Eric flew out of the Ops Center at the speed of light, bellowing for Sam. "I got a hit on Callen. Beach cam down in Venice. Address on your phone."
Two point two seconds later Kensi's, Deeks' and Sam's chairs were empty as the three agents sprinted for the door.
"Going somewhere Mr. Hanna?" Hetty innocently queried as Sam went to rush by her office.
Sam drew up short and stared at his tiny boss as she stood patiently on the stairs. "Early lunch. With the team," he added as Kensi and Deeks pulled up behind him. "Team building event."
Hetty glanced down at her watch. "Bit early isn't it?"
"Well you know Kensi," Deeks chimed in. "Always hungry. Don't know where she packs it in," he leered giving her the once over which earned him a swift kick in the ankle.
"I see," Hetty replied in a non-committal manner.
Kensi, not wanting to be left out entered into the fray. "Yeah Hetty. Those places down in Venice get really busy with tourists if you do not get there early. And you know how cranky junior gets if he has to wait for his food," Kensi poked back at her partner. "Crayons and paper don't help when he is hungry."
Hetty blew past the antics of the younger partners and returned her attention to Sam. "So you are going to Venice?"
Sam nodded. "Eric spotted something down there. Thought it would be a good place to, ah, eat."
"Well ladies and gentlemen, don't let me stand in the way of your repast. Keep me posted on how you enjoy the place."
"Will do," Sam threw over his shoulder as he and the team headed out the door.
"Do you still have eyes on him Eric?" Kensi asked via her comm link as they all piled into Sam's Challenger, Deeks jumping in the backseat for once without an argument.
"Yeah. He appears to be standing by the beach watching something. Sending the video feed to your phones now," the techy replied turning to see if Nell had redirected the link.
"It's up. You should be streaming live along with us," Nell confirmed to the team in the car which had flown out of the parking lot heading for the freeway.
"Got it," Kensi acknowledged as she intently studied the image on her screen.
"What do you see Kensi," Sam asked urgently as he pushed the Challenger to the limits that the traffic would allow in order to get to the beach ASAP.
"Callen is standing there, partially concealed, wearing jeans, blue t-shirt, a baseball cap and sunglasses. His hands look empty but I think he has some sort of backpack on his shoulder. As Eric said, he seems to be watching something."
"Eric, Nell any other camera's in the area that might tell us what he is looking at?" Deeks inquired.
"Checking," came Nell's swift reply.
Sam cut a corner so tight, the tires squealed on the pavement. "Get out of the way people," he muttered under his breath at the traffic that was impeding his progress.
"Ok, got something," Nell's voice rang out over the comms. In the Ops Center, she and Eric intently studied the image from the second camera feed they had thrown up on the big screen. "It looks like," she indicated to Eric with her finger, as her voice carried to the team in the car, "Callen is staring at this approximate location."
"Anything of interest there Nell?" Sam asked.
"Well, it is an area of tables, mostly occupied by tourists," the analyst scrutinized. "Hmmm, this is kind of interesting. There is one table that has two men at it, dressed a bit formally for the beach. They keep glancing around like they are waiting for something…"
"Or maybe someone," Deeks interjected.
"…to happen," Nell finished.
"Callen?" Kensi added.
"Their table is in his LOS," Nell confirmed.
"Describe the men Nell," Sam ordered.
"The first man is about 6 foot, medium build, with short dark hair. The second guy is taller, heavier built, with longer dark hair, I'd say a body guard for the first man based on his size and the way he has positioned himself. Without hearing them speak I can't judge their nationality for sure but I'd hazard a guess as Hispanic."
"Sending the second feed to your phones. Sorry, but you'll have to toggle between them," Eric instructed.
"Deeks, eyes on the two men. Kensi, eyes on Callen," Sam commanded barreling thru another intersection.
Eric and Nell had been so focused on the screen that they did not hear their stealthy Boss glide up behind them.
"What do we have Ms. Jones?" she inquired making the two techs jump about a foot and spin to face her. "And please drop the lunch charade."
Nell recovered quickly and gave Hetty a brief run down. "We caught Callen on camera here," she said pointing to the first live feed. "We think he is watching these two men here," she pointed to the second picture. "Sam, Kensi and Deeks are on their way, about 10 minutes out," she concluded looking at a third real-time picture of the Challenger's GPS position on a map of LA.
"Make that 5," Deeks voice said. "Sam is breaking all land-speed records and is definitely going to need a pit stop soon for a new pair of tires."
"I see. And how did you find Mr. Callen?" she inquired of the tech team, her eyes taking in all the images on the big screen.
"Facial recognition spotted him on a beach cam in Venice," Eric replied. "Poof, he was suddenly there."
"Hmmm," Hetty said neutrally.
Time seemed to stretch out to eternity while the Challenger negotiated that last few miles to their destination.