A/N – thanks to honus47 as always, for everything, including the title of this story!
A/N2 – I got a couple reviews from guests that I can't reply to directly so…
Ryan C – I had her be harsh because I see Deeks as being incredibly loyal – see Ray in Plan B, Bates in The Debt where he never really believed that he was the mole despite all the evidence and in Blye, K where he refused to believe she could be guilty. Only the unforgiveable would drive him away.
"Me" and other guests who didn't provide a name – thank you!
Astrida and others – LOL on the guesses on how many chapters! So far I've gotten 3 with an epilogue, 10 and 35!
A/N3 – sorry for the explosion of author's note but this is the last one, promise! I haven't had any reviews commenting on this but wanted to assure everyone that I know someone in a wheelchair can have a full productive life and be just as capable of being independent as anyone else! Kensi is reacting this way as it's all so new and unfamiliar to her. She obviously is, and has been, an extremely active person and a future where she might not be able to do all the things she used to, would be overwhelming and scary until she gets her bearings.
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Chapter 2
Deeks had learned a lot over the years of working at OSP. He was putting one of those skills to work right now. He was heading to Kip's by way of roads he knew didn't have traffic cams that Nell and Eric could use to trace him. He was sure that all of the houses surrounding Kip's had surveillance cameras but they'd be closed circuit and they'd have to know where he was before trying to get access to them. If they bothered to put in the effort, they'd probably track his last calls and see the one to his mother and the one to Kip. He hadn't told either one where he was going and knew he could trust Kip to be stubborn. That he wouldn't give away that he had switched vehicles. By the time they finally figured it out, and he had no delusions that they wouldn't, he'd be long gone. He needed a burner phone too but would wait until he hit Mexico to buy it. It would be even less traceable that way.
He finally pulled into the driveway of Kip's house and let himself in, keying in the alarm code. He paused, looking around his friend's beautiful home and momentarily reconsidered taking Kip's offer to stay there. He brushed that thought away. He'd be trapped inside and he wouldn't do well with that. He found the key rack and the keys were right where Kip had said they'd be. He moved through the house and unlocked the door to the garage. He walked over to the older pickup that Kip couldn't bring himself to get rid of. It was the first new car he'd ever owned and he'd paid cash, using his signing bonus. His tastes in cars had changed over the years as he made more and more money, but this one had sentimental value.
He got in and it started right up. While it wasn't used every day anymore, he'd known it would be in perfect condition. The tinted windows were another reason he'd been interested in borrowing this particular truck, along with the extended cab so Monty could stretch out in the back. Hell, he might have to do the same some nights. He pulled it out and then backed his truck in. He transferred his stuff to the back, got Monty situated again and closed the garage door. Making his way back through the house, he made sure he'd locked and alarmed everything. The last thing he wanted to do, was to repay his friend's generosity by letting his house get robbed. He got in the truck and sat for a minute, realizing that today was the end of his career in law enforcement and he was on his own again. The numbness he'd used as a shield since yesterday suddenly fell away as he leaned his head back against the seat. He closed his eyes and let the tears come. His dreams of the happy future he'd finally dared to allow himself, had been shattered. Monty whined and reached out a paw between the front seats, putting it on his arm. He patted it but didn't say a word. Pulling away from Kip's house, Marty Deeks disappeared until such time as he felt he was ready to face the world again.
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Sam and Callen entered Kensi's hospital room and were surprised to see Deeks wasn't there. Every time one of them had come to visit, he'd been glued to her side. Sam asked. "Where's Deeks?"
Kensi looked up from the book she had been trying, but not succeeding, in reading and decided she didn't want them to know what she'd done just yet. "I sent him home to shower, get some decent food in him and take a nap in a real bed. He doesn't need to be here every minute of every day."
"I'm surprised you managed to talk him into it!"
"It wasn't easy, believe me." Kensi knew she was talking about something completely different and fought the urge to cry and tell them everything. She knew they'd be disappointed in her.
Sam sat on the side of the bed and brushed her hair back off her forehead. "We thought we'd lost both of you when we heard the chopper'd gone down. I don't know how Deeks managed to move that piece off you in the condition he was in, but he did! He'll never let anything come between the two of you."
Kensi thought to herself, 'Nothing but me.' She didn't respond, not trusting her voice, just nodded and gave Sam the best smile she could muster up. When she thought she could speak and sound somewhat normal, she asked. "How're things at the Mission?"
