Charlie Goes to Jail
Disclaimer: Standard, don't own the show.
A/N: Thanks to knirbenrots, wotumba1, blue dogs rock, mocha mocha doll, OhBuddy66, Hoosier65, TMVH50, Guest (merci, je comprends avec seulement un peu de difficulte), and Ziva Sofia (I try to update weekly on the day of the week that I first posted the story, so this one is updated on Saturdays) for the reviews!
"Where are we?" Callen asked Nell. The team had headed up the stairs following a shrill whistle from Eric. They found the pair standing ready with tablets in hand.
"I've gone through the prisoners and created a list of active terrorist cells represented in the population." Eric pointed at a list on the screen. He tapped his tablet on his palm, "There's only one problem – there could be an organization that we don't know about. I'm trying to cross-reference work assignments to see if there is a group that is spending more time with each other, but it'll take the computer some time to crunch the data."
"What about the other part?" Callen's question raised some eyebrows as no one else besides Eric knew what he was talking about.
Eric nodded. "He's restricted to his wing and his yard time is solitary as well. There's no way Janvier will come face-to-face with Deeks."
"Let me know if that changes. We don't know how much he knows about us."
Kensi frowned, "Do you think he could do something? How…"
Callen cut her off. "We can't think about that right now, we can't do anything about it anyway. No sense worrying about it if we can't control it."
Nell stepped forward, "As for the heightened security, I had some help with that." She tapped a button on her tablet.
A voice filled the room from the speakers. "Is everyone present?"
"Yes." Nell answered.
"Good." Granger continued, "What have you learned?"
"According to the Navy, there's nothing happening. The only way we, or anyone, could tell that security was tighter was because we tracked Deeks through the admission process." Nell shrugged.
"Where are you?" Callen was slightly put out, they could hear his voice but clearly he wasn't skyping with them.
"In a hotel that's a few steps above a hole I was forced to hide in during a tour in Iraq."
"Why?" Sam drew out the word, knowing he wasn't telling them something.
"Because the warden requested an off-the-books audit from a mutual friend in the accounting department. I'm assisting him."
"In the prison? Callen narrowed his eyes at Sam; they were both thinking the same thing. If the wrong people discovered that the Assistant Director of NCIS was in the building, Deeks could be put in trouble.
"I've done undercover work before. The warden doesn't know and our mutual friend is a skittish type. If he thinks I can smooth over any fallout he's not going to rat me out. That's most likely the reason he clued me into the audit in the first place."
"So you know the reason behind the tightened security?" Sam asked.
"They know they have an internal problem. The annual background checks of the guards came back with some slight issues. Not enough to send up any red flags, but the warden wants to be proactive. He's stuck, though, because he can't do anything without more evidence."
Nell nodded at Eric, "We can send you the list of possible names Deeks passed on. Maybe the ones we're looking for are already on the warden's radar."
"Good. I'll be going back in tomorrow."
A beep sounded, ending the call. Callen glanced sideways at Nell, "Do you know why he didn't video chat in like normal?"
Nell shook her head, "I have no idea. He knows how to use it and his computer is in working order."
Callen got a contemplative look. "And he said that he's done undercover work before, but how does the Assistant Director of NCIS hide?"
Kensi smirked, "Undercover Boss does it all the time. Maybe he threw on a wig and a pair of glasses."
The five looked around at each other in silence, all contemplating that image.
Eric snapped his finger. "If I wasn't trying to keep my worm in their system so quiet I'd check the security cameras."
"Could you imagine? Granger with hair?" Callen laughed.
"If such a thing exists, you know who would have the proof." Sam smiled, his dimples coming out to play. All heads turned to look in the general direction of Hetty's office.
Downstairs, sitting behind her desk sipping a cup of tea, Hetty felt a disturbance in the force. It was as if she was being watched. Her head turned up to Ops and she wondered what they were plotting up there. Before she could create her own plan to find out, her phone rang.
"Hello." She answered.
"Ms. Lange, you have a chopper on standby for the next three days."
"Thank you, Ethan. You will be able to continue without it?"
"Yes, it's not booked for any TV or movie shoots for the next week and I'll tell anyone who calls in an emergency that it's out for maintenance."
"Excellent."
"Would you like me to put a logo on the side, perhaps FBI or LAPD?"
Hetty chuckled. "No, thank you, that won't be necessary. I'll send you a check at the end and a courier will be arriving with the Oolong I promised you."
"Pleasure doing business with you, as it always is."
"You as well." She replaced the phone and headed to her closet to wrap up the promised tea. They had their chopper.
The next morning, Granger was back in his chair, surrounded by piles of files. The skittish accountant was making a show of congratulating the in-house staff of how clean and neat the books were. This was because Granger had suggested to him that he distract their babysitters so Granger could do some real work. He had waited until they were deep into the weeds on some minute detail before slipping a portable scanner out of his briefcase.
The machine was barely wider than a sheet of paper and only a couple inches long. He plugged it into his computer and made sure it was hidden behind the stacks. Then he got to work on one specific pile. He had sorted them out right when he got into this little room under the pretense of randomly grabbing them. There sat the folders that corresponded to the list Nell had sent. He flipped open the first one and started paging through it. Obviously anything that was typed would be available on the servers which Eric and Nell would be combing through. That wasn't what he was interested in.
There was something special about paper files. Since they only existed in locked filing cabinets and were usually forgotten about, people tended to put things in them and forget about them. Others might try to bury information in them. In theory these files would be reviewed on a regular basis, but in reality most auditors flipped through the top few pages and then moved on. There was gold to be found in these files and Granger intended to find it.
"Bingo" Granger said quietly under his breath as he stared down at a handwritten incident report near the back of the fourth file. He peered over the wall of papers to check if the other table was still occupied. Since they were, he fed the paper into the scanner and hit the button. As soon as it was spit out the other side he put it back where it was and kept flipping.
"This is the day." Deeks whispered to himself when he opened his eyes. "This is the day I get out of here." He sat up on his cot and stared out through the bars. He couldn't explain where the feeling came from, but there was a tugging in his gut telling him that he'd be outside these walls tonight. Unfortunately the tugging wasn't telling him what kind of shape he'd be in but he chose to stay positive. He was getting out of this prison, one way or another.
