New story… Just something that's been running through my mind for a while now, so let's see how this goes.
Let's begin… don't own anything.
"Last night around 10 o'clock a bomb went off at a house in downtown LA, the house is used as an orphanage for girls and run by a Miss. Olga Romahoven. A Russian immigrant whose been running the orphanage for 15 years and according to school records there are 10 girls living in the house." Nell said as she typed away on her tablet.
"But only 8 of the girls were home at the time of the bombing." Eric added.
"So why is this a case for NCIS?"
"Because Mr. Callen along with the girls in the house, LAPD found the bodies of 6 Marines." Hetty said as she entered OPS.
"So how many bodies did they find?" Kensi asked.
"16 bodies in total." Eric answered not looking up.
"So we're still missing two girls but the biggest question is why were there 6 Marines visiting an orphanage that late at night." Callen said to the team.
"Large amounts of money is being deposited into Olga's bank account but we're still trying to find the source of the money." Nell added.
"But for now we need to find the two missing girls." Sam spoke for the first time.
"We might have a lead on one of them. She's a part time student at UCLA and she swiped her student card to get into the library last night." Eric said as he brought up the picture.
"Deeks, you and Kensi go and pick her up; take her to the boat shed and question her, maybe she'll give you something that will help us. Sam and I will go see what we can get out of LAPD." Callen said to the team.
"What's on your mind big guy?" Callen asked as they were driving towards the crime scene.
"Trying to figure out why a Marine would be at an orphanage late at night, especially if you don't have family in the area."
"Well one thing is for sure… There is something fishy about this case."
"Are you sure it's not you bottom lip your smelling?" Sam said with a smile.
"Joelle doesn't eat fish." Callen said as they pulled up in front of the crime scene.
LAPD didn't have much and was happy to hand over the case to them.
"Doesn't look like a terrorist attack." Sam said as he picked up a blasting cap.
"But why blow up an orphanage?" Callen said as he took out his phone, "Eric, can you check the Marine's backgrounds? Try to see if you can connect one of them to this."
"Will do and by the way, we traced the money back to a company in Russia. They're paying the orphanage's bills and then the money the US government gives them, they run through the books to make it look legit."
"Thanks Eric."
"Money traces back to a company in Russia." Callen said to Sam. "C4?"
Sam just nodded. "Let's hope Kensi and Deeks has better luck than us." Sam said as they walked back to the car.
"Deeks, close your mouth before you swallow a fly." Kensi said as she and Deeks walked towards the library.
"You know I can't resist a beautiful woman, Fern." Deeks said with a wink.
"There she is, please don't scare her." At that Deeks just gave her a hurt look. "Clara-Marie White?" Kensi said as she took out her badge.
"Yes." The girl answered.
"NCIS, we need you to come with us."
"Okay, may I ask what this is about?"
Kensi and Deeks just starred at the girl, "We'll explain everything if you come with us."
The drive to the boat shed was quiet, only now and again would Deeks ask a question towards Clara. After settling her in the interrogation room, did they tell her about the bombing and the deaths. Clara didn't said anything the whole time and what shocked them more was that she didn't even look all that upset about the news. After about an hour of trying to get her to talk, they decided to leave her alone and see what the rest came up with.
"Did she give you anything?" Callen asked as he saw them walk out of the small room.
"Nothing and to be quite frank, she doesn't even look that upset about the news." Kensi answered them as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Maybe the shock will settle in soon." Sam said as he looked at the girl on the big screen.
"Unless she has something to do with this." Deeks said before they heard the door open.
"Hetty, Granger what are you doing here?" Callen asked.
"Any luck with the girl?" Granger asked, ignoring the question.
"No, she doesn't talk much." Kensi answered before she took a sip of her coffee.
"Maybe I'll give it a try." Hetty said as she walked towards the small room. Everybody just starred at the little woman walking away.
They all look at the big screen as they heard the door open and saw Hetty walk in. Clara just looked up and rolled her eyes when she saw how walked through the door. Hetty made herself comfortable, looking Clara up and down.
"How are you my dear?" Hetty asked with a smile. Clara didn't answer and just kept her eyes down. "Clara, I can't help you if you don't tell me what going on." Hetty said a bit harshly towards the teenager.
"And why would you care now, Hetty?" Clara said in a whisper.
"Clara…" Hetty said shaking her head, a little ashamed.
"No, don't pretend that you care. I haven't seen or heard from you for almost two years and now you care?"
"Clara, you've always been in the back of my mind. Just because you don't see or hear from me, doesn't mean I don't know how you're doing." Hetty said as she leaned forward, placing her arms on the table. "That's why I want to know what happened."
"I don't know what happened." Clara whispered.
"Clara, is there someone out there that wants to hurt you?"
"I don't think so."
"Clara, 6 Marines were killed in the blast. Have you seen them before?" Hetty asked as she placed pictures in front of the teenager.
"I'm not allowed in the house when the girls have clients. Olga said it's like showing a guy a car he can't drive or touch, so she sends me away." Clara said while playing with the sleeve of her shirt.
