Chapter 3

"Damn it, Hardison," Eliot growled after Hardison's excited outburst after leveling up on World of Warcraft.

"Sorry, man," Hardison said to appease Eliot, even though he really wasn't sorry. Eliot yanked out his ear bud and shoved it into his pocket, taking a sip from his mug of beer. He watched as Nate stood up from his chair to greet the client.

"Thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice, Mr. Ford," the young woman said as she shook Nate and the hitter's hands and took the seat Nate pulled out for her. "My name is Marie."

"That's what we're here for," he assured her. She was a young woman, no older than 27. She looked like she had been crying hard in the past few hours. "So, you said your husband was killed last night."

"Yes," the woman said sniffling. "His name was Robert Wilson, a marine." Eliot chewed at his lip and furrowed his brow. "They found him washed up at the shipping port in Washington D.C. this morning.

"Why do you think he was murdered?" Nate asked inquisitively.

"Oh, I know why he was murdered," Marie answered, rubbing a tissue under her nose. "He was trying to make more money in order to support me and our son, Blake, by participating in a secret study by the company Starlex. They were testing a new steroid that helps correct asthma for soldiers."

"But the military doesn't accept men with asthma," Nate chimed in.

"Exactly," Marie continued. "Robert has been one of their test subjects since the beginning. The steroid worked so well that it helped his asthma and he was able to join the marines without them even knowing he had asthma. It worked perfectly, except for the fact that it gave him liver cancer."

Nate sat back in his chair and took a drink of Whiskey. Eliot eyed him carefully.

"I was on the phone with Robert last night. The steroid shipped from D.C. last night. It will debut to the public sometime next week. Robert was begging them to stop the shipment, because he knew it would cost lives instead of help them. Things must have gotten out of control and they killed him."

"So the metropolitan police are working the case then?" Nate asked. "I'm sure they'll be sending you over in order to speak with them."

"NCIS is working the case," she answered. "They were going to send me down to speak with them, but I think they made the connection between the shipment and Starlex. They're coming to Boston this evening."

"What's NCIS?" Nate questioned the woman, never having heard of them before.

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service," Eliot stated. When he noticed Nate was still lost, he elaborated. "They investigate crimes involving the Navy and Marines." Marie nodded.

"And they're coming here," Nate pondered, taking another sip of his drink. "We're not exactly crime solvers, Mrs. Wilson. Perhaps you should just let NCIS come in and do what they do."

"No," Marie declared. Eliot noticed her hands shaking.

"Have you heard from Starlex?" he questioned. She looked at him nervously.

"They gave me $10,000 in hush money," she said, a tear escaping her eye. "They threatened to kill my son and me if I said anything to the feds." She dabbed her eyes with the tissue and Nate gave her a reassuring pat on the hand. "I trust my government, Mr. Ford. I'm sure they can figure out who killed my husband, but then who will stop them from releasing the steroid? It will still kill hundreds of soldiers from liver cancer before they're even found out." Nate smirked.

"That's more our specialty," he told her. "Go home, cooperate with NCIS when they get here, and don't mention us. We don't need the government on our tail too." She nodded and stood up from her seat.

"Thank you," she said sincerely before leaving McRory's. Eliot glanced at Nate.

"You really think we should take on a case when the government is going to be involved? Don't you think that's a little risky?" he asked, questioning his leader.

"Now is the time to do it," Nate responded. "We'll just have to be even more careful than usual." Eliot grinded his teeth. "Assemble the team, Hardison," Nate said into his earpiece.

Thank you so much for reading! I promise chapters will be longer as soon as I combine the shows!