The Retrieval Of
Kenna Shane Spencer
Old Friends, New Enemies
Sunday
8:45 p.m.
"You need to eat." Philip came up to Kenna who was looking over the plans one last time. Moreau was nervous and it made her a little leery.
"What's his problem?" Kenna watched as the older man poured another drink.
"This is a big score." The blond man stood closer. "You die his fortune is gone again."
"There are a hundred other specialists who can take my place."
"Oh Kenna, you don't know how many fortunes were lost when Eliot Spencer and Kenna Hawks put on those white hats. No self respecting dictator or kingpin would trust their lives and money on anything less than the best."
"You're one of the best."
"You flatter me. I dabble but nothing like you and Eliot." Philip looked at Moreau. He was dangerous when he was on his game but if something wasn't right it could get very messy. "You get something to eat. I'll deal with the boss." Kenna looked up at the younger man.
"Don't piss him off; I need you to get me back safe tomorrow."
"There are fifteen other men that work for Moreau."
"Yeah but I don't trust them."
"You shouldn't trust me either, Kenna." He looked at her and touched her cheek. "I'm worse than the whole lot of them." She smiled.
"Yeah well, I've never been wrong before." She turned away from his touch and grabbed her plate and headed out to the balcony. A man followed her. "I'm not going anywhere, London, so just back off."
"Boss' orders."
"Do you know how to fly?" She looked at him. He looked at her and then back at the door. "Your choice. My gear is in my room. I'm not going to jump, I swear." The man turned and stood at the door waiting to be yelled at, she was pretty sure. Sitting at the small table Kenna looked out at the city. It was somewhere she had wanted to enjoy with Eliot. They had even talked about a few months before Damien had taken her.
(Flashback)
"We have an anniversary coming up." Eliot sat on the couch, Kenna curled in his arms. The fire was nearly ready to go out but neither one wanted to move from where they were.
"Let's just stay in bed for a week."
"As nice as that sounds, baby, it's no way to spend an anniversary."
"Really?" She looked up at him. "I thought that was the only way to celebrate."
"For people who don't have sex the other three hundred and sixty-four days out of the year." Kenna smiled.
"I knew something was not normal about us." She smiled and snuggled back against his chest. His arms around her felt like nothing else in the world. Kenna felt safe and warm, like nothing could touch her.
"Pick a place that you've never been."
"I have been to fewer places than you think." He chuckled. His hand stroked her hair. "Malian. I heard it's beautiful in the spring."
"Malian it is." He said, kissing the top of her head. "I'll get Hardison on it in the morning."
"Mmmm does that mean I can get on you tonight?" Kenna smiled and turned around to kiss him.
"I wouldn't say no." He whispered against her lips. She smiled. Eliot never could say no to her.
(Present)
"Hey stranger." A voice, bareley a whisper came from above Kenna.
"Parker?" She didn't move.
"Do you think Sophie would be hanging from a thirty story building?" Kenna tried not to laugh at the thought.
"God I missed you." Kenna got up and went to the railing of the patio. "How's my cowboy?" She said softly, glancing in the room to find out where Moreau's men were stationed.
"He wants to hit lots of things."
"That's good. My room is the far left. All the vault specs are there including pictures of the inside. We're hitting it at ten when the armored truck leaves. Three of us in, one outside. The rest is in the plans." Kenna turned to see Philip and Moreau in a heated discussion. "Tell Eliot to trust no one. Chance will be here with the nanny and four men. Don't trust Maria. She's in it too deep to cross Moreau."
"I'll get him back to Eliot." She said.
"I thought you were going to be at the bank. Wouldn't that be the best plan?" Kenna stated getting a really bad feeling.
"Trust the cowboy." Parker said before she disappeared into the darkness. Kenna turned toward the door once again. Philip and Damien were still arguing but the body language had changed. The hitter was towering over the older man. She watched with great concern. The power had shifted. Damien looked up and saw her. His piercing blue eyes glared at her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the patio door and walked into the room.
"Do you mind keeping it down? Chance just fell asleep." She looked at the two men and then the others around the room. "Last briefing at six." Kenna went into her room. Maria had left about an hour before. Kenna wasn't sure what side the young nanny was on but she just wanted some time alone with her son before tomorrow. The plans she had left for Parker were gone, like she knew they would be. Smiling she went and picked up her son and laid him on the bed. He was a sound sleeper, much like his sister had been. Kenna curled up next to him and watched his chest rise and fall. "Good night sweet prince." She kissed the top of his head and let sleep finally take over her.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
"Kenna said not to trust the nanny or anyone else." Parker sat crossed legged on the bed with Eliot, looking over the plans. "This is a cake walk if you're me Eliot…so you should be able to handle it."
"I just need to be in that vault when Kenna gets there. Nate and Sophie are gonna take care of the outside."
"She said three inside, one out."
"McClosky will most likely be outside the bank to take out anyone who follows them out. Patrick and the other guy will go in with her and clear out the vault. Kenna will be the first in. I take out the other guy and Nate and Sophie take out the outside man."
"What about McClosky?"
"I'll deal with him when the time comes. He's bad ass."
