Okay, here we go another chapter.

Enjoy

Chapter 14

June 30, 2013

It was a nice and quiet Sunday afternoon. Nell had been on the phone with her friends all weekend discussing a vital matter for the upcoming New York City Marathon in November. How were they going to get to the starting line? Each in the group of five had spent the week looking at the options the marathon was offering, their hotel, and other sources. They all had to do this last year as well. For last year, they had decided to use the subway and take the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island and then the shuttle to the start of the race that was until the race was cancelled after Hurricane Sandy. After some discussion, they decided to do the same as last year. Now Nell was on her laptop logging into her account for the marathon to indicate her decision. Everyone had until the end of July to notify marathon officials of their transportation option and Nell was now doing hers. It was kind of nice that a shuttle was being offered from the Ferry to the start on Staten Island Nell was telling herself. Once logged onto her laptop, she checked her email before heading over to the official website. There she tried logging in but couldn't. After several more tries, she gave up and decided to try again in a little while. So setting the laptop aside, she decided to finish cleaning her little apartment and put the clean laundry away. An hour later she tried again with no luck so she sent a message to the site administrator and an email as well.

Nell spent the remainder of her Sunday doing a little grocery shopping and talking to her family on the phone she hoped to have a reply in the morning.

NCISLA

Monday

It was an uneventful day so far. No new cases so Nell had spent the morning plodding through the latest intelligence reports. When lunch finally arrived, Nell promptly left the mission. She went to a nearby park and found a shaded area under a tree and sat down. Pulling her iPad from her bag, she decided to check her email while eating her lunch which she had decided to brown bag it that day. With a sandwich in one hand, she used the other to navigate the i device until she began reading her mail. Nothing interesting so far until a couple caught her attention. Opening the emails, she was stunned to learn that the marathons servers had been hacked and that a number small of accounts of registered runners had either been deleted or compromised. It turned out that one of those was hers. Fortunately the email stated, they had backups of all the registered runners and they were working to resolve the issues and restore everyone's accounts so that Nell and others could log on to indicate their choice for transportation and take care of other matters. She was also informed that law enforcement in New York City had also been informed of the breech. Crap, the FBI has probably been called. She figured this much since a number of runners are either from out of state or country. Closing out her email, she then sent a text to her father informing him of the breech and asked that he double check the hotel reservations he had made for the family in November. Nell's mother, most of her brothers, and other relatives were planning to be in New York this year to watch the marathon and cheer on Nell and her friends. Her father and one of her brothers may not be able to attend the event since there was a huge possibility that they would both be out at sea at that time. But the rest of the Jones clan would be there for sure.

Nell then sent a text to her friends as well they all would be checking their hotel reservations and marathon accounts to be sure they had not been breeched. Nell and her friend Kate were going to be sharing a room in November and the reservation was under Kate's name so Nell sent her a text asking her to check their reservations. She got a reply back that Kate had also gotten an email from New York about the breech and would check their hotel reservations. The rest of the group would be doing the same. Nell sat there eating she didn't finish her lunch not with this hanging over her. She decided to inform Hetty when she got back to the mission.

Upon arriving back at the Spanish style building, she headed for Hetty's office. Hetty was busy looking at something on her computer when she noticed Nell there. "Yes Miss Jones."

"Yesterday, I tried to log onto my marathon account for New York and couldn't get in so I informed the organization there that runs the marathon. Over lunch I received an email from New York, the New York City Marathon servers were hacked within the past week. A small number of accounts were compromised including mine. They're trying to resolve the problem now and they did have to notify the police and most likely the FBI about it. Everyone I know who's running is not only checking their accounts but hotel accommodations as well," she explained.

"Hopefully your hotel reservations haven't been compromised either," Hetty replied not too amused about the situation.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sharing a room with a friend so those reservations are under her name."

"Very clever of you Miss Jones," Hetty said approvingly. Nell was good at laying low in this case as to where she was staying in New York.

"Yeah, but my family is going to be in New York as well to watch the marathon."

"Oh,"

"Yeah,"

"Hopefully nothing happens with the hotels then,"

"Yeah me too."

"Keep me informed."

"I will," Nell said leaving the office to get back to work.

Hetty went back to her laptop. She was checking video camera footage of the building and it worried her that Eric and Callen had been acting secretive lately. She didn't know why but she was going to find out.

NCISLA

Tuesday, July 2, 2014

Hoover Building, Washington, D.C.

Senior FBI Agent Tobias Fornell listened intently as he held the phone to his ear. The SAIG of the New York City office was briefing him on a couple of hacking cases out of New York and it wasn't good. When the running association that puts on the New York City Marathon reported the first breech of their systems a week ago the FBI field office was notified. Then late Friday night, the hacking breech occurred again and this time a number registered runners for this year's marathon accounts were compromised over the weekend. On top of that hotels, on Manhattan also experience breeches of their systems especially in regards to those registered for the race in November. It had taken the FBI Cybercrimes unit along with NYPD's to trace it back to Los Angeles, but they were still working on an exact location since whoever the hacker was, was not only good but had covered their tracks well. The geeks had worked through the weekend and overnight and they finally had gotten somewhere. They had determined that the hacks had come from a government server out there, which one, they were still working on it.

