Chapter 18
Parker froze. Her mind instantly began assessing the threat and her options. Although the man was behind her, she knew how tall he was, how far away he stood from her, how he held the gun and how ready to shoot her he really was- all based on how he'd uttered his instructions.
She also knew he was no more of a killer than Alec was. His stance suggested he knew how, perhaps he'd even been taught very early in life but it wasn't his true nature. The man behind her was just paranoid and he was more of a talker than a fighter.
"Nathan Ford?" She asked firmly.
"What? Sonia didn't like my answer yesterday, huh? Send you to remind me of my place?" he taunted.
Parker realized that while he may not be a natural killer, the man behind her was on edge. He sounded tired and frustrated- not qualities that lent themselves to reasoning. She needed to act fast.
The narrow hallway didn't give her much room and he was too far back for her to attempt to grab the gun before he could fire. She had only one option. Shock and awe.
"NOW," she yelled out and instantly threw herself flat on the floor. In the seconds that it took Nate to angle his gun for any other perceived threats, Parker turned onto her back and pulled the hat off of her head. She lay there looking up at him hoping her tactic worked. She didn't want to attack him and he was jumpy enough to shoot her if she'd tried pulling the hat off before. She had to throw him off balance.
"Nate," she said the shortened name she'd heard Alec call him, just as he settled the gun on her once again.
He blinked several times as if disbelieving his own eyes. Then his face softened as the realization set in.
"Parker?" he whispered as he lowered the gun.
She nodded.
He took a step toward her and extended a hand, his face breaking into a smile.
She took his hand and allowed him to pull her up and into his arms.
The hug was brief and shocked them both. Parker realized he looked as embarrassed by the display of emotion as she was disconnected from it. She had no recollection of the man but the genuine relief and joy on his face at seeing her endeared him instantly.
"Wha…when…where did…?" he couldn't get his thoughts clear enough for sentences.
"Alec will explain everything?"
"What…where is he?" Nate asked looking toward the front door and then the back.
"We thought it would be best not to alert anyone to our presence here; we're not prepared for a fight."
She reached into her pocket and fished out a comm and handed it to him.
"Take this and put it on at 4pm," she instructed and nodded before she made her way to the back door.
"Parker," he called after her with so much to say it rendered him momentarily tongue tied, "…be careful."
Parker nodded and offered him a small smile before she turned and eased out of the back door and back up and over the hill.
"Your Mrs has been in the ladies for a while. Do you think she's alright in there?" Rory asked Alec, his youthful face etched with worry.
"Nah, no…she's fine," Alec flubbed. After all these years and he still was no good at improv."It's probably just the fish. See we had some of the, um, catch of the day over there at…ummm…"
"…O'Malley's?" Rory offered helpfully and Alec nodded like a bobble-head in response.
"Yup, that was it, O'Malley's and…umm…the catch of the day tasted like maybe it was the catch of two weeks ago. You know what I mean?" he laughed and made a face but Rory's remained unreadable.
"My Da's the cook at O'Malley's," Rory responded and straightened up. Alec straightened up too.
"Did I say O'Malley's; I meant KFC. I'm sorry, I just don't know how to read all this Gaelic, and the sun here is so different and…" Alec began to list all of the problems he and his 'wife' had been having on their trip thus far to try to appease any offense he'd caused the young man.
He was about to resort to squeezing out a few conciliatory tears when Parker came out of the building's front door. She walked slowly up to Rory and kissed his glowing cheek.
"Thank you, hero. I feel so much better."
Rory's face broke into a tremendous smile, his momentary annoyance quickly forgotten.
"Honey," Parker cooed at Alec, "is the car ready?"
"Yeah, I think it just needed a bit of tightening right in that section over there," he waved his hand over the entire engine.
"Thanks for your help, man," Alec said reaching his hand out to shake's Rory's, "I'm sure your Da's fish is awesome."
Parker was already seated in the car when Alec joined her.
They smiled as Rory waved emphatically from the top of the stairs and then they reversed out of the parking space and drove back onto the main road.
