Alec Hardison was confused.
First there was the static, throwing the room into a brief, but intense chaos. Then the hulking men in black suits had come up to he and Parker – grabbing them each by an arm and spouting some bullshit about their car alarm…about being double parked…about someone having smashed the windshield.
It was lame. He hadn't bought it for a second, and neither had Parker. But then one of the men had changed, going from man to monster with a sickeningly organic sound. Hardison had once again found himself face to fang with a vampire.
It was only once he tried to cue Nate on the coms as to what was happening that he realized the feedback being broadcast was on the exact same frequency the team used to communicate with each other. He couldn't see Nate or Sophie from where he was, and there'd been no hope of getting Eliot's attention. Parker was dragged over to join him, and the two of them were quickly ushered from the room – cut off from help or support in every possibly way, shape, and form.
There was no escaping vampires. Their captors had kept a tight grip on them as they were marched deeper into the building. It's broad daylight out, he remembered thinking. No way they'll leave by the front door.
Oh, god, we're going to die. I never had a date with Freema, I never had a kiss with Parker that wasn't a part of a con, and now we're both gonna die.
They were ushered into a larger, dimly lit room – some kind of storage area, judging by the crates and the open loading dock. More men had been waiting for them, next to some kind of hatch in the floor. The vampires had handed them off, opened the hatch, and descended down a ladder into what had to be the sewers, by the smell. The humans – far more than there had been in the previous group – had taken them out of the loading dock, into the brightly lit sunlight and a waiting van. After having their com units very forcibly confiscated, their guards had climbed in with them.
Hardison and Parker were driven away from the scene.
Their final destination had turned out to be the Seaport Hotel. They'd been forced out of the van and into a service elevator. After a ride of several floors, they were shoved out of the elevator, down a hall, and into the same suite of rooms used by the only "good" vampire Hardison had ever met what seemed like a lifetime ago.
They'd been left there without a word – without any hint of how long they'd be there or what their ultimate fate was likely to be.
A quick investigation of their surroundings revealed snacks and soda in the kitchenette, and a PS3 and an X-Box 360 hooked up to the wide screen television. Parker immediately honed in on the wall safe hidden behind a cityscape portrait. The furniture was more comfortable than he'd had a chance to realize on his previous visit. The windows were huge, and the view was spectacular.
A quick check by Parker had revealed guards lining the hallway outside. There was a signal jammer somewhere in the vicinity, but Hardison and Parker both looked high and low without success.
Probably not even in the room anyway.
All in all, not a bad deal, Hardison thought, as he doggedly ploughed through the fifth stage of Devil May Cry 4. Left without a workable plan for escape, he'd settled in to cause some virtual mayhem. Least if you ignore the personal MIB detail just outside the door.
Behind him, Parker had just finished cracking Lindsey's wall safe. Hardison hit the "pause" button, and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see her pull out a wad of cash and a couple of king sized chocolate bars.
"What the hell is he playing at?" she growled, although she unwrapped one of the candy bars anyway. Taking a bite, she held the other out for him.
"No idea," Hardison shrugged, but went over to take the chocolate anyway. "I mean, I used to think Eliot was the proverbial enigma wrapped in a riddle, but he's an open book compared to his brother."
"I mean," Parker went on, "is he going to kill us with vampires or boredom? Is he feeding us chocolate so our blood is nice and sweet when they drain us dry?"
Hardison decided to ignore that last part. "And why snatch us in the first place? What good are we to the big boys at Wolfram and Hart?"
Parker snorted. "Well, that's obvious."
"Oh, yeah? Care to enlighten those of us in the peanut gallery?"
"Sure." Parker perched herself on the counter and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Eliot's big and tough. He can beat vampires. If they tried to snatch him, especially if they tried it in broad daylight, he'd put them all in the hospital. Including Lindsey." She paused, smiling at the thought of Eliot beating up his brother.
Not a bad image, Hardison was forced to admit.
"Not us, though," Parker continued. "We're just weak, ordinary little humans. Perfect for a snatch and grab. Tasty vamp food, too, if it comes to that. We're in danger, Nate loses his mind, Wolfram and Hart gets whatever they want."
It was said much too calmly, as though Parker was commenting on the weather. It was chilling; as Parker went back to munching on her candy bar, Hardison forcibly reminded himself that the girl was insane. He loved her to death – he always would – but she was nuttier than her chocolate bar.
"Cheer up," she said. Hardison realized with a flash of guilt that some of his depression must have finally shown on his face. "We're still worth more alive than dead. Probably still worth more alive than undead."
"Let's hope," he said. Which was harder than it should have been. No coms, no way of reaching the team, and no feasible way of escaping. With that sobering reminder, he finished up his candy, grabbed some more Cheetos from the cupboard, and went back to navigating Dante through the latest dungeon.
Behind him, Parker crumpled up her wrapper and tossed it at the wall. "I don't think we should let Lindsey join the team anymore," she grumbled.
Hardison didn't have the heart to reply.
"Leverage means you're after something," Eliot said. "You're either trying to control us, or you want us for a job. Whichever one it is, no deal."
