6:03 p.m.
"I know you're very excited about this opportunity, but don't you think you're rushing things?"
"This is how it works in the business," Evan says, oozing condescension. "It has to get done now. We need to be ready to shoot in 90 days. Permits need to be filed, remodels done, there's no time to waste."
"I don't trust these people and I'm not sure you should be so quick to-"
"You're my lawyer, not my mother," he jeers, considering hanging up on Mr. Edwards. "Alexa Kint is an established producer, she knows what she's doing."
"I just wish you would-"
"I'm sorry, where in your retention agreement does it say that I have to do you favors?" Evan scoffs and Edwards remains silent. He can picture the little man shrinking behind the large desk like he always does. "Look over the contracts and make sure they aren't screwing me. If anything comes up, just text me. I'm getting sick of your whining."
"Yes, sir," he replies in defeat. "He's here now. If everything is in order, I'll see you at the restaurant." Evan hangs up without acknowledgement or goodbye, leaving his lawyer waiting on a dead line. "Oh, ok, goodbye then, " he mumbles awkwardly to the dial tone.
"Mr. Edwards," Hardison says hurriedly. "David Eccleston. I believe you're expecting me."
"Yes, Evan wanted me to look at his contact."
"Well, it's all here. His contract, lease agreement for the house," he rambles, spreading the documents out on the desk. "This is a standard gag order. Can't have him spilling the beans before the season finale, you know!" In the shuffle he manages to swipe Edwards' phone, smoothly slipping it into his pocket. "Ok, well, I have a few other things to take care of. You just bring it all with you and we'll see you at dinner."
He barely notices Hardison leave as he stares at the pile of paper he's expected to deal with. All in less than an hour.
Hardison nods to the security guards in the lobby, but they are distracted by the gentleman in the royal blue suit walking in. Although they are staring at Nate, they still miss the hand-off of Edwards' phone as the two men pass each other.
6:28 p.m.
"Eliot, are you in place?" Nate asks, staking out the hallway outside of Edwards' offices. Eliot doesn't quite answer, it's more of a growl in reply.
"Stay in character," Sophie warns into their earpieces.
"Tell me again why I have to be this particular character," Eliot asks.
"We need you close, but inconspicuous."
"I'm wearing a red suit and ringing a bell!" he points out angrily. The woman who was about to put a dollar in his donation kettle jumps back and quickly walks away.
"You're Santa. Respect the suit!" Parker butts in.
"You've been all over town with Jordan and Sarah. We can't risk Evan recognizing you," Sophie says, pretending not to enjoy his aggravation.
"Ho. Ho. Ho," Eliot grumbles lifelessly.
"You're supposed to be jolly," Parker informs him, to which he rings the bell loudly into his earpiece in response. Everyone winces, Eliot included, but he decides that it was worth it to silence them.
6:42 p.m.
"Parker, are you at the restaurant yet?" Nate asks, having since switched the comm. to his other ear.
"I'm almost within range," she says rounding a corner and seeing Eliot thirty feet away.
"Within range?"
"I mean I'm almost there," she corrects, while scooping up a handful of snow. Not wanting to blow their cover, he doesn't look around to find her in the thin crowd of passers-by, so Parker catches him completely off guard.
When the snowball hits, it nearly knocks the Santa hat right off his head. He yanks it back into place as his eyes search for the culprit. Parker sprints by and through the revolving doors of the restaurant before Eliot has the chance to retaliate.
"Everybody focus!" Nate mediates.
"She threw a snowball at me!"
"He deserved it!"
"Enough!" Nate sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. This is why he said no jobs. "Hardison, where's Evan?"
"Just leaving his house now," he answers from his van packed down the street. He waits a few moments after the car passes then pulls out to follow him.
"Good," Nate replies and pulls the cell phone out of his pocket. "Sending the text now."
6:57 p.m.
"I'm meeting a private party," Evan says arrogantly. "I believe it's under the name Alexa Kint." The name doesn't impress the hostess but she smiles graciously anyway.
"Yes, you'll be in The Wine Room tonight. If you'll just follow me." He swaggers through the restaurant to the back room. Parker is already there, straightening the place settings and checking the glasses for watermarks. "No rest for the wicked, huh?" he says as he strolls in.
"Not until this deal goes through." She fakes exhaustion to cover her discomfort at being stuck with him again. Luckily their server comes in before he can get too close to her.
