
The bell dinged as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. "Well you folks have fun." Cabe nodded at them as he led the way out of the elevator.
Quinn's hand shot out toward Paige. "It was nice to meet you."
Paige looked a little uncomfortable but gave his hand a shake. "Have fun on your tour."
Walter frowned at the handshake and escorted Paige out with an arm around her shoulder.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
"So what was all that about?" Hardison asked after the elevator door closed and they'd started moving again.
"What are you talking about?" Quinn inspected the nails on his right hand.
"He's talking about you nearly passing out." Eliot growled over the earbuds. "Do I need to pull you outa there?"
"No I got this." Quinn looked at Parker. "Really. I'm okay now."
"So who was that girl?" Parker asked.
"I've never met her before." Quinn felt his arm brush Hardison's and his wolf took comfort from the contact.
Parker looked at Hardison who gave a small shrug. "He ain't lyin'. Still, man, you looked like you seen a ghost or something."
"Can we just get on with this?" Quinn hopped up and pushed the maintenance hatch open.
Parker stepped up onto his palm and he lifted her through the hatch. He did the same for Hardison and tossed up his bag before jumping high enough to get onto the top of the elevator. He closed the hatch and sat next to Parker. His knee was touching Parker's leg and the contact helped ground him and get him back on task.
"How long before we make our way to the forty-eighth floor?" He checked his watch.
"About an hour and a half. The offices closed at five, but we want the maintenance and janitor staff to clear out before we go in." Parker lay back making herself comfortable.
Quinn curled forward with his arms around his knees and listened to the heartbeats of his pack.
Hardison pulled a laptop out of a bag and started typing. "I've got this elevator locked down, so we don't have to worry about riding up and down a bunch. And now we wait." He sighed.
~~o0o~~
A nearly silent beep chimed on Parker's watch. "Okay. Let's get this done." She sat up and gave herself a little shake.
Hardison tapped a couple of keys and hmmd to himself. "Camera's say we're clear." A couple more taps and the elevator started moving. "Cameras are looped so we are invisible for now."
When the elevator stopped, and Hardison gave him the nod Quinn opened the hatch and dropped down into the elevator. He looked up and waited as the bags were tossed down to him. Hardison handed Parker down and dropped down himself.
Quinn moved ahead of them as they made their way down the hall to the office that Hardison was targeting. Parker picked the lock and let them into the lobby of a law firm. It required a badge to get past the next door and Hardison stepped up with a piece of equipment that would spoof the frequency needed to get past the system. They all heard the click as the latch released and Quinn led the way through that door. He stayed close to Hardison and Parker as they moved through the warren of cubicles and made their way to a locked office.
Parker picked the lock and let them into an office that obviously belonged to a junior associate. It had the floor to ceiling glass wall on one side but wasn't a coveted corner office.
"We're looking for a hard drive or a thumb drive. Anything that data could be stored on that isn't connected directly to the system." Hardison spoke softly but didn't whisper.
Parker started opening and closing cupboards and flipping pictures on the walls. Quinn was keeping an eye on the walkway outside and wasn't helping with the search. Hardison was methodically working his way through the desk and all of its drawers.
"Quinn, can you come move this for me?" Parker pointed at a credenza.
Quinn moved to where she pointed. "If you can't move it what makes you think there's something behind it?"
"The carpet is worn into a groove on this side. Someone slides this end back and forth pretty often." Parker pointed out the wear marks in the carpeting.
"Okay. Keep an eye on the door." Quinn slipped his fingers behind the cabinet and started to pull.
"u…ah." Parker's gasp of surprise was nearly silent but Quinn and Hardison both stopped what they were doing and immediately turned to see Parker in the arms of a security guard.
"Stop! Stop what you're doing right now!" The guard's voice shook a little.
Quinn and Hardison both put their hands up and held still. Quinn noticed the bloodshot state of the guard's eyes and he inhaled slowly but deeply to see if there was anything else to learn. He smelled the man's body odor and the acrid scent of someone who was a long time drug user. Quinn scented again and was fairly sure the guy was taking some kind of upper. His heart was beating too fast, even for a stressful situation like this one and his eyes darted erratically. "Easy man. We don't want anyone to get hurt. You let our girl go and we'll go with you nice and easy. You caught us fair and square." Quinn kept his tone soothing as he started to slowly move.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Eliot barked over the earbuds.
"One security guard caught us all. That ought to make your bosses proud right. Maybe give you a promotion." Quinn used his soothing speech to answer Eliot.
"You need me in there?" Eliot growled.
"Nope. None of us are going to run. You just let the girl go." Quinn's next step attracted the guard's attention.
The guard pulled a gun from his holster and pointed it at Quinn. "Don't you move!"
Quinn stopped. "I'm not moving. I'm doing what you said." He could feel Hardison's panic over his mate building. "We're all just going to stay calm."
Hardison sprinted forward and the guard swung the gun in Hardison's direction. The first shot shattered the interior portion of the glass wall the second shot went through Hardison's left shoulder and a shower of glass fell from the already shattered wall. Quinn didn't turn to look but he could hear the outer layer of reinforced glass crack.
In the seconds that it took for the guard to shoot twice Quinn sprinted forward. Hardison was so much faster that Quinn felt like he was moving in slow motion. Hardison staggered as the bullet hit him from near point-blank range. Quinn stepped past Hardison and into the guard, grabbing the gun and trapping the man's hand on the grips as he turned the gun up and back in a way that broke the man's wrist as the gun pointed at his own head.
