Kaira and Eliot got called in by Nate. He had a client. Just as the couple arrived in, Hardison revealed that he discovered that instead of Harrisburg, where Nate said he was going, Nate went to London to meet with Sophie, even though he yelled at them for calling Sophie. Kaira was the only one who had yet to call Sophie. Nate arrived and informed them that they'd have a shadow. Their client's attorney, Tara Carlisle. Needless to say, no one was happy.
"I hate this." Eliot said, two coffee mugs in hand for him and Kaira.
He handed one to her as he sat down.
"You do not let Vicki Vale into the Batcave ever." Hardison said, also not happy.
"First, this is my home, not a cave. And second, we're not gonna allow her up here." Nate said.
"Sophie would never approve. Call her." Parker said.
"We can't just keep calling Sophie." Nate said, trying to move on.
"Oh, okay. I see how it is. We can't call her, but you can go off and have a little secret meeting with her." Hardison said, kinda cocky.
"Secret meeting? What are you talking about? I was in Harrisburg, researching a client." Nate said.
"Wow, cause you know what? Your passport got dinged going through Heathrow Airport yesterday. Heathrow's in London." Hardison said as he pulled up the information and Nate knew he was caught.
"I guess you couldn't get a direct flight over to Harrisburg." Hardison said.
"Well, it's hard when you do the same day booking." Eliot said, moving his arm from side to side in front of him.
Kaira was amused.
"Yeah, cause you had to go with the-" Nate blew Hardison off.
"Did you realize that London is the home of the most surveillance cameras in the world?" Hardison said.
"Really?" Parker said.
Kaira shook her head no and looked at Nate.
"Who feels like playing "Where's Waldo"?" Hardison asked the team, raising his hand.
"Oh. Yeah." Parker raised her hand.
"I do." Hardison said.
He pulled up an image of Nate in London.
"Oh. There's Waldo right there. Waldo Ford. Oh, oh. Is that Big Ben and you? Wow. You got twins and triplets everywhere. And looky there. 11:18 A.M. Standing outside of Sophie's apartment, looking quite pensive." Hardison said, pulling up more images of Nate in London.
"Aww. He's rehearsing what he's gonna say. I've seen him do that." Parker said, amused.
"Nathan, did you really think Hardison wouldn't find you? The boy's got more time on his hands than he knows what to do with." Kaira quipped, getting a look from Hardison and a smiled from Eliot.
"All right, all right, all right, guys. Okay. Yeah. You caught me. I went to London. Yeah. I saw Sophie." Nate said, pausing. "And she's not coming back." Nate said, regretfully.
The team's demeaner changed to sadness and shock.
"Not now or not ever?" Parker asked.
"I don't know. And I don't - I don't think she knows either. So, uh... that's that." Nate said, sadness in his voice.
"I hope she does come back." Kaira whispered, feeling the sadness.
"Could you please take the..." Nate said, gesturing to the photos on the screen.
Hardison took them down.
"Thank you. Can we get back to work?" Nate asked.
He moved the chair to the side and pulled out a card.
"This, uh... Tara Carlisle - Hardison, maybe you can just do a background check on her." Nate handed the card to Hardison and sat down.
"And if everything pans out, I don't see why we can't have an outsider just this once, tag along. Hmm? Okay. Why don't you run it for them?" Nate said.
Hardison pulled up an image of an older man and sat up.
"Meet the late, great Bennett Kimball. He made his fortune the old-fashioned way - polluting, union-busting, employing sweatshop labor. His personal life was even worse. Drunken-driving accidents, chasing women, paying off the mob." Hardison informed the team, pulling up the images.
"Then why haven't we ever heard of this guy?" Parker asked.
"Yeah. A man like that seems like someone up our ally." Kaira pointed out.
"Because to the rest of the world, Bennett Kimball was a pillar of Boston society... thanks to one very hardworking lawyer." Nate said.
Hardison pulled up another image of the lawyer. He was kinda chubby-faced and tight curly grey hair.
"Meet his longtime attorney, Peter Blanchard. This is an interesting guy. He's a blue-blood Harvard law graduate who turned into Kimball's personal janitor. Dude would pay off the cops, pay hush money, God knows what else." Hardison said.