"Hi, I'm Allison. I'll be taking care of you tonight." Parker returns her smile and Evan ignores her completely. "Did you want start with any appetizers or drinks right away?"
"We'll be having champagne later, but for now some wine," Parker decides. "You can open two bottles to start, but we should wait to serve until the other three arrive." Allison nods and goes over to the wall that is basically an enormous wine rack. She takes down Parker's selection and cuts the foil off before uncorking them.
"Actually, there will only be two more," Evan announces. "My lawyer won't be joining us."
"Is anything wrong with the contracts?"
"No, he says it's all in order, but something came up at the office," he explains, reading the message on his phone. "He sent the papers along with a Mr. Eccleston."
"Perfect. He should be here any second." She puts heavy emphasis on the 'should,' hoping her fiancé gets the point that she doesn't want to be alone with him any longer than necessary.
"I hear you loud and clear, mama," Hardison says, having just dodged a snowball from Eliot. "On my way in now."
7:01 p.m.
Nate checks the time on the watch Sophie gave him before sauntering into Edwards' office.
"What are you doing here?" the man asks in surprise.
"Oh, just thought we could have a chat," Nate replies casually. "You're not busy, are you?"
"I don't have time for this," the little lawyer says in fatigue. He glances at the clock nervously, then goes back to scanning the contract on his desk. "You'll have to come back next week." Nate doesn't need to see the tremor of his hand or the perspiration on his forehead to tell that the man is nervous.
Like most of the other people in Evan's life he is the nervous type. Too timid to ever stand up to him and easy to push around. The same qualities that Evan found in Parker's character, and why he was drawn to her. Another person he could easily manipulate. Nate almost feels bad for the guy, but he knows that getting fired by Evan James will be the best thing that's ever happened to him.
Nate ignores the dismissal and starts what is to be a very distracting conversation. Poor Mr. Edwards… he has no idea that he should have stayed in bed today.
7:05 p.m.
"Good evening, I'm joining the party in The Wine Room," Hardison smiles kindly at the hostess. "There might be a few people stopping in later to say hi. They'll probably flash a badge and ask for Evan James. If you wouldn't mind showing them right on in, that would be great."
"No problem, sir," she replies and leads him to the back room. He pretends not to notice how close Evan is standing to Parker or the defensive set of her shoulders. He paints a fake smile on his face as he greets her and introduces himself.
"How was your flight?" Parker asks, relaxing a bit.
"It would have been a lot better if it had landed someplace else, you know what I'm saying?" Hardison holds up his hand to give Evan a high five, but lowers it awkwardly seeing the man's expression. "Apparently you don't…"
"What are we doing about that lawyer?" Evan asks bluntly.
"Oh, right," he stammers, putting his briefcase on the table and popping it open. "He doesn't have leg to stand on, but he could still cause problems for us so we had to change some of the wording."
"What wording?"
"Well, instead of leasing the house to us, you're donating it?"
"What? Did Edwards agree to this?" Evan asks, reaching for his phone.
"Let me explain, it'll all make sense in a moment," Hardison soothes. "You'll still be paid for the house and we'll give it back to you when we're done, but on paper it has to look like a donation." Evan stops dialing but doesn't put the phone down. "This guy wants to take your house, but you won't have a house to take because you gave it to us. Since it's being used as a bona fide halfway house, it's technically property of the state. He can't touch it."
"And, what about the money?"
"We fold that into your salary for the hosting job," Hardison explains. "If anyone snoops around, it just looks like we gave you a signing bonus."
"Edwards agreed to this?"
"It's the only way around it. He thought it would be best."
"That spineless toad, he would agree to anything," Evan remarks harshly.
"Trust me, one snag and Alexa will dump this whole thing," Hardison warns. "We have to kill this now."
"He's right," Parker adds, with a meaningful look. "So, are you in?"
"I'm in," Evan says with a dead-eyed smile. "But I want to be paid in full for the house. Tonight."
"Start signing, and I'll make the calls." Hardison hands him a pen and walks to the corner of the room to make his fake phone calls.
7:21 p.m.
"Why isn't the champagne open yet?" Sophie asks when she walks in.
"We were waiting for you," Parker says anxiously. She rises from her chair and rushes to flag down their server.
"Is the ink dry yet?" Sophie strides to the table and starts glancing over the documents spread across it.
"Waiting on one thing," Evan says, holding up the property agreement.
"Sweetie, without the house everything else is moot," she points out. "What's the hold up?"