"He has the comm," Parker said to Alec. The teasing, flirty tone she used with Rory gone as quickly as it came.
"How'd he look," Alec asked quietly. Parker could hear the concern in his question.
"He looked…tired," she chose her words carefully, not wanting to cause him any further worry. "He hugged me," she added then wondered why she felt compelled to share that information.
"He did?" Alec replied sparing her a quick glance. Three years or not, Alec had never known Nate to be a hugger. He reasoned that exile must have softened him up a bit. He wondered too why Parker actually seemed pleased that Nate had shown her some affection. He wouldn't have questioned old Parker but emotion wasn't something this Parker catered to so why did she look…happy that Nate showed her that he cared?
"There's something else," she interrupted his thoughts, "It's too quiet."
"What do you mean?"
"There's no radio chatter, no cameras, no mics, no tails, nothing at all," she paused to retrace their steps since leaving the airport, thinking back to anything at all that seemed unusual. "That's not the way Sonia operates. Especially with someone she uses as much as she uses Nathan Ford. Something feels…wrong."
Alec didn't tell her he'd felt a similar apprehension but he couldn't put words to his feelings.
"So what are you thinking," he asked instead.
"Honestly there could be any number of reasons for the appearance of silence. Sonia is very skilled at this type of thing," she turned to Alec, "but I think we should leave Galway tonight."
Alec turned to her quickly, with wide eyes, "Tonight? I don't think we can have everything organized to get out of dodge tonight."
"Perhaps," she responded evenly, "but the longer we stay here the more vulnerable we become."
Alec thought about what she said, the words quietly haunting him even as he turned into the driveway to their guest house.
Back in their room, Alec settled and immediately clicked on his comm waiting for Nate to come online. He looked at the time on his watch- 3:57pm.
A soft vibration in his ear alerted him when Nate signed on a minute later.
"Hardison? Are you there?"
"Hey Nate, I'm here." It was great hearing Nate's voice again. The comfort, the familiarity, he'd missed it.
"When did you guys get in?"
"We flew into Knock this afternoon…Nate what is going on?" Alec couldn't hide the near desperation he felt to get answers.
He heard Nate's deep intake of air.
"Hardison, I don't know how big and how deep this all goes, I haven't been able to work out all of the players or the pieces but I know one thing- this thing is global and the ones pulling the strings are very, very powerful."
Alec's brow furrowed, "Who exactly is Sonia and what does she want with us?" he asked, his jaws involuntarily clenching when he thought of her.
"Sonia's nothing more than a high level manager. She only has as much power as the big boys give her. She's incredibly smart and very capable of cracking the whip but she isn't the one holding the reins."
"Well damn," Alec blurted out unable to control his reaction, "if she's not in control then I'd hate to see what the higher ups have in store."
"Yes she's diabolical," Nate agreed with Alec's sentiment, his thoughts drifting back to conversations he'd had with Sonia regarding Sophie.
"Nate what's our piece in all of this?" Alec asked him and Nate heard the building fear behind the words.
"I've been asking myself that question for the past three years and just when I thought I had it all figured out, you called and everything I thought I knew flew out the window."
"So what did you think it was all about?"
"Money," Nate answered quickly, "in the beginning I thought it was a con on the old European families but that's not it. Not by a long shot."
"How'd you figure out that it wasn't?"
"Because Sonia has been using me and my connections and knowledge of the families as a cleaner; giving people multiple records for travel and rights in other countries."
Alec silently wondered about the possible purposes but he didn't have to wonder for very long.
"They're padding their support," Nate answered Alec's unspoken question, "They're planting their support in key places all over the world so that they have the monopoly."
A quick flash of Hasting's old army photo recalled Alec's theory, "I think you're on to something Nate, but this thing feels so much more involved than that."
"I agree," Nate offered and paused, "I think our best bet is to get to Sonia."
Alec looked back to Parker, still diligently sorting her tools.
