KING'S RETURN
/ Chapter 9 /
"Okay, we have a fix on Pomeroy's GPS location from his cell, the FBI tech operator said, "It's on the outskirts of the city, about eighteen miles north; it's a lot of undeveloped land...mostly scattered farms."
"Good place to hide someone," Sam commented.
"So, the question now...do we hit that place and hope our guys are there or do we wait for Preston's meet with Pomeroy and follow the guy, and hope he leads us to Colby and Deeks," David put forth.
"We do both...there's no guarantee that Deeks and Granger are at that GPS location...I don't doubt for a minute that King will or has moved them...he's too careful to box himself in, he has to know that we're looking for our people by now, and he's not going to make the same mistakes he made last time," Callen said, adding, "So Pomeroy will be our only chance to track them if they're moved to a new location."
"And I don't know about you, but I want to catch King with his buyers...send the Chinese a message that our people aren't for sale," Sam ground out tightly.
The other agents just nodded in understanding.
The debate about who would get what assignment was, to say the least—intense: neither Kensi nor David were willing to back down from their choice, which was to hit the location on the outskirts of town.
"If there is even the remote chance that Deeks is there, that is where I need to be," Kensi said pointedly, adding with a touch of anger, as she rubbed her jaw, "Besides, I owe him for last time."
David locked eyes with his team leader and said with the same intensity, "I wasn't there for him before, Don; I need to be there for him now."
In the end it was decided that Sam would accompany David and Kensi, since his SEAL training included incursion and extraction; while Callen, Don and Megan would follow Preston to his meet with Pomeroy.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
It was not long after King and Pomeroy left the room that another man they hadn't seen before entered.
The two bound men watched the younger man warily, as he set bottled waters and prepackaged sandwiches on floor by the door.
"I'm gonna untie one of you...then he can untie the other one, don't try anything...King said he guaranteed you'd be alive at delivery...he didn't guarantee what kind of shape you'd be in," the young man warned, as he went to untie Colby, who was closest to him.
As the ropes fell away, Colby rubbed his wrists to try to return the circulation. The young man quickly made his way back to the door. "King said that's the last you're getting' 'til you're in custody of the Chinese...so enjoy you're last meal."
With that the door slammed and they heard the lock click into place. Colby reached down to untie his legs from the chair, taking minute to rub them to restore circulation before moving to untie Deeks.
"What no lobster and wine...even a death row inmate gets to choose his last meal," Deeks snarked.
Colby had moved to inspect the water and sandwiches, "They don't look to be tampered with...the seals are unbroken..."
"I still don't trust him..." Deeks replied.
"Hey, first rule of survival...eat and sleep when you can; keep up your energy so you're ready when an opportunity strikes..." Colby said.
"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill...doesn't mean I have to like it," Deeks groused.
They both new by how thirsty and hungry they felt that it had been hours...maybe even a day or more, since they'd been taken.
They ate and drank in silence, tossing the trash in a corner and walking around the small, block, windowless room.
"A whole lot of nothing," Deeks grumbled, sliding down the wall. "Damn, you wouldn't think sittin' around for hours on end would make ya' feel so tired."
Colby watched as Deeks plopped down on the floor and put his head in his hands, "You alright?"
"Yeah, must have been sitting to long...just feel a little dizzy,"
"You need to get up and move around, get the blood flowin',"
Colby suggested, adding suspiciously, "King has to have something else planned, this guy seems too meticulous and careful to just suddenly leave us both untied."
"Yeah, is a little weird, he's kept us tied up in a locked room and now he lets us loose..." Deeks said absently, using the wall to help push himself to his feet.
The detective hadn't taken two steps before he stumbled forward, Colby barely able to catch him and follow him down, "Deeks, what is it...what's wrong?"
"Di...zz...y," Deeks said breathlessly, before is eyes rolled up in his head.
"Deeks!" Colby exclaimed, lowering the detective to the ground and feeling for a pulse.
The pulse was steady and strong, the detective just appeared to be unconscious...'drugged; but how, the food did not show any evidence of tampering,' Colby wondered.
Colby went to examine the trash, the plastic sandwich containers seemed to show no signs of being altered; but upon closer inspection of the water bottles, Colby found a small puncture underneath the label of Deeks bottle but not on the one he himself had drank from, confusing him as to King's motives—he couldn't have known who was going to drink from which bottle...so obviously King didn't care which man drank from the drugged bottle.
He went back and sat down next to Deeks, again feeling for a pulse. 'What was King up too,' Colby wondered, not for the first time.
Turned out Colby didn't have long to wait for his answers, as a short time later the door again opened and King and the one who had brought them the food entered the room.
"Oh, so the detective wins the prize," King said off-handedly.
"What in the hell was in that water bottle..." Colby demanded.
"Ah, so you discovered my little trick," King said, "it was just a mild sedative...will make things easier..."
"Make what easier," Colby interrupted angrily.
"It's time to move...no doubt, by now, NCIS and the FBI are attempting to find you...can't let that happen..." King answered. "Two healthy agents could become difficult to handle, but one agent...not so much, if he has to look after his buddy. I know that self-sacrificing code you all share... you wouldn't dare leave the detective behind, just like I know he wouldn't have left you behind..."
Colby just scowled angrily at King.
"Remove the detective's wallet and shield from his pockets, then you do the same Agent Granger," King instructed.
"Why," Colby demanded.
"I have no doubt your agencies will find this place eventually. I want them to know that they were too late," King said arrogantly.
It was on the tip of his tongue to refuse the request, but the gun the other man had pointed at the defenseless detective told Colby in no uncertain terms that the request was not optional.
Soon Colby was holding both his and Deeks shield cases.
"Just lay them on the chairs," King said mildly, taking the gun from the other man, "Now, Donahue here is going to help you get Mr. Deeks up the stairs and out to the car; and I assume the reminder not to try anything stupid is redundant."
Colby just nodded slowly, before he and Donahue hoisted Deeks off the floor and supported the unconscious man between them.
It was late evening by the looks of the sky, and Colby had to wonder was it still the same day...had it really only been that morning that he and Deeks had been surfing; because it felt like years that they had been trapped in that windowless room.
In minutes they were situated in the car and driving away from the old farmhouse.
..NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
A/N: yeah, another short one...but I thought I'd get something out there...and for anyone who's disappointed that our 'boys' didn't get a chance to try to escape...King isn't stupid...he knows full well the training Colby and Deeks have and wouldn't take the chance of letting them get the upper hand...
Anyway, this should be wrapped up in a chapter or two then I can concentrate on finishing up some of the other ones out there...