Evan nods toward Hardison who is still on his phone and copying something onto a note pad. He thanks the imaginary person on the line before hanging up then rips the page out of the little book.
"Here it is," he says, handing the paper to Evan. "The account we just set up, it's all there."
"I'll be confirming that for myself, thank you."
"Who would guess this was your first rodeo," Sophie muses as he pulls out his phone.
"Guys, who is he calling?" Nate asks, with a hint of worry.
"Calling your banker? That's smart," Sophie remarks to answer Nate. Evan smiles smugly and starts relaying the account information to the man on his phone.
"It's there? All of it?…Ok, you know what to do." Evan hangs up without a goodbye once again and turns back to the table just as Parker returns with the server.
"Champagne, please," Evan demands without looking up from the paper in front of him. He signs with a flourish and hands the contract to Hardison who puts it safely into his briefcase. Across town, Nate is wrapping up with Edwards. The man is practically in tears trying to push him and his bright blue suit out of his office.
"Karen, you can make the calls now," Sophie states, just as Parker is about to take a sip of champagne.
"Actually, why don't you make the calls, Alexa," Evan says venomously. Sophie pretends to be shocked even though she knew this was coming.
"Um, Nate…" Hardison mumbles, looking at his phone under the table. "He's transferring the money," he whispers into his napkin.
"Transferring it where?"
"I have no idea."
"I have an assistant for that kind of thing," Sophie continues, despite hearing what they are talking about.
"Not anymore."
"Evan, what are you doing?" Parker asks in alarm.
"Can you track it?" Nate asks their hacker.
"Not without being obvious."
"Then be obvious!"
"Without Karen, your deal would be up in smoke," Evan sneers.
"Interesting choice of words," Sophie mutters as Hardison pulls a laptop out of his briefcase and starts typing frantically. Evan seems completely unbothered by this, evidently having seen it coming.
"In fact, I think Karen would much rather be my assistant."
Sophie grabs her phone and storms out in a huff. Parker starts to follow, but is stopped short by a viselike hand on her wrist. She smiles nervously as she tries to twist out of Evan's grip.
"I appreciate you standing up for me, but I can't quit like this," she says tentatively.
"You don't want to be my assistant?" he asks coldly. "Or maybe you want to be more than my assistant?" He yanks her closer and that is the last straw for Hardison.
"Ok, that's enough!" He snaps the laptop shut and stands boldly.
"Shouldn't you be trying to track your money?" Evan asks rhetorically. "Yeah, I had it transferred to moment it was confirmed. How stupid do you think I am."
"Give me a fork. Somebody needs to stab this dude!"
"Alec, it's fine!"
"Alec? I thought his name was David," Evan says, his smirk faltering.
"Rein it in, Hardison," Nate advises, breathless in his attempt to reach the restaurant.
"No, Parker. He went too far," he fumes and pulls her away from Evan.
"I thought her name was Karen!" Evan sputters.
"And, you thought my name was Alexa," Sophie says coolly from the doorway. "There's a lot of confusion going around today." Evan looks between the three trying to put the pieces together. "Oh yeah, and I'm English," she adds, slipping back into her natural accent.
"What's going on?" he demands.
"It's your comeuppance," Sophie answers simply. His mouth hangs open in shock or confusion. "Oh, he's not following. What's the American way of putting it?"
"Karma?" Parker ventures.
"Yeah, it's a bitch," Hardison agrees, putting his usual 'flavor' into it.
"Who are you people?"
"We're the good guys," Nate says, strolling past Sophie.
"You?" Evan asks in disbelief.
"I told you that I would take you down," he replies apologetically. "You could hand over the keys now."
"No…but…I gave my house to them…to a TV show."
"That's right, how kind of you," Sophie interjects. "You signed your house over to 'Halfway Home', and its holding company D.S.S. and Co."
"D.S.S…" Parker says confidently, barely resembling the 'Karen' that Evan met.
"Dublin Street Shelter," Hardison decodes for him.
"'Halfway Home' is their most recent project, since somebody burned their house down. You're their first patron," Parker finishes with pride.
"B-but, you paid me!" Evan says triumphantly. "I have your money."
"That's true," Hardison concedes with a wince. "He transferred it to a private account before I could stop him." The hacker stares at his shoes while Nate starts to criticize him. Sophie adds fuel to the fire and Parker jumps to his defense. As they bicker amongst themselves, Evan grabs the briefcase and makes a dash for the door.
