CHAPTER 5
On The Con
(Scorpion's Garage)
Paige came in with several bags of to-go containers and Ralph followed her with his backpack over one shoulder and a bag of to-go containers in each hand.
Quinn had been sitting on the opposite end of the couch from Cabe and he hurried over to Paige when he saw her come in. "Here let me help with those."
Paige still looked a little wary but let him take the bags from her. She turned and took the bags that Ralph had been carrying and led the way to the kitchen.
Paige tried to set things up on the stove and the little bit of counter that was available but there just wasn't enough room. "Happy, could we use one of your tables?"
Happy rolled her eyes. "I keep telling the waitress that they're workbenches and not tables."
Eliot smirked.
Happy started to clear things off of one of her benches and Eliot followed her lead, moving the heaviest objects before she could get to them. When the bench was clear Happy went to one end and waited for Eliot to go to the other.
Eliot tried to be subtle about checking Happy's scent again and when she noticed his pause, he quirked an eyebrow at her and glanced to the side. "Quinn, come help with this."
"Hey!" Happy scowled. "I'm not some 'little woman' so don't try to patronize me!"
"You can take it up with my grandmamma she'd rise from her grave and give me a smack if I let you." Eliot rounded his vowels and softened his consonants a little letting his words have just a little more twang than he usually allowed.
Quinn patted Eliot's shoulder on his way around to the other end of the workbench.
"I might give you a smack." Happy glared at him.
"I might let you." Eliot winked as he and Quinn carried the metal bench to the kitchen.
Toby had walked up when he'd heard Happy raise her voice and he got there just in time to see Eliot wink at her. "I'm going to assume that you don't know that Happy is my wife."
Eliot didn't respond as he and Quinn rounded the corner with the bench.
When they had the bench positioned where Paige wanted it, Eliot indicated that Quinn should follow him, and they headed to a corner of the garage where Eliot had seen some building supplies. "Here take that two by twelve and that cinderblock." Eliot directed Quinn and picked up three cinderblocks himself. They set up a long narrow counter that Paige could set the food up on. "If she's got tablecloths, you could cover the bench and the board." Eliot commented as he walked away.
Quinn looked at Paige expectantly. "Do you have anything you want me to cover the bench or the board with?"
Paige couldn't help a small smile.
"What?"
"You didn't strike me as the kind of guy that would be so …." She paused. She realized that what she was about to say might be considered insulting and she didn't want to make things awkward again.
"Obedient?" Quinn finished for her. "These people are… family. And you do for family." Quinn had always wanted a family and his new pack had definitely made him feel like part of the family. He wanted to tell Paige that she was family but at the same time, none of the rest of his family had ever wanted him so maybe it was best to just be acquaintances.
"It's nice. I guess I just didn't expect it." Paige handed him one end of a tablecloth.
~~o0o~~
Hardison could feel the boy looking over his shoulder, so he spun his chair around and smiled. "Ralph! Nice to meet you." He leaned forward to shake the boy's hand. "I'm Alec Hardison."
"Alec Hardison, like A H the hacker?" Ralph smiled back.
"The very same." He waved Ralph over to the laptop he was working on. "Walter tells me you're the one that modified the hunt code that was following my tags."
Ralph shrugged. "It was simple."
Hardison snorted. "Kid, I been doin' this a long time and I know that wasn't simple. It was impressive." Hardison held his fist out and Ralph bumped knuckles with him.
~~o0o~~
"I'm telling you Cabe, there is something wrong." Sly frowned.
"Because the guy was typing really fast?" Cabe didn't understand Sly's concern. "I've seen all of you type really fast."
"Well, yes, but it's not the same." Sylvester wiped down his dry erase board for the third time.
"Okay." Cabe patted him on the shoulder. "We'll keep an eye on things. And you tell me if there's anything else that I ought to know."
~~o0o~~
Walter had noticed Quinn's focus on Paige, and he wasn't sure what to think of it.
He leaned against a post near the kitchen and watched what was happening.
