The Rule Number 7 Job: Chapter 5
Title: The Rule Number 7 Job
Author: Trapper Creek Kaniac
Category: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Humor/Drama/Crime
Summary: A woman asks for the team's help in rescuing her sister from a Russian proposition ring.
Pairings: Implied Nate/Sophie, Parker/Hardison, and Eliot...
2:44pm, Nate's apartment
Recon on the Midnight Rose didn't reveal anything the team could use as leverage against Ian Brushnikov. Basically, they had nothing.
"I counted six guys, four of 'em are ex military," Eliot was filling Nate in after he and Hardison returned to the apartment. "At least five are armed and one carries a knife strapped to his ankle." He paced behind the couch.
Hardison rolled his eyes from his position on the couch behind his laptop.
Eliot, noticing the gesture crossed his arms, and turned to Hardison with a raised eyebrow. "You got somethin' you wanna say?"
"Nope."
Eliot shook his head and turned back to Nate, who had moved to stand in front the monitors.
"You know, Nate, I was thinking…" the retrieval specialist was cut off by the door of the apartment opening. Sophie breezed in, the door slamming loudly behind her.
The hitter, hacker and mastermind all watched in silence as Sophie dropped her purse on the table and exclaimed, "Bloody Russians!"
Nate and Eliot exchanged glances.
"How'd it go?" Nate asked.
"Well," Sophie paused to take off her heels, "I'm pretty sure he'll take the bait, but I couldn't get his files - he didn't give me enough time to plug the drive in."
Now barefoot, Sophie padded towards the kitchen area, where Parker had just appeared with a bowl of cereal and had been quietly listening - as quietly as someone can be while crunching cereal.
"Hmm," Nate held his chin in thought. "Right now the important thing is that Brushnikov bites - we'll have to find another way to get those files-"
Hardison's laptop on the coffee table chirped, interrupting the mastermind and he looked at the hacker expectantly.
"Okay, Bruno is checking out Sophie's cover. I activated a site traffic program that monitors and records the I.P addresses that access to the website..."
(flashback)
It was time to make for Sophie to make her exit.
"Of course," Sophie smiled and reached for her purse. "Here is my card. Thank you for your time, Mr. Bruno; I look forward to doing business with a man such as yourself." She stood up and shook his hand.
Printed in neat handwriting in the white margin at the bottom of the business card was the web address of Parker's video, on a fake website that Hardison had created for Sophie's character.
(end of flashback)
"Tracing the address…" Hardison's fingers flew over the keys. "Okay, he just clicked on Parker's video; I give him ten minutes before he calls."
"I say it'll be twelve minutes, thirty seconds," Eliot challenged.
"You wanna bet on that?" Hardison brightened at the prospect of finally besting Eliot at something.
"Ooh!" Parker's hand shot up and Eliot gave her a dirty look as she spilled some cereal crumbs. "I wanna bet! Nine minutes."
"Ten bucks to whoever the closest." Hardison set the amount for the bet.
Nate just smiled and shook his head.
The minutes and seconds crawled by at a snail's pace as the team waited for the phone to ring. Parker lost when almost ten minutes had passed and still no call had come through. The thief pouted and Eliot smirked; it was down to him and Hardison now.
Twelve minutes passed.
2:55 pm, The Naked Lady, Boston
Ian Brushnikov's fingers tapped impatiently against the surface of the bar as he leaned against it, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. While he waited his cold brown eyes surveyed the club's empty interior.
On the forth ring, a man's voice answered. "Kiefer."
"It's me. Look, some madam from South Carolina showed up here today and she says she wants in on our business venture. Said she'd give me her best money-making girl in exchange... what do you think?"
Kiefer paused. "As long as she's not working against us, I don't really care. How much of a cut does she want?"
"I don't know yet, I though I'd let you know first before we talked business."
"No more than fifty percent. If she gets too greedy, we can easily get rid of her. Thought I'd let you know, I got a call from one of my guys, the BPSS was sniffing around the Midnight Rose today."
Brushnikov stood up a little straighter, his attention caught. "Did they find anything?"
"No, it's all taken care of. Couldn't find a damn thing if you rubbed their noses in it."
"Good."
