SURFS UP
Bard15
Summary: a murdered sailor, a murdered suspect—the only thing linking them; a surfing competition. (This is after the "small pox" XO so the teams are somewhat familiar with each other.)
Also, I know absolutely nothing about surfing…just a plot device to move the story along…any advice on the subject would be helpful.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0…..NCIS LA...
Deeks was staring at the waves wistfully as he and Kensi made their way down the beach...he was itching to get out on his board but this section of beach was closed to the public today for a surf contest and exhibition; another thing to cause a brooding sigh, as he was not participating...an LAPD undercover had kept him tied up and away from the beach for the past month and he had missed the contest registration.
Though he wouldn't be participating he was here because the NCIS tech...Eric Beale was and he wanted to support his friend and fellow surfer. And let's be honest, any day he could get his partner on the beach in her oh so skimpy bikini was counted as a win in his column.
"There's Nell," Kensi said, waving to the NCIS analyst.
"Hey, guys, glad you could make it," Nell said.
"What, miss a chance to spend the day on the beach with two beautiful ladies...and see Eric smoke the completion...the only thing better would be if I was out there too," Deeks said cheekily as he plopped down on the large blanket.
Both women just rolled their eyes at the detective.
"So when's Eric up?" Kensi asked.
"He's surfing in the second division...its due up at about twelve o'clock I think," Nell replied, looking through the program.
A moment later they saw Eric making his way towards their group, calling out as he did so, "Hey Deeks, got your board? They had a few contestants that were no shows so they are holding an open registration to try and fill the empty slots..."
Deeks eyes lit up, "Sign me up..."
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
When Eric and Deeks got the registration table, several surfers were arguing with the event coordinators...
"No, man...registration is closed...you can't open it an hour before the contest man..." the short, blonde haired surfer was complained angrily.
"The rules clearly stipulate that the amateur division can be opened up for an open registration if it is felt that there are not enough contestants in a division," one of the event coordinators was explaining, "And if you continue to cause trouble you can be removed from the roster..."
"You wouldn't dare..." the man threatened.
"Problems," Deeks broke in as he stepped up to the table.
Eying the angry surfer for a moment, the event coordinator turned to Deeks, "No problem...Mr. Ross was just taking his number and leaving..."
Scowling for a moment more, the surfer snatched the number out of the man's hand and stalked off. They watched for a moment before the coordinator turned to them, "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, sign me up..." Deeks said with a smile.
After several minutes of filling out paperwork and going over contest rules the coordinator sighed as he handed Deeks his number, "Sorry to say you'll be surfing in Mr. Ross' division..."
"Ah, don't worry about it, I can handle him..." Deeks replied off handedly.
Frowning, "Just be careful...we haven't actually caught him breaking any rules...but he skates pretty close to the line..."
Deeks nodded, "Thanks for the warning..."
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIA LA...
"So what's up Hetty," Callen asked as he entered Ops, "you are aware you gave us the weekend off..."
"The bad guys don't take weekends..." Hetty deadpanned.
With a roll of his eyes and a smirk at his partner, Sam asked, "So what have you got Hetty?"
"Sgt. Joshua Patton...his body was discovered by some surfers this morning at Alameda Cove...LAPD called us when they found the Sgt.'s ID..." Hetty explained.
"And I take it, it's not considered a surfing accident," Callen asked.
"The bullet holes tend to lend itself more towards murder, Mr. Callen," Hetty replied dryly, "LAPD is holding the crime scene for us."
The agents nodded and left Ops.
Once in the car, Callen said, "If the guy is a surfer, maybe Deeks or Eric know him..."
"Maybe...but there are thousands of people that surf up and down the coast..." Sam replied.
The crime scene was bustling with activity when the agents showed up...the county coroner readying the body for transport as they approached.
Flashing their badges, Callen asked, "So what can you tell us, doc?"
"The victim was shot once in the chest from what appears to be a high powered rifle...he was found at the shore line with his board still attached with the ankle strap, so he was most likely coming out of the water at the time..." the coroner explained.
Callen looked at the body, then up at his partner, who was scanning the area..."no place to set up here without being seen...my guess is our shooter was over on that ridge; gives you a straight line of site to the waves..."
"A shot like that wouldn't be easy..." Callen added.
"Nope, whoever did this was well trained," Sam agreed.
The agents spent another half an hour at the crime scene, before heading towards the ridge across from the beach.