"I'll get Chance and head to the airport."
"Hardison's got you both booked on a flight to Hawaii leaving at noon. I want you on that plane and don't look back." He looked into Parker's eyes. "Promise me."
"I'm on the plane, no turning back. I promise." Eliot nodded. "You'll meet us there, right?"
"When I get Kenna. Nate and Sophie are going to head to Hong Kong, then back to Boston. Hardison will meet you at the airport."
"Eliot, we can't just leave you and Kenna to face Moreau."
"Yes, you can and you will. " He handed her an envelope. "This is everything you'll need if we don't come back."
"Eliot…"
"Parker…you know what you have to do. I know what I have to do. It's gonna get messy and people are gonna die." Eliot remembered the last run in with Moreau's men and it didn't end well.
"We're here to bring them home Eliot, bring all of us home." Parker stood up. "Promise me we'll all go home Eliot." She pleaded.
"I don't make promises I can't keep crazy girl. You know that." Eliot said softly. The anger in the thief's eyes was evident.
"Then keep it. Do your job Eliot. Do your fucking job." Parker turned and stormed to her room. Stopping she looked at her friend. "Kenna tapes a picture of you and Faith in Chance's crib, no matter where they are. Don't let him not know the man his mother tells him about every night before he goes to bed." She slammed the door behind her. Eliot ran his hands over his face. He pissed off two out of the five people he trusted most in this world in one day. Knowing what he had to do to get the job done the other three were going to end up hating before this was over too.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
"You're not going to drink that Nate." Sophie stood with her arms crossed watching her husband.
"Nope. I thought I would just look at it for an hour or so." Taking a deep breath he pushed the glass of amber liquid across the table. "You ready for tomorrow?"
"As I'll ever be." There was a knock at the door. Sophie went and answered it. Eliot stood outside the door.
"I brought you both some Kevlar." He hand Sophie the vests.
"Thanks. You want to come in?"
"No…I have some things I need to go over." He nodded. "Good night." He left and Sophie turned back to her husband.
"He's going to do something really stupid." She said.
"Eliot doesn't do stupid Sophie." Nate went back to his files.
"I wouldn't bet on that."
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o
2:00 am
"This was really stupid." Eliot stood on the roof of the hotel. The zip line was attached and his harness secure. He was sure that at this time of night they would leave Kenna alone in her room with the baby.
"Yeah, it's insane." Parker said from behind him.
"Parker…" He turned around. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Saving your ass." She tightened the harness and adjusted the zip line. "The windows unlocked, there's a guard at her door and one at the main door. The nanny has her own room on the other end of the suite. I think she's knocking boots with Moreau or McClosky."
"Parker."
"Okay…just take it slow. Kenna's been sleeping with the bathroom light on so you should be able to see in the room."
"You've been out here watching her?"
"Someone had to have her back." Parker handed him the rope. "She keeps a knife under her pillow. Be careful of that." She smiled. "And be quiet." He nodded and she helped him over the edge. Easing him down the side of the building Parker hoped this wasn't the stupidest thing they ever did.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/
Kenna sat in the rocker and fed Chance. The two am feeding were the only time she was completely alone.
"I missed so damn much." She looked up to see Eliot leaning against the window sill.
"I knew I was really close to the edge but now I'm seeing and hearing things." She closed her eyes. The feel of a warm hand against her cheek took her breath away.
"I'm not a dream baby." Kenna couldn't open her eyes. If she did he would surly disappear. "Open your eyes Kenna Shane." He said softly. She shook her head. Chance felt her tense and started to fuss. Eliot looked down at the child in his wife's arms. "Open your eyes." Kenna looked up at him. His eyes we're as cold as the day she had come back into his life.
"What are you doing here?"
"I needed to see you." He ran his hand down her light brown locks. "So not you."
"You need to leave." They would all die for sure if Eliot was caught in her room.
"I need to see you and my son." He squatted down and watched as his son nursed. "I'll be in the vault tomorrow. While you're robbing the bank Parker's gonna come get Chance and head out of town." Eliot touched his son's cheek. "He's perfect."
"I didn't know…I mean I knew that night but…if I was wrong…" He touched her cheek.
"Shhhh baby. I know you didn't know." Eliot looked into his wife's eyes. "I never thought you died in that explosion."
"I always knew you'd come looking for me. For us." Chase finished eating and Kenna handed him to Eliot. He put the boy against his shoulder and patted his back as she pulled down her shirt and stood. The little boy burped.
"That's my boy." He whispered. Laying him in his crib Eliot covered the little boy. Turning back to look at his wife, he saw something he rarely saw. Fear. "We're gonna get you out this Kenna."
"Something's not right. Moreau and McClosky have been fighting all day. Tonight the look I saw in Damien's wasn't his normal arrogance. He's scared of Philip."
"McClosky was CIA. He was the best."
"He still is. But if he's running this show then I've been played hard."
"You were only thinking of how to get out of this with minimal damage." Eliot wasn't sure that Moreau was as innocent as Kenna thought he might be. "Kenna…" He took a step toward her but she took a step back.