3:01 pm, Nate's Apartment
Sophie's cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse. "Justine Blake, what can I do for you today?" She answered, her voice oozing sex appeal. There was a pause while she listened to the person on the other end and then her voice changed to a more business-like tone. "Oh, Mr. Bruno, I was hoping I'd hear from you! Did you like what you saw?"
The conversation was short and to the point. He had considered Sophie's offer, and he would like to meet the next morning at a local coffee shop to discuss business. Sophie agreed.
Sophie snapped her phone shut and turned to the team. "Hook, line, and sinker." A triumphant smile lit her face.
Having obviously won the bet, Eliot turned an expectant gaze on Parker. She reluctantly parted with two crisp five-dollar bills, pouting as she did so. He couldn't help but smirk at the hacker.
"Quit rubbing it in, man." Hardison grumbled as he handed over a ten-dollar bill.
Eliot just laughed and tucked the bills into his wallet.
"Nate," Eliot began, his face once again serious. "I was thinking - the reason we didn't find anything on the Midnight Rose is that maybe they don't hide the girls somewhere in the ship, but in containers. Did she say if her sister remembered anything about where she was held?"
Nate shook his head. "No, she didn't. That would make sense, though, a lot easier to hide any evidence," he agreed.
"Exactly," Eliot agreed. "The first place to look would be in the ship, who'd think to look in one of the containers? And, there's over a million containers on the yard, who knows how many either of them own; a needle in a haystack."
"Okay, good. Brushnikov likes women, right? We can use that." Nate surveyed his team, gathered before him. "If he's gotten into trouble for harassing women before, I doubt he's keeping his hands to himself with those girls. Parker? We're going to need you to seduce him."
"But I can't!" The thief protested, a panicked look coming into her eyes. "Remember what happened in Belgrade? What if I stab him?"
"Or break his fingers, like that last guy," Eliot supplied.
Nate glared at Eliot. "Eliot, not helping." He glanced at Sophie. Sophie reading her cue in his eyes, took over.
"Right. There will be no stabbing or finger breaking - though he certainly deserves it - I will show you how to master the art of seduction."
Parker still looked unconvinced.
"It's not as simple as "Hi, I'm Olivia - do you want have sex?" I'm going to need a volunteer…" Sophie continued. Her eyes fell on Eliot. "Eliot?"
"No! Not only no, but hell no!"
Nate stifled a grin. Sophie's gaze shifted to the couch. "Hardison?"
"Well, um, I… guess I could…"
"You'll do - come on." Sophie moved toward the spiral stars. "Parker?" She beckoned the young thief who was hanging back slightly.
When Sophie arrived at the little café the next morning, she was a little surprised to see that she had not been the first one to show up; Ian Brushnikov was already sitting at one of the outdoor tables, enjoying a cup of coffee. Normally when she was meeting a mark like this, Sophie preferred to arrive first. It gave her a little more control over the mark, and also a chance to people-watch while she was waiting.
She ordered her own cup of coffee - a cappuccino - and sat down at the table in the chair opposite of Brushnikov.
"You put this beautiful morning to shame." Apparently flattery was his style, for he was spreading it on thick. Brushnikov smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. In a short gray pencil skirt, ruffled blouse and jacket, Sophie did look beautiful.
Sophie accepted the compliment with a hint of a smile. "So, you wanted to talk business." She stated rather than asked.
"Ah, yes; I like your offer. How much of a cut did you have in mind?"
Sophie raised her cup of coffee to her lips before answering. "I was thinking somewhere along the lines of 45%/55% - at least until you see how much more I've increased your profit margin, then we should be equal partners."
Sophie knew there was no way that a greedy son-of-a-bitch like Ian Brushnikov would ever agree to almost half. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, intentionally putting a larger number out for consideration, knowing full well that they would negotiate and it would be that much easier to get the number she really wanted.
"You're confident. I like that."
"It pays well to be."
"45 percent is too much, it's my building and I have most of expenses. 30."
"Forty."
"Thirty-five, and that's my final offer; take it or leave it."
"Done."
"That girl…Cinnamon, you said her name was? I want her to make her debut as my new girl tomorrow."
"Yes, Cinnamon. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I'll bring her up this afternoon and we'll stay in a hotel and then I'll drop her off first thing in the morning."
"What, are you worried she won't make it in one piece?"
Sophie suddenly felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air temperature as Brushnikov laughed. "You can never be too careful with your investments," she said tightly, glad that the meeting was over.
