*Sorry for the delay guys, I had to have my computer in for repairs and just got it back after 2 weeks. However I have been writing furiously by hand for those two weeks so I hope you enjoy the up coming chapters!*
After three days, they still had nothing on Westerhoff; they had discovered that by day he wined and dined clients at some of the swankiest restaurants in town. Night, however nighttime was a different story as he hooked up with prostitutes at some of the siediest motels on the outskirts of town. Nona shivered as she listened to Hardison recount the details of his latest escapade.
"I can't believe I ever thought I loved him. I just want to go home and scrub myself." She said rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
"Yeah you should be glad you didn't catch some STD" Parker stated as she munched some popcorn
"Parker!" Eliot practically yelled at her
"What? The guy's penis has been in more holes than Tiger Woods' golf balls"
Eliot sighed and gave Parker a look that would have turned most men into quivering babies; Parker however merely reached for more popcorn
"You need to control your girl, there's something wrong with her" Eliot said turning to Hardison
"Man, you know I can't – " but Eliot cut him off
"You can –" they both started arguing over each other until Nona let out an ear-splitting whistle. The room grew silent, save for the noise of Hardison's equiptment.
"Just stop" she looked at Eliot
"Parker was merely being Parker; she doesn't need controlling." And in that instant Eliot knew that he had chosen the wrong words.
"Nona, I didn't mean it that way" he reached for her, but she pulled away
"Words hurt more than anything Eliot"
"I know, and I'm sorry" he said looking into her eyes
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to" she replied looking at Parker, who seemed oblivious to the whole exchange. She was used to the yelling by now.
Eliot sighed; if he didn't have feelings for Nona he would have told her to shove it. However, he'd resigned himself to the fact that she was different and so he did the unthinkable.
"Is he about to what I think he's about to do?" Hardison asked Nate, who'd entered the room upon hearing the whistle.
"Parker" Eliot called to her
"Parker" he called again when she ignored him.
"Parker!" he practically screamed
"Shhhh" she said waving him off as she stared at one of Hardison's monitors
Eliot turned and gave Nona a 'see I told you so' look; her response was to narrow her eyes at him
"Now what did you want Eliot? I was listening to Westerhoff's conversation"
"Well Parker I wanted to say that I - wait what conversation?"
"Someone called him while Nona was telling you that you should apologize to me." She was not as oblivious as she let on.
"Well what did they say?"
"Oh not much, something about how they didn't find anything, but got done what he wanted"
"Who was it Parker?" Eliot was trying desperately to hold his temper
"I don't know"
"I got it" Hardison interupted as he flipped a few switches and hit the play button. It was the same voice that had called him the day that she had met up with him at the restaurant, but it was another burn phone that Hardison couldn't trace.
'Did you get it done?' they heard Westerhoff ask after finding out they hadn't found what he was looking for
'You know I did – do you have my money?'
'All in good time – I want to make sure the job is complete'
There was a sigh from the other end
'Well I could always call your partner and get my money'
'24 hours and you'll have your money; don't contact me again.' And with that the call was disconnected
"Again we got nothing!" Nona was clearly frustrated
"Wrong, we now know that he has a partner."Nate replied
"But how do we figure out who it is?" she asked
"Hardison?"
"On it" and with that Hardison was back at his computer.
"Parker, I need you to get into Westerhoff's house, if he's working with a partner there's got to be evidence of it on his personal files."
"Done" Parker said heading out
"Eliot" Nate said turning
"Go with Parker in case she needs back up"
Nodding, Eliot headed for the door; he stopped when he heard Nona
"What about me?"
"What about you?" Nate asked
"Well, what am I supposed to do while you all are out getting files and hacking computers?"
A look of confusion crossed over Nate's face
"What do you mean? You're the client – you do nothing."
"I just can't do nothing – I've got to do something"
"Well I'm sorry I just can't have you – "
"Nate let me" Eliot cut him off; he turned to Nona who was already looking at him through narrowed eyes and pulled her aside
"Nona"
"Eliot don't look at me like that"
"Like what?"
