"Andrea? What... Where are you?" Deeks' mind was a whirlwind, completely shocked at hearing from his ex-fiancée. She was the last person he expected to be on the other end of the phone.
"I'm in LA." The panic in her voice was not lost on him. "I don't have time to explain right now, but there are people after me. They already fired on me while I was driving."
"Okay. It's okay. I'm coming to get you." He glanced over at Kensi.
"Where?" She was already back in agent mode. Their day was supposed to be over, but she didn't hesitate for one second, not needing to know anything more than the fact that Deeks needed to get to this person and fast.
"Where are you, Andrea?"
"I'm in the Macy's parking lot on Beverly Boulevard."
Deeks repeated the location to Kensi. "I can get us there in 20 minutes."
"Andrea, we'll be there as soon as we can. I'm in a silver Cadillac SRX and my partner is with me. We'll be safe with us."
"Marty, I... I think I lost them, but I don't know for how long. Please hurry."
"Don't worry. My partner is driving and she's a speed demon behind the wheel. I'll stay on the phone with you until we get there."
"Okay. Thank you." His voice was having a calming effect on her, but she was still on full alert.
"Tell me. Who's after you?"
"I don't know. They're driving a black Lincoln sedan. I noticed they were following me and when I tried to lose them, they started shooting. They already shot out my back window."
As Deeks kept her on the phone, Kensi called up Eric.
"Hey, Kensi."
"Eric, are you still in Ops?"
"Of course, I practically live here. No rest for..."
"Eric, I need you to get a trace on a cell phone. The one Deeks is talking to right now. And also, see if you can find any traffic cams near the Macy's on Beverly Boulevard."
"Sure, Kensi, but what's this for? I thought you guys were done with your case?"
"I don't really know, but it's important."
"Okay, we're coming up on the lot. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
He instructed her to jump out of her car as soon as they arrived. She had her messenger bag gripped tightly in her hands. There would be no time to grab the rest of her luggage.
The silver SUV came into her view. "I see you."
"There you are. Okay. I'll step out and then open the door for you."
She put her phone back in her bag. The passenger door opened and out stepped Marty Deeks, looking much the same as he did from her memory. Messy mop of blonde hair, stubbled face, striking blue eyes. Although at times she thought about what it would be like to see him again, she never would have imagined it being this kind of situation. But despite that, for the first time all day, she could finally breathe easy. Relief flowed through her as she climbed out of her rental.
She had not taken more than a few steps when something caught her attention. The black Lincoln. Deeks saw the dread in her face just a second before shots were fired. He reached behind him, pulling out his gun with one hand, opening the back door with the other. "Andrea, come on! I'll cover you!"
She dove into the back of the SUV. Deeks slammed the door and jumped back in his seat. "Go, Kensi! Go, go, go!"
Andrea kept her head down as she heard squealing tires and gun fire.
"Deeks, keep your eye out for them. I'm calling Sam and Callen for back up." The unfamiliar female voice was calm, stern, and focused.
A few minutes passed before Deeks spoke up. "I think we lost them."
"Boat shed?"
"Yeah, for now." He turned to the back seat. Andrea was still crouched down, not looking up at anything and she was trembling. He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Hi, I suppose it would be stupid to ask how you're doing or what you've been up to?"
Andrea lifted her head and looked him. "Are they gone?"
"I don't know, but where we're going, you'll be safe. I promise."
He turned to Kensi. "You don't have to be involved in this. You can drop us off and I'll have someone bring me my car."
"Are you kidding me, Deeks?"
"What? I just don't want you to think..."
"Stop it right there. What makes you think I'm going to let you do this by yourself?"
"Really, Kens? Using my own line against me?"
"It's a good line."
"You don't even know what this is about."
"That's stupid, for two reasons. One, neither do you. And two, why should that matter?"
He shook his head, realizing that it was pointless arguing with his partner (also that he was grateful for her loyalty). "Andrea Vanderlin. This is my partner, Special Agent Kensi Blye, NCIS. With her driving, you're only in slightly less danger than you were when you were being shot at."
Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Kensi only knew this woman by name, but she wasn't sure if this was what she pictured. Her strawberry blonde hair was tousled and her hazel eyes were wide with fear.
Andrea was dumbstruck. All of this was happening so fast and she wasn't really processing what was going on. She believed him when he said she was safe, but she couldn't shake the feeling of terror from before. She tried to compose herself so she wouldn't be sick right there in the back seat.
"Hey..." He reached for her hand. "It's going to be okay. These guys who are after you, they're not going to get to you."
"Marty, I never meant for any of this happen. I was just trying to help him."
"Help who?"
"My husband. He's in trouble, Marty. And I have to help him."
By the time they arrived at the boat shed, Sam's Challenger was already there. Kensi walked in first, with Deeks and Andrea close behind. Despite all the time that had passed, she stayed close to him, their arms brushing against each other. She was holding on by a thread and his familiar presence was helping her to not completely lose her grip.