"Now we know why the Marines were in the house." Callen said.
"So you don't work anymore?" Hetty asked.
"I don't have any Marines on my books if that's what you're asking. Haven't had one in almost 4 years." Clara said still not looking up.
"Clara, want to tell me about the account in your name."
"What account?"
"The account with almost 10 million in it, money you'll get when you turn 18."
"I don't know about any account. Hetty I promise you I really don't know what you're talking about." Clara said looking at the old lady in front of her.
"Clara does the name Joan-Jacques Phillips sound familiar?"
"He's… he's a Russian businessman."
"And one of your clients. So want to tell me why he would start this account for you?"
"He's a friend how helps me out a lot. He's the one that convinced Olga to let him handle my clients. But before you think badly about him, he cares Hetty. He sees me as a human being, not as a rag you through away after you used it. It's never about sex with him and his friends, they talk to me like I'm human, run ideas by me and listen what I have to say about it and takes it to heart. They share things with me and they always listen when I tell them about school and my studies."
"Clara, what happened that night you were admitted to hospital 4 years ago?" Granger asked as he came in.
"JJ wanted to take me away for the weekend but Olga told him I can't see clients this weekend because I have too much homework and exams are next week. He knew something was wrong, as she never made excuses for clients not to see the girls. JJ arrived at the house and demanded to see me that's when he found me and took me to the hospital. A Navy officer used me as a punching bag – four broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, concoction, broken wrist, busted lip. After that night, he made sure I would never be hurt again by someone thinking he's better that me."
Sam hit his hand on the table and got up, walked away. The team could see he was taking the news that Navy Seals and Marines were hurting kids, badly.
"So he started the account for you so you have something for when you finish school? What then?" Granger asked.
"I don't know why he started the account. I didn't even know about it till you told me about it. And as to what will happen after I finish school… I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know! I thought you were smart but that answer you just gave me is like this whole situation, stupid." Granger snapped.
"Do you know what they do to the girls they don't need anymore?" Clara snapped back. "They don't care about us, every one of us is replaceable. They killed Astrid, just like that because she's graduating high school and she was too old." Clara said with tears in her eyes.
"Clara…" Hetty tried to say.
"No, you're just like them. All of you! When you're done using someone, you through them away. I'm next on that list when I graduate but you don't care, you just want justice for those Marines. You don't care about 8 prostitutes!" Clara yelled at Hetty.
"That's enough Clara-Marie!" Hetty said in a stern voice. "We want to get the person who did this, not just to put them away for killing those Marines but we want justice for those girls too." Hetty turned to Granger, "well that's what I want and I think my team would agree with me on that." Granger just nodded his head, yes. "Good, now Clara can you think who would want to hurt you guys?"
"I just told you, I don't know."
"Have you seen this before?" Granger asked as he placed an evidence bag with a melted key and a butterfly key chain attached, on the table.
"That's mine. I gave it to Kayla because she and some of the girls finished school early and Olga went to the bank so the house would have been locked." Clara said.
"Why do you have a key?"
"Because I'm the only one how sees clients outside the house, so Olga gave me a key."
"Hetty may I speak with you outside?" Granger asked as he turned towards the door.
"I'll be right back my dear." Hetty said with a smile towards Clara.
"What was that about?! You know her?" Callen asked as soon as Hetty and Granger came out of the interrogation room.
"Mr. Callen now is not the time for this. We need to find a killer and frankly my history with this child has nothing to do with any of this."
"Nothing to do…" Callen started but he was cut off by Granger.
"I agree with Hetty, her history with Clara doesn't matter. What matters now is that we find the person how's responsible for the bombing. Now let see what we know; Clara wasn't at the house the whole day yesterday but her keys were found at the crime scene. She the only girl how has the freedom to come and go as she please, so what makes her so special?" Granger said.
"She's the money cow." Nell's voice came from the big screen.
"How so?" Hetty asked.
"She gets paid more than any other girl in that house and they don't want to lose her. She's graduating from high school soon and we just found her acceptance letter to Harvard. If she leaves they need to find another girl to fill in for her. But that's not the main reason, we think. LAPD has been on Olga's trail for a while now. A teacher at the school saw marks on one of the girls and asked Olga about it but she brushed it off. But when the teacher saw marks again a few weeks later, she phoned the police. They went to the house but found nothing wrong but three days later they found a body of a young girl in a dumpster a few blocks away from the orphanage."
"So Clara was right, everyone is replaceable." Kensi said.
"The one thing that's still bothering me," Sam said as he walked into the boat shed, "How did the Marines know that the orphanage is also a broth hole? It's not like you can walk in there and tell them you're looking for a young girl for some fun."
"Word of mouth." Eric answered, "One of Clara's clients invite a Navy Corporal to dinner and that's when he told him about the 'little friend' he has and he introduced Clara to him. He wanted someone a little bit younger that Clara, so he spoke to Olga and she arranged everything." Eric said.
