CHAPTER SEVEN
"What's up?"
"Plans changed." Kenzi keeps up a calm exterior, but inside she's ready for anything.
"Where's Ben?" The man suspiciously looks around for his normal contact. This woman was a stranger to him and he knew from experience Ben handled these shipments himself.
"He got himself arrested... 'bout an hour ago. Dumb shit doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut when we got pulled over coming off the freeway."
"Arrested, huh? For what?" The man sees that the truck was still there so the cops hadn't seized it.
"He tried to tell that jack-ass cop how to do his job... then the next thing I know it's hands on, shoving and my partner is in cuffs for assaulting that cop!" She knows this is a pivotal moment and steps into the man's personal space to lower her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "We've been picked off right and left by the cops the last few days. If I were you, I'd be careful."
"Yea, yea... I heard about those other drivers. Guess we're just lucky they let you stay with the load."
"No... we're lucky I was able to convince that cop not to look at the cargo. This is my first run and I'm not about to let Riley know I lost his load."
The man suddenly takes her firmly by the arm and propels her towards the cab of the rig she and Ben arrived in. Without a wire to advise Deeks and Callen of this change, she just hopes they have her in sight because she doesn't know what's going to happen next. As she climbs up into the driver's seat, Kenzi glances down at the nervous man who pushed her up into the truck.
"You drive... and don't you lose sight of me, you hear! You draw any attention to this rig and it'll be the last thing you do, honey!"
"I'm not the one who got arrested, buddy... save your threats for those other idiots. Now let's get out of here."
Kenzi hopes the guys understands what's going on because there are several other trucks pulling in and out now and it would be easy to get confused. She fires up the rig and waits until her guide has gotten his own truck moving before falling in behind him. They wait their turn to exit the lot and get back on the freeway, heading further away from the coast. As they approach the exit she scans the surrounding streets in an attempt to locate the surveillance car. She doesn't see it and hopes they realize this plain white rig is part of the new, improvised plan.
Callen and Deeks are sitting in their car along the far side of the motel, waiting for Kenzi to make her connection. They'd seen the new plain white truck enter the back lot at the motel and park. The man showed too much interest in the Bishop rig to be a coincidence so as he made his way to the motel room on the end, they waited tensely for Kenzi to work her magic. After a few minutes the man grabs Kenzi's arm and pulls her towards the trucks. Deeks tenses in his seat, but he resists the urge to leap from the car and come to her aid.
Callen sees his partner's tension and brings him back to the big picture. "Sam should be back at the highway patrol substation with Schultz by now."
"Yea... I'd like to see that interrogation." Deeks relaxes back into his seat, knowing they have to let things play out to bring down the whole ring.
"Not sure there'll be much talking going on. Schultz knows he's done."
"Not to mention the humility of getting his ass kicked by my little Samurai Warrior." Deeks can't hide the proud note in his voice.
"You almost got the full experience in there, Deeks. Kenzi was in full warrior mode."
"Kenzi could never hurt me... I mean, yea, she was in attack mode... and she does have an impressive body slam goin', but she's just a feisty sex, kitten."
"You think so? I'll be sure to mention that to her the next time we're doing tactics training."
"No... don't do that. Not that I'm afraid of her or anything... but a girl has to have her illusions, right?"
Callen shakes his head in amusement, knowing Deeks' humor was just a cover for his true feelings. They may have each other fooled, but Callen has seen the looks passed between them. Their teasing was just a front to cover their attraction to each other. He just wonders how long they'll dance around before they decide to do something about it. Just then, Deeks points to the exit and they see the two trucks pulling out onto the roadway. As they move into the lane for the freeway on ramp, Callen puts the car in gear and rolls slowly forward.
Deeks switches back and for the through the frequencies on the CB radio, but doesn't pick up any chatter coming from the two trucks ahead of them. They have been following the rigs east up into the mountain pass between California and Arizona and the farther they got from civilization the less likely they were to have back up if they needed it. Callen has maintained a healthy distance behind them as the traffic thinned out to keep from being spotted, but Deeks worries it may be too far back with all the turn-offs from this smaller highway.
"Maybe we should close the gap some, Callen. We don't want to lose her now."
"Deeks, she's still up there. We don't want to blow her cover."
"Without a wire, we need to keep her in sight. I don't care if they make us at this point."
Deeks has a knot in the pit of his stomach as they come over the next hill to view the highway winding further into the mountains with no sight of either truck on the road ahead of them. He exchanges a glance with Callen who now guns the car and shoots up the road in an attempt to catch up to Kenzi and the other rig. With the winding road, they can't see too far ahead of them and Deeks wishes they had thought to ask the state's fixed wing surveillance plane. The trucks are about five miles ahead now and out of sight when they slow to make a turn off at an unmarked road that leads further into the hills.
Inside the interrogation room, Sam slams his fist down on the table in front of Ben Schultz, causing the man's eyes to jerk open once more. Schultz was still out of it from the beating he took and his pain was causing his attention to drift to thoughts of revenge.
