Set anytime in the series after Deeks joins the fun. Deeks has a secret.
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The fight/operation was a mere three days away when Hetty called everyone up to ops first thing in the morning. "Mr. Hanna, is Mr. Deeks ready?"
"He's as ready as he can be. He's a good fighter; he's going to make a real fight out of it."
"Good. Mr. Callen are you set?"
Callen nodded, "Yep. Deeks is listed on Wyler's list of people that he's bringing to the fight. Along with Tracy, Polson and Polson's medical attendant. This will give me and Kensi access to the backstage area to look around and see what's going on even during the fight. Eric? What's our camera and sound coverage like?"
"You and Kensi will have button cameras and mics but we need more cameras & mics placed around the building to get as much coverage as possible. You two can place those as you 'wander around' backstage. I've already tapped into the building's security cameras and the surrounding traffic cams."
Hetty nodded her head in approval. "Ms. Jones?"
"Me and my partner are completely backstopped, no holes to find." Hetty smiled at her.
"Who is Nell's partner, Hetty?" Callen asked.
"That would be me, Mr. Callen." Hetty looked at him expecting some comment or the other.
"What's your cover?" Sam asked.
"Ms. Jones?"
Nell pulled two ids up on the plasma before she spoke, "Ms. Elizabeth Smyth. She comes from old but quiet money. She enjoys gambling and has a long history of placing very large bets on just about anything. Usually she wins." Nell smirked.
"I'm putting my money on you Mr. Deeks. I suggest you don't let me down." Hetty gave him a pointed stare. Everyone in the room could see him blanch just a little.
Nell continued, "Miss Mary Brooks." She pointed to her own fake id. "Ms. Smyth's personal secretary. That way I can keep my tablet open and discreetly help Eric run facial recs, record conversations, keep track of the odds and betting lines without raising suspicions."
Callen was impressed with the cover. "Ok then. Eric, anything on who these guys really are? Can we confirm they're CIA?"
"No. The encryption is wicked good. I've never seen anything like it. Every time I get one section of it figured out, the encryption on the rest of the code changes just slightly. It's got some embedded virus that only effects its own programing. If you don't have the decryption key from the beginning, you change the encryption every single time you try to crack it." The frustration was evident on his face. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to crack it."
"Just do your best Mr. Beale." Hetty encouraged him. "Ms. Jones, anything on the company that sent the emails?"
"My news isn't any better than Eric's. I can tell you that the ids are fakes. There are some small gaps in their histories that a normal background check wouldn't reveal. I'm not sure the faces are even real. I've run them through every database; TSA, IRS, NSA, FBI and the rest of the alphabet soup of agencies including some CIA databases and I didn't get a single hit."
"How can that be?" Deeks asked.
"If they can digitally insert Brandon Lee into The Crow after he died just so they could finish making the movie…? It's really not that difficult to create a face with the right software."
"Ok. We can't take anything at face value…" He was interrupted.
"Nice pun," Deeks said and the group collectively rolled their eyes at the detective.
Callen pressed on, "Deeks, if this guy, Crew, is for real and just wants a fight he's going to be tough, but if he's CIA and he has to win…he might try to win any way possible." Pause as a thought occurred. "We need one more person on this, someone who can sit by Crew's corner and make sure everything stays on the up and up."
Sam came to the rescue on this one, "Polson. He's going to be there and we can ask him to sit on that side to keep an eye on the opponent."
"Won't they know what he looks like?" Nell asked.
"Exactly. If they know he's there and watching them, maybe they won't try anything. If they do, maybe he can spot it and let us know." Sam countered.
"I'm not happy about bringing a civilian in." Hetty shook her head.
"Polson already suspects there's a problem. He's been beaten and hit by a car and if you include the date change of the fight..." Deeks let that sentence hand there. "If Williams asked him to keep eyes on the other corner to ensure my safety, he'll do it. I think he already feels like crap about getting me into this mess." Deeks added his support behind Sam's idea.
"Hetty?" Callen was leaving this decision in her hands.
Hetty took a deep breath and thought for a moment, "Agreed. Observation only. Work out some way for him to let you know if he sees anything. A way that won't put him in harm's way."
"Ok. Anybody have anything else?"
Eric spoke up this time, "Two things: 1. The fight being recorded and 2. Placing the cameras. We can jam the broadcast from here but we can't stopped the cameras from recording. We need this little toy," Eric held up a small item that looked like a thumb drive, "in the control room where all the cameras feed to. I can remotely activate it after the fight and it erase all electronic recording devises within a 100' radius. Sam, you are going to have one as well. Right after they announce the winner, I'll activate them both and that should be enough to wipe out every electronic recording of the fight and Deeks' face."
"Why not prevent the recording from happening in the first place?" Kensi asked.