The guard jerked as his wrist snapped, and the arm he had around Parker's chest slid up violently, and hit Parker in the throat causing her to gag.
Quinn yanked the man toward him and pivoted throwing the man past him. Between adrenaline and werewolf strength the man flew farther than Quinn had intended. The guard struck the glass wall with enough force that it sounded like another gunshot. There was a frozen second in time where Quinn could clearly see the man's panicked face as the exterior glass shattered.
Quinn sprinted across the room as the glass rained down. Had he been human he never would have had a chance of reaching the guard before he dropped through the window and out to his death. As it was Quinn thought he wouldn't make it in time as the glass gave way and the man's balance toppled him over the edge. Quinn lunged, flinging himself forward into a slide like a baseball player desperate to make home base. His fingers closed in the back of the man's shirt and the weight of him yanked Quinn farther out of the building. He could hear and feel the fabric starting to give and he was pretty sure that all he'd done was postpone the inevitable.
He'd stopped himself from sliding all the way out by grabbing onto a jagged piece of the exterior glass that was sticking up from one of the structural bolts used to secure the massive exterior glass sections. He couldn't let go of the chunk of glass without possibly falling to his own death but if he didn't find another way to get a hold on the guard the man would die.
"Help! Parker I need some help here!" Quinn knew the guard was seconds from falling.
Parker still coughing and choking hurried to Quinn and with a quick glance she could see what was happening. She sat on Quinn's legs and wrapped an arm around his waist. She leaned back as hard as she could. "Hurry." Her voice was a hoarse croak.
Quinn let go of the glass and held still for a second to see if he would slide at all. When nothing happened, he reached down and grabbed onto the man's belt and pants. It caused the man's weight to swing and for a second Quinn was afraid the motion would tip the whole haphazard balancing act too far. But on the second swing Quinn moved with the motion and rolled to the side swinging the guard up and back into the building.
Most of the guard was still hanging precariously out of the building and Quinn knew he couldn't stop the guy from sliding back out. As he tried to sit up in time to get another grip on the guard, he realized parker was already moving. She grabbed the guard by the arm and leaned back. She couldn't lift him, and she didn't have the strength to drag him all the way back into the building, but she could stop him from falling.
Quinn crawled back onto his knees and staggered to his feet. Grabbing the guard under both arms he lifted him easily and drug him a safe distance from the edge. He dropped him next to the desk and sat down himself. Breathing hard he looked around to assess Parker and Hardison. He had the strange impression that he was watching things in slow motion or like a poorly made stop action movie.
Parker was using a pair of scissors she'd found in the desk to cut Hardison's shirt. When she'd cut it loose, she wadded it and used it to apply pressure to Hardison's shoulder. Parker was still coughing and swallowing hard in reaction to the blow to her throat.
It took a second for Quinn to realize that the reason everything he was looking at seemed like a stop motion film was because of an emergency light that was strobing from the ceiling. Everything was oddly silent, and he knew it had to be from that first gunshot. Werewolf hearing was sensitive and tended to be damaged more easily by louder sounds, like gunfire.
Quinn hurried over to Parker and he could see her lips moving but the sounds were indistinct. He felt a surge in the bonds and his hearing cleared.
"Quinn? Can you hear me now?"
Quinn nodded.
"Get the bag I hoped we wouldn't need. It has a Z painted on it."
They'd set their bags down inside the door, so it was only a couple of steps. "Do we need the other bags before we leave?" He looked over his shoulder at Parker.
She shook her head. "No. We can't leave them though."
Quinn threw two of the bags out of the shattered wall.
"You guys have about thirty seconds before security and in-house emergency services are on you. Five minutes until city cops get here. Move it!" Eliot's angry voice came over the earbuds.
Despite Eliot's tone Quinn's wolf drew comfort from the Alpha's presence.
Quinn brought the 'Z' bag to Parker.
"Here." Parker indicated that Quinn should switch places with her. "Let me hook up our lines. Parker hurried to the open wall and lay on her belly.
Quinn couldn't see what she was doing but he felt her urgency in the bonds. Quinn focused on Hardison and looked him over for other damage. Hardison's pulse was a little irregular and his pupils were dilated. Both were signs of a werewolf in shock. "Are you telling me you've never been shot before?"
Hardison stared at him blankly for a second. "No. I never been shot before."
"Really? Smart mouth like yours and no one's ever shot you?" Quinn teased as he got Hardison to standing. "Come on. We gotta get outta here." He helped Hardison to the gaping hole in the glass wall.
"Parker, do you need help?" Quinn asked as he sat Hardison on the floor next to Parker.
"No. But we're out of time." Parker was glancing at the lights coming on in the main part of the offices.
"Let me by us a little time." He gripped her shoulder for a second before he hurried back across the room and shoved the desk and then the credenza against the door. By the time he got back Parker already had Hardison and herself clipped into harnesses. She tossed him one and he pulled it on. He helped her move Hardison out of the hole in the glass. Maybe it was the wind in his face or dangling from a height, but Hardison was moving better and seemed more alert.
"Alright Parker. Let's move." Quinn waited until she was about ten feet down before he clipped himself onto the line and started to follow her down.