A/N: Short I know, sorry. And if you haven't go back and re-read ch 3. I kinda revised it a bit J
"Nate." Hardison whispered motioning for the Mastermind.
"What is it." Nate asked, shifting quietly so he could look over the hacker's shoulder.
"It took me a while, I had to go through about twenty shell companies, but I traced the plates on the SUV back to Ground Works…"
"Victor Merrick." Nate rubbed a hand over his face. "I should have known."
"You know this guy?" Hardison asked turning to look at Nate.
"He had IYS insure a few things for him." Nate replied. "Not everything was clean, but there was no solid proof that it had been stolen."
"Let me guess he was fond of rare objects…"
"And even rarer cars." Nate finished for Hardison. "Layla and Eliot probably worked together and didn't even realize it."
"So what does he want with them now?"
Nate shrugged, absently staring at the computer screen.
"Where would he have taken them?" Nate muttered.
"We'll he's got a small fortress about two hours from here." Hardison replied, hands flying over the keyboard. "His secretary has tomorrow highlighted on the calendar. All it says is party."
Nate laughed and rubbed a hand over his face.
"What?" Hardison asked looking at the Mastermind like he'd finally lost it.
"Merrik is known for throwing this elaborate masked ball every year." Nate replied still chuckling.
"I've been to it once…or maybe it was twice." Parker informed them, suddenly appearing across the table from Hardison and Nate. "It was fun. No one knew each other, except for Merrik…"
"And the guest list reads like the who's who of thieves, black market dealers and the overly wealthy." Sophie imputed as she joined the small group at the table. "It's Merrik's version of networking."
"So you think what ever he wanted Eliot and Layla for is going down tomorrow?" Hardison asked.
"It wouldn't make sense." Sophie replied.
"Yeah, Merrik has a list of rules a mile long in regards to the party. No weapons, no money transactions, no…"
"The only thing you are aloud to do is exchange contact information." Nate cut Parker's rant off. "He must have made an exception."
"And getting paid something fierce." Hardison replied. "He just had 5 mil deposited in his account two days before Eliot and Layla were jacked."
Nate ran a hand over his face again. "OK. So here's what we're going to do. Hardison try and find out who that payment came from. Sophie, you and I are going to get into that party…somehow."
Nate looked over at Parker and nodded. The blond stood up and left the room.
"Nate?" Sophie questioned quietly.
"She already knows what to do."
"I knew Mama and Daddy weren't right." James informed his sister from the bed across from her.
"How?" Grace asked propping her head on her hand.
"Remember when Beth's mama thought she locked her keys in the car?" He asked turning to face her.
"Yeah." Grace nodded.
"I watched Mama break into the car and unlock it." He said with a smile.
"And you didn't tell me?" Grace asked, sitting up.
"Mama asked me not to." He shrugged. "Especially Daddy."
Grace sat up as well. "OH, it's like when we were out at the amusement park a few years ago where that one guy tried to push past us in line."
"You mean the really tall one with all the tattoos? The one that called Daddy shorty?" James laughed.
"That's him. Daddy dropped him to his knees, just by grabbing his hand. After that Daddy asked me not to tell Mama." Grace replied, the pieces starting to fit together like a puzzle.
They sat there in silence for a while going through their memories, pinpointing the times where it was obvious about their parents past.
"We've got to help them." James said suddenly.
"How?" Grace asked.
James shrugged. "Dunno, but I'm going to tell Uncle Nate that we want to help."
"He's going to tell us no." Grace replied, getting up to follow her brother.
"Since when has that stopped you." James turned to glare at his sister. "According to Daddy, you and Mama don't know the meaning of the word."
Grace smiled. "Daddy is always telling me we're exactly a like."
"Uh-huh." Was all James could mutter as they made their way into the living room of the house.