"So maybe something went wrong with a deal between Olga and a client." Deeks said, "You know pimps, they always want more money for their girls."
"You'll know." Kensi said with a smirk.
"Maybe Deeks is right. Eric see if you can find the list of clients, I don't care what rank they are or who's their friends." Callen said.
"Will do."
"So what do we do with her?" Callen asks.
"We keep her with us for now but let's show her that we care and get justice for her friends and those Marines." Hetty said as she walked back towards the room.
"Nell, can you see if you can find anything on this girl that will help us find her family?" Sam said to the red headed analyst.
"Sure, everyone has a family out there somewhere." She answered with a smile.
"Can I get you anything, my dear?" Hetty asked the young girl as she poured tea for both of them.
"Just my bag please." Clara said as she took her cup of tea from Hetty.
"Ms. Blye can you bring Clara's bag in here, please?" Hetty said out loud.
A few minutes later Kensi walked in with a bag of Chines take away and Clara's bag. She placed it and a bottle of water in front of Clara with a smile. Clara said thank you with a smile and started to open the food.
"Harvard?" Hetty asked as she saw Clara take a bit of the spring roll.
"You always told me that I'm the smartest person you know, so I wanted to see if I can get in there and I did."
"You're still the smartest person I know and believe me my dear, I work with a lot of smart people." Hetty said with a smile.
"I can see that but the blond shaggy one looks like he can use a shave." Clara said with a smile.
"What's wrong with my scruff?" Deeks asked around a bit of noodles.
"Nothing, maybe you can just trim it so it looks less scruffy." Kensi said as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"Or you can just get rid of it. Maybe that will make you look more like an agent than a child we're babysitting for LAPD." Sam said with a smirk.
"Noted." Deeks said before he turned his attention back to his food.
Clara finished her food and placed all the empty containers into the bag. She sat back down and started to take her book out of her bag before she turned towards Hetty with a smile, "Is it okay if I finish my project or do you need something more from me?"
"I think I would rather you do your homework, we have everything we need from you for now."
"Hetty…" Clara looked at the older woman, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Its fine my dear, as long as you know I always have you best interest at heart." Hetty said before she left the room.
"Ms. Jones, anything news?" Hetty spoke into the phone.
"Maybe, someone has been looking into Clara's history also but we already know everything about her. Her mother left her on the steps of a church in Moscow when she was only a few hours old. A nun found her and took her in and raised her in the church until she passed away when Clara was four years old. After that Olga brought her to the US and she's been excelling in school ever since then, she's got a full scholarship to Harvard to study…"
"Criminal Phycology and Behavior." Hetty finished Nell's sentence as she walking to the main area of the boat shed were everybody was sitting.
"Hetty, I think I found the person how's been looking into her past. A private PI named Paul van Rooyen, sending you the address of his offices here in LA." Nell said.
"Thank you Nell." Hetty said as she closed her phone.
"Nell just send you the address of a PI how's been looking into Clara's past. Mr. Callen, Hanna you go and pay him a visit." Hetty said as she turned on her heel and left the boat shed.
"Okay, looks like you two are on babysitting duty." Sam said as he got up.
"Great maybe I can convince her that my scruff is cute." Deeks said.
"Let her do her homework and no candy for the two of them." Sam said in his dad voice, pointing towards the screen and Kensi.
Kensi just looked at Sam and pouted before Sam turned and left with Callen.
"Paul van Rooyen? NCIS, we need to talk to you about Clara-Marie White?" Callen said as he showed his badge to the man in a suit.
"Don't know how that is?" Paul said with smirk.
"Don't make me wipe that smirk off your face with my fist." Sam warned.
"No need to get violent, why are you looking for her?" Paul asked again.
"So you do know who she is?" Callen said.
"Maybe but my memory isn't what it used to be." Sam just gave him a look, "But the name sounds familiar. Let me see… brunette, about 5'5", turning 16 soon and has sea blue eyes?"
"That's her, now want to tell us who paid you to look into her?"
"That's private. I have a client to protect."
"Well, your client is interfering with a Navel investigation. Maybe we should arrest you and your client for rape and sexual assault of miners, what do you say Sam."
"Sound about right, don't forget murder."
"Murder? Just hold it right there…"
"No, you listen to me now… 16 people are dead. So you tell me how paid you to look into this girl or I'll make it 17 people dead." Sam said as he grabbed Paul shirt.
"Lt. Michael O'Neill. He paid me to look into Clara but I don't find anything."
"Were can we find him?" Sam asked, still in Paul's face.
"W hotel, room 814."
"See that wasn't so hard." Sam said as he pulled Paul shirt right.
"Eric, I've got a name for you. Lt. Michael O'Neill. Anything you can get on him for us will help." Callen said into his phone.
"When you have a minute, Hetty wants an update." Nell said before he hung up.
"She wants this case closed and soon." Callen said as he got into the car.
"I want it closed as well." Sam answered as he started the car.
"We all want that." Callen said.
