Nate, Eliot, and Kaira arrived in Kentucky to an old friend of Eliot's. The trio walked in and Eliot introduced them to the client. They chatted a bit before Willie, the client, explained what happened.
"Nine dead. One horse survived, Baltimore, with smoke in his lungs. My family's been training horses since the Civil War. Never had anything like this." Willie explained.
"But you didn't own any of those horses, right?" Nate questioned, trying to understand the situation.
"That's not how it works. Trainers raise 'em, they break 'em, and they race 'em, but they don't own 'em. It's a rich man's game." Eliot explained, slight anger in his voice.
"But I always dreamed of having my own horses. So when this wall street guy came to town - Mr. Foss - said he wanted to start his own horse franchise, Mr. Ford he offered me 10% ownership - real ownership. I took the deal. And six months later, the horses aren't running to Foss' liking-" Willie explained before Eliot jumped in.
"He burned nine horses, Nate - nine of them - to get his investment back." Eliot explained, a calm anger to him, which worried Kaira.
Not that she could blame him.
"And he's running around blaming me for the fire. Bad enough I lost my stable. No one will ever hire me again. I'm uninsurable." Willie said.
"Well, Foss is up for a two million dollar insurance payout, so we can get you a piece of that money back." Nate offered before Kaira shot up in her seat.
"I'm gonna stop you there, Nathan. Willie doesn't want the damn money. What we're gonna do is get Baltimore back, destroy Foss, and make sure he can't own a damn thing again. And maybe a few hundred thousand dollars to help Willy rebuild his stable and for emotional damages." Kaira said, getting heated.
"Yes. That's it. Nothing more." Willy said, taking the offer.
Just then a blond-haired woman entered. She looked at Eliot, pissed.
"You called him." The woman said, not happy.
"We need him." Willie said.
"Yeah, no, we don't." The woman said.
"I forgot how much I like these southern welcomes." Eliot said, a hint of a smile.
"Eight years, no phone calls, no letters. You don't earn a homecoming parade." The woman said.
"How's your husband, Aimee?" Eliot asked.
"Gone. Seems I have a weakness for men with one foot out the door." Aimee said.
She walked out the door. Willie excused himself and left. Eliot had a look on his face.
"So when you said you knew the family, you meant you... knew the family?" Nate questioned.
"Please tell me you weren't engaged to her, Eliot?" Kaira asked.
"No. I may have given her a promise ring, or..." Eliot said.
"Seriously? A promise ring?" Kaira retorted.
"What's that?" Nate asked.
Eliot was trying to explain before Nate told him to stop.
"Well, there's no way we're gonna do this if I have to worry about you being stupid because you're too involved with..." Nate said before Eliot got defensive.
"I'm not involved. I'm - I want to help Willie. Did you hear the guys story? Scouts honor." Eliot said defensively before saluting with his left pointer and middle finger.
"Wrong hand." Nate corrected.
Eliot scoffed as they left to fill in the team about their new case.
Hardison got his presentation ready and started.
"Alan Foss, hedge fund manager for Smith and Marken in New York. He made 40 million in the last two years. And he picked up some pretty high cost, low profile hobbies. Started with high stakes poker and now owning racehorses." Hardison was explaining when Parker raised her hand.
She cleared her throat. "I think I have a fever. Can I be excused from this one?" Parker asked.
"Oh. Come here. Let me feel your head." Sophie said, trying to see if Parker was lying.
Nate stopped them. "No, don't - don't feel her. Why do you - what - what's the deal? W-what-" Nate questioned.
"I once saw a horse kill a clown." Parker said, zoning out a bit.
Kaira and the rest were trying to figure out if Parker was lying or not.
Parker stopped zoning. "I just really don't like horses." Parker said.
"Moving on." Nate said.
"Six months ago, Foss poured a pile of cash into buying all the horses from Willies stable. After the fire-" Hardison was explaining before Eliot interrupted.
"Massacre. The massacre." Eliot corrected, serious.
"Ooh. You are a bit hot on this one." Sophie observed.
