Chapter 20
Nate made it to the airport and immediately booked a flight to LA, if he was going to fight, he was going to fight on home ground and far away from here. He used one of his specially made aliases that none of them knew about, one that he had made a long time ago, when he was considering leaving the team and needed to have a way to go without Hardison being able to track him. He could not stay in hiding though, he would have to makes sure they knew where he was otherwise they would go for the others he thought as he sat back in his seat sipping on the whiskey the stewardess had brought him.
The plane landed two and half hours later, and he made his way to the rental company getting himself a car. Then he set off, it was not a long drive when he pulled up outside of St Nicholas Catholic Church. He sighed heavily before climbing out of the car and entering the church to find his friend. This was a way he could let them know he was safe Sophie would be going out of her mind right now he knew. Moreau would not know about Paul, and he would not suspect a call from a Priest if he was bugging them, he was not sure how good his Hacker was, but the woman had found Moreau, had got him out of jail and had also found his phone number which was unlisted and had changed since the debacle with Sadiski previously.
"Nate…" Father Paul said as he saw Nate walk through the doors. "It has been a long time, how are you and how is Sophie and Michael?"
"They are fine Paul, just fine." Nate said smiling at him.
"What's wrong?" Paul said looking at the man. He knew Nate well, better than most and he could see that he was troubled.
"I need you to get a message to Sophie for me Paul."
"What… a message…Nate what is going on?"
"I can't tell you that." Nate replied. "It is for your own safety."
"I don't like the sound of that. I thought you and Sophie were no longer involved in the business."
"We aren't." Nate said.
"Nate what is going on?"
"Paul please, I just need you to get a message to Sophie and I need you to do it quietly and not tell her where I am, for her safety and the others, can you do that?" Nate asked, he wanted to let Sophie know he was alright, and this was the best way.
Moreau was the wild card here, he knew Nate, knew his game, knew his team and their abilities. He would be attuned to all their tricks, all their gadgets. Nate was going to have to play this game of cat and mouse very carefully.
"Fine, but Nate…"
"I'll be in touch Paul and thank you." Nate said handing him a note and then turned and left a bewildered man to watch him go.
Nate walked out and then made his way to the nearest phone booth and pulling a slip of paper out of his pocket he dialled a number.
"LA Sadiski come and get me, let's see who is the chosen one now." Nate said as soon as Sadiski picked up then hung up again not wanting the call traced and not really wanting to give the man time to go on again, he was tired of all the bullshit from him. So now they knew he was in LA and that he was waiting for him, but he did not know where so Nate had the advantage.
He sighed and then climbed into his car and drove towards a run-down motel he had often stayed in after Sam died, not wanting to be found and only wanting to drink. It was a dump, but it was perfect for his needs now. As he drove towards the motel Father Paul walked into his office and dialled Sophie's number.
"Paul." Sophie said answering her phone and seeing the number.
"Sophie how are you?"
"Fine."
"I don't think so."
"Paul what do you mean?" She said her heart clenching as she wondered if he had news of Nate and if he did it was not good of that she was sure.
"Nate told me to give you a message."
"Nate…" Sophie whispered his name.
"Sophie I don't know what is going on, but he said to tell you he was fine and that you needed to keep yourself and Michael safe, that Eliot should make sure he understands that his friend is around and part of the…game." Paul recited the message Nate had given him. "Sophie what is going on?"
"I can't tell you Paul, for your own sake." Sophie said listening to the message. "How did he…was he…"
"He looked fine Sophie." Paul assured her.
"Thank you Paul." Sophie said smiling through the tears. "If he contacts you again."
"I'll let you know." Paul said and then Sophie hung up.
"So Moreau is in the game and Nate is in LA." Eliot surmised.
"Yeah but where in LA and why LA?"
"Because he wanted to draw them away from here, from us, from Sophie and because Nate knows LA very well, he will have places to hide, maybe even resources he can call on." Parker stated.
"Well at least he contacted us but why this way?" Hardison said that was a good sign, maybe Nate really was going to use them to help him, otherwise he would never have gone to Paul, although he was a little unclear as to why Nate had used that way to contact them.
"'Cause he warned us about Sadiski's resources remember, a good Hacker, this was a way of contacting us that Moreau nor Sadiski will expect, if he had called you might have been able to trace him, or they would have."
"But how will Sadiski know he is in LA?"
"Well if I had to guess Parker, he would have told him." Sophie said and Eliot nodded, Nate would have contacted Sadiski and told him where he was and probably dared him to come and get him too damn the man.
"Michael needs to be changed." She said rising and walking away to the nursery.
She entered and closed the door behind her before sitting down and hugging her boy to her. She wondered where Nate was now, out there alone and being hunted by two psychopathic men who wanted nothing more than to kill him. She felt hot tears prick at her eyes as she thought of him and looked down at his son.
"Don't worry Michael, you daddy will come home, he will." She whispered as she put him down and started to change him. "He loves you Michael, more than anything in this world, probably even more than me, he loves you and he had to go away to keep you safe, but he will come home, he always comes home." She said softly.
