KING'S RETURN
/Chapter 5/
A/N: hope I didn't screw it up...I think Lori was the name Kensi used when she went undercover as the thief that broke into Kings place...if not-it is now, so just go with it...anyway, another chapter or two and we'll hopefully have our boys safely (being a relative term) home.
And, DAMN, was/is it difficult to have the teams put all the clues together in a believable and TV style, scene-flowing way without just dumping all the information out there at once...TV shows just jump from scene to scene, leaving out all these little detaiIs—anyway, I've rewritten this chapter a dozen times...I give up!
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After dropping the evidence they had collected back at Ops, Sam and Callen came upon Don and Megan standing outside the interrogation room at the FBI.
"So, what do we know about this kid," Callen asked without preamble.
"Name's Christopher Preston...twenty-one...son of William Preston, one of the owners of a major computer firm downtown," Megan said.
"How'd this kid get mixed up in kidnapping," Sam asked.
"Apparently, Christopher felt being the owner's son he should start with the corner office, but his father wanted him to learn the business from the ground up. He was a computer major at Cal Sci until last year, got suspended for hacking the school computers...daddy cut him off, so he started selling his 'services'..." Megan reported, flipping through a file, "He has some minor offenses for hacking..."
"But from computer hacking to kidnapping..." Don questioned.
"The kidnappers knew where Granger was going to be...they have photos of him from weeks of surveillance...maybe Preston was hired to hack his email or the FBI servers to get his address or his case load," Callen surmised.
Further conversation was interrupted by Callen's phone, "yeah, Eric, what have you got?"
"That map you found at Pomeroy's place...Nell and I back traced all the routes that were marked and compared it to the traffic cams in those areas...there's a reason we lost the van," Eric reported.
"Wait, let me put on speaker," Callen said, "Okay, go Eric."
"Nell and I thought it was weird that after the van left the pier we couldn't pick it up on any traffic cam...now we know why; all the routes marked on the map...either the cameras were off-line for maintenance or they experienced a momentary glitch in recording that morning,"
The agents exchanged surprised looks, before Sam asked, "Eric, what company designed and maintains the programs for the city's traffic cams?"
After a brief pause, Eric answered, "A company downtown...Future Tech Designs..."
"Would one of the owners happen to be a William Preston," Callen asked.
"Uh, yeah, he's one of the owners," Eric answered slowly.
"So the kid was hired for his computer skills and his connection to Future Tech...and, the ability to get a vehicle through LA without being seen," Callen said.
"He would no doubt be able to easily hack into the cameras programs from his dad's company..." Don surmised.
"Someone definitely went to a lot of trouble and planning to not get caught taking your man..." Callen said, "Did the kid say who hired him?"
"All we got was the name King...no first name," Megan supplied.
"Description," Sam asked.
"None that doesn't fit half the population in LA," Don grumbled.
"Did the kid say why they took Deeks," Callen asked.
"Preston said that this King guy..." Don was suddenly interrupted by a whirling blur, known as his brother, as Charlie came barreling into their mists.
"Don, I think I've narrowed it down...and if I'm right Colby is in more danger than we originally imagined..."
The agents traded looks before following Charlie into the war room, where he was pulling out his laptop and connecting it to the board to display some of his incomprehensible equations.
"I assigned values to all of Colby's major cases and missions over the last five years...as far as length of mission, crime involved, level of sophistication of the criminal element involved...factored in the variables of the kidnapping..."
Don interrupted his brother, "We have another variable for you to add," and Don proceeded to fill Charlie in on what they had discovered about the traffic cams and the hacker in custody.
"That level of planning...the cases and missions Colby has been assigned...my calculations keep coming back to..." Charlie suddenly paused as the glass door to the war room opened to admit David and Kensi and a sad, pained expression crossed his features before he said quietly, "everything keeps pointing to...the Chinese...and Lancer."
"What," David exploded, "what are you talking about Charlie? Lancer is dead..."
"But the people he worked for are still out there..." Charlie said.
"No. No I don't buy it...why come after him now...why come after him at all," David demanded, waving his hands in frustrated anger and pacing the small room.
"David, calm down...we don't know anything for sure..." Don said, grabbing David's shoulders and gently forcing him into a seat.
Don turned to his brother, "Charlie, surely your 'equations' came up with other possibilities?"
"Yeah, but they don't come anywhere near the numbers I get for the...Chinese," Charlie answered bleakly.
"Someone want to fill us in," Callen asked blandly.
"It's classified," David barked out, not wishing to share his teams, and his friends, issues with strangers.
Callen gave his patented smirk, "I'm sure we have clearance."
With a heavy sigh and an apologetic look towards David, Don hit the hi-lights of Colby's triple agent mission and the resulting fall out.
Sam gave a whistle, "That Granger is your agent? That boy pulled off a hell of a mission."
"So the Chinese hired someone to kidnap an American triple agent..." Callen said. "That still doesn't explain Deeks, why they just didn't kill him?"
"Preston said that this King guy seemed to recognize your detective..." Don supplied.
"King," Kensi questioned.
"Yeah, the kid, Preston, said the guy who hired him and his friends—names King; he just can't give us a first name to run it," Don huffed out angrily.
Seeing the growing trepidation in his agents face, Callen questioned, "Kensi, Kens, what is it?"
"Oh, god...Callen it's all starting to make sense," Kensi suddenly gasped out as she pulled a small evidence bag from her jacket pocket. "I couldn't figure out why this was so familiar...now I do...who do we know that has ties to the Chinese, and knows Deeks,-King, Stan King..."
"King's in jail," Callen pointed out. "And he's a thief, not a kidnapper."
"Callen it all fits...King always hired outside help, never told his 'partners' any more than they needed to know for their part of the job; he has ties to the Chinese, the bracelet is the same style that Patricia Dunne wore..."
Sam, who had taken the bag and looked at the bracelet, read the two words on the tape, "Soon Lori?"
"Wait, Lori, your alias on the case; he took a big chance leaving that behind..." Callen nodded toward the evidence bag. "Why risk it?"
"That's one of Kings problems...what got him caught last time; he's overconfident; doesn't think we can find him before his meet with the Chinese," Sam said, "Looks like he couldn't resist a little payback."
"Now, someone want to fill us in," Don interjected.
"King's last job before we arrested him was stealing a jade statue with stolen micro-chips..." Kensi started to say, only to be interrupted by Callen.
"...for the ousted Chinese dignitary at the consulate."
"And Lori," David asked.
"My alias for my cover...petty thief..." Kensi supplied.
"But if King is involved, how did he get out," Sam questioned.
Callen was on the phone to Eric, as he torn back down the hall and into interrogation, "Is this the man that hired you?"
Preston looked at the photo on Callen's phone, "Yeah, looks like him."
"Where are they," Callen demanded, "Where is King holed up?"
"I don't know man. I was hired to drive and make sure we steered clear of the traffic cams," the kid said, "When we ditched the van, King said my part was over, paid me and they all took off."
"What about Pomeroy and Donahue," Callen demanded.
The kid shrugged, "Far as I know they're still with King."
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A/N: so the agents are piecing the clues together...now how to find out missing boys.../man, that was waayyy hard to write...hope it made sense/