"And he was rewarded by being named the executor and sole beneficiary of Kimball's estate." Nate said.
"See, Kimball didn't have any kids. He had a couple of ex-wives way, way back, but Blanchard's the closest thing he has to family." Hardison said.
Eliot leaned back and Kaira did too, about on top of him.
"Yeah, well, I guess this Blanchard guy didn't count on his client having such a giving side." Eliot said.
"It's funny how that works." Nate said.
He stood up and walked to the screens.
"What happens to rich people when they know the end is near. It's really, really amazing. Okay, I don't know that we have a legal angle to play on this one, cause in three days, he is going to present the will in probate court and assume control of the estate." Nate said.
"Leaving Ruth Walton's charity with nothing." Kaira pointed out.
"Now, Blanchard was the keeper of Kimball's secrets, so... yeah, so that's our way in, right there." Nate said.
"You want a skeleton from his closet." Parker pointed out.
"Absolutely, and there's got to be tons of skeletons. I mean, we want something so scary that the mere mention of it makes this guy run for his checkbook. So, if that weren't hard enough, we've got the chaperone to think about." Nate said, walking away.
"This one's gonna be difficult." Kaira pointed out, huffing.
Hardison drove Nate, Eliot, and Kaira to a prison, where they'd meet the lawyer and a potential skeleton. They all leaned against the van as Hardison looked at a file.
"Tara Carlisle. She checks out. Civil-Rights lawyer, does a lot of pro bono work. Collects lost causes like kittens." Hardison said, closing the file.
Just then a red car pulled up. Tara was a bit younger than Nate but looked like a sexy librarian.
"Well, she's honest." Eliot said.
"Crusader. Incorruptible. And one sexy librarian." Hardison said, slightly turned on at the sight of Tara getting out of the car.
She waved at the group and Nate waved back, with Eliot fixing his glasses. Kaira was kinda amused. Nate walked over to her.
"Guys, uh, I'd like you to meet Tara Carlisle. She's our client's attorney." Nate said as Tara walked over.
"She's gonna be joining us today." Nate finished introducing their shadow as Tara shook hands with them.
"I'm here because I believe we share a common goal. I just want to make sure it's done the right way. Now you said you have something be could use against Blanchard?" Tara said.
"Okay, well, behind these prison walls - or, um, prison shrubs here is Kimball's former business partner P.J Orson. He's doing 10 years for embezzlement." Hardison was explaining as Kaira noticed the notepad Tara brought out.
"Kimball's company paid 50,000 dollars to a company called Lemond Holdings back in 1980." Hardison finished explaining, looking at Nate for the explanation for the notepad.
"That? Yeah. She does that. It's okay. Go ahead." Nate said.
"Lamond Holdings is a Vegas front company for the mob." Hardison said.
"Yeah, 50,000 dollars used to be the going rate for a contract killer in those days." Eliot pointed out.
"You think Kimball paid to have somebody killed?" Tara questioned.
"Well, either way, he wanted somebody gone. 50,000 is plenty to get somebody off the grid. Even in 1980." Kaira explained, getting a "seriously?" look from Tara.
"Okay, now what we're gonna do right now is we're going to go undercover, and-" Nate was laying out the plan before Tara cut him off.
"Well, why don't we go talk to Mr. Orson?" Tara asked.
The team kinda chuckled.
"Listen, sweetheart, I know mob guys. Call it personal experience. When you pay a mob guy to do a job, you keep your mouth shut. Either that or you get your kneecaps broken." Kaira pointed out, kinda amused about the innocence of Tara.
"No, the best lie is the truth, Mr. Ford and Mrs. Spencer. I think if we go in there, and plead our case, Mr. Orson will want to talk to us." Tara said.
They walked in and Nate, Kaira, and Tara meet with Orson as Eliot and Hardison went in as prison guards. Tara talked to Mr. Orson, and he started laughing. She turned around and Kaira and Nate gave her an "I told you so" face.
"Mr. Orson, I don't understand. If you tell me why you made that 50,000 dollar payment to Lamond Holdings, I could write a letter to the judge, possibly get your sentence reduced." Tara explained.
Orson laughed again.
"Reduced? This is minimum security. I love it here. No ex-wives hounding me for alimony. A great bunch of guys to hang with. I mean, why would I help you?" Orson laughed again.
