Chapter 7
Hetty rarely second guessed her decisions, yet this time she was. If something happened to Amy and the kids, she'd never forgive herself. She wondered if Callen's resistance was due to his feelings for her or if he truly felt Amy was in danger. Hetty called Nell downstairs to her office.
"Yes Hetty?" she said walking up to her desk.
"Is there any new Intel? Particularly mentioning the woman; Amy; across the street from the Mason's?" she asked.
"No, not that I've seen, why?" Nell asked giving Hetty a strange look.
"I've decided to have the Mason's place into one of our safe houses and bring the team back to the office on Monday. Mr. Callen seems concerned about Amy's safety. I'm just being sure I'm not pulling them from Pendleton too soon." Hetty explained.
"You don't trust Callen's judgment? If he thinks she's in danger, she could be." Nell said with her tablet cradled in her arms.
"I do trust his judgment, I just think there are extenuating circumstances as to why he wants to remain at Pendleton." She told her looking around the empty office.
Nell gave her another strange look. "Hetty, it's not like they're charging a lot to their expenditure accounts, they could stay out there a while longer if you're worried about expenses. We've got just a couple other cases, but nothing as pressing as this. Eric and I have already started working on the other cases when we're not busy with this one."
Hetty looked at her and smiled. "I knew there was a reason I hired you, Ms. Jones. How close do you think we are to solving the Mason case?"
"Honestly, I have to agree with Amy and Callen that something will probably happen this weekend. It's just a matter of where. Eric's tapped into the cameras in and around the areas she's suggested, but hasn't seen anything out of the ordinary." Nell told her.
"Thank you, Ms. Jones. I'll take that into consideration." She told Nell and picked up her phone. Hetty dialed Sam's number. She watched Nell walk away while waiting for Sam to answer.
"Mr. Hanna, I know Mr. Callen was quite upset when I told him that I wanted all of you back in the office on Monday. Is that strictly a personal point of view or do you see a legitimate threat to Amy?"
"None of us are happy about the decision, including Kathy. To be honest, we don't know if they'll try to go after Amy if they come back and find Kathy gone. I'd rather not even chance it, Hetty." He told her.
Hetty sighed. "Is Kathy going to willingly go to the safe house?"
"She's voiced that she doesn't want to go if we're going to leave Amy without at least someone here. I think Callen's planning on coming back every night if we don't get these guys by Monday." He told her looking from Kensi to Deeks to Kathy.
"Alright Mr. Hanna, let's see how the rest of the week plays out. If by the weekend nothing happens, we'll re-evaluate the situation. Now, Callen mentioned that he had news about Amy. Do you know what it is?" she asked sitting back in her chair; preparing for the news.
Sam looked at the faces staring back at him and excused himself. Stepping onto the front porch he told her everything Amy had told him. Needless to say she was not happy, but already knew everything he was telling her. Hetty was so thankful Amy's house would be ready next week. She thanked Sam for his input on the situation and hung up.
Sam went back into the house and sat his phone on the counter. He told them about Hetty's hopeful change of heart. Everyone was happy. Still, they were under tremendous pressure to get these guys as soon as possible. Kensi asked if they should call Callen, but after looking at his watch, Sam decided to tell him when they got back.
Amy didn't say much to Callen while they waited for Ricky. Callen took advantage of one of the girls' trips to the bathroom to try to talk to her.
"Amy, can you please talk to me?" he asked.
Amy sighed and looked at him. "Honestly Callen, what is there to talk about?"
"Anything, I hate this awkwardness between us." He told her.
"I'm sorry. I just think it's best if we distance ourselves from each other." She said looking out the window.
"Hetty wants us back in the office on Monday morning. She said she'll have PMO patrol more often, but you won't have the protection you have now." He told her.
"I don't think we were ever in any real danger."
"There is still the possibility they saw you taking the pictures. If we take Kathy to a safe house, they may come after you."
Amy looked at him biting her lip as she thought. "Lord, I do a wonderful job of getting myself into some shit, don't I?"
"Yeah, you do." He laughed.
"God, I've got to have the absolute worst luck." She smiled, shaking her head.
"Hopefully that luck starts changing." He said putting his hand on her shoulder.
"You've got to do whatever Hetty tells you." She told him.
"Sam offered to stop by your house on his way to and from the office. I was thinking I would have him drop me off and I'd stay at your house every night until these guys are arrested." He said hoping she would go for it.
