*Ok guys PLEASE review - I'm having a hard time with writer's block and getting through this con - seeing what people think will help me. Also thanks to all of those that have made this a favorite on here :) *
"You son of a bitch!" Rita Johnson began pelting Nate with her fists
"Woah woah slow down there" he replied trying to defend himself
"I bet everything I had on Alternate Reality because YOU said he you hand inside info, well I don't have to tell you that your inside info was WRONG!" she was screaming at the top of her lungs now; the calm cool collected image was shot to hell.
"I know, I know I'm sorry my informate must have been wrong; let me make it up to you" he said all the while trying to dodge her flayling fists
"No I'm done with you, there's nothing you can do or say to make it up to me" she straigtened her jacket and started to stalk away
"Not even offer you a better deal than Steven?" he knew this would stop her in her tracks. Before he knew it she was back at his side whispering
"What do you know about that?"
"Enough to know that Steven is cheating you out of money that should be rightfully yours"
"Oh really and how's that?" she asked
"Let me guess he's telling you that the final product costs come to $300 and you guys can charge $600 thus making a $300 profit."
"yeah so it's $150 per valve per person and with hospitals ordering 1000 at a time it's an easy fifteen hundred bucks per hospital" she said matter of factly
"And that's all fine and good but what if I told you that I could double your profits?"
This had her attention but she still wasn't convinced
"Oh really and how's that?"
Nate pulled one of his fake business cards out and wrote an address on the back; handing it to her he said
"Meet me at that address tomorrow and I'll show you" she took the card and looked at it for a minute
"So why should I believe you?" she asked to his retreating back; turning he replied
"Can you really afford not to?"
"How long before she gets here Hardison?" asked Hardison the next day as they stood in the middle of 'Sherman Industries' which was actually a lab that was closed for the next few days due because of a mandatory shutdown due to lack of funds.
Hardison punched in a few keys and brought up Rita's cell phone; he was able to track it through the device that Tara had placed on it when Nate 'ran into her'
"From the looks of it, about 15 minutes"
"Good – are you guys ready?" he asked the others over the comms
"Just about" Eliot replied as he peeled tape off the door; he was putting the name of the fake laboratory on one of the doors
"Ready" Parker and Tara both called out over the comms; this time they were dressed super geek to appear as lab workers making the fake valves.
"Five minutes Nate" Hardison said and the two headed for the door
"Ms Johnson, please come in and welcome to Sherman Laboratories" Nate greeted her as she came through the door
"Please meet Paul Baker; my head engineer" he introduced Hardison
"Nice to meet you Mr Baker"
"The pleasure is all mine" Hardison took her hand and kissed it; overacting like he always did. Nate rolled his eyes and cleared his throat
"Well why don't we show Ms Johnson our facilities" he said and the three headed off
"You see Ms Johnson we cut the costs by taking the defective valves that are returned and rebuilding them. This way we don't have to buy all the parts, just the ones that are broken or worn." Nate swept his hand across the window to a room where Parker, Tara, and Eliot were all "working"
"It's an awfully small operation" she commented noting that there were only three of them
"Well you see Ms Johnson" Hardison cut Nate off before he could say anything
"Usually our lab is closed on the weekends but Mr Sherman said that you wanted to see things in action so I asked a few of our top engineers to come in so that you could see a little of what we do here" he was laying it on so thick Eliot thought for sure that he was going to blow it
"Damn it Hardison lay off before you blow it" he swore as he pretended to build valves
"Eliot play nice" he heard Nona's voice come in over the comms; she was waiting in the van because they figured Rita might recognize her as Steven's former fiance. Her voice was like warm honey and did something goofy to his insides.
"Yeah just because-" Hardison started to argue forgetting that were in front of a mark
"I'm sorry?" Rita looked at him confused
"Oh what I meant to say was just because we're a small facility doesn't mean we can't fulfill your request" he quickly covered his tracks
"So you really think that you can make me more than Steven?" this she directed at Nate
"Without a doubt Ms Johnson" he replied assuredly
She pulled a business card from her purse and handed it to Nate
"Then call me and we'll make arrangements"
"What about Linzer?" Nate asked
"That old coot hasn't a clue what's going on in that office. I run that show" and with that the cool blonde was gone, confident that she'd just gotten one over on someone
"So you think she bought it?" Nate asked as he began stripping off the lab coat
"Hook, line, and sinker" Nate replied