Secrets, Pain, and Lies
Author's Note: Soooo Sorry! Yes, I dare not promise two weeks, as it sure does not work for me lately! All right, here is the next chapter, and I hope that you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it…I actually had most of it written, but it was missing something, and I finally figured it out: Colby! I had planned for him to do something, and it escaped me until just today! I do not like when a character escapes me for a bit…sigh…Ah well. At least I remembered and fit him back in again! Remember, I beta myself, so any and all mistakes are mine, and I sadly do not own any characters, except for the ones I made up on my own. This is also generally just the direction each character is going. Either way, the story is all in my own imagination. Enjoy! T
Chapter 9 – The Friendship,
Tony was not happy at all when he returned to the NCIS offices from the boathouse. Nothing had helped that Cruz had told him, and that pissed him off. Sure, questions had been answered on some ops from a few months to a few years ago….but still. Basically, he was back to what he had muttered while semi-conscious at Deeks. Damn it all! He really wanted to hit something, but doubted Hetty would let him.
Right now the General and Gibbs were waiting for the soon to be ex agent to be picked up and taken to a secure site on a base nearby to keep him incommunicado while they all hoped to figure all of what was going on.
He was back to watching the daily play by play of yachts and moorings. He watched as Jarrod and Deeks each helped bring from small to large crates on board a couple yachts, one of them being the Fatal Fury. He frowned, and then screen shot a picture of a flatter crate being loaded by some more professional workers at multiple angles due their maneuvering. Something about the crate seemed familiar.
As he blew up the portion with the crate and it's handlers he asked, "Eric, could you see what you can find on this crating company and its workers…" his words went back to a mumble as he began to search through older footage for whatever had pricked his memory.
Eric nodded quickly, "On it."
He was relieved to see that something had finally caught Tony's interest; he was downright scary when he was pissed!
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The two agents got their pie and decided to walk the docks as they ate.
Sam surreptitiously checked on Deeks as they passed by as he and Dean walked along, eating pie and talking about the yachts. He murmured as they passed, "Your wounds doing okay?"
Deeks murmured back through the side of his mouth, "Strapped and doing well; told them I'd been mugged for my change."
Sam didn't nod, just shrugged as he listened to Dean continue to complain about the elaborateness of some of the more fancy yachts.
"I'm telling you, why do they need so much shine and…pomp, is that a good word for them? They are only going out to sea, aren't they? Sheesh…" Dean really couldn't understand yachters and their moneyed needs. Smaller boaters he could understand…they didn't need all the fancy stuff!
When they passed Jarrod, he mumbled to Dean, "You're eating pie…without me…"
Dean just grinned, taking a huge mouthful and chewing it happily.
Jarrod worked faster; he hated when Dean made him hungry when on an op!
Sam just could not stop the chuckle, remembering Dean's sense of humor, and very glad it was not pointed at him!
Rick, watching from the backup teams vantage point, growled, "Jeez Dean, that is downright mean; I don't have pie either, and I see you eating it…"
Quickly Rick pulled out his phone and tweeted: 'Meany D not sharing pie. Eating in front of all is downright nasty, MM!'
Dean's phone beeped and he pulled it out to read it, and tweeted back.
'Hence my nickname is MM, CM, or did you forget?'
Rick just as quickly tweeted back, 'Grrrrr…payback, bro…'
Dean grinned wider as he just put his phone away and took a larger bite.
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It was half an hour later when Sam's phone rang, "Hey Eric, do you have something?"
"No, but Tony might. The large crate that just was taken aboard the Fatal Fury about twenty minutes ago; something's off, he says, and can't put a finger on it yet but searching the older footage. I've alerted Kensi and the others as well, and they have signaled Deeks and Jarrod to get their coms in to tell them what's what. Tony is still unsure as to why, and we are still checking the company and shipping, but if a diversion is needed to get a closer look, especially inside, he would appreciate it…"
Sam grinned, "A diversion? Hmmm, I have an idea…tell Deeks to get mad at either me or G who may have mugged him." Dean raised his eyebrows when he said that.
When Sam hung up, he murmured, "Did Rick tell you of that one time in Bhutan…that one diversion…."
Dean smirked as he nodded, "Oh, good times…"
The two turned around, throwing away their small containers in the garbage, and retraced their steps quickly. They had a boat to board, and a diversion to plan, and coms were soon in all ears.
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G called Nell before he put his com in, knowing she had accessed most of the Intel on the yachts. "Hey, when is the Fatal Fury to be leaving port?"