"No, I think we'll be fine. The less time we spend together the better." She paused and looked at her nails.
"You keep saying that, why? Why did you tell me I needed to forget you?" He asked turning in the passenger seat to face her.
"You have to, Callen. Having you around is such a temptation. I have no idea why you're even interested in me to begin with. I have nothing to offer you." She told him trying not to look at him.
"Honestly, there are at least a hundred reasons why I'm interested in you. You're a beautiful woman, you're smart," With that comment Amy rolled her eyes, Callen continued. "Yeah, you've got some issues you need to work out, but you're a wonderful mother and a great cook."
"Callen, if I'm so damn smart, why the hell am I still with Rick?" She asked looking directly at him now.
"That's something only you can answer, Amy." He told her touching her cheek.
"I don't even know why anymore." She told him looking at the window.
"What time is Ricky's appointment over?" He asked.
Looking at the clock on the dashboard she said. "In about five minutes. I should probably go meet him."
Callen watched Amy walk up to the office in the side mirror. Jenny and Kristi passed her on the way out and got in the van leaving the sliding door open. He saw Amy talking to a woman who he assumed was the speech therapist and then she and Ricky walked back out to the van.
Sam walked back over to Amy's house as Rick was pulling into the driveway. They talked for a while until Amy got back. The kids were off to play, so Callen and Amy walked up to join Sam and Rick. Rick already had a beer in his hand. Amy listened to Rick tell them the grandiose stories from his night on duty, not believing a word he was saying.
"Oh Amy, the C.O. wants everyone going to 29 Palms, so it looks like I'll be gone from April twenty second to May tenth." Rick told her.
Amy thought it was the perfect opportunity for Rick to go see one of his girlfriends. She elected not to say anything, and then saw Callen looking at her out of the corner of her eye. Amy looked up at him and he asked if she was ok, she told him she'd tell him about it later. She wondered if Callen was thinking the same thing she was.
At four, Amy went into the house to start dinner, with Callen following her in. Before he could even ask her what was wrong, she told him. "Three weeks in 29 Palms? I wouldn't doubt he if goes to see one of his girlfriends while he's gone."
Callen laughed, "I was thinking the same thing. Do you think he was really on duty last night?"
"I don't know. He is home early, but I've found that the more outlandish the story the more likely it is that he's made it up. I know some strange stuff happens at the barracks, but really? Rick's not even supposed to be standing duty." She said getting the chicken out of the refrigerator.
"Why can't he stand duty?" Callen asked.
They heard the front door open and Sam and Rick's voices, Amy shook her head and told him. "I'll tell you later."
"What are you making for dinner?" Rick asked.
"I'm going to bake some chicken I've had in that seasoning the kids like so much." She told him pulling the foil from the drawer.
"What are you making with it?" he asked.
"I was thinking some rice pilaf and some kind of vegetable." She said to him as she placed the chicken on the baking sheet then putting the tongs in the sink and poured the marinade down the drain before she threw out the bag.
"That smells good," Sam said walking over to the baking sheet.
"Wait till you taste it." Rick told him.
Amy put the chicken in the oven and opened the refrigerator taking out three beers and handed one to Callen and Sam. "I know you guys have had a long day. You deserve one." Callen and Sam both thanked her.
"So what happened last night while I was gone?" Rick asked grabbing another beer from the fridge.
They all walked out to the garage so Amy could smoke while they talked. Rick was happy to hear that they'd gotten Gunnery Sergeant Calke before he could hurt Kathy or the kids. He sympathized with their anger and frustration over his death. Amy paid very little attention to what Rick was saying. Her mind was on Callen and their conversation in the van. Occasionally, she would look at them and stopped at Callen, who watched her intently. She could feel the heat from his stare from across the garage.
Kensi, Deeks and Kathy joined them in the garage. They all talked for a while about nothing in particular. It was just nice to get out and socialize. Amy went back in the house to grab another round of beers from the fridge. Kensi followed her in.
"So how are you doing with everything that's going on?" Kensi asked holding the refrigerator door open.
"I'm not too bad, how about you?" Amy asked her wondering what exactly she was talking about, the case or personally.
"I do like not being in the office, but getting really tired of staring at Deeks all day." She laughed taking a few of the beers from Amy.