Callen spoke for the first time. "Quiet. And I find I don't really like it, it's eerie."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have a Deeks free zone but it's just too weird."
"Even Granger looks a little nonplussed, doesn't seem to know what to do with himself. Nell and Eric are doing their best to take his place by driving us crazy. They're bored and worried about both of you." Said Callen.
Kensi smiled her first real smile at the pictures his words created in her mind. The smile didn't last long as reality rushed back in.
"Kensi? What's up?" Sam had picked up on her drop in spirit.
"Just having a bad day. I'm bored. They won't let me out of this bed until the swelling goes down, even just for a short spin down the hallway. They're afraid I could damage something else. I'm tired of these four walls!"
"Hey, that's why we're here! To give you someone to talk to besides Deeks. Now that we know he's gone for a bit, I'm even happier we came by." Callen patted her on the arm.
"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!"
They spent the next hour or so talking about previous cases, situations they'd found themselves in. In an effort to cheer her up, both men told funny stories about the other from when they'd first been partnered up, before Kensi had joined the team. They managed to get her mind off things until the nurse entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's time for Agent Blye's medication and I need to change her bandages. If you could both step outside for a little while?"
"We need to be going anyway. Kens? We'll be back tonight after work." Sam gently ran a hand over her hair and then patted her on the shoulder.
"Thanks for coming by guys. I'll talk to you later."
The two men left the room and headed for the elevator. The door opened before they even got two feet from the room and Julia Feldman steamed out, single mindedly determined to get to her daughter. She wasn't even sure if that bastard had told her he was leaving. It might fall to her to let Kensi know what he'd done. Sam put a hand out and took her arm, stopping her just outside the door.
"Julia? The nurse is in with Kensi right now. She should be out in a little while."
"Damn it!" Julia huffed out a sigh and leaned against the opposite wall.
"What's the matter?" Callen knew something was up. Kensi's mom didn't swear, at least not that he'd ever heard.
Julia narrowed her eyes at him and then at Sam. "Do either of you know what Detective Deeks has done?" The disdain with which she said Deeks's name stunned both of them. From the times they'd seen the two of them together, they'd gotten the impression that Julia adored him. When they'd all been at Sam's for Christmas, Deeks's mother and Julia seemed to get along great as well.
"He's not here right now. Kensi sent him home for a shower and a nap. Why? What's he done?" Sam asked.
"I'll tell you what he's done. That coward certainly didn't go home for a nap! He packed up all Kensi's things and stuck them in a storage locker! Then he had the nerve to show up at my house to hand me a suitcase of clothes for her and the key to the locker! I don't even know if Kensi knows." She handed them the envelope with her name written on the front. Callen opened it and pulled out the receipt for a locker at You-Store-It over on Culver. There wasn't anything special about it and he put it back inside, handing it back to Julia.
Sam wondered if that was why she'd seemed so down when they got there. But why would she lie? Did she really not know that Deeks was going to do this? Why would he do this? Her happiness and wellbeing had always seemed more important to him than his own. He'd seen the man's devotion to her up close and personal from the moment they'd found the two of them in that wreckage. Callen, on the other hand, was ready to blow. He was ready to scour the city and find Deeks to beat the hell out of him. Sam knew his partner well and when Callen started towards the elevator again, he grabbed him by the arm. "G? Let's think about this before you go off armed for bear."
"What's there to think about Sam? He bailed! He bailed on her when she needs him the most. Do you really think she has a clue? We just spent the last hour with her and she never said a word. He's done this without having the balls to tell her to her face! He's going to let her mother do it!"
"I don't know G. This isn't like him! There has to be more to it."
"How do you know? I wonder if any of us really know him! At the first sign of trouble, he's hit the road."
"I know because I lived it with him! He's never backed down from a challenge. Do you really think that, if that's in his nature, he would've become a cop? That he would've given himself up to Sidorov to save my life? Knowing that there would be no way they'd let him go? That he endured what they did to him without giving up my wife? Those aren't the actions of a man who runs from trouble!"
"Maybe he wouldn't run from trouble but what about a future with a woman who may never be able to walk again? Someone he'd have to do things for because she couldn't do them anymore? Maybe that kind of trouble he's not man enough to handle."