Nell checked to make sure she remembered correctly, "It is…yep, tonight, actually."
"What time, exactly?"
"Nine, to be precise. They have scheduled a huge gala aboard the yacht offshore… near the national waterline, to be precise…tomorrow evening. A few other yachts are also going to be there."
"Which ones?"
Nell looked up the information fast, and he could hear her mutter as she searched for the information online.
"Hmmm, as they had to get a permit for the party, and so far out…that's odd. It states that Devon Campbell's yacht is to be there as well, but I remember you telling Tony that he said he was going to be up north shooting scenes all day tomorrow and the next."
"Thanks, Nell." They both hung up.
Quickly he called Sam, "Get back to Devon, ask him who is using his boat for the party tomorrow. We'll do the diversion; either I or Rick will be the mistaken mugger."
He explained what they found out, and Sam quietly cursed, as did Dean who listened in.
"Crap, didn't think of that, and he probably didn't either, if it is a normal occurrence of a friend borrowing his boat."
"Yeah."
Sam immediately dialed the number given them by Devon Campbell, but there was no answer.
Quickly he called Nell back, "Get Eric to put a trace on Devon's phone, would you? He's not answering, and we need to know where he is."
Eric's doing something else for Tony, so I'll do it."
They waited as she quickly accessed the number, and was finally able to tell them, "He's driving…looks like back to his estate."
"Address again, Nell?"
She texted them the address, and they took off, thanking her quickly. Something wasn't right, and they all could feel it now.
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Jarrod was arguing with Deeks quietly over the coms that they now had in, "Damn it, I'll make the diversion while you get aboard."
"No, I am injured more than you, and will use that to my advantage. You'll be quicker to get in and out."
G stated over their coms, "He's right Jarrod. Just do it. Deeks, you will recognize me as someone whose looks resembles the guy that mugged you."
"Aw man…all right…let's just get this done fast. I don't like it."
Kensi stated, "I don't like it either, and it seems Rick doesn't as well."
Rick just said something rude in a different language yet again, and Deeks and Jarrod smirked as they heard. Kensi said, "I don't think I want to know what that meant, it sounded awful even in another language!"
Deeks muttered out, "That's 'cause he only memorized the rude phrases, and didn't learn the proper comments to others."
Rick snickered as he said, "Too true."
Kensi had to ask, so she turned slightly to glance at Rick, "On purpose?"
Rick grinned his easy going smile, with a hard glint in his eye, "Of course, it causes more excitement."
Jarrod snorted at this comment quietly as he maneuvered himself around to a nearby yacht that was empty, getting in position. "Excitement, he says. What about the time when you accidentally told a prince off, and as you couldn't remember what you had said, and had to run for it?"
Rick pursed his lips as he said, "Huh, don't remember that."
"Really? Tony, do you remember that one? Think you were there, as you had to come in as backup."
"Hell yeah I remember that! Rick, you told him his mother was a…well, it was real bad," he stated lamely as he had both Nell and Hetty looking across at him as they too listened in.
Hetty broke in, "Gentlemen, as much as I do enjoy banter, I think this diversion needs to be done quickly. Jarrod, have you figured out where the package has been placed, and how to get in and out quickly? We see only two heat signatures on board right now."
Jarrod immediately stated, "Yes ma'am. I need that diversion, please."
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Sam hit the buzzer on the gate to the mansion as Dean looked around from inside the vehicle.
"He is still not answering?" Sam asked Dean, who shook his head as he put his phone back in his pocket.
When a voice came out of the speaker, both could tell it wasn't Devon, and sighed quietly at the cultured English accent.
"Hello, Devon Campbell's residence. He is not in right now; may I have your name please?"
"Hello. Yes, I need to speak to Devon please, as we spoke to him earlier on his yacht. It's urgent. Tell him it's Agent Sam Hanna and his partner."
A minute went by and a buzzer sounded again, as well as the doors opening. "He says to come in, if you please."
"Thank you…" Dean sighed in relief. They needed to hurry.
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Deeks continued to work, throwing suspicious glances as Rick and G walked by, slowing down to chat about the boat they wanted to get. "Hey, I know him….hey; he's the guy who mugged me!"
Deeks finally burst out loud and, pushing past others around him forcefully, he strode up to G face to face, anger evident as he shoved G back. "Give me my money you stole from me, you bastard!"
