Chapter 22
"Absolutely not."
"Why not? It's Parker, man."
"Think that through. These people were able to fool us into thinking Gabby was Parker, kidnap her again more or less right under our noses, and not leave a trace behind. We can't run directly at people like that. They'll see us coming, and there's no telling what they'll do."
Neither Hardison nor Nate could argue with that. Eliot paced back and forth, thinking. Finally, he spoke again.
"It's reasonable to think they were watching at the scene, and since then. I'd say it's a fair bet they've seen my face—all of our faces."
"So, then, what?"
"I think I have an idea."
(0o0)
Eliot had just taken his phone out of his pocket, and was using it to text a contact when it beeped in his hand, surprising him and making Nate jump. Eliot shot him an evil grin as he touched the text to read it, and Nate knew the younger man had filed the information away for later. A moment later, he dialed the phone and put it up to his ear.
"Hey!" he said to the voice on the other end. Then, he spent the next, what seemed like eternity but was probably only about five minutes listening. "I'll be right there," he said, and hung up.
(0o0)
Doc slipped away down the back staircase in the middle of the afternoon. No one noticed as she climbed into the driver's seat of the big, black SUV, fishing her keys out of her pocket as she went. She closed the door as quietly as possible, and made sure to turn off the Bluetooth and the GPS in her phone so she couldn't be tracked.
(0o0)
Quinn paced back and forth somewhat impatiently. He was not good at waiting. Never had been, never would be. But, he wasn't calling the shots on this one, and this was the second time this job that Eliot hadn't answered him right away. Granted, the first time the man had been deathly ill, but that wasn't usually enough to stop him.
Quinn had finally gotten a lead on where his quarry was. He had put the word out on the street that he was looking for the man, and someone had come through for him. He had been watching the place where he was purported to be holed up for the last hour, to see if there was anyone else there that he'd have to contend with. So far, it looked like there were three. Now, if Eliot would get back to him, he would know what to do with them, once he got inside.
(0o0)
Eliot arrived at his destination few minutes later. Shelley was standing outside, waiting for him.
"This the place?"
"That's what our sources say. Thanks for coming."
"Thanks for calling me." He looked appraisingly at the place for a few minutes. "How do you plan to get inside?"
"This is your rodeo."
"Well, my ways are loud and messy. I think there's a little more finesse required here. Plus, I'd rather not scare them. I daresay, they've been through enough."
"Agreed. So, we knock on the door, then?"
"Yep."
With that, Shelley stepped up to the front door and knocked. He heard some shuffling, and then a faint voice said, "Just a minute."
The heavy oak door swung inward, stopped short by a security chain, and an older man stood on the threshold. He couldn't have been more than sixty five, but he looked unsteady on his feet.
"Are you with the police department? Have you found my daughter?"
"Can we come inside?"
The man closed the door for a moment, and Eliot heard the chain being removed. Then, the door swung open and they were ushered inside.
(0o0)
Doc sat watching Eliot and a man who appeared to be Shelley standing on the wraparound front porch of a big white farmhouse. Using her cell phone camera, she snapped a picture of the man who opened the door, but she wasn't sure she was able to zoom in close enough to pick anything up.
'Well, well. What are you boys up to?' she thought.
As she watched the door close behind the two men, she set her phone to running facial recognition, drove around until she found a place to park where she would be hidden and still have line of sight to the house, and settled in to wait.
(0o0)
Quinn was getting restless, but he forced himself to put the feeling aside. He had almost worked out a plan that would ensure he had the drop on all of them, and allow him to take them by surprise.
He was moving toward the house when the door swung wide open. Quinn froze in terror before he realized that he wasn't yet visible. He watched with fascination as all three of the men inside quickly piled into the car in the driveway, and sped off into the growing twilight, throwing gravel as they went.
The hitter wanted to search the place, but couldn't take the chance that his estimate had been wrong and there were really four people inside. It made sense that if they had people there, they would leave someone behind, just in the event of an emergency. He made a mental note of where the house was, determined to come back later, and followed the car that left at a distance.
Half an hour later, the car stopped outside of another house. Quinn drove up just in time to watch them get out of the car, looking at a phone and gesticulating wildly. They're trying to be sure this is the right house.
Filing the information away for later, Quinn circled the block and looked for a place to park. He noticed the tail end of a car hidden in some brush, and vaguely wondered if the driver was doing the same thing he was. He parked on the street, and turned off the engine. Then, he got out as quietly as possible. Drawing his gun from its shoulder holster, he slipped the safety off and pointed it in front of him as he went to investigate the car in the bushes.