Part 2
Callen's fears about incurring the wrath of Hetty proved to be unfounded. The next morning, just before 09:30, he had cautiously rolled in to Ops with Sam. He placed his bag beside his desk and looked over to where Hetty was pouring herself a cup of steaming hot tea. Better to get the scolding out of the way early, Callen thought as he made his way to her office.
Hetty heard her senior agent approach and placed the tea pot carefully back on its tray. She looked up briefly before reaching behind her for another cup and matching saucer. Gesturing for Callen to sit, she poured out a second cup of tea and pushed the cup and saucer in front of Callen.
"Mr Callen, I sent you to Russia on a fact finding mission. A legitimate fact finding mission to uncover information pertaining to the man believed to be your father, Nikita Reznikov. To protect your career you were given an alias, yet still you manage to attract unwanted attention. How do you explain this?"
Callen reached for the cup, cradling it in his hands which caused Hetty to frown slightly at his poor etiquette. The saucer remained on her desk. "Everything was fine until we reached Sheremetyevo Airport to come home. The flight was delayed and by the time it was called everyone was crowding to finally board. I don't know Hetty, something felt off. I felt like I was being watched but I didn't spot anyone. Then back here, just before passport control LAX airport police stopped me."
Hetty steepled her fingers and pursed her lips. "And what did they ask you?"
"They asked who I was, where I had been and why? I remained in cover and they eventually said that Russian police had arrested a man at Sheremetyevo who was caught photographing people. And by people, they meant me. They matched my image to my undercover passport and alerted LAX that I could be a person of interest - but the Russians have now gone silent."
"Hmm," Hetty pondered the situation. "This does pose a number of problems. You or rather Professor Greg Williams will have been added to a POI watch list which will make future travel to Russia problematic, certainly via commercial airlines and routes."
"I know. He's actually a useful alias but can you or Granger make a few calls? I'd hate to have to arrive in Russia and every other Eastern European country through back door routes."
"Noted Mr Callen," Hetty said. "I'll see what I can do. Now was any other information revealed or asked of you? I need to understand if your status as an undercover agent has been compromised."
Callen delayed his response by taking a sip of tea as he pondered how much information to reveal.
"What is it?" Hetty asked, sensing that Callen was holding out.
"They had documents that suggested that I – the professor – could be a Russian spy or a double agent."
"A suggestion that I hope you refuted Mr Callen, otherwise there is a whole other level of trouble heading your way."
"Of course I did. Deeks helped as well," Callen smiled. "He basically called the Professor boring and so obsessed with his work that he could never be turned."
Hetty smiled back at Callen. "Mr Deeks does have some unique attributes and an astute ability to read people and situations. I trust your alias was suitably boring."
"Boring, arrogant, patronising and annoying," Callen replied with a nod, and then quickly moved on to the question which had been eating him up during the night. "Do you think there is a connection between me looking for my father and this?"
"That is a very interesting question. But I am also recalling our conversation from a few weeks ago. You told me that Patterson knew about your past, probably from Janvier. You wondered if Janvier's next move would be to cast doubt on your loyalty to this country because of your family's background."
"And you think he's starting to put those plans into practice?" Callen sighed. Janvier's reach was proving to be very long. Even from prison he was still causing problems for Callen.
"It would seem that way," Hetty replied. "You need to take extra care Mr Callen. Janvier may have access to information about you that neither of us has, and he must also have a network of contacts on the outside to put his plans in to action. I will have Nell and Eric search for chatter relating to you and your known relatives and to continue background searches in to all of Janvier's associates and everyone he has come into contact with. Beyond that, there is little we can do."
"So I have to wait for Janvier to show his hand. Great," Callen said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, Mr Callen." Hetty shook her head slightly. "Now Eric said you managed to obtain the floor plans of the FSB headquarters..."
"Yes, a friend of a friend came through with some emergency equipment and data. I kept it all safe from Eric," Callen added quickly, after realising he had no option but to incriminate himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the thumb drive.
"And you kept this hidden where?" Hetty asked.
"Behind my belt buckle. Luckily they only patted me down and Eric made sure there was no trace of anything incriminating on his laptop – which the police still have, by the way."
"When Homeland Security finishes their forensic examination of the laptop, I'm sure they will be in contact to return it. Now Mr Callen, how is your shoulder?"