"You sure about that," Fornell asked.

"Yes sir, we're still working on an exact location," came the reply.

"Keep on it. Anything else?"

"Yeah, one of the victims in the hotel hack is a Navy admiral. He has reservations for November during the time of the marathon for a number of rooms. My guess is he and his family are going to watch the race. Since you have contacts at NCIS, could you check this angle for us so we can rule it out."

Shit! Fornell didn't like this. "Any other naval or marine personnel running the marathon?"

"Uh yeah, it looks like we have runners from all branches of the military running. We've got contacts for the Army here but the Air Force and Coast Guard is another story. I know we also have Fed Agents from the various agencies running as well."

Crap! "Okay, I'll talk to NCIS, do you have the information for the Navy and Marines side?

"Yeah, send it to you as soon as I get off the phone."

"Okay, thanks and I'll be in touch with the alphabet soup and inform them as well so that we can get an accurate list of those agents who are running and alert them as well."

"If you get names send them over so we can run them here to verify it against what they have here."

"And visa versa."

"Understood,"

After completing the call. Fornell called NCIS to see if he could get into see Vance ASAP. He was told he could be seen in an hour. After that he started making calls to his Director and the rest of the alphabet soup. No one was going to be happy about this.

NCISLA

At that very moment Leon Vance was on the phone with Navy Admiral Allen Jones. The admiral was briefing him on the breeches his daughter Nell been informed of by not only the running association in New York, but also the hotel reservations for not only Nell and her friends, but his family as well. It took Leon only a moment to connect Nell Jones as one of their own out of the LA office. Vance recalled the case back in April when she had to run protection detail at the Boston Marathon and was involved in that investigation after the bombings. Vance was not amused by the timing the Fourth of July was just two days away and he had been hoping for a nice quiet holiday with his children. It would be the first Fourth without Jackie.

"I'll have the matter looked into in regards to your case and I'll be in touch with the FBI about your daughters as well since they handle crimes against federal agents," he informed Jones.

"Thank you that's all I ask."

"Your welcome and I'll keep you informed," hanging up the phone, he didn't like this something told him something was seriously amiss. He was about to call Hetty out in Los Angeles when his intercom buzzed. Hitting the butten he spoke, "Yes Pam."

"Sir, Agent Fornell from the FBI called. He needs to speak to you right away. He'll be here in an hour."

"Thank you Pam," send him in as soon as he arrives and hold all my calls for now."

"Yes sir,"

He then picked up the receiver and dialed Hetty's number.

NCISLA

Los Angeles

A short time later

Hetty felt a headache coming and had gone to fix a pot of tea. Back in her office, she called Nell in. When Nell appeared at the door Hetty motioned her in saying, "Close the door Miss Jones."

Doing as Hetty asked, Nell closed the door and then took a seat. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, your father did contact Director Vance about the hacks to his hotel and the reservations he has for November when you run the marathon in New York. Considering this, NCIS may have to investigate this."

"We're well aware of it Hetty."

The older woman nodded, "Hopefully this can be resolved I would hate to see you miss this marathon."

NCISLA

Fornell arrived early at NCIS and went straight to Vance's office. He was allowed into the office immediately. "Agent Fornell, what can I do for you."

"A situation has come up out of New York that could involve members of our armed forces and agents from the federal alphabet soup who are running the New York City Marathon in November."

"What kind of situation," Vance asked.

"Data breeches and hacking."

"How bad?"

"We're investigating that and we've got a small lead," Fornell continued detailing the breeches and hacking attacks that had begun last week involving those registered to run the marathon and hotels where they could be staying at.

"Why do you suspect Navy and marines and our agents then," Vance asked.

"We've already confirmed that one of the victims has reservations multiple rooms booked at one of the hotels at that time. He's a navy admiral."

"Do you have the name?"

"Admiral Allen Jones." Vance's face took on a very sour mood and Fornell suspected that he knew the man. "You know him?"

"Not personally, but his daughter I do know, she's one of ours and she's a marathon runner. She's running the New York Marathon in November. I received a message late yesterday that she informed her supervisor of the breech of the marathon servers and her father was checking the reservations for the hotel rooms he had booked for his family since they were planning to watch the run and cheer on his daughter. He contacted me an hour ago informing me of the issue with the hotel." Vance explained not amused.

"Do you have any other agents running in New York?"