G, playing the surprised person who unknowingly walked into something he knows nothing about, stared at Deeks and said, "Huh?"
"My Money! You stole it! You…." He shoved G back again as he continued, "Mugged me!"
"Mugged you? What the hell are you talking about? I don't even know you!" G shoved Deeks back to get past him, but Deeks was now in his face, and a few of his new friends were around them …as well as a lot of other curious passerby's.
G noted the men on the boat that they needed Jarrod to get on come into view, and he blinked to let Deeks know it had worked. Deeks glared again and shoved him harder. "You did! It was you! Give me back my money you stole!"
The crowd was getting bigger.
Kensi, keeping back, murmured over the coms, "Hope this is quick…I don't see any dock patrols yet, nor your friends in blue yet, Deeks, but if they see you they will want in on the fun."
Deeks grimaced slightly at this, knowing some of the cops enjoyed when he got into the roles and didn't mind playing the mean cops.
G glared back at him now as he said, "I seriously don't know you, man, nor did I steal any money from you! Why would I?"
Deeks threw up his hands, "Well I don't know why you did either! You had two friends with you too! Where are they?"
"What two friends, and what did they look like?" G knew they had to play this to the hilt.
Deeks huffed as he said, "They were your friends! One had a….green shirt on with an alien on it, and…"
G shook his head, "Nope, I don't have any friends that would wear something like that. Most of my friends dress like me, or like him." He shot his finger out toward Dean, who waved at Jarrod. His t-shirt, of course, was plain, thankfully, as usually he liked to wear shirts with strange sayings on them, but not when working.
Deeks frowned at Dean, "That's not one of them…." He frowned at G again, and then squinted his eyes as well as cocked his head to the side. G looked at him in confusion now. "What are you doing?"
"Changing the lighting….nope, sorry, but you do kind of look like him…"
Many of the people around them groaned as they had been hoping for a fight.
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"The Size is wrong!" Tony burst out, elation finally on his face as he remembered a piece of the jumble of the puzzle in his head. Hetty and the two computer nerds swiveled their heads toward him quickly, waiting for him to explain. "I remember now…I didn't like the size, and remember asking what was in it, and one of the carriers had told me it was a new television…but the size …its way off!"
Eric brought up the crate again and put dimensions down to check out the size.
"Tony's right; this size is not even close to what it should be; sure, if the crate is cushioning it from being broken, but even then it should be six inches smaller, or the other way, ten inches larger." Eric grinned as Tony gave him a high five. He liked Tony in this mood!
Hetty broke in, "So what exactly is in that crate; has Agent Pender gotten to it yet?"
Nell pointed to the screen as they watched the scene from the satellite show the display of what was now transpiring at the docks. "He is just entering the room it was placed."
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Jarrod ignored the shouts and yells that was going on off the boat; instead he listened for any others aboard, and kept an ear out for Nell or Eric telling him that the two men aboard were out of his way. Entering swiftly, he used the light from the yachts windows to light the room and scanned it quickly, searching for the crate.
There were quite a few here, and he quickly dismissed the much deeper ones and kept an eye out for the thinner ones. 'Not a television, huh?' he mused to himself as he finally noticed it pushed behind a couch near the side wall.
All other crates were in the middle of the room; why was this one in a different position?
As quickly as he could he attached a tiny tracker to it even as he pulled it out. "Pender, you have maybe five minutes before they get bored watching the hoped for fight." Eric told him, and Jarrod murmured a half response as he continued to figure out if he could open it without anyone noticing.
He really wished he could drill a hole into the side, but they had hoped it would have been partly opened. It hadn't been, and that was even more curious, as all the others were.
"Shoot, another man just got aboard….Pender, get a move on!" Tony and Kensi both told him over the coms, and Jarrod immediately slid the crate back where it had been precisely, and making sure he had not moved anything else, followed his own directions back out quickly, narrowly missing in meeting up with the unannounced visitor. As fast as he could, Jarrod slid over the side and back onto the boat he had used to get on board the yacht. Minutes later he was walking down the docks casually, eating a large sandwich.
When Rick met up with him a moment later, he eyed Jarrod as he asked, "Where did you get the sandwich?"
Jarrod just grinned, "Nice old lady on the other boat thought I could use some fattening up. She invited me for dinner later with her and her husband, who decided I reminded them of their nephew."
Rick looked hard at him as he stated, "But you broke into their boat to get to another one."
