Chapter 1

Words: 1824

"Hey! Give it back! DEEKS!" Kensi's voice became louder on each word.

Deeks just ran across the bull pen with her beloved donuts in his hand. The bag held above his head where she couldn't reach.

Sam and Callen just watched in amusement at the normal banter between the two.

"Only if you tell me."

"Why would I want to?"

"'Cause I know you do." he says flashing her a signature smile.

She lets out a huff then finally gives in. "Fine, but not now." He hands her the bag and she goes back to her desk.

Deeks had been repeatedly asking her about her talk with her mother who she had just spoken to in the first time in fifteen years about two weeks ago.

Sam and Callen don't even know what they're talking about, but don't ask either. This was a normal day so far.

An ear piercing whistle filled the air as they all covered their ears.

"Eric! Go back to the dog whistle, at least we didn't go deaf!" Sam calls up.

"Sorry." He says as he turns to run back into ops.

The four head up the stairs as they do every time they get a case. The whole incident about the donuts and talking about Kensi's mom forgotten already.

"this is petty officer James. She was reported missing two days ago and is one of the only people with access to the highly classified missions that have been run by the Navy."

"So she was abducted for the info?" Callen states. It wasn't really a question, and this wasn't the first time they've seen this type of thing either.

"We believe so." Nell answers. "The only evidence so far was her keys and blood outside her door. Everything else was left untouched."

"Kensi, Deeks, check out her house. Sam and I will look into her work and see if anything comes up."

They file out of ops and head to the parking lot.

"Where was Hetty?" Deeks asks as they pull out into the LA rush hour traffic.

"I... don't know?" Kensi hadn't even thought of that. Hetty never came into work late. And she never missed the opening of a new case.

Neither of them really speak until the GPS dies.

Kensi growls a little and says something under her breath. "I meant to charge that last night."

"Give me you're phone." Deeks says.

"Why?"

"Because Hetty hasn't given me a new one. Mine was crushed when I fell down the steps chasing Pennington last week, remember?"

"Oh, right." She says and digs her phone out of her pocket, but a pot hole throws the car and almost makes them crash. Deeks automatic response to grab the steering wheel saves them from swerving into opposing traffic.

"Well that was close." Deeks says after they've corrected their position in the lane of traffic. This time she waits until they are stopped to take her phone out. She hands it to Deeks and he calls Eric.

"hey Eric, we're gonna need you to guide us there. We're having a little trouble with the GPS."

Kensi smiles a little at how he doesn't point out her mistake. They've all done it, but it wasn't any less embarrassing to forget to charge their electronics every night in case of something like this.

"Take this exit." She follows his list of directions and eventually they arrive at the small house in a little suburban neighborhood.

The police tape was still there, but no investigators were present, so they just ducked under the tape.

The apartment had only been given a cursory look and there was still plenty of things to go through as evidence. They load the evidence they can work with into the back of Kensi's Cadillac SRX Crossover.

They basically grab every electronic device they can find. The cell phone and iPad that had been in a bag in the bushes out side, her iPod that was still hooked up to the laptop that they also bagged. And the desk top and connected tower were brought along too.

"Eric and Nell are either going to love or hate us for these." Deeks says as they head back in the direction they came.

"Yeah, well, it's kinda their job so they can't hate it too much."

They go through a drive through before lunch time rush hour begins and eat their burgers before they get back to work.

After lugging all of the electronics up to Eric and Nell, they go to check in with Callen and Sam who were in the bull pen looking at something on the monitor.

"Find anything?" Kensi asks as she leans against her desk. Deeks slides up next to her and she tries to ignore that fuzzy feeling she seems to be getting more and more. She doesn't look at him because he seems to see right through her these days.

"We found out that she has access to anything and everything military. Fortunately the sensitive information has to be accessed manually from a computer that is kept under high surveillance. The only way to access it is to provide a finger print identification and an id card." Callen finishes his summary and turns around to them.

"We didn't find an ID card at her house." Deeks informs them.

