The area outside of Bering Aerospace bustled in great activity. Wait staff rushed, weaving between tables, dodging other employees. Florists created various flower arrangements near the balcony and the tables. The event planner- a petite blonde- stood at the helm of her ship, barking orders.
Dubenich kept a fast pace, even as the engineer- Ray Bryant- struggled to keep up. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ray asked, dodging the event planner's underlings as they prepared for the party to take place after the shareholder's meeting.
Dubenich cast a wayward glance at his employee. "Yeah, they're pissed, I get that. They want to make me pay. I mean, an opportunity like this, the same week as the Shareholder's Meeting. The bug, the fake offices, cash bribes, Nigerians for god's sake! Nigerians" Dubenich exclaimed. "I mean, it's like those email scams with Nigerian bank fraud letters. Who the hell do they think I am?" he turned to face Ray as he walked. "Some dog they can just lead around? They're going to find out exactly how wrong they are!" he yelled.
-O-
Hardison's Loft…
Eliot, Parker, and Hardison stuffed six packages into two separate duffel bags. Eliot and Hardison slung the bags over their shoulders. The six exited the penthouse. In the hall, Nate asked Liza: "You got the thing?"
Liza nodded, pulling a portfolio stuffed to full capacity with papers and photos from her bag. "Finished it this morning," she said after catching his gaze. "And don't forget. You're the one who said to go crazy,"
Nate looked at his watch as they descended in the elevator. If Dubenich stayed true to his schedule, he would be presenting the stolen designs right about now. When they reached the ground floor, he checked his watch again. And the Nigerians would be leaving just about now. Dressed in a grey suit, Hardison reached the front door first, quickly exiting, with Parker following closely. Eliot pushed the door open next, revealing his brown leather jacket and tie. Donning her business attire once again, Liza stepped outside immediately after the hitter. Nate caught the door before it closed on Sophie. She smiled at him before exiting as well.
-O-
Bering Aerospace…
Sophie and Liza met the Nigerians as they exited their cars. Mr. Ogunjimi approached first. Sophie shook his hand before inviting the rest of the men to follow her.
-O-
The board of directors and shareholders stood on the fully decorated patio, leaning against tables and sipping champagne. A few of them congratulated Dubenich as he passed them. A soft, classical tune floated through the air; the noise covered Dubenich's soft conversation with one of his investors.
The investor replied: "All I know is, a good day for you,"
Dubenich lifted his glass to his mouth. "It's a good day for all of us. Stock's gone up 15 points since the announcement,"
The investor quirked an interested brow. "Really?"
Dubenich faked a modest surprise. "You didn't know?"
The investor shook his head. "No." he picked up his champagne from the table as he began to walk away to speak with other shareholders. "I'll pass it around," he told Dubenich.
Sophie and Liza approached as Dubenich watched the man go. Sophie spoke from behind him while Liza pulled out her cell phone, dialing a familiar phone number. "Well, aren't you the cat that ate the canary?"
Dubenich turned with a satisfied grin. "Does it show?"
"Horrible poker-face," Sophie said.
"Guilty," Dubenich replied. He looked past Liza, who spoke in hushed tones into her phone's receiver, to the Nigerians standing behind her. Dubenich tilted his head to the side. "Why don't we get this done?"
Sophie seemed startled at his request but quickly recovered. "Now?" Dubenich nodded in answer, taking a sip of wine. "You have the whole payment?"
"Absolutely, I think we should make the deal. I want to make the announcement, get even bigger headlines," Dubenich said. "I'll take them into a conference room away from all this. Go, go, go." he motioned for her to fetch the men. "Let's do it,"
"I'll be right back," Sophie said.
Liza remained at a safe distance from Dubenich as she disconnected her call. Sophie strode toward the men while Dubenich kept his eyes on her as she went. She glanced up the sky, muttering: "This better work, Nate,"
-O-
Dubenich swiftly led them to a conference room near his office. "Gentlemen," he began, stepping through the already open glass doorway. "now everybody come in, relax, make yourselves comfortable." He tapped the chairs as he walked past them, striding to the head of the table.
"Thank you," Mr. Ogunjimi said as he sat down. The rest of Mr. Ogunjimi's colleagues seated themselves around the table while Sophie and Liza remained near the doorway. Mr. Ogunjimi folded his hands on top of the table. "I assume we all understand the terms of this agreement,"
Dubenich leaned against the table. His tone when he spoke next became haughty. "Well, I'll tell you, the exact terms of the agreement, are these-" he pressed a button on the desk telephone. In seconds, several FBI agents flooded into the conference room.
