KING'S RETURN
/Chapter 11/
A/N: Hopefully I can have this tied up in one more chapter, to make it a nice even 12, then I'll work really hard to finish up the others...now that my summer break is nearly here!
A/N: also, sorry for all the grammar mistakes in the last chapter...I was watching the season finale of "Supernatural" with my daughter the same time I was typing up the last chapter...all the finales (of the shows I watch) were really predictable and lame except Supernatural...it ended with an amusing twist.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
Don and Megan eyed Callen anxiously as he spoke to his partner on the cell; ending the call Callen looked at their expectant faces and shook his head grimly.
"They missed them..." Callen reported.
"But they were there?" Don pressed.
Callen nodded a replied tightly, "King left their badges behind for us to find..."
"We've still got Pomeroy," Megan said.
"Providing King hasn't already cut him and Donahue loose," Callen said with a heavy sigh.
"Hey...come on now, we got to hold it together; King is gonna need help to keep two trained agents under control and move them...he has to still be using them as muscle...right..." Don inveigled.
"Yeah, I just hope this buy goes down soon...the thought of our guys being at King's tender mercies any longer than they have to be..." Callen trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
Megan placed a comforting hand on Callen's shoulder, "They know we're looking for them...they'll hang on..."
Callen met Megan's gaze and slowly nodded.
"Now, let's get Preston ready for his meet," Don said.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
The three agents were spread out around the small park next to the marina, to cover as many exit routes as possible, while Preston paced around a picnic table.
"Cool it," Callen snapped at Preston over the earwig. "You need to pull it together...find out where King is holding Deeks and Granger."
"Yeah, 'cause Marco is such a sharing and caring kinda guy," Preston snarked.
"You better hope your friend gives you something..." Don said letting the threat hang.
"He ain't my friend, okay...we did a job together, that's it," Preston snapped back.
Further conversation was forestalled as they spotted Marco Pomeroy making his way towards Preston.
Without preamble the man snapped out angrily, "What the hell is your problem, kid...you better not be thinking of rabbiting on me 'n King."
"Hey, Marco man, hold up," the kid cajoled, holding his hands up defensively. "Just the opposite man...don't want to blow it for you...you get caught, it's just a matter of time before they trace to me, man...but ya' needed to know, man, that it wasn't just cops, man, it was the Feds that were snoopin' around your place and Donahue's."
Pomeroy gave a heavy sigh, running his hands through his hair, "They get anything?"
"Jimmy played dumb...but they gave him a card and told him to call if he spotted any of us coming into 'Tootsie's'," Preston replied, adding, "Jimmy said they searched Donahue's place though; don't know about your place."
Another angry sigh, "Damn, how the hell did they even know where to look? You disabled the traffic cams, right...how in the hell did they know it was me 'n Donahue?"
Preston backed away from the angry man, "Hey man, I did my job, those cams were definitely disabled...maybe they found the van or something..."
Pomeroy just stood quiet for a moment, staring off into nothing, thinking.
"So, uh, you gonna be able to avoid the Feds long enough for the deal to go down?" Preston asked.
"It'll be over in less than a day, now, so we just gotta keep the 'merchandise' on ice 'til then," Pomeroy answered absently.
In the distance, three agents let out a sigh of relief...Pomeroy's statement, at least, confirming their men were still alive.
"A day, huh...so you're about to cash in...should charge King extra for the grief he's causin' me...I was supposed to get him through the traffic cams and be done with it, not ducking fucking Feds..." Preston ranted angrily.
"You're a fucking idiot; you know that...you're lucky King didn't send me here to put a bullet in your brain..." Pomeroy growled out menacingly, putting two fingers to the side of the kid's head like he was shooting.
Preston angrily shoved Pomeroy's hand away from his head, "Hey, man, I ain't gonna push my luck with the psychopath...the freak kidnapped a Fed and a cop like it was a simple 'smash 'n grab'..."
"So, you square...Feds ain't come knocking on your door yet, right?" Pomeroy asked suspiciously.
"No man, just tellin' you what Jimmy told me..." the younger man answered. "So, you're lying low with King 'til the buy?"
Pomeroy eyed the younger man with growing suspicion, then looked around the crowds milling around the marina park, "What's with the twenty questions, kid?"
"Nothing, man, just asking if you trust King not to take his payday and run...he don't strike me as a real trusting ...or sane type o' guy..." Preston said with a shrug.
Pomeroy nodded, "That's for sure...sane he ain't, he's one intense mother...reminds me of them nature shows about them poisonous snakes, the big ol' cobras, ya' know...just laying there, hidin', waitin' to strike and kill ya'..."
Preston snorted in agreement, "Yeah that describes him...so you get to spend another day with the nut job?"
"Nah, that's on poor Donahue...I ain't meetin' back up with them until a few hours before it all goes down..." Pomeroy answered with a shrug.
"Thought you didn't trust him..." Preston pressed.
"I don't, but I do trust Donahue to call if the deal goes south, and I know where the safe house is they're holed up in now...and I know that pansy assed King can't handle them two cops on his own," Pomeroy said, "If he does try to screw our deal it won't be 'til after we make the deal."