"Leave before we have more trouble than we can deal with." Her arms crossed over her chest.
"Kenna, I haven't seen you in nearly seventh months." Eliot went to the window. "I just wanted to hold you for a little while." Kenna took a step forward. It was almost painful to touch him. She stood arms length away. "I don't bite darlin'."
"I won't be able to let go." She whispered.
"Nobody's asking you too Kenna." He reached for her. Taking that last step he took her into his arms and held her close. "By the end of today nobody is gonna keep us apart." He kissed the top of her head. "Tonight, I'm gonna start making up for the last seven months."
"I have missed you Eliot Spencer." He chuckled.
"The feeling is mutual." He pushed her arms length away. "Faith is safe. We'll get you and Chance the hell out of here and get back to our life." He pulled her back into his arms. "I missed you so damn much." He knew he had to go but the thought of leaving Kenna and Chance broke his heart. He bent down and kissed her softy and pushed her away. "There's two ear buds and a phone on the bedside table. Find a way to put an ear bud in whatever Chance is wearing today." He took her face in his hand. "This ends today." Kissing her good-bye was the hardest things he had ever done. "I love you." He connected the rope to his harness and headed out the window.
"I love you too." Kenna didn't know how she held it together for the next few hours but somehow she managed. It would all be over soon.
o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/o/
7:45 am
Eliot was in the bank in less than thirty seconds with Parker's precise directions. If anyone thought a security guard entering the bank before eight in the morning raised any eyebrows he was oblivious of it. He checked his watch and checked in with Nate and Sophie and continued his journey to the vault.
"Eliot?" Nate's voice echoed in his ear.
"I'm in Nate. "
"Good." Nate sat outside the bank reading a paper. "Parker?"
"I'm on the roof of the hotel. Moreau left with Kenna and eight other men. There nanny and four guards are left." Parker checked her watch.
"Take it slow and easy crazy girl. One at a time." Eliot whispered. "Kenna should of put the ear bud in Chance's clothing so if they move, you'll know."
"I'm tracking them." Hardison said from the van parked in the hotel parking ramp. "Eliot, Kenna and her crew are moving in. It's too early."
"Maybe they decided to hit the museum first." Sophie answered.
"Or they anticipate a problem." Eliot looked at his watch. Nearly two hours early. "Someone changed the plan. It wasn't Kenna and it must have been this morning because she would have figured out a way to tell us."
"Knowing the crew they switched it up on the car ride to the bank." Nate looked around, scanning the area for the car carrying his hitter's wife and the people she planned on using to rob the bank. "Heads up people, we got incoming. Eliot, they're going for the quick extraction."
"Fuck." Eliot knew that there would be more then the Kenna, Nelson and Patrick going into the bank. "They're gonna take it all."
"Eliot they're going to come through the wall." Parker stopped her decent. "I should have seen it with that damn parking ramp next door. They had enough det cords in that room to blow up half the city. Eliot you need to get out of there. They blow that wall and there is going to be metal flying around that vault like you wouldn't believe. The shrapnel will chop you to pieces."
"I'm kinda locked in here Parker. The plan was for them to come through the door, not blaze through the friggin' wall."
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
"NO! Parker you get Chance and you get the hell on that plane with Hardison and you don't look back." Eliot looked around the vault.
"Parker can help you Eliot." Nate watched the SUV pull into the parking garage.
"Parker needs to get my son and get on that plane Nate." Eliot closed his eyes. "You know what needs to be done. Do it crazy girl."
"Eliot your gonna die in that vault." Hardison started to panic.
"Not if I can help it." He looked around the vault. It was all safety deposit boxes smaller vaults. "Parker, there's the smaller vaults in here. How sturdy are they?"
"If you can crack one it may protect you but they are state of the art. Retinal scans, finger prints, key codes."
"What if it's empty?"
"I'm on it Eliot. It shouldn't only take a pass key or a digital code to get in an empty vault." Hardison answered.
"Eliot they're in the parking ramp and they've closed it off. Two of Moreau's men are at the gate." Nate informed him.
"Parker…how's it going at the hotel?" Eliot scanned the vault. He needed something. The air vent wasn't big enough to shimmy into.
"You worry about your job and let me worry about mine." She shouted at him.
"Eliot, vault six eighteen is empty. Put your phone up to it and I can see if I can hack it." Hardison told him.
"Eliot, their setting the det cords." Sophie whispered. "Eight men, Moreau, McClosky and Kenna."
"Something's not right." Eliot closed his eyes. Moreau or McClosky…Kenna had to figure out who was on her side. 'Damn it Spencer think.' "McClosky. Hardison, hack McClosky's phone. He's working for someone way more powerful than Moreau."
"I'm a little busy trying to get your ass into a secured vault so you're not ripped to shreds by flying shrapnel."
"Parker, get Chance now." The vault in front of him opened.
"Eliot they're pushing the button." Sophie screamed. It was going to be a tight squeeze. Before Eliot could move the sound of exploding concrete and metal echoed through the vault.
"ELIOT!" The sound of Nate's voice echoing through everyone's coms was deafening. Then there was nothing but dead air.