"O-okay. Hot. Yes. Everybody, y'all want to take over the briefings? Okay, I-I go to a lot of trouble to make these things interesting - have a little something visual for the visual learners and the auditory listeners. And I-it's just interruption-" Hardison ranted before Parker cut him off.
"Hey - I.Y.S. Your old insurance company holds the policy on Foss' horses." Parker pointed out to Nate.
"Is that gonna be a problem?" Sophie asked.
"No, if I can find a way to stick it to my old bosses, even better." Nate said.
"Our mission is to take Foss's last surviving horse and deliver it to Eliot's friend Willie. Meet Baltimore. Three wins, two places. Insured for 200,000 dollars. Thank you very much. That concludes this briefing. Appreciate your attention. Now, how do we get the damn horse?" Hardison concluded his briefing.
"Well, what do we know about Foss' schedule?" Nate asked.
"According to his online calendar, he's going to a big race at Kensington racetrack this weekend." Hardison answered.
"We go to the track, see if we can get Willie's horse back for him." Kaira said.
Nate looked at Sophie. "Miss Deveraux..." Nate said. Sophie leaned back. "...How is your southern belle?" Nate asked. "I'm sorry, but you have to really be a piece of shit to kill horses and frame an innocent man for it." Kaira said, heated. The team left to head to the racetrack.
When making the covers, Kaira insisted on being with Eliot as Nate's aliases trainers. Sophie chatted up the crowd while Parker was on watch as the other four set up the poker game. Hardison, being the genius that he was, put up a system so they could basically see Foss's hand during the game. Eliot sat in the hot seat and Kaira handed him five random cards.
"He's got trip threes." Hardison said, testing the system.
Eliot turned the cards around.
"Damn." Kaira complimented.
Sophie flirted with Foss so Parker could get his wallet.
"He's got a 50,000 limit." Hardison reported.
"He bet on Kentucky Thunder." Parker reported.
Sophie chatted Foss up more about the poker game.
"He's got 50,000." Nate reminded Sophie.
Foss accepted the 50,000 buy-in for the game.
After the race, the rest got the game ready while Sophie brought Foss in. Kaira sat on Eliot's lap, acting like the two were a couple. Hardison was next to them and there was a seat open for Nate. They acted like they were chatting when Sophie came in.
"Evening gentlemen and ladies." Sophie said in a southern accent.
"Mr. Foss, this is our friend, Sheik Khalid from Dubai. His daddy did business with my daddy. Oil first, then horses." Sophie introduced Hardison.
"Pleasure's mine. Good luck." Hardison said.
"Thank you." Foss said.
"This here is Brad Mackie and his girlfriend Crystal Smith, two of the best trainers in town." Sophie said, introducing Kaira and Eliot as they shook hands.
"Oh, really? Really? Well, why don't they work for me, then?" Foss asked.
Eliot got a look on his face as Nate came in.
"Well, evening, ladies." Nate said with a southern accent, walking in.
"Didn't have to wait for me." Nate said.
"Because we work for him." Eliot said.
Kaira played right into what was set up.
"I'd have caught up. Bob Gibson. Who are you?" Nate asked in character.
Foss held out his hand for Nate to shake it but didn't.
"Bob, this is Alan Foss - the investor from New York." Sophie said.
"Oh, yeah - the one whose stable burned down, right? You're the guy that had the stable burn down and all them horses got-" Nate made a clicking death sound.
"Yeah? Well I know you're new around here and everything, so why don't I just give you a little tip - don't let your stable burn, there, boss. Bossy." Nate taunted.
"Why don't we play some cards?" Nate suggested, gesturing for the deal to start when Foss spoke up.
"Actually, why don't you just hold on one second, please. Do you mind if I, uh...anybody mind - I got this out of the gift shop today - play with a fresh deck?" Foss held up a new deck of cards.
Kaira just shrugged her shoulder, signaling the others to accept.
"That's a rookie move, but I don't mind." Nate said.
