It turned out that James Ritter ran his business out of a restaurant located on Ocean Front Walk in Venice Beach. The lunch rush had passed, the dinner rush hadn't started. Callen, Sam and Pedro were sitting in a Ford Shelby on Rose Ave. Kensi and Deeks were in the SRX a few cars back, and Eric and Nell were in Ops with LAPD on speed dial. Ritter wasn't known to be a violent guy, but there was no harm in being thorough.
The three men got out to the car and walked into the restaurant. At the back was a raised platform, where Ritter was seated. Set off to one side were a set of ledgers, but right now, Ritter's attention was focused on a woman not much older than 25, strawberry hair down in waves, wearing a pink sun dress with a low cut neckline. As they approached Ritter made a joke and the girl let out a high giggle.
Ritter looked up as Pedro, Callen and Sam approached. "Pedro, why are you here?"
"You know, thought I'd drop by, talk about the Lakers."
"Well, first off we're not friends; secondly I hate basketball; so returning to my original question, why are you here?"
"These are the guys I talked to you about." The phone call had just been a request for a meeting, though apparently they'd come at a bad time.
"Oh, right, and you are?" He said, looking at Callen.
"Well, I'm the bodyguard"
"And you are? Ritter inquired of Sam, looking just a little flustered. The girl, who Ritter still hadn't introduced, giggled.
"Damien Price, I own a club in Central LA. I'm looking for something to spice things up, I hear you're the man to talk to."
Ritter held up a hand "Not yet." He pulled out his phone and took pictures of Callen and Sam. "Can't be too careful." He tapped a few buttons on the phone before looking up again.
"So, what's this club you own?"
"The Blue Room, on Potomac. It's just opened up."
"I know it, nice lighting, DJ's not too bad, cover's probably too high though," put in the nameless girl.
Callen "I never got your name?"
"Sarah, Sarah Davis."
"You know clubs, do you?"
"I've been known to spend my time in one or two."
Ritter got a text on his cell. He checked it and then looked at Sam.
"Okay, well enough chitchat, let's go in the back and talk business." He shifted his gaze to Sarah. "Babe, why don't you get a drink, and I'll be back to take care of you in a moment."
"I would, but I have to get back to work, the boss is a bit of a stickler, but I'll see you tonight."
"You're not sticking around?" Callen asked, even though he was more than happy not to have any more complications than were necessary, he felt there was something weird about the girl.
Sarah rose and walked around the table before putting her hand on Callen's shoulder. "Honey, you cannot lose if you do not play." With that she headed for the door. All four men watched her go.
"What does she do for a living?" Callen asked of Ritter.
"Works at a nail salon or something."
"Hmm"
"So." said Pedro
"Yeah," agreed Ritter, and he led the others into the kitchen. He stopped in front of the walk-in freezer. "Hands up." The three men complied and Ritter gave them a thorough checking over.
"Enjoying yourself, there pal" asked Sam, playing the loose club owner rather than the tightly wound SEAL he was. Ritter's check would have been enough for LAPD mikes but Hetty had given Callen and Sam microphones and cameras in place of buttons on their jackets.
Ritter led the way inside. "Why am I meeting them?"
"I've been supplying them for a few months but they need more than I can give them."
"How much?" Ritter asked, turning to Sam.
"We do about a thousand pills a week."
"I only do monthly shipments, and its 15k per thousand, which is not negotiable considering you just cock blocked me."
"It's not my fault you're not good enough to make her stay." Sam said, affecting a tone somewhere between flippant and insulting.
Ritter bristled, but soon had himself under control "Well now its 20k for a thousand. Half now, half on delivery. My guy will drop it at the Blue Room."
"And how do I know you won't screw me?"
"I'm in the business of repeat customers, do I look like a moron or do you just want to give me more money?"
Sam raised his hands, palms out. Then he nodded to Callen, who opened a briefcase and pulled out $40,000 in $100 bills bound in stacks with rubber bands. Ritter shifted the stacks from hand to hand for a moment before putting them in a briefcase that was sitting on one of the shelves.
"Aren't you going to count it?" Callen asked.
"I just did." Ritter answered.
"Pleasure doing business with you Mr Price." He reached out and shook hands with Sam. "Now let's get out of here before our toes fall off, alright."
The four men walked back out into the restaurant. Ritter took a seat at his table and pulled out his ledgers. Callen, Sam, and Pedro walked out into the street. They stopped at the corner of Rose and Ocean Walk.
"Fellas," said Pedro and he walked off down the street a free, albeit newly unemployed, man. Callen and Sam walked across to the Shelby.
"Did you really have to insult the guy Sam?"
"Have you ever met a polite bar owner G?"
"True." They both got into the car and Callen switched on the phone. "Talk to me Eric."
"Two cell calls outgoing from Ritter's restaurant, one to a burner in the vicinity of Parker Central, and one to a warehouse near the Port of Long Beach. In addition, Nell is banging out a warrant for Ritter's known bank accounts, the restaurant and the warehouse."
"Banging, something you want to tell us Eric?"
"Only that I looked at the security cam footage for the warehouse and there are no lookouts, and that Sarah Davis is not, strictly speaking, in your age bracket."
Callen ended the call. "He sound's defensive, don't you think?
"Twenty bucks says him and Nell are together."
"No bet."
A/N: That took a while, hopefully the next couple of chapters will be up much quicker.
