Chapter Twenty-Six
At The Curtain's Call
It's The Last Of All
When The Lights Fade Out
All The Sinners Crawl
Roughly almost 3:30 AM Thursday Morning
"I want it on record that I still think this is a terrible plan!" Hardison said as he sat at the dining table letting Sophie put make up on his face. Make up of all things, he thought. No descent man wears make up even if said man is going to be pretending he's dead and in a body bag.
"Yes Hardison. You've said that eight times already, so it has been noted that you hate this plan." Nate said as he walked back and forth in front of the pair. "But it's the only plan we got and you're the best man for the job. We've been all over that already."
"Hey, kid don't worry. We told you, I'll be with you the whole time and ain't nothing bad gonna happen to you." Matthew Whitmore said from his seat across the table. He wanted a front row seat for this make up session. He knew Eliot would want to know how they'd painted up Hardison to look like the living dead.
"Somehow that don't make me feel any better, man." Hardison snapped at the Major. "You done a bang-up job keeping Eliot's ass alive all these years, oh wait, no that was Eliot himself keeping his own ass alive!"
Colonel Vance couldn't stop the laugh that burst from him at that comment, but he quickly hid his mirth when Hardison turned his pale face on him. The guy really did look like a member of the Walking Dead cast. Sophie was very talented.
"Don't you laugh! You don't get to laugh! You ain't helping either, so you don't get to laugh!" Hardison threw at the man. "You two may know Eliot and you may know who has him and you may even be able to rescue him, but you ain't the ones gotta play dead and get stuffed in a bag, so you two don't get to enjoy this." He pointed at each man in turn.
"We're enjoying it for Eliot. I personally can't wait to let him know just how devoted you are to helping find him by going through this." Whitmore added as he winked to Vance. "Hey maybe we should take a couple snapshots, so we have the proof to show Eliot." He added pulling out his phone.
Hardison turned just as Sophie was trying to darken the circles under his eyes causing the make up to smear across his nose. "Hardison! Stop moving." She snapped at him pulling his chin back to face her.
Hardison let her pull his fac back, but then he turned to look at Nate. "Don't you dare let them take any pictures. I don't need Eliot rubbing it in that I let Sophie paint up my face even if it is to make me the best-looking badass zombie ever." He turned back to Sophie. "You are making me the best zombie ever, right?"
Nate couldn't help chuckling at him. "Okay, no pictures guys and Hardison just let Sophie finish up so we can run over the plan again."
Just as Nate finished speaking Parker walked up behind him and holding her own cell phone over Nate's shoulder, she managed to snap 3 quick pics. Nate couldn't help the laugh that escaped him.
"Damnit Parker! Nate do something!"
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Emma reached through the cab's front passenger window with her money for the fare. "Thank you, Sean. And tell your brother thank you for me too."
"My brother? Why?" Sean, the cab driver asked taking her money and dropping it in his front shirt pocket. "You know my brother?"
Emma smiled at the man. Of all the cabs she had to pick the one whose brother she had recently spoken too. "You could say that." She waved as the man returned her smile and then pulled away from the curb to join the traffic moving through the sleeping city.
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine... she thought with a laugh.
Yep, she thought still laughing. Of all the cabs, in all of Boston, in all of Massachusetts, she had to pick the one whose brother was Detective Captain Patrick Bonanno.
(AN: This is a gift for Crisdin - I really hadn't planned on this twist, but enjoyed you questioning the possibility - so this is for you, hon!)
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"Okay, Hardison now let's go over it one more time." Nate said watching Sophie put the remaining touches to Hardison's makeup job. He had to admit, he really did look like the best 'badass zombie' he'd ever seen. Sophie really had the make up just right.
Now all he hoped was if anyone did see Hardison they'd be too freaked by his look to do anything but run away. Matthew and Parker were off getting changed into their costumes for the plan. Hardison had already donned the costume of a zombie sailor and they would soon be ready to hit the road.
"I got it Nate. We don't have to keep going over it. You never go over a plan this many times with us when we're working a job."
Nat turned to Hardison. "All right, you're right. I'm just..." He paused at that. He was just what? Nervous? Worried? Scared? Or all the above?