Lindsey sighed. "You used to do jobs for us all the time, Eliot. All kinds of jobs. We paid you well, we kept our word, and I made sure you knew everything you needed to know." He paused, giving Eliot the chance to argue with him.
Not that I could. Eliot knew everything Lindsey was saying was true, but that was a different time. And a different me.
"Wasn't a bad setup, right?" Lindsey studied him for a long moment – almost as if he didn't already understand Eliot's objection to the whole mess. "What the hell's with the cold feet? It's not a big deal."
Eliot scowled. "I'm not getting cold feet, Linds. I just don't need your money anymore, I don't owe you or the Senior Partners a thing, and I want to keep it that way."
"Too bad," Lindsey said. "The Senior Partners apparently see it differently."
That got Eliot's attention. "This is about me, then." He wondered fleetingly why he'd ever wasted the energy questioning Nate's assessment.
His twin snorted derisively. "Nobody else owes their life to Wolfram & Hart like you do. You may think you're free, Eliot, but believe me – they still see you as an investment. One they're determined to have pay off."
Eliot thought about Parker and Hardison. He believed Lindsey when he claimed they were being held in comfort – his twin knew full well what Eliot would do if any of the team were hurt or killed.
The problem was that he knew just how far Lindsey would go to get what he wanted. It wasn't irredeemably far, otherwise they wouldn't be standing here having this conversation – but it was farther than Eliot wanted any of his team subjected to. "What do you want?"
Lindsey smiled, and Eliot shook his head. "I get any of your smart-ass observations on life, Lindsey, I will reach through these bars and kill you." He paused. "What do you want?"
"Come in voluntarily," Lindsey said finally. "Agree to meet with Special Projects. I could force you, but I want you to see that this is a good deal, Eliot." He chuckled softly. "Plus, I can't afford to lose too many foot soldiers this early in the game."
Eliot was quiet for a long moment, weighing his options. He had no doubt that right now Nate and Sophie were pulling together a plan, and he was reasonably sure that Parker and Hardison were working on an escape. The problem was that none of them knew how royally outclassed they were. They'd faced vampires, sure, but they hadn't faced Lindsey MacDonald and his world-swallowing ambition.
"Parker and Hardison go free," he said finally. "You and Special Projects keep your hands off the rest of the team."
Lindsey looked almost comically uncertain. "I don't control Special Projects, Eliot. I can't give you any guarantees they won't take an interest in your people sometime in the future."
Eliot folded his arms across his chest. "Special Projects wants me for something, that's the price. You want this deal, you'll convince them."
What he really wanted was something to throw. Nate finally forced himself to step away from the desk before Hardison's laptop became too much of a temptation to resist. "This is ridiculous." He stalked into the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee.
"I think it would be easier to take if I wasn't sure the little prick is enjoying this," Sophie sighed. "Nate, we can't keep dancing to his tune. It doesn't make any sense."
Nate watched the cream swirling into his coffee and wrestled down the obligatory thought about how much better it would taste with a shot of Irish whiskey. "You're right," he said finally. "We need to get in front on this, or it's all over. I'm tired of letting that little bastard get the drop on us."
Sophie moved to stand on the opposite side of the counter from him. "Nate, it was a good plan. We all thought so." She slid her hand across the granite to cover his with a comforting squeeze. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
He chuckled bitterly. "It's what I do," he said, meeting her gaze finally. They shared a moment of perfect understanding, then Sophie perched on a nearby stool.
"Okay," she said. "Even though Parker and Hardison are in more danger, I think we need to work on getting Eliot back first."
"I don't know that they're necessarily in more danger," Nate said. "Lindsey's using them as hostages, but he's got to know how Eliot's going to react if anything happens to them." He said a quick, silent prayer for the thief and the hacker, and then continued, "I agree Eliot's our first priority, however." He glanced up at the clock. "Lindsey's most likely met with him by now and given him at least some idea what's going on."
"Plus he's in police custody – easier to get to," Sophie said.
Nate raised an eyebrow at that, but let the comment pass. "Get down there and see what you can do. Don't take any unnecessary chances – getting him out would be terrific, but it may not be possible." He paused, working the problem over in his mind. "We have to assume Lindsey has some provision in place for the fact that Eliot's prints are lighting up law enforcement networks across the globe by now."
"I'll do what I can," Sophie said. "And while I'm gone, you're going to be calling Faith, right?"
Nate flinched. "I don't want her involved, Sophie. Not yet. Not until we have a clearer idea what Lindsey's up to." He picked up his coffee and started to leave the kitchen – Sophie had a tendency to push physical closeness when she was trying to convince him to do something, and as stressed out as he was, Nate didn't want to chance what might happen.
"Nate," Sophie said sharply – her fatigue and frustration coming through loud and clear, "she is our best chance of getting ahead of this thing, and you know it!"
"I will not risk my daughter on this!" Nate snapped, rounding on Sophie so fiercely that the grifter drew back in shock. "Not while there's still a chance we can get this under control."
"Lucky for you…" Nate's heart sank as they both turned towards the door of the apartment, knowing immediately who had slipped in at just the wrong moment. "…my involvement's not your decision to make."
Faith stood just inside the open door, idly passing her keys from one hand to the other. "Hey, Pops," she said, nodding at Nate. "Wanna fill me in?"