"Listen, sweetie, I got to go. I got a cooking class. You have a great day." Orson said. Karia quickly took the phone from Tara.
"You know, P.J, do you really think these walls will protect you from your past? No one hides forever." Kaira gave a threatening glare before Orson hung up and walked away, kinda scared.
Kaira got up and walked towards Nate.
"Well... I guess that went pretty well. Okay, Hardison, Eliot, I want you to put the squeeze on Orson." Nate said before Kaira jumped in.
"I got him worked up for you boys." Kaira said, kinda flirtatiously.
"Parker, Kaira, case Blanchard's office. I want to know where he keeps his dirty files. You, why don't you come with me? I'm about to become a really terrible lawyer. You can watch." Nate said, going to walk away.
Kaira and Tara soon followed behind.
They went to a courthouse, where Blanchard was. Parker and Karia had already arrived and started casing the building, finding their way through the vents.
"Look, Blanchard's here at the same time you are. That's a coincidence." Tara said as Kaira chuckled.
"No, no, we hacked into his online appointment schedule. I mean, yes, what a coincidence." Nate said.
Kaira chuckled again.
"Why don't you wait for me outside?" Nate told Tara.
"What are you gonna do?" Tara asked Nate.
"Make an appointment with - you'll see." Nate said.
Kaira heard knocking and Nate talking in a weird accent.
"Hi, there. Listen. Jimmy Popodokolos, Las Vegas. Attorney-at-law. I'm here to talk to the judge about the Kimball probate hearing." Nate said.
"Okay, Mr. Popodokolos." A woman said.
"Thank you. Yeah. Very important. Thank you." Nate said.
Kaira knew Nate was getting Blanchard's attention. She was still casing the office with Parker. Kaira heard Eliot and Hardison go in the prison and get the lowdown. Kaira and Parker were at the end of the vents. Parker put a camera in the vent and pushed it through, finding the safe. Kaira then heard Eliot and Hardison set Orson up with a shiv that Eliot made and planted on him.
Just then, Hardison started freaking out and Eliot tried to calm him down. Then Kaira heard Eliot reveal the surprise he put in the bunk of Orson. That was two marks on him. Then Eliot and Hardison mentioned Lamond Holdings. Kaira remembered the three-strikes rule.
Kaira then heard Tara get a call from Orson about him freaking out. Kaira was glad it worked.
"Alright, so Blanchard paid the mob 50,000 dollars to kill someone named George Gilbert for Kimball. This should be an interesting meeting." Nate said.
Kaira went back to the office with Eliot and Hardison after picking them up from the prison.
The next day, Parker and Kaira were climbing through the vents as Hardison was at his computer looking for George Gilbert.
"Nate, I've been searching for a George Gilbert with mob ties circa 1980, and I'm coming up empty. Are you sure your intel is correct?" Hardison asked Nate.
"I'm positive. Listen, Hardison, if we cancel this meeting, we lose all credibility with Blanchard. All right? It's our only shot, so please, get me an answer." Nate said.
"I got you. I got you." Hardison said.
Kaira then heard Blanchard clearing his throat.
"Peter Blanchard." He introduced himself.
"Ah. Jimmy Popodokolos, uh... Esquire." Nate said.
Parker and Kaira were at the vent. Parker was able to do a backbend and come back up. Kaira did the same. Parker then started working the safe.
"I like to know who I'm dealing with. James Popodokolos. Graduated from University Nevada, Reno Law school, 1993. Took the Nevada bar exam three times. Disbarred two years ago." Peter said.
Kaira chuckled. Of course, Hardison would make an identity that was so bad it was good.
"No. Uh, suspended. Okay? It was turned into a suspension. Yeah. I mean, you can call them up. I'm good to go." Nate said.
"What brings a suspended lawyer from Las Vegas to my office today?" Blanchard asked.
"Can I just - you strike me as a Harvard man." Nate said, buying time.
Parker was still on the safe.
"Class of '77." Blanchard said.
"I knew it. I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking what it must have been like for a guy like you, a Harvard man, to get those calls at three in the morning from Bennett Kimball - sports car wrapped around a tree, another pimp with an unpaid bill. See, I like to know who I'm dealing with, too." Nate said.