"It would raise suspicion. And they might postpone or delay the fight until the recording issue could be resolved. They need to record it and then we need to delete it." Nell explained.
"That's going to piss Jacoby off and I really think that's great but how are we going to get that baby in the room?" Deeks asked.
"You can do or rather Deeks'll do it." Callen let them know.
"Umm…yea…ok….how? I'm going to getting ready for the fight."
"No, Wyler's going to be getting for the fight. Deeks," he pointed to himself, "is going to verify that his client's best interests are kept in mind and check out the recording equipment." Callen smiled at him.
"You know, it's a good thing this is ending soon because I'm being think I've got a split personality." Deeks commented.
The team laughed at him. "Placing the cameras?" Eric asked.
"We'll split that up. Nell can place them when she and Hetty arrive. Along the halls and all areas the high rollers can access. Deeks & Sam in the locker room areas, Kensi around the ring & I'll place as many as I can until the fight begins or someone questions me. How many cameras do you need placed around the building?"
Nell supplied this information, "From what we've been able to figure out, about 15 cameras in order to cover all the areas. There are two blind spots in the high roller suite; the 4 locker rooms have cameras in the halls leading to them but not inside. So we'll need to get at least one camera inside each of the 3 remaining rooms. Kensi 'mistakenly' walking into each one should provide the cover she needs. There are some security cameras in the work areas of the arena but not many and those are mostly focused on the entrances and loading docks. We'll need the most cameras there. That's going to fall mostly to you, Callen. With the cameras recording everything that goes on in the arena area, we're covered there."
"Ok, does anybody have anything else?" When nobody had anything to add, "Ok. Let's get ready for this." Callen told his team. Hetty left to do whatever it was that Hetty did, which nobody really dared to ask; the field agents left ops to make sure they had everything they might need for this operation while Nell and Eric remained behind to make sure every little detail was covered.
Callen & Kensi went to the armory to check over their personal weapons and to decide which other weapons to have on their persons when the op began. "Do you think there's any way for me to hide my rifle in my bag?" Kensi joked.
Callen gave her a courtesy chuckle because when Kensi made comments/jokes like that Callen knew she was bothered by something. "Kens, what's bothering you?"
"I'm fine," automatically came out of her mouth.
Callen knew his friend & teammate enough to know that if he remained quiet there was a maximum of a 20% chance she might tell him what was bothering her. And a 100% chance of her not saying anything if he pushed. He wasn't Deeks after all. How that man got through to her, Callen would never understand.
He knew his 20% chance fell to 0% when she turned to him and smiled at him with a smile he knew was fake because he had seen it a hudred different times while she was working a suspect while undercover. She walked over to the maintenance table and started to strip her weapon and focus on cleaning it. Callen watched her for a moment to see if she would saying anything now but finally just shook his head and returned his attention to his own weapon.
Sam & Deeks went to the gym for their morning training session. Sam was bracing the heavy bag while Deeks worked punch & kick combinations when Sam wondered, "What kind of signal can we work out with Polson?"
"A hand signal?" Deeks offered without breaking his workout. "Like what you Navy SEALs use?"
"That's too obvious. It works in combat if your team is the only one looking at you, but in a crowded room, it doesn't work so well."
It was about a minute later when Deeks stopped his work out, "Sam? Have you ever seen a movie called The Sting II starring Jackie Gleason?"
"No. Would you focus here?" Sam indicated the heavy bag.
Deeks was focused but on the idea that was forming in his head. "I am. It's about a con artist, played by Gleason, set in the 40s I think. Anyway it's about a boxing match and organized crime. He's the mastermind behind the sting and to communicate with his crew of con artists they used ordinary hand signals, like rubbing your nose a certain way, to relay information to each other. It was quite ingenious really." Deeks was really liking this idea.
"Ok, but how would we work it? It's not like I can watch him the whole time or at any time really. I think I need to be focused on the monkey in the ring don't you?"
"Monkey? Really? Nice. You wouldn't have to. With Eric's camera feeds and Kensi in the audience, there's a better than fair chance one of them will notice if he gives a signal. They can relay that signal to you through your earwig."
"He would only need to learn a couple of signals, like if he sees them do something to his gloves or if it looks like they are planning something illegal." Sam was coming around to the idea. "We need to talk to him tonight; make sure he understands what we're asking him to do and that he agrees to do it." Sam continued.
"Oh, he'll agree." Deeks said right before he tried to catch Sam off guard by hitting the bag as hard as he could. Sam just scoffed at Deeks attempt because it didn't catch Sam off guard at all.
Nell and Eric were going over the layout of the location and marking where they needed the cameras placed in order to have the best coverage. After which they both went to work making sure the button cams, wall cams and mics were in perfect working order before heading out to give the appropriate equipment to the correct person.
The day of the fight dawned bright and beautiful in typical Californian style.