"She really is our best hope for answers…" he stopped unsure of how to broche his next question, "Nate, do you think that Sophie and Eliot are still…alive?"
He heard Nate inhale and exhale slowly, deeply, "I haven't seen or heard anything about or from Eliot since that night at Hasting's. I haven't even been able to try to find him because I figured I was being so closely watched I didn't want to draw any attention to him if he was safe somewhere. And Sophie, I've heard from," he paused again, his voice dropped when he spoke again, "I haven't spoken directly to her in over two years but Sonia sent me pictures of her, all of them dated."
Alec was skeptical but he didn't know how to voice his true thoughts to Nate. He could tell his old friend was hanging on by a thin thread.
"I know what you're thinking, Hardison. The photos could have been doctored, Sophie could have been killed a long time ago, they could just be sending me those shots to keep me toeing the line…I've thought about all of that but what choice do I have. Thinking anything else would mean that she's…gone."
Alec thought back to the night at Hasting's when he got Parker back and he understood infinitely the tiny hope that Nate was clinging to. Then something pinged his thoughts.
"Wait…you said that Sonia sent you pictures? How?"
"She sent them by courier?" Nate's mind aligned with Alec's. He knew that the hacker was capable of finding the electronic trail of virtually anything.
"Do you remember the name of the courier company?" Alec heard as Nate was hurriedly shuffled papers.
"Looking for it as we speak…ah, found it. Sovereignty Couriers."
Alec began a search for the company and found a Sovereignty Couriers listing in the UK along with their website.
"When was the last time Sonia sent you a photo?"
Nate picked up his latest photo of Sophie. She was sitting at a desk, dressed in a simple sweater and holding an Indian newspaper with the date to indicate that it was recent and authentic. She'd been made to pose with newspapers from Germany and Barbados in previous photos. He reasoned that had been Sonia's crude way of keeping their location undetermined.
"About seven months ago," Nate said softly as he stared at Sophie's face. She looked defiant, even in the face of her capture but he knew she had to have felt alone. He hated that she had to know even one moment of fear.
"Okay, good…" Alec clicked away at his computer. "I'm in," he announced triumphantly.
He hacked the courier company's website and was examining their manifests from seven months prior.
"I've think I've found something," he announced again. "There's a delivery here to Barna…but the receiver's name is Patrick Deary."
"That's the one," Nate confirmed, "Sonia's idea. I think she did that so no one would be able to track the exchange. She always sent it using a different name and she'd let me know the name it would be coming to…She's extremely cautious and paranoid."
"It runs in the family," Alec mumbled.
"What's that?" Nate questioned.
"Sonia's real name is Demara de Castro but one of her aliases is Francisia Moreau," he paused for Nate to process the information before he finished, "…I don't think that's a coincidence."
Alec's hands and eyes were working feverishly but Nate's mind was working just as fast- they both reached the same conclusion at the same time.
"She's in London," the said in unison.
"How'd you know that," Alec asked with genuine curiosity.
"Moreau's base is London," Nate answered matter-of-factly, "if they are connected- and now that I think about it, so many things start making sense- she needed to maintain his stronghold in London."
Alec turned to Parker, who was looking at him expectantly.
"Nate," he began hesitantly, "we should leave tonight. We're like sitting ducks here. We have a lead and we should act on it as soon as possible."
Nate didn't need to be sold, "What's the plan?"
Alec was relieved that Nate didn't offer any challenge, "We're going to wait until it's dark out. If someone's watching your house our best bet is to sneak you out right under their noses."
"But how?"
Alec smiled and turned to Parker again, "I'll let the expert give you the rundown."
Parker tapped her comm to life and explained her plan to an anxious Nate.
When they wrapped up their conversation half an hour later, they were all tense but as prepared as they were ever going to be. The next phase of their plan felt wrought with danger but it also felt like the only logical progression.
Parker wanted her past back, Nate wanted Sophie, and Alec wanted to be able to put the last three years behind him and get his family back- and Sonia/Demara/Sylvia was the key to it all.