Paige smiled as she talked with Quinn while she handed him two to-go containers and he carried them to the board that had been set up as a temporary buffet. Quinn watched Paige and was obviously fascinated but he didn't initiate any of the behaviors that Walter would consider flirting.
Paige patted Quinn on the shoulder as she passed, and Walter saw the look on Quinn's face. He didn't understand it, but it seemed too intense for a new acquaintance. Walter walked up to Paige and wrapped his arms around her from behind the way that he knew she liked.
"How's everything going in here?" He smiled at Quinn as he kissed Paige's cheek. Somewhat to his bewilderment Quinn smiled at him like the action really pleased him. Walter wondered if he'd done something to encourage Quinn's interest in Paige somehow, instead of subtly warning him off.
Paige leaned a little in Walter's arms so that she could see him better. "I think we better have everyone sit down before the food gets cold."
"I'll let everyone know." Quinn smiled as he turned away.
Walter waited until Quinn had moved away. "Was he flirting with you?"
"No. He was just being nice." She kissed Walter's cheek. "Are you jealous?"
"I don't know." Walter frowned.
~~o0o~~
Cabe and Sylvester left their conversation at the dry erase bored and Toby escorted Happy to the kitchen. Ralph and Hardison were still deep in the laptop when Eliot sent Ralph to the kitchen with a pat to his shoulder. Hardison stood and had barely turned from the desk when Parker dropped from the I-beam above him. Hardison caught her bridal style, and he kissed her forehead before he set her down. She bounced and skipped and leapt onto Eliot's back causing him to grunt and stagger a step.
Eliot looked over his shoulder at Parker's face. "There's something wrong with you."
She smiled but didn't slide off of his back until they got to the table.
"Everyone grab a plate, just go down the line here and serve yourselves." Paige leaned into Walter and watched as the others filed past.
Walter frowned at the fond look he saw on Quinn's face, but he didn't say anything.
"Why don't you go ahead of me." Eliot gestured to Happy.
"Yes, I think we will." Toby leaned past Eliot to grab a plate.
Eliot smirked but didn't say anything. When Eliot got to the table, he closed his eyes for just a second and said a quick prayer for Gemma. He remembered his mother saying grace before every meal, but he just didn't feel that need. But Gemma…
"Good to see someone with some old-fashioned values." Cabe commented when he'd noticed Eliot.
"Oh, uhm…" Eliot frowned. He didn't really want to explain that he hadn't been praying over the food, but he felt odd leaving Cabe thinking that he had.
"My idea of 'help from above' is a sniper on the roof." Quinn commented as he sat down next to Eliot with a bump to his shoulder.
At the same time Eliot and Cabe both said 'Hoorah' and tapped their cups on the table.
Cabe smirked. "I thought you mighta been military."
Eliot nodded. "A very long time ago."
Toby looked at Quinn. "How 'bout you. Military service in your background?"
"No. I never served." He could see Toby's thoughtful look and he grinned. "Doesn't make the sniper comment any less true."
"So Parker what's our plan from here?" Eliot looked at Parker who was sitting across from him.
"Depends." She shrugged. "Hardison did you get that information I asked for?"
"Of course babe." He kissed her cheek as he reached across the table for the salt.
"Did Matherne have a company issued laptop?"
"He did and I've already planted the files on it." Hardison sprinkled salt over his food and passed the shaker to Quinn.
"Who's Matherne?" Cabe had a sinking feeling that he knew. Matherne wasn't exactly a common name.
"Michael J Matherne, is the hacker that we're chasing." Hardison glanced around the table. There were blank stares from everyone but Cabe.
"Why does it matter if he has a company laptop?" Paige asked.
"Because his company has a very strict policy about the kinds of materials that you can view on company equipment or even on private devices during company time. They also have strict policies on how sensitive information is stored." Hardison explained.
"So if he were to be found with something x-rated on his computer or poorly stored data, then what?" Sylvester asked.
"Then we have the right to search the rest of his hard drive and any system where that computer or its data may have been used." Hardison smiled.
~~o0o~~
As Walter, Hardison, and Sly went back to their computers after lunch, Cabe steered Parker toward the old airstream that was parked to one side of the garage.
