Chapter 2
Chris was doing a mental inventory of his kitchen, trying to decide what he could make for dinner for his next date with Ray, when someone's phone rang.
"NCIS," Special Agent Hannah Khoury said, answering the phone.
"Go to Lafayette Cemetery. You will find the body of a man wearing a white Navy uniform between Parkerson and Montello, fifteen tombs down from the main entrance. His jaw is missing. You will find a star on the tombs to mark the location," a voice said. Hannah couldn't tell if it was male or female, but she could tell it was digitally altered, which got her attention.
"Do you know the name of the victim?" she asked.
"Ryder. Look for his dog tags. They're important."
"Will you be at the cemetery? I'd love to ask you some questions about how you know what you know."
"No. You know what you need to know. The rest is your problem." There was a click as the caller hung up.
"Just got a tip about a body in Lafayette Cemetery," Khoury said, hanging up her phone. "Caller said the victim is male, wearing a Navy uniform, and missing his jaw."
"Did the caller say where in the cemetery?" Special Agent Tammy Gregorio asked sarcastically.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Hannah said, glancing at her notes. "Fifteen tombs down from the main entrance, between Parkerson and Montello. Caller said he left a star between the two tombs to mark the point but refused to wait until we got there."
"No name?" Chris asked, grabbing his gear.
"Nothing offered, none given. The caller did say the victim's name was Ryders, so we'll see what happens," Hannah said.
At the cemetery, just as the caller had said, they found their sailor.
"NOPD is questioning people, but so far they're getting the same story: no one saw anything unusual, no one heard anything unusual," Hannah said.
"Good place for a body dump," Tammy said, looking around. Their victim was where the caller had said he would be, and he was missing his jaw. How that had happened, was the big question, but either way, it hadn't been pretty, as evident by the blood all over his uniform. The blood, however, was confined to the victim, hence Tammy's observation.
"No useable tracks, and no cameras," Chris said, glancing around.
"Found the dog tags the caller mentioned, and there's something weird about one of them," Sebastian said, holding up a pair of dog tags. He fiddled with one of them for a moment, and then suddenly, one of the tags popped out a memory stick. "That's why it's weird. It's a hidden memory stick."
"Think those numbers might have something to do with the memory stick?" Hannah asked, pointing to one wall of a crypt, where someone had written a series of numbers in black charcoal. It was the same black charcoal that had been used for the stars.
"Worth a try," Sebastian said, "but we won't know until we get back."
"Someone put those numbers there for a reason," Tammy said. "But who? Our caller?"
"And why?" Chris asked. "And how did our caller even know he was here?"
"Well, I can tell you one thing; whoever put those numbers there, did it after Lieutenant Ryder was killed," Dr. Loretta Wade said, removing her liver probe. "This poor soul's been dead for at least eight to twelve hours. And as for cause of death? I'm glad to say it wasn't because of his missing jaw."
"Something else?" Hannah asked.
"A bullet to the head something else," Loretta said, carefully turning the victim's head to show thiem a nasty-looking bullet hole in the back of the victim's head.
"So why the jaw removal?" Tammy asked. "A warning to others, maybe, about talking? General spitefulness? General creep factor?"
"Have we even found the jaw?" Hannah asked.
"No sign of it," Chris said. "How was it even removed?"
"Precisely and with something sharp," Loretta said. "And we're not just talking the bone."
"The whole lower jaw," Hannah said. "That would take some skill and some work."
"Which sounds like what we have to do," Tammy said.
There was nothing special about the placement of the victim, other than the fact that he'd been dragged behind two tombs. In fact, in order to find him in the first place, they'd practically had to circle the buildings.
"Big question; why did the killer put him here? Had to know he'd be found sooner or later." Tammy said.
"Probably thought it would be under the Later category, and hopefully long enough for the body to be unrecognizable. Still falls under the same category as the missing jaw," Chris said.
"Which is what?" Tammy asked.
"Weird," Chris said.
On the way back to NCIS, Tammy jumped her friend.
"How'd your date go last night? You two were looking awfully cozy," Tammy said, grinning at him.
Chris chuckled. "Her name is Rayhanah Metcalf, manager for Haddy's Antique Glassware. Met her yesterday when King and I picked up some decanters Jimmy'd bought for Trutone. Bought a lamp off her for half price, in exchange for a drink at Trutone. Already trying to figure out what to do for the next date."
"She give you any suggestions?" Tammy asked.
"Yeah, start thinking about what to make for dinner," Chris said. "Trouble is, I can cook, but not like King."
"So don't. Your spaghetti and meatballs are pretty good, and if you don't want to do that, try a picnic in your living room. Bottle of wine, fried chicken, maybe some sandwiches, salad, and definately desert. Clear some space and put a blanket on the floor and you're good to go."
"Doesn't sound like much," Chris said.
"Maybe not, but because it's private, you don't have to worry about the weather, insects, or lookie loos, which means you can have a bit more fun than you would do if you were in a public setting," Tammy said, a knowing smirk on her face.
"Huh."
Once they were back at NCIS, the team got to work, digging into the memory drive and Ryder's life.
"Lieutenant Jack Ryder, worked the Logistics department at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base," Chris later said. "Clean record, couple of notes about his skill in communications, but otherwise nothing but good to say about him from his CO."
