A/N: So so sorry for the delay in this. Stupid life and sickness and more out of town travel just bogged me down and I had half the chapter done but didn't want to publish a short bit that didn't quite go anywhere after I took so long to post. I do have the next chapter planned and about good to go. Wrapping up this case and then getting back to Walter's recovery and then a few more things are going to pop up because nothing is ever easy in Scorpion world.
And I'm sorry I had to laugh at the idea of where to read my other stuff because I felt like going "Well gather round children and let me tell you about the days when fanfiction allowed original fiction and wasn't split between fanfiction and fictionpress..." and yeah that's how old my other account on here is and trust me no one needs to read the insanity that was posted there.
As for my published series you can find that on amazon and it's free if you have kindle unlimited but if not I can try to see if there is a discount sale opportunity to get either the digital or print copies cheaper. But it's very different from this (still angsty but more dystopian sci-fi) so might not appeal to you guys.
Anyway sorry again and I'll try not to leave you guys hanging so long again.
"You ready for this buddy?" Walter asked Ralph as they sat in front of their computers. Elia was nearby watching as well.
Cabe, Simone and Sly were in a commandeered work van near one of the other warehouses. Close enough to hack into the system of the art thieves collective, but it was only going to happen if the device in Paige's pocket was able to connect to their wifi signal. Once the device connected the wifi would ask for a password which Sly could then hack into and get into the entire system. Once Sly was in he would let Walter and Ralph into the system as well. Walter and Ralph would try to find the identities of everyone in the group and find evidence they hacked Elia's software while Sly worked on trying to find the girl and her father. It was Walter's hope that they would find another way in that would allow Cabe and Simone to get out the hostages without the thieves knowing.
Walter believed that this location was not their headquarters at all but just a temporary location. Any group so successful for so long would not let potential enemies and government agents aware of their location. He assume there would be only a few guards, just enough to keep their prisoners but not so many that they couldn't leave quickly if Walter broke the agreement and let Homeland and INTERPOL move on the warehouse.
Simone had suggested just storming the warehouse but backed down when Walter said their way the evidence could be found, otherwise, it was unlikely they could prove anything or get the group to talk. He doubted that anyone at the warehouse was high-ranking within the organization. They could get the whole organization if they were able to get into their system. Not to mention Walter didn't want to risk the girl or her father.
"Cabe, Simone, Sly, you guys in position?" Walter asked.
"Yes, we're ready Walter," Sly said as he sat in the back of the van with his laptop open.
"Paige are you guys ready?" Walter asked his entire body tense with stress. If anything went wrong he was too far away to do anything. But he still had his brain. He could still help, he had to keep thinking that. A genius on the phone had to be better than some mindless soldier.
"Yes, we're ready to go in with the sword," Paige said as Happy pulled up to the warehouse.
"Who knows what they have in there waiting for us." Happy said looking at the warehouse.
"Just stick to the plan. You will be back in no time. INTERPOL and Homeland are on standby." Walter said.
"Yeah, that will be a huge comfort to my corpse if these guys decide to shoot first and just grab the sword." Happy said.
Walter clenched his fist. Happy wasn't wrong. These weren't exactly trustworthy operators.
"These guys are businessmen and they know they can't kill us without attracting more attention than they want and we've already shown them we are better at finding things than they are. They want this to be easy." Toby said.
"Well that will be a bit of a problem because we are not going to make it easy," Walter said.
"Someone just stepped out of the warehouse. He's standing outside the door. Must be our escort." Happy said.
"Let's get this over with," Paige said.
"Be careful," Walter said softly.
"Aw Walter, I didn't know you cared." Toby joked.
Walter was going to respond when he heard the car doors opening and knew they needed to focus not argue.
"Team Scorpion?" The guard questioned as they approached.
"Yes, that's us," Paige answered.
"Not quite as informed as Morgain." Cabe said.
"Or they are playing at something," Walter said.
"Are you armed?" The guard asked.
"Just with Wit and Charm," Toby said.
"And a sword, dumbass." Happy said holding up the case.
"Right that too," Toby said with a shrug.
The guard looked them up and down and then reached around to grab the semi-automatic that was strapped around his chest. He pointed at the three of them.
"Try anything and I just shoot and then take the sword." The guard said. He moved behind them and motioned for them to go through the door.
"Just keep it calm buddy," Toby said with his hands up as Paige opened the warehouse door.
"Okay, that sounded like the door. I should be able to get their signal. Just need to get past the encryption to get their password." Sly said working furiously on his laptop.
"We're ready as soon as you can get us in Sly," Walter said waiting to get the mission over with as soon as possible He hated that Paige, Toby, and Happy had no backup. He had Simone and Cabe ready to call in the cavalry if anything seemed off. He would not risk his team. He knew if it was him there he wouldn't risk the girl but he couldn't risk his team for the chance to save a girl they had never seen in person.
Paige, Happy, and Toby walked into a massive warehouse that was largely empty. There were a few containers in the back and Paige noticed there were doors that obviously led to offices or other rooms. In front of the large empty expanse, there was an ornate desk that did not belong in a warehouse. Two armed men were beside him and Toby noticed a couple more guards on the catwalk above them.