"FBI! Don't move!" the youngest agent ordered.
An older, dark-skinned man-Higgins- then entered the room, asking Mr. Ogunjimi: "You all right, sir?"
Thinking the question to be directed at him, Dubenich answered: "Oh, I'm fine," crossing his arms. "Thanks for asking. Everything's perfectly-" Two agents came to stand at Dubenich's back. They each grabbed one of his arms. He looked down in confusion when the two agents yanked on his arms, dragging them away from his chest.
Mr. Ogunjimi stood to his feet, buttoning his suit jacket. He looked to Agent Higgins, replying, "Yes, of course,"
Dubenich looked to the agents, astonished. "What? What are you …? Wait a minute, wait a minute, let go of me, please." he wrenched his arms from the agents' grip. "What are you looking at me for, the criminals are sitting right over there, look at them." He pointed to the men sitting around the table. "Listen, I spoke to Special Agent Higgins if you call him on the phone-"
Agent Higgins lifted his badge into Dubenich's view. "I'm Special Agent Higgins," he said, and Dubenich's eyes widened. "Victor Dubenich, you are under arrest for soliciting a bribe from these Nigerian Government officials,"
Dubenich's complexion lost its lively color as he began stuttering. "I'm not-I'm not soliciting-these aren't even Nigerians,"
Mr. Ogunjimi stepped forward, retrieving his diplomatic passport from his jacket pocket. "Of course, we are,"
Dubenich held up his finger, shaking his head. "No, no. No,"
Mr. Ogunjimi slid his passport back into his pocket, vehemently replying, "Your women knew that when they contacted us last week,"
Dubenich pointed to himself. "My..women? Anna? Amy?" he questioned, looking for the Nigerians affirmation that that was indeed to whom he was referring. He craned his neck, looking to the doorway where Sophie and Liza had been standing. The doorway was empty, devoid of anyone, let alone the two con artists. "Anna?" he repeated before yelling, "Anna!" He swiped his hands across his forehead when he turned his head to face Higgins. "Um, Special Agent Higgins, Anna Gunschtot and her assistant works for them,"
"Ridiculous!" Ogunjimi spat. "She contacted us on your behalf!"
Another diplomat approached. "She told us she worked directly under you now,"
-O-
Fake Offices...
Three days previous…
The receptionist led Sophie and Liza into their conference room. The two women waited only a few minutes before they met Mr. Ogunjimi. He introduced himself and shook Sophie's hand. Sophie introduced Liza as her assistant before introducing herself and producing a business card: "Anna Gunschtot from Bering Aerospace, directly under Victor Dubenich,"
-O-
Present…
Dubenich's mouth fell agape. With a small shake of his head, he attempted to explain more quietly: "But… b-but she took me. She took me to their office,"
Ogunjimi shook his head. "No! We do not have an office in this city,"
Dubenich snapped his fingers in realization. His frantic gaze darted to Agent Higgins. "Exactly!"
"We met her at your other office," Ogunjimi said, and Dubenich's face fell.
-O-
Fake Offices...
Two days previous…
Eliot screwed the last bolt into the sign just as he heard elevator ding. He gave a last glance to the sign, which read: 'Bering Consulting. Victor Dubenich'. He grabbed his tool bag, running to escape before the Nigerians noticed him. He turned the corner that led to the stairwell as Sophie introduced herself and Liza.
-O-
Present…
Dubenich visibly blanched. Panic took control as he said: "The shareholders...the shareholders!" he spun around, pushing past the two agents and dashing from the room.
-O-
As Dubenich ran to the party outside, he could only watch in horror as several police cars stopped in front of his building. A swarm of uniformed officers and jacketed FBI agents flooded the area. The agents sprinted toward the partygoers while yelling for no one to leave. The party erupted into concerned and outraged chatter. One of Dubenich's investors screamed, trying to get Dubenich's attention.
Dubenich forced himself through the crowd. "No, no, no. Uh, everybody, could I have your attention?" he waved his arms, and only a few of the shareholders listened. "It's just, it's just a permit problem,"
"Victor, what's going on?" the shareholder hissed.
"I can explain, Tom-" Dubenich claimed.
Staring down the crowd, Higgins interrupted before anyone else could speak. "Anybody else here involved in the bribe?"
The shareholder's eyes narrowed. "Bribe!?"
Dubenich shook his head. "There's no bribe," he defended.
Ogunjimi came to stand behind Dubenich. "I handed this man an envelope containing a cashier's check for $200,000," Ogunjimi insisted while Dubenich held up his hand, shaking his head.
