Half Moon Bay
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 1
Half Moon BayFifteen months of hard work and Natalie Walker felt she and her kids had settled well into their new life, in Half Moon Bay. She owned one of the town's two bakeries on Main Street, which with the help of her family, expanded into a cafe as well. To those around her, she was just an ordinary mother, raising her kids on her own after tragically losing her husband to cancer. Her husband's body lay in the town's only cemetery, while his brother and father visited as often as they could. Her children learned the trade of carpentry from their grandpa, and transformed their family home which had been in need repair and extended the business.
But there was nothing ordinary about her. She was on constant alert to strangers in town, especially if they looked suspicious and carried a foreign accent. In her mind, to everyone around her, she and her kids were living a lie. They couldn't tell anyone who they really were, as their lives depended on it. Yet in a small community of around twelve thousand people in and around the town, people cared and watched out for one another. Slowly but surely, Natalie and her kids let their guards down a little and made friends. Genuinely caring friends, who took them into their fold and became part of the community.
In their first six months of living there, Ryan, her eldest, had taken the rest of the school year off to help her set up the bakery, before starting UCSF in the following fall, in Marine Biology. He had been excited about his new course, with the ocean being on their doorstep. He studied at home to catch up on what he had missed due to changing courses after his first year at Radford, where he had studied business. His backstopping implied he had already completed his first year in Marine Biology, so it was essential for him to make the most of the free time. He would explore the beach and go out on a boat with the local Marine Biologists and soaked in all the information that they shared with him. Finally he felt he had found his niche. His calling of what he wanted to do for a career. Ryan thrived at UCSF, just completing his second year of the four year course.
Alexis had just graduated from High School as head of her class and she was starting UCSF in the Fall to join her brother in the same field of Marine Biology. Natalie had seen a major change in her children since they had moved to Half Moon Bay. They spent more time outdoors exploring than they had when they lived in D.C. Ryan and Lexie remained close and were always there for their mom and younger siblings. All four children worked part time at the bakery and cafe, but they really thrived out on the beach and on the water.
Jake, the children's uncle, visited often with some buddies, who taught them all to surf and sail. Even Natalie had lessons and seemed brighter after the loss of her husband. Their grandpa built a small boat for them to use, during his last vacation. They called it 'The Escapade.' It seemed fitting from what they had escaped from in D.C. Their faces glowed from the healthy sea air and they were full of energy ready to make the most of each day ahead of them. The change had been a blessing and they still managed to see those close to them, although they lived far apart. Even Natalie's mother visited and they met in San Francisco, to keep their life in Half Moon Bay separate. They had new identities, which protected them from the enemies of her father and the real father of her two older children.
The door to the bakery pinged open and a woman in her forties entered with her husband and two children. They were tourists looking for a cool place to replenish their hunger and thirst.
"Mmm!" She spied a tempting napoleon cake. "This is the first place we've been to on this trip to sell these." Coming from the East Coast, they were accustomed to this mouth watering desert. "We'll definitely have to have one of those."
The family ordered and sat down to enjoy their feast and drink when a familiar face walked in. He was a grey haired man in his late fifties and he looked refreshed. The last time the woman had seen this man, grief had overtaken him.
Dan Walker had been out sailing with his eldest grandson when he entered Vanilla Pod Bakery and Cafe. Ryan had to wash up before his shift at the family's business, so he was on his own. He looked around he but couldn't see his daughter-in-law anywhere.
"Excuse me." A woman's voice broke his thoughts. "But have we met before?"
Dan looked down at the woman and a memory of the fake funeral of his daughter and her family was brought to the front of his mind. He kept his face blank as if he had no idea who this woman was. "Not that I know of." He smiled gracefully and continued on his path to the counter.
"I'm sure that is Ava's father," the woman whispered to her husband.
"Leave him alone, Karen. Please! If it is him, the last thing he needs right now is to be bothered by a stranger."
"I'm no stranger, John. Ava was one of my dearest friends. He not only lost his daughter, but his grandchildren as well." It was fortunate Karen kept her voice low, due to her children who lost their good friends, Jesse and Kelly. On a nearby table a man sat alone reading a newspaper, which he hid in.
"Hi, Dan, how was the water?" Sandra Levitt asked him. She was Ava's right hand woman at the bakery and cafe.
"It is a beautiful day out there. When do you finish your shift?" He jested each time he visited to ask her out on a date. So far she had jokingly refused. But silently, they both wondered if the other was actually serious about them having a date. Neither were willing to make the first step.
"I'm on till closing tonight. Natalie wasn't feeling well, she's gone home early. Ryan will be in soon, won't he?" Sandra pushed her red hair behind her ear as she felt her heart flutter from his blue eyes. The same blue eyes his son and eldest two grandchildren had inherited, she noted. She had befriended the family instantly, as she too had lost her husband to cancer. The two women had become best friends and worked side by side each day at the bakery.
Dan casually scanned the bakery and turned his focus back to the red head before him. "Can I use the phone out back for a moment please, Sandra?" Although he had his cell on him, he needed to be somewhere private for this call. "I came straight from the marina. My cell's back at the house," he lied. He hated to lie, but this was important.
"Yeah sure, Dan." Sandra smiled and led the way through to Ava's office.
Dan rang the home phone first.
"Ryan? Stay at home. Make sure you're all there," Dan pressed.
"Well Zac and Mia are out still at some friends'."
"You know where?" Worry began to return to his face.
"Yeah we do. They're both at the O'Reilly's." Ryan quickly texted Zac and Mia to stay where they were. He hoped they were still there and not out anywhere.
