Save for a chair set in the middle of the room, and one small table close to the door, the room was bare.
Philip Pearson surveyed his surroundings, satisfied his instructions were followed. His eyes took in the bare walls, the cracked floor. This would be a cold and lonely place for the detective to meet his end. He smiled, the thought of another person's death no more of consequence to him that a child stepping on an ant.
Yesterday, he had believed he was at a standstill. After meeting with the firm he had contracted, he was beyond angry and surprised that very little could be found on the woman, or who had helped her. Only that is was a Federal agency, something to do with the military. Frustrated, he dismissed the ineffectual people, resolving to look into starting his own information gathering firm later. Maybe he could salvage something out of this disaster. Early evening found him still brooding, the ideas for obtaining the info he desperately needed becoming more wild as time slipped away. Henry, a puzzled expression on his face, entered, standing in front of the desk.
"Sir, I have a gentleman downstairs. He is requesting a meeting with you."
Philip had glanced as his assistant, barely controlling the anger in his voice. "Not now Henry."
"Sir," he began. "He says he has the answer to your...problem."
Knowing that Henry would never mislead him, he consented, wondering what
was walking into his office. Could this be another sting? Was he being targeted?
His visitor entered, taking the offered seat. They had exchanged pleasantries, then his patience and run out. Asking the man what he could offer, he was stunned when names, places, and other information was revealed. The organization that had interfered. The name of the woman, her teammates, everything he needed. The man was a fountain of knowledge, just waiting for the right price. After asking the price for this goldmine, Philip became wary. The paltry sum for everything was too good to be real. The man assured Philip he was serious. He explained once again, his price, and the fact of a score to settle himself. Intrigued, Philip sat back, letting the man speak, sharing his story and the plan that would allow both of them to have their revenge, and possibly be able to help Philip in the future. Philip had agreed, calling for Henry. Minor favors had been called in, a promise of extra payments, this had to be set up, and done quickly. The two men had waited, silence the only companion. The man had only accepted an offer of water, no alcohol, not even a cigar. He was focused, determined, and angry. Hours later, the call had come in. Henry, entering the room had reported the abduction had been successful, the detective was theirs, no problems at all. No one was the wiser as to what happened. They had complete control of the situation.
Now Philip stood in the nearly empty room, preparing himself for the show. He could admit, he was looking forward to the spectacle that was promised. The man had told his story, sharing what he would do to the detective. At first, he started to refuse.
After thinking on it, he agreed. If the first plan failed, a bullet could fix everything. Either way, Philip Pearson would win.
A buzz, his phone to his ear. "Sir," the voice of his computer expert sounded. "The link has been sent. They are requesting it to be activated."
"Very well, wait three minutes then open the link. And Mr. Daniels, I'm counting on you to make sure they can't locate us. I trust everything is prepared?"
"Absolutely Sir, everything is ready to go here. The camera is disguised as an old fire alarm, and the monitor you will use to talk to them, I'll take that down before everything gets started."
"Excellent! Three minutes starting...now." He prepared himself, confident that after tonight, NCIS would never bother him again. The show he, and his last minute benefactor had planned for them, would shake each of them to their core.
Exactly three minutes later, the camera flicked on, a monitor temporarily set up for him to see and be seen also coming to life, and the show began.
"Good evening, I would like to thank all of you for being here."
"This is Henrietta Lange, Operations Manager of the Office of Special Projects, NCIS. Where is Detective Deeks?" The voice was female, a hint of gravel.
"He will be joining us shortly, I assure you. I wanted to explain to all of you, why this is happening, and what you are about to see. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for you all." He stared at the people assembled in his view. Six people stared back at him, looks of anger on their faces. From the files he had studied, each face and their names were known to him. "Where is Mr. Callen?"
He could tell the question had surprised them. Just that fact, the ability to keep them guessing, that would serve them well tonight.
"He is not available at the moment."
"I see, still unable to secure a flight from DC?" More surprise, oh this was going to be fun! "No matter, I'm sure all of you can fill him in. So let's begin shall we?"