"What do you want?" Blanchard asked.
"I want to tell you a story... a story about a man who wrote a check for 50,000 dollars in 1980 to Lamond Holdings." Nate said.
"I wrote a lot of checks to a lot of companies. So what?" Blanchard said.
"So, well... I happen to know what the payment was for. So, you know, we can-we can do this game, or you can start talking compensation. And let's just get to it. All right, because it's what I do." Nate said.
"Nate, Nate, the payment was not for George Gilbert. It was for Georgia Gilbert. It wasn't a contract killing, man. I'm so-you-you got nothing." Hardison said.
"Bra, you in there with nothing. Better talk about your mama." Hardison said.
"Okay, I got you. Look. Georgia Gilbert - she was a stripper. She moved to Vegas back in 1980. Lamond Holdings was set up to pay her 50,000 dollars." Hardison said.
"Georgia Gilbert. Name ring a bell? Stripper. Yeah, your blue blood client Kimball fell in love with a stripper, didn't he? I know what you did here. You sent her out to Vegas with 50,000 dollars that was laundered through a holding company. That's - I bet you didn't even tell Kimball something. Or if you did, what? She ran away?" Nate said.
Kaira was impressed.
"It was for his own good. He wanted to marry her for god's sake. Mr. Popodokolos, I will cede that it would have been a scandal. But Mr. Kimball is dead. I don't see the relevance." Blanchard said.
"Damn." Kaira was impressed Nate figured that part out.
"You don't see the relevance?" Nate asked.
"No." Blanchard said. Karia heard finger tapping.
"Georgia Gilbert was pregnant. Hmm? Is that relevant?" Nate asked.
Karia was even more impressed.
"Hardison, was she pregnant?" Karia asked as Parker was still cracking the safe.
"Like, how would I know? I can't even find the girl's social security number. Just give me five seconds. Can I please have five seconds?" Hardison said.
"How would you know? She wouldn't say anything. I mean, you sent her out to Vegas, and the local syndicate probably said, "We're gonna put you in the ground in cement if you ever contact Kimball." What you have here is a situation where your millionaire's natural born daughter has come out of the woodwork and wants a payout." Nate said.
"Where is she?" Blanchard asked.
"Who?" Nate asked.
"The daughter." Blanchard answered.
"The daughter of Georgia Gilbert?" Nate questioned.
"Parker, you've got to go out. Hardison, I hope that identity is solid." Kaira said.
"Is it safe to see her now?" Nate asked.
Kaira and Parker got the hint. She got up and left, leaving Kaira to try to crack the safe.
"Uh, yeah. Come on in." Nate said to Parker, bringing her in.
"Mr. Blanchard. I'd like you to meet Lizzy Cantrell, born Lizzy Gilbert." Nate said, introducing Parker.
"What was she doing out there?" Blanchard asked.
"Um... stealing. She has a meth problem." Nate said.
Kaira facepalmed herself.
"I... do. I love meth." Parker said.
Kaira rolled her eyes and tried to get the safe opened.
"But she cleans up really nice for a judge. You know, and, oh, boy, when she starts crying about how, you know - growing up without a daddy, huh?" Nate said before Karia tuned the rest out and went back in the vents and crawled through them.
They arrived back at the office.
"I was one digit away from cracking that safe. One digit." Parker said, going to sit down with a soda.
"And I got the last digit but I couldn't actually type in the code. Ran out of time." Kaira said, sitting on the small couch with Eliot, sitting on him basically.
"Yeah, no, this is much better than the safe." Nate said.
"I got everything on Georgia Gilbert, and I mean everything." Hardison said.
He clicked his remote and was leaning back on the couch.
"She was born May 15, 1960. Graduated St. Mary's. She failed her driver's test three times." Hardison was saying as Kaira caught Nate looking at her driver's license application, which said she was colorblind.
"She's color blind. She wears a size 6 dress, size 8 shoe, and how in the world did you know she was pregnant?" Hardison said, kinda impressed with Nate.
"Wait, she was pregnant?" Kaira questioned curiously.
"Yeah. Gave the baby up for adoption." Hardison said.
"What happened to Georgia?" Parker asked.
"She died in 1985. Cancer." Hardison informed the team.
"Tough draw." Eliot said, sympathetic.