She sighed
"Like someone who needs to be appeased because I'm not, I just want to help"
"I know that" he said gripping her hands
"But the best thing you can do right now is stay put, we can't risk you being seen at Westerhoff's. Plus I can't afford to be distracted from Parker, you know how she is"
"Well what if I promise not to do anything distracting?" she pleaded. A broad grin spread across Eliot's face
"Honey, you being in the room is distracting" he said dropping a kiss on her lips; she reveled in it for a minute before pulling away
"You think flattery works every time don't you?"
"It's not flattery if it's true" this made her face beet red
"Go before Parker takes off without you." With a nod at Nate he was gone.
"Come on Parker, hurry up" Eliot whispered into his comm as he kept an eye out for Westerhoff or his housekeeper
"Files are almost done and I found a safe" she said as she listened to the tumblers in the lock. A job like this could not be rushed; you had to wiat for the right moment for everything to fall into place; much like a shy lover that needed coaxing.
"Parker – now!" Eliot yelled, causing her to lose her concentration. She sighed, just like a man – get you all worked up for nothing. She hated leaving the safe's contents, but it was time to go. Grabbing the flashdrive, she dropped out the second story window pulling her rig behind her.
Meanwhile Eliot was trying to stall the housekeeper who'd come back from the grocery store. Under the disguise of a cableman he tried to convince her to switch carriers
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to talk to the owner" she said hurriedly trying to get into the house and dropping a bag in the process. Eliot felt bad and bent down to help her
"Let me get that for you darlin'" he said putting on his best southern charm
"Thank you but I've got it" the sixty something year old woman snatched an orange back from him
"If you'd gotten out of my way I wouldn't have dropped it in the first place!" she pushed past him into the house
"Have a nice day" he mumbled sarcastically
"Guess it doesn't work everytime huh" Parker said, startling him
Eliot growled his response
"Did you get what you needed?" she held up the flashdrive
"Yeah, but you made me leave the safe" she pouted
Rolling his eyes he said
"Let's go" and ushered her back to the car.
By the time they got back Nona was putting the finishing touches on a dinner of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. She'd needed something to do while she waited for them, and being in the kitchen has always been a great stress reliever for her. Eliot obviously kept Nate's place well stocked and she was able to find everything she needed.
"What's that?" Parker asked scrunching her nose up at the salad
"That would be salad Parker." She replied as she set a heaping plate of garlic bread on the table
"I know, but what are those?"
"Oh those are homemade tortilla strips – I prefer them to croutons"
"So like chips on a salad?"
"Sort of" Nona chuckled. Though Parker was a little socially in ept, she was sometimes so childlike that she'd become like a little sister in the short time that she'd known her.
"Awesome." Parker said and grabbed a plate
"If I'd known that's what it would taken to get her to eat salad, I would have tried it a long time ago." Eliot said entering the kitchen
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble." He grabbed the towel she was holding and slid the pan of lasagna out of the oven; it smelled like heaven.
"It was no trouble; being in the kitchen relaxes me." She replied closing the oven door.
"Well thanks anyway" he pulled out a chair for her and they all sat down to eat. It still seemed weird to not have Sophie sitting with them at the table. Though if he was honest with himself, and because Tara had bowed out, it was nice to be able to look across the table at Nona. She smiled shyly at him when she caught him staring at her.
"So did we learn anything yet?"Nate asked
"Yeah, Eliot's game needs work" Hardison said between mouthfuls. Eliot kicked him under the table and glared at him.
"My game is just fine"
"Then why couldn't you-"
"Because she-" they started arguing over one another again.
"I meant about Westerhoff" Nate interupted them
"He has a safe, but someone told me to get out before I could open it" Parker replied sending an evil look towards Eliot
"Well would you rather have gotten caught?" Nate pointed out and Eliot gave her a smug look to which she stuck out her tongue
'I feel like an overpaid babysitter' Nate thought to himself as he watched Eliot and Parker. He couldn't help but think about how much easier it was when Sophie was around. She had a way of talking to them the way he never could. God he missed her, but she said she needed time. She was constantly badgering him about his drinking, but he didn't have a problem damn it. Taking a swig of scotch he brought himself back to the present where everyone was enjoying Nona's meal.
