Chapter 10

Everything was ready for the big Deal with the Chinese, Mason very confident that nothing could go wrong now anymore. His men had made sure that all loose ends that could lead anybody to them were tied up and the only thing that could happen now: Tzi Cheng trying to screw him over and people who tried to do that had always paid dearly for it.

Linda had returned to her desk, Robert had confirmed to her that he had sent the encrypted E-Mail to the OPS Center in a short meeting in the very secluded Server Room that was far away from any unwanted listeners and they were busy with planning what to do next. They were well aware of the fact that they couldn't let the deal happen under any circumstances because the Software of the Prototype for the new Rocket Launcher System of the US Army in the hands of the enemy was a huge threat to the National Security.

"One way or another I need to secretly get to the meeting point of Mason and Tzi Cheng or else the Chinese might be able to turn our Allies in Japan against us by getting control of the newest Rocket Launcher System Software." Linda over her headset from a storage room near the big office where her workstation was and she could hear the concern in his voice as he sighed and then answered back: "Okay I understand that but how are you planning on getting into Mason's vehicle without actually getting detected by one of his guards?" It didn't take very long for her to come up with an answer and so she replied without much hesitation: "I was planning on taking advantage of my small build and would hide in the trunk of Mason's car until he and his goons reach their final destination." She could understand that he was concerned for her safety even if she had proved in the past that she was perfectly able to take care of herself and she would definitely feel the same way if their roles were reversed.

"But please make sure that you come back to me in one piece, because I don't think that I could ever live with the fact that I lost you out here in field." Robert said in a very sad tone and that send a little uncomfortable chill up her spine that let her shiver for a very slight moment. As she had recomposed herself again she said: "I will return to you in one piece, I promise you that right now." She couldn't help but let her thoughts wander for a short moment: I can't believe that I'm that lucky to finally have found the right man that accepts me with all my big personality flaws and who would have thought that it would actually be my co-worker that I fall in love with?

The two then ended their secure conversation over their earwigs because the risk was just too big that their undercover identity would fall apart if they stayed away from their workstations for too long.

Back at OPS the Agents Hannah; Callen, Blye and LAPD Liason Officer Marty Deeks were busy with planning what they were going to do because of the impending threat to the security of the USA. "I spoke with Assistant Director Granger over the phone and we share the high concern about the fact that an American Business Man is trying to sell secrets to our arch enemy China and we agreed that everything needs to be done to stop this deal from happening."

"According Eric's encrypted E-Mail we have only two days till Mason will close the deal with the Chinese and because we can't risk those guys getting suspicious in any way, we can't move in on them and Mason until the deal is over. Jenkins start a kaleidoscope search on Peter Malone and because this guy can't just vanish in thin air I want to be notified immediately when he uses any of his credit cards or his spotted on a traffic cam inside of LA. "

"After doing more research on one of those bogus Chinese firms, I have found another interesting person that we should also look into: Peter Miller, an ex-business partner of Ron Mason who has been accused of scamming money from the company bank account in 2000 during his time at Future Technologies but the internal investigation soon hit a dead end because they weren't able to put any of the suspicious payments on him."

One of the OPS Analysts said and all of the present Agents including the Operations Manager took some time to look into the information that the young blonde female analyst had put on the big screen. "Do we have a current address and employment record on him?" Deeks asked the blonde female analyst and without much hesitation she answered back:

"Yes he still lives in LA; I'll the send the address of his current employer and his home address to your Phone right away."

"What do we have on this Tzi Cheng guy?" Sam finally asked and as the rest of them he knew very well that this mission would be one the difficult one where also time was running against them.

Without much hesitation one of the analysts, that replaced Nell and Eric during their absence put the data he found on Cheng on the big screen and said: "Not much but he tries his best to pose as a legit business man during his stay here, I've found an address on a sister- firm in Downtown LA and they even have their own website." Then the website the Analyst spoke about popped up on the big screen and judging by the lot of information they found about the sister firm of the Chinese Shell Cooperation, someone had made a lot of effort to make it look a legit business. After Callen took a longer look at the information on the big screen he said: "While Sam and I are having a look at the office of Cheng Industries Inc., you and Kensi are bringing in Mister Miller for questioning in the Boat Shed." The LAPD Liasion Officer nodded in response before he left OPS with his brunette partner in tow.

Meanwhile Linda was sitting back at her workstation; her mind was of course already spinning with making planes how to get into the trunk of Mason's car without being detected and one thing was for sure: that wasn't an easy task to master but she had to find some way to pull it off. Robert had assured the best way possible that he would have got her back the entire time, even if he really didn't need to do that because she knew already that he was going to anything in his power to support her the best way he was able to.

Back at the Boat Shed Kensi and Deeks where in the middle of interrogating Mister Miller, who had a connection to their prime suspect in this case: Ron Mason and you could see that he wasn't in a pleasant mood at all.

"I haven't spoken to Ron Mason in four years, so unless you actually have something that you can arrest me for or I'll walk out this door right now."

Deeks put a document on the table before him and said: "Funny thing that your phone records show us something else Mister Miller." Miller then quickly raised his hands and said: "Okay you've got me there I guess, but the only thing that he told me was that he had acquired a big deal with a Chinese firm without getting into any more details."

Deeks and Kensi looked at each other for a moment, they didn't know if they should really believe him or if he was still hiding anything from them.

AN: The next one will be the last instead of the this one, because this chapter would have been

too long. Thanks to- Lightning's Halo for reviewing this story, Thanks to- Hoosier 65 for reviewing this story and adding it to her/his story alert subscription. Please read and review