"Shit. That is a tough draw." Kaira said kinda quietly.
"Well, it wasn't really a guess. I mean, for decades, Kimball - he had a lot of women on the side. Avoided a lot of scandal, right? So what made him decide to marry Georgia Gilbert over all those women?" Nate said.
"Blanchard paid her off, and Kimball just thought she ran out on him." Eliot said.
"Damn. Kimball must've been so sad. I mean, he loved her enough to marry her, and then to just lose her like that? I would've probably killed myself looking for him if that happened to us." Kaira looked at Eliot, who placed a kiss on her cheek to calm her down.
"Now, how did you know that the baby was a girl?" Hardison asked.
"Oh. Oh, yeah. No, that - that was a guess. Yeah. Yeah." Nate said as Kaira and Hardison chuckled.
"I mean, but, you know, that's a 50/50 deal." Nate said.
"Why don't you find the real daughter?" Eliot asked.
"Adoption records are sealed. Paper only. I have a reference number, but nobody can see inside. All this is good up until Blanchard wants a DNA test. I got to say, even with my bag of tricks, I can't rewrite Parker's genetic code." Hardison said.
"So, we convince him that asking for the DNA test is the worse possible choice he could make." Kaira said.
"How do we do that?" Eliot asked.
"We don't." Nate said.
He gave Tara a call and told her what to do. Nate met with Tara and told her she did a good job.
The next day, Nate drove Parker to a meeting place, and Karia and Eliot were on the other side of the meeting place on watch.
"Ms. Carlisle, are you ready?" Nate asked in the phone.
"Uh, I never thought I'd say this, but I hope your way works, Mr. Ford, because I don't think we have a case." Tara said.
"By the time the hearing starts, we'll have a check in our hands." Nate said.
Nate heard Nate and Parker get out of the car.
"This is where he said." Parker said.
Kaira and Eliot were walking past a construction vehicle when they saw an older man aiming a machine gun at Nate and Parker. Kaira started running and Eliot yelled at Nate, warning him. The gunman shot out the window of Nate's car. Kaira then picked up a rock and threw it at the gunman, knocking his shot off, shooting the tire of Nate's car, causing Nate and Parker to run behind the car. Eliot ran up to the gunman and grabbed the gun. The gunman went to punch Eliot in the gut, but then Eliot pulled the gun away, clocking the gunman in the jaw. Eliot then tossed the gun to Kaira as she disarmed it and Eliot challenged the gunman.
"Come on." Eliot said, daring the gunman.
The gunman went to punch Eliot, but Eliot dodged it and punched him in the face. They did it again, only this time Eliot flipped the guy over on the gravel road. Kaira went beside Eliot and held the gun in her hand.
"You want this?" Kaira asked the gunman, who had gotten up and had blood coming down his nose.
Kaira held it, acting like she was gonna shoot him. The gunman ran away. Kaira tossed the gun to Eliot, who made sure the gun was empty.
"Well, he was convinced all right. Good plan." Parker said as Eliot tossed the gun behind him in the bushes.
"No, no, no. This is good. This is good. Because, I mean, you know, we get you to the hearing, he'll cut us a check in the hallway just to keep you from getting in front of that judge. But just make sure that Parker, uh... make sure she gets to that hearing... no matter what." Nate said, breathing heavily as he was grabbing something from the car and running away.
The trio started running to Eliot's car. They drove near the courthouse and started running. Parker ran into a chessboard and lifted two pairs of sunglasses. She handed them to Eliot.
"Are you kidding me?" Eliot put on the sunglasses.
"Look at this." Eliot said.
Parker had on white sunglasses and the trio kept walking.
"Hardison, give me some good news." Nate said.
"Oh, I got some great news for you. They just put out an APB on Parker. It says she's a late 20's caucasian woman who shot an officer, she's an addict, and she's armed. A trifecta." Hardison informed them.
"Hardison, how good's the description of her?" Eliot asked.
Just then a police car came up behind them. The trio stopped as Kaira groaned.
"Pretty good." Parker retorted.
They started running. Eliot and Parker lost the sunglasses and they ran into a side ally, knocking over trash cans. Just then Nate got a phone call from Blanchard, threatening him with Parker, saying she gunned down Lind, the gunman. Nate said it wouldn't hold up in court, but Blanchard asked if five to ten years of Parker's life was worth it, and that she should just go to Vegas and rot.
