Brothers in Arms
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS:LA, if I did, I would've paid for internet access at the hotel this past week or paid someone to haul my laptop to the conference centre for free WiFi. Rock and a hard place...chose option C: no internet.
A/N: Coolness...ya'll are still leaving reviews! Thanks Somnuim1, beverlie4055, shestarsky, jmlane1966 (x2), Jasmine-Now-Leaves, and Kaylen Cooper for dropping notes.
Day 15
Everyone was motivated to start the planning stage on their attack on Lefty, but saner heads had prevailed and it was set on the backburner until the next day. Supper, a hot shower, and a bed were moved from the backburner to the front one by Lucinda's insistence that neither Callen nor Deeks was any good to her starving, stinky, or sleepy. Alfonso smirked and nodded his agreement. Dolores had fed them and showed them each a guest room. Safe for the first time they left LA, they fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows and had to drag themselves out of the soft beds the next morning.
The smell of coffee led them both to the kitchen where they found their hosts wrapping their hands around steaming cups. Once Dolores had filled their stomachs again and Deeks had thanked her for washing his pants, the foursome found their way back to the chairs of yesterday and settled in for some preparation.
Callen, knowing more of the situation than anyone, took the lead.
"Here's what we know: Ricardo Vega is a hitman that up until two years ago was a freelancer. He is known by the US intelligence community as 'Lefty' because of his signature kill style. Two years ago he was recruited by Diego Rojas to work for the LDD. He seems to have found a home with them and is content to stay there. His background is patchy, but we know he is originally from Uruguay but fell into the life after being pulled into a now defunct gang. From what we can piece together, his father took a loan and when he couldn't pay, the leaders took Ricardo as payment. He stayed with them until he was 20 and had moved up the chain of command to a high position. He left for greener pastures with the cartels after the men who originally took him were found dead. We believe this was his first hit.
"From there he bounced around from cartel to gang to guerilla group. He's racked up the bodies. His signature is that he cuts off the left hand of each of his kills. We believed it was because he is left-handed, and this has been somewhat confirmed. We don't know what he does with the hands. He also seems to enjoy torturing people at times but evidence of that has decreased over the last two years and it's probably because Diego's got him on a shorter leash than he's used to.
"He is presently holed up at the Ortega's and has roughly a week and a half to stay. Unfortunately time is not mine or Deeks' side, so we need to finish this fast."
Lucinda and Alfonso absorbed the information and sat for some time mulling it over. Finally Lucinda spoke, "I assume that we have some ideas?"
Alfonso started, "We cannot get to him within the building; no one will break the agreement that we have all made." Nods came from around the tight circle.
Lucinda asked, "Can we offer him a job?"
Callen grimaced, "I don't think that money will motivate him to leave the safety he has early."
A throat cleared from Deeks' chair and he grinned a bit as he leaned forward. "What are the two main motivators for a crime?" He held up two fingers and looked at Callen.
"Greed, but that one's out. Revenge, but I don't think he has a lot of loyalty to Diego; he can easily go back to his old life as long as his real identity doesn't come out. It sounds as though he might be happy to be off the leash"
Deeks folded down the fingers, "Which brings us to where we'll get him – self-preservation. He needs to protect his identity."
Callen thought about that for a moment. "If we can add anger into the mix we can get him off-balanced easier. How do we do it?"
"What about telling him that someone from the raid tipped off the DEA and it leaked?" Deeks offered.
Callen nodded, "I agree. We need a way to force him out."
"Does he get news or will the people running the place tell him what's going on outside the compound?" The question came from Deeks who wasn't as familiar with this safe-house concept.
Lucinda supplied the answer, "Yes, if he asks, but most people don't want to know. They treat it as a vacation from the world."
"One more question, are the Ortega's truly the Swiss? I mean, do they seriously have no biases?"
Alfonso frowned, "I know that one of the men killed by this man was a relative of theirs, but they are professionals."
The corner of Deeks' mouth tugged upwards. "Just because they're not going to kick him out doesn't mean they can't play some mind games and drop some hints."
Callen's eyes crinkled. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"Imagine that the people who live here and in the area find out who is hiding in the Ortega's? They know that he can stay there for two weeks. Plans are made to stake out the compound around the time that his two weeks are up. Suppose these plans made their way to Ricardo's ears. He has two options, he can stay there for the full time and face certain death or he can sneak out the back like the coward he is and save his own hide."
Alfonso's mouth formed a wolfish grin, "We can control when he leaves by starting the occupation early. He'll fall into our hands."
Whispers drew him around the corner. Ricardo found himself facing two members of the Ortega family talking in hushed tones. He caught some words that perked his interest. He cleared his throat and they noticed him there.
"Pardon, senor."
"No, continue, what was it you were discussing?"
The one on the left shifted nervously and looked at the other. The made some motions, shifted their eyes and finally the one said, "It's about him, he deserves to know." The other sighed and nodded in agreement.
"We have word from the city. It appears that your identity has been spread throughout and there are plans for when you leave."
"What do you mean my identity? I'm running from the attack in Columbia by the DEA."
"No, sir, your real identity." A look down at his left hand had them scrambling to get away.
Ricardo lifted his left hand and considered it. He wasn't surprised, but it was inconvenient. He moved to his room and packed his bag. He then went to look for the owner of the compound to get as much information from him as possible.
Ricardo had squeezed the details out of the Ortega's patriarch and had worked to hold the fear in. This was no trivial matter, it sounded as though all his enemies were gathering to fight for the chance to kill him the moment he stepped out of any door. They were scheduled to start their encampment the following morning which meant he had only a few hours to get as far from this place as he could. He threw his bag out the window and hopped out himself. He gathered up his possessions and made his way across to the low fence. The Ortega's compound was the only one without massive security measures because the deal brokered with the cartels protected it well enough. He slung the bag over the fence and hopped over himself.
He started walking down the road where he crashed into another man. He moved to pull out his knife when the light from the next compound's security lamps showed his face.
"Mikhail?"
The figure hauled in a breath that hitched. "Who?"
Ricardo moved so that the light hit his face as well. "It's me, Ricardo."
Mikhail grabbed onto his shoulder. "You survived."
Ricardo was confused, why was this man so weak and surprised at his survival? "Si, what is wrong?"
"I've fought my way to the Ortega's, I need safety."
"What happened?"
"Dead, they're all dead."
"Who is dead?"
"Diego, the other men, the agents...and Jake."
A/N: Due to a very stressful October I needed some comic relief. There's now an epilogue to this story. Heh heh heh.