Sam found Callen's words compelling and his anger spiked. He nodded once at his partner and patted Julia on the arm. "Don't worry Julia, Callen and I will track him down and make him pay! There's no way he gets away with doing this to Kensi! He's in for a world of hurt!"
Another voice joined the conversation. Unnoticed by the three having their heated conversation in the hallway, the nurse had left the room and overheard the end of it. "Excuse me? Are you talking about Marty?"
"Oh for God's sake! Another one?" Callen looked at the pretty little nurse nervously standing there.
"I don't know what you mean by that but Marty…Mr. Deeks is a good man!"
"You don't know what he's done!" Julia replied. Her daughter had only been back in her life for a few years and she was still trying to make up for lost time by fiercely protecting her little girl, whether she needed it or not. Something Kensi found annoying but Deeks had figured it out and convinced her to let her mom have her moments.
"Look, I could probably get fired for this but you need to know what really happened. I can't let you go out and hurt him for something he didn't do!"
"What he did was put all my daughter's belongings in a storage locker and leave me holding the bag! Now I have to go in there and tell her that the man she loves has dumped her because she's now disabled! Do you still think that he's a good man?"
"She doesn't." Was the quiet reply.
"She doesn't what?" Asked Sam, confused.
"She doesn't love him."
"That's bull! My daughter is head over heels in love with him!"
"Then why did she turn down his marriage proposal? Why did she tell him that she hasn't loved him for a long time? Why did she tell him that he was to blame for her being here?"
Julia stumbled back a step, looking between Sam and Callen who appeared just as stunned.
"How do you know all this?" Callen asked.
She blushed and said. "I was on my way in to change her bandages. I heard him telling her how much he loved her and I didn't want to interrupt. I started to turn away, figuring I'd just come back later, when I heard him ask her to marry him. I couldn't help it, it was so romantic and he was so sweet. I just wanted to hear her say yes. What I heard kept me rooted to the spot, I couldn't have moved if I'd wanted to. She told him she didn't love him and that she didn't want to be his partner anymore, that if she'd had a real agent as her partner, she wouldn't have been on the helicopter when it crashed. She called him the stupid cop that she'd been stuck babysitting. He walked out of that room and right by me. He never even saw me. He was devastated. His face was white as a sheet and his eyes were dead. That's all I know. Oh, one other thing. When I finally worked up the courage to go in, I found Agent Blye in tears. I have to think she didn't mean any of it. It wasn't my business to get involved but now I have to. I couldn't let you go out there, thinking what you did and hurt a man who's already been hurt so badly!" She finally stopped for breath.
Julia was the first to recover. She looked at the door to her daughter's room and asked no one in particular. "Why? Why would she do that?" The nurse quietly made her escape, happy to know that she had stopped them from going out to hurt Marty but now worried that this could come back to bite her. She loved her job and getting fired for repeating an overheard conversation could get her blacklisted. She remembered the look on his face when he left that room and she knew that, no matter what the consequences ended up being, she would do it all over again. Behind her, the others never noticed her leave.
Sam shook his head. "I have no idea, but I'm going to ask her!" He reached out to open the door when the elevator opened again and Hetty walked out, Granger at her side.
"Mr. Hanna? Mr. Callen? A word please?" Sam huffed out a sigh as he stepped back from the door. He and Callen waited for the two to reach them. Julia waited as well, trying to make sense of everything she'd heard, not wanting to go in before she had a chance to wrap her head around all of it.
"Hetty. Granger. Are you here to visit Kensi?" Callen knew it was just an opening gambit. She wouldn't have asked for a word with them if she was just visiting.
"We will when we're done here but first, I need to know what the hell is going on with Mr. Deeks!"
"What do you mean, what's going on with Deeks?" Callen was being careful to not divulge too much before he found out exactly what Hetty knew.
"I mean that he resigned from the LAPD earlier today. Turned in his badge, his gun AND his NCIS laptop. From what Lt. Bates told me, he wouldn't say why he was leaving and that he should pass the laptop on to the next Liaison. Now he isn't answering his phone. Eric and Nell have been trying to trace him but he turned it off and removed the battery. He's also disabled the GPS in his truck. They have kaleidoscope searching for him, but no luck so far."
Granger put his two cents in. "They're going to start checking traffic cams around Deeks's precinct from an hour before Bates called Henrietta. They also checked his phone records and he made two calls before his phone went dead. The first was to his mother, who insists that something's wrong but that he wouldn't tell her what. The other was to Kip Brigham, who is currently not answering. Eric found him on a flight manifest, returning to LA from Hawaii, booked just minutes after his conversation with Deeks.. He should land in just over two hours."