Dubenich argued overtop Ogunjimi. "No. No, no. Nobody- I wasn't handed any…" Dubenich suddenly froze as he recalled being handed an envelope. His eyes closed as he passed a hand over his face. 'This is not happening,' he thought. 'Not happening,' "I didn't-" he denied feebly. "Nobody handed…"
-O-
Fake Offices…
Two days previous…
Liza crossed the room and retrieved the envelope Mr. Ogunjimi laid on the table. Right before Liza reached Sophie's chair, she forced her heel into the carpet, effectively tripping herself. As she stumbled, she reached for the back of Sophie's chair. While everyone else remained distracted, Sophie took the envelope from Liza's hand, replacing it with an identical match. When Liza righted herself, she apologized before handing Dubenich the replaced envelope.
-O-
Present…
Placing his hands on his hips, Higgins warned: "This will look a lot better for you if you did not deposit that check. Do you still have it?"
Dubenich had trouble getting his words out as he replied: "I didn't get a check." Ogunjimi looked fixed to blow a gasket when he looked down to the shorter man.
Another agent approached Higgins. "Sir, we got people searching the lab, seizing the files and computers." the younger man lifted the portfolio he had held by his side. The young agent glanced to Dubenich. "This profile came down the wire from the higher-ups. Said to bring it straight to you,"
Higgins took the folder. "Good job," he said as the younger agent exited. "Thanks." Higgins opened the file. He crooked an unhappy brow after skimming through just the first few pages.
Tom-the shareholder- forced his way to Dubenich, whispering, "Victor, news crews. If they find out-" Dubenich looked to the walkway which led to the road. He rubbed at his forehead when he saw that Tom was right. Dubenich jumped back to life when he realized what the younger agent had said. "Higgins! Higgins, you can't do that!" Dubenich disputed strongly. "You can't take my computer,"
Higgins whirled around, snapping the wrinkled profile folder marked classified shut. "This company has government defense contracts. And according to this profile, I have good reason to suspect that you sympathize with interests opposite of U.S. There are very serious rules regarding contact with foreign nationals." he stepped closer to Dubenich.
Dubenich motioned to the file folder. "You're not actually going to believe that crap, are you!"
-O-
Outside Starbucks near Los Angeles' FBI Building…
Four hours previous…
Nate waited for the FBI assistant director to exit his vehicle and enter the small coffee shop. When he disappeared through the door, he crossed the street. He pulled out a long, thin metal rod-given to him by Parker. He walked to the driver's seat door and jimmied the lock open, tossing the file near the edge of the door. He shut the door, swiveling his head, ensuring no one noticed him. He returned to his place across the street. Leaning against a bank's column, he waited for the assistant director to return.
The middle-aged man exited the shop a fifteen minutes later. Shoving his newspaper into his mouth as he fumbled for his keys in his pocket, the director set his coffee on top of the sedan. As he attempted to insert his keys into the lock and opened his door, Parker, disguised in a loose black hoodie, purposely bumped into him, jarring open his briefcase. The thief didn't slow her pace as the man screamed for to watch where she was going. The file Nate left for the man lay scattered against the pavement amongst the half-dozen others that had spilled from the man's briefcase. He reached Liza's profile last. From across the street, Nate saw the man's brow furrow as he picked it up, opening it.
Nate's eyes narrowed as the man jumped to his feet, alarm in his expression. The assistant direction tossed his briefcase into his car, hurriedly and clumsily sliding into the driver's seat. He again fumbled for his keys to start the car. Nate smiled faintly when the man's forgotten coffee fell off the car's roof as he sped away with the police lights flashing.
-O-
Present…
"The Patriot Act applies here, my friend." Higgins gave Dubenich a once-over. "Sir, I can take your underpants,"
Dubenich chuckled nervously. "Okay, it's getting a little aggressive." he swiped a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, Bobatumbai," he said, fabricating a name for the Nigerian behind him. "this is Tom Bailey." he motioned to the shareholder on his other side. "These gentlemen are from Nigeria. Everybody, just take it easy, relax, I'll be back and explain everything." Dubenich ran off with several FBI agents following closely.
Tom turned around, yelling, "Where are you going? Victor! Victor!"
The shredded remains of confidential Bering Aerospace documents rained down from open windows. Several FBI agents looked, seeing remains of evidence floating down toward them. The agents moved in and out of the building swiftly, not paying attention to the people wearing FBI windbreakers. Disguised in their counterfeit FBI jackets, Nate led his team from the Bering offices. Their hands filled with boxes, an FBI agent opened the door as they escaped. All attempted to disguise their triumphant smiles.