"Hey, what's going on?" asked Callen.
"Um..." Kensi glanced back at Deeks. "I'm not really sure."
"Marty?" Andrea's voice wavered. "Is there a bathroom or something? I need a minute..."
"Yes, of course. I'll show you." Kensi placed a hand on her arm, gently guiding her to the next room.
"Hetty wants an explanation as to why Eric is placing a trace on this woman's phone. Who is she?"
"She... she was my fiancée."
"Oh..." Callen's eyes widen. "And what exactly is she involved with?"
"I'm not sure yet. She called me looking for help because someone had shot up her car while she was driving. We picked her up, same people fired on us, and now we're here."
Kensi joined the others. "She's going to need a minute. She's pretty shaken up."
"Maybe I should go check on her."
Before Deeks could do anything, Callen's phone rang and he put it on speaker. "Hetty, we're all here now."
"Good, Mr. Callen. Can you please tell me what is going on and why Mr. Beale is tracing a phone that has nothing to do with any of our cases?"
Deeks spoke up. "Hetty, a friend of mine from a long time ago is in trouble. I don't know what's happening yet but I know I need to help her."
"So you're using NCIS resources and man-power for something that sounds like a personal matter rather than something in our jurisdiction."
"Are you serious, Hetty? Since when does jurisdiction stop us from investigating something that might be personal? We've all done it. Including you."
Everyone's eyes widen and they gave each other sideways glances. Deeks just stood up to Hetty, practically yelling at her. Very few people (if any) have ever gotten away with that. What their operations manager lacked in physical stature, she more than made up for in her deadly influence, intelligence and skills. There was silence for several seconds, until they heard a sigh of resignation.
"Fine. Find out what trouble she's in and then report back to me. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you, Hetty."
"Don't make me regret this. Oh, and Mr. Deeks? I would hardly refer to someone who you were once betrothed to as simply a friend." Then the line went dead.
"Seriously, how does she always do that?"
Until now, Sam had been silent. "Alright, what's our plan of attack?"
"Listen, you guys don't really have to be here..."
"Deeks," Sam interrupted. "Whoever these people are, they fired on federal agents. We need to figure out what's going on."
"Yeah, that, and I am unbelievably curious about this woman who at one time actually said she'd marry you." A sassy smirk spread across Callen's face.
"Wow. Thank you so much."
"Okay, okay..." Kensi attempted to bring everyone back to the problem at hand. "Deeks, we're all in this with you."
"Um... Marty?" They all turned to Andrea who had joined them in the main room. Her face was pale, but she looked a little steadier.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Yes... and no... Maybe I should explain?"
"Yeah, but first, you should meet some people. You already know Kensi. These are Special Agents G Callen and Sam Hanna."
She nodded to both of them and then turned back to Deeks. "So, you're a federal agent now?"
"No, I'm still LAPD. I'm their liaison."
She reached into her bag and held out a flash drive. "I think this is why those people were after me."
"What's on it?"
"I don't know. My husband put it in a safe deposit box here about a week ago. I haven't heard from him since before that."
Callen took the drive from her. "We'll get Eric on this."
"Come on." Deeks held her arm. "You can sit down and tell us what you know."
He lead her into the room normally used for interegating suspects. It was surreal pulling the chair out for someone who had such a deep connection to his past. He sat on the opposite side of the table, Kensi right next to him.
Calm and collected, she took a deep breath, forcing down her raising panic. She told them everything from the past week, trying to include all the details she could remember. From the note in the book to discovering that he had added an item in her safe deposit box.
"I knew I had to come here and find out what he left there. He meant for me to find that flash drive. I'm convinced of it."
"Is there anything else that you can think of that we should know about? Even if it may seem insignificant now, it may end up being important."
Her gaze lowered and she rubbed her forehead. The weight of everything from the past week was hitting her all at once. Working under tremendous pressure was not foreign to her, but this was beyond anything she had ever encountered before. "I don't know..."
Deeks turned to Kensi and spoke quietly. "Can you give us a minute?"
"Sure. I'll be right outside." Kensi patted his shoulder before she left the room.
He moved his chair so they were on the same side of the table and sat facing her.
"I know this is hard. I know you've had a rough few days... if there is anything you remember, anything at all, it might help us. Even if it seems insignificant."
She was focusing all her energy on not dissolving into sobs of exhaustion and panic. She was afraid that if she so much as thought about anything relating to Julian that she would lose it.
"Hey, Anders... we'll do everything we can to help you. I promise."
