Finally got a chance to do some writing this weekend. Thanks for your patience.
xxxxx
Sam stopped short when he saw the trip wire. Deeks, who was right on his heels, almost crashed right into him. "What the hell, man!" he exclaimed.
"Shhh," Sam turned back to Deeks, his finger over his lips. "Trip wire." He took the opportunity to glance at Kensi who seemed fine and Callen who had been clutching his side, but quickly dropped his arm. "Okay, we need to be really careful here, guys. The ground is hard right now so that's to our advantage. Try not to brush up against any leaves. The slightest thing could help them track us, not to mention booby traps like this trip wire. A bunch of sprung traps will be the easiest way to track us."
"Not to mention, dead bodies if the traps are lethal," Callen interjected.
"Yeah, that too," Sam admitted with a reluctant nod.
"Where are we even headed, Sam?" Kensi asked. "What's our plan exactly?"
"Right now, I'm just using the sun to try to keep us going in a straight northerly direction," Sam said. "If we go straight and aren't going around in circles, they won't be catching us any time soon, as long as to they keep to the rules and we get a true head start."
"What if they don't keep to the rules?" Deeks asked the question that was on all of their minds.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Sam said. "But for now, let's keep going. Keep your eyes and ears open. Let's put as much distance as we can between us and them and later we'll stop and try to put together some kind of weapons." With that, Sam started off again, followed by Deeks, then Kensi, with Callen bringing up the rear.
xxxxx
Hetty was beside herself. She was finding it very hard to think of anything else besides the whereabouts of her missing team. So far, there had been no word from anyone. No ransom demands, no notes, no threats…nothing at all. Hetty hated feeling so helpless. Not even her particularly calming blends of tea were helping to deal with these circumstances. Eric and Nell had been working tirelessly to try to find some clue to where the team might be, but so far had not been able to unearth even the tiniest breadcrumb to go by.
"Hetty?" Hetty looked up and was surprised to see Eric and Nell, standing in front of her desk, both looking exceedingly somber. She hadn't even noticed their approach.
"Do you have something, Eric?" Hetty asked, anxiously.
Eric nodded. "We received an email. Inside, it says it's to go to you. There's a video file attached. We haven't looked at it."
"Well, bring it up for me."
Eric came behind Hetty's desk and clicked the keys of her laptop, bringing up the video. From a distance, they could see the team sitting at a table, eating. Whoever was filming them, then zoomed in for a close-up of Kensi's face, showing the very obvious bruising. No one else seemed to be injured in any way, from what Hetty could see, which was a relief. The scene ended abruptly and then the inside of a tent was shown. Moments later, a man stepped into the center of the video and Hetty gasped softly, immediately recognizing Bartholomew. "Oh no…"
"Hetty? Are you alright?" Nell asked softly.
"Yes, yes, dear, I'm fine," Hetty said, managing to give Nell a partially reassuring smile. Nell and Eric exchanged a look, neither of them fooled by Hetty's words.
"So, Henrietta, it's been a long time…a very long time. As you can see, I have your team. At first, I had considered only abducting Agent Callen, knowing how much he meant to you when you took him in as a boy, but then I was able to learn, through various anonymous sources, how much the others mean to you as well. What better way to get revenge, I thought to myself, then to take away the people who mean the most to you? When you arrested me and turned me in 32 years ago, I vowed vengeance on you and this is the beginning of my plan. When I'm through with your team, you're going to be very, very sorry that you showed such disloyalty and turned your back on me. Don't even try to trace this. I flew one of my men away from this site and he was able to send a message from an Internet café. There will be no way of finding out where I am, no way at all for you to find your beloved team. And now until I contact you again, pleasant dreams, or unpleasant nightmares, which I suspect will be much more likely…"
"Is what he says true, Eric?" Hetty asked. "That there is no way of tracing this?"
"I can trace where it came from," Eric said, "but if it is an Internet café, whoever sent it is going to be long gone."
Hetty sighed, already knowing that Bartholomew was much too clever to be easily traced. "I'm sure there is nothing to be gained from the video itself either, but please check it out, just in case there's any clue," Hetty said.
"You've got it, Hetty," Eric said. "We'll check it out with a fine tooth comb and let you know what we find out."
Hetty watched as Eric and Nell made their way out of her office and back up to Ops. She then hit play to watch the video once again, paying close attention to the faces of her team and feeling very, very sorry that she had inadvertently gotten them into this mess.
xxxxx
"So, how do you think Bart has his men searching for us…teams or groups?" Callen asked Sam. Sam had dropped back to keep pace with his partner, allowing Deeks and Kensi to take the lead. Deeks had spotted one trip wire and Kensi had spotted two, so Sam totally trusted them to keep the team safe as they moved on.
"They're probably separated into small groups," Sam replied. "I don't think Bart wants to take the chance of our number being bigger than theirs."
"Hey, it looks like the woods are coming to an end," Deeks said as he and Kensi stopped and waited for Callen and Sam to catch up. Up ahead, the tree cover ended and there was higher more rocky terrain which would require some climbing.
"What do you think, Sam?" Callen asked as they looked ahead. "We're going to be pretty exposed if we decide to go that way."
Sam nodded. "True, but if we get past it without being spotted, we may enhance our chances of escaping."
Callen shook his head. "I think we're better off sticking to the woods. We should just change direction."
"What if he expects that though?" Kensi asked. "He might expect us to avoid any climbing and be waiting for us somewhere."