"Okay, according to the TOD, the currents, and wind speed, the shooter was probably in this 300 yard area to get a clear shot of where Patton would be surfing," Sam surmised, as he eyed the area critically...his SEAL training kicking in.
"And we're doing this instead of the techs because..." Callen questioned.
"Because it's going to be hard enough to find any evidence in this underbrush without a dozen people trampling over a potential crime scene," Sam said, waving to his right, "you go that way; I'll take the left..."
With a put upon snort, Callen turned in the direction his partner pointed and began a careful survey of the area.
Forty minutes later, Callen gave a self-satisfied smirk as he found indentations in the ground and marks in a tree, "Sam, got something."
After looking over his partner's find Sam surmised, "Looks like where our shooter set up post, good cover...clean shot to the beach...even a ready make bi-pod," he ran his hands over the naturally forming V-shape in the tree.
"Now can the techs have the crime scene?" Callen asked, "We need to check out Patton's place and talk to his CO."
"Yeah, gonna call Hetty, see if they have anything else...get the others in on this..." Sam said.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
Kensi eyed the analyst curiously as she spoke on her cell, "Yeah, Hetty, we'll be there as soon as possible...Eric just finished up and Deeks is out there now...yeah, okay..."
"A case?" Kensi asked.
"A Sgt. Joshua Patton was found shot to death at Alameda...Sam and Callen already checked out the scene..." Nell said, "She wants Eric and I back to Ops to start running background...Sam and Callen are going to talk to his CO; she wants you and Deeks to check out his place and the beach...the guy was killed surfing."
Kensi nodded, "Will do...I'll get Deeks..."
"Hetty said to let him finish...ask around the competition, see if anyone knew him...Callen sent a picture to your phones." Nell said, as she gathered her stuff. "I'm gonna get Eric and head back."
"See you at Ops..." Kensi said, watching the tech leave before gathering her and Deeks belongings and heading towards the registration/judging tent to wait for her partner.
As she watched her partner surf, she gave a sigh of frustration, they had planned on getting together that evening to celebrate...Eric had placed seventh in his division and Deeks looked like he had a good shot of placing in the top five in his: now, it looked like they would be working-sometimes she really hated her job.
This was the last wave for Deeks division and she watched him ride the wave like he was born to it...which he probably was, she thought with an amused snort; they didn't call him their resident beach bum for nothing.
A sudden gasp from the crowd pulled her attention away from her partner and towards two other surfers to Deeks left; she didn't know much about surfing, but she did know that you didn't try to drop into someone else's wave—besides being considered extremely unsportsmanlike, it was also very dangerous.
She watched in growing horror as that's exactly what the surfer was intending...when he dropped into another competitors wave it forced that man to veer off sharply to avoid being hit full on; that action dropped him right in Deeks path.
Along with a dozen other people, Kensi found herself running towards the shoreline, frantically searching for her partner, as all three men collided hard and went in the water.
She watched as several life guards hit the water, swimming to the three men's location, while two more powered up jet-ski's to help with the rescue.
The ensuing minutes seemed interminable before she finally saw her partner bob to the surface; a jet ski already heading in his direction. She watched with bated breath as he was pulled up on the front of the jet-ski and the life guard turned the small craft and quickly headed back to shore.
Kensi made a frantic bee line to where the jet-ski would come ashore, to the waiting medical personnel. From what she could see her partner was unmoving, over the seat in front of the life guard.
She pushed her way through the growing crowd as they gently laid Deeks in the sand to begin assessing his injuries...
"How is he," she demanded.
"I'm sorry miss you'll have to step back..." one of the life guards said.
"No, he's my partner...just tell me how he is," she again demanded, her eyes never leaving her still partner, as the medics put him in a cervical collar and rolled the unconscious man on a back board.
"You can follow your boyfriend to the hospital, ma'am..." the life guard instructed as he held her back.
"He's not my boyfriend, he's my partner," she said angrily, shaking off the man's grasp and pulling her badge, "NCIS, and I'm riding with him.
Having had their fair share of cops in their bus the medics knew well enough not to waste time arguing with a cop's partner, "Just stay out of our way."
Kensi just nodded mutely, following as they loaded Deeks into the ambulance.
After several minutes of watching the medic work, she finally asked. "So how is he?"
"He's sustained a serious blow to the head, his pupils are blown, definite concussion; probably took in some water while he was under...his pulse seems strong...doc's'll probably want a CT and lung x-ray."
