"What are were going to do now," Eliot asked not really sure he believe what had just happened. They had discovered that the job they had been hired to do was nothing more than a trap for the hitter. Perhaps what made it all worse was the fact they couldn't just walk away. As it turned out despite all that they had learned true reason for the job it didn't change the fact the job was legitimate. Hardison had dug further into their client and Global Tech, and as luck would have it this wasn't the first time they had been accused of stealing designs. Their client had check out in every possible search that Hardison could think of. There was no doubt that the job was a trap, but who ever had set it up knew even if they had discovered the truth they would not back out.
"This has gone out of hand," Sophie said know that their were only two options.
"If we go through with it we risk Eliot's life; however, if we don't we run the risk of him being killed another way," Nate noted voicing his thoughts.
"What do you mean," Parker asked from her perch on the window seal. Nate looked at her for a moment.
"This is a hit Parker. If we just pack up and leave eventually who ever placed it to start with will try again and chances are we won't see it coming," Nate said as tried to rationalize what he knew the outcome of his decision would have been all along.
"But we saw it come this time around why can't we do it again," the thief asked. The childlike way she had made the statement brought a slight smile to Nate's face. He never understood how a person could go through life as she did without losing her innocence.
"The only reason we saw it coming in the first place Parker was because Nate kept dreaming about it," Eliot drily stated. He didn't like the was Nate's dream seem to be coming true. Sure he had heard of people who dreamt of things like this happening to them but never had he experienced it. He wasn't really sure how to handle it especially considering he was the target. Just the thought of sort of knowing of his own impending death shook him "but that still doesn't solve our problem. What are we going to do about it."
Nate looked up to where the hitter stood. The look in the man's eyes seem to confirm what he had been thinking "we're not backing out now that's for sure. If we do we run the risk of not only putting Eliot in even more danger but the rest of you as well." The mastermind's voice shook ever so slightly as he spoke. He wasn't really sure either where to go from there expect forward "Hardison what are all the entrance points and exit points open to Eliot," he asked turning to the screen.
"Well thats the thing, there are plenty of entrances for our boy but only one exit," said pulling up the escape route on the monitors. Every route lead to the same place in the end which was the parking deck.
"So in other words they've turned that entire building into a kill box," the hitter stated clarifying the hacker's point. Hardison looked at him and only nodded to confirm what the hitter had just said.
"Why can't he just go out the way he goes in," Nate asked trying to think of a solution to the problem.
"No can do, the entrance points are to expose...," Hardison's voice trailed of as he came to another realization.
"What," Parker asked not sure what to make of the hacker's silence.
"All the entry points are within view of the same point a sniper could see and still have a clear view of the parking deck," Hardison stated as he motioned to where the entry points were compared to the parking deck. Nate felt his heart sink as he realized what the hacker getting at.
"So the sniper could take out Eliot out before or after the heist," Sophie noted.
"So basically no matter what we do if Eliot goes in he's a dead man," Parker added.
"It appears so," Nate stated as he thought through how things would play out as they were "unless...Hardison where's the entrance to the air ducks," he said with a slight smile. The hacker turned back to his computer to retrieve the data.
"Right here," he said putting it up on the monitors. His eyes widen a little as he started to catch on to mastermind's thoughts.
"Your not suggesting..." Eliot asked not liking where he was going.
"Hardison you mentioned there were protocols put in place for other security measures," the mastermind asked "what were those security measures." Hardison shrugged not sure where this line of questioning was leading to as he turned to his computer again.
"Laser trip wires, but they were never ordered or installed. It was also the grounds for the breach of contract that got them out of paying." The team watch as the mastermind took in to consideration of all the facts. He paced back and forth until turning back to face them. A some what evil smile had replace the frown that seemed to have engraved itself on the mastermind's features the passed several weeks.
"Check for any laser trip wires that were ordered around the time everything else was," Nate ordered as the pieces began to fallen into place in his head.
