*Thanks to all of you who have made this a favorite story - sorry it's taken awhile but I had a bout of writer's block*
The easiest thing would be to flip Rita; Hardison when's the next big horserace?"
"Day after tomorrow why?"
"Well because I need to know when I'm going to run into Ms Johnson, and I have to give you guys time to find me an office"
Everyone looked at him confused
"I'm going to feed Ms Johnson a tip on a horse and when that horse loses, she'll blame me and I'll offer her a deal on heart valves…."
"The Murphy Game" Tara said realizing the con that he was going for
Nate nodded and it began to dawn on the others; everyone but Nona who was throughly confused
"I'm sorry The Murphy Game?"
"You offer people deep discounts on things like tvs or speakers – often out of the back of a van claiming that you ordered too many and therefore are trying to sell off some of the excess behind the boss' mark then pays for the merchandise – which is stolen thinking they're getting a great deal only to get it home and realize that it doesn't work or is broken. By then you are gone and the mark is left with worthless equiptment because they can't go to the police without admitting to purchasing stolen goods."
"So you're going to sell her heartvalves? But you don't have any heartvalves"
"Hardison?" Nate asked
"I'm on it" he replied already turning back to his computer, making a list of what he would need
"Oh I'm so sorry – Ms Johnson!" Nate said as he "bumped" into Rita Johnson a couple days later at the racetrack
"Uh hi – Mr – Sherman is it?" she replied as he mopped up the part of her drink that he'd spill on her sleeve
"Yeah, Stan Sherman; I'm real sorry about that, let me get you another one" he signaled the bartender
"No, that's ok I'm fine"
"You sure? I really am sorry; so you like to play the horses huh?"
"Oh every once in awhile" she lied
'Yeah and I just sorta play on computers' Hardison put in his two cents over the comms
Nate cleared his throat
"Well if you need any pointers…"
"No I'm ok" she said obviously trying to get away from him
"Cuz I happened to have some solid information on one of the horses"
"Oh really? Which one?"
"Alternate Reality"
"Alternate Reality has 50-1 odds" she said stirring her drink and looking completely bored
"That was yesterday, but I have a guy that works in the stable that tells me that his team has been working with a new jockey – and this guy never loses"
"Oh really – never loses huh? How sure are you?"
"Bet $100,000 myself"
"Still with those odds…."
"I'm telling you this information is concrete"
'Did you hear that there's a new jockey riding Alternate Reality?' Tara walked by pretending to whisper conspiratorily with Parker who was now dressed polar opposite of her IT specialist get up. Plus her sunglasses hid her from any chance of Rita recognizing her.
"Is that so?" Parker whispered loudly in a fake southern accent
"Yes but keep your voice down – noone is supposed to know"
This did as Nate had hoped and sparked Rita's attention
"Well it's been nice to see you Mr Sherman, but I really must go" she said hurriedly cutting him off from whatever he was saying
"Oh sure, if you need anything….." he trailed off as he realized she was already 10 feet away
"Hardison?"
"Yeah Nate she's on her way to the betting window now" he replied watching her on the monitor having already hacked into the security system
"Elliot?"
"No Nate there's no way this horse is gonna win a race" he replied
"Can you guarantee me that?"
"Yes, he's got a capped knee" he explained as he felt down the horses' leg
"But can he still race?"
"Yes, by the feel it's still in the early stage and they probably won't notice the inflamation for another couple days but it'll be enough to slow him down" 'Poor horse' Elliot thought to himself as he trotted out of the stables to rejoin Hardison and Nona
"So did she place her bet yet?"
"Yeah, she – woah" he whistled
"Woah what?" Nate asked
"She bet just about everything she owns – she's in for a quarter of a million dollars"
"But if she's in debt – how does she have all that money to bet?" Nona asked curiously
"Loan sharks" Eliot replied matter of factly
"Oh"
"Yeah she's into them now for half a million dollars" Hardison replied checking his computer
"Well she's not going to be happy when she loses" Nona stated
"Then everything's going according to plan" Nate replied
*Also guys reviews make the writing process ALOT easier so PLEASE review and let me know what you guys think so far thanks!*