Kensi just nodded, riding the rest of the way in silence.
After they whisked her partner past the ER doors and out of her line of sight she was jolted back to reality when a nurse handed her a clipboard of paperwork to fill out. Looking at the paperwork and remembering her partners sallow features, Kensi realized she needed to call Ops and let Hetty know of Deeks accident; let Sam and Callen know they would have to follow up on the dead Sgt.'s apartment (because she most certainly was not, under any circumstance, leaving her partner until she knew he was going to be okay).
"Hey Kens...what's up, you get something from Patton's place already," the cheery voice of their tech answered.
"Uh, no...We never made it to Patton's place. Is Hetty close," Kensi asked tightly.
At hearing Kensi's tense tone, Hetty exchanged concerned looks with the two tech operators, before answering, "I'm right here Miss Blye, is there something the matter?"
"It's Deeks, there was an accident; another surfer dropped into his last wave...we're...We're at the hospital..." Kensi explained.
"How is Mr. Deeks," Hetty asked.
"Uh...don't know yet, they're still checking him out. He hasn't…he's been unconscious since they pulled him from the water. They're running a CT scan..." Kensi explained tightly.
"I'll inform Mr. Hannah and Mr. Callen. They'll meet you at the hospital shortly..." Hetty said.
"But the case..." Kensi interrupted.
"…can wait until we know Mr. Deeks condition...no one will be able to focus until we know his prognosis..." Hetty cut in.
"Thanks Hetty," Kensi said relief in her voice.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
"Well that got us nowhere..." Sam grumbled as he and Callen headed back to the car.
"Nice guy, no enemies...desk job, no access to sensitive Intel...no girlfriend or jealous ex..." Callen grumbled right along with him.
"It had to be something. Not just anyone could have made that shot, it wasn't a random hit..." Sam replied as he opened his car door. "Maybe Kensi and Deeks got something at this apartment."
Callen just nodded and as he answered his ringing cell, "Yeah, Eric, what a' ya' got?"
"Callen, you and Sam need to get over to Community General..." Eric said worriedly.
"The hospital? What's going on Eric, what happened," Callen demanded, shooting a quick look towards Sam as he put the phone on speaker as he informed his partner of their sudden change of plans, "Community General, now."
"It's Deeks; he was hurt at the completion. Another surfer dropped into his wave and there was some sort of collision. Guys, Kensi is really shook up, it must have been a bad hit." Eric reported, letting out a worried sigh he added, "He hasn't regained consciousness yet."
Exchanging surprised and worried looks, Callen replied, "...we're on our way..."
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
Sam and Callen found Kensi sitting in the ER waiting area, her eyes glued to the bay doors.
"Kens, any word yet," Callen demanded as the two agents came up to stop in front of her.
"Nothing yet...he's still getting the CT; and they want to do a chest x-ray to check for water in the lungs. They say pneumonia is a possibility even if he didn't suffer a drowning; something about secondary drowning..." she reported.
Two hours later a doctor came through the doors, "Family of Marty Deeks..."
The three agents converged on the doctor, firing off a barrage of questions, "Can we see him?" "How is he?" "Is he gonna be alright?"
Holding up his hands in defense, the doctor said patiently, "Whoa, slow down, I will answer all your questions if you'll just follow me."
Once settled in a family room the young, sandy-haired doctor reached out and shook the agent's hands, "I'm Dr. Travis and I was Mr. Deeks attending."
The agents returned the doctor's handshake, introducing themselves as they did so.
"First off, Mr. Deeks is stable...the CT scan came back negative on any bleeds, but he does have a significant concussion and a deep gash on the side of his head that needed about eight stitches to close. At this point we're more concerned with his lungs...while he didn't suffer a full on drowning requiring CPR, he still had significant amounts of water in his lungs, so we will be monitoring him closely for complications and pneumonia."
"So he's going to be alright," Sam pressed.
"Barring any complications, Mr. Deeks should make a full recovery; providing he rests and follows doctor's orders," at the last statement the doctor eyed the three agents, asking pointedly, "is that going to be a problem...it says on his admitting forms he's an LAPD detective...which is not exactly conducive to bed rest and following doctor's orders..."
The three agents looked to one and other sheepishly, shrugging, Callen asking, "Speaking from experience?"
Nodding at the agents, the doctor said with smirk, "Some...I have yet to meet a cop that knows the meaning of the phrase 'take it easy and let yourself heal'."
