I hope those readers here in the United States had a good Thanksgiving.

Here's the next chapter

Chapter 8

Monday, April 15, 2013

Just outside Boston in Hopkinton, MA

Start of the Boston Marathon

She was on the grass doing her warm up routine of stretching her muscles and a little bit of cardio to losen her muscles for the run. Carson and Commander Neil Ingram were doing the same thing in preparation for the run.

The guy wanted in trying to blackmailing Ingram's wife was still on the loose. He was claiming to be the father of the Ingrams' baby which is due in a few weeks and had threatened to come out with the whole thing unless Mrs. Ingram not only pay him to keep quiet but that he be given custody of the baby after it was born. The suspect Dan Mason, had also threatened to get Neil Ingram out of the way if necessary. What the suspect didn't know was that Beth Ingram and her husband had asked for a DNA test to be done on the baby and it had come back confirming that Commander Ingram was the father of the baby and not Mason. But Mason was still out there. Back on Friday, they had noticed that he had made a plane reservation to fly to Boston, but when Cortez and her team arrived at the airport to arrest him in San Diego they discovered that Mason had given his identity to someone else to throw them off his tail. So now they had no idea where he was. He was in the wind. But then yesterday they found a lead putting him near the US-Mexican border so Cortez and her team were at work laying a trap for him back in San Diego. Beth Ingram had been moved to an undisclosed location at Coronado until they could catch the guy.

So they had to proceed with Neil Ingram running the Boston Marathon. Nell had spent the weekend in Newport finalizing logistics with the other agents who would be tracking the three runners hoping that Mason didn't give everyone in San Diego the slip at the last minute and make his way to Boston. No one was taking any chances.

Hetty had briefed Sam on the bare basics of the case with Nell's permission since the others still didn't believe that Nell was a runner and hadn't given up on their disapproval of it. After talking to Hetty this morning, Nell knew that Hetty was ready to strangle the lot of them.

As Nell finished her warm-up, she was busy getting herself mentally prepared for the race. But this wasn't a normal race this time. This time it was part of her job and so instead of concentrating on the run itself and taking in the surroundings as she would make her way through the race route, she was now having to worry about Commander Ingram. For her, this was her first real assignment out in the field but Nell had a good team to work with here, over the weekend as they prepared, Carson and his team had worked with Nell on honing her skills in scanning the area for threats and she had the chance to spar with them in the gym in order to stay in top shape. Even Sam had called with some helpful advice as well. Nell was a little nervous about this but she knew she had people who had her back. What wasn't helping was the warm weather Boston was having today. That might be a problem, but Nell was hoping it really wasn't going to be. It just felt like a normal warm day in LA when she would do her runs but today was a full blown 26.2 miles in this weather. She was seriously going to need a shower after the race she already knew.

Warm up done, they joined other runners to begin making their way to the start point for the race. With so many people running the three found themselves in a sea of people. They had discussed and made a plan for staying together and keeping each other in their line of sight. "Let's see if we can get this done in under three-and-a-half hours," spoke up Ingram.

"I'm there," replied Carson. "Besides, it's too warm out here."

"Yeah, but the good thing is that we're going downhill."

"That will help," replied Ingram.

"Then let's do it," came Carson as the readied themselves and were waiting for the race to begin.

NCISLA

Los Angeles

Sam had come in early and was now at his desk. He had been up really early this morning and had done his run, made sure his daughter's lunch was made and ready when Michelle sent her off to school and now was at work. He wasn't the only one in. Hetty was too. He stopped by her office to see that she was already working. "Morning Hetty."

"Good morning Sam," she replied. "Did you have a good weekend?"

"Yeah I did, thanks. Has the race begun?"

"It's about to start. Granger is keeping me updated with updates from our agents out there. If you'd like, I'll send them to you as well."

"Yes, please Hetty, thank you."

"Very good."

Sam nodded and made his way to his desk. It was going to be a long morning hoping that nothing goes wrong for the team Nell is working with in Boston.

Shortly after, everyone else began arriving. They were all surprised to see Sam there. Sam ignored them as he worked on his paperwork. They had a minor case back on Friday and so today was just wrapping up things.

Sam lost track of time as he did his work only checking the time whenever he got updates on the race in Boston. He was checking up on some intel when phone buzzed and he checked it. It was a text from Hetty. Suspect has been arrested in San Diego. Sam smiled. They finally caught the guy. He had been giving everyone down there the slip all weekend. He was glad it was finally over. But Nell was still running in Boston. Guess they'll find out when they cross the finish. Then he was wondering how far along she had run when another text came in Just passed mile 22. They were down to the final leg of the race. He and Hetty had been getting updates on the progress of the run since he came in this morning. They must be making good time. He thought to himself. Nell had told him that she could normally do a race in a little over three hours her best time was 3 hours 9 minutes which wasn't bad for a woman. When Sam had asked what the qualifying time was for Boston that Nell would have to meet, Hetty had written it down and showed it to Sam a few days back. He was floored. So if Nell had run New York last fall she would have qualified. It just seemed that his respect for the young red head was growing day by day on him. Yet he was still angry that the others couldn't accept it.

NCISLA

Boston

They had just passed the 23rd mile mark and enjoying it.

"Looks like we'll be finishing this at a little over three hours," spoke up Neil Ingram.

"Yeah, we're making really good time,' came Carson who was slightly ahead of Ingram.

"I'd contribute it to the downhill route," came Nell.

"Could be but we're doing better than we thought," came Ingram.

"Yeah, so far so good," replied Carson who was scanning the crowd.

Nell thought that she would have a hard time concentrating on running and keeping an eye on Ingram, Carson and the crowd. But it wasn't really that bad. The running part was automatic so using her other senses especially her eyes was relatively easy. Besides the advice she was given was pretty good. Just look for anything out of place. Well things were looking good so far. No sign of Mason. As they were coming up to the 24th mile marker, they angled to the left to get some water. Grabbing the cups from the volunteers who were holding the cups out for them, they quickly downed the liquid as they ran tossing the cups aside as they continued running. They were almost done and then Nell can head back to their hotel for a much needed shower.

NCISLA

Low Angeles

Sam was coming back from his break when his phone buzzed. Checking the text he had to smile. Crossed the finish line. They were done. Sam was doing the math in his head. They must have finished a little over three hours after they had started. He'll ask Nell when she got back what the official time was. But at least they'll get the news about the arrest now. So he went back to work looking at the latest watch lists and committing the new names and faces to memory. He liked keeping up with who was now wanted and wanted to do harm to the US. It kept his mind busy.

NCISLA

Boston

They were headed for their cars after clearing the finish area and collecting their unofficial finish times. The rest of Carson's team was waiting for them. One of the agents handed their phones back to them and Ingram immediately began calling his wife. "Beth it's me, I finished the race and I'm on my way back to the hotel." Nell could only hear his side of the conversation but that was okay with her. They had all been told about the arrest. "Yeah honey, I heard the news. I'm glad it's over. … Beth you okay. … What! … Uh, okay." They all waited for an explanation.

"Hey Ingram, everything okay," asked Carson.

Putting a hand to the phone he spoke a little nervousness in his voice. "Hard kick from the baby."

"Looks like someone else is excited about the news," came Jim, one of the other team members.

"Yeah, that kid is going to hear quite a story when he or she grows up," spoke up Jenna another member.

They quickly made their way back to the hotel and the three runners went to their rooms to shower and get changed. Nell was toweling her wet hair dry when she heard the explosion that stopped her dead in her tracks. Jenna whom she was sharing the room with stood bolt upright. She could hear someone shouting in the hallway. "What the hell was that!"

Until next time.