"I still think we're way too vulnerable if we do that," Callen said. "A marksman would be able to pick us off, no problem."
"What about over there towards the east," Deeks said pointing. "It's still rocky but not much climbing. It also has some bigger rocks to hide behind."
"I still think we're too exposed," Callen insisted. "What if Bart decides to send a chopper to search for us? He has countless methods to search for us at his fingertips. We have no idea what he's going to use. I think we're kidding ourselves if we think he's only going to try to track us by conventional tracking methods."
Sam sighed as he considered what Callen was saying. He hadn't even considered the possibility of being tracked by the helicopter. There was a very real chance of that happening. "Maybe we should just head east like Deeks said? At least for a little while and see what we find? But we'll stay under the cover of trees in case Bart does try to pull a fast one with the helicopter. What do you all think?"
Kensi nodded. "I think that sounds good."
"Yeah, I'm good with that too," Deeks chimed in.
"G?" Sam looked at his partner who nodded.
"Sure, Sam. I think it's our best bet for the moment."
"Okay, then, come on…let's get moving."
They headed off again and after walking for about an hour or so, the tree cover began to increase once again and they were able to continue on their original northerly direction. "When are we going to figure out something to use for weapons?" Deeks asked as they walked.
"We probably should have done that when we were by the rocks," Sam said. "We could have tried to fashion some kind of rock knives if we found the right size and shape rocks. I think we need to just keep moving right now. Everyone holding up okay?"
The team nodded and Sam was glad to see his partner didn't seem to be suffering too badly…one less thing to worry about. They continued to move on until Sam stopped and put his hand up in the air, signaling the rest of them to stop as well. "Listen," he ordered softly. "Do you hear that?"
"Water?" Callen questioned.
"Yeah…rushing water," Sam confirmed. "Come on." They headed in the direction of the sound and stopped short when they reached a clearing which opened up to a fast moving river.
"No way we're crossing that," Deeks stated, looking at the rough rapids warily.
"No…" Sam stared at the water, weighing their options. He suddenly had the feeling they were being watched and he turned around, looking off into the distance, back the way they had come.
"Sam?" Kensi asked as she looked at him nervously and then looked back in the same direction he was looking. "Did you see something?"
Sam shook his head slowly. "No…no, I didn't...I just had a feeling…" He tried to shake off his sudden attack of nerves. "I guess it was nothing…"
"Are you sure?" Callen asked. Sam's anxious expression was causing Callen's nerves to flare up as well. He really wished he had his gun.
"Come on, let's just follow beside the water for a while, and see what we can see," Sam said.
"I wonder where we are exactly," Deeks mused as they walked.
"And I wonder how well Bart and his men know the area," Kensi said.
"Bart can't have too much first-hand knowledge of it," Callen stated. "Not if he just got out of prison recently."
"No, but his men can," Sam said. "He could have been planning this for quite some time. They could know this area like the back of their hand."
"True." Callen nodded in agreement.
"Not good for us," Deeks said.
"None of this is good for us," Kensi said.
"You don't think they're tracking us, do you?" Deeks asked.
"Of course they're tracking us, Deeks," Callen said, an annoyed expression on his face. "What do you think this is all about?"
Deeks shook his head, trying to hold back his own annoyance. He didn't appreciate being talked to like he was stupid. "I know that, Callen. I'm talking about with a tracker…"
"Oh." Callen and Sam stopped short and looked at each other. Deeks was right. Yet another thing they hadn't thought of. The four team members then began a careful search of their own and each other's clothing as they searched for any kind of GPS trackers. They then did the same thing with the canteens and blankets. They found nothing though and feeling a bit more relieved, they continued on their way.
"What are we going to do about tonight?" Callen asked as they moved along.
"Well, we can't very well travel in the dark," Sam said. "I mean we could, by the moonlight, but we're going to need to rest." He was beginning to feel fatigue setting in and knew his friends had to be feeling the same way.
"I really wonder how far out in the wilderness we are," Callen said. "We could be within just a few miles of a highway or 50 miles. There's no way of knowing, I guess."
"Do you think there are wild animals?" Kensi asked.
No one answered her, but it was obvious from the men's expressions that they thought it was a very likely possibility.
"We really should try to find some rocks before dark," Sam stated. He started to pay more attention to the bank of the river, knowing there could likely be some suitable rocks there. If there were wild animals lurking about, he didn't want them to be totally defenseless against them.
By the time the sun began to set, they each carried a crudely fashioned sharpened rock. They were tired and hungry and as darkness began to shroud the woods, Sam finally signaled for them to stop. "I guess this is as good a place as any to spend the night," he said.
"I wish we could have a fire," Kensi said. The temperature was noticeably dropping. She moved in close to Deeks who wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him.
"I'll keep you warm, baby," he whispered.
"We'll keep each other warm," she replied softly.
Callen couldn't help but feel a little envious of the couple. He had to admit it would be nice to have someone to cuddle up with.
"We'll take turns keeping watch," Sam said. "I'll take first watch unless one of you feels strongly against that." No one spoke so he nodded and they all settled down on the hard, cold ground with their blankets. The woods, which had seemed quiet during the day, suddenly seemed to come alive with the sounds of crickets, cicadas, and the occasional hoot of an owl, as well as other unfamiliar sounds. It was all highly unnerving and in spite of their fatigue, the team collectively had a hard time settling down to sleep.