"If our boss has anything to say about it, Deeks won't be leaving that bed until he is one hundred percent." Sam assured the doctor.
The doctor nodded, "We're keeping him in ICU overnight to monitor his lung function; if all goes well, we will transfer him to a regular room tomorrow and barring any complications we should be able to discharge him a day or so after that."
"Thanks doc," Sam said, shaking hands with the doctor again.
"Can we see him," Kensi asked.
"Follow me...I won't even argue with you about one at a time, but I will insist that you only stay for a short time..." Travis insisted.
After showing the agents to Deeks ICU cubicle, he took his leave.
Kensi immediately went to her partner's side, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze, "hey partner..."
Sam and Callen stood at the foot of the detective's bed. None of them could keep the images of the last time Deeks lay in a hospital bed from rushing through their minds.
Putting a comforting hand on Kensi's shoulder, Sam said, "Doc says he's gonna be fine."
"I know...but you didn't see it...how hard they hit..." Kensi replied. "Listen, guys, I'm gonna stay...at least 'til he wakes up..."
"Keep us updated," Callen said, as he and Sam made their way out of the room.
Kensi just nodded absently as they left.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
Callen called and gave the Ops crew an update of Deeks condition, then filled them in on what they had discovered at the crime scene and their less than helpful interview with the vic's CO.
"The victim was a surfer, you or Deeks know the guy," Callen asked the tech.
"Never met him, but I have heard of him, seen him in a few local competitions over the years. He was really good, had a real shot at going pro one day," Eric said, "and I found something interesting...he has a charge on his credit card for a registration fee...guys, he was signed up to participate in the surf contest today."
"The contest you signed up for, but those locations are almost an hour apart..." Sam commented.
"He probably went out to catch some waves early this morning before the competition," Eric supplied.
"A surf contest..." Callen questioned, exchanging a confused look with his partner, "...uh, was there a big money prize?"
"Only in professional competitions. This competition was one of five amateur competition held in California and all were sponsored by "Coral Prince"—it's a professional team based in Hawaii," Eric reported, adding, "the top two winners in each division win an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii to compete for open slots on the Coral Prince team."
"And you and Deeks both competed...you planning on leavin' NCIS Eric," Sam interjected with amusement.
"What...no, of course not, besides I came in seventh," Eric said quickly, "some of the best surfers on the west coast are competing in these competitions."
"And our victim was scheduled to participate in the competition today..." Callen clarified, asking Eric, "he good enough to win?"
"You think someone shot our vic because of a surf competition," Sam interrupted in disbelief, "The shot that took out Patton was done by a pro...not exactly something a beach bum surfer could afford.
"Given a chance to make the professional teams with the prize money and endorsement deals that come with it...a person could make millions..." Eric pointed out.
"But a professional hit...kill someone on a 'maybe'? There would be no guarantee that taking out one surfer in a local competition would get you any closer to a spot on a professional team," Sam argued.
Callen shrugged his shoulders and said mildly, "We've seen people killed for less. And if Eric is right, someone has a million reasons to want to take any edge off the competition they could...and so far we haven't found any other angle."
Sam sighed, "Yeah, we got nothing from his CO. He didn't have access to any sensitive Intel..."
"Eric...can you get us a list of competitors in the competition," Callen asked.
"Most of the registration data is hard copy. They keep records on their laptops...sorry guys..." Eric said, "Deeks division was the last competition of the day...if they're not still on-site the event coordinators have a suite at the Hilton on 7th Ave."
"Thanks Eric..." Callen said, hanging up the phone.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
They drove to the beach; the event coordinators were gone so they scoured the beach for anyone who might be able to tell them anything on Josh Patton...
"Yeah, Josh rode those waves like he was born to them...he could have totally smoked his competition today; if anyone deserved a shot at making the Coral Prince team, it was him," the young surfer said, his voice a mixture of anger and sadness. "God, I so wanted to see him wipe Ross across those waves..."
"Ross? Take it he and Patton weren't buddies," Callen pressed
"Definitely not...Ross was a real prick, ya' know...a wanna be; always trying to dump in someone else's waves..." the surfer explained, with a self-satisfied smirk, "he got it today though...got his sorry ass disqualified."
"What happened," Sam asked, exchanging a knowing look with Callen.