"Is he really that bad?" Amy asked laughing.
"He can be. I wouldn't be surprised if Kathy's ready to gauge her eyes out every time he opens his mouth." Kensi laughed.
"Well, if you ever feel like you're going to gauge your eyes out, you're always welcome over here." Amy told her as they walked back into the garage.
When dinner was ready, Amy excused herself and went in to get the plates ready. Kensi, Deeks and Kathy went with Rick to get the kids and then headed back across the street to have dinner. Callen and Sam chatted while they were gone. Amy brought the kids plates out first then went in to grab the adult's. Callen went in to help bring them out.
"Does he ever help you?" Callen asked noticing Rick hasn't done much since Callen and Sam started staying with them.
"You noticed that, huh? Nope not really, he comes home from work and plops on the couch. If you ask him to do anything, he complains under his breath." Amy told him.
"Does he just watch TV?" he asked.
"No, usually he's got his phone in his face. He turns the volume down so I don't know what he's doing. He's constantly telling me he's playing a game."
"But you don't believe him?" he said
"Would you?" she laughed.
After the kids were in bed, Amy came downstairs to find Rick stretched out on the couch. Callen was sitting on one loveseat and Sam was on the other. She stopped, should she sit with Sam or Callen? Callen was the first to move over so she sat with him, but over as far as she could against the arm of the loveseat. As they watched TV, Callen tried to tickle her leg. She pushed his hand away. After a few minutes, he tried it again. Amy poked him in the side as he gasped in surprise. Sam shot them a look and they both tried not to laugh. Rick was oblivious to the whole thing.
Sam picked up a red pillow that was sitting next to him and chucked it at Callen. Amy grabbed it and threw it back at Sam and they all started laughing. Rick looked up just as Sam threw the pillow at him. Rick picked it up and threw it back then went back to whatever he was doing on his phone. Amy rolled her eyes and elbowed Callen, then pointed to Rick. Callen and Sam shook their heads.
By ten Amy was falling asleep. Instead of leaning on the arm of the loveseat, Amy leaned into Callen. He enjoyed the physical contact with her, but it took a great deal of willpower not to put his arm around her. He loved to watch her sleep, she looked so peaceful. Callen wanted to hold her in his arms all night. Instead, he woke her up and sent her up to bed. Rick followed about a half-hour later. Callen and Sam talked for a while before they lay down to get some rest before they had to watch for their suspects.
When they hadn't shown up by four, they laid back down. Rick was down, getting ready for work an hour later. Callen wondered if he was leaving early to go see someone or it he truly had P.T. He heard the shower a half-hour later and Amy was downstairs twenty-minutes later making coffee. Callen checked to see if Sam was still sleeping before he went into the kitchen. Amy was wearing a red v-neck t-shirt and denim Capri's. He walked up to her and poked her in the sides.
"Callen, stop." She told him turning around to face him.
"I'm sorry I'm just getting you back for last night." He said looking at her
"I need to get Ricky up." She told him and walked away. "Good morning Sam.
Callen turned around to find Sam staring at him with his arms crossed over his chest. "Hey Sam, I thought you were asleep."
"No, I was awake. It's Thursday, we've got four day to get these guys. Why didn't they make an appearance last night?"
"I don't know, I was wondering the same thing. I think Kathy needs to stay close to home this weekend." Callen told him.
"I agree, Amy too. We've got to talk to Eric, see if he's been able to get into the traffic cams and surveillance cameras yet." Sam said walking to the coffee maker pushing Callen out of the way. "You're not the only one who wants a cup of coffee, move it along."
"Sorry," he laughed. "Maybe we should go see these places for ourselves; just to get a lay of the land."
Amy came back downstairs with Ricky and Kristy following close behind. For the second morning in a row, Ricky had gotten up without much trouble. Callen was pleased, but enjoyed goofing off with him the other morning. He wondered what it was like having kids, wondered what it would be like having kids with Amy. He immediately shook the image from his head; that was more than he needed to imagine right now. But the images were intriguing. The kids left for school and Amy started a load of laundry. Callen was still thinking about the images his imagination produced. He went to the family room to sit down, Sam joined him and they watched the morning news.
Amy was up stairs putting clothes away and couldn't get her mind off Callen. She hated the way she thought about him. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and looks to see who it was. There was Callen with a warm, sexy smile on his face.
"Go back downstairs." She told him when he walked into her room.