"Team Scorpion how nice of you to come and you brought my sword." The man said in a sultry, raspy voice. He has a touch of an Italian accent which matched the mobster vibe of his fancy suit and slicked-back hair.
"Yeah you want the sword, we want the hostages." Happy said rudely.
"Now there's no reason why we can't be civilized. This is just a business arrangement after all." The man said as he pulled a cigar from the desk and lit it.
"Civilized people don't kidnap children," Paige said.
"Guys play nice. They have guns remember?" Walter said into the coms and no one missed the hesitant tone that showed how worried he was.
"It is a means to an end. I believe your government has killed plenty of children for the greater good and with Mr. O'Brien's help. So let's not talk about morality but rather what we came here for. Let me see the sword."
Happy opened the case to show the sword which was secured in one half of the case which was covered with a clear partition. There was a numeric keypad attached to the clear partition that was connected to a metal hinge.
The sword was real enough and would probably fool most people but the keypad and partition was just another stall tactic. All they needed was enough time in the building to get the information they needed.
Walter gripped the table hard enough with his hands that he felt the pain in his chest as all his muscles tensed. He wanted to fight back and argue with this villain who suggested they were the same and that Walter would ever consider kidnapping a young girl as a means to an end. And yet he knew he had just been willing to risk that girl's safety in order to make sure his team came home safe.
"I assume you will only let me into the case if I release the hostages and am I correct in assuming there are failsafe methods for any attempt to brute force my way into the case? I expected no less from a team of geniuses. But how do you expect me to trust that the sword is real without being able to test it?" The man behind the desk asked.
This was expected. It was all expected and mostly going to what Walter had planned for.
"I'm in Walter! I'm giving you guys access now." Sly said and Walter quickly worked the keys to get everything they needed as soon as possible.
"Ralph you get into their records and download everything you can," Walter said. He planned to go into their contacts and get all that information. It was likely encrypted as he assumed everything would be but he was confident that he could get past all of it in minutes. This collective had already proven themselves to be pretty predictable.
But as Walter got into the system he saw something else that he needed access to first: Security cameras. He pulled all the cameras up and laid each one on a different screen in front of him. He was able to see Paige, Happy, and Toby in the main room facing the armed guards and the jerk at the desk. He also saw a room that contained a girl sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees. Another camera showed an older man cuffed to a chair. More cameras were in hallways and another was in a backroom that was mostly empty except for someone at a computer. Probably their security trying to watch for someone getting into the system. They had at least some sense of who they were dealing with. But Walter trusted that both Sly and Ralph knew how to cover their tracks.
"Sly do you see the security cameras? Can you narrow down where these rooms might be based on the size, location of doors and windows, and the blueprints of the warehouse?" Walter asked.
"Yes, I'm in them now Walter. Judging by the girl's room she's in the back of the warehouse on the south side. The father is on the North side near the middle. There are access points here and here." Sly said pointing to the blueprint for Cabe and Simone. Walter couldn't see where Sly was pointing but looking at the blueprints himself he could figure it out.
"We can do a Speed on the cameras, right? So if anyone is watching them they won't know we're coming?" Cabe asked.
"A what?" Walter asked.
"Loop a recording of the camera feed and play it back so that it looks like nothing in the room is changing." Elia supplied.
"Yes of course. I'll start a recording of all the cameras now." Walter said. "We need to make sure to pick a section of video for each camera where absolutely nothing happens or moves. Anything moving would be very repetitive on film and be noticed."
"Yeah like the woman moving her hand on the purse that's what ruined it for Keanu too," Cabe said.
"Well Keanu had only a short period of time to work with and a bus full of panicked people it's hard to get them to stay still. We've got the benefit of a scared little girl and a man who is already tied up. They're staying pretty still." Sly said.
"Guys you need to drag this out a little longer. We're going to send Cabe and Simone in and then once we have the files we'll get Homeland to get you out of there. Just make sure they don't send anyone to check on the hostages." Walter said into the comm. He went back to getting into the contact information for the system and getting through the encryption while also constantly checking the screen where Paige stood in front of and under armed guards.
"We have no reason to trust you. You've killed and kidnapped people to get this sword we take it out of the case you'll just kill us to get to it." Happy said firmly.
"But I have no reason to trust you either. You could have put a cheap sword in there that is useless to me and I'll have lost all my leverage with you." The man at the desk said.
"You still know who we are and where we are based. You can come after us." Toby supplied. "We don't want you guys after us. The sword in this case is real. You can verify the knicks on the sword with the ones in the pictures of the sword prior to its disappearance."
"All of which can be faked." The man started.
"I'm in!" Ralph cried downloading the files.
"I'm at the South door," Cabe said with his gun raised. "Ready at the North," Simone said.
"Looping the cameras off everywhere but the main warehouse now," Sly said.
"Okay Cabe once you are in the hallway it's going to be the third door on your left but there's a guard right outside," Sly said.
"Simone you're going down the hall and turning right and taking the second door. You're going past two guards making rounds."
