Solus

...

"Be at the boat shed in half an hour." Granger said one sentence and that was it.

As he parked in front of the boat shed at two in the morning, Deeks wondered why there was only one other car in the lot. He had never beaten any of them to a meeting before, but maybe he had driven faster because he was mad at having been awakened so early in the morning and ordered to come here and then cut off before being able to ask what was up. He had been surprised when he heard Granger's nasally voice on the phone. He really didn't like the guy. He reminded him of a ferret, and he especially didn't like how he treated Hetty. Letting himself in quietly, he was surprised to see Granger dressed in a suit and tie.

"You this formal all the time?" Deeks asked with an uncertain smile.

"Seems I am," Granger said. "And you never look like anything but a beach bum. Sit down, detective, I'm not interested in a 'Let's get to know each other' kind of conversation."

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Deeks asked. He stared down at his flip-flops as he tried to keep himself from following the question up with a smart-ass remark. He had thought of several, but knew they probably wouldn't be appreciated.

"There won't be anyone else joining us, detective." Granger watched him with a slight smile on his face, looking for his reaction. "Now, sit down. I have an assignment for you."

"Okay, and what assignment couldn't wait for morning?" Deeks asked. He hoped his annoyance was obvious.

"A secret one," Granger said.

"Aren't they all secret?"

"This one is just between you and me," Granger looked down his nose as he spoke and his eyes darkened. "I hope you brought a go bag, because this op starts now."

"Are you serious?" Deeks was stunned.

"I'm always serious, detective," Granger threw a file onto the table and then leaned back staring at Deeks. "You are not to mention this assignment to anyone else. Not to your partner, not to Callen or Sam or your little techie friends. And you are especially not to say anything to Hetty. In fact, you are not to have any communication whatsoever with anyone but me. Do I make myself clear, detective?"

"Yes sir," Deeks' tone had a sharp edge to it that Granger immediately picked up on and he leaned menacingly across the table to stare closely at Deeks.

"Just so you know, I've put your application to become an agent on hold until you complete this assignment. If I find out you spoke to anyone but me regarding this operation, I will make sure it never sees the light of day." Granger was smiling as he threatened. "Oh, and I also have the power to transfer your hot little partner across the country and I will if you cross me. Believe me detective, you do not want me as your enemy."

Deeks was furious, but he tried to keep himself under control. He immediately went into alias mode, treating Granger like he would any subject of an undercover assignment. Deeks would treat him like the enemy, knowing that for now he had to play along and he was good at playing along, at least for a while.

"Threaten me all you want, but leave Kensi out of this." Deeks voice was flat and cold and he thought he saw a flash of surprise show itself in Granger's eyes.

"I will if you do," Granger said.

Deeks nodded and gazed at Granger with a level look and waited for him to speak. Granger shoved the file folder over to Deeks and waited until he opened it.

"I want you to find this person and when you do, you bring her to me," Granger said. "She's involved with a drug cartel just north of the Mexican border. The details are in the folder. Since you have extensive connections with those types of people I expect you will know how to find her."

"Do you have an alias in mind?" Deeks flipped through the folder as he spoke and the whole thing made him very wary.

"Come up with whatever alias you want, or use an old one. I don't really care," Granger said.

"If I can't talk to my 'techie friends', as you call them, whose backstopping my alias?" Deeks asked.

"How much backstopping did you have at LAPD, detective?" Granger was not in a giving mood and Deeks was starting to get a bad feeling about this whole assignment.

"Not much, actually," Deeks looked up from the file and something clicked for him.

"This is personal, isn't it?" Deeks looked intensely at Granger and watched the man swallow hard.

"What this is, is an assignment from the Assistant Director of NCIS," Granger's words dripped with self-importance. "I hold your career in the palm of my hand, detective and if that isn't enough incentive, then think of your partner. You want me to mess with her life? Because I can."

Deeks could barely contain his anger as he stared at Granger's smirking face. He wanted to beat the living shit out of him, but he knew he couldn't. He just had to do as he was told in order to protect Kensi. So he swallowed his pride and got a tight grip on himself.

"How do I contact you," Deeks asked. His voice was flat and without emotion.

"Here's a burn phone," Granger said. "I've already programmed in my contact number. I want daily updates and I want fast results. I have reason to believe she's in danger, so I want her out."

"Is she an agent?" Deeks was looking at her photo as he spoke.

"That's none of your concern," Granger answered.

"Can you at least tell me what name she's currently using, cause I see several aliases in her folder?" Deeks was exasperated now and pushed Granger for more facts.

"I don't know," Granger said.

Deeks just stared at the man, trying to figure out if he was holding out on him or really didn't know. His instincts told him this was personal and that he would be hung out to dry if anything went wrong. He didn't like being threatened, but he had a feeling that it was normal operating procedure for Granger. He knew he didn't have a choice. The guy was his boss and he could ruin his life and Kensi's life, and probably would without a hint of remorse.