Jarrod grinned, "Yeah, that's why they like me. They said their nephew does the same when a cute girl is aboard another boat near theirs when he visits. I told them I wanted a souvenir for my girl from the actor's boat."
"You don't have a girlfriend."
Jarrod just smirked, "Not yet."
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Colby, having headed back to the FBI building early on after hearing more of the information, wanted to see what Intel he could pull at his offices from agents he knew that worked the docks. He had used his own ways of searching through files as well, checking to see if any near the docks would bear any weight with what Tony had stated while half conscious, and also due the area.
He had messaged quite a few dock agents who worked only that area due to smuggling, knowing that files weren't always fully logged on if they weren't a case, just something of interest. Too many hours later to his liking he left the building to meet up with one for coffee who had recently messaged him with: 'Have a small yet strange file you may like to read about a yacht or two. In same area as you mentioned. Want to hear about it? Coffee, usual place down the street, one hour…you buy the coffee.'
Colby headed casually down the street, anxious to see what Agent Dodger had. He was a likeable enough agent, he remembered, though a little bookish, and that was fine with him. Jogging up to the coffee shop that many of the FBI agents liked to hang out in when they needed space from work, he looked around and waved at the smaller agent with short blonde hair and dark glasses that made his eyes glitter as he shook hands with Colby.
"Hey Dodger, how are you doing? Do you have any Intel for me? You said it was strange, so I wondered if it has anything to do with my friend who got in trouble down there. He always falls in with 'strange' when he gets into trouble." The two agents grinned at each other as they took their seats, and a coffee pot was brought and set in front of them. Colby fixed them both cups as Dodger pulled a file out of his bag.
"Does your friends always find strange? That must make life interesting." Dodger asked, and Colby just smirked, then winked and nodded. That was the tale he had told the other agents, who promised to get back with him if they found anything. He had an idea though that Dodger had figured it had to do with his other job, and thankfully didn't care.
Many of the agents were still in awe that he was also a spy for their government, but others were just plain discourteous still. His team, and the ones who worked the docks and others who sometimes had to pull undercover themselves, understood the difficulties he had faced. They knew he had done what he had to do. Dodger was one of the good ones, and Colby especially liked his stickler attitude toward paperwork and files.
Dodger scrubbed a hand over his hair, and sighed, "I wasn't entirely sure, but as it's in the area you stated, and as it's regarding a yacht, well…" the agent hedged as he stopped to take a sip of his coffee that Colby handed him. "Thanks. All right, it has to do with a guy named Gunner Johnson. He's actually a bigwig down there, mostly loves to throw money around. His son, James, is best friends with that action movie guy that's real big right now…"
Colby stared at him, "You mean Devon Campbell?"
"Yeah, that guy!"
Colby knew it was the right file and said as quietly as he could without throwing too much excitement out in case others were listening in, "Tell me all you know, Dodger, 'cause Devon is someone who is already involved, and we don't know why, and I don't think he knows, either."
Agent Dodger whistled quietly as he slid the file to Colby and murmured back, "Damn, that isn't good. Especially if it does blow up out of proportion that he is involved, and we sure as hell don't need no paparazzi idiots in the way of any Op…no matter where or who is running it."
Colby shook his head in agreement as he began to peruse the file, and his features became grim as more puzzle pieces began to fit together, albeit still too slowly for his liking. "Can I take this file with me, Dodger? I need to show this to NCIS, who is also in with this."
Dodger grinned as he drank more coffee, "Sure, I made a copy for you, as it's just something my boss told us had nothing to do with any major case, so we were to ignore it. Oh, another tidbit, my boss has been to many parties with this Johnson character, so look out. "
Colby swore quietly, and Dodger nodded as if they were having a quiet conversation. "Yeah….that's what put me onto it when you messaged me earlier. I had a heck of a time finding this again, too. Wasn't where I had put it; I wondered then if it had been moved on purpose. I hid another copy somewhere else just in case."
Colby clapped Dodger on the shoulder, "Thanks man. Hey, you hungry? I am. Order us some sandwiches, and I will pay. Be right back…I need to make a quick call."
Dodger nodded and waved the waitress over as Colby ducked out for a minute and called the General.
"Sir? Got a file here that fits in with what Tony has been telling us, as well as it adds more to whatever is going on with the actor, and it's going to get stranger…not to mention political and tricky…"
AN: SO, what did you think? What is in the box? What is the friend doing with his friend's boat? Why? Who is involved, and again, who is pulling whose strings? And of course, who is the real boss? T