"It's pretty good," Callen responded honestly, rolling his shoulder to demonstrate his point. "I reckon I don't even need any physio, just send me for the physical exam and I'll be back in the field by the end of the week."
"Well well, you do sound optimistic," Hetty studied Callen. She knew he would rather avoid any further delays in returning to work and was inclined to believe that in this situation, he was probably correct.
"What can I say, I'm a fast healer," Callen said, shrugging his shoulders and with a sly smile.
"Yes indeed, Mr Callen." Hetty tilted her head slightly and smiled knowingly. "I will make a call and arrange an appointment within the next few days. Now, what to do with you during this week?" Hetty studied him and waited to hear if any super hero type requests would be made of her.
"If you trust me," Callen started, knowing the exact words to manipulate Hetty in to allowing him to get his own way. "Then I will work with the team and Ops on cases, work interrogations with Sam, maybe sit on a few stakeouts too."
"Hmm," Hetty responded, well aware of Callen's stash of verbal weapons that he cunningly used when required. "Would I be correct in assuming that you and Mr Hanna made up your differences prior to your trip to Russia?"
Callen nodded an affirmative. "And I even apologised, although I was in the right." Callen couldn't help but add the last few words, smirking as he did so.
A small smile drew at the edges of Hetty's lips. She had already spoken to Sam and was happy that Callen's apology meant the two of them were fine to be left alone in the same room. "In that case I agree to your return however with regards to participating in any stakeouts or tactical ops, I will have to review these on an individual basis. The last thing I want is for you to have time off for yet another injury."
"Thank you," Callen breathed in relief. He had certainly not been looking forward to arguing his case any further, knowing full well that he would most likely lose. "I'll go and check in with the guys then."
Callen placed the fine bone china cup and carefully back on its saucer on Hetty's desk and made his way back to bull pen, leaving Hetty to ponder over events from the past twenty-four hours. No matter how careful he was, she thought, her lead agent had a tendency to attract trouble like a magnet. It was true; there was little she could do to protect Callen when the threat was unknown. She just hoped that by keeping Sam close to him, any threat would be minimal.
.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A shrill whistle echoed through the bull pen, causing the team to look up at the balcony. Nell leaned against the rails and held their gaze before calling out that they had a new case on deck and walking back in to Ops. The team eased themselves to their feet and made their way up the stairs.
"What the hell did you do to Eric in Russia that he didn't want to summon us into Ops?" Sam asked Callen with a grin, entering through the sliding doors.
"Nothing," Callen said somewhat defensively, nodding to Eric as he walked to his usual position at the front of the interactive table.
"Yeah, right," chipped in Deeks. "I mean did you make him wear one of those big black and fluffy Russian hats, when he was drinking vodka and performing the Cossack dance?"
He looked at Eric whose face suddenly dropped in concern and he shot a worried look in Callen's direction.
Deeks caught a slight smirk on Callen's face and turned back in time to see Eric adjust his glasses before swivelling his chair so he was facing his monitor. "What? You didn't, did you Eric? Callen, did you record this, coz I reckon this would this would go viral in seconds?"
Callen stared at Deeks with a vaguely amused look on his face. "You know the saying, what happens in Moscow stays in Moscow."
"Wow, you two must really be party animals," Deeks shook his head. "I'd never have guessed. How come you didn't entertain me like that after the vodka you were knocking back last night?"
"You're just too special for that type of entertainment," Sam responded on Callen's behalf, causing the team to stifle their laughs.
"And just for the record I did not perform the Cossack dance, with or without the Russian hat," Eric now stood, holding his tablet in front of him and tapped at the screen.
"Yes but you did say Callen got you drunk on vodka..." Nell said cunningly.
"What did I tell you? Callen you are one sly dog," Deeks broke into a broad smile and he glanced knowingly between Callen and Eric. From the conversations the two of them had the previous evening in the bar, Deeks had very much gathered the impression that firstly, Callen could hold his drink, secondly that he was a hell of a lot more devious than he had ever realised and thirdly, that he had protected Eric admirably.
"New case, Nell?" Callen asked, changing the topic to avoid embarrassing Eric any further.
"Yes, thirty minutes ago we received a call that a Lance Corporal Kyle Mason had been kidnapped. He'd been granted two weeks shore leave from the USS Crossman which is docked at the Naval Base in San Diego. Mason was due to meet up with friends in Los Angeles yesterday but when failed to show, they called the base to check on him."