"Why don't you just hand her the deck there, uh, Fossil... so we can play some cards and you can lose some money." Nate said.
The dealing and playing started.
Luckily for the team, Kaira was pretty good at poker. Had quite the poker face too. She'd lean into Eliot, acting like she was giving him hints on how to play.
After some playing, Foss spoke.
"All right. Uh, I'm 40,000 light. But I'm sure this will just be worth-" Foss said, about to take off his watch before Nate stopped him.
This was gonna get interesting.
"We play for cash or we play for horses. Now, you still got one of those left, or did you lose that one too?" Nate said.
"Cute." Foss said, pulling out a paper from his jacket pocket.
"Alright. I'm going to put in my last horse - Baltimore. Witness it." Foss said, passing the paper for Sophie to sign.
"Thanks darling." Foss said, putting the paper in the pot.
"See? 'Cause that's how we do it where I'm from, Hoss." Foss said, thinking he was tough.
"You're bluffing." Nate said.
Foss showed his cards. "There's four nines. Good?" Foss asked.
"Damn. Mm." Nate groaned, adjusting his seat.
"C.U" Foss said, making the letters with his hands.
Nate revealed his hand. Four Jacks. Foss got angry as Kaira tried to keep a straight face.
"You're a cheating son of a bitch!" Foss yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nate said.
What happened was they passed a Jack to Nate under the table using sleight of hand techniques.
"Why don't you make sure Jersey boy here gets my horse, number one, and you - well, you can come back to play with us anytime you want." Nate said.
"Okay, you know what? This isn't binding, so good luck." Foss argued.
"Oh, it's not binding, huh?" Nate questioned Foss.
"No." Foss said, frustrated.
"You had four nines, and I had four Jacks. Four nines, four Jacks. Four jacks, I believe, is better than four nines." Nate said.
"I believe so, sir." Kaira said in a southern accent, smiling at the ridiculousness of the moment.
"I'll tell everybody from Vegas to Houston that Alan Foss welches on his bets. Is that what you want? I'll tell 'em." Nate said.
Foss threw his cards towards Nate, scattering them everywhere on the table as he stormed out.
"Pleasure doing business." Nate said, laughing.
Nate and Eliot looked at each other
"I owe you one. Thank you." Eliot said, shaking Nate's hand.
"I probably should have said this before we played, but I am actually pretty good at poker. I used to play all the time and used to win a lot too. I actually got the nickname Poker Face because I couldn't be read." Kaira smiled, chuckling.
The team just gave her a look.
"We're done." Nate said in his normal voice.
They packed up and left for the next day to get the horse.
Eliot and Kaira went to the place they were staying at. She sat on the bed, sighing.
"What's wrong, Princess?" Eliot asked.
"Is it wrong to say that I really enjoyed us playing a couple?" Kaira asked, nervous.
"No. 'Cause I did too." Eliot said.
"I've been thinking. I'm almost ready to take the leap with you, Eliot." Kaira said, more nervous than ever.
"Alright. I'll be ready when you are." Eliot said, nervous as well.
"I need to think about it, just to be sure I'm ready. Give me till after this job. Ask me again and I'll give you an answer." Kaira said.
"Deal." Eliot smiled.
"Aren't deals usually sealed with a kiss?" Eliot joked.
"Yes, cowboy." Kaira said.
"Wait, you're serious?" Eliot asked.
"Just get your ass over here and kiss me." Kaira all but ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." Eliot smiled.
They kissed a quick, passionate kiss. They let go and went to bed.
The next day, they met the gang at the track. Nate informed them of their new problem, James Sterling. Nate's old partner and rival at I.Y.S and the only person Kaira knew that could keep up with Nate's mind. This was a problem.
"Is it true Sterling spent three days in the trunk of a car waiting to catch someone?" Parker asked.
"No." Nate said.
"It was five." Sophie said.
"What?" Parker questioned.
"This is a problem Nathan." Kaira pointed out.
"Look, I'm not saying that he's better than you were, but-" Sophie explained before Nate cut her off.