Author: Trapper Creek Kaniac
Category: Leverage
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Humor/Drama/Crime
Summary: A woman asks for the team's help in rescuing her sister from a Russian proposition ring.
Pairings: Implied Nate/Sophie, Parker/Hardison, and Eliot...
2:44pm, Nate's apartment
Recon on the Midnight Rose didn't reveal anything the team could use as leverage against Ian Brushnikov. Basically, they had nothing.
"I counted six guys, four of 'em are ex military," Eliot was filling Nate in after he and Hardison returned to the apartment. "At least five are armed and one carries a knife strapped to his ankle." He paced behind the couch.
Hardison rolled his eyes from his position on the couch behind his laptop.
Eliot, noticing the gesture crossed his arms, and turned to Hardison with a raised eyebrow. "You got somethin' you wanna say?"
"Nope."
Eliot shook his head and turned back to Nate, who had moved to stand in front the monitors.
"You know, Nate, I was thinking…" the retrieval specialist was cut off by the door of the apartment opening. Sophie breezed in, the door slamming loudly behind her.
The hitter, hacker and mastermind all watched in silence as Sophie dropped her purse on the table and exclaimed, "Bloody Russians!"
Nate and Eliot exchanged glances.
"How'd it go?" Nate asked.
"Well," Sophie paused to take off her heels, "I'm pretty sure he'll take the bait, but I couldn't get his files - he didn't give me enough time to plug the drive in."
Now barefoot, Sophie padded towards the kitchen area, where Parker had just appeared with a bowl of cereal and had been quietly listening - as quietly as someone can be while crunching cereal.
"Hmm," Nate held his chin in thought. "Right now the important thing is that Brushnikov bites - we'll have to find another way to get those files-"
Hardison's laptop on the coffee table chirped, interrupting the mastermind and he looked at the hacker expectantly.
"Okay, Bruno is checking out Sophie's cover. I activated a site traffic program that monitors and records the I.P addresses that access to the website..."
(flashback)
It was time to make for Sophie to make her exit.
"Of course," Sophie smiled and reached for her purse. "Here is my card. Thank you for your time, Mr. Bruno; I look forward to doing business with a man such as yourself." She stood up and shook his hand.
Printed in neat handwriting in the white margin at the bottom of the business card was the web address of Parker's video, on a fake website that Hardison had created for Sophie's character.
(end of flashback)
"Tracing the address…" Hardison's fingers flew over the keys. "Okay, he just clicked on Parker's video; I give him ten minutes before he calls."
"I say it'll be twelve minutes, thirty seconds," Eliot challenged.
"You wanna bet on that?" Hardison brightened at the prospect of finally besting Eliot at something.
"Ooh!" Parker's hand shot up and Eliot gave her a dirty look as she spilled some cereal crumbs. "I wanna bet! Nine minutes."
"Ten bucks to whoever the closest." Hardison set the amount for the bet.
Nate just smiled and shook his head.
The minutes and seconds crawled by at a snail's pace as the team waited for the phone to ring. Parker lost when almost ten minutes had passed and still no call had come through. The thief pouted and Eliot smirked; it was down to him and Hardison now.
Twelve minutes passed.
2:55 pm, The Naked Lady, Boston
Ian Brushnikov's fingers tapped impatiently against the surface of the bar as he leaned against it, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. While he waited his cold brown eyes surveyed the club's empty interior.
On the forth ring, a man's voice answered. "Kiefer."
"It's me. Look, some madam from South Carolina showed up here today and she says she wants in on our business venture. Said she'd give me her best money-making girl in exchange... what do you think?"
Kiefer paused. "As long as she's not working against us, I don't really care. How much of a cut does she want?"
"I don't know yet, I though I'd let you know first before we talked business."
"No more than fifty percent. If she gets too greedy, we can easily get rid of her. Thought I'd let you know, I got a call from one of my guys, the BPSS was sniffing around the Midnight Rose today."
Brushnikov stood up a little straighter, his attention caught. "Did they find anything?"
"No, it's all taken care of. Couldn't find a damn thing if you rubbed their noses in it."
"Good."
3:01 pm, Nate's Apartment
Sophie's cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse. "Justine Blake, what can I do for you today?" She answered, her voice oozing sex appeal. There was a pause while she listened to the person on the other end and then her voice changed to a more business-like tone. "Oh, Mr. Bruno, I was hoping I'd hear from you! Did you like what you saw?"