Philip cleared his throat, then turned fully to the monitor hung just below the camera. "Recently, your team conducted an op on one of my employees. Michael Reese was a very valuable employee in my service. Yearly, he was able to continuously bring in multiple millions of dollars for me. But that ended, the day all of you targeted him, and he met 'Rachel' , or as she is know to all of you, Special Agent Kensi Blye." His voice are tighter, harder as her name escaped his lips. "From what Reese was able to share with me, it didn't take very long before Agent Blye had him at her whim. Spilling my secrets, telling my plans." His eyes found Kensi, boring into her, the anger visible on
his face. "And from what he said, all of this was accomplished without you even resorting to trading on your body. I congratulate you," he nodded at her. "It is refreshing to see an attractive woman use her brains, her wits, to get her way, instead of the tired old method. Unfortunately, for all of you, I am not the forgiving sort. You have harmed my business, and my reputation. For that there must be justice." He began to pace slowly, acting as if her were lecturing a group of children. "My first idea was to have one or more of you killed. So, I turned to an organization I have used before, one who always given excellent results to find you. I was surprised when they reported back to me only one piece of information. All they could find, was only it was a Federal agency. Nothing more, nothing substantial I could use. I was impressed Miss Lange. To achieve that level of secrecy, well I shall be studying your methods believe me."
"You can study them to your heart's content in prison," Hetty quipped, a mocking tone bringing a smile to Nate's face.
"Yes, I'm sure you believe that. However, back to my problem. With no way to find you, I was at a standstill. Unable to seek the justice for the wrong done to me, I admit, I brooded. Shameful, I agree, but the truth. Then, last evening, a man walked into my office, someone I had never seen before. He told me he could deliver all the information I wanted and more if I would give him one Detective Marty Deeks."
He could see the tension increase, imagining the fear as it settled in their guts. "I was confused, until he explained this Detective Deeks was a member of your team, and he was part of the op that was run. I could have everything, for two conditions. One of those was the detective, the second, that is unimportant at the moment. Still I hesitated, unsure of the gift that was falling into my lap. Then when he explained further, it fell into place." He stopped, staring at the people who had hurt him, and his business. "Detective Marty Deeks will die tonight."
The sentence struck like the tolling of a bell.
"The source of my information, it seems he has an old grudge against the detective. So my price to find all of you was simply to let him take his revenge on the detective, his way. Ordinarily, I would say no, but after listening to his story I agreed."
"Mr. Pearson, there is no need to..."
Philip cut her off, continuing as if she had never spoken. "Now, the detective will be brought in shortly, placed and bound to that chair," he gestured behind him. "All of you will be able to see and hear everything. Every word and action will be viewed by you in glorious color. However, you will not be able to talk to your detective, not will he be able to speak to you. As far as he will know, he will be alone, isolated. Your team, Henrietta, will be deaf and mute, but a willing viewer."
"Oh, Mr. Eric Beale, and Miss Nell Jones, by all means, do everything you can do to find us. I have been guaranteed that we are quite safe here." Eric and Nell stared at the screen, unable to comprehend how the man could not only know their names, but
what they did.
Philip stepped closer to the monitor, his face filling the screen in OPS. "After tonight, none of you will ever be the same again. What will happen, this is a lesson all of you brought upon yourselves. You have interfered with me, tonight you will reap the consequences of that action." He glanced at his watch, a smile blooming on his face. "Twenty minutes everyone, in twenty minutes, the show truly starts."
The monitor cut out, leaving OPS in stunned disbelief.
Hetty began issuing orders, preparing everyone to be ready. Sam, his face filled with surprise, leaned against Kensi, bumping her gently. "We'll find him Kens," he assured her.
Nell and Eric were still shaken, not used to being this close to what was happening. Nate, who had arrived at Hetty's invitation only a few moments before the feed went live, walked to a corner monitor, viewing the speaker again, trying to glean anything from the man's words.
Kensi stood, staring at the screen, a greyed out view of the room now on the monitor, wondering what she would do if...
"Don't go there Miss Blye," Hetty warned. "Our detective is s strong man, we haven't lost him."
Kensi turned, looking at her boss, nodding her agreement, her heart fearing the worst.
Satisfied they were as prepared as they could be, the group waited, hoping.
"Eric, were you able to get a location from his speech?" Sam asked.
"No, he's using proxy servers, but when he comes back, we can try and break through them, find out where he's holding Deeks."
"Very good Mr. Beale. Use whatever and whoever you need to make that happen quickly."
They waited, each person wrapped in their thoughts, the seconds moving like years.