"Were? I-I'm sorry." Nate said, offended.
"We need to get Willie that horse back and get out of here very, very quickly." Sophie said.
"It's a little too late for that. I mean, Sterling thinks that I'm trying to get my job back, right? He doesn't care about the claim anymore. He's just gonna mess with anything I do." Nate said.
"No doubt." Kaira retorted.
"If I try to keep Baltimore for myself, he's gonna try to get Baltimore back for Foss. If I give Willie the horse, Willie becomes the target, and believe me you don't want to be, you know, the target of Sterling." Nate said.
"Great. So, wait, wait. You're saying Willie loses the horse and Foss stays in business? Nice." Eliot said, not happy.
"No, no, no. Listen. I think I know a way we can tackle both - I think. Sophie, try to get Foss here. And you guys keep a tab on Sterling. Run interference. Eliot, Kaira, find us a stable." Nate ordered.
They did just that. Eliot had to call Aimee to get the stable, which Kaira wasn't happy with, but dealt with it.
"Aimee got us the horses. We need her help to pull this off." Eliot informed Nate as they were walking through the stables.
"So all of these are mine?" Nate asked.
"Uh, well, no. Trainers work with a lot of different owners, so only a few of them will be yours. But the stables belong to the trainers, not the owners. So his office would be right down there." Aimee explained, not looking at Eliot once.
"You can't even say my name now?" Eliot asked.
"No, sirree." Aimee said.
Kaira didn't say anything.
"Uh, and the logos?" Nate asked.
"Like she said - me and Kaira's stable." Eliot explained.
"These stables all look the same, so the only way to differentiate between them is the logos. Hardison faked a couple this morning." Kaira explained.
"Anything else you need so you can wrap this up and go back to being a somewhat disappointing memory?" Aimee asked.
Kaira and Nate looked at the former couple.
"I thought you said you were fine with this." Eliot said, semi quietly.
"I thought you said you were coming back in three weeks." Aimee said before Nate interrupted.
"Oh boy, this is perfect." Nate said, walking ahead.
Kaira walked off with Eliot following. Aimee walked off somewhere else. They went to the office Aimee got for them. They shut the door and went inside.
Parker and Hardison ran interference with Sterling, locking him in his electronic car.
Sophie and Nate talked with Foss before coming in.
"Listen whatever you still got with Aimee, lock it up now cowboy. I still care about you, okay?" Kaira said.
Eliot agreed.
"Okay. Here's how we're gonna do this. Sit down on the desk." Kaira said.
Eliot did. Then Kaira straddled Eliot and waited until they were closer to lock lips with Eliot. Then the three walked in.
"Woah. Uh, you - I don't remember your names, but I need your office." Nate barged in.
"Dammit, Gibson." Kaira scoffed, standing up with Eliot.
"No, today. Today. Not - not - not - not tomorrow. Today." Nate said.
Eliot got up and Nate sat down at the desk, putting his feet on the desk.
"All right, go." Nate said.
"Alright, look. My insurance guy's a real prick. He says until the claim clears, I can't sell that last horse." Foss explained.
"Yeah, well, of course, he did." Nate retorted.
"Alright, anyway, whatever. Um, I would like to buy Baltimore back, please. Okay, so here is 40,000 dollars." Foss said, getting money out.
"No, the price went up. It's two million." Nate said.
"What - ex - say what?" Foss questioned.
"I got this big deal coming up, don't I, darlin'? And I could use the liquid cash. Two million bucks." Nate said, looking at Sophie.
"You know what? You're ridiculous. You're a joke." Foss insulted Nate.
"Well, that's how we play where I come from. Listen. Why don't you and I - why don't we go talk about how much money you're gonna make me. And you - why don't you call me when you're serious." Nate said, looking at Sophie.
Nate got up to leave and Sophie went to follow him.
"Come on, there Kitty." Nate said.
"Oh, you're just gonna go wi - 'cause, yeah, he's - he's - he's a real charmer. Have a good time." Foss said as Nate and Sophie left, leaving Foss with Eliot and Kaira.