"I promise I'm only here to talk to you, nothing more." He laughed.
"Right, I believe you like I believe Rick." She smiled pulling a pair of jeans from the pile.
Amy watched him sit on the edge of the bed next to her. She tried to focus on folding the pile of laundry on the bed. She pulled a pair of her underwear out of the pile and immediately threw it aside. Callen noticed and reached for them. She slapped his hand away.
"Is there something you needed, Callen? Otherwise go back down stairs." She tried to ignore his stare and felt like he was undressing her.
"I just wanted to see what you're up to." Callen told her standing.
Callen pulled her to him and kissed her, leaving her breathless. "Now I'll leave you alone. Sam and I are going to go out for a while, to go check out these shopping centers. I'll have Kensi or Deeks check on you every now and then."
"Ok, no more. That's the last of it. I hope you got it out of your system." She smiled.
"I did for now." He smiled and her patting her rear before he walked out of the room.
Jenny woke up fifteen minutes after Sam and Callen left. Amy felt horribly guilty for what letting him kiss her once again. She was telling herself that she wasn't any better than Rick. Just because she wasn't sleeping with Callen didn't mean she wasn't emotionally involved in an affair with him. She prayed the case wrapped up soon so she could focus on finding a job so she and the kids could leave. Then eventually, possibly, be with Callen.
Kensi dropped by just before noon to check on them. They sat and talked for a while about the kids and the case. Amy noticed that she talked about Deeks with a certain affinity and wondered if there was something going on between them. Not wanting to tell her anything about what was going on between either she and Rick or she and Callen, Amy opted to keep her mouth shut. Amy invited Kensi back after they finished the case to hang out, have a barbeque or split a bottle of wine. Kensi said she'd like that; being that she doesn't get to socialize much where whomever she's with knows exactly what she does for a living.
Deeks appeared at the door to tell Kensi that Kathy had lunch ready for them. Kensi excused herself and told Amy she'd be back in a while. Amy made lunch for Jenny when she noticed a strange car parked on the street behind them. Quickly, she grabbed her camera and went up to Ricky's room. Sure enough, there were the three men again. Amy called Callen.
"Hey Amy, what's going on?" he asked.
"They're back, parked on the street behind me. They're in a gray Toyota Tundra, I can't see the plates." She told him. "Should I go tell Kensi and Deeks?"
"No, we're on our way back. I'll call them. Stay in the house, I don't want them to see you interacting with Kathy or Kensi and Deeks." He told her.
"I think it might be too late. Deeks came over to get Kensi for lunch maybe fifteen minutes ago. I just noticed them when I was getting Jenny's lunch ready."
"Ok. We're on our way." He said and hung up.
He dialed Kensi's number and waited for an answer. "Hey Kens, I just got a call from Amy. Our friends are back. She noticed them after you left her house."
"Alright, what do you want us to do, just keep an eye on them?" she asked walking to the front door and looking out. "Yeah, I see them. They weren't there when I went over to Amy's at eleven thirty, eleven forty-five."
"All we can do is watch them. Hetty still doesn't want us to take them down until we have more Intel on their plan." He told her.
"Is Amy ok by herself?" Kensi asked.
"Yeah, we're on the five, only a few miles from the base." He told her looking at the amount of traffic on the five freeway. "We should hopefully be there soon."
"Alright, see you in a few." She said and walked back into the kitchen after hanging up.
Callen called Hetty next and told her that they were back in the neighborhood. Hetty called Nell to see if there was anything new in the way of Intel.
"All we could get was that they're looking at a place somewhere on the seventy-eight like Amy said. There is also mention of another woman now. Eric and I are assuming Amy is the one they're talking about. Nothing specific has been said about her, just that there is a woman they feel could be a threat to them." Nell told her.
"Mr. Callen, did you catch that. It sounds like they've noticed Amy." She said,
"Yeah, I heard. What do you want us to do?" he asked.
"Nell and Eric will follow them on traffic cameras as soon as they're off base. Hopefully they will lead us to whatever they're going to do. Amy said the credit unions get paid tomorrow, correct?"
"Yes. Navy and Marine Fed both get paid tomorrow. The civilian banks either on Saturday or Monday." He confirmed.
"Alright, I think it's time we let Oceanside and Carlsbad P.D. know what's going on. See if they can assist us this weekend. Do you agree with Amy that they'll do it this weekend?"