"All right, Hardison, listen. Blanchard's headed to the courthouse. You got to delay him. Buy us some time." Nate ordered Hardison.
"And how do you expect me to do that?" Hardison asked.
"I don't know, use your imagination." Nate said.
"Just use my imagination." Hardison said.
He got to work with whatever he was doing. Eliot, Parker, and Kaira were at a dead end underneath the courthouse.
"We're cut off. We're gonna have to get rough." Parker said.
Eliot and Parker looked at each other.
"I ain't hitting cops." Eliot said.
"Me neither." Kaira said.
Just then the door banged and there was shouting.
"I look forward to seeing you explain that." Parker said.
Hardison then planted keys on Blanchard. Kaira and Eliot hid as the police officer rounded the corner, pointing his gun at Parker.
"Whoa. Take it easy. Take it easy." Parker said.
Just then Kaira and Eliot came out. Kaira grabbed the gun and punched the officer with her elbow in the face. Eliot grabbed the gun and took the bullets out of it and threw it to the side.
"All right. Be cool. All right. Nothing's gonna happen to anybody." Eliot said.
"Just settle down." Kaira said before the cop went after Eliot, pulling out the taser.
Eliot disarmed him and tossed the taser to Parker.
"Not using the stun gun either." Eliot said.
Eliot shoved him away and Parker pointed the taser at the cop.
"Stop. Chill. All right? Nobody's gonna get hurt." Kaira said as Eliot went beside her, trying to calm the officer down.
Just then another cop came from behind and drew his weapon. Parker then pointed the stun gun underneath her and fired it, causing the cop to scream and go to the floor.
"Why would you do that?" Kaira asked, annoyed.
"Seriously? What are you doing?" Eliot asked Parker.
Parker shrugged her shoulders. Eliot turned to the cop.
"Listen, it's probably best if you pretend that you never saw us." Eliot said.
They started running and Parker shocked the cop again. Eliot slapped the taser out of Parker's hand and told her to stop.
"Nate, I did all I could do, but-" Hardison said as Kaira heard Blanchard enter.
It went silent a moment.
"Nate, I hope you have a plan B or F or something in the first half of the alphabet." Hardison said.
"Yes, but it depends on Ms. Carlisle." Nate said.
Kaira could hear him running and breathing heavy. Kaira got nervous.
"The librarian?" Hardison questioned.
It was silent another moment as Kaira and Parker tried to find another way in the courthouse.
"All right. Eliot, Karia, what's your 20?" Nate asked, going to security.
"Every entrance is covered. Parker and Kaira are trying to find another way in." Eliot said.
"Okay, Parker, Kaira, forget about the hearing. I need you two to do something else." Nate said.
Nate told the duo what to do. Kaira and Parker went to do the thing as they tuned into Nate's entrance.
"Jimmy Popodokolos. Sorry for my tardiness." Nate said in character.
"Judge, we're already underway here." Blanchard said.
"And I don't want to go through this a second time. Mr. Popodokolos..." The female judge said.
"That's me." Nate said. "... has filed that he represents a missing heir. I will hear him out." The judge said.
"Now?" Nate questioned.
"Mm-hmm. Yes, now." The judge said, wanting to move on.
"Uh, yeah. Your honor, if you just give me a moment to collect my thoughts, gather my papers, and, yeah. And again, sorry for the tardiness. And, uh, I like a wise Latina judge. I like it." Nate said, stalling quietly at the end.
"Thanks for keeping it going till I got here." Nate whispered.
"You can't pretend to be a lawyer in a courtroom." Tara whispered.
"Well, stick around. I'm about to practice medicine too." Nate said, whispering.
"Your honor, I'd like to offer into evidence these documents showing a payment that Mr. Blanchard made to a Georgia Gilbert, a woman I contend bore Mr. Kimball's child." Nate said to the judge.
"Yes, your honor. Mr. Popodokoli-" Blanchard was sayin before Nate butt in.
"It's Popodokolos." Nate corrected.
"Pokododolos. Pop - Pop-" Blanchard tried correcting it.
"Popodokolos." Nate corrected.