"So how do they know he was kidnapped?" Sam asked.
"I'm just coming to that Sam," Nell replied. She walked towards the large touch screen that covered the wall and tapped to enlarge a photo. "This picture was sent to Mason's rooming mate Lance Corporal Steven Barnes. As you can see Mason is tied to a chair and the newspaper he is holding is from yesterday."
"Why?" Callen questioned bluntly.
"We don't know yet." Nell continued, used to Callen's business like demeanour when he was focused on the job. "No demands have been made and there is nothing obvious in the photo to suggest where he might be held, by who or why?"
Eric took up the mantle. "Yesterday Mason went to Camp Pendleton to request an additional week's leave which was granted. He left there at eleven hundred hours and drove up the coast road to Huntington where he arrived an hour later. He parked up, walked to this cafe and disappeared." Eric swiped grainy video footage of a tall muscular young man entering the beach cafe just after midday. "A delivery van was parked out back and is seen driving away five minutes later. Staff reported the delivery driver burst in the back at gunpoint, overpowered Mason and dragged him to the van."
"Mason had been working with the experimental Laser Weapon System which was recently installed on the USS Crossman." Nell added.
"But that's common knowledge," said Kensi. "That weapons system has also been installed on several other weapons destroyers and it's technology other countries already have."
"Several weeks ago the vessel returned from testing in the Pacific and there's already been an attempt to infiltrate the destroyer," Nell said.
"The attempt was by Peter Rogers," Eric continued seamlessly, swiping a photo of a white man in his mid thirties on to the screen. "He was a private contractor working for C-1 Enterprises who are upgrading the power grid used by the Laser Weapon System. C-1 has been working in partnership with the DOD for twenty seven years without issue so this has really damaged the relationship. Rogers was discovered in unauthorised areas, detained by the military police and on further investigation they found large deposits of money in an offshore bank account and highly sophisticated encrypted emails. So far the other email address has proved untraceable."
"What's Rogers' background?" Kensi asked.
"Well he travelled to Russia after finishing at MIT. When he returned to the States he took a few low paid jobs in call centres for telecoms companies and in 1999 started at C-1. He was fully vetted and his time in Russia was deemed not to be a threat. They continued to monitor his electronic communications, personal travel, family, bank accounts but never found any reason to doubt his loyalty." Nell scanned the team for a reaction.
"Obviously not well enough," Deeks said referring to the fact the MPs had found hidden bank accounts.
"So the Russians have been sitting on him for all these years for an opportunity like this?" Sam asked the rhetorical question.
"Always the Russians," Callen muttered, shaking his head.
"Getting back to Mason," Kensi said. "Has there been any ransom or demands received?"
"Nothing so far," Nell replied. "The DOD has asked for NCIS involvement as Mason's uncle Jeremy Mason, is Senior Engineer in the Measurement Science Department at NAVSEA in Norco, Riverside County."
"And based on the earlier attempt, the DOD believes Russia is behind this?" Callen asked.
"You've got it in one," Eric had a wry smile on his face, realising how deflated Callen must be feeling to be handed this case after the events of the past week.
"Right, Kensi, Deeks – take a drive out to Norco to see Mason's uncle. Sam and I will pay an old friend a visit."
"On it," the other half of the field team replied and moved closer to Nell and Eric to secure the finer details about NAVSEA and Mason's uncle.
Sam and Callen exited ops and headed downstairs.
"So which of your 'old friends' are we seeing?" Sam asked.
"I thought we might start with our friend Boris at the Russian Consulate," Callen said.
"Yeah, well he wasn't too helpful last time," Sam recalled. "And what d'ya mean 'start with'? Guess that means Arkady's next on your hit list."
"Yep," Callen replied, glancing over at Hetty's desk.
Hetty met Callen's gaze and nodded her head slightly. Callen replied in kind and turned to follow Sam out to the Challenger. Hetty had already warned Callen to be exceptionally cautious earlier that morning and the nod was another reminder that he needed to take extra care. Callen wondered whether the fact there was Russian involvement in this case was significant or if he was being too paranoid. In his experience, coincidences rarely happened and his paranoia was usually justified. He just hoped this time he was wrong.
Many thanks to everyone for continuing to read and review. Taking the time to comment is always appreciated and helps with the motivation to finish this one.