"Riley! Who's his connection for the Navy cargo!?"
Sam and Schultz exchange a glance before Schultz pulls his swollen lips into a snarl of satisfaction. He remains silent and Sam realizes Ben Schultz will not betray his partner. Instead he says the one thing he knows will upset this big, tough federal agent. "Not the cargo you should be worried about... Riley knows the truth about your little pit bull bitch!"
Sam suddenly forgets about where he is and who may be watching outside the surveillance window,. He grabs Schultz by the throat and jerks him out of his chair, slamming him down on his back on the floor. Schultz groans in pain as his previous injuries are added to with these new ones. Sam kneels over him, ready to deliver the fatal blow, but the door suddenly opens and the highway patrolman is standing behind him. He takes a deep calming breath and brings himself under control once more. He grips Schultz's throat just tight enough to cause him to gasp, then softly delivers his threat.
"Kenzi can handle herself... as you know... but if one hair on her head is harmed because of your betrayal, I will make sure the rest of your life is pure hell!"
With that, Sam suddenly releases his prisoner and leaves him lying on the floor as he hurries from the room. Once outside, he pulls his cell phone and hits speed dial to update his partners on this new bit of information.
"Yea, Callen... Schultz told Riley that Kenzi was a cop!"
"Then this whole run could just be a set up to get rid of her." He says the words calmly, but Deeks picks up on the true meaning.
"Where are they now?" Sam feels the frustration of not being out there with his team to help.
"We're not sure… we're on highway seventy-nine, in the Cleveland National Forest area." Just then their car comes around a bend to expose a long stretch of the highway ahead of them. For as far as they can see, the road is empty and the implications of that are not lost on either man. "Uh... gotta go, Sam."
"Where'd they go, Callen?!"
Deeks worried voice is the last thing Sam hears as the call disconnects and he grabs ahold of the first patrolman he sees to commandeer a ride out to the Cleveland National Forest in the hopes of getting there before it's too late.
Much to their dismay they realize the Bishop rig exited the highway somewhere in these hills and they don't have a clue where. Callen slams on the brakes and puts the car into a violent, but controlled skid. When the cloud of smoke from the burning rubber clears, they are already rocketing back down the road in the direction they just came. Deeks can't believe this is really happening and angrily slams his fist into the dashboard, but refrains from flinging the long line of obscenities and accusations at Callen right now. They are both worried about Kenzi, after finding out Schultz betrayed them and lived up to the bad cop Deeks knew him to be.
As they are racing along the highway, Deeks keeps an eye out for the many unmarked roads leading away. He gives a hand jerk when he sees one and Callen breaks hard so they can assess the road for the possibility that the trucks went that way. Deeks quickly scans each road and determines they are not the right one with quick comments of 'too narrow', 'too straight, we would have seen the rigs' or 'not paved, we would have seen dust trails'. With each assessment, Callen floors the pedal again and they rocket off down the road in search of the next possible path that will lead them to Kenzi.
Due to their speed, Deeks almost misses the next roadway leading off to the right. He sees it as they are almost on top of it and shouts out his warning, "Road! On the right!"
Callen needs both hands tightly gripping the wheel as he suddenly slams on the brakes and puts the car into a slide to make the corner. Having just missed the ditch alongside the roadway, Callen guns the engine again and shoots down the roadway as he confirms what Deeks is already thinking.
"This has to be it! Windy, blocked by hills and trees... we wouldn't have seen them after they made the turn!"
"And its paved wide enough for the trucks to navigate. Go! Go!" Deeks is waving him on with his hand, while his foot presses into the imaginary gas pedal on his side of the floorboards.
"Deeks, let Sam know where we turned off... I got a feeling we're gonna need some back up!"
Deeks knows there wasn't any road sign designating this road, but he makes the call and gives Sam the approximate mile marker and the description of the turn off.
Deeks isn't familiar with this particular road, but he knows most roads that lead up into the mountains get very windy and hard to navigate. He just hopes Kenzi is a good enough driver to keep her rig on the road. He scans the terrain ahead in search of any indication the trucks have preceded them up this road as it begins winding up into the wooded foothills.
Kenzi has long since realized something is wrong. This small road up into the mountains couldn't lead to anything but trouble and she hadn't had a glimpse of Callen and Deeks following them for several miles now. Kenzi's knuckles are white as she grips the steering wheel, trying not to let her fear get the better of her on this winding mountain road. She tries to keep up with the driver in front of her, but at nearly 50 miles an hour her newly learned skills are being put to the test. The tires scream and the trailer bounces around another curve, but she manages to keep it on the road. She realizes help may not be close if Callen and Deeks missed this turn off and formulates a plan of action for whatever lies ahead of her on this lonely road.
