The Retrieval Of
Kenna Shane Spencer
Do No Harm
Sunday 12:17 a.m.
Somewhere Over The Atlantic
Eliot sat alone in the back of first class. Tucked in a window seat with no one around him. Hardison knew that the hitter didn't like to be around people when his wife wasn't at his side. In fact the rest of the team was as far away as they could be from him. He took the phone Nate had given him and held it for a long time. He knew his boss and he knew that whatever was on the phone was gonna make this job easier. He put the ear bud in his ear and played the video. It was of Kenna after Faith's second birthday. Eliot recognized the green hippo theme. Every year Parker picked out a different colored hippo. This year it was orange. He hit play and saw Kenna putting Faith down in her Hippo bed.
"Goodnight baby girl." Kenna kissed her. Eliot wondered why Hardison would keep the nanny cam footage from a year ago but he didn't care.
"Night mama." The little girl touched her mother's hair. "Hows come your hair is lello?"
"Because that's what color my hair has always been."
"Mys is brown, like daddy's. Hows come?"
"Cause you are your daddy's girl Faith Valentine."
"I's your girl too mama."
"I know but when you were born Faith, God knew that daddy needed someone to stand by him when mama couldn't be there and he chose the most beautiful, strong willed, blue eyed angel he could find and sent her to us."
"Me?"
"Yes you. And you will protect your daddy when mama isn't around." The little girl looked at her mother.
"Who will protect you mama?"
"No matter where he is Faith Valentine, your daddy will find me and keep me safe. He's like no other man in the world."
"He's like Superman?"
"Better. He's Eliot Spencer." Kenna kissed her daughters head. She stood silent and watched the little girl drift to sleep. "He's way better then Superman." She whispered. "Way better." The screen went black and Eliot wasn't sure how he should feel but then another image came on the screen. It was Kenna, in a bank. The date on the bottom flashed December 3, 2013. He could tell by the way she stood, weight on her left leg ready to avoid any danger, but then she turned. The air left his lungs. His heart stopped for a split second.
"Are you pissed now?" Nate stood in the isle.
"You knew about this?"
"Just for the last twelve hours."
"Nate…"
"I pulled the pin, now deal with it." His bright blue eyes looked into those of his hitters. "Fucking use it Eliot. Use it to think like Moreau, like Kenna. Hell use it to think like Mc Closky, but use it damn it."
"You're a bastard."
"Yeah well use that too and let's go steal back your wife." Nate went back to his seat and sat next to his wife.
"You okay?"
"He's going to hate me for the rest of my life but yeah, I'm just great."
"Eliot won't hate you for long. With you he gets over it." Sophie looked at her husband. "He respects you and he cares what you think. He'll get over it."
"God I hope so because I couldn't stand to lose them." She held his hand tightly.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
Parker slid into the seat to Eliot.
"I can't do your kind of crazy right now Parker." Eliot ground out.
"I want to help." She said softly.
"Now is not the time Parker."
"Eliot…I've always been the crazy one. You expect that. But I taught Kenna everything I know about safes and alarms and I know how she thinks if she's going to hit that bank."
"Did you know too?" He looked at her.
"Know what?" Eliot looked at her. He handed her the phone. She looked at the picture.
"Is she? Oh God Eliot." Parker looked at him. "It could be fake. For the con." Eliot shook his head.
"I can tell the way she pivoted; she's carrying the extra weight. I thought it couldn't get any worse. He took Kenna and he took…something more from me…" Parker took his hand in hers.
"We will find her, and kill him. You will get them back." She said softly. "You stab him and I'll shoot him."
"Let's just stick to the plan crazy girl." He looked at the thief. "Thank you for always ignoring my bad mood and trying to make it all better."
"You would do the same for me." She laid her head on his shoulder. "You have another baby Eliot." Parker whispered. "How cool is that." He hoped that Parker was right. What if Moreau had taken the child from Kenna or worse, the child hadn't been born at all. He closed his eyes and clung to Parker's hope and her hand until they landed.
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"Are you ready?" Philip came down the hall as Kenna left her room. She was carrying Chance in his car seat.
"Yes. Did you get everything we needed?"
"Yeah, I have more than what you asked for." Kenna nodded. He reached for Chance but she pulled the car seat closer to her body.
"I got it."
"Kenna, I'm not the enemy here. I just want to help make this ungodly task a little easier on both of you."
"Then get me the hell out of here Philip."
"You know I can't do that Kenna." He said through clenched teeth.
"Then get the hell out of my way and let's get this done so I can go home." Kenna had done a lot of storming out lately. She hated the woman she'd become. She looked down at her son's soulful blue eyes. "I'm so sorry Chance." Taking a deep breath she slowed and headed for the parking garage.