"Social media is almost nonexistent on the one Facebook page this guy does have," Tammy said. "Looks like he does more reading than posting. Bank accounts show no suspicious activity, and nothing of any interest on his credit cards."
"What about his cell phone?" Hannah asked.
"Patton says it's either turned off or destroyed, because he can't locate it, so he's trying to track where it was," Chris said.
"I can tell you one thing though," said Patton Plame, rolling into the room. "He made a few calls to none other than Pride himself." He pulled up a list of phone numbers on the flatscreen and highlighted a series of numbers, ones that were recognizable.
"Calling him now," Hannah said, picking up her phone.
Pride did indeed recognize Lieutenant Ryder. "He was supposed to come by my office today, said he had some information for me regarding a suspected terrorist that was in New Orleans. Said he had proof," Pride said, communicating through video feed. "What happened to him?"
"A tip lead us to his body at Lafayette Cemetery. So far it looks like a headshot, but what we can't figure out is why the killer took his lower jaw," Hannah explained.
"His lower jaw?" Pride repeated, confused.
"Yup. Sebastian found a memory stick hidden in his dog tags and our tip caller left a bunch of numbers on a tomb wall," Chris said. "He's running them now."
"Not any more," Sebastian said, coming into the room.
"What was on the memory card, Sebastian?" Pride asked.
Sebastian went to one of the computers and started typing. "A bunch of surveillance photos of this guy," he said, throwing the photos up on the flatscreen. "The numbers were the password to the memory stick. Somehow the caller knew what the password was."
"Who is this guy?" Tammy asked.
"Facial rec says Omar Ahuja. He's a businessman with no known ties to any terrorist organization," Sebastian said.
"Not on the surface," Pride admitted. "CIA's had him on their watch list for a while, mostly because of where his money's been going, and that's been to several suspected terrorist organizations with supposedly legitimate business ties."
"Is he supposed to be in New Orleans?" Hannah asked.
"Some of his business interests do include shipping," Pride admitted. "And we've got plenty of that."
"So how'd a low-level logistics guy like Ryder know about someone like Ahuja?" Tammy asked. "Could he be CIA-connected? And how'd our caller even know about the dog tags and the password to them in the first place?"
"You got a call about Ryder?" Pride asked. "And the caller gave you his password? By any chance, did the caller have an altered voice?"
"Sound familiar to you?" Hannah asked.
"Was Ryder's body a bit hard to find?" Pride asked.
"Hidden behind two tombs. The caller told us exactly where to find him, and when we got there, the password numbers were written on one wall of the tomb in charcoal," Hannah said.
"Let me guess; refused to answer any questions or stick around," Pride said.
"Got it in one," Hannah said.
"King?" Chris asked.
"Sounds like someone I call Kritanta. He, or she, calls every now and then, has done for about five, six years now, on and off," Pride said. "Always tells me where to find a body, always has an altered voice, never leaves any prints or witnesses, and the body is always hard to find in the first place. First time it happened was a note I got after passing through City Hall one day, and it was typed, so I couldn't trace the handwriting."
"Prints?" Chris asked.
"Nothing," Pride admitted. "Two days later I got the first call, a follow-up on the victim, which wound up helping us solve the case."
"Any follow up calls or attempts to trace?" Tammy asked.
"Only twice that I can remember was there more than one call about the same victim, and the last time I tried to trace the call led to a cell phone with no name. Caller always calls from the same location as the found victim or in a public area with hundreds of people," Pride said.
"Which is what happened when I tried to trace that call," Sebastian admitted. "Kritanta called from Lafayette Cemetery, and then shut the phone off."
"Okay, so getting back on track. We need to find out how Lieutenant Ryder knew about Omar Ahuja and retrace his steps to where he was possibly murdered so we can figure out who murdered him," Hannah said.
"Sebastian, can you please send me those photos?" Pride asked. "I'll have the people over here take a closer look at them, see if they can figure out what he was up to that had Ryder so interested in him."
"Tammy, you and I are going to go talk to Lieutenant Ryder's CO and his coworkers, see if anyone saw him talking to someone they didn't recognize," Hannah said. "Chris, you and Sebastian retrace Ryder's steps."
"His bank says he made a purchase at a coffee shop the day before, and that was his last transaction," Chris said. "We can start there, see if anyone recognized him."
"Keep me posted," Pride said, signing off.
Later, as Chris and Sebastian made their way through the streets of New Orleans, Chris sent Ray a message.
"Hey Pretty Lady. Care to join me for a picnic tonight if work doesn't hold me up?"
A moment later, he got a reply that had him grinning.
"If you promise to kiss me again, Handsome, the way you did last night, then a picnic with you sounds like fun."
"I'll kiss you anywhere you want."
"In that case, I'll bring the drinks, but they won't be alcoholic."
"How come?"
"Because I still have to get home and I want a clear head when I'm messing with you."
"Fair enough. Should know by five today what's happening."
"Let me know and send me the address."
"Will do."
"Your new girlfriend?" Sebastian asked Chris, seeing the grin on his friend's face.
"Looks like it. Date number two tonight, if I get the chance."
"Hope for the best, if anyone cooperates with us, that is."