Kaira and Eliot chuckled.
"I'm sorry. I've just seen that look before. That's a Bob Gibson special." Eliot said.
"What, are you serious?! How do you even put up with that?" Foss exclaimed.
"He's extra moody this week 'cause of this deal he's got." Kaira said.
"I'm sorry he didn't sell your horse back." Eliot said.
"And what is this deal with Kitty?" Foss asked.
"W- I can't help you with that, Mr. Foss." Eliot said.
"See this industry is changing. Yep. Wasted my time with that penny-ante crap. Cheap horses, low rent trainers, okay. Well, you know what I did, though? I called my hedge fund buddies up. And we're gonna form investment portfolios, only with horses and not stocks. Modernize the sport so guys like Bob Gibson won't know what hit them when New York money comes to town. So you do me a favor. Here's how I can help you. You either join the revolution or you get the hell out of my way. See ya." Foss said, leaving, handing Eliot a card.
Kaira and Eliot left to meet up with Nate, Sophie, and Aimee.
"We got problems." Kaira reported.
"Great news. Not only is Foss not out of the horse business, he's bringing in more money and more partners." Eliot announced.
"Caught that. Working on it." Nate said.
"You're working on it? You said that you had a plan." Aimee questioned.
"He just said he's working on it." Eliot said.
Aimee went to walk away.
"Right but you convinced my dad that things were gonna be okay. Things have only gotten worse. Now I-I appreciate you trying to help, but if you don't know what you're doing, just walk away. At least I know you're good at that." Aimee said.
Eliot and Aimee rounded the corner arguing. Kaira went to the office to cool off. Then she heard Eliot and Aimee lock lips and make out in the stall. She panicked and turned off her comm for the time being. Kaira got emotional. Here the man she had fallen for was making out with his ex. Kaira never got this emotional about anything Eliot did before. The only thing Kaira could think of as to why was because she was going to take her and Eliot's relationship to the next level. She was now more indecisive than ever. Could she still be with Eliot even if he had feelings for an ex? Kaira stopped herself. She would finish the job and talk with Eliot.
Hardison and Parker met up with her and they went into the room Nate and Sophie were in.
"Same thing as a zebra. They bite and they never let go." Parker argued walking in.
They say down. Sophie could tell Kaira was upset and gave her a sympathetic look.
"No, no, no, no. Hold up. Wait, wait. What about Mister Ed?" Hardison questioned.
"Yeah, a talking animal that nobody else can hear? Pbht! That never ends badly." Parker said.
"It didn't turn out badly. Wilbur loved Mister Ed. He loved him like a second cousin twice removed." Hardison said as Kaira could see the light bulb on Nate light up.
"That's it. That's it. That's it." Nate realized.
"What? A talking horse?" Sophie questioned.
Kaira caught on. "No, the Lost Heir scam." Kaira realized.
"What's that?" Hardison asked.
"Classic European scam. You pose as a long lost descendant of the royal family. And when you pull it off, well, the payoffs are really good - loads of parties, money, and a fabulous fabergé egg." Sophie explained.
"What does that have to do with horses?" Parker asked.
"Well, with horses, it's all about the bloodlines." Nate explained.
"The lost heir of the royal equine family. Hell that'll be worth millions." Kaira said.
"We are gonna sell this guy the greatest horse that ever lived." Nate said.
They met up at the track to plan and meet up with Eliot.
"Go ahead. I know you're itching to say something." Eliot said.
Next to him was Sophie and Kaira.
"Kaira, why don't you talk with him." Sophie went up ahead.
"So..." Kaira said, awkwardly.
"So..." Eliot said.
"What's the deal with Aimee? Do you like her still?" Kaira asked.
"We dated. We broke up because I lost contact with her and she got married. And not anymore. I said I was ready to take the leap with you, Kaira. I meant it." Eliot said.
Kaira stopped him. "How the hell can you say that? With what just happened, how can you just toss away someone you loved, Eliot?" Kaira exclaimed, upset.