0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/
Milan's Milano Malpensa Airport was busy for a Sunday. Eliot stood waiting for Parker's equipment to come by the luggage turnstile. He had almost had his temper under control by the time the plane had landed. Next to Kenna, Parker could bring him back from the edge better than anyone.
"Are you ever going to talk to me again?" Nate stood next to Eliot.
"Nothing like pulling the pin at thirty-five thousand feet." Eliot said through clenched teeth.
"Do you know what needs to be done?"
"I've always known." He looked at his boss who had become one of his best friends. "When we find out where he's keeping the baby I want Parker, and only Parker to go in and get…him or her." Nate looked surprised. "I know she has it in her Nate. She would die for my daughter and kill to save my family."
"We have to have a plan."
"That is the plan. We find them and you bring them home. Leave the carnage for me." He saw Parker's trunk. He reached for it and caught a scent of something gut retching familiar. He grabbed the case and slid it next toward Nate and scanned the luggage claim.
"Eliot?" Nate looked at him. "Eliot, what's wrong?"
"Watermelon and green tea." He whispered.
"What?" Nate looked around to see if he could see what had caught Eliot's attention. Eliot turned swiftly and removed his sunglasses. "Eliot."
"Kenna's here." He said.
"How…" Nate didn't have to ask. If Sophie had disappeared for months he knew that he would feel her if she was close. The sound of the people around them grew louder somehow and Eliot wasn't sure if it was real or his mind was playing tricks on him.
"She's here Nate, I know she is." People were rushing around them in a hurry to get on with vacations, business and their lives. Several people pushed past them and Eliot stood, letting the people pass by. Eliot stood feet planted eyes ever moving. A few people bumped into him with no apology. He scanned faces and inhaled deeply.
"Punavankien minulle cowboy."The brunette woman shouldered him and apologized. Eliot pivoted and reached out to grab the woman but she was gone. He searched the crowd but lost her in the swarm of people that were coming from the terminal.
"Eliot?" Nate stood next to him again.
"That was her. Did you see the brunette that ran into me?"
"How do you know?"
"She apologized to me in Finnish." He looked at the older man.
"You know Finnish?" Eliot nodded curtly. "Some people were born with manners Eliot."
"How many of them call me cowboy?" Nate looked at his hitter. Only one person they knew called him that.
"You lost her?" Eliot glared at Nate.
"This is Kenna. She wasn't alone so she had to act fast." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out an envelope. His name was written in familiar handwriting on the front.
"She left you a note?"
"Let's get out of here." Eliot and Nate made their way to the car rental kiosk where Hardison, Parker and Sophie were waiting. They walked to the car in silence. Nate knew that if he said anything about the note it might cause more harm than good. Eliot waited till they were safely pulling away from the airport to read it.
"Eliot?" Parker looked at him sitting in the front passenger's side. He unfolded the paper. It was hotel stationary from a hotel in Milan, one of the most exclusive hotels in the city. There was nothing written, just the paper.
"Hardison, get us booked in the Bulgari Milano Hotel." He said hoarsely.
"You got it? Room preference?"
"Farthest from the penthouse." He looked at Nate. "She knew we were coming."
"Maybe she made the call."
"Moreau wouldn't let her have any kind of electronics." Eliot laid his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. 'Think like Moreau' Eliot said to himself. 'C'mon Spencer, clear your fuckin' head and figure this out.'
"Is he okay?" Parker whispered to Hardison.
"He hasn't been okay for the last seven months." Hardison said as he booked the rooms. "Eliot I got three rooms on the third floor."
"Parker, no matter what I need to stay at the hotel." Eliot hadn't opened his eyes.
"What about the plan?"
"I thought we'd go with yours." He said softly. Parker's eyes widened. "Steal back what's mine." Parker nodded, her eyes still wide with wonder on Eliot's change of heart.
"I don't know if I like that idea." Hardison said.
"Nobody asked you." Eliot growled. Nate looked at his hitter. The tension was building.
"Are you thinking with the right brain, Eliot?" Nate asked.
"Damn straight." Nate pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.
"Then I trust you to make sure everyone comes home."
"It's what I do." Nate stopped in front of the hotel.
"Okay then. Parker is the only one that Moreau hasn't really seen other then the chat he had when he arrested the general. She should be fairly safe. The rest of us should get to our rooms and figure out some sort of disguise." Parker went in and checked them all in and they all scattered heading up to the third floor.
"Do you think Moreau was still at the airport?" Nate asked when they were safely in a room.
"No one has checked into the penthouse but both of them rented out to Samuel Masterson and Paula Horning." Eliot had to chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"Kenna is a closet Green Bay Packer fan. Paul Horning used to play for them back in the day."