"Amy said pay day weekend is chaotic no matter where you go. I agree that this is the weekend they'll strike." He told her.
"I need you to get the license plate number as soon as you can so Nell and Eric can follow them." She paused and spoke to Nell. "When did this new Intel come in?"
"This morning, it's still being translated. That's all we've been able to get so far." Nell told her.
"Thank you Ms. Jones." She said returning to Callen. "I'll call Oceanside and Carlsbad and send them everything we have so far. Do you think Amy's taken pictures of them again?"
"I don't know, probably. I'll send them to you as soon as we get there if she has." He told her.
"Very well, Mr. Callen. Thank you." She said and disconnected the call.
Being that they were minutes away from Amy's house, Callen didn't call her. He knew Amy wouldn't be able to resist taking pictures. He smiled and shook his head at the situation and remembered the incident in her bedroom. Sam pulled into the housing development and slowed so Callen could get a good shot of the plate number as they passed. As luck would have it, the truck was still there.
Amy met them as the door with her camera in her hand and handed it to Callen. He went through the pictures and had her download them immediately so they could see them better. The shots were perfect. Callen truly couldn't have done better if he'd done it himself. Every shot he could have possibly wanted, she'd gotten. Amy got the file attached to an email and was ready to send it, she pushed the lap top towards Callen so he could enter the email address, then pushed it back at her to send it.
"They're on their way to you, Hetty." He said looking back at Amy. "They're great shots, she got all of their faces, a few good shots of the truck they're in and I sent Eric and Nell the picture of the license plate."
Immediately, Hetty went to Ops to see the pictures. "Amy took these? I'm impressed." She said to Callen and then turned to Nell. "Please be sure you send all of these pictures to Oceanside and Carlsbad Police."
"Callen, I just thought of another Shopping center in Vista," Amy said in the background.
"Where is it?" Eric asked and Callen put the call on speakerphone.
"Try again, Eric, I don't know if Amy heard you." He said looking at Amy.
"Hi Amy," Eric said before continuing. "Where is this other shopping center you're talking about?"
"It's on the seventy-eight. I want to say it's off Sycamore and University Avenue, but I'm not sure. There's a Wal-Mart on one side and a Michaels, Target, Old Navy and a few other stores across the street. They're both high traffic shopping centers as well." She told him.
"We'll definitely be looking there too. Thank you." He said.
"You're welcome. I hope it helps more than wastes your time."
"No Amy, you've been very helpful through the whole case." Hetty told her.
"Hello Hetty, how have you been?" Amy said with a smile.
"I'm good dear. We've got to get back to work. If it's alright, I'd like to call and talk with you later, maybe next week." Hetty said.
"That would be fine." She told Hetty.
"Alright Amy; Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna keep an eye on them and call Eric as soon as they leave." She said before telling Nell to hang up.
"Did you tell her what's going on?" Amy asked Callen.
"No, I didn't. I told her I had information, but I didn't tell her." Callen told her.
"I told her." Sam said. "She called me yesterday when you guys took Ricky to his appointment."
"You just told her in front of everyone?" Amy asked.
"No. I excused myself and went outside. No one heard."
"Why did Hetty call you?" Callen asked looking out the back door before looking back at Sam.
"She asked me if I thought Amy was in danger or if you fought with her about going back to office on Monday because of your feelings for Amy." Sam said leaning on the dining room table.
Callen looked at Amy then Sam. "I guess you could say it was a little of both."
"I told her we all agreed; including Kathy; that Amy shouldn't be left here alone, since we didn't know if they'd try to get to Amy when they found Kathy gone."
"Thank you Sam." Amy said.
Callen pulled Amy over to him and kissed her temple. "Thank you Sam. I appreciate it."
"So what now, we wait?" Amy asked, stepping away from him.
"Pretty much," Sam told her.
There was a knock at the door. It was Kensi, Deeks and Kathy. Amy shut the back door and let them in. They all sat around the dining room table talking. Callen told them about the pictures Amy took and the information Hetty and Nell passed him. They agreed that the woman Nell mentioned was Amy and thankful Hetty was now willing to protect her.
