Hour Game

Chapter 5

Callen ran as fast as his feet could take him. Beside him, Ashley James sprinted like a cheetah. Whoever had shot at them hadn’t been her doing. Which begged the question who she really was.

She was talking on her comm.

She stopped as they reached the edge of the beach.

“Where’s your people? Agent Hanna?” she asked, looking around. He wasn’t surprised. Ashley James had done her homework.

A loud throttle caught his attention. He whipped around just in time to see two masked men jump out of a black sedan, holding Heckler and Koch MP5s. James had seen them too. With inhuman speed she leveled her Beretta and shot one, Callen took out the other.A third exited from the passenger seat. He too went down in a volley of closely packed bullets.

“You okay, G?” Sam called, pushing the fallen weapon away.

Callen glanced at Ashley before replying, “Yeah. I’m okay.”

For the first time anyone could remember, the newcomer was taken straight to the OSP HQ.

And Ashley James wasn’t alone. Riding shotgun in her rental was Sean Winchester and Rex.

Hetty was waiting for them when the three cars slid into the alley.

“Nice digs,” Sean commented eyes scoping out the place out of sheer habit.

“Wait till your inside,” Deeks said, sounding very much like a proud new homeowner.

Hetty however, smiled, and shook Ashley’s hand in both of hers.

“My dear, it’s been a long time.”

Ashley smiled, patting their hands with a free one.

“It has, Hetty. Ghosts have crept out of graves.”

At that, Hetty laughed. They all followed her inside to the bullpen where Eric, Nell and Nate were standing.

“Am I the only one who feels like I missed an entire season of the show?” Deeks muttered.

“Nope,” replied everyone, including Sean. Rex barked and lifted himself on his rear legs and gave Hetty a rather wet welcome.

“Ooh, Rex. It’s good to see you, my boy,” Hetty said rubbing the massive dog.

Then she turned to her agents and said, “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Special Agent Katherine Blackwood, otherwise quite famously known as-”

“-‘The Shadow’,” Nell finished, eyes wide. Even Nate straightened up.

Kate laughed. “Before I continue, is there a restroom I can use? I think it’s quite insulting if you know me and not how I look. It’s evident you value undercover security as much as I do.”

Kensi spoke up. “Sure, this way.”

As the two women walked away, Hetty turned to Sean.

“I received an urgent call from Director Vance telling me an escaped bio-terrorist. And then from none other than the Secretary of Defense himself stating two of their agents were here in L.A.”

“Petrov Karlov is much more than just a terrorist. He’s a mad man who’s hell bent on wiping the population with a virus. But it’s a classified file,” Sean said, glancing at the others.

“Yes I know. I also spoke with your Director, Painter Crowe. And according to him, since both his top agents are here and Petrov Karlov’s men were found here, this will be a joint operation between Sigma and NCIS. Eric, lead everyone up at the Ops room.”

They all followed the techie upstairs.

Nell looked ready to burst. Before she could herself, she sidled up to Sean and said, “The Shadow, I mean Agent Blackwood is known to work alone. How is it like working with her?”

“At first it was like ramming into the Great Wall of China. But it takes time.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Sam commented, flicking his eyes towards Callen, who shook his head, amused.

Eric was on the phone. He put it down, and faced the rest of them.

“Surveillance and traffic cams pulled this up. Five minutes before Callen, Sam and Agent Blackwood shot the men. The gunfire wasn’t aimed in drawing you out,” he said, replaying the few angles of the scene. “The man that was killed- a Marine named Tyson Jacobs. He’s was-”

“One of his custodial detail,” Sean said, voice grim.

“You knew him?”

“He was my contact when we first began hunting for Karlov,” said a voice, as the doors to the Ops room slid open.

The woman that walked in bore no resemblance to the one that had left with Kensi. Dark copper hair tumbling down to her waist in loose curls; Kate Blackwood was ivory skinned with high cheekbones and stormy grey eyes flecked with gold.

“Jacobs was on tail. He survived the shootout in Utah where Karlov’s men sprung him, traveled to L.A. under the alias Ross Brandon.”

Nell typed furiously and sure enough, Ross Brandon popped up on the TSA list of incoming flights from Dallas.

“So gentlemen, and ladies, this is now officially a joint operation,” Hetty said, looking at all of them.