Hour Game

Chapter 6

“Grayson Edward Callen,” Sam said, saying each word slowly. “It kinda suits you, you know.”

“Suits me?” Callen asked.

“Yeah. You look like a Grayson. Gray Callen. Ha!”

“What?”

“Gray. It’s pretty much your job description.” At that Callen had to grin. He glanced at Kate Blackwood who was busy talking to Hetty. She had tied her hair in a no-nonsense braid, and donned a black jacket over a grey vest.

“You okay, G?” Sam asked, before he added, “Gray?”

Callen turned his gaze away from the two women. “Yeah. I’m good.”

Sean walked over to them, shutting the phone.

“That was out Director. He’s sending over some stuff and momentarily de-classifying all of Karlov’s files. You want to solve Jacobs’ murder and we need Karlov, DOA.”

“Who’s a good boy, huh? That’s right. That’s a good boy?” They all turned around to see Deeks rubbing Rex’s head and making cooing noises. And Rex was stoically sitting and trying to ignore him.

“Deeks, if I were you, don’t mention the B word,” Sean warned.

Deeks looked up. “What B word?”

“The thing that makes up a skeleton. Trust me. You do not want a 70 plus pound husky stalking you for weeks. And I’m deadly serious. I learned the hard way.”

Deeks looked at Rex who looked at him wolfishly. Then stretched his jaws and yawned, showing off massive set of canines. Sam laughed.

“Point taken.”

Eric’s whistle stopped any further conversation.

“Got something,” he called down.

They all hurried upstairs, Kate joining them a minute later with Hetty in tow.

“Kaleidoscope spat out this. Taken at an intersection in Venice twenty minutes ago,” Nell said, playing the footage.

Two black Escalades with tinted windows and no license plates pulled in the corner. Several men exited, their bulging jackets a dead giveaway for concealed weapons. Two of them kept guard, while the rest went in.

“Do you have any cam from a different angle?” Callen asked.

“Right up,” Eric said, tapping into a storefront camera.

“Chili Peppers,” Deeks said, raising an eyebrow. “Something tells me they aren’t here for the local cuisine.”

“No, they are not,” Kate said slowly. She looked at the footage closely, eyebrows furrowed. Then she hung back. “Look at the side of the Escalade. See anything? Eric, zoom in on the second SUV, rear tires.”

The bumper sticker flashed out like a neon sign.

“Viatus Corp.,” Sean breathed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Nell pulled up the website of Viatus Corporation on the screen.

“Viatus Corp. headed by a Ronald Freidman. Formerly a Norwegian citizen, moved to the U.S fourteen years ago to expand his chain of business including Viatus. Interpol has been interested for a longtime but without any proof hasn’t been able to serve any reason for shutting it down.”

“And here’s why,” Sean said. “Nell, DARPA file BorneoOmega6586Gandalf. No spaces. Key code 00987JackDanielsRetro67. What?” he said, noticing Kate’s amused grin. “You told me I could choose any key code.”