Chapter 1: Bad Decisions

Pride walked into the office, put his weapon in the top drawer of his file cabinet. He sat down at this desk and looked around the squad. "Anyone seen Chris?" The room was silent. "Nobody? Anybody?" The three agents shook their heads and immediately went back to what they were doing. "Guess I'll have to call him myself." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Last chance." The room was still silent. Pride dialed Chris' number. The phone rang twice.

"Can't talk now, King," Chris voice said, barely above a whisper.

"Where are you?"

"Can't tell you."

"You'd better tell me because I'm getting nothing but silence on this end." The phone was quiet. "Not you, too." Pride paused. "Christopher." No response. "Chris."

"Sorry, King. Had to get to where I could talk to you."

"You didn't answer my first question and you know how I feel about repeating myself."

"I'll be leaving in a minute anyway. I found what I was looking for."

"You're at Barringer's house, aren't you?" There was another silence. "Christopher."

"Sorry, King. I didn't hear you."

"Just get your ass back here, now!"

"Yes, sir! I'm on the way!"

Pride hung up the phone and looked around the room. "I'm going to venture a guess that all three of you knew exactly where he was and decided amongst yourselves to keep me in the dark. Am I right?"

Brody was the first to speak. "You know once LaSalle puts his mind to something we can't stop him."

"Believe me, we all tried," Percy added.

"Yeah. Barringer's a bad dude," Patton said.

"Bad is not the word for him. He's one of this area's most notorious criminals. He's got at least five murders connected to him. Two of them just happen to be cops. He doesn't care who he kills or how. Why didn't anyone call me?" The room was silent again. "Percy, Brody, you're done for the day. Go home. I don't want you back here til tomorrow."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Percy asked. "What if we get a case?

"I'll call you back. Right now I don't want you here. You're just lucky you aren't suspended."

"LaSalle may be our partner but we can't control him. Merri's right. We can't stop him once he's made his mind up. With or without us he was going to go. One way or another. Orders or no orders."

"Just go before I change my mind about the suspension!"

Brody packed her bag and followed Sonja out to the parking lot. "He's really angry."

"Yeah, but he'll get over it. LaSalle will come back and he'll be the one getting his ass chewed, not us."

"You wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"Yeah. You drive. I rode the bus in this morning and walked part of the way."

Pride walked over to Patton. "Can you track his cell phone?"

"Wouldn't that be considered an invasion of privacy?"

"He disregarded a direct order. LaSalle's privacy is no longer my concern."

Patton rolled toward his office. "I'll track him and let you know."

Pride sat down at his desk. He took a deep breath and then rose again. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the bar. He looked at the clock on the wall. He wasn't sure exactly where LaSalle was but he figured if he wasn't back in twenty minutes he'd see what Patton had found.

Twenty minutes and two cups of coffee later, Pride rose and walked into Patton's office. "Anything?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Tell me anyway."

"Cell phone signal was good and then it went off. Like someone turned it off and took out the battery. I know that because I tried to remotely turn it on and it didn't do anything."

"Did you call it?"

"Twice. Went straight to voicemail."

"Do you know where he was going?"

"Barringer has a place about twenty minutes west of here. It's in a remote area. Maybe there's just no signal."

"Or maybe he's in trouble. Keep an eye on it and let me know if it comes back online. Can you get me satellite images of Barringer's place?"

"I'll send them to you now."

Pride sat back at his computer. He pulled up the satellite images and put them on the bigger plasma screen in the middle of the room. He walked toward the screen. "Are these live feed?"

"No. Maybe a few hours ago."

"I don't see Chris' truck."

"He's only been there a short while," Patton said, rolling into the room. "Don't worry. I've got the cell phone tracker on my laptop."

"Something's not right."

"You should call Brody and Percy and go look for him."

Pride took a deep breath. "I should." He picked up his cell phone and dialed Brody's number.

"Hey, did he finally come back?"

"No. Can you call Percy and come back here?"

"She's right here. We're on our way."

"I'll get the weapons in the truck."

Ten minutes later Brody pulled up and the two agents exited the car. Pride shut the back door to the SUV. "That's a lot of fire power for one criminal," Percy said. "Are you expecting trouble?"

"I'm not sure what to expect. Get in the car."

