Chapter 29

Mexican Rose ~ 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here'


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NCIS Office of Special Projects || Los Angeles

"She did?"—"Good, Good. Yes, of course I will pass the message."—"Yes, we'll keep you posted."

Hetty shook her head. "Now what? Don't ask me how the girl did it, but I just talked to Shane Walpert who received a call from Leah Ryker. He told me that miss Ryker managed to find out that Xaver Nasser apparently rented an empty workshop."

"Where?" Eric asked, not letting his eyes leave the screens.

"Santa Ana. Grand Avenue. Indeed, our Santa Ana in Los Angeles. Which makes me wonder how the hell she found what our systems must have missed."

"Does it matter right now how she did it?" Eric mumbled "I'm glad she did."

Now what?" Nell asked in a small voice. "I mean, we should contact the team. They need to be there as well. Or else we should send in a replacement team, shouldn't we?"

The tiny boss paused for a while, steepling her hands like she always did when she was thinking.
"Try calling Miss Blye again. And if she doesn't answer, try Mr. Deeks' phone. I want them at that very same workshop agent Ryker told us about. And have a NEST team informed about our suspicions and ready to appear on Grand Avenue as well in an hour from now. Mr. Hanna and Mr. Callen should be able to handle their part of this case themselves, right now," she finally decided.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

City Garage, S Center Street || Los Angeles

Almost immediately after Deeks had concluded that the gates refused to open, Kensi was thinking about getting the car into reverse and walk into the parking garage.
That was when she noticed and realized that Callen had been so right. She had no idea how the team leader had known, because she hád been alert and they both hád checked for any cars tailing.
Now that she saw it, she remembered the anonymous white van that pulled over behind them.

"Out," she yelled at her partner, unbuckling and grabbing her gun in nearly the same second.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

The Mercedes pulled over and parked across three places at the same time. Both men got out and motioned at Sam and Callen to leave their BMW too.
Sam had stopped at a rather safe distance, about 5 lots from where the Mercedes stood.

"Maybe we should wait." Callen remarked.

"You think, G? Wouldn't that look suspicious?"

"Even if it does, just keep in mind I - or should I say Reznikov - impersonate someone who is about to invest. They want more from me than I want from them if you'd ask me. So, we should wait until El Zakhai arrives. Meanwhile, this rich boss of yours is contacting his office to have his personnel inform him if any new developments occurred."

"Gee, man, seriously... Mind your language. No need for any filthy talk, G," Sam said with a broad grin on his face. "But you're right, maybe Eric knows more about those two men?"

"Uh-huh." Callen took his phone and used the pre-dial button to contact the ops tech. Instead of the usual bleeps he heard nothing. No bleeps – in fact no sound at all.
Both men were still waiting outside of their car. Callen shot a glance in the rearview mirror. So far, no new cars had entered after them. He kept the phone where he held it and spoke as if he was still in a phone conversation "Something is very wrong Sam. There's no contact by phone and I haven't seen Kensi and Deeks yet."

"Now what?" Sam asked, alerted too after his partner's calm yet alarming comment.

Callen nodded, still pretending he was having a serious phone-call. "Anything else that indicates trouble coming our way, so far?"

"Nothing. Mister Dolce&Gabbana and mister FBI are still waiting outside of their car. If you'd ask me I'd say they don't seem to expect any other guests around," Sam told him, eying the entire floor of the parking garage which was practically empty. "So, no, I don't see any trouble coming."

He had hardly spoken those words when shots were fired, not far away.
"Kensi, Deeks!" Sam yelled.
Instead of the usual prompt reply or cry for help, there was no response coming their way through their ear-wigs. "Let's go, G!"

"No, Sam, wait—" Callen tried, but Sam had already opened the driver's door, his gun at the ready. Again, gut feeling told Callen something was off.
How right he was. The moment Sam set foot on the tarmac of the parking garage, the clicking noise warned them of the fact that both the Mercedes-men had not been alone.
And there was no way for Callen to stop his partner from being tasered. It was as if someone hit his big and strong partner with a hammer in his back and Sam hit the floor only seconds after.

"Reznikov? If you want your partner to live, you'd better just do as we say," a loud voice sounded. "Get out of your car and follow my fellow workers."
Callen quickly assessed his chances to get away from who-ever these people were, until Mr. Bad Suit had his gun pointed at Sam's head.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

On the very first yell of his female partner, Deeks had his gun in his hand before he had left the car as well.
The fact that Kensi had put their car into reverse and was driving backwards might have surprised the two masked men who had just stepped from the white van that had stopped right behind theirs.
There was no need to discuss their actions; it looked like it was shoot or being shot at and the choice was far too easy.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

NCIS Office of Special Projects || Los Angeles || 10 minutes later

"There… The Mercedes leaves the parking garage again," Eric held his tablet and sighed satisfied as he watched the large screen.