He went through the file more carefully, studying the face of the woman Granger wanted him to find. She was in her late twenties and beautiful in an offbeat kind of way. He thought she had to be an agent with some government agency, but without any input from Granger or research from Eric or Nell, he was flying blind.

"Do you have any information on the cartel she's with?" Deeks asked, not bothering to look up. He was barely keeping his voice civil as he probed for any information he could get.

"You're the undercover cop," Granger said. "That's for you to find out."

"You're just a wealth of information, Assistant Director." Deeks couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice any longer and he could feel his anger very close to the surface.

"Don't get smart with me, detective," Granger said.

"Or what, you'll fire me, and find some other undercover cop applying to be an agent to do this job?" Deeks' jaw clenched tightly as he finished and for the first time, he saw anger flash across Granger's face, but he covered it quickly.

"You surprise me, Deeks," Granger smiled and leaned back in his chair. "And here I thought you were just a doofus with a gun and the ability to pretend to be a drug dealer or arm's trafficker. I never got what Hetty saw in you, but maybe you're more than just a beach bum who's full of crap."

"You must already believe that or you wouldn't be sending me after your girlfriend," Deeks said.

"Here's a credit card for your use. Leave all your other credit cards and your phone with me" Granger stood as he threw the card on the table and held out his hand for Deeks' stuff. "I wouldn't want your tech in the polar bear pants to track you. Now if you'll follow me detective, I'll drive you to your new car." With that he walked out the door and Deeks followed, his flip-flops echoing off the floor.

...

"Is Deeks here?" Kensi asked as she rushed into the bullpen.

"Haven't seen him," Sam said.

"Me either," Callen had his nose in the newspaper and didn't bother looking up until Eric called down for them to come up to Ops.

"He's never this late," Kensi said quietly as they headed upstairs.

"He's probably surfing, Kens" Sam said as they walked into Ops.

"Ms. Blye, where's your partner this morning?" Hetty asked.

"I have no idea, Hetty, I'm sorry," Kensi knew Deeks would be in serious trouble if he didn't get his butt into work within the next ten minutes.

Hetty proceeded to brief the team on a new case involving the disappearance of a Naval Commander with a high security clearance. The briefing took almost a half hour, and they could all see that Hetty was starting to get very angry and they were all pretty sure who she was angry with. She had been cutting Deeks some slack since he returned to active duty over a month ago, but being this late was pushing her too far.

"I think that's smoke coming out of her ears," Eric whispered to Nell.

"What was that, Mr. Beale?" Hetty stared down the tech and he quickly looked elsewhere.

"Mr. Callen, find Mr. Deeks and send him to my office," Hetty left quickly and not in a good mood.

"Got any ideas, Kens?" Callen asked.

"He's not answering his phone and his car wasn't at his apartment," Kensi felt a chill and she was starting to worry that something had happened to him. He still wasn't a hundred percent recovered from the beating he took during his last assignment and she began to wish she had insisted he stay over last night.

"Eric, find his car," Callen said as he headed out of Ops. He was already thinking about the new case and Kensi knew it would be up to her to track down her partner.

"Kens, his car is at the boat shed," Eric said with surprise. "Let me check his cell phone calls."

"Why would he be at the boat shed?" Kensi was confused and waited impatiently for Eric to do his thing.

"The last call he received was at 1:30 this morning," Eric's voice dropped to barely above a whisper when he continued. "The call was from Granger. And Kens, his cell phone is still at the boat shed."

"Are they meeting there?" Kensi asked and Eric immediately checked all the security cameras.

"No one's there. I'll check everything after 1:30 this morning," Eric put the footage up on the big screen and Kensi quickly called Callen.

"Callen, you need to see this and so does Hetty," Kensi said.

When everyone returned to Ops, Eric ran the footage from the outside cameras at the boat shed.

"Deeks received a phone call from Assistant Director Granger at 1:30 this morning. Then he met Granger at the boat shed a half hour later." Eric reported.

"Where's the video footage from the meeting Eric?" Hetty asked.

"There isn't any Hetty," Eric replied. "All cameras and audio equipment were disabled during the meeting. All I have is Granger and Deeks leaving together in Granger's car. And before you ask, the GPS on his car was also disabled."

They all remained silent until Hetty broke the tension with an expletive.

"What the bloody hell is that man up to?" Hetty erupted in anger. "Nell, get Mr. Granger on the phone. I'll take it in my office." She stalked out, leaving the others confused and worried.

"Deeks will call me at some point," Kensi said. "I mean, why wouldn't he? He'll let me know he's okay and I'll just ask him to fill me in."

"I wouldn't count on that, Kens," Callen's mind was clouded in suspicion and the fact that he didn't like or particularly trust Granger, heightened his distrust.

"Eric, monitor Granger. I want to know who he calls, when he moves or when he shits his pants." Callen headed toward the door, but was stopped by Nell.

"Callen, Granger's not answering his cell," she said. "His voice mail message says he'll be out of touch for the next two weeks."

Sam stared openmouthed at Callen and then they heard Hetty's voice rise from her office.

"Bugger!"

...