Hour Game

Chapter 3

The morning was cloudy as Ashley James jogged along the beach trail, feet slapping on the pavement in rhythm with her song on the I-pod. Her ponytail swished from side to side.

She stopped near the Malibu Surfer Beach, pretending to catch her breath. Her eyes scanned grid by grid. She smiled fleetingly as she spotted Sean, in running shorts and tee, racing along with an excited Rex in tow. He managed to turn almost every female head on the stretch.

She stopped as her thoughts deviated in a different direction. She’d known him for six years, back when he’d been a liaison with DARPA’s Special Operations team, Sigma. A man with degrees in criminal psychology and criminal justice, it hadn’t taken their Director very long to recruit him. Five years ago, when he had lost his wife and daughter in a home invasion, he’d permanently resigned from the USSS, becoming a full member of Sigma. They’d become close, something she never would’ve predicted. He was a great guy, biggest heart she’d ever seen and if she hadn’t known that he’d been a former Secret Service Agent, she would’ve never guessed. He brought smile and laughter wherever he went. He knew how to make her laugh. She sometimes joked that he’d made mushy and destroyed the reputation of being the impossible-to-catch operative that Kate Blackwood was famous for.

As she watched him stop, she started running again, pushing her thoughts away. She knew in his heart, he wasn’t ready. Five years weren’t enough to make someone forget their family. Things like that took time to heal. And she wasn’t exactly the poster girl for healthy relationship. With one broken engagement and a few dead ends, she was anything but that.

Suddenly she stopped again. Huffing out a laugh she realized she was going crazy. Since when did she ever believe she could live the apple pie life? The only way she could retire permanently was with lead in her.

“I can’t believe it!” Eric’s wail reached them downstairs at the bullpen. Before the four agents could comprehend what had happened, the techie came running down, feet slapping like gunshots. Nell followed him, holding her tablet PC.

“What happened?” Callen asked sitting up.

“I can’t decrypt it. It’s like trying to catch grasshopper. The moment I managed to triangulate a location, it jumps to another. Neither can I pull out the IP address. It’s like I’m trying to catch a ghost. The only thing I managed to find that it was sent somewhere from the east coast.” Eric was on the verge of breakdown. It had never taken him more than 24 hours to crack the toughest of codes. Glasses askew, he stared helplessly at the group.

“That could be anywhere,” Deeks said.

“Then we have to go blind.”

They all jumped at Hetty’s voice. The tiny woman moved like a ninja.

“Considering what happened last time, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Sam said, before Callen could get any ideas and go lone wolf on them.

“Ah yes. But you’re forgetting something else Mr. Hanna. We do have a tiny bit of advantage. The sender has agreed to meet Mr. Callen on his terms. Even that tiniest detail we can use it to our advantage.”

Kensi turned to face the flustered techie. “Eric, can you trace where the message ends when Callen sends the reply?”

Glad to forget his recent failure, he said, “I can try. But it’s a very short window.”

“Hey Nell, can you pull up all the flights arriving from east coast in the last twenty four hours?” Nell looked doubtful. “That’s a lot of ground to cover. It could be anyone. But I’ll try.”

Eric had settled in his chair.

“Ready when you are, Callen,” he said, eyes narrowed at his desktop screen like he was about to launch a bomb.

Callen pulled out his cell phone, glanced at his team and typed in.

“Ready, Eric?”

“Yep.” He hit the send button just as the blond techie activated the tracer. They all stared at the blinking red dot that was Callen’s position.

The other dot never appeared.