"How did she know that we would find her?" Sophie asked.
"She didn't…but she hoped." Eliot handed the paper to Sophie. "I wonder if she's done this for every job? Had a note to slip one of us if she got the chance?" Parker looked at him.
"She's always know you'd come for her Eliot. Just like you've known that she didn't die." He handed her the other thing that was in the envelope. Parker looked at the writing. "Chance Nathan Spencer, born December ninth, two thousand thirteen." She turned it over. The baby was the spitting image of Faith the day she was born. She handed the picture to Nate.
"Proof of life." Eliot said softly. "I have a son." Nate looked at the picture.
"You have a son." He looked at the younger man. "Let's find him and his mom and take them home." Nate walked away.
"Maybe this is too much for him to take." Eliot looked at Sophie.
"He'll be fine." She looked at the door Nate had exited.
"Go." Eliot said. "We can handle things for a bit." Sophie nodded and headed after her husband. Eliot knew what Nate was feeling. It was bad enough knowing his wife and son were so close but he couldn't bare Nate breaking down because he couldn't do anything about it. "Make sure you tell me when those people check into the penthouse."
"Do you really think it's Kenna and Moreau?"
"I have little doubt." Eliot looked at his friends. "This is gonna get messy. If you want to back out now, I understand." He knew Parker was in, no matter what. But Hardison was always the one with the good sense to bring up the obvious and the voice of common sense.
"The son of a bitch tried to kill me. Twice. He's going down this time." Hardison looked Eliot in the eye. "Let's bring our girl and your son home." Hardison handed him the iPad. "This is the movements of both alias's and they flew in from Switzerland the same time we did.
"He did a lot of business with the Swiss way back when, they're probably harboring him till he gets back on his feet." Eliot dialed a number. "Give me General Slorchcove." Eliot didn't like pulling any card that might put him back into the line of fire but for Kenna he'd do just about anything.
/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
"Breathe, Kenna." Philip looked at the woman standing next to him. His green eyes warm with concern. "It's two jobs, two hours and we go back to the villa and you can sit back and relax for a few days."
"I haven't relaxed in seven months, Philip." She looked down at her son sleeping in his car seat. "I have to go home." The blond man looked at the woman that in any other business he would have called a friend. Eliot Spencer was a lucky man. Philip had seen her fight. He had seen her plan a job and pull it off without a hitch. Her brilliance was extraordinary. Her beauty unsurpassed. If the man in her life was anyone other than Eliot Spencer he might of tried something months ago.
"This job is the worst of the worst. Once we get over it you'll be on the home stretch." His green eyes had turned cold again. The elevator opened. Kenna picked up Chance and headed out the door toward the suite she would share with Philip and Maria.
"If I survive." She didn't look at him as he slid the key card though the scanner and opened the door for her. Maria was in the car behind them with Moreau. Kenna was beginning to think the young au pair had a thing for the evil man. She picked the room closest to the door like always and went in, shutting the door. She sunk down against it and closed her eyes. She had been so close. Touching him had almost been her undoing. Eliot was here. In Milan, looking for her. All she wanted to do was hug him and tell him that she loved him.
"Kenna…Maria will be up in about fifteen minutes. Do you want to get dinner?"
"No, I'll just order room service." She looked at her son asleep in his car seat. "It won't be long little man and you'll meet your daddy. I saw him today. He is gonna love you little man. I don't think I'm gonna make it out of here but I know daddy will get you out baby." The boy slept peacefully. "You're going home ." Kenna laid her head back and closed her eyes.
(FLASHBACK)
(March 16, 2013)
"Kenna?" Eliot rolled over and pulled her back next to him.
"I have to go check on Faith."
"Please, just come back to bed for a little while."
"You want me to just ignore our daughter?"
"She's snoring Kenna, she's fine." Eliot looked her in the eye. "I need to talk to you now."
"We've said all there is to say Eliot. Moreau escaped and there's nothing we can do about it. We're not those people anymore."
"If I don't track him down he could hurt more innocent people Kenna. He could come after Nate and the others. He could come after you and Faith."
"He won't. He sets foot on US soil he'll be arrested." Kenna stood up. "You go after him Eliot, we're gone."
"Who?"
"Faith and I will leave." Eliot glared at her.
"You talk big."
"Try me Eliot." He moved more quickly then she had ever seen him move. He was in front of her. His hands on either side of her head pressing her against the wall.
"Don't you ever threaten to take my daughter away from me Kenna Shane, because that's a game neither one of us will win." She looked him in the eye.
