Just then, Kensi's mom came around the corner, and although she felt childish, Kensi allowed herself to be pulled into her mother's embrace. Hetty had secured a private waiting area for them to move to. LAPD couldn't be trusted to provide a security detail since they weren't sure who the contact was. Versey was told to report that the victim had died en route to the hospital. Surprisingly, Hetty told Kensi that Granger had come and offered to be on protection detail at the hospital in case there really was a threat to her. He was somewhere on the premises, checking them out. The rest of the team left with assurances that Kensi would notify them with updates on Deeks.
"How is Marty, Sweetheart?" asked Julia.
"It's really bad, Mom. And he was trying to protect me." She sniffed, then gave in to the emotions she had been trying to keep in check. " If he dies, what will I do?" she sobbed, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. The older woman stroked Kensi's hair and wiped her own tears. She had always hoped Kensi would find love, but she knew her independent daughter would not fall easily. Marty was the perfect combination of softness, edginess, and sincerity—something Julia saw years ago when Marty first appeared at her door to take her into protective custody at Kensi's request. Julia could tell even then that he was smitten with Kensi, even though it took the two of them years to stop fighting it. When you work that hard at resisting something inevitable, losing it makes the wasted time seem unbearable.
In the LAPD impound lot, Detective Jeff Versey tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. He had parked on the far side of the main building, so he could see any vehicles brought in without being noticed. The impound lot called looking for Maloney, the newly transferred detective, because they found nothing wrong with the department vehicle he had brought in for mechanical issues. Versey's interest was piqued when he was told Maloney had asked to use a specific car from the impound lot while his was being repaired—an SUV. Why would a single guy, whose own car was a small sporty one, specifically request such a vehicle, when there was nothing wrong with his? Again, Versey was hit with the feeling that Maloney couldn't be trusted.
Versey told the manager of the impound lot to call Maloney's cell phone, then he left to wait at the lot. When Maloney came in fifteen minutes later, Versey noticed he drove the vehicle to the back of the lot, then walked through the rows of cars to turn in the keys and retrieve his own. Versey was able to move through the lot undetected, then examine the SUV up close as Maloney drove away in his sports car. As he walked around to the left side of the vehicle, he saw it. A stripe of blue paint. Sending Hanna a picture for the second time that day, he called in a team to comb through the car carefully, looking for traces of hair, blood, or anything else that could tie Maloney to the attack on Deeks. But Maloney had been with him at the scene, right?
Then Versey remembered they had come separately, with Maloney riding along in a squad car with a uniformed officer from headquarters. He said his car wouldn't start. But he had already taken his car to the impound lot to exchange it for the SUV, hadn't he? Versey planned to pull tape from the camera at the parking lot at headquarters, and he just bet he'd see Maloney pulling in with the SUV before hitching a ride with the black and white. But why would Maloney have a beef with Deeks?
"Agent Hanna," said Versey into his cell phone. Can you use your resources to investigate Detective Patrick Maloney? He transferred to LAPD from Burbank a month ago, and he brought the black SUV with the blue paint streak to the impound lot just a few minutes ago. I've got a forensics team coming to gather evidence, but I can't imagine what connection he has to Deeks. I can issue a BOLO for him and have him detained at the precinct, but not for long."
"Just put a tail on him until we find out some information," said Sam. 'We don't want to tip him off and make him run." Hanging up and turning to Callen, Sam said, "I don't think Versey is a suspect, but he knows who is."
Ten minutes later, Nell appeared on the screen at the boatshed where Sam and Callen were questioning the two shipyard employees, making sure their story rang true. They found no discrepancies, and the men agreed with the pronunciation Kensi had suggested. "Guys," said Nell excitedly. "At first I couldn't find anything suspicious. Maloney has a stellar record, and moved up the ranks quickly. But I kept going back into his personal history. His mother's maiden name was Scarli. He is the nephew of Detective Frank Scarli, who was taking payoffs from Lazik, and went down as part of the same operation. Then, looking at footage from LAX, it was Maloney who purchased the burner phone and stopped by headquarters to switch cars. He met up with the others at the power plant. They came together in a rental, so we are combing through those records."
"In other interesting news," broke in Erik, "Scarli's sister, Maloney's mama, has been his only visitor. She has been there the maximum number of times allowed in the past 3 months, AND there have been some pretty hefty deposits in her bank account lately. We know that Lazik amassed a fortune before Deeks brought him down, and the U.S. government couldn't touch most of it—only what they could prove he earned here."
"All right, you two, good work!" said Callen. Call Versey and tell him to hold Maloney until we can pick him up and take him to the boatshed for questioning. We'll see if he will give up the other three guys, and get him to turn on Scarli or Lazik. Hey, has anyone heard from Kensi?"
"No, and it's been 3 hours," Nell answered.
Sam looked at Callen and said, "At least that must mean he's still alive."