"The news hasn't reported that it was Matherne's office that's been all over the news today. They've been keeping the name of the law office, employee names, and the security guard, out of the coverage through a lot of pressure from the law office."
Parker listened to what Cabe said.
Cabe waited but Parker didn't tell him anything.
Eliot had trailed them and when he saw that Parker wasn't going to make an explanation, he stepped in.
Cabe watched as Eliot came up behind Parker and with a touch to her shoulder, he stepped in front of her.
"Are you asking if we are responsible for what happened in Matherne's office?" Eliot quirked an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"We were there to steal the drive that Hardison is looking for. The security guard came across my crew. If someone hasn't drug tested the guard yet, they should." Eliot's voice was rough from suppressing a growl. "He shot twice, and my people took damage. The guard was pushed into the window that was compromised from the gunfire. Quinn was hurt saving the guards life when the guard fell through the glass. We didn't set out to hurt anyone, but Quinn defended Hardison and Parker. That guard would have killed them."
Cabe noticed the way that Parker slipped her hand into Eliot's even though the man looked like a bomb about to go off. Cabe found that almost as interesting as Eliot's explanation of events. "I hadn't noticed that any of you were injured."
"How we handle that is our own business." Eliot gave Parker's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Fair enough." Cabe watched as Eliot led Parker back to the main part of the garage. He'd found it interesting that Parker was the leader when it came to their plans and how the team interacted but when there was the possibility of trouble it was Eliot in the lead.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
(Matherne's home)
Toby pulled at the neck of his shirt. He hated wearing a suit. Hardison had loaned him a very expensive set of cufflinks and Eliot had taken one look at his tie and rolled his eyes. It didn't take long before Eliot was near strangling him with a new silk tie. Toby was left with the feeling of having been manhandled despite the fact that Eliot hadn't actually touched him. It was just something about the man's force of personality. And he hadn't noticed it until they were nearly to Matherne's house, but he also had a matching pocket square to go with his tie.
Toby noticed the way that Quinn tugged at his suit jacket as they stepped out of the town car. Toby had been chased by security and mobsters often enough to recognize the motion. "You know, you only have to worry about the gun in the shoulder holster printing if you're actually wearing one. Just in case you hadn't noticed you aren't wearing a gun."
Quinn smirked. "Old habits." He waited to follow the rest of them up the stairs.
"Printing?" Walter asked as he started up the stairs to the front door of Matherne's estate.
"The way that clothes wrinkle or bulge because something, usually a gun, is being concealed underneath." Parker answered Walter's question without breaking stride.
"Why am I here again?" Paige asked. She hadn't wanted to be involved in this part of things. Truthfully it reminded her too much of what her mother did and had trained her to do.
"You'll do great." Quinn set a hand on Paige's back to encourage her to keep pace with the others. "Just believe the lie." He gave her a wink.
Paige frowned. She'd heard her mother say the exact same thing more than once and that wink was Veronica Dineen to a T.
"You're here because we need two board members to distract Matherne. I need to be able to look for the drive and Walter is planting our worm so we're tech support and Toby and you are board members." Parker made sure that Paige and Toby were in the lead by the time that they made it up the long set of steps to the front door.
"What about Quinn?" Paige asked.
"I'm not so good on the grift." He admitted.
"Don't worry about Quinn. Worry about being an angry board member who's company is facing financial loss and reputation damage over the recent burglary and what is suspected to be on Matherne's computer." Parker put a fake polite smile on her face as she stood just a little behind Toby.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
(Building complex across town)
Eliot couldn't help the smile when he got a message from Gemma. It was another of those faces with a wink and a heart on its lips. Hardison had told him it represented a kiss or affection.
:kissing_heart: 😘
What's that for?
I was thinking of you
:kissing_heart: 😘
Eliot slid his phone back into his pocket as Hardison handed him a jacket. He let the jacket hang over the crook of his arm while he tied his hair back with an elastic. He glanced at the badge that Hardison handed him to see if he was Thomas or Hagen this time.