"As far as I know, she's the only one, I've sent word to all the agents I know that are runners to see if they are scheduled to run New York. Besides Agent Jones, I've heard from eight who have said no. I'm trying to track down Agent Carson who is in this office but on vacation at the moment. I've sent word to Agent Jones to see if she knows since those two had worked together on a case back in April that had required them to run the Boston Marathon and assist in the investigation with the bombings."

Fornell couldn't believe it, the so called little agency that could had people running Boston back in April and had been the brains behind some of the ideas that helped solve that case and left the FBI with it's tail between it's legs again. The FBI might as well do some serious reviewing of its recruitment since apparently NCIS was snapping up good people faster that the fibbies. "You're not kidding right."

Shaking his head, "No I'm not."

Fornell sighed, then, thought about it for a moment. "Carson, I think I've met him. I can't place the face right now."

"He's the leader of one of our teams in this office. You don't want to put him and Gibbs together if they get cases that cross each other's paths. You'd get an entire pissing match that I usually have to settle." At that moment Vance's phone rang. "Hold that thought," as he held up one hand and picked up the phone with the other. "Vance."

Fornell listened to the one sided conversation as he waited. Then his phone rang. Answering it he spoke into it, "Fornell." As he had one ear to Vance's side of the conversation.

Vance listened. "Put her on. Yes Agent Jones …. You sure about that …. Very well thank you. I'll try and get in touch with him then. Yes, I informed your father of that possibility. … I'll keep you informed." Vance hung up the phone and listed to Fornell's side of his call.

"Okay which agencies have you ruled out in Los Angeles? … Even our office there? …. Okay go on … Hold on, let me ask," Fornell covered the speaker and asked, "You have an office in Los Angeles?"

Vamce was surprised by the question but he needed to know why before disclosing the OSP division out there. "Why?"

"They've traced the hack to a federal facility out there. They've already eliminated most of them but they did come across one they couldn't place that's why I'm asking?"

"Yes we do have an office there it's a satellite for the San Diego office. Why?" Then it hit him. They think the hacks are coming from a federal agency? Vance was now thoroughly not amused. If anyone at NCIS is involved in this, they are going to be out of a job.

Fornell went back to his phone call, "Yeah, NCIS has a satellite office in LA. … Okay … try and narrow it down. …Yeah I'll ask him … Alright keep me informed." He hung up his phone also not amused. "The hacks are either coming from a federal facility or a computer that belongs to an agency. We're still trying to narrow it down but whoever the hacker is, is good. I know I'm not implying you don't have some bad apples but if it turns out to be one of yours, I may have to arrest them."

"I'm well aware of that, Agent Fornell. Whoever it is would also be out of a job."

"Yeah, I know, I would really hate to slap the cuffs on one of our own," Fornell said.

"Me too," Vance agreed. "Oh that was Agent Jones on the phone she did confirm that Agent Bill Carson is running New York as well. So if you see his name in that list somewhere then we have a big problem."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I do have one favor, could you keep it under wraps that we're tracing the hack and that your office might get some scrutiny over it."

"For now, but we do have a very good geek out there and he will pick up on this quickly. I should have no problem coming up with an explanation though."

"Good,"

"I'll be in touch with your director in the event we may have to coordinate this if military and our personnel are victims in this mess."

"Agreed I'll let him know."

"Thank you Agent Fornell," Vance said shaking his hand.

"I'll be in touch then," and then he left hoping that no one in NCIS was involved.

NCISLA

Los Angeles

Kensi was in the armory doing inventory. She was enjoying the quiet and solitude of this task since it allowed her to think and clear her mind. She still hadn't figured out a way to fix things with Nell but was still working on that. The other reason why she was there was to give her some space from the guys. Yeah, Deeks was still recovering and so was Sam but from time to time they all needed space from each other. So it was quiet and no one could sneak up on her. She was almost done when she heard talking so she quietly studied the clipboard in front of her while she listened to the voices nearby. Kensi had to wonder if they even knew she was down there and listening. But she listened anyway.

"I need to restore the information I removed from those servers." The first voice was saying.

"Why," came the second voice.

"FBI's involved now. They managed to trace it out this way."

"Can they pinpoint it to you," asked the first voice.

"I'm the best, they'll never know it was me,"

"I hope your right …"

Kensi was stunned, she recognized the voices. What the hell are they up too, she asked herself, and if Hetty knows did she approve it. But by the sound of the conversation the answer was most likely no. The he two voices got quieter and the conversation became muffled so she couldn't hear what they were saying. But she was left with more questions now. She wanted to confront them but thought better of it. She would go to Hetty. This didn't sound right to her and she knew it. She blocked out the rest of the muffled conversation and stayed absolutely still trying to figure out how to approach Hetty with this. If Hetty did know, they it would be her fault that she overheard the conversation and Sam wouldn't help her and Deeks was still on medical leave. She had lost track of time before she realized that they were gone. She quietly peaked around the corner to be sure sighing with relief. It was late she would tell Hetty in the morning and didn't care about the consequences.

You are welcome to R&R.