Chapter 8

The church service for David and Elysia was very moving, Nate had arranged it as David had no family and he had decided to hold the service in Portland. There were a lot of people who attended, and Nate seemed to know a few of them, especially those that came from the old Boston neighborhood he had grown up in. Nate sat stoically at the back of the church keeping his eyes fixed on the coffin of the little girl. Sophie sat beside him her hand wrapped in his. Once the service was over they joined the procession to the graveyard and remained there until all the other mourners had left. Then Nate turned to Sophie and in his eyes she saw something that made her blood run cold.

"I am going to kill Moreau." He said and she knew he meant it that his words were not for show.

"Nate you can't you are not a killer and I won't let you do that." She said playing her part but also meaning every word.

"Don't like it then leave. He killed that girl and he is going to pay."

"No." Sterling said loudly. "I will not allow you to do that."

Nate laughed then the mad laugh Eliot had last heard in a deserted warehouse on that first job when Victor had not paid them and sent them to the warehouse to die.

"We will not let you do this Nate. We will get Moreau your way, our way, we took him down once and we can do it again." Parker said also playing the part Nate had told her too.

"NO." Nate almost shouted. "Moreau is going to pay for Elysia, he is going to pay with his life. Now I am going to do this so just stay out of my way."

"You are not a killer Nate." Hardison said softly he was not playing a part he was fearful of what Nate was planning to do, fearful of what it would do to Nate, what it would do to their family.

"Maybe not Hardison." Nate said looking at the Hacker and seeing the genuine fear and trepidation in his eyes. "But nevertheless I am going to do this."

"Nate please…"

"Enough." Nate said loudly. "Enough. I will take it from here." He said then turned and walked away from them and they stood and watched him go. If Moreau were watching he would never know this was not genuine as the looks on all their faces were ones of outright fear of what was to come.

Moreau watched the little scene and smiled to himself. So the man was going to kill him, well he had better have a good plan to do that. He knew Nathan Ford. He had studied him, and he knew the man was not a killer. If he came after him he would hesitate and that would give him the edge. This was going to be easier than he thought. Nathan was obviously upset, and he was overwhelmed with guilt at the death of the girl, which is what Moreau had wanted, that was making him make rash decisions. He was walking away from his team. He was not naive enough to believe that the team would let him do that, especially Eliot. The level of loyalty the man had shown to him was more than he had ever got from the Hitter, and besides Eliot would not have a problem killing him or allowing Nate to do it, in fact he would help Nate do it. That meant he had to go after Nate soon, now while he was vulnerable.

He turned to his man and instructed him to follow the Mastermind and then be ready to take him when the opportunity arose. He was not going to go after Nate himself right now, no he thought, the team would be watching for that. He was using help, they would bring the man to him and then, well then he was going to make Nathan Ford wish he had never been born.

Nate walked away from them and he could feel their eyes on him, he knew they were all afraid of what he wanted to do, what he was going to do. He knew he could take Moreau down in his way, the teams' way. He could build a plan and with their help he could take him down again. But then what he thought, no Moreau would get out and come after him again, did they not understand that there was no other way of doing this and this job was his to do, not Eliot's or Parkers or any one of theirs but his. His arrogance, his belief that he could best Moreau had cost a little girl her life and Moreau was going to pay. He had told them that he was going to use them but that was not true. He wanted them nowhere near this, not just because he planned on killing the man but because he did not want to risk their lives, especially Sophie's.

He also knew he was being followed, he had no doubt that Moreau had somebody on him, and he was ready for that. He wanted Moreau to chase him, so he had to play this very carefully. He was going to lead this dance and he had to ensure that Moreau understood that. He quickly made his way to his car and drove off.

"Well it has started." Sterling said as he watched Nate drive away.

"I am tracking him. He is driving towards his apartment." Hardison said looking up from his phone. He had made sure that Nate's car, his clothes hell even his shoes had devices, Nate was not getting away from them and Moreau was not going to get Nate alone.

"I have a guy following Nate as well just in case." Eliot told them and Sophie looked at him questioningly. "Well we have to stand here and look flustered don't we?" Eliot said softly. Doing that meant they could not follow him and be there if something happened while they were still at the cemetery.

"Well let's go the sooner we are home the better I will feel." Sophie said. There they could watch Nate and make sure he was alright, and they were not that far from his apartment either.

They all left making a beeline for the van. It did not take them long to get back to the apartment and as they were exiting the van Eliot's phone rang.

"Grant." Eliot said answering the call from his man that he had following Nate.

"I lost him."

"You what?" Eliot said looking at Hardison. "He is not at his apartment?"

At that everybody's eyes turned to him.

"No…well he could be, he lost me a little while back. There was somebody else on his tail as well."

"Dammit Grant." Eliot said softly looking at Sophie and seeing the angst in her eyes.

"Let's go." Sophie said climbing back into the van. She was going to Nate's apartment and damn his plan, she had to know he was safe.

They all nodded and climbed in as Sophie gunned the engine and set out tyres screeching as she pulled out of the underground parking.

They arrived at Nate's apartment ten minutes later and found it empty. There was no sign of Nate but there was also no sign of a struggle of any kind.

"Where the hell is he?" Sterling said looking around the apartment.

"I don't know but these are here." Hardison said looking down at the table which held every tracking device that Hardison had put on the man, as well as those that were in the car.

"Damn him." Eliot said anger clear in his voice.

"So he lied to you all…" Sterling said softly. "What a shocker."

Sophie looked at him her eyes full of anger, not at him but at Nate for doing this. He had said he would let them help him, said that he would use them to take down Moreau now he was out there alone and they had no idea where he was.