"This man spun these fairy tales in my office. It's a shakedown from a disbarred..." Blanchard argued, getting upset.
"Suspended." Nate corrected.
"Ambulance chaser from Las Vegas! And he says that he found Bennett Kimball's daughter. So, I only have one question for him. Where is she?" Blanchard said, getting angry.
It was silent for a moment.
"I could produce her, your honor. If you just allow me to ask the witness one question, one question to the witness." Nate said.
Kaira wondered where Nate was going with this.
"Please." The judge said.
"Okay?" Nate asked for confirmation.
"Ask." Blanchard said, annoyed.
"Thank you, your honor." Nate paused a moment.
"Ms. Walton... what color is my tie?" Nate asked.
Kaira was confused.
"I don't know. I'm colorblind." Ruth said.
There was another pause from Nate as the team wondered where this was going.
"Hmm. Colorblind. You're, uh... ah. yes. What I have here, your honor - these are the medical records for Bennett Kimball, which Mr. Blanchard here was kind enough to offer into evidence... which he was. Now, it states that Mr. Kimball is colorblind. Hmm. Now what we have here is - it says that Georgia Gilbert is color blind. On the Massachusetts application for a driver's license." Nate explained.
Kaira wondered what this meant.
"Now, it's rare for a woman to be colorblind. It takes a colorblind father, and a colorblind mother to produce a child who is colorblind." Nate said.
Kaira knew what he was implying. Ruth Walton was the daughter of Bennett Kimball, and the rightful heir to the estate.
"Wait, are-are you saying that I'm Bennett Kimball's daughter?" Ruth asked Nate.
"Your honor, now he's testifying." Blanchard said, trying to blow off what Nate said.
"You opened the door, counselor." The judge said.
"It's no coincidence, is it, that you started a program helping foster kids get adopted. No coincidence. Is it, Ruth Walton?" Nate said.
"No. I was adopted myself." Ruth said.
"Yes, in 1982. You were two years old. State of Nevada." Nate said.
"Yes." Ruth said.
And just in a snap, all the pieces fell into place.
"And the last time you saw Bennett Kimball, he called you by a different name, didn't he? What was it?" Nate asked.
Kaira was amazed he got all of that from a driver's license application.
"G.G. Yeah? Georgia Gilbert. G.G. Hmm? That's who he was looking at when he saw you that day. Your birth mother... the woman he loved and lost in 1980. Your honor... Bennett Kimball didn't call Ms. Walton here out of the blue to donate money to her charity. He searched for her. He searched for his daughter." Nate said.
"I move to strike Mr. Popodokos' evidence from the record based on the fact that I haven't been able to get adequate time to review these outlandish claims and prepare a proper response." Blanchard said, trying to salvage his case.
"Popodokolos." Nate corrected.
"Popodokolos!" Blanchard yelled, obviously angry.
"I agree, your honor. And I would also like to add a motion to compel a DNA test to put to rest any doubt that my client is Mr. Kimball's daughter. The truth will win out." Tara said.
"Motion granted. When we get the results, I expect I will be awarding Ms. Walton the Kimball estate. We're adjourned." The judge said, banging her gavel.
Parker and Kaira had arrived just a bit before. Nate looked proud of himself and Blanchard was still cocky.
"You honestly think this will hold up?" Blanchard asked.
"You know, for a Harvard man, you're not too sharp there. You know, you tried to keep Kimball's daughter out of the courtroom, she walked right in the front door." Nate said.
Parker and Kaira walked up to Blanchard.
"Sorry, we're late." Parker said.
"We were just in your office cleaning out your safe." Kaira said, kinda cocky.
"Those files - whoo! - That was a lot of dirt. I gave them to your special cop friend." Parker said.
"Oh, who's not too happy with you, by the way, since you shot him. I guess you can't pay him off with any of the Kimball Estate money." Nate said.
"Oh, and anyone who took ninth-grade biology will know about how inheritance of genes works." Kaira retorted as the cops put the cuffs on Blanchard.
"What the hell is this? Hey, you don't understand! These people are thieves! I don't even think that one's a lawyer! And if he's Greek, I'm Aristotle!" Blanchard yelled as he was being dragged out of the courtroom.
Ruth looked relieved and shocked.