"So, I ask again Mr. Callen. Do you know what's going on?" Hetty asked.
Callen sighed and repeated what the nurse had told them and about Deeks showing up at Julia's with Kensi's clothes and the storage locker key. Granger closed his eyes and shook his head. He knew that if they didn't find him soon, they may never do so. The man was a skilled undercover operative. He could change his appearance and never be seen again, something he found himself unhappy to contemplate. When had the scruffy and annoying cop gotten past his shields? Hetty just stared at the wall for a moment. "Well, I think we need to go to the source. No time like the present." She reached out and opened the door to Kensi's room.
Kensi looked up when the door opened again. Sam and Callen had said they would be back later. They hadn't been gone all that long. When Hetty walked in, she pasted on a phony smile and opened her mouth to say hello. When Granger, her mom and her two teammates walked through the door behind her, she knew something was wrong. Deeks? Oh God, what if something had happened to him and the last things she'd said to him were nasty lies? She'd already been regretting saying what she had. Now that she'd had time to think about it, she knew he would've been happy to do anything for her that needed to be done, for as long as she needed it. She'd blown it big time. By trying to save him from the burden of her new disability, she'd ruined any chances of them finding their way together. "What's wrong? Is it Deeks? Is he okay?"
"You sound as if you care Miss. Blye? Why would that be?"
Kensi stared open mouthed at her boss. She knew! Somehow she knew! She swallowed hard and asked. "How?"
"How is not important. Why is what we need to know! Why would you do that to him Kensi?"
Hetty's use of her first name showed just how disappointed and upset the tiny woman was at her. She blurted out. "I couldn't let him spend the rest of his life tied to a cripple! I didn't want to be a burden on him." The last words were said so softly, the others could barely hear her.
"Kens, he loves you! Why do you think he'd see taking care of you as a burden? If your roles were reversed, would you have felt he was a burden that you didn't want to take on? Would you have been relieved if he did to you what you did to him?" Sam asked quietly.
The tears started, she couldn't control them. "Of course not!"
"Then why didn't you expect him to have the same faith in you that you have in him? Why would you make that decision for him?"
"I wasn't thinking! I still can't imagine a future where I can't walk. Where I'll be stuck in a wheelchair as my legs wither away! I didn't want him to see me like that!"
"Well, you may get your wish Blye. Deeks has resigned from the LAPD and disappeared off the radar. Beale and Jones are trying to locate him now." Granger said.
"He quit LAPD? Why would he do that?"
Sam shook his head, she really didn't understand what she'd done. "He wouldn't tell Bates why but I can only guess that he's decided to cut all ties with LA. He put your stuff in storage and left the key with your mother."
"Mom? You saw him? What did he say?" Kensi was desperate for information.
"He said…he said…that he was leaving town and had given up the house! Oh my God! I slapped him and called him a coward and he never said a word! Even then he was protecting you! Oh Kensi, what have you done?" She reached out and took her daughter's hand.
"He gave up the house? He loved that place! Where would he go?"
"That's something we're trying to determine. When we find him, we'll make sure you have the chance to try to repair the bridges you burned, Miss. Blye. I'm just not sure you'll succeed. Mr. Hanna, Mr. Callen, could you please go to the house and see if Mr. Deeks is there? I have a feeling he won't be but I want all avenues covered. Now, please!"
Sam and Callen nodded their understanding and headed for the door. Callen stopped and turned back to Kensi. Sam stopped and waited for him by the door. "Kens? Of everyone here, I probably understand best why you did what you did. I would most likely have done the same. But I also need you to realize and come to terms with the fact that we may never find him. We'll try, but the world is a big place and, as goofy as he comes off, he's damn good at being undercover. If he goes underground and doesn't want to be found, then he won't be found."
Kensi nodded her understanding and leaned into her mother for support. Julia wrapped her arms around her, upset with what she'd done but willing to do what she could to try to take some of the pain away. Kensi turned it over in her mind. If she'd only thought this through more carefully, she would've known that this was exactly how Deeks would react. She may never see him again. How could she have thought that he would just blithely continue on with NCIS? She may be strong and she may be independent, but everyone needed someone at one point or another in their lives. She turned her head into her mother's arms and started to sob quietly, something she would normally never do in front of anyone, except Deeks. That fact alone told everyone in the room that she was under more strain from the accident than they'd realized and hadn't been thinking clearly. She was one of the best at putting on a good face even when she was hurting inside. For her to break down in front of them spoke volumes.