"Because while it was fun, it wasn't the same as if it was you." Eliot blurted out.
"What?" Kaira questioned.
"It was eight years ago that me and Aimee broke up. I stopped loving her when I met you, Kaira. When I met you, I realized you were everything I could want in a woman." Eliot said.
Kaira smacked him.
"You better have meant that." Kaira said, sighing.
"I'm sorry. I can't make you choose." Kaira went to walk away before Eliot stopped her.
"I'm serious, Kaira. I l-" Eliot was about to say before Kaira put her finger on his lips.
"Don't you dare use those words unless you mean them, Eliot Spencer. You better think next time you want to say those words." Kaira warned.
She walked to the team, who didn't say anything. Hardison was at his computer, Sophie in the seat next to him, Parker next to Nate, Eliot, and Kaira next to him.
"We're using Baltimore as the lost heir." Nate said.
"I hacked into the IFHA website. That's the database with all the horses' bloodlines. Now, all that information is linked on numbers to microchips in the horse's neck. Now, we'll link Baltimore's microchip number to a fake horse with a great bloodline. Then we'll disguise the white stripe on his face with some paint." Hardison explained before Eliot interrupted.
"No. No. It's not gonna work. His lungs are still messed up from the fire." Eliot explained.
"He can still run." Nate said, unsure of the problem.
"He can, but not as fast. Foss won't bite with a slow horse. And the paint won't hold up once he gets close enough to scan the chip." Kaira explained.
"Uh... well, we need to find a horse that can run like a champion." Nate started thinking.
"What about that horse from the other day. Uh, Kentucky Fried Chicken?" Hardison questioned.
"Kentucky Thunder." Eliot corrected.
"That's what I said." Hardison said.
"Oh, we steal an actual championship racehorse in order to fake another championship racehorse." Nate said.
It was silent for a moment.
"Ooh, I like it." Nate said.
They went into the plan. Sophie distracted Kentucky Thunders's trainer as Eliot and Kaira sneaked in the stables. Then Sophie and Nate met with some Chinese people to act like they were making a deal. Kaira kept watch with Parker as Eliot met with Foss to give him the bait. Eliot convinced Foss that Kentucky Thunder was a Kennedy. They convinced Foss he bought the horse.
The next day, Eliot and Kaira went to look at the stable Kentucky Thunder was in. He was gone.
"Kentucky Thunder's gone." Eliot said, walking up to the group.
"What?" Nate questioned.
"Racing?" Sophie asked.
"Worse. Stud farm." Aimee said.
The team groaned.
"Alright. We're not gonna get Foss to write a twelve million dollar check for an empty horse trailer. This doesn't work without Kentucky Thunder. So we're gonna stall." Nate said.
"No." Eliot said.
"What do you mean, no?" Nate questioned.
"Sterling's gonna catch on. Foss is gonna get cold feet man. No. We have a chance. We got to get this horse." Eliot said.
Nate then took Eliot aside.
"Hey listen, I am not gonna jeopardize the rest of the team because you have something to prove to your high school sweetheart. It's just not gonna happen." Nate about whispered.
"Oh, and you're not trying to prove something to Sterling? You're not trying to prove something to the world every time we help somebody out?" Sophie questioned.
"We're all trying to prove something just being here with you." Sophie said.
Nate sighed. "If it gets too close, I will pull the plug and you and you will walk away. And that will be that." Nate said, looking at Eliot and Sophie.
Eliot walked away and went by Aimee. Nate whispered something to Sophie before walking away.
Eliot, Parker, Aimee, Hardison, and Kaira left to get Kentucky Thunder back.
They arrived at the stable he was at. "Can you hack it?" Parker asked.
"Hack a lock?" Hardison questioned.
"Nice. You still don't really understand what I do, do you?" Hardison said.
"Parker, you're gonna have to go in through the air duct, drop down, and let us in." Eliot explained.
"But the horses are in there." Parker said.
"No, no, no. There's a back room. There won't be any horses in there." Aimee explained.