Occasionally, Callen would get up and go to the door to make sure the truck was still there. The last time, he stood there for a few minutes and watched them pull away from the curb and disappear. Then seconds later it passed again going on the opposite direction. He watched the truck turn left and pass on the main road through housing then pointed at Amy and motioned for her to follow him as he walked to the front door. Sam knew exactly what Callen wanted Amy to show him.
"Show me where you looked the other night when they left housing and you and Sam saw them." He said with his hand on the small of Amy back.
She led him out to the van and looked towards the park before stepping into the driveway. "They may have moved to that street on the other side of the park."
"Okay, one thing at a time. Show me where to look." He said following her to the back window of the van.
"You see those two houses there at the end of the street, if you look between them, you can see the traffic on the main street." She told him and waited.
The truck didn't drive by so Amy turned around and looked at the other street. They weren't there either, at least not yet.
"Back up to the house. I don't want them seeing you." He told her leading her back up to the house. "I'll come back out in a few minutes to see if they're across the park."
Callen called Eric as soon as he stepped in the door. "Eric, they've left, but we don't know which way they're headed. Do you have any idea where they got the truck from?"
"Yes, the D.M.V. shows the truck is registered to a Jason Phillips. Current address says he." Eric began.
"He's Calke's neighbor. Sam and I talked to him over the weekend." Callen told him looking at Sam. There was an empty plastic cup sitting on the counter. In his anger, Callen hit it, sending it crashing into the laundry room door. "How did he die?"
"We aren't sure. The Coroner believes he died within the last twenty-four hours. There were no visible signs of struggle, no gunshot wounds. The only thing noted so far in the preliminary findings is a needle stick on the side of his neck. They're suspecting Strychnine poisoning like Calke and Auts at the Brig. We have to wait on the toxicology results for confirmation." Eric explained.
"Damn it. This is the third time they've used Strychnine. I think they may be changing their plans. Going from a full on assault to possible poisoning." He said looking at Sam, Kensi and Deeks.
"There is that possibility. We're still waiting on the Intel to be translated. As soon as we have it I'll call you." Eric told him. "We're looking for our suspects at all of the gates. We'll find them."
Callen hung up and tossed his phone on the counter. Had he been in his own house, he would've punched the wall. Everyone at the table waited expectantly for Callen to explain.
"They got to Sergeant Phillips?" Sam asked.
"Yes, they did, probably because he talked to us." Callen said sitting back at the table. He looked at Amy and tried to smile.
"Is there any way it was strictly opportunity and not because he'd talked to you guys? I mean, how would they know if you'd talked to him? Unless this kid mentioned something to Calke, who in-turn told the other guys and. Never mind, I just answered my own question." Amy said feeling embarrassed.
"No Amy you're probably right. Either way, that kid didn't deserve it." Sam told her.
"Neither did Wallis' wife and daughter or Rouche." Callen said.
"I'm sorry you guys." Amy said, know if didn't mean much. Callen smiled at her and rubbed his foot against her leg.
"Well, this crap just keeps getting worse and worse." Kathy said looking at her watch. "I wish it was later, I'd bring the beer over."
Everyone agreed that an ice cold beer sound wonderful, but they couldn't slack off in the middle of the case. They all agreed that later, around dinner would be better.
"Amy, what are you doing for dinner?" Kathy asked.
"I haven't even thought of it. This morning got off on kind of strange foot and I never got back on track." She said looking at Callen.
"Well, we could order in or something. Ooh, I can order from that Chinese place I told you about the other day." Kathy said.
"That sounds good. I don't have any money to help pay for it though." She said.
"Don't worry about it; I can pay for our half." Callen offered, Sam agreed.
"No, I've got it covered. Dinner's on me tonight, I'll call it in after I get back from picking the kids up from school. It should be here by five or five thirty." She said.
The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Nell and Eric called a couple times to let them know they were tracking the truck and would keep them posted. The kids got home from school and finished their homework. Rick came home from work and they all went over to Kathy's for dinner.
As good as the food was Amy only picked at her plate. Callen watched Rick's interaction with Amy; he acted like there was nothing wrong. Had his arm around her, even tried to kiss her. Callen knew he had no right to be jealous, but he wanted nothing more than to break Rick's arm. He couldn't wait for Rick to be out of the picture so it was his arm around her and his lips kissing her. Amy could tell Callen was getting mad and worried he would say something to Rick.
"Hetty, we may have a problem." Nell said walking towards Hetty's desk.
"What is it, Ms. Jones?" she asked over the rim of her tea cup.
