Here's the next addition to The Price We Pay. Thanks for the reviews, the alerts, and the views. I appreciate it! Enjoy…
The plane arrived at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport at 2 o'clock. Parker was the first to exit with Sterling, Sophie, and Nate following closely behind. Ever since they left Portland, they kept their distance from her. They knew what this mission meant to her. Needless to say it was important to them as well. Not having Hardison and Eliot by her side was eating her on the inside. The group managed to get their gear from the baggage claim with no issues; Sterling used his Interpol affiliation to allow Parker's gadgets to get past security at both airports.
"Tara and Maggie should be waiting for us in the lobby." Sophie said as she looked down at her phone.
"Lovely. So Nate, please tell me you have a plan B for this rescue mission you've got going on, right?" Sterling asked with grin.
"I told you I'm working on it. Don't worry-" Nate said as he was interrupted by the familiar voice of his ex-wife Maggie.
"Hello Nate…" Maggie said with a smile as she maneuvered past a family of tourists.
"Ah Maggie- glad you could make it." Sophie said with a smile as she walked over to give Maggie a hug.
"Hello gorgeous. Nice to see you again." Sterling said with a wink as he walked past.
"Wish I could say the same…" Maggie mumbled under her breath.
"Hey guys!" Tara said as she rushed over.
After the group said their hellos and hugged, they went outside where a limo was waiting to take them to their hotel.
"What? You didn't think we'd riding in a boring van, did you?" Tara said with a laugh as she climbed in.
The group shrugged and climbed in. Everyone was engaging in conversation, laughing, and catching up with each other, while Parker sat there looking out of the window, lost in her mind.
"Hey Nate, is Parker okay? She's quieter than usual." Maggie whispered.
Nate looked over at his friend and studied her. He knew what was wrong. Everyone felt the pain Parker did.
"It's best just to leave her alone. She'll be fine." Nate whispered back.
After driving for a few minutes, the limo made it to the Brent Spence Bridge. The sun reflected perfectly off of downtown Cincinnati. If it wasn't for the fact that she was on a mission, Parker would've taken in the scenery. A few more minutes passed and the limo pulled into the hotel parking lot. Thanking the driver, the gang went inside and checked into their rooms. Nate and Sophie had their own room; Tara and Maggie were already checked into their room earlier, which left Parker and Sterling to share a room.
"Yay for me." Parker scoffed in her head.
"Oh this will be fun. We can stay up and tell each other secrets." Sterling said with a laugh as they all walked to the elevator.
"How about we have a pillow fight? But instead of pillows, I'll use my Taser." Parker said angrily as she pulled out her trusty equipment.
"Sassy Parker…I like it." Sterling said with a grin as he pushed the elevator button.
Later that night, Parker tossed and turned in her sleep. It didn't help that Sterling was in the next bed, snoring louder and louder as minutes passed.
"Screw this. I can't just wait here." Parker whispered to herself as she climbed out of bed.
She quickly and quietly packed a small backpack with her essentials. She contemplated going out of the window, but setting everything up would've woke Sterling up and then she'd be screwed. Taking a deep sigh, Parker looked over at Sterling, hoping he wouldn't wake up, and then walked out of the room. The glare of the hallway lights blinded her immediately.
"Too…bright." Parker mumbled as she stumbled down the hallway, refocusing her eyes.
Unfortunately for her, she didn't look behind her to see Sterling sneaking out of the room. Parker made her way outside, found the closest car to hotwire, and pulled away to meet Agent Williams. As she drove along the roads, Parker was in awe at how beautiful Cincinnati looked. She was in so much awe that she nearly hit an old woman trying to cross the street at a red light.
"Whew that was close." Parker said as she caught her breath.
Letting out a laugh, she continued to drive. After a few minutes of twists and turns, Parker drove down a small hill and into a parking lot of an on steel mill. The air reeked of raw sewage and rust, which made her gag a little bit. She could hear raccoons rummaging through trash cans near by, causing her to job. She didn't even notice Agent Williams walking out of the shadows.
"About time you got here." He said in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, well I'm here. Now what?" Parker asked.
As the two began talking, Sterling appeared from the shadows behind Parker.
"Well, well, well…Agent Williams. Long time, no see." Sterling said in his usual smug tone.
"James Sterling. Last time I saw you, you were the bitch boy at that stupid insurance agency." Agent Williams said as he drew his gun and pointed it at him.
"Sterling, what are you doing here and how did you even find me?" Parker asked as she took a step back.
"I could ask you the same thing, but I climbed into the trunk while you were hotwiring that car. By the way, you almost killed an old woman. Nice driving." Sterling said with a grin as he walked closer.
"Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't shoot you right here, right now." Agent Williams said as he cocked his gun.
"Put it away, Carson. Do you really want to shoot an INTERPOL agent?" Sterling asked as he pulled out his badge.
"He always has to show that…" Parker said in her head as she rolled her eyes.
"Besides, I'm here to help save Eliot Spencer and Alec Hardison as well." Sterling continued.
"Unfortunately, it's true. He is here to help, as well as a few others." Parker said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Alright, enough with this. We need to go now if we're going to get your friends out." Agent Williams said as he holstered his gun.
"Fantastic. So what's the plan?" Sterling asked.
"Well I'm going to stand guard over Eliot's and Hardison's cell, while Parker will go through the vents. There's a window that they can climb out of in the next room." Agent Williams said.
"Why can't we just go through the vents?" Parker asked as she was thinking of the plan.
"Because Hardison and Eliot would make too much noise. There's 7 heavily armed guards in there. If they are alerted, we all might as well be dead." Agent Williams replied.
"What am I supposed to be doing during all of this?" Sterling asked as he looked at the other two angrily.
Agent Williams fell silent. Sterling looked quite pleased with his verbal victory, while Parker rolled her eyes. She didn't care if Sterling was there or not. All she wanted to do was save Eliot and Hardison. Getting in was easy. It'd be just like any other job. The problem is getting them out. Usually Nate would have some elaborate plan.
"I'll figure it out later." Parker said in her head as she returned her focus back to Williams and Sterling.
"Alright, you can come. You are to wait outside though. Here take this." Williams said as he handed Sterling an assault rifle.
"For me? I don't have to give you anything, do I?" Sterling said with a small laugh.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, reviews are much appreciated. Thank you all for reading.