"You're just making sure nothing goes wrong, I know. But even though I really hate this plan, it's still a good plan." Hardison relented as he looked at Nate. The man was the closest thing he'd ever have to a father and seeing Nate worried was a bit daunting for him. The man wouldn't let anything happen to him if he could help it. "Whitmore and Parker drive to the warehouse, gain access by pretending to a part of the dock patrol's security and are they're there to verify whoever's there has the proper credentials to be there. While they keep as many goons occupied as possible, I sneak out of the van and find the electronics and disable them and hopefully find Eliot's earbud, preferably attached to Eliot. If I can't tap into their signal, which isn't likely, then I'll give their system a virus and when they find it, they'll be too busy scrambling with it to hamper my search for Eliot."
"And..." Nate prompted.
Hardison smiled now. "and if I run into any goons, I pretend it's Night of the Living Dead time and zombie all over them." He answered. "Get them to run scared and then I head back to the van to wait for Parker and Whitmore. And..." He paused her for dramatic effect since this was really the part he truly hated about this plan. "And if they don't run scared, I give you guys the signal with my safe word and hit the deck and pray they don't shoot me in the ass while I wait for Vance to come crashing in to save the day."
Nate smiled at Hardison taking in the guy's face as he spoke. "You will be fine Hardison, I promise." He knew Hardison didn't want to get shot any more than Nate wanted him to, but he knew Hardison would do whatever it took to get Eliot back and this was just step one. If Eliot wasn't at the warehouse, if they didn't find him there, then at the very least Hardison might be able grab their signal and use their own equipment to tell them where he was.
"You'll be fine Hardison." Parker repeated walking over to stand next to the man as she caught the last of the conversation. She was wearing her shore patrol uniform and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and tucked under the black ballcap with Boston Shore Patrol logo.
"Yeah, I know." Hardison replied softly.
"Hardison?" Parker asked turning his shoulders to force him to look to her. "Do you trust Nate?"
"Of course. Always, it's just..."
Parker made him focus on her face by gripping his shoulders tighter. "Do you trust me?"
Hardison quickly looked her in the eye. He did not hesitate. "With my life, mamma. With my life." He smiled up at her.
Sophie watched the pair as she stepped closer to Nate. The two shared a look between them. Their kids were growing up right in front of them.
"You get what we need, and I promise you they will never get to you. You do what you're good at and find Sparky and I will watch your back."
"Always?" Hardison asked.
Parker quietly bent down and whispered in his ear. "Always Alec."
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The knock on the apartment door was surprising at this time of morning and Nate exchanged a look with Vance as the two men moved to the door. Nate peered through the peephole to see a smartly dressed dark haired woman staring back at him.
Nate stepped aside to allow Vance to look. "Damn." Vance replied at the sight of the woman. He turned to search for Whitmore who was just coming out of the downstairs bathroom in his Shore Patrol uniform. "We're dead." He said to the man.
"What? Why?" Whitmore asked. He could see that Vance's statement contradicted his demeanor. He was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Hey Hardison, get ready for this. Whitmore is about to get his ass handed to him." And with that Vance reached down and grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to the apartment. "Hello there Emma. And how are you this fine morning?" He greeted the woman on the other side.
Emma looked at Vance with daggers in her eyes. "Cram it, Colonel. Where's my butthead of a husband hiding?" She stormed into the apartment dropping her purse and carry-on bag just inside the door.
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Evan Chapman was pissed. He was beyond pissed. The damn hospital couldn't find Eliot and it seemed that the good doctor and nurse were also not to be found. It didn't take a genius to realize that the three were in the wind. He turned away from the assistant hospital administrator and punched a hole the wall to his left. The security man standing next to the squat looking man with a bad toupee and an equally bad taste in clothing choices moved towards him, but he was quickly intimidated by Evan's security men.
"Look, Mr. Chapman. I'm sorry for all of this, but we can't explain it. Your brother arrived in the ER where he was deemed stable by nurse Wakefield and scheduled to be moved to the ICU department. While arrangements were being made to move him, he somehow disappeared from the ER along with nurse Wakefield and Dr. Richards. On the security footage we found it looks to be like nurse Wakefield pushed Mr. Chapman's gurney out of the ER and onto an elevator, but we have idea if she went up or down. We do not have cameras inside the elevators. After they got on the elevator they just disappeared; and what's more, we don't see any proof of Dr. Richards entering the hospital with the nurse or paramedic." The man, Mr. Cooke repeated everything he'd already told Evan. "We cannot tell you where they went. Neither responds to the numerous pages we've sent."