Sam and Callen left, Hetty and Granger on their heels after quietly saying their goodbyes, leaving mother to comfort daughter as best she could. They met at the elevator where the other two were waiting for a car to appear. "Gentlemen, I don't have to tell you that you need to find Mr. Deeks and soon. For both their sakes. I'll have Nell check into the storage facility." Both men nodded as the elevator pinged its arrival and the doors opened. All four got on but said nothing, each lost in their thoughts. Worry about Deeks but also Kensi, foremost in their minds. Snippets of conversations and mental pictures of the two of them together flitted through their minds. When they reached the ground floor, they split up. Sam and Callen to the Challenger to head over to Deeks's place. Hetty and Granger to his car to head back to the Mission to see how their analysts were doing. They both knew they'd found nothing substantial yet or they would have heard something but one could hope.
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It was quiet in the Challenger as each man processed the events of the day. They were both worried that they may never see the scruffy cop again. Sam owed Deeks his life and that of his wife. Callen owed Deeks for not allowing that sadistic Russian bastard to take away the most stable person in his life. On top of that, they'd both come to care for him even though neither would admit it. His bright and sunny outlook on life would be missed if he couldn't be found. Both claimed to find him annoying but could also point out countless times when his jokes, while usually off color or not all that amusing, broke the tension when a case got rough. If Kensi didn't recover the use of her legs and they couldn't find Deeks, life at OSP would be very different indeed. Lost in their thoughts, both were taken by surprise when they pulled up to the house, neither remembering the actual drive.
They sat in the car and watched with disbelief as a woman tried to drive a for rent sign into the ground in front of the house. Sam was the first to recover and quickly got out of the car. He bore down on the woman, Callen now right behind him. She watched them come and then her eyes darted up and down the street, looking for someone who would help her if she needed it. The street was empty. When Callen realized the woman was frightened, he pulled out his badge and said. "Federal Agents."
Her body relaxed and she nervously smiled at them. "Rosemary Lock, Lock Real Estate. What can I do for you?" Callen held out his hand and she shook it, then shook Sam's. She was still hesitant as she worried about why these men were here.
"We need to know if you know where Detective Deeks is." Said Callen.
"Marty? Why? Is he in some kind of trouble?" She genuinely like the man and couldn't understand why federal agents would be looking for him.
"No, he's not in trouble, at least not that we know of. He works with us and we're worried about him." Sam replied.
She blew out a sigh. "I knew something was wrong when he came by this afternoon and gave notice! I was the one who rented this place to him and I know how much he loved it. He didn't tell me why, just paid his last month's rent and handed me the key. I was sorry he was leaving, he and Kensi were good tenants. The neighbors loved having a cop living here, made them feel safer."
"Any chance you could let us inside to take a look around?" Sam asked.
"Sure but you won't find anything. Place is clean as a whistle, I'd swear it's cleaner than when he moved in." She led them up to the front door and unlocked it. She hadn't been kidding. There was not a stick of furniture, a piece of paper or spec of dirt anywhere.
"Guess Deeks's cleanliness OCD kicked in big time when he packed up G." As a joke, it fell flat, the emptiness of the place depressing both of them. They'd both spent time here and Deeks had made it feel homey and comfortable, with his surfboard leaning up against a wall, a guitar resting on a chair in the living room, other items scattered around, neat but lived in. Without really speaking about it, they were eager to get out. They checked the second floor but it was as clean as the downstairs.
When they reached ground level again, Callen held out his hand. "Thank you Ms. Lock. You've been very helpful."
"I wish I could tell you something more, but he told me next to nothing."
"We understand." Callen said. They left her relocking the door and stopped when they reached the car. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed. "Hetty? We're at Deeks's place. It's been cleaned out and we found a realtor here putting up a for rent sign in front. She let us in to look around but it's like it's been cleaned by a professional. Not a single clue as to where he went."