The conversation was short and to the point. He had considered Sophie's offer, and he would like to meet the next morning at a local coffee shop to discuss business. Sophie agreed.
Sophie snapped her phone shut and turned to the team. "Hook, line, and sinker." A triumphant smile lit her face.
Having obviously won the bet, Eliot turned an expectant gaze on Parker. She reluctantly parted with two crisp five-dollar bills, pouting as she did so. He couldn't help but smirk at the hacker.
"Quit rubbing it in, man." Hardison grumbled as he handed over a ten-dollar bill.
Eliot just laughed and tucked the bills into his wallet.
"Nate," Eliot began, his face once again serious. "I was thinking - the reason we didn't find anything on the Midnight Rose is that maybe they don't hide the girls somewhere in the ship, but in containers. Did she say if her sister remembered anything about where she was held?"
Nate shook his head. "No, she didn't. That would make sense, though, a lot easier to hide any evidence," he agreed.
"Exactly," Eliot agreed. "The first place to look would be in the ship, who'd think to look in one of the containers? And, there's over a million containers on the yard, who knows how many either of them own; a needle in a haystack."
"Okay, good. Brushnikov likes women, right? We can use that." Nate surveyed his team, gathered before him. "If he's gotten into trouble for harassing women before, I doubt he's keeping his hands to himself with those girls. Parker? We're going to need you to seduce him."
"But I can't!" The thief protested, a panicked look coming into her eyes. "Remember what happened in Belgrade? What if I stab him?"
"Or break his fingers, like that last guy," Eliot supplied.
Nate glared at Eliot. "Eliot, not helping." He glanced at Sophie. Sophie reading her cue in his eyes, took over.
"Right. There will be no stabbing or finger breaking - though he certainly deserves it - I will show you how to master the art of seduction."
Parker still looked unconvinced.
"It's not as simple as "Hi, I'm Olivia - do you want have sex?" I'm going to need a volunteer…" Sophie continued. Her eyes fell on Eliot. "Eliot?"
"No! Not only no, but hell no!"
Nate stifled a grin. Sophie's gaze shifted to the couch. "Hardison?"
"Well, um, I… guess I could…"
"You'll do - come on." Sophie moved toward the spiral stars. "Parker?" She beckoned the young thief who was hanging back slightly.
When Sophie arrived at the little café the next morning, she was a little surprised to see that she had not been the first one to show up; Ian Brushnikov was already sitting at one of the outdoor tables, enjoying a cup of coffee. Normally when she was meeting a mark like this, Sophie preferred to arrive first. It gave her a little more control over the mark, and also a chance to people-watch while she was waiting.
She ordered her own cup of coffee - a cappuccino - and sat down at the table in the chair opposite of Brushnikov.
"You put this beautiful morning to shame." Apparently flattery was his style, for he was spreading it on thick. Brushnikov smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. In a short gray pencil skirt, ruffled blouse and jacket, Sophie did look beautiful.
Sophie accepted the compliment with a hint of a smile. "So, you wanted to talk business." She stated rather than asked.
"Ah, yes; I like your offer. How much of a cut did you have in mind?"
Sophie raised her cup of coffee to her lips before answering. "I was thinking somewhere along the lines of 45%/55% - at least until you see how much more I've increased your profit margin, then we should be equal partners."
Sophie knew there was no way that a greedy son-of-a-bitch like Ian Brushnikov would ever agree to almost half. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, intentionally putting a larger number out for consideration, knowing full well that they would negotiate and it would be that much easier to get the number she really wanted.
"You're confident. I like that."
"It pays well to be."
"45 percent is too much, it's my building and I have most of expenses. 30."
"Forty."
"Thirty-five, and that's my final offer; take it or leave it."
"Done."
"That girl…Cinnamon, you said her name was? I want her to make her debut as my new girl tomorrow."
"Yes, Cinnamon. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I'll bring her up this afternoon and we'll stay in a hotel and then I'll drop her off first thing in the morning."
"What, are you worried she won't make it in one piece?"
Sophie suddenly felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air temperature as Brushnikov laughed. "You can never be too careful with your investments," she said tightly, glad that the meeting was over.