"I'll ring Jake. I'll be back soon." Dan hung up one call and made another. Frustration rang through him as Jake didn't answer. It was unusual for him not to answer. He decided to make another call. "Nell. It's Dan. Where's Jake?"
"Hi, Uncle Dan. No sorry I can't talk at the moment, we're in the middle of interviewing a celebrity. I'll ring you back later."
Dan sighed. He knew from the cryptic clues Nell had given him that Owen Granger was in the room, therefore she couldn't talk. He hoped she could get back to him soon, or at least Callen.
Office of Special Projects, Los Angeles"You gave your Uncle Dan a secured number?" Owen Granger grumbled.
Hetty entered the Ops Centre and picked up on Granger's tone towards Nell. "Miss Jones, may I please have a word with you, alone."
Nell nodded and followed the Operations Manager out of Ops to a small office off to the side. Inside, Nell was relieved to escape Granger's presence with the opportunity to tell Hetty all that had been going on.
"What's going on, deary?" Hetty could see the strain on her intelligence analyst.
"Neither Sam and Callen have reported in since they went to check out a lead. Eric and I have tried numerous times to call them, but nothing. And now Agent Gibbs has called me. And there's only one reason why he's called..."
"There's a problem in paradise," Hetty responded. "Have you located their GPS trackers, Miss Jones?"
"Yes, still at the address we gave them earlier. The ones in their watches and on Sam's car. I don't like this, Hetty." Nell creased her brow as she thought on reasons for Sam and Callen's disappearance.
"Call Agent Gibbs back and find out what's going on. I'll try to stall Granger, so you and Eric can tap into the cameras up in paradise. I'll get a team to the GPS location immediately for back up." Hetty watched her protégé leave the small office. She climbed down the stairs and unlocked her hidden draw in her desk. She pulled out an old satellite phone and pressed a programmed number, under the name of Shadow.
In a warehouse, downtown Los AngelesCallen rubbed the back of his head from the pain that throbbed from that location. He felt something sticky and knew instantly he had a serious enough wound, that he bled. He pulled himself up into a sitting position as best as he could and found his feet were bound together and tied to a supporting post. He looked around for his partner and sighed when he saw him bound to another post, still unconscious. Whoever had jumped them had expected them to come through that door when they did. He tried hard to remember what had brought them to this location, but his brain struggled to cooperate due to his injury. Out numbered, definitely. Dirt covered the warehouse floor, which indicated it had been abandoned for quite some time. He hoped the rest of their team had realised that something had gone wrong. He saw his partner groan and move slightly as he came to.
"G?" Sam's voice was rough from being knocked unconscious.
"I'm over here." He kept his voice low, to keep the fact they were both now conscious from their captors.
Sam rolled over till he could see his partner. Sam was relieved to see his partner was still with him and okay. "You good?"
"A head wound, but okay." He tried to pass off his throbbing headache, knowing Sam would make sure he was checked out later when help arrived. If help arrived. No, he couldn't afford to think like that. They were part of an elite team. Help was probably on it's way right then. He needed for his sanity to believe that other NCIS Agents were on their way.
A door at the far end of the warehouse creaked as footsteps and voices were heard from the other side. Five men walked through and Sam's blood went cold as he recognised Isaak Sidorov amongst them.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. David Forman with a new partner. Your old partner couldn't hack it anymore? Both agents knew he was referring to Deeks. The detective had suffered insurmountable trauma from having his teeth drilled into by one of Sidorov's men. But slowly the shaggy blond detective and former lawyer had surprised them all, and returned to his old sense of humour and to the team.
"What do you want from us?" Sam tried hard to force himself free from his bindings, unsuccessfully. He thought this nightmare was over, but the Russian kept coming back to haunt him and his family over and over again.
"What I have always wanted, Quinn. I want her back. And I know you know where she is." Isaak watched the large former Navy SEAL try hard to hide his emotions from him. "You and your old partner were very good, I have to say, when you endured the craft by my old friend here when he tortured you both the last time we met. The lengths you both went to to ensure I never found out the truth, that she is one of you, a Federal Agent." He laughed as he continued. "She was very convincing, I have to say, until she took my cell from me. She had me believe that she had killed you both. Only to find that you at least are very much alive."
"I don't know what you are talking about. I woke up in hospital with a bullet wound to my chest..."
"Did you not think we wouldn't check your body out when you were unconscious? Your partner here has far more impressive bullet wounds in his chest than you have, David. Or should I call you Agent Sam Hanna?" he spat out.
Sam's brown eyes enraged with anger towards the man before him. The only way Sidorov could have known his real identity was from Janvier. He looked over at his partner with fear for his wife and children's safety.
"I am impressed by your country's defence department, killing twenty of my men at Camp David last year. The lengths your people will go to protect their leader. However we know we weren't after the President or his family, only one of his guests. Yet I am still wondering why Quinn was there with the President's family?" Isaak Sidorov left the question hanging in the air, as he searched Sam's eyes for a clue.
Sam focused on his breathing to keep his emotions in check. So far he was successful, but he wasn't sure for how long. "No idea." He replied nonchalantly.
"Pity!" Sidorov moved from Sam towards Callen. "I'll make a deal with you. You give me Quinn and I'll call my man in Half Moon Bay to walk away from your partner's friend, Agent Gibbs."
All colour left Callen's face. How did Sidorov know about Gibbs? He hadn't mentioned Ava or their kids. Where they safe? Millions of questions rushed through his throbbing head.
"You have twenty-four hours. You meet me back here with Quinn and your partner's friend will be safe."
Sidorov left with his men leaving Sam and Callen alone again. Ten minutes later the warehouse was stormed with NCIS Agents along side Owen Granger, Kensi and Deeks.