Another mile down the road, the lead truck suddenly slows to make a sharp turn onto a dirt road which hardly seems wide enough to accommodate the big rig. She crawls around the same turn, hoping she doesn't get the rig stuck as she hears it scraping along the sides of the pine trees that line both sides of the road. A few hundred yards down the road, the trees suddenly open to reveal a large flat parking area next to some picnic tables and a safety fence surrounding a scenic overlook area. In the darkness, the headlights only illuminate portions of the area as Kenzi maneuvers the truck to a stop, but she can see there is nothing but darkness and a lot of nothing on the other side of the safety fence.
Before she can fully assess her situation, Kenzi's driver side door is yanked open and she comes face to face with the last person she wanted to see. Monk quickly grabs her ankle before she can react and jerks her out of her seat with an evil snarl.
"Ride's over, honey! Now it's time for some fun!"
Kenzi feels her blood run cold as she is yanked down into the arms of the man who wants nothing more than to finish his original instructions. She tenses against the arms holding her in a bear hug and jerks her hand up under his chin as hard as she can to break his hold. Monk grunts and his grip loosens only enough for her to spin around before the vice-like bands tighten again. The voice she hears next stops her struggles and fills her with fear.
"Now, now, Agent Blye, or should I call you Kenzi? There's no need to put up such a fight... although I think Monk here may prefer it." Chip Riley is standing a few feet away with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Kenzi stops fighting and tries to keep her voice from betraying her level of fear at seeing him here. She realizes Schultz double-crossed her and told them who she was... and they were here to finish what he started. "Well, Riley... you said you liked to handle things personally. I guess that means as long as you have one of your gorillas around to do the dirty work for you, huh?"
"You are one sassy dame, aren't you? Kind of like that... let it distract me for a bit, but Ben set me straight about you." He then looks over at the driver of the other rig, who was standing by for instructions. "Where is Ben?"
"She said the cops took him in for assaulting one of them. He was gone when I got there."
"Hmm... I bet he did more than assault you, Agent Blye. No matter. He was becoming a bit too careless with our operation. All those girls turning up dead wasn't good for business." He again turns his attention from his pretty captive to the other driver. "Take this rig... get it back on route to our buyers... and don't let anything happen to it, understood?"
The man nods his understanding as he steps past his boss and climbs up into the cab of the truck Kenzi had just been evicted from. Monk jerks Kenzi away from the truck to give him room to maneuver the rig around to face the small exit road. Kenzi knows she has to break loose from the crushing grip of Monk's overly muscled arms if she's going to stand a chance of surviving any of this. She once again renews her struggles and has just about gotten one arm free when a strong backhand across her cheek stuns her into immobility.
Chip Riley has moved in to deliver the blow and now towers over her slumped body, supported only by Monk's arms. "Nobody plays Chip Riley for a fool! By the time I'm done with you… you're gonna pray for a quick death. You hear me!?"
"You're... into trafficking contraband cargoes... organized prostitution... extortion… maybe even murder, but you haven't been a fool… until now." Kenzi shakes off the darkness that threatens to envelop her vision and brings her head up to meet his eyes as she delivers her only hope of surviving this. "You really think you can just 'make me disappear' like all the others? I'm not in this alone."
"Maybe, but right now they're running up and down the highway trying to find you. We watched them miss the turn off so don't count on anyone coming to save you."
"That won't fool them for long." She can only pray her brave words are in fact the truth. Would they realize their mistake and turn back in time?
"And by the time they find you… all that will be left are the burnt bones the buzzards will be picking over."
"That may be, but killing me will only bring a world of Feds down around your head."
"Not if they think I went over the cliff with you in this rig… I'll be free to skate out of here and start up my operation in another state."
"So that's your plan? Drive this rig over the lookout point with me inside?"
"Ingenious, isn't it?"
"Except for one detail..." As they have spoken, Kenzi has been slowly standing up straighter after recovering from the vicious blow that had her seeing stars. "It ain't happening!"
She knows it is now or never and slams her head backwards into her abductor's face, catching him off guard. His grip loosens just enough for her to jerk her arms up and break his hold. Then without hesitation, Kenzi spins around and delivers a hard fist to Monk's throat, causing him to gag and stagger back as his windpipe takes the blow. He drops to his knees temporarily defeated as he gasps and chokes from the blow.
Now in full defensive mode, Kenzi spins around to face the man she has no doubt is just as deadly as his employees. She turns just in time to see Riley lunging at her; far too close to avoid the contact, but she drops to one knee and tries to transfer his momentum up and over her. Her instinctive motion almost works, but as the force of his attack sends him sailing over her head, his knee makes contact with her left temple with a loud crack.
Kenzi groans in pain as she is thrown to the ground by the force and lies there momentarily stunned and dizzy. Her jaw explodes in sudden pain, but she doesn't allow it to control her as she struggles to her feet. Riley is just picking himself up after having the wind knocked out of him from hitting the ground so hard face first. Kenzi uses the only weapon she has at her advantage and takes off running. She quickly disappears into the darkness outside the illumination of the headlights and hopes to evade her pursuers until help arrives.