She looked up at him, her eyes weary. The corners of her mouth started to turn up into a slight smile. It had been many years since she last heard that name, and it was just enough to momentarily distract her worried mind. "I used to love it when you called me that," she whispered. She took in a deep breath and pushed through the panic. "Um... Michael, Julian's boss. When I called to see if he had been at work, Michael insisted that Julian was in Chicago. But I now know he was in actually LA. I don't know if he knows more than he's letting on, but I thought it was strange and he seemed to be brushing me off."
"That's a dangerous thing to do, brush you off."
"I... I just couldn't let it go. I had to figure out where he was."
"You know, I think you missed your calling as a detective."
For the first time in days, a genuine smile spread across her face.
"What's his boss' full name? We'll look into him."
"Michael Fett. He works at RNB Securities in New York." She took another deep breath. "Marty... I need to find him. I know things aren't good between me and him right now." She spun her wedding ring on her finger. "But I need him to be okay."
This was something he couldn't promise. They had no idea where Julian was or who exactly they were dealing with. But the desperation in her voice led him to make a promise that he knew he might not be able to keep. But he had to... for her. "We'll find him. We have the best people in the world working on this. We'll find him."
She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "Thank you."
There was a knock at the door. Deeks got up, opened it, and saw Kensi. "You two should see this."
When they all walked out into the main room, they saw Eric was on the screen.
"Tell us again what you found," instructed Callen.
"There is a heavily encrypted file on that flash drive. And also there was this video."
A window popped up with Julian's face and Andrea let out a little gasp. As soon as the video started, she could tell he was agitated and afraid.
"Andrea, I really hope you never have to watch this, but I had to do this, just in case. I found something that I don't think I was meant to find. I tried to draw attention to it, but I was told it was none of my concern. But I couldn't just let it go. Hopefully, you'll know what to do with this. I'm sorry for bringing you into this and hopefully it'll turn out to be nothing, but I needed someone I could trust and you're the only one who fits that description. And again, I'm sorry and thank you for everything." There was a sad smile on his face, then the video stopped and Eric came back into view.
"What..." Her stomach felt as though it was spinning in circles and her hands stared to shake. "What does that mean? What's in the other file?"
"I'm still working on that now. It's going to take some time to figure out the encryption."
"Thank you, Eric. Keep us updated."
"Sure thing." Then the screen went completely blank.
Deeks tried to make her focus. "Where did you say Julian worked?"
"Um... RNB Securities. It's an information security firm."
"And you said that his boss was kind of acting strange?"
"Yeah..."
"Maybe he found something at work. There's a lot of sensitive information he'd have access to."
"I don't know... I got a funny feeling about him... but you really think he might be behind Julian's disappearance?"
"Right now, we have to explore all the possibilities. We'll know more once Eric gets into that file."
Sam stepped up to them. "For now, we need to get you to a safe location. You can stay there until we have all this figured out and we know that you're not in danger anymore."
Deeks glanced at Kensi. "We can take her to the safe house."
"Are you sure that's alright? I really never meant to bring this whole mess to you. I just didn't know who else to call."
Deeks shook his head. "Don't even go there. You did the right thing. We're all more than happy to help."
"Before you go," Sam handed her a yellow legal pad and a pen. "Can you write down any information about your husband's boss and his firm that you think might help us?"
"Sure." She sat down at the table and began to write.
Kensi came up to Deeks and whispered in his ear. "Can I talk you for a second?"
He nodded and then touched Andrea's shoulder. "We'll be right back."
"Okay." She continued writing.
He followed Kensi outside. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing, really. I was just thinking that maybe you should go by yourself to take her to the safe house."
"What..."
"I can catch a ride with Sam and Callen."
"You really don't have to do that."
"Deeks, come on."
"You're seriously going to let me drive your car? Without you there?"
"Listen. She's obviously shaken up. It's been a terrifying day and now she's putting her life in the hands of people who, for the most part, she barely knows. I think it would be good for her to be around someone familiar."
"Um... yeah, I guess so. Are you sure? I mean, about me going by myself?"
"Yes. And I think it would be good for you, too." Kensi knew what it was like to not have closure on something. If Deeks needed it here, she didn't want him to miss out on the opportunity.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're the best partner in the history of partners?"
Kensi shrugged. "Not nearly enough, I think."
"Does that mean I owe you?"
"We'll see."
Deeks smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And be careful, partner. I'd hate for anything to happen to my car."
"I love it when your concern for me is so obvious."
She patted him on the arm. "You shouldn't keep her waiting. I'll see you later, Deeks. Call me if you need anything."
"I will." He went back into the boat shed and found Andrea standing there by herself.
"Hey, are you all set?"
"I think so. I think I've given them all the information I have."
"Okay. Well, come with me and I'll take you to the safe house."
"What about your partner?"
"She's catching a ride with the other guys. It'll just be you and me."
"Okay..." She gave him a nervous smile.
"Hey, you're going to be safe."
She believed him and she allowed herself to believe that maybe everything would turn out okay.