"Understood Mr. Callen. I expected as much. Nell discovered that Mr. Deeks rented two lockers. The bigger one is in Kensi's name, the other is in his. She talked to the facility's owner and he said Mr. Deeks came by with two young men earlier today and filled both lockers up. He told me once that one of his neighbor's sons watched Monty for him when he had to be gone and walked him during the day. You might want to find this young man. It would make sense that he helped loading and unloading the truck. He may have more information."
"Understood Hetty. Should I do anything about the house? Ask her to hold off on putting it up for rent?"
"No, Mr. Callen. If we don't find Mr. Deeks, leaving it sit empty while we pay the rent, makes no sense. Kensi won't want to go back there. Even if it were handicapped accessible, I'm sure there will be too many memories there for her. I imagine she will stay with her mother once she's released from the hospital until she gets her bearings."
"Okay, we'll let you know if we find the boy."
"Very good Mr. Callen." He hung up and relayed the information to Sam.
"I think I know who you're talking about. I don't know his name but I'm pretty sure he said the realtor put the two of them in touch. Apparently she knows the family."
Both turned and headed back to where Rosemary was still struggling with the sign. Sam smiled at her and held out his hand for the hammer. She smiled back and gladly handed it over. She'd done this hundreds of times and still hadn't gotten the knack of getting it smoothly into the ground. Sam knocked it firmly in place with one hard hit of the hammer. He handed it back and asked. "Deeks said you introduced him to someone in the neighborhood who was willing to watch Monty. Could you give us his name? We think he helped Deeks move and might know something."
"Sure! His name is Justin Prentiss and he lives with his mom and dad in the green house just a few houses up." She pointed up the street. They nodded their thanks and headed up to the house she'd pointed out.
Callen knocked on the door and both men took out their badges. A pretty brunette answered the door. "Can I help you?"
Both held up their badges and Callen said. "Federal Agents. Is Justin Prentiss at home?" They immediately saw her guard go up, worried about why federal agents were looking for her son. He quickly moved to reassure her. "He's not in any trouble. We're just hoping he can help us find our friend, Marty Deeks."
"Marty? Yeah, I got home from work a little while ago and Justin told me he'd helped move Kensi and him out of the house. We're really going to miss them around here! Justin's in the den, let me get him for you. Would you like to come in?"
"Thank you Mrs. Prentiss, we really appreciate it." Callen said as he and Sam entered the house. She left them alone in the living room as she went to get her son. She returned with the young man quickly.
He held out his hand and both agents shook it. "Mom says you're here about Marty? I knew something was wrong, I knew it."
"What made you think that?" Asked Sam. He took point.
"He was real quiet and didn't joke around like he usually does. Plus, who moves out that quick? If it was planned, he would have come and asked me sooner to make sure that I was available to help. He was lucky neither Derek nor I had plans for today."
"Did he say where he was going?"
Justin looked at both of them, suddenly suspicious. "Why do you want to know? What's going on? Is Marty in some kind of trouble?"
"No, no he's not in any trouble with the law. He's a friend and coworker. There's been a huge misunderstanding and we need to find him before he's gone for good."
"It's with Kensi, isn't it? I felt like he was lying when he said she was going with him. Plus, all her stuff went into a separate locker. Is she okay?" His concern for both of them was evident in his voice.
"She's in the hospital and something happened, now Deeks has gone off the radar. What happened is between the two of them, we're just trying to find him to allow them a chance to work things out."
"Hospital? Is she going to be okay? Which one? Can I visit her?" The questions came rapid fire.
"Pacific Beach Medical and I'm sure she'd like it if you did. Now, did he say anything about where he was headed?"
"No, just said he was putting their stuff in storage because they were going on a long term assignment and didn't want to pay rent for that long. He said they were going to be away for a year or longer."
"Nothing else? No passing comment that might give us a hint where he was going?"
"No, like I said, he was real quiet. Didn't say much at all. Totally not like him."
Sam sighed and held out one of his cards. "If anything comes to mind, no matter how inconsequential it seems, call that number, day or night. Thanks for talking to us."
Justin shook their hands again and his mother showed them out. When they got back to the car, Rosemary was gone. Sam rested his forearms on the roof of the car and Callen stared back at him across it. "I got a bad feeling about this G. She hurt him so bad he packed up and left overnight. He could be anywhere by now."
"I know, I have the same bad feeling. I'm not planning on giving up though, you?"
"Hell no! I don't care how long it takes, we'll keep looking. Let's head back to ops and see what the Wonder Twins have come up with."
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