Chapter 10
The next morning Nate was up early and sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee when Eliot joined him.
"How you feeling?" Eliot asked as he got himself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the table.
"Fine." Nate smiled at the Hitter.
Eliot looked at him but just shook his head he was not fine and they both knew it.
"Got any ideas?"
Nate shook his head he did not have any idea of what to do. He knew the one thing that would get them all out of this with their lives, if not himself. He was sure the man, whoever he was would move on once he was taken care of.
"Has he contacted you again?"
"No." Nate said as he stood to pour himself another cup of coffee this time with a dash of whiskey added to it. "And you know I'm not sure he will either, I mean he has given me his ultimatum and now he will wait to see if I carry it through."
"So how long do you think he will wait?" Eliot asked softly.
Nate looked up at him and shook his head, he could tell from the look in his Hitters eyes that Eliot knew he had not eliminated sacrificing himself as a consideration when thinking about how to get Sophie and them out of this situation, no matter what Sophie or any of them said, if it was the only way, then it was best to keep it as a consideration, a backup plan if you would, plan Z.
"Eliot you need to promise me you will make sure Sophie gets through this no matter what happens. I need to know that she will be safe and that…that she and the baby will be taken care of."
"She'll be safe." Eliot said. He knew what Nate meant, if it came down to him having to sacrifice himself to make sure Sophie was safe, he wanted to know that Eliot would get Sophie through it but he knew that no matter what he or any of the other two did Sophie would never get over losing Nate especially if he followed the route he was contemplating. "But she won't get over that."
"She will." Nate said softly. "With all of you being there for her she will."
"Not going to happen anyway Nate, we will find another way." Eliot stated he would not allow it, could not allow it, he had to understand that it was not only Sophie that would not be able to accept it if it did happen, if he did follow through.
"Yes we will." Nate said but there was no conviction in his voice. They were out of time and out of options as far as he could see.
"Morning darling…" Sophie said as she entered the kitchen pulling Nate out of his thoughts. "How you feeling?" She asked as she gave him a quick kiss before walking to the kitchen.
"Fine." Nate gave his standard answer as he watched her pour herself a cup of tea before taking her seat beside him.
"So what's the plan?" She asked looking from Nate to Eliot.
"Well we don't have one yet." Nate smiled at her. "For now we are secure here though."
"He won't wait that long before he makes a move will he?"
"No I don't think so."
"So we need to be ready for when that happens." Sophie said putting her hand on his and squeezing it gently. "If you are right he will come for one of us if you do not do as he wants, and you are not going to do that. So we use that, we get him to make a move."
"No."
"Nate you have done this very thing often and you know it is the only way, we need to get him to make a move and then we can make a run at him."
"No and that is final." Nate said. Yes he had set himself up before, he had even used them before to set up a take down but not this time. Not with her carrying his child and not when dealing with a man he knew nothing about and had no plan to take down.
"Then what…" Sophie asked locking eyes with him.
"I don't know Sophie. The fact is we know nothing about this man, the FBI has next to nothing on their files and we have no idea what he is capable of, what resources he has, we know nothing so we can't set him up, he holds all the cards."
"The only thing we know for sure is he will make a move, he has to, something is driving him, nothing we can understand, but it is driving him and it is compelling him to ensure you die." Eliot said. "And Nate, there is no guarantee that he will not come after us even if you are dead."
"Oh no I think that is a fact Eliot. He thinks that I was targeted for a reason, I was picked to die and should be dead. When that is accomplished he will move on to his next victims, he is a serial killer, and he has a pattern, and he will stick to that pattern. He has had to deviate from that pattern because I survived but when he has finished his 'mission' then he will move on."
"And go about his business which is taking innocent lives." Sophie muttered thinking about what Nate was saying, if they did not stop him, or if the FBI did not stop him he would not stop, he would continue to do what he did until somebody stopped him.
"Yes yes…" Nate muttered as he sipped his Irish thinking about the situation he and his family were in. If he did nothing then more people would die, if he tried to take this man down and failed his family might die. "The FBI contacted me, said they could protect us if we came in and…well I cooperated with them in trying to take him down."
"Oh, and when did this happen?" Sophie asked raising her eyebrows at him, he had said nothing about speaking to the FBI.