-O-
Abandoned office…
Three hours later...
Nate stepped out of the elevator on the twelfth floor, walking into an empty office space. Mr. Pearson waited by the windows. Pearson turned as Nate approached. "I came alone," Pearson said.
"Yes, I know, thank you, Mr. Pierson." Nate stopped when he reached the window. "Now I understand your research was completely wiped out. I have complete copies right on these hard drives-" Nate lifted a small black bag into Pearson's view. "along with absolute proof that they were on Bering Aerospace computers, that should be good for a couple of lawsuits, right?"
"I drop the investigation of all parties involved with the original theft,"
Nate nodded. "That seems fair. You get your property back,"
"Agreed. No charges. Nothing on you, or your people," Pearson replied. Nate tossed him the bag before turning and walking away. "Don't you want money?" Pearson called after him.
Nate kept walking as he replied, smiling, "This particular project has a different revenue stream,"
-O-
Grand Park, Los Angeles…
One hour later...
Liza stood in the park walkway, watching Nate call Dubenich at his office. She smiled when she heard him start the conversation with the words: "Yeah, you shoulda just paid us," She listened as a few other keywords, such as: 'Bribe', 'fraud', 'crash' left Nate's mouth. It had been years since she had seen Nate enjoy himself so much. She didn't let it bother her that he was gloating over Dubenich's career's grave. She would accept what little progress she could get.
She smoothed out a wrinkle in the flower-patterned dress she wore before tightening the light jacket around her. Nate jogged down the steps, and she stepped forward, picking up a quick pace. She turned her head when she caught a glimpse of a figure in a red shirt and jeans. She offered a smile, greeting, "Eliot,"
"Liza,"
While they try to catch up with Sophie, Hardison, and Parker, they didn't say anything for a few long seconds. Liza pushed her glasses further up her nose before asking, "You still suspicious?"
His expression turned to one of offense. "I'm suspicious of everybody,"
"Big surprise there,"
"I think I've figured it out," Eliot said. She lifted a brow but didn't say anything. He looked to Nate, who walked above them on the upper walkway. "He manages us, but you...you manage him,"
She considered denying it. Eliot proved to be smarter than she gave him credit for. In the end with good humor, she simply said, "Just don't tell him. He hasn't figured it out. He has a control problem if you hadn't noticed,"
They caught up with Hardison and the two other women. Hardison glanced at Liza. "You put that man on the terrorist watch list. What the hell you put in that profile?"
Liza looked up, asking impishly. "You really wanna know?" Hardison shook his head once, deciding against it.
Above them, Nate said to Dubenich: "No, it doesn't account for all of it. Sophie kept a little to buy a truly impressive number of shoes,"
Parker's brow furrowed as she questioned, "What is it with women and shoes?"
After looking at the blonde in disbelief, Sophie sighed. "There's something wrong with you,"
Finally finding someone who made sense, Eliot quicked his stride to walk directly behind Sophie. "That's what I said,"
Liza stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. "Y'know, Parker, I would've loved to have had you when I was working on my thesis," Liza said thoughtfully. Parker gave her a wayward glance, not saying anything.
Nate neared the end of the ramp. "See if a company's stock price falls ten... fifteen percent in one day, and you see it coming, you sell short, you make a lot of money," he said before explaining happily. "If it's going to fall thirty percent, you can make shattering amounts of money." Nate noticed his five waiting for him at the end of the path. "We didn't need the FBI to show up and take you to jail. We just needed them to show up and take boxes out of your office, all day long in front of TV cameras, scaring your investors. You going to jail is just a bonus." He cut his gloating short. "I wouldn't say anything about us to the Feds. Next time we won't be so nice." he disconnected the call.
As Nate approached, Hardison handed out the envelopes containing the payout. Sophie and Parker tore into theirs first. Sophie gasped, her knees buckling. "Wha-" She ripped the check out of the envelope completely. Parker looked at Hardison, attempting to determine whether he was cruel enough to play such a heartless trick.
Eliot and Liza shared a brief glance before opening their own envelopes less dramatically than their predecessors. Eliot could only stare in disbelief. Liza's hand flew over her mouth as she took a step back. She muttered a few muffled words. Her hand fell away as she asked, "Hardison, how-" her eyes darted between the hacker and the very valuable piece of paper she held in her shaking hand. $32, 761,349.05, the amount read.
Nate took the envelope Hardison offered when he came to stand next to the hacker. "Job well-" Nate's voice trailed off when he pulled the check from the envelope. "..whoa!"