"Sam and Callen will probably—" Nell started, but she shot a quick smile at her partner immediately after that as the traffic camera near the exit of the garage caught the BMW that followed the Mercedes.
"I'll try and contact Kensi and Deeks again, okay?"

Eric nodded and said "Callen will call in soon, he always does. Now, about those two pictures of the men that Callen's system sent through? So far my system has identified that the longest man of them. Hector Angel Aznar. Convicted for abduction and domestic violence. Y'think I should inform Hetty about that?"

"Well Mr. Beale, I think you just did," the all too familiar voice came from behind him. "And while you can let your system try and find any relations between these new players and the ones that we've already registered, perhaps you can start updating me about our team in the field?"

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

City Garage, S Center Street || Los Angeles

"Twenty shots fired, at least", Kensi figured, gasping for breath but glad it was over this soon.

The shooting made people on the street cry out in fear, but once it was over some of them came closer and after one more careful inspection of the crowd Kensi put her gun back in the holster she carried at the small of her back.
She then showed her badge, a sign that the good guys were in charge at the moment.

"You know how much I'm surprised every single time, Kenselina, that you and me survive and stay sound and uninjured. I mean—look at that mess." Deeks shook his head, looking at the three men that now were lying on the pavement. "Did you ever, éver consider how lucky we are to be alive, to live and see another day?"
His words sounded so serious and were a complete contradiction to his acts. Talking to his partner like this, while shoving away a gun from the only man that had survived and kneeling down to handcuff him, something that nearly went automatically, he realized. He even was able to ignore the crowd that was watching all their moves.

Kensi nodded. "I lost count of the bullets we've fired. Remember those funny post-it's Eric and Nell spread around lately? I can imagine their feelings sometimes, especially on days like this," she confessed.

"Well, those guys probably did not pay taxes on spending all this amount of bullets today. And yes, I am happy that they were bad shots. Happy to be alive, but heck, who will account for our flat tires Fern? Not them. They probably didn't even pay taxes for what they just shot at us."

She let out a deep moan "Oh man… Now what?"

"We now need LAPD to take care of this naughty boy, they should inform the coroner and we need to call the office, ask for the status of Sam and Callen, ask for replacement for our car…"

Kensi took her phone and smiled at her partner. "Keep breathing, BeachBoy. First things first. You'll call LAPD, I'll contact Hetty."

"Divide et Impera, so right you are, Sunshine." He stepped back from the parking garage since his phone appeared to have some trouble.

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

An unknown location || Los Angeles

Standing with his hands tied behind his back to a heavy, industrial kind of ceiling pole somewhere halfway the room, Callen watched how Sam sluggishly sat or rather slumped on a chair opposite of him.

Callen clenched his jaw, angry that he had not been able to stop what had happened. Why had he come up with the idea to contact had El Zakhai? And why had he been so stubborn to keep following these men? Why had Sam not paid attention to his warning? Why hadn't he tried to fight them in the parking garage?
Sure, there had been four men, all of a sudden, and he had struggled when they forced him and Sam to get in an old caddy. Callen stopped struggling when the others had taken a stun-gun and once again chose Sam to be the victim. And now, they were here, where-ever that was.

Right. So far for Reznikov meeting El Zakhai. Although Callen still did not know where they were exactly, he heard some planes so he figured it might be somewhere in the neighborhood of John Wayne airport. Then it dawned on him.
Santa Ana.

Before he got the chance to share his thoughts with his partner, a familiar voice called "Callen! So good to see you and your partner around."

o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)

NCIS Office of Special Projects || Los Angeles

"Yes, Mr. Beale will keep an eye on the building. And Miss Blye, there is no need to wait. I think you are perfectly capable to arrange a car. All you have to do is to wave your badge and ask kindly."

Hetty sighed deeply as she hung up.
"They are on their way, Mr. Beale. Now, about this address? Do we have any surveillance camera's around?"

Eric nodded but it was Nell who came with a swift response. "One opposite of the road, but those cams are very far away from the entrance. Not too sure about the footage we'll get from it. There's another one about over a mile to the East and to the South, plus—", she paused and hit some buttons, "plus one very close to the back side of the same building, but that's a private cam from the neighboring company."

"Switch it on, switch it on. Let us see if there is anything on screen we might need to inform your junior agents about." Hetty took one of the chairs in ops that was not used at the moment. She sat down and decided she might as well could make a serious study of different footage that that appeared on screen.
Four minutes later, she leaned to the screen a bit more concentrated before she understood that what she saw was indeed what she never expected.
She quickly got up, shook her head and murmured something that neither Eric or Nell really understood, took her phone, dialed the number she looked for and walked away from ops.

"Oh, fizzlesticks!"


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