"We need you to do this. I need you to do this. Please." Eliot said.
"Parker, I'll go with you." Kaira said, getting out of the car with Parker. Parker and Kaira sneaked in the stable and went in the air duct. They started crawling.
"Looks like Parker's gonna have to crawl through the air duct again. God forbid anyone else would have to learn how to freakin' crawl on their stomach through a tiny space. It's not rocket science people." Parker complained.
"Parker, you do realize that we can still hear you." Eliot said.
Parker stopped a moment. Kaira stopped as Parker was first.
"Parker I'm in the vent with you." Kaira said.
The ladies continued down the air duct until they reached the end. They dropped down, Parker froze as she stood up.
"Aimee. I've found Kentucky Thunder. He's a really, really big horse." Parker said, frozen.
Kaira walked over and calmed the horse down.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Uh, yeah, sometimes they keep him in there before he gets teased." Aimee explained.
"I don't want to be in a stall with a horse that's about to be teased!" Parker exclaimed.
"Parker it's okay I got him calmed down. Come on, pet him. You won't be scared of him." Kaira said, grabbing Parker's hand and leading it to the horse.
Parker winced as she touched the horse, but got more comfortable as she kept petting the horse. Kaira left and unlocked the doors for the rest of the team.
"See you're not dead. Good." Hardison said to Parker, walking to the horse.
"Don't be silly. Horses are much less murderous than I originally thought." Parker said.
The group looked at Parker, wondering if she was serious. They grabbed the horse and put him in the trailer.
They went in the truck and drove away. Sophie was heard on comms turning Foss around to buy them time. She informed Nate.
"Okay, Foss is in place. Where are you?" Nate asked.
"We're close. Any minute now." Eliot said.
They drove a bit before they came across some traffic.
"Listen, the hauler's gonna be here in five minutes. If you're not here, Foss is gonna open up an empty trailer and there'll be no lost heir." Nate said.
"I said we'll be there!" Eliot exclaimed.
Nate sighed.
"Hardison, show me what you're looking at." Nate ordered.
Hardison pulled out his phone and sent the video feed to Nate.
"I'll be damned. We're going to jail." Hardison said.
"My father lost his job, he lost his horses, and now he's gonna have to visit me in jail." Aimee said, not happy.
"That's great." Aimee said.
"We'll be fine. Just got to think." Kaira said.
"On the bright side, you'll have all of us to keep you company." Parker said.
"Parker not helping." Kaira retorted.
"Hey, nobody's going to jail. I promise you. We're gonna make it." Eliot said, unbuckling and exiting.
Kaira followed. Eliot and Kaira met at the back. Eliot looked at her.
"What? Like hell I'm gonna let you do something stupid without me." Kaira smiled.
They opened the door and got on Kentucky Thunder.
"All right, all right. We're not gonna make it. I'm pulling the plug. Eliot, bring the horse back to the stud farm, meet us at the rendezvous spot." Nate ordered.
Eliot and Kaira got out of the trailer. "Uh, boss, we might have a problem with that." Hardison said.
"Why?" Nate asked.
Hardison must've shown him the video of Eliot and Kaira leaving on the horse. Kaira just enjoyed the ride.
"You okay, princess?" Eliot asked.
"I'm fine cowboy." Kaira said.
They got close to the racetrack.
"Now listen, this thing - it's over. So we're gonna do the blowoff right now because-" Nate said as Eliot and Kaira arrived in front of them.
"Pony express is never late, boss." Eliot said.
"Didn't I tell you I was gonna kill you?" Nate questioned.
Eliot took the horse over to the stable with Kaira.
"Okay. We're back on." Nate announced.
Kaira and Eliot got the stable set and Sophie got Foss.
"Gibson called. He's upset. He really had his eyes on that horse. But I guess the best man won." Sophie said.
"Yeah, well, I have a way of - things have a way of going in my direction. Just lucky, I guess." Foss said as Eliot and Kaira brought over the horse.
"I guess." Sophie said.
"Mr. Foss, we got something you might want to take a look at." Eliot said.