Evan looked down at the stupid little man. "Of course, you don't know where they are, you'd say that to cover yourself, but I've got news for you. Dr. Richards and nurse Wakefield are employed by this hospital and were entrusted with a patient in this hospital, so they are responsible and by extension so is this hospital and I swear if anything..." he paused as he thought about this. "If anything happens to my brother, this hospital will be in a world of hurt from the downfall." He moved past the man and headed for the nearest exit.
He pulled out his phone as he and his entourage headed for the parking lot. He punched in a number and waiting for the man to pick up. "We've lost Eliot. It's time to put your computer expert to work and find him." He waited for the man's response. "I don't care what you've got going on. This affects you too, so drag his ass out of bed and get him on the security footage from Massachusetts General and every camera he can get his hands on between the hospital and anywhere. I told you earlier what happened and told you something was wrong. Somehow that doctor you found me has helped his stupid little nurse kidnap my brother. And I want them back. All of them. And I'm gonna kill them all myself."
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"Just exactly what the hell is going on here, Matthew? Umm? Where's my brother and why are you and Michael here in Boston?" Emma Whitmore asked her husband as she zeroed in on him standing back from the group.
Nate took in the way Whitmore stepped back from his approaching wife. He was floored by that; the man who'd been a hardass on the phone yesterday and today was nowhere to be seen the instant this woman come into the picture. He stood back and watched with Vance as the woman made the man look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Umm, Emma sweetie what are you doing here?" Matthew said as he gave Vance a dirty look. You just had to open the damned door, didn't you? The look said.
"Don't you sweetie me. You are in a whole lot of trouble mister." Emma replied in her smooth husky slightly southern accent. She whirled around to face Nate and Vance when she heard the snickers of laughter coming from behind her. "Michael, if I were you, I'd keep quiet. I have your wife on speed dial, and she can be here in a flash too."
Vance quickly stopped laughing as he held his hands up in mock surrender. The last thing he needed was for his Laura to join Emma. "Sorry. Honest. Won't happen again."
"And don't patronize me either! You're in just as much trouble here. And that goes for you too, Mr. Ford. You're on my radar now too. All of you lied to me and the one thing I will not tolerate is being lied to. Especially when it's about my brother."
Nate quickly stepped back from the whole scene and moved to stand near Sophie. "I'm not going to protect you Nate." Sophie replied at seeing how he seemed to be moving discreetly behind her on her left. "This is your problem. I told you we shouldn't keep Emma in the dark, even if I did agree we needed Major Whitmore's help."
Nate looked at Sophie like she'd slapped him. "Wait - what?" He said in surprise. "You never said that-"
"Yes, I did, you just didn't hear me." Sophie said. She moved to sit down at the dining table. "You men are on your own with this. If Emma is even one ounce like Eliot, there is no way I'm getting in the middle of this." She settled in to watch the entire show. "Go ahead Emma. Speak your mind, hon."
Emma nodded at Sophie. She didn't know the woman but was willing to bet the farm she was Sophie Devereaux. Eliot's description of her was spot on. "Thank you, Miss Devereaux." She turned to face Nate.
"You Mr. Ford called me and wheedled information out of me about my brother and then you didn't even have the decency to tell me the truth. Eliot's missing, isn't he?" She'd had a lot of time to think on this. If Eliot had been hurt, Matthew would have told her that so she could see him, but because they hadn't said that and because they'd bypassed telling her anything at all, she'd deduced that Eliot was unaccounted for. And that was even more worrisome for her then seeing him in a hospital bed. Not knowing if he was alive or dead was much worse. "You didn't have the decency to tell me that he was missing, just let me..." She stopped herself as she choked up suddenly. Everything was getting to her all at once. The lack of sleep, the time shift, the worry; all of it was too much.
Matthew steeped over to put his arms on his wife's shoulders and turn her to face him. He gently pulled her to him as he felt her fear. "Yes, he's missing; but we're here to find him, honey."
Emma pulled back to look up at her husband with dry eyes. "You should have told me. He's my brother and I... I needed to know." She pulled back from his grasp then. "You should have told me, Matthew, and you're not off the hook yet. Any of you. I'm still way too pissed off to let any of you off the hook." She said pointing around the room.
She paused when she took in Hardison sitting at his desk of computers dressed like a zombie. Then she took in Parker and Matthew's police uniforms. She turned back to Vance who was dressed all in black clothing like a burglar. She turned to see Nate and Sophie were the only two besides herself dressed like normal people. "Please don't tell me you're going to rescue my brother from some sort of demented masquerade party?"