The late afternoon sun cast long, lazy shadows around the room that Alec and Parker shared.
Alec busied himself trying to find out as much about Moreau's base in London as he could and Parker was assembling the tools she would need for their escape later that night.
"We still have a couple of hours before we leave do you maybe want to get some rest, some food?" Alec asked as he stood up to stretch his neck and back.
"I'm fine, Alec, really."
His stomach fluttered as she said his name and he was surprised that she still had that effect.
"Don't let me stop you though," she offered and waved her hand at the bed, "Maybe you should get some rest."
"Nah, I'm good. Besides, I don't think I could sleep now if even if I wanted to," he responded with a shrug of his wide shoulders.
"You're worried?" she asked and walked over to stand in front of him.
"Honestly… I am a little," he rubbed his hands over his face and then slid them limply into his pockets. "It just feels like a lot can go wrong. I have this really uneasy feeling that I can't shake."
Parker stepped closer to him again, her eyes never leaving his. "I like working with you," she began softly, "you're thorough, and so intelligent, and you are much stronger than you look."
He smiled sheepishly at her roundabout compliment, "Thanks, I think…"
She smiled softly and shook her head, "No, I meant… I like being with you. You are… a good partner."
He smiled for the simple fact that she was struggling to find the right words. That meant there was some kind of conflict between what she thinks she should say and what she really feels- and he welcomed it.
"We are prepared and everything will work as planned," she continued her pep talk and he felt compelled to throw his arms around her and pick up where they left off in Boston but he leaned in and kissed her cheek instead, lingering a bit before he pulled back.
"Thanks," he told her softly and felt his chest tighten as she smiled warmly, shyly in return.
"I should finish getting ready," she pointed to the clothing on the bed.
Alec bowed to her and swept his hand in front of his chest, "By all means."
She walked into the bathroom and leaned against the door, stunned for a moment by the claminess of her hands and the rapid beating of her heart. She had no frame of reference for the overwhelming feelings but something told her they had to do with her reaction to him. She hated the weakness she felt at the assaulting response but she realized fighting it was pointless- she was more than simply attracted to him. It was as though her body remembered something her mind didn't.
The hour alarm on her watch chimed once to indicate that it was five o'clock. She shook her head to relieve herself of the distracting thoughts and turned on the shower.
Alec tried to focus on the information on the screen in front of him but his mind was bouncing all over the place. A part of him wanted to charge into the bathroom and get lost in the shower's steam with Parker and a part of him was seriously anxious about the plan they were about to execute.
What if Sonia wasn't in London? What if they were followed or attacked? What if Sophie was no longer alive?
He didn't know if it was tiredness or tension but he had a pain behind his eyes that wouldn't quit.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
They were closed for just a moment when he felt Parker's hands on his face. He smelled the clean scent of the shampoo in her hair. He felt the soft pressure of her legs as they straddled his. Then he felt her lips at his neck, her tongue licking and teeth biting him gently. He felt her hands caressing his chest and trailing downward, fingers teasing the waistband of his jeans and then one hand smoothly unbuttoned his pants as the other pulled loose her towel to reveal….
"Alec…" he faintly heard her call his name but he could still feel her mouth fully preoccupied on his body.
"Alec…" he heard it again but the call was more insistent and accompanied by a soft squeeze on his shoulder.
He opened his eyes to find a fully dressed Parker watching him apologetically.
"Sorry to have to wake you, but I'm leaving now."
He'd fallen asleep…in the middle of a job… and had a full on dream about Parker?
Not cool, he chided himself.
"I'm sorry," he rubbed his burning eyes, "I'm up. Are you all set?"
"Yes, I'm going to leave now and I'll be back for you in one hour."
"I'll be ready and waiting downstairs."
"Are you sure?" the hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, "Whatever you were dreaming about, it sounded really…interesting."
NOT COOL, he chided himself again, highly embarrassed.
Parker smiled and left the room.
A shower was in order, Alec thought to himself as he rose and ambled into the bathroom. A very cold shower.