He tries to act naturally as he walks through the crowded restaurant. Nobody seems to notice the man who is two million dollars richer than when he walked in and has a case full of documents that need to be destroyed. Evan picks up the pace when he hears raised voices behind him. He's at a full sprint by the time he reaches the revolving door. As he pushes through it, he glances back to see the four imposters on his tail.
7:39 p.m.
Looking back…this is his fatal mistake. Because he is looking back, he doesn't see the bad-tempered Santa Claus outside the door. All Eliot has to do is grab one of the dividers as they spin by and the door stops abruptly. Not only did Evan smash his face into the glass knocking himself out but he is also trapped in the little triangular compartment. The rest of the team arrive at the door just as flashing lights appear in the distance.
"Jumped the gun a little bit, Hardison" Eliot remarks pulling down his beard.
"It worked," he shrugs at Evan's unconscious body slumped against the door. He pushes forward causing an unsettling squeak as Evan's face slides against the glass then falls forward onto the sidewalk where Eliot roughly hauls him up. Hardison then stands back allowing Parker and Sophie to go first.
"You did jump the gun, Alec," Nate says from behind him. He was hoping the mastermind would miss that small detail.
"I know."
"This is your one free pass. Consider it an engagement present." Nate flashes an uncharacteristic smile as he pushes through the door. Hardison breathes a sigh of relief before following him out into the cold.
8:10 p.m.
"Well, I'm on my Christmas vacation so I couldn't do any official business," Parker is explaining to Agent McSweetin. "I really appreciate you coming all the way up here."
"Of course, anything for a colleague," he replies, trying not to blush. "I can't believe this guy. Torching a women's shelter and then stealing from his dead parent's scholarship fund in the same week."
"He actually thought running the money through one dummy bank account would cover his tracks. Amateur," Parker scoffs.
"Wait! Stop!" Evan exclaims, resisting the FBI as they try to drag him away. "I didn't steal that money! They gave it to me! They're frauds!"
"Yeah, he's really spiraling out of control," she comments sadly.
"So, this shouldn't take too long… Do you maybe want to get some dinner?" he asks hopefully.
"Look in my briefcase! They conned me!"
"This briefcase?" Hardison asks, appearing at Parker's side.
"Oh, you're here too," McSweetin mumbles in disappointment. "Right, partners…partners vacation together all the time…"
"Those are fake. They tricked me into signing!" Evan is yelling as the agents stuff him into the backseat of a car.
"Here you go," Hardison says shoving the case into McSweetin's hands. "It's all the evidence against him. Enjoy." He can't help the satisfied smile that spreads across his face as he slips his arm over Parker's shoulders.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Merry Christmas," Parker says as a consolation when he walks away crestfallen.
"Did he hurt your wrist when he grabbed you?" Hardison asks, noticing that she is absently rubbing it.
"No." She looks down, seeming surprised that her hands would act without her intent. "I just didn't like the feeling…" She considers ending there but decides that it's time she stopped holding back, if only with him. "It reminded me of when somebody else did it."
Hardison wonders if this is Parker or Rebecca talking. It doesn't matter, he decides. He loves them both. He kisses her forehead and pulls her into a tight hug.
"Are you sure you don't want to stab him with a fork?" he asks after a silent moment. "He's cuffed, it would be really easy." She rewards him with a laugh and pulls him toward the van where the rest of the team is waiting.
"Eliot, put your beard back on!" Parker scolds as they walk over. "A little kid could see you!"
"It's itchy!"
"Dude, respect the suit," Hardison adds.
"Damn it, Hardison!" Eliot reaches down as his friend takes off around the van. Hardison ducks behind the hood just as a line drive flies across it. He pops up to gloat only to be hit square in the face by another. He fires back, but hits Sophie when Eliot dives out of the way. From then on, it's all out war. Snowballs soar in all directions, nobody is safe.
When a wayward throw hits the BMW two cars down, setting off its alarm, they scramble into the van like a disorderly fire drill. They screech away into the night, (Parker ended up in the driver's seat) laughing breathlessly and singing along to the Christmas carols still being played continuously on the radio.
So there it is, that's the job. Hope you liked it because I'm going to try real hard not to do that again. It was more difficult than I expected. Look forward to another chapter in this thread, kind of an epilogue. Then it will be back to Hardison/Parker, with the others sprinkled in for variety.