"You're Hagen." Hardison said as he slid the lanyard with his badge over his head.
Hardison handed a jacket and badge to Happy. "You're Agent Wong."
"Hang on now. If somebody realizes that she's not really an Agent that badge could get her jail time. I don't think that's a good idea." Cabe put a hand over top of the badge that Happy was holding.
"I'm not sure that even the CIA could figure out that she's not an Agent." Hardison turned his laptop around so that Cabe could see the screen. There's a complete work history, background check, she's registered in all the correct databases. She's got more paperwork to back her up than you do." Hardison grinned.
"I still don't like it."
"You have my word that she'll be fine." Eliot straightened his jacket with a tug.
"Relax old man. You know I can take care of myself." She glanced at Eliot and only the twitch at the corner of her lips kept her words from being as serious as they sounded. "I don't need some knuckle dragger to look after me."
They headed for the front doors of the building that the pack had attempted to burgle the night before.
"You didn't talk to anyone in person this morning, did you?" Eliot asked as he slid his glasses onto his nose. The clear glass and the thin gold rims flashed in the sun as he looked at Cabe.
"No. I spoke with the chief of police on the phone."
"Good. Just stand behind us and try to look intimidating." Hardison readjusted the strap of his computer bag.
There was a young blonde girl at the front desk and Eliot gave her a charming smile. "We're here to take a look at your servers. After last night's break-in there's some security concerns." He let his hand brush hers as he slid his badge across the counter.
Hardison tried to hide his frown. The warmth in the bonds and the genuine smile on Eliot's face when he'd gotten Gemma's text were missing from this interaction. It made him happy to know that Eliot wasn't really flirting with the girl, but it made him wonder how many times he'd seen Eliot do this very thing before and he'd believed it almost as much as the mark had. All the times he'd seen Eliot pick up a girl when they were on a job it had looked an awful lot like this.
"Let me call security. They'll be able to let you into the areas where you need a badge." She smiled as she picked up the handset on her phone.
"Not good." Happy muttered very quietly.
"Don't you trust me?" Hardison whispered as he rubbed a knuckle across the tip of his nose.
"No." Happy whispered back.
"Well…" Hardison frowned for a second. "You should." A professional smile spread across his face as he stepped forward to greet the head of security.
Eliot chuckled quietly at the exchange.
Hands were shaken all around and they were led down a hallway to a service entrance.
The security guard led them down the stairs and badged them through the server cage. "It doesn't lock from the inside." He held the door open for them. "The door to the hallway is locked though so you'll need to use the phone or the intercom to let us know when you're ready to leave."
"Thanks." Eliot held a hand out. "I'm sure we'll be done in no time."
As soon as the door to the hallway closed Hardison was hooking up his laptop to one of the server access panels.
"How long is this going to take?" Cabe asked while he checked his watch.
The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out. The servers stopped running with a moan.
"Longer than anticipated." Hardison looked around.
"Why isn't the backup generator running?" Happy asked "A place like this would definitely have a backup generator."
"You're right." Eliot pulled on the door handle, but it didn't engage.
Happy and Cabe couldn't see what was happening, but they could all hear the rattle as the door shook but didn't open.
"Not good." Happy commented. "Can we pick the lock from this side?"
"That's two 'not goods' in ten minutes." Sly observed over their earbuds. "What's going on in there?"
"The power went down, there's no backup generator, and we're trapped inside a server cage." Happy got Sly up to speed.
"We can't pick the lock because there isn't one on this side of the door and just the card reader on the other side." Eliot pulled up hard against the handle and shouldered the door. With a screech and a clang, the door popped open.
Eliot hurried to the desk near the door. "The phone and intercom are down." He slammed the handset back onto its rest.
"Not good." Happy observed.
. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .
(Matherne's home)
Michael Matherne answered his front door on the third impatient ring of the doorbell. When he saw the group of people all wearing business suits and serious expressions he sighed. "How can I help you?"
"You can start by inviting us in and showing our people to where you keep your computers." Paige crossed her arms and rested her weight to one side, looking impatient.