Foss pulled out the chip reader. "Yeah, figured you would. You might as well double-check before my insurance investigator takes a look. You know, you wouldn't want anything to go wrong." Foss said.
"Good thinking." Sophie said.
Kaira took the reader and scanned the chip.
"Thank you." Foss said, grabbing the scanner.
"So, ready to make this official?" Sophie said, grabbing the papers from her purse.
"Yes, I am." Foss said.
"Just sign here and initial here." Sophie said.
Foss signed the papers.
"Now, there's just that small matter of twelve million dollars." Sophie said.
Foss held up his phone and showed Sophie his phone.
"Twelve million coming right at you." Foss said.
Sophie looked at her phone.
"Why, that is a lovely string of zeros. My friends will be very pleased." Sophie said.
Eliot and Kaira put the horse in the stable. Eliot and Kaira watched as Foss stumbled with the realization that the horse he insured and bought was Baltimore, not Fey Kui. Earlier Kaira, Eliot, Parker, and Hardison changed the signs around. They also messed with Foss' scanner.
Kaira and Eliot went back to their place after Eliot and Nate delivered Baltimore back to Willie. Kaira sat in her bed and waited for Eliot to come out of the bathroom. He was wearing a white tank top and plaid pants.
"I think we need to talk, Eliot." Kaira said.
"Okay." Eliot said, sitting down on the bed next to hers.
"Do you still love Aimee?" Kaira asked, bluntly.
"Not anymore. I told you the truth. I stopped loving Aimee after I met you." Eliot said.
"Does Aimee still care about you?" Kaira asked.
"No. Last thing she told me was that she was glad I found a new family. She was just sad it wasn't her. She was also glad I met you." Eliot said.
"You're serious?" Kaira questioned.
"Yes I'm serious." Eliot said.
"So, where does that leave us?" Kaira asked.
"Well, you said that I had to think before I used these words. And I have. Kaira, I love you. I've loved you since we met." Eliot said, standing up and going beside Kaira, sitting down.
Kaira got emotional.
"Damn you Eliot. I love you too." Kaira said.
Eliot cupped Kaira's neck and kissed her. He let go.
"Kaira, will you be my girlfriend?" Eliot asked.
Kaira was silent for a second, processing the words. Eliot got nervous.
"Yes, cowboy. I'll be your girlfriend." Kaira smiled.
So did Eliot. They kissed again. This time, Eliot pushed Kaira to the bed and kissed her. Kaira enjoyed herself. So did Eliot. They took the leap. Kaira and Eliot stood up.
"That was nice." Kaira said, smiling.
"Yeah. How about tomorrow I make you breakfast?" Eliot said. Kaira smiled.
"That sounds awesome cowboy." Kaira said.
"Alright." Eliot said.
He stood up and walked to his nightstand.
"I have something for you." Eliot said.
"What it is?" Kaira asked.
Eliot grabbed a box out of the drawer and sat next to Kaira, handing it to her. Kaira opened it. It was a simple silver ring with a heart on top.
"Eliot is this an engagement ring?" Kaira asked, chuckling.
"Sorry princess but no. This is a promise ring." Eliot said.
He grabbed it and grabbed Kairas left hand and placed the ring in front of her ring finger.
"I promise that I will always come back to you at the end of the day. No matter what happens, I'm here for you." Eliot said, putting the ring on Kaira's finger. Kaira started tearing up.
"It's beautiful. Thank you." Kaira said, hugging Eliot, burying herself in him.
Eliot comforted her until she calmed down. Kaira wiped her eyes.
"So if we're together now, does that mean I can sleep in your bed?" Kaira asked, smiling.
"Yeah." Eliot said, smiling.
The new couple went to bed in the same bed. Kaira enjoyed it. Having a warm body to sleep next to make her sleep a lot better than by herself. Eliot discovered that too. This was a huge leap for them. Kaira always knew someday she and Eliot would be together. She just didn't imagine how hard it was to convince herself to be open. She was glad she did.