Walter shook his head. There were definitely more guards than he had been expecting. But with access to the cameras, he knew he could keep Cabe and Simone from being caught off guard and they were more than capable of taking out a few guards.
"Disengaging the electronic locks now," Sly said. "You're good to go in."
Walter found his fingers for once working just as fast as they used to. He was coming back and for a moment he could ignore the fatigue he felt, the pain in his chest and leg, and the sweat dripping from his forehead. He could do this.
"I'm in. I'm getting all their contacts. And aliases." Walter said. "Just three more minutes. Cabe and Simone get those hostages."
Walter saw both Cabe and Simone appear on camera as they made their way into the respective hallways. Cabe quickly encountered and subdued his guard getting him to the floor, gagged and bound in just a minute. Walter smiled glad that Cabe hadn't lost his touch either.
Simone preferred to shoot with her silencer which Walter grimaced at but at least she wasn't shooting to kill.
"Enough talking in circles. I will have the hostages brought here and I will shoot one of them unless you give me the code now. I must test the sword before I free them. Damn if the pictures match!"
Walter had only half been paying attention to the conversation in his ear between Happy, Toby, and Paige. Paige had been using her charm and flattery to delay things but that had only gotten them so far. Now it was a battle between Happy's anger and the man at the desk's impatience.
"You let them go we give you the case and we text you the code once we are clear. You find out the sword is a fake you know where to find us." Happy said.
"You will get the sword out and show it to me now!" The man at the desk screamed. And then he motioned to the guard next to him. "Get the hostages we'll see how many times we can shoot them before they give up the sword. Maybe a little girl's cries will talk sense into these so-called geniuses."
"Cabe, Simone you're out of time. Get those hostages out now!" Walter shouted into the com watching as both Cabe and Simone were leading their charges to the back doors.
"Download is done, Walter." Elia said.
"Mine too!" Ralph said.
Walter nearly fell back in relief. He pressed a button on his phone. "Hostages are clear. I repeat hostages are clear. Get my team out of there Cooper." Walter commanded.
Walter knew there were helicopters ready to drop agents and there were a dozen vehicles (non-descript mini-vans and sedans) that had been parked in a harbor loading dock parking lot five minutes away that now suddenly made their way to the warehouse.
"Give him the sword Happy," Walter said.
"Fine just don't hurt the hostages. Take the case." Happy said putting it on the desk.
The guard had made his way to the door but when the man at the desk did not call him back he still opened the door.
He was immediately treated to the view of an empty hallway, a hallway that should have had a guard inside. But that guard had taken the little girl's place in the cell. Cabe and Simone were still making their way to the work van that Sly was still inside.
"Boss I don't see Rich anywhere." The guard at the door said.
"Just get the girl." The man at the desk said. "Rich come in. Come in Rich."
Paige, Happy, and Toby exchanged worried glances. They were about to be exposed and likely shot.
"Sounds like someone is slacking off on the job. You know you just can't find good help these days. I know our hired muscle sometimes just doesn't get the job done either." Toby said shaking his head and tsking.
"You watch your mouth kid," Cabe said. "Hostages are clear. We're moving out."
"Cooper, where is your backup?" Walter cried out. They had seconds before this all went sideways and his team was still inside, unarmed.
"Walter you're the one that wanted them to keep their distance. They are 2 minutes out." Cooper said.
Cabe and Simone shared a look. There was a chance their team didn't have 2 minutes.
Paige tried to look calm thinking about how this was all part of Walter's plan and Walter's plans worked. He knew what he was doing. He wouldn't have let her do this if he didn't know he could succeed. Of course, he hadn't wanted her to do this. But then she had just decided she was going to be part of this and ended up not being needed for the entire reason she had come. She had expected to be the one getting the girl and calming her down but Walter had decided that role was better suited for Simone, seeing as it involved taking out a guard. She tried to tell herself that was the reason and not that Walter trusted Simone more than her.
Suddenly the man at the desk and the guard beside him grabbed their guns and pointed them at the three people in front of them.
"What have you done with the girl? And my men? My hostages are gone!" The man at the desk's eyes blazed with anger. "They will kill me when they find out I've failed. Give me the code or you die."
"Do it. Give him the code." Walter said trembling.
"We give you the code you're just going to shoot us," Toby said. "What reason do you have to keep us alive if you have the code and you seem like you're kinda pissed at us."
"I only need one of you to give me the code so maybe if I kill someone the rest of you will be a bit more cooperative." He shouted.
"Only one of us knows the code!" Paige shouted. "You could kill the wrong one of us and then you'll never get the code."
The man laughed. "You think you're so smart. But you're not." The man at the desk pressed a button and suddenly the burner phone on Walter's table rang.
Walter answered the phone.
"You failed at our deal. Now give me the code to your special little case or listen as I slowly kill each member of your team. I know you know it. You're behind this whole little scheme and if I don't at least bring the sword they'll kill me."
"They're going to kill you anyway Martin. You might as well give up." Walter said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"How do you know my name? What did you do? What have you done?!" The man screamed, it was clear he was completely unhinged with anger and fear and they were out of time.
Several shots echoed against the warehouse walls.