"We just got a phone call from the Oceanside Police department. They were called to the Best Western on Oceanside Boulevard when a maid went into one of the rooms after the occupants checked out. Two bodies were found in room one fifty-five. When they asked who the rented the room, they found out it was out suspects. The two dead are a match for Abida Mohamedzai and Malik Raisini."
Hetty looked at Nell her mind reeling. "How long ago was this?"
"Within the hour, the officer who called us said there was no sign of a struggle. It looks like Awan shot them in their sleep, used a pillow to minimize the noise. Do you want us to call Callen?" Nell asked.
Eric came running down the stairs. "Um, we might want to call Callen now. Awan just got on base and we just got new Intel." He said walking over to one of the monitors in the bullpen. Hetty and Nell followed. "The communication states that Mohamadzai and Raisini have been taken care of. The only two problems left will be taken care of by Saturday. He also mentioned going to Red Lobster for a celebratory meal on Saturday. Red Lobster is one of the restaurants in the shopping center off the five Amy mentioned."
"Good work you two. Thank you for staying late. Looks like we just got the day and location of whatever they were planning. I'm just curious as to how he's going to pull this off without the other two. I'll call Callen later this the morning." She told them. "Do we know where Awan went after checking out of the hotel?"
She was interrupted by a dinging sound from the tablet Eric brought down the stairs with him. Tapping the screen a few times, he pulled a traffic cam on the screen. "That's Camp Pendleton's main gate." He said looking back over at his shoulder at Hetty whom had already turned back to her desk.
She reached across the desk and pulled the phone to her and dialed Callen's number. Callen answered on the second ring. "Mr. Callen, Awan is on base. Mohamedzai and Raisini were found dead in their hotel room. Communications between Awan and whoever his contact is says he has two loose ends to silence before a celebratory meal at Red Lobster on Saturday. Get Kathy and her kids in the walk-in closet upstairs. Keep them there. PMO and Agent Wrath's team will be there as soon as they can." She said waiving for Nell to make the call. "Do the same for Amy and the kids."
"How long ago did he come through the gate?" Callen asked waking Sam up. He covered the phone and told him to get Kensi on the phone.
"Within the last five minutes. He should be there any minute." She said
"Alright Hetty. Do we finally have permission to take him down?" he asked telling Sam that Awan was on base.
Sam was on the phone with Kensi when Awan walked up to Amy's door. "Sam, he's there."
Callen was up the stairs as fast and as quietly as he could. He woke Amy and told her to get Rick and the kids in the closet. Amy woke Rick and the three each grabbed one of the kids and put them in the closet. Callen told Rick to keep Amy and the kids there. Amy could head Sam coming up the stairs and said something to Callen. The kids were crying and scared. Rick had Jenny in his lap trying to comfort her, but she only wanted Amy. Ricky and Kristy were at Amy's sides, with her arms around them. She looked at Rick for encouragement and found nothing. She knew at that point she was on her own.
With coms on, Hetty, Nell and Eric listened from Ops. They were all worried and on edge. Callen asked Kensi and Deeks if they had a clear view of the house and where Awan was. His questioned was answered when they heard the gate to the back yard clank. Callen remembered Amy said it was broken and smiled. They watched him walk past the barbeque and check the back door, but it was locked. He checked the other three windows in the back, but they were locked too. Kensi told them that Awan was back in front and had opened the door on the van; they heard the garage door open.
Amy quickly stood and climbed up on the shelves in the closet and pushed the cover to the attic back.
"Amy what the hell are you doing?" Rick asked just watching her.
"Are you going to help me or are you just going to sit there. I'm trying to get the kids to a safer place." She told him. Amy climbed up one more shelf and looked inside the attic. There was enough room for all three kids, Rick and herself. "We need flashlights." She said climbing back down.
"Mommy, there should be one in my room." Jenny said.
"Ok, I'll be right back. Stay here and keep the light off." Amy told them cracking the door a bit to see if there was anyone out there.
"Amy stop, I'll go." Rick said picking her up and turning her back towards the kids. He opened the door and crawled into Jenny's room. Right on her dresser was the flashlight. He grabbed it and went back into the closet.
Amy stood and hefted Kristy as high as she could; Rick took her and held her up to the attic. Kristy climbed in and reached back down for Ricky. Jenny was the easiest to get in the attic