"Good luck with that, and keep me in mind if anymore 'work' comes your way...only next time, try to hook up with someone not quite as insane," Preston said.
"Stay low kid...and don't call again..." Pomeroy said before turning and walking back towards the parking lot.
Preston climbed up and sat on the picnic table, propping his arms on his knees and dropping his head into his hands, "Hope to hell you got what you needed, 'cause I ain't doing that again; I don't have a death wish."
Don and Megan stopped in front of the man, "We got what we needed."
The kid looked at the two agents, "Really, thought this whole thing was so you could follow Marco; you're standin' here staring at me?"
The two agents looked over the hacker's shoulder, causing the young man to turn and spot the third agent...Callen, he remembered, jogging up to the group.
"Trackers in place, Eric has eyes on Pomeroy right now," Callen reported, turning to Preston he demanded, "And you have no idea where the new safe house is?"
"Hey, man, I already told you...I didn't even know where the last one was...I was paid for the traffic cams, and that's it," the man snapped back.
"Need to get this one back to lock up...and get eyes on Pomeroy," Callen stated, nodding towards Preston. "Eric also has a lock on Pomeroy's cell GPS, in case he calls King."
"So, now we wait," Don said.
Pulling Preston off the table, Megan turned the guy around and snapped the cuffs on him, "I'll take this one back...wait on the others."
"Yeah, thanks Megan..." Don said.
The two lead agents escorted Megan and the prisoner to the SUV before heading to their vehicle.
"Where is he Eric?" Callen asked.
"He's heading up Jackson boulevard...looks like he might be heading towards that bar..." Eric reported.
"Damn, if Pomeroy finds out that we took the kid in...he's bound to tell King..." Callen said in frustration.
"We just have to make sure Pomeroy doesn't want to go near the bar," Don said thoughtfully, pulling out his cell.
"You got a plan?" Callen questioned, eyebrows raised.
Don held up a staying finger, "Hey, Walker...Epps, I need a favor."
Callen listened while the agent laid out what he needed to the person on the other end of the line, hanging up after only a couple of minutes.
"Got it covered..." Don said with a grim smile. "Our boy isn't gonna want to go anywhere near the bar..."
"Really?" Callen questioned.
Don just smiled, "NCIS isn't the only agency to have an LAPD liaison..."
Pulling up to the bar twenty minutes later, they saw several squad cars, lights flashing and numerous officers escorting cuffed bar patrons to waiting squad cars.
"What the hell is all this," Callen demanded.
Don just waved the agent off, eyes scanning the crowd, "You got eyes on Pomeroy?"
Callen redirected his angry scowl towards the crowds and soon pointed off down the street about half a block, "Yeah, there he is. Now, you gonna tell me what's going on?"
"Cops, just got a tip of drug and gang activity at the bar...take them awhile to sort it all out...Pomeroy isn't gonna want to get anywhere near this mess..." Don said.
"You organized a raid...in less than twenty minutes," Callen exclaimed.
Don turned to the agent and shrugged, "You have your liaison, I have mine; Sgt. Walker, LAPD drugs and gang task force..."
"And he just threw together a raid in twenty minutes on your phone call?"
Now grim faced, Don answered, "Gary has worked with us on several cases...hell, he's tackled the Russian mob...he knows Colby...a little local raid was nothing for him..."
Callen nodded, "Good man to have on speed-dial."
They watched the scene play out...watched as Pomeroy sidled up to the watching crowd to try to find out what was going on, then got back into his car and quickly drove off.
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
Deeks woke slowly, his vision slow to focus...he searched his memory, trying to piece together why he felt so lethargic and out of sorts.
Through slit eyes, he noted he was lying flat, on a hard surface...the place he found himself was cool and dimly lit from light streaming in through holes along the top of the room. His eyes continued to scan over the area...soon, coming to rest on another figure sitting about ten feet away, head down, resting on their knees.
"Hey," he called out huskily, voice dry and cracking.
The head shot up, and the man quickly half crawled, half scooted over to him, "Hey yourself, how ya' feeling?"
"Been better...what's going on?" Deeks asked.
"King moved us...closer to the meet point I'm guessing..." Colby supplied.
Trying to sit up, Colby quickly lending a hand to prop the detective up so he was leaning against the wall, Deeks looked around their new accommodations, "Where are we?"
"Locked in a shipping container," Colby answered.
"Oh, that's original," Deeks grumbled.
"Chinese like to do most of their business at the docks, or better yet out in international waters..." Colby explained, and Deeks didn't miss the shudder that went through the other man.
"You okay, man?" Deeks asked in concern.
"Yeah..."
Quirking on eye, Deeks questioned, "Now, why don't I believe that?"
Colby just answered with a shrug.
"So how long we been here?"
"An hour or so, I'm guessing,"
"You think this is going down soon," Deeks said knowingly.
Again, Colby's only answer was a shrug and a nod.
The two men exchanged grim looks, both wondering if their teams would find them in time...
...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...NUMB3RS...NCIS LA...
A/N; yeah, one more chapter and our boys will be 'rescued'...I'm trying to decide how much "whumping" will be in the final chapter to get out boys home...