"There was one order that was...delivered to...a post box in Richmond." Hardison words seemed to click into place.
"That it," Nate said loudly trying to hold his excitement in check.
"Would you care to share with the rest of the class," Hardison asked sarcastically.
"Global Tech isn't just a technology company. No they have another side business going on which specializes in assassinations. The pieces are starting to fit..." his voice trailed off as he became more aware of what was happening.
"Well," Sophie asked bringing the mastermind out of his thoughts.
"And if you know who to talk to with enough money you can put a hit on any one. They have the resources to very well pull it off, but they specialize in one form of hit. Which is to take out very highly skilled retrieval specialists like Eliot. You hire them to steal some highly guarded plans which is right at their skill level so that they will take it seriously. Combine it with an equally high pay off. They get in do the job and on the way out they are shot and killed. Guards claim it was a robbery and the assailant was shot and killed while making his escape after fire on the guards who defended themselves with equal force. The cops don't ask too many questions because the only story that they have come from the guards with a doctor video to support it. The holes in the security serve as way to watch for when the target arrives so the sniper can be ready for when he comes out in the parking deck. As for the lasers they are cleverly hidden so that when the retrieval specialist is doing his recon they are not seen. They don't even know that they are there because how shipping manifest for when everything was ordered. They were ordered separately upon request and shipped to a different location where they were picked up. Chances are that the only one who knew about it was Adler's president. It was the biggest contract that they had ever had so it would make sense that he handled it personally. He left no records of the order because they wanted to keep it secret. Put the lasers on a close circuit that can only be access if you can physically get into the wire mainframe and they have a silent alarm that no one not even the police know about. The only thing is there's one person who knows about it who is not with the company. Adler's President so to keep him from disclosing that information to someone else Global Tech pays to have him killed." As the mastermind laid out the sequence of events the teams seemed to be over whelmed by the scale of what they had stumbled on.
"But if that is the case then why not approach Eliot separately, and avoid bringing us in," Parker asked breaking the silence that seem to form from the weight of the masterminds revelation.
"Because Parker why go directly to the target who can just as easily say no as expect, when you can approach the man he works for with a sob story and is guaranteed to say yes." Nate's words seem to shed new light on how they got into this situation in the first place.
"To top it off they made it so we just wouldn't walk away by dropping a real job in our laps," Eliot gave a slight growl as he thought back to their last encounter with Chaos.
"Yeah like the last Christmas when Chaos tricked us into helping him rob the federal reserve..." Parker remarked as she caught on to what Eliot was getting at. The hitter cut a glare at her at the mentioned of the other hacker's name.
"Well thats all fine and good but that still doesn't solve our problem about how we are going to do this job without getting Eliot killed," Hardison said bring their attention back to their original problem.
"Oh right," Nate said turning back to the hacker "our way in is the most unlikely way possible," he said motioning to the air duct entrance on the blueprints.
"Are you suggesting Eliot go in through the air duct system," Sophie asked not sure if the hitter would consider it.
"Yep that is exactly what I am suggesting," Nate gave a quick smile.
"They won't see him enter or exit. We get the designs and they don't know we were there until after the fact." The plan sounded simple.
"There is only one problem," Sophie stopped the mastermind before he think any further.
"What," Nate said as he looked over to her.
"We are not even sure the air ducts are big enough to hold the him," Sophie added gesturing to the hitter.
"Yeah they will," Parker announced before the mastermind had a chance to respond.
"How do you know that," Hardison asked having a feeling that he already knew the answer. The thief only shrugged as a smile crossed her face.
"You can't really do good recon without checking the air vents." They rest of the team just stared at her like she was crazy.
"Anyways what do you think Eliot," Nate asked looking over to the hitter. Who seem not too pleased with the idea of crawling around the vents.
"If that is the only way to get the job done then so be it," Eliot responded. His voice was flat. He wasn't happy with the idea of crawling through the air vents, but as the way things stood he didn't have much choice.
