With Great Power Comes Great Leverage
Chapter 3
"Damn it, Hardison!"
Alec Hardison sighed, but didn't stop putting on a respectable tie. "I'm the only one who can, Eliot," he said. "Tara's busy, and I'm not calling Sophie back."
"They've seen you," said Eliot.
"It's a job interview with a company on the 10th floor," said Hardison. "I need to see everything from close up. I'll do the interview, then lose myself on the way to the elevator. By then, Parker will have lifted a keycard and you'll be playing janitor. We've done this kind of thing 50 times."
"They've seen you, Hardison!" repeated Eliot, clenching his fists. "And if I can't get past the entrance, then what? You'll be up there without backup! Are you gonna think 'em to death? Dammit! Why do I listen to you?"
Eliot followed Hardison out to the van, which had already been painted to match the logo of a cleaning service that operated in Fisk Tower. Parker was already waiting next it, dressed in janitorial coveralls.
They dropped Hardison off two blocks away, out of sight of the tower. He briskly walked the rest of the way, looking just like a computer professional who needed a new job. He checked in at the front desk, and they called his interviewer. She arrived quickly.
On the way up to the 10th floor, he said, "Nice elevator. A very smooth ride." That was a code to Parker and Eliot that he was arriving at his floor.
His interviewer looked slightly perplexed, but said, "Yes, it is."
Eliot's voice sounded over the earpiece. "Got it, Hardison. We're pulling into the garage now."
Hardison accepted a bottle of water from the interviewer, and settled down to answering her bland questions with bland answers—after all, he really didn't want the job.
"I've got a keycard," said Parker. "Where are you, Eliot?"
"Just found the janitor closet, but it's locked," he said. "I'm heading for the men's restroom. And that's locked, too. Parker, where are you?"
"Loading dock," she said. Eliot turned the corner, bent over to take a drink from a water fountain to give him a chance to look around.
"Heading for the dock," he said, standing upright. "No one is following me that I can see."
"Mr. Hardwell," said his interviewer, using his alias, "you seem distracted. Is everything okay?"
Hardison said, "Oh, yes, very much so. I'm nervous—I hate interviews." That much, at least, was true.
"Then I must apologize," she said.
"For what?" asked Hardison.
"This interview is about to get more complicated," she said. "You see, Mr. Fisk does not like it when people try to invade his building."
Hardison's eyes widened and he leaped to his feet. Before he could run, the phony interviewer pulled a gun.
"Did you think you were safe below the 11th floor?" she asked. "The Kingpin has eyes everywhere."
Parker heard Hardison's predicament. She swallowed hard, but didn't stop moving through the vents she'd gotten into. She was almost at the dock.
"Dammit!" said Eliot. "Parker, without that card, I can't get up to help Hardison."
"Almost to the loading dock," she said. "Ten seconds."
Five seconds later, Eliot said, "Parker, get out of here! Now!" Parker and Hardison heard gunshots through the communicators.
Eliot ran out on to the loading dock, only to see two people waiting for him, people that he knew too well and who welcomed him with a spray of bullets. He dove behind some pallets. He hoped the boxes on the pallets weren't empty.
"Parker!" he hissed. "Get out of here! Now!"
No bullets came through the boxes, but he knew he wasn't safe, not from these people.
"Eliot Spencer! Come now, why hide from old friends?"
"Who is that?" said Parker.
"Old friends?" yelled Eliot. "Old friends don't open fire on each other, Dan. Or do you still prefer 'Fancy Dan'?"
The man called Fancy Dan smiled. "Eliot, Eliot, Eliot… you know with old friends like those we tend to have, it's best to shoot first, and say hello later. Oh, but that's right—you don't shoot people anymore. A pity you aren't armed. You were an excellent shot."
"Heh, heh," came a deep bass laugh. "Yeah. Too bad."
"That you, Ox?" said Eliot. "What happened to Montana? His lasso act get old?"
"He's in the slammer," said Fancy Dan. "He attacked the wrong Avenger."
"And now you're working for the Kingpin," said Eliot. "That's low, even for the Enforcers."
"We could use a third man on a temporary basis," said Fancy Dan. "Interested? I'm sure the Kingpin would be happy to pay for your services, even if you aren't a killer anymore. After working for Damien Moreau, Fisk would be a good addition to your résumé."
Eliot snorted. "I wouldn't work for Fisk if it was the last job on Earth."
"We don't work for him," said Ox. "We just dropped someone off, and he offered us an extra job for the day. Good pay, too."
"The job turned out to be you," said Fancy Dan. "The others, they'll be captured, but you… I suppose you're just too dangerous, Eliot. Time to die."
He heard their footsteps crossing the loading area, and desperately looked around. There was literally no place to go.
"Eliot," said Parker in his ear, "get ready."
"For what?" Eliot said.
With a loud crash, an oversized A/C grate fell from the ceiling, landing directly on the two Enforcers. Fancy Dan went down, but Ox was still mostly upright. Eliot bolted and kicked his knee, putting him down. Parker fell from the ceiling, landing on the grate and finishing the knock-out job.
"Come on," she said. "I've got the badge. It will get us upstairs."
"Where are we going, Parker!" he said, running behind her.
"Service elevator," she said. "They took Hardison upstairs. We need to rescue him."
"I said this was a bad idea," Eliot griped, as he scrambled after her. "Didn't I say that?" As the service elevator doors closed on them, he added, "Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?"