Chapter 19
Nate quietly stepped out of his room moving quickly into the nursery. He looked down at his sleeping son so wanting to pick him up and hold him but fought the urge, he did not want to wake him and by doing that waking Sophie. He whispered his love to the boy gently placing his lips to his forehead, then he moved back to his room and to the bed where Sophie lay sound asleep.
"God Sophie I love you and I know you are going to be angry about this, but it is one way to make sure that you and our son are safe. Take care of yourself my darling." He said as he leaned over and placed a soft gentle kiss on her head. Sophie moaned slightly in her sleep but did not wake. "Remember always that I love you and if it is within my power I will come back to you." He whispered. As quickly and as quietly as he could he changed his clothes then took one last look at his sleeping wife before moving out of the room.
He stealthily made his way down the passage and stopped looking into the living room. He saw Eliot on the sofa, he was half sitting half lying on the sofa and Nate could tell he was sleeping. He moved quietly into the study and collected a few things then switched off the alarms and the cameras. It was a risk he knew but he doubted it was much of one, nobody would be coming tonight for them and Hardison would have everything up and running again in the morning, or at least when Eliot woke up he though, which probably would not be long now. Quickly he scribbled a note to his Hitter and left it on the coffee table as he snuck passed the sleeping man.
"Take care of them." He whispered to Eliot as he stepped out of the door and closed it behind him before making his way as quickly as he could down the path towards the gate at the bottom. He could not risk taking a car, the engine would wake the Hitter and probably the rest too. He sighed as pulled out his phone and ordered a cab to pick him up.
Two hours after Nate had slipped out of the house Eliot woke. He was immediately awake with no normal twilight between awake and asleep and he swept his eyes around the room and they settled on the paper that was on the table, that had not been there before. Leaning forward he picked up the paper and read the note his expression darkening as he did. Then he rose and walked to Hardison and Parker's door knocking and waking Parker almost immediately.
"Eliot." Parker said opening the door and looking at the Hitter. "What's wrong."
"Get Hardison, he needs to get the security up and running again. I'll get Sophie." Eliot said without answering her question.
Parker immediately turned and woke Hardison telling him he needed to go and check his security, then she dressed and left the room to wait for Eliot in the living room. She had no idea what was going on, but something was, and Eliot was on high alert and was also terribly upset, although not many would have seen it, but they were family and Parker immediately saw through his façade.
Eliot emerged a few minutes later from Sophie's room and Hardison came into the living room cursing violently about his security being tampered with. Sophie joined them five minutes later and then they all waited for Eliot to say something. The one thing they all noticed is Nate was not with them.
Eliot looked at all of them and then picked up the note the Mastermind had left for him.
Eliot, Sadiski is coming for me but with an added problem, he has recruited Moreau to assist and he has a team, Hardison you need to watch yourself he has a Hacker a good one. You need to make sure Sophie and Michael are safe Eliot, that is your one duty, yours, and Parker and Hardison, make sure my wife and child are safe. I have taken coms and I will be in contact when I can, but for now, I need to get Sadiski and Moreau away from her, away from them. I am trusting you, all of you to take care of them and yourselves.
Silence followed as they all took in what Nate was telling them. He had left to draw Sadiski away from them, but he was not only facing him, but he was also facing Moreau, a man who wanted Nate dead as much as Sadiski did, he was facing a team according to him, and he was alone.
"Well he disabled everything." Hardison said softly.
"Yes he would have." Sophie said her voice not betraying the fear she felt inside.
"He said he took coms, so he will contact us when he needs us." Parker said but her voice conveyed no conviction.
Sophie looked from one to the other then stood without a word and made her way to her son's room. She stood at the crib and looked down at him a tear slipping from her eye as she leaned in and picked him up. The baby made soft noises but did not wake and Sophie moved to sit on the daybed with her son held close to her. She may never see his father again and she knew Nate had done what he had to protect them, to protect them all but mostly her and Michael. She was angry with him although she had expected nothing less.
"How did he leave he hasn't taken a car?" Parker asked looking at Hardison.
"Cab…hey that's good girl." Hardison said looking up at her. Moving to his computer he pulled up his screen and started working.
"Ok, so he got a cab just over two hours ago, it dropped him off at the airport."
"Did he take any flights?"
"Nah girl no flights, at least not in his name or any of his aliases."
"Maybe he picked up a rental?" Eliot asked.
"Checked again nothing not under his name or any aliases." Hardison said feeling dejected.
"What about Moreau?" Eliot asked looking at the Hacker, he knew Hardison kept track of their possible enemies to ensure he knew if trouble might be coming their way, especially the likes of Moreau.
"As far as I know he is still in jail on San Lorenzo." Hardison said brining up his records of the man. "Short of going there to confirm, I can't tell you he is not, but I don't think Sadiski would have told Nate that if he weren't."
"How did he know about Moreau?" Parker asked. Sadiski had been in jail these last almost two years, his team non-existent, how did he know about Moreau how did he manage to get him out of jail if that is what he did and why Moreau.
"I don't know but the two of them together…" Eliot said shaking his head. Moreau was a psychopath, a man who loved nothing more than inflicting pain and reigning down destruction on his enemies. "Nate drew them away because Moreau will be coming for me too, for all of us. Sadiski has no idea what or who he is dealing with."
"So if Nate does not manage to beat them, then we are in big trouble here." Hardison said his eyes wide.
Then he turned back to his computer and started going over his security again, he was not leaving anything to chance and Nate had warmed him about a Hacker, so he had to make sure there were no backdoors into his system, especially if Nate was going to contact them, he did not want the Mastermind being traced through his lack of vigilance, Nate was trusting him to keep Sophie and Michael safe and if it was the last thing he did he would.
"Well this is our job, to keep them safe until Nate gets in contact." Eliot said looking towards the nursery where Sophie still sat with the sleeping Michael in her arms rocking him gently.
