Paranoia or Reality

Paranoia or Reality Chapter 33

Time was crucial for everything, in Sam Hanna's mind. For a mission to be successful, the planning, researching and scheduling every inch of the tasks had to be down to the second. The SEAL training was imbedded into him like his own DNA. Everyone on his team had to have their watches set to match his, otherwise it opened up holes for failure, and Sam didn't believe in deficiency when lives mattered.

However, no matter what depths of planning they delved into and went over again and again back at the apartment, nothing prepared them for surprises. His jaw set hard as he looked at the lifeless body of his temporary partner whom Director Vance had arranged. They had a mole within their agency again, and this time it wasn't on the West Coast, but their head office in D.C. Special Agent Tom Grasby had been a bad seed, placed in Russia in time to betray his team when they needed all the help they could get on the ground in mainland Europe. Although Tom had been tall, he was thin and weak in comparison to the former Navy SEAL, and had tried to overtake Sam on his way to the General's location. To strangle him no less.

Sam scoffed at Grasby's inept skills. If you were going in to take down someone with Sam's training, you needed someone stronger, smarter, and just as well trained. Now, Sam had a body to dispose of, and no way of alerting Gibbs and Deeks, that they were possibly burned before they reached the property of General Kuznetsov.

Thankfully under the shadow of night, and the fact that they were all dressed in black, it was an easy task to dispose of Grasby's body inside a dumpster out back of a restaurant. He didn't see any cameras, but Sam didn't take any chances and kept his head down, just in case.

Free from his betrayer, Sam decided he needed to find Gibbs to warn him. He was his closest ally, and he hoped Special Agent Stephanie James wasn't a rogue agent like Grasby, and that Deeks was safe. He had no idea about Special Agent Shawn Evans who was with Gibbs, and he had his adrenaline pumping through him, hoping that only Grasby had been the bad apple.

Sam pulled a map out of his inside jacket pocket and looked at where Gibbs should be at that moment. He double checked his watch, and figured out his fastest route to where he would find him. He hoped he made it before Gibbs' reached the General's property. He took off across the park and hoped no one thought him suspicious as he ran as fast as his legs would allow. Keeping his head low, he holstered his jacket up around his neck to hide any detail of what he looked like, if anyone searched him out on security cameras.

With his black beanie firmly in place, he moved swiftly down a couple of streets before pulling up behind two figures wrestling in the shadows under a large tree. Sam recognised Gibbs immediately, and realised Evans was attacking Gibbs. He bolted towards them and pulled Evans off Gibbs, who at sixty-nine should be retired. But the older man remained working, what else was he going to do in his retirement? How many boats can one man build in a basement?

Sam punched Evans hard on the face and the man went limp in his hold.

"Where's Grasby?" Gibbs looked behind him.

"Dead. He tried to strangle me."

Gibbs arched his brow at the ridiculousness of their situation.

"No joke." Sam looked at Evans. "I'd hoped Grasby was the only bad apple, looks like we better find Deeks and fast."

"We need to hide Evans."

Sam looked around them. "Let's place him on a park bench, let people think he's intoxicated."

"It will work." They lugged him to the nearby bench seat and laid him down. Carefully scanning the area, Sam took a greedy breath and looked at the map again. "Deeks and James were coming in from this end. The south is more built up, more chances of being seen by witnesses."