"Ross was real pissed, they opened up the registration in his division at the last minute...so he gets out there and dumps into another guy's wave...caused a chain reaction. Both the other guys ended up in the back of ambulances but that jerk, he walks out of the water without a scratch," the young man explained.
The agents thanked the surfer and headed back to the car; Callen calling Ops, "Eric, get us everything you can on one of the contestants...a Taylor Ross, he apparently had a beef with our vic..."
"Wait...Taylor Ross...according to the press release put out by the event, Ross is the guy that caused Deeks accident today..." Eric said with surprise.
"So a guy that is a shoe in to win his division is murdered, then Deeks and another surfer in the same division are damn near killed by Ross' behavior; oh, yeah, we are definitely having a little chat with Mr. Ross," Sam said tightly.
"We're heading to the hotel now to talk to the event coordinator and get the participant list," Callen said.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
Turned out the Coral Prince franchise could do one better than the coordinator of the contest, as they were ushered into the suite of the owner—Ben Bass.
"Ben, please," the young man said as he shook the agent's hands before ushering them to seats, "what exactly can I do for...NCIS?"
"Do you know this man," Sam asked, pulling up a picture on his phone.
Studying if for a moment, Ben handed the phone back shaking his head, "No. Should I?"
"His name was Sgt. Josh Patton," Callen said, "he was found about a few hours ago up the PCH, murdered..."
"Murdered!" Ben exclaimed, running a hand through his short hair her pinned the two agents with a hard look, "I don't understand; what's this got to do with me?"
"He was registered to compete in your surf competition today," Sam explained.
"We had close to fifty people competing in the LA competition today..." Ben replied absently.
"Yeah, but not all of them turn up dead," Callen put forth, pulling up another picture, "how 'bout this guy, you ever seen him?"
This time Ben gave them a positive reply, answering with simmering anger, "Yeah, Taylor Ross. He's the competitor that was disqualified today; caused a major incident, sent two other competitors to the hospital..."
"Yeah, we know..."
"You think Ross did this, killed that guy..." Ben asked.
"Do you?" Callen countered, "Is winning this competition worth killing someone over,"
"Yes...no...I don't know? This competition is one of five "Coral Prince" has sponsored on the mainland. We are looking to expand the Coral Prince franchise into California so we want to fill our vacant team slots with surfers from the mainland..." Ben explained. "Those surfers would have a spot on the team and get the endorsement for the California stores..."
"How many surfers we talking about?" Sam asked.
"If all the winners show for the competition...forty; eight winners from each of the five competitions," Ben answered.
"So killing Patton wouldn't necessarily put Taylor Ross any closer to a spot on the team," Callen commented with frustration.
"No, winning here would just give him a chance to compete in Hawaii," Ben said, adding, "and then he'd be competing against about forty other surfers."
"So that puts us back to square one," Sam answered with equal frustration.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
"So Ross follows the "Coral Prince" competition from city to city trying to win a spot in the Hawaii completion, but can't quite make the cut..." Callen mused aloud.
"And according to Ben, this was his last shot to win a spot in the Hawaiian exhibition," Sam continued, "what I don't get is everyone we talked to said the guy was no good, even if he somehow made it to Hawaii, he would never have won a spot on the team?"
"Maybe it wasn't about the team, maybe it was all about getting to Hawaii," Callen said with a shrug.
"What, the guy can't just hop on a plane...it's not like you need a passport..." Sam reminded his partner, reaching to retrieve his ringing cell, "Yeah, Eric, Coral Prince is sending you copies of the participants list for all five competitions...and the winner's, run the names and see if anyone else pops out."
"Okay, thanks Eric," Sam said, pocketing his phone, "Eric got us an address on Ross..."
"Let's go pay Mr. Ross a visit..." Callen said, making a U-Turn in the street.
...NCIS LA...HAWAII 5-0...NCIS LA...
Both agents pulled their guns and exchanged grim looks as they approached Ross's apartment door and found it ajar.
They breached the apartment; a quick search turning up nothing but a very dead suspect...a single shot to the chest.
"What the hell is going on here...?" Callen ground out in angry frustration, "First Patton, then Deeks; and now someone kills our only suspect..."
...NCIS LA & HAWAII 5-0...
Sorry, no 5-0 in this chapter...but soon!
Did anyone catch the "guest" appearance at the hospital? Another favorite character I love to torture (under the penname adsh, if anyone is interested...and I can only check reviews/PM's from the old account under Bard15 though—anyone know how I can get my old account merged with my new one? )