"Don't make me choose Eliot, because no matter how much it breaks my heart I know what Moreau is capable of and I won't put OUR daughter in that kind of danger." In all the years she had known him and all the fights they had, his anger had never been as evident to her as it was now. "I love you Eliot but I'll be damned if I will let you risk everything for revenge." She slid down and ducked under his arm. He grabbed her and pushed her against the wall and kissed her hard. Holding her face in his hands he deepened the kiss. He didn't say another word as he pulled up her t-shirt and down her panties. Kenna knew it wasn't in anger but in desperation for her to understand. He didn't break the kiss as he pushed into her.
"Kenna." He moaned. He moved in and out of her slowly, kissing her deeply.
"I know…" She whispered against his lips and clung to him. Wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him deep inside her she couldn't help but give in. She could never leave, he knew that her anger was stemmed from fear and he knew that she couldn't resist him. He grabbed her rear end and moved to the bed. He laid her down harder then he meant to but it seemed to just make her hotter. Nails raked down his back and her hips moved faster. He deepened the kiss and moved a little faster. Kenna's breath caught as she felt Eliot shift and hit the spot she needed to go over the edge. He smiled at her and pulled out. Pulling his boxers up, he shook his head.
"Not a good idea to make threats you don't plan on going through with. I would think after all these years, baby, you would have learned not to fuck with me." He left the room and left Kenna wondering if he would ever forgive her.
(Present)
"He never told me if he forgave me or not." She whispered to the sleeping baby. "He never mentioned it again but I think he might have forgiven me." There was a knock on the door.
"Kenna."
"Damien, I just want to be alone."
"We need to go over the plans."
"I'll go over it with the crew in the morning."
"I want you to go over it with me now." Kenna opened her eyes and saw Chance looking at her. He smiled. It was so much like Eliot it sent a shiver down her spine.
"I'll be out in a half hour. I need to change and feed Chase."
"Thirty minutes." Kenna stood herself up and went to take care of her son. By this time tomorrow he would be safely in the arms of his family. Unhooking the straps she took him out of his seat and got him ready for the long night ahead.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/
"Are you pissed now?" Eliot looked at Nate standing in the shadows of the balcony.
"I fucked up Eliot."
"You did what you thought was right. You did it to protect me. IF I had killed Moreau that day this wouldn't be my life." He looked at the older man. "It's bad enough I was living with the guilt of taking those guys down at the warehouse but taking Moreau out might taken me over the edge. No matter what he made me do, Nate I at least knew I was changing my life around. I found Kenna again and we became a family. All of us Nate." Then anger boiled through his veins. He needed Nate to focus. Not that the four of them couldn't pull this off but he was the mastermind of the group and they needed him more then he would ever know.
"When I lost Sam…you know what happened. I told myself I would never…put myself out there like that again. I didn't feel a whole lot for a very long time. You know that."
"Yeah, you were a heartless bastard with a conscience. Then you became a thief with a soul and Sophie found your heart buried in a pile of recycled Jack bottles." Eliot shook his head. "Nothing I haven't heard before Nate, so let's step it up and figure out what we're gonna do about getting Kenna back."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Believe it or not Nate that was my way of saying I need you to help me figure this whole mess out before we hit that bank tomorrow. You are the only hope I have to get the rest of my family home safe." Eliot knew he was telling the truth. "Our family. I couldn't have made it though the last six months without you and Sophie. You were there for Faith when I couldn't be. You got her to go to bed when nothing but Kenna would do. You got her to put vegetables in her Spaghetti-O's so they were more healthy and you listened to her when I couldn't bare hearing her talk about her mother. Parker and Hardison took her to the Zoo so I could punch the shit out of a bag to vent the need to hurt everyone around me. They sang those stupid Wiggles songs to her so she would laugh now and then and not cry for Kenna. Those kids are as much yours as they are mine and Kenna's. Help me Nate. Help me get them back." The older man looked at his friend. "You got me pissed enough for the both of us but I still need a little help from my family to get this shit done."
"I'm sorry. I knew what you needed but I wasn't sure if I could control the situation like it needed to be controlled."
"You've planed the most complicated of cons on the fly, drunk Nate. I think with sixteen hours and anything you need , we can pull this off."
"It's worth a try." Eliot patted his friend on the shoulder.
"That's the Nate I know." Eliot didn't want to think what would happen if they didn't pull this off. Moreau got wind of them trying to save Kenna and Chance; it would be the end for both of them."We have to get this right the first time."
"Tell me something I don't know." Nate came back in the room and looked at Hardison. "Pull up the bank plans and employment records. We have to get Sophie and Eliot in that bank before Kenna and her team hit it." Eliot had to smile. 'Welcome back Nate'. He said to himself. 'We missed you.' Turning to the computer he went to work on finding a way in without getting them all killed.
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