Now all they gotta do is get the hell out of here.

Granger woke up about 45 minutes later. He along with the 3 agents and Deeks were tied to chairs. The agents were awake but Deeks had a hood over his face. As the cobwebs cleared he heard one of the kidnappers say "finally you are awake. That means the 4 of you need to listen quickly before you get knocked out again, possibly for the last time."

"Who the hell are you and why is agent Blye's blouse half ripped off? Did you hurt her you sick- - -"

"Easy tiger, it tore during the fight, although your version has its merits. She was the more aggressive of the 3 shall we say. As I was saying, I am Mark Saunders, son of Lawrence. Does that ring a bell?"

The agents looked at each other and finally Kensi blurted out "Ray testified against a man named Lawrence Saunders."

"That was my father. I swore the people responsible would pay. He was killed in prison by some white supremacists. The people responsible are Ray Martindale who the Detective will give up the location to before I kill him. And this is my wife Victoria Lazik, I believe you also know that name. We have made a pact to take out the Detective and Ray for what they did to me and what he did to her. We have been planning this since we made that phone call to start a bogus IA investigation. Then Seaman Marcel Jones became a target for us-a contract hit you might say from a certain group in LA-and lo and behold there was Sheriff Deeks in the middle of everything. The opportunity was too good-$100 K for the hit AND we get him for free (nodding at Deeks). The bonus is we get to use you as bait. Shouldn't be too tough on ya as it appears you all can't stand each other so maybe I'm doing you 4 a favor also, hum?" You want I should post his death to one of your cells so you can watch? Then a huge grin appeared on his face as he went on. You have about ½ hour to talk before he wakes up and the 2 kidnappers left the room.

"Why just him, we were all part of both cases also" barked Sam.

"Yea but you 3 got in on the tail end. Deeks and Ray were the ones that made it happen. Besides, the heat of killing 3 federal agents would keep us on the run for the rest of our lives. Killing a County Sheriff and some no name in WitSec will bring a lot less heat and die down quickly. Then we can go on with our chosen profession." They all thought about that. Sam was thinking these 2 are certifiable. Reasoning with ain't gonna work.

Just then he heard "Didn't you bring anyone else Granger" growled G "is it really just the 2 of you?"

"For your information the sheriff's HRT team was supposed to breach from the front as a diversion while we came in the back coming down the cliff. He figured correctly he was the target and was pretty much offering himself up as he told the HRT team that they had 1 responsibility, to get the 3 of you out of here. Not to worry about him. Once you were safe then and only then could they could come back for him. It was the right call and by the book. You 3 were the victims, he's the cop. Same thing you would do if the situation was reversed. But he is doing it cause he doesn't care anymore, especially about anyone that is associated with NCIS and especially OSP. He made that painfully clear. That shaggy guy that used to be motivated to help people and do good is now simply doing a job. He doesn't want anyone's death on his head. He is no longer the glass half full, Mercury in retro grade, we don't flush for #1 guy ' . . . Granger was in full fume right now. If we get out of this you will make peace with him at least and own up to the truth. He at least deserves that much respect. Just maybe that will be enough to give him a reason to enjoy life again. Questions? And the reaction was total silence as 3 agents simply stared at him then over to Deeks.

Just then the HRT members were dragged into the room, 2 at a time, unconscious. Victoria offered "the front room was rigged to release knockout gas if a code was not entered in the pad. Same with the back. We expected the back would be the breach point but on the off chance you brought a team or simply tried to kick in the front door we were ready. That was my husband's idea. We'll be back in 30 minutes and then the fun begins. For your information, after we get Ray's WitSec location, Deeks goes for a dive with no scuba gear. Should be fun watching him blow bubbles on the way down. In the meantime he will be out a little longer. We plan on making him think all of you are dead so he has no reason not to talk." And laughing loudly she left the room again.

The agents were bound and tied to chairs as was Deeks who also had a hood over his head while the HRT team was bound hand and foot laying on the floor. Deputy Mueller growled "never had a chance. The gas was hooked to a motion sensor. When we breached it triggered the gas. It came from every direction immediately. We had to time to react, get our masks out or get out. I apologize. We checked for any booby traps and there were none. We never considered a motion sensor. It must have been wireless and set up such that it wasn't visible on the scope when we inserted it under the door. We assumed they just had look outs at that point. Those we were prepared to deal with"

All 4 NCIS people saw the honestly sorry look on the faces of the HRT members. Then one of the team went on saying "what is your problem with him by the way? It is pretty apparent he wants nothing to do with you and has some bad feelings about NCIS that run really deep. He's always been good to everyone up in this area. We small, rural areas help each other. Sheriff D always was willing to let us use his facilities, even equipment if needed, and was he always the first in line to offer aid even though he only had a 2 man shop, they were always there when needed."

Granger and the 3 agents stared at the team and then each other. Finally G said "I can understand his being pissed at her but why everyone else. Makes no sense. We didn't do anything. Especially Sam. They had history and a connection."

One lecture from Granger may be coming up. But we gotta get some people saved first.