"So, do you still think the law is the only pathway to justice?" Nate asked Tara.
"Now more than ever. I'd like to think that you learned something from me today." Tara said, leaving.
Kaira chuckled.
"Certainly." Nate said as he threw the file on the table.
They left and went back to the bar.
The next night, they met back at the bar and got drinks as Nate talked with Ruth after finding out that indeed, Ruth Walton was Bennett Kimball's daughter. They sat down together.
"So, um, where's, uh... where's your lawyer? I thought, you know, she'd be with you today you know, celebrating the win." Nate said.
"My lawyer? I never met her before this week. She told me she was with you." Ruth said.
The team was surprised. They told Ruth goodbye and they went up to Nate's apartment. They walked in and all stopped once they saw Tara. Only, she had on black leggings, black leather knee-high boots, and a grey tank top, her legs crossed, holding an envelope.
"Took you long enough." Tara said.
"Who are you?" Eliot asked, getting defensive.
"Tara Cole. I'm a friend of Sophie's." Tara said as the team went up to her and she handed the envelope to Nate.
"She said you guys were short-handed, asked me to help. It's all in there." Tara said.
Nate continued walking, opening the envelope as the quartet surrounded Tara.
"So, you help out by lying to us?" Hardison asked.
"I wanted to see just how good you really are and show you just how good I am. You can consider it my audition." Tara said.
"Pretty ballsy." Kaira said, impressed.
She smiled.
"I like it." Kaira said.
Tara gave her a half-cocked smile.
"I bet you're not even a lawyer." Parker said.
"Oh. Sophie was right. You are adorable." Tara said, amused.
"Excuse me?" Parker said.
Just then the trio started arguing and Kaira tried to calm them down.
"Hey. Hold on! Hey, hey! Guys, guys." Nate got their attention, turning around.
"She's right. Sophie did send her. And Sophie asked us to give Tara here a shot." Nate handed the letter to Hardison, and him and Parker looked at it.
"Well played. Welcome aboard." Nate said, extending his hand for Tara to shake.
"Thanks." Tara said.
She chuckled as grabbed Parker's arm as she was leaving.
"Adorable." Tara said.
She neared the door.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up. Mnh-mnh. Hold up, hold up. What is this?" Hardison questioned Tara.
"Oh, that's my invoice. For my cut of the inheritance." Tara explained.
The team gave her dirty looks.
"Hey, I'm not a candy stripper. This is my job." Tara said.
Nate nodded his head, indicating to go ahead with the payment. Tara smiled.
"There. See? We're getting paid already. It's gonna be fun." Tara said, laughing.
"You know, we don't do this for the money!" Kaira called out as Tara walked out the door. shutting it behind her.
"How did I miss that?" Karia questioned herself.
The team turned back around and all looked at Nate, not totally happy with the situation. This was gonna get interesting.
Kaira then went back to her and Eliot's apartment and sat at the breakfast nook with a glass of wine. She pulled out her cellphone. She looked at the contacts and saw Sophie's name. Kaira exhaled and pressed call. It rang, but Sophie didn't answer. It went to voicemail.
"Hey, Soph. It's me. I'm sorry for calling you. I know Nate said we wouldn't call again. But, I need to get something off my chest. Sophie, a name doesn't define who you are. Your heart and soul does. That's the reason I became friends with you Sophie. And yeah, I'm a little pissed at you Soph. You decided to leave after my wedding! You walked me down the aisle! I was so happy, I couldn't forget it for the life of me. But then you told me you were leaving. And you know what happened? I got shitfaced on wine and whiskey! I don't remember getting home that night. Eliot had to fill in the blanks for me. I never get wasted. And I don't blame you. I blame myself for not trying to convince you to stay. And thank you for sending Tara. She's good. Fooled me." Kaira paused, taking a breath.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you. I wish there was something I could do to tell you that it's okay to question who you are. But, Soph, there are people here that need you. We miss you like crazy. I miss you." Kaira started tearing up.
She calmed down.
"I'm sorry Soph. Do me a favor. Don't tell Nate I called?" Kaira ended the message and held her phone.
She put it up to her face and started crying. She missed Sophie. She missed the tips, the bad acting, and the motherly feel she had. Time would only tell if Sophie was returning. Kaira wished she had a time machine.