They all looked to Hardison for an explanation. The young man grinned proudly. "There was an overlap in the London stock market. Valuation carried over to NASDAQ and…" When he saw they didn't care about the technical details, he held up his hand, saying: "Look, I'm just very good at what I do,"
Parker looked at the other five, saying excitedly. "This is the score. THE score," she shook the envelope for emphasis.
Hardison laughed. "Age of the geek, baby,"
Eliot cracked a broad grin, still staring at the long number written across the check. Liza threw her head back, laughing. "This can't be real." She turned her gaze to Nate. "It-it's impossible,"
Hardison crossed to stand between Liza and Eliot. Eliot smacked Hardison's shoulder. "Somebody kiss this man so I don't have to,"
Hardison looked at Nate. "So, we're out, huh? I mean we're out, this is retirement money," he said. "This is go-legit-and-buy-an-island-money,"
Sophie, Parker, Liza, Hardison, and Eliot stared at Nate, waiting for him to say something. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shifting on his feet awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. Pleasure working with you,"
Liza recognized Nate's form of 'goodbye/ get lost' by then. She glanced at everyone, an unknown disappointment spreading through her chest. Her job was finished. She looked at the check in her hands, knowing she would never have to work again if she didn't want to do so. She knew she should feel excited. Elated, even. She looked to her feet. So why didn't she?
Eliot's smile vanished as if suddenly realizing something. "Yeah. One show only. No encores,"
"I've already forgotten all of your names," Parker said flippantly.
Liza felt like they all stood on the precipice of something wonderful. If someone didn't convince Nate of the same, the ex-insurance investigator would ruin it for all of them!
They stood in tense silence, all hesitating to move away for a long moment. Nate broke the hesitancy for them by leaving. The remaining quickly followed suit, splitting in all directions.
-O-
In her own defense, Liza made it approximately two hundred feet away before she turned around running in the direction Nate had left. She caught up with him, out of breath. He didn't turn to look at her when she said: "You know, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Working with a team wasn't-"
"Liza-" He warned.
"You can fake it all you want, Nathan," She huffed. "but-"
Nate moved his hands as he talked. "Nathan? Really? You're gonna bring that one out?" he said, exasperated.
From the path across from them, Hardison appeared to Nate next. "You know I never had that cool a time on a job," the young man said.
Nate cast him a glance. "It's a walk away,"
Hardison wasn't deterred, and Liza smiled. "And I got focus issues, brother. You kept me right on,"
Liza jumped when Parker came out of nowhere to stand next to her. "I'm really good at one thing—" she said.
Nate shook his head. "Parker…"
She bounded as she walked. "…only one thing that's it, but you! You know other things and-and I can't stop doing my one thing. I can't retire! …" she said animatedly.
Eliot revealed himself next, falling into stride with Nate. "You want to know what I think?"
Nate apathetically replied. "Not really,"
"How long until you fall apart again?" Eliot asked. Liza bobbed her head in agreement.
"Oh, I'm touched," Nate replied.
"Well, a guy like you can't be out of the game; that's why you were a wreck," Eliot argued strongly.
"He's got a point," Liza said.
"Not you too," Nate mumbled.
"You need the chase, Nate," she insisted.
"Yeah, I think I'll manage." Nate stopped walking when his cell phone rang. "Yeah?" Nate looked at the bench in front of him. He lowered his cell phone when he saw Sophie Devereaux. Sophie closed her own cell phone. While Sophie stood to her feet, Parker and Liza wore hopeful smiles.
"You pick the jobs," She conditioned, coming to stand in front of Nate. Nate tried to avoid meeting her gaze.
Nate shook his head in disbelief. "My job is helping people. I help find bad guys,"
Sophie smiled, captivating him. "Then go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money," she said casually. "Black King, White Knight,"
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Author's Note: Hi, guys! I hope I've written this chapter in a way that's easily understood. This was definitely the most difficult chapter to write because of all the flashbacks. If this works, this will probably be the way that I write the rest of the flashbacks in the future of the story. So do you guys think Nate will give into Sophie? I mean, it's pretty hard for anyone to be able to say 'no' to her, let alone Nate Ford. Do any of you have a favorite persona that Sophie has undertaken? Thank you so much for reading this chapter of The Third Man. :-)
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guest: Hey! Thanks for checking out my story! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Hannahgrace4545: I know right! Eliot is vastly underappreciated, in my opinion, lol! He's a great character and also pretty easy on the eyes :-) Thanks so much for checking out my story. I really, really appreciate it!