"Last night."
"What did you say?" Eliot asked. Had Nate agreed to it and if he did, then he knew that the FBI were going to want to put Nate in the firing line to get him.
"I said no." Nate told him as he sat back in his chair. "But maybe it is not that bad an idea."
"Nate are you crazy, they are going to want to put you out there and let this man come at you."
"Yeah I told them he won't do that, he doesn't want to waste time on me, in his eyes I am already dead you see." Nate told them as he stood and walked over to the coffee maker for another cup. "But if I do nothing and he can't get to you…"
"Then he might just break his own rules and do exactly that." Eliot finished for him.
"Exactly right." Nate nodded as he took his seat again.
"So you are thinking about doing this, and you are expecting us…me to allow it?" Sophie asked and he could hear the disbelief in her voice.
"It will ensure your safety and get a killer off the streets Sophie. It is an option and that is all."
"Morning." Hardison said as he and Parker came into the kitchen.
"Morning." Sophie said as Parker passed her grabbing her box of cereal and Hardison poured himself a cup of coffee.
"So what's going on?" Parker asked as she took her seat. She could sense there was a tension at the table.
"Nate is thinking about putting us in FBI protective custody and letting them use him to draw this maniac out." Sophie stated.
"Sophie…"
"What Nate, is that not what you said?"
"I said it was an option." Nate sighed looking at her and then at the rest of his team. "That's all."
"Not a good one." Hardison said as he sipped his coffee.
"I didn't say it was a good one Hardison."
"But you are considering it?" Parker asked looking at Nate, she could see he was and that if he made that decision they would not be able to stop him anyway.
"Yes I am." He replied.
"Nate I don't…" Sophie started to say but then was interrupted by Nate's phone.
"Ford." He answered as he picked up the call.
"You have decided to defy me, to defy your destiny, you will pay the price." A man's voice said.
"Really." Nate said his voice hard and everybody around the table looked at him realising who he was talking to. "And who is going to make me pay that price you?" He was surprised the man had contacted him again, but it gave him an opening, a window and he was going to take it.
"I am the…"
"You are nothing, you use people because you can't do your own dirty work, then when you fail…well you act like a petulant child." Nate said softly.
"I am the hand of…"
"You are not talking to the FBI now, you are talking to a man who knows who and what you are, who takes you for what you are, a nothing, a nobody who is looking to feed his own ego. I have known many men like you, I have hunted them, I have jailed them, and I did not fail when I set out to do something. Now you go ahead and do whatever it is you think you need to do, you failed Mr Man, you failed, I am still alive and no matter who else you might kill, who you might target it will not make that mistake right. I will still be alive, and you still will have failed. Now that should make you wonder, can you take on a man like me, can you win against a man like me…I defy you, I defy your…whatever the hell it is you think my destiny is and I dare you to take me on you sick son-of-a-bitch. Think about that." Nate said then hung up the phone.
"What the hell?" Eliot asked as Nate hung up the phone.
"Well we said we wanted him to come after us so that we could have a run at him didn't we?"
"After US Nate, not you, and this is not going to do that." Parker said locking eyes with the man.
Nate held her gaze for a few seconds then looked away and at the rest of the people around the table. "Look I have to do something. This man he is driven by some crazy fantasy he is living in inside his own head. So he is obsessed with killing me, making sure that the one who was 'chosen' dies and that happens to be me. So now I have just tried to make him see that killing somebody else, coming after any one of you will not fix the problem."
"No, only killing you will." Sophie said her tone one of anger.
"Exactly and he will have to do it himself because he knows now that I will not." Nate said ignoring the obvious anger she was feeling for his actions and knowing the others felt the same way.
"So now what?" Eliot sighed, Nate would do what he wanted to no matter how they felt or what they said, the best they could do was back him up and hope to God they could keep him alive.
"Well we have to make sure that you Sophie are safe and out of harms way." Nate said looking at her. "And before you say anything I am not going to do this alone, we can handle it, but you are not going to be involved in any way understand?"
"I understand." Sophie said much to the surprise of the other three.
"Good. Now we have to come up with some way of doing this without getting me or any one of you killed." Nate smiled at her taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently.