"Are security personnel on duty at this particular site?" Kensi looks at Callen and Sam.

Sam answers. "No, it's done completely electronically. You have to have several pass codes and answers to security questions just to make it to the computer.

"Can they access this information without her?" Kensi is getting confused by this info, it seemed to point to something other than accessing the information, because without the fingerprint and detailed access codes, there wasn't a way to get in.

"No, which is a good thing for our petty officer. They have to keep her alive long enough to make her let them inside. We're trying to get permission to have the address so we can watch." Callen asks then looks back at Kensi and Deeks again. "Have either of you seen Hetty yet?"

They shake their heads and everyone looks up at the sound of a voice. "I am here, and we have the address." Hetty says from the balcony. They practically run up to ops.

"It turns out the address was on her computer. We think the suspects didn't know where to look, so they just went directly to the source. These are definitely pros. None of the neighbors saw the abduction and they left almost no evidence." Nell brings up the map on the screen as she's talking.

"I sent the address to your phones." Eric adds.

"Good, Sam and I will take first watch; Kensi and Deeks, you work on finding out who these people are."

Kensi and Deeks are down in the bull pen working though the crime scene photos. "I can't figure out how they managed to not leave any prints." Kensi says as they look at the images.

Suddenly Deeks has an idea. He grabs the tablet controlling the screen out of her hands. "What?" She questions as he taps on the screen quickly. He zooms in on the camera on the telephone pole across the street. It was well camouflaged, neither of them had even seen it.

"Maybe they didn't see it either." He says as they text Eric the news. While he's finding the footage, they continue going through the evidence. Most of the information isn't encrypted or protected at all. Kensi is going through the laptop while Deeks tackles the other portable devices. The desktop and tower were the only things with protected information, so they left Eric and Nell to figure that out.

"Can't you ever work in silence?" Kensi asks as Deeks continues clicking his tongue to some beat.

"What?" He asks, apparently not paying attention to her previous statement.

"Deeks. SHHH!" She says and he just raises his eyebrows.

"Meow." She gives him a swift kick to the shin under the desk they are currently working at.

"hey I think I found something if her majesty will let me tell the crowd." Deeks says giving her a signature look.

She just glares at him. "Well then, I found a message on her phone to a number that's not in her contacts. Look, It's definitely not a normal text either."

He shows the phone to her across the desk and she reaches up to grab it; Brushing fingers in the process. She, once again, ignores the little surge of energy she feels as his hand touches hers. She keeps her fingers glued to the screen.

1472-6783; 2309-29-7890; 28701-3995827; sonogram-2009; 29-99-00; 1999; washingon; 9187766550-02

"I really hope those aren't what I think they are." Kensi says handing the phone back to him.

"I think they are, but why would someone send the codes to her? Doesn't she already know them?"

"Maybe they were trying to scare her?"

"Or they're missing some and need her to give them the rest."

"They need her card too."They sit and think about the possibilities. "Did anyone check bank accounts?" Kensi finally asks.

"I don't think so, we were all assuming she was a victim." They are both looking at her bank accounts on the screen. "There!" Deeks says right over Kensi's shoulder, making her jump a little. She could feel his breath on her neck. He reaches around to take the tablet again and she looks at him over her shoulder but his gaze is focused on the screen. He zooms in on one specific deposit.

"That's definitely not her paycheck." Kensi says. They find the deposits from the same account dating back almost two years.

"So they've been paying her off slowly?" Deeks asks stepping out beside her.

"Or she's been slowly giving information."

"either way, she either tried to pull out, or wasn't giving them what they wanted, because now she's gone."

"See if Eric can trace that account." Kensi says and he heads upstairs.

Eric and Nell had been working for hours on the desktop, not getting far at all. "Hey, we found a bank account we need traced. We think someone has been paying her off for a while now. Oh, and her phone had some messages on it, possibly a suspect."

Eric takes the tablet and enters the information into his own computer. "I'll work on it but it might take a while." Just as he finishes saying that, Kensi walks it.

"Hey, Callen just sent me a message. It's our shift."