"Wow this is so good- can we keep her?" Parker asked
"Parker, she's not a" Eliot shook his head and didn't bother finishing his sentence because it was pointless where Parker was concerned
"Well save room Parker, I made chocolate cream pie for dessert." Nona said and Parker's eyes lit up like Fourth of July fireworks
By the time they'd finished Nate had decided it would be better to pick things up in the morning after Hardison had a chance to work through some of Westerhoff's files so Eliot took the opportunity to walk Nona back to her apartment.
"Thanks again for dinner" he said rubbing his thumb over her wrist as he held her hand in front of her doorstep
"You're welcome, but it's really not necessary – I enjoyed doing it." She smiled at him, loving the feel of his calloused hands on her skin
"One day you're going to have to give me that sauce recipe"
Nona shook her head
"Sorry, family secret – Grandma Flynn brought the recipe over with her when she came here years ago. Said it was the last thing her mom handed her when she left Italy. Plus she said it's how she won Grandpa over when they were dating" she laughed
"Well I can see why" he replied kissing her quickly before he opened the door
"Would you like to come in?" Nona found herself asking before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth.
"Are you sure?" Eliot asked recalling the last time they'd been alone. He wanted her, but he also wanted her to be sure. He watched as she took his face in her hands and traced his lips with the pads of her thumbs, causing them to part slightly. Eventually her hands found their way to the back of his head where they tunneled into his thick dark hair, which hung loosely. Before he knew it she gave a tug and brought his mouth to hers. She traced the seam of his lips and when he opened for her she plunged her tongue inside.
God she felt good, Eliot couldn't help but groan as her tongue explored, the heat of it going straight to his groin which was quickly making his jeans uncomfortable. When she bit down on his bottom lip he knew he had to get her inside before he embarrassed both of them. She must have been reading his mind because she broke the kiss and grabbed his hand
"Does that answer your question?" she asked before pulling him inside.
He couldn't get enough of her as he pushed her up against the door. He trailed kisses down her neck while his hand sought her breast. She moaned as he closed over one, her nipple already straining to get out. Teasing the tight bud he sucked in a breath as her hands did some exploring of their own, running underneath his shirt across his abs. He nearly came undone when she began nibbling his earlobe, finding his weak spot
"Oh God Nona, if you want me to stop you have to tell me"
"Please don't Eliot" her voice was thick with desire as she pushed him back towards the bedroom, her lips never leaving his.
He smiled against her mouth at her aggressiveness; he knew this was new for her and he wanted her to set the pace. Not to mention that it was hot as hell to have a woman trying to dominate him.
When they got to the bedroom, she hesitated briefly, but she couldn't remember wanting a man more. It wasn't until she bumped the nightstand and noticed her alarm clock flashing that she realized something was off.
"Eliot wait." She broke off the kiss, breathing heavily
"I'm sorry – too fast?" he asked as he buried his face in her neck trying to catch his breath
"No, it's not that" she assured him, kissing his cheek
"It's just that something doesn't feel right"
"Funny, feels pretty good to me" he ran his hand along her hip
"No I'm serious" she pushed against her chest
He let her go, and pushed the hair out of his face
"How off?" he asked trying to get his body under control
"My alarm clock – it's flashing"
"So? You probably knocked it off when you hit the nightstand"
"No, it didn't fall off"
"Well maybe you lost power while you were gone"
"Eliot, think about that for a minute" It finally dawned on him as his blood began to flow back up into his brain that they would have lost power at Nate's had it been an actual power outage.
"Stay here." He said and began searching her apartment. Sure enough, it appeared as though someone had been here. It wasn't anything most people would notice – a picture was crooked and the couch had been moved because he could see the impression of the legs on the carpet. But why go to all the trouble of putting everything back? There was only one reason Eliot himself would do it. Finally he discovered it underneath the coffee table in the living room, and with only two minutes left, he asked Nona
"How fast can you run?"
"What?"
Not taking the time to explain, he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door
"Run!" he told her and the two took off. They were just clearing the last stairwell when he shoved her through the back door seconds before the building exploded