Percy climbed in the back seat. Brody climbed in the passenger seat and Pride sat in the driver's seat. He started the car and put it in gear. "Here's what we know: Chris is at Barringer's alone, no back up and his phone has been turned off and the battery removed."

"You think he's been taken?" Brody asked.

"Like I said before, Barringer doesn't care who he kills or how he does it."

"So how are we gonna do this? Should we call SWAT?" Percy asked.

"No. We're gonna search the premises for any sign of Christopher and go from there."

"Doesn't sound like much of a plan," Percy replied

"If you've got a better idea I'd like to hear it."

"No. I just think we should have more than the three of us. What if Barringer's got help?"

"Hopefully, Barringer won't know we're there."

"Sounds like wishful thinking to me," Percy said. "What if he is there and what if he has LaSalle?"

"Then we'll call SWAT."

Pride parked the car at the end of the driveway. He exited the car and drew his weapon. "Com check."

"Brody."

"Percy"

"Stay close and alert. Any sign of trouble you head back to the car."

"Got it," Brody replied.

"Percy."

"Yeah. Got it."

The trio moved toward the edge of the property. Brody pointed to the ground. "Tire tracks. Fresh. They aren't Chris'. They aren't big enough to be truck tires."

"Take a picture and send it to Patton."

Brody took out her phone and snapped a picture. She texted it to Patton. "Done."

"Look," Percy said. "It's Chris' truck." They moved closer. "Looks like he took fire."

Pride picked up an empty clip. "And he returned it. Look around for his gun and his keys. But be quiet about it. We don't know if there's anyone still in that house."

Percy followed Brody. "I'm afraid we're too late. Chris is either long gone or in that house about to be."

"Let's take a closer look."

Pride noticed his agents walking closer to the house. "Wait for me," he ordered and joined them. "Brody, back door. Sonja, you're with me."

Brody approached the back window and looked inside. "No movement."

Pride stood to the left of the door and Percy stood in front of it. "On my count. 3,2,1" Pride kicked the door in with his foot. "NCIS!" The team cleared the house quickly. Pride rushed to Chris' side. "Christopher." He shook the young agent. "Come on, wake up." "He's in here! Brody, call an ambulance"

"On it." The two agents walked into the room.

"He's been shot," Percy said.

"In the shoulder. Lungs are taking on blood. We don't have much time."

"Ambulance is on the way. What can we do?" Brody asked.

"Look for any sign as to where Barringer went. Brody, go outside and make sure the ambulance finds us."

Percy came back a minute later. "He left in a hurry." She set a bag of weapons down next to Pride. "He must have shot him and left him to die."

Pride shook Chris again to try to wake him. "Hey, you're gonna be okay."

"Liar," Chris replied in a raspy voice.

"Don't talk. Help's on the way."

"I'm sorry, King."

"I said don't talk. You'll just make it worse. But don't close your eyes." Pride shook Chris. "Hey, I said don't close your eyes."

"My head."

"Did he hit you?" Chris nodded and then his eyes fell shut. "Where is that ambulance?"

"I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Take those weapons out to the car. I want you to run them to Sebastian once we load Chris on the ambulance. I'll ride with him."

"We're gonna go, too."

"After you run those weapons to Sebastian. I need to know where they came from."

"We should just let NOPD take care of this, Pride. Barringer isn't Navy."

"But he killed a Navy Lieutenant."

"Which is why LaSalle came out in the first place."

"Exactly."

Brody held the door open. "He's in there to the left."

The EMTs worked quickly and loaded Chris into the ambulance. Pride convinced the ambulance driver to let him ride with them to the hospital. "You two can come to the hospital after you take those weapons to Sebastian. Not a minute sooner."

"I'll drive," Brody said.

The ambulance pulled away and Percy climbed in the front passenger side of the SUV. "I really hope he's okay."

"Me, too."

The ambulance team inserted a chest tube into Chris' lung to alleviate some of the blood. He started to wake again. "Where?"

"We're on our way to the hospital. Stay quiet."

"Don't leave me."

"I won't. I promise."

The ride to the hospital was fifteen minutes. Pride jumped out of the back of the ambulance and helped unload the stretcher. He followed it in through the bay doors all the way to the trauma room. "Agent Pride, you can't go in to trauma." One of the EMTs said. "We'll send the doctor out when he knows something."

Pride squeezed Chris' hand. "You stay strong, buddy." He released the hand and walked back out to the waiting room.

He picked up the phone and called Loretta. "How is he, Dwayne?"

"They wouldn't let me stay but they got the chest tube in to get the blood out of his lung. The bullet hit his right shoulder. He also got hit over the back of the head with something."

"I'll be on my way in ten minutes. I need to call the boys and check on them."

"You don't have to come."

"He's family, Dwayne."

"Yeah."

"You need anything?"

"Not right now. What I need you can't give me. Answers."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

The waiting room was empty. Pride sat down on a couch and put his feet up and began thinking about Chris' first day at NCIS.

*****FLASHBACK***********

"Welcome back!" Pride said.

"Glad to be back," LaSalle replied, setting his bag down.

"I see you survived FLETC"

"It was tougher than I thought it was going to be, but yeah. I survived."

"A lot of it was probably review for you."

"Yeah. I especially liked the advanced weapons training."

"Comes in handy around here, sometimes."

"So, it's just me and you?"

"Yep. Not much need for anyone else. Not that I'm not glad you're here."

"Why do I get the feeling this is where you tell me all the rules I have to follow?"

"I only have three."

"Three?"

"Yep. Rule number one: You respect me. I'll respect you. This is my space as much as it is yours.

"Sounds easy enough."

"Rule Number two: Follow orders. There's nothing I don't like more than someone who can't do as their told."

"Spoken like a true dad."

"You ask my little girl sometime what happens when orders aren't followed."

"Not sure I really want to know the answer to that one. What's rule three?"

"This is more of a pet peeve than a rule. I don't like repeating myself."

"What?" Chris said with a smile

Pride returned the smile. "Very funny."

"That's all I have to do?"

"That and your job and we'll get along just fine."

"This is gonna be a lot easier than vice."

"I don't know about that, but I think you'll like it."

"So, we have any cases we're working currently?"

"No, but that could change. We're a regional office. We work cases from here to Florida and back west to Texas"

"Where do I sit?"

Pride pointed at a table with a computer. "Over there for now. We're pretty informal around here, as you can see."

"Yeah and I thought I'd be under-dressed."

"We have a relaxed dress code except for certain things."

"Like when the director visits or someone important?"

"We don't get many important visitors."

"So, I can wear jeans tomorrow?"

Pride nodded. "Yeah, if you want."

"Alright." Chris sat down in his chair.

"I was looking through your paperwork before you arrived. You did very well at FLETC. Especially in marksmanship. You were at the top in nearly every category."

"I learned to shoot early. Never lost my touch."

"You excelled in interrogation, too."

"Something I'd already mastered as a detective with NOPD."

"Seems to me the first and last time we worked together you needed to work on your people skills."

"I've grown up in that three years, sir."

"Call me King. You don't have to call me 'sir' unless I ask you a direct question."

"Right. That respect thing?"

"You're from Alabama so I figure you were raised to respect adults."

"I was. It's not just an Alabama thing. It's a southern thing."

"I agree."

"So, since we have nothing to do around here…."

Pride put up a hand. "Don't say that out loud."

"Why? Are you afraid someone may hear?"

"Every time I think out loud that I'm not busy, I get a phone call. It's like a curse or something. How about I give you the grand tour?"

*********End Flahsback**********

"Dwayne," Loretta said putting a hand on Pride's shoulder.

"Sorry, Loretta."

"You were a million miles away."

"Did the doctor come out yet?"

Loretta nodded. "They are taking him up to surgery. It will be a while."

"You don't have to stay."

"You don't either."

"I do, though."

"Then so will I. Merry and Sonja went down to the cafeteria with Sebastian and Patton. They were having trouble sitting still and waiting."

"Sebastian's supposed to be tracking those weapons we found."

"He handed them over to NOPD. Messier is on it. He's going to call when he knows something." Loretta looked at her friend. "He's their family too, Dwayne. You can't very well leave them out."

"How long is the surgery supposed to last?"

"Well, considering you don't want to do anything involving a bullet and a chest wound quickly, I'd say about two to three hours."

"I should call his family. His mom. His sister. Cade"

"You should wait and let them know when he's out."

"They need to know."

"You have nothing to tell them right now. Once he's out of surgery and safe you can call them and give them the news and let them know that he's going to be okay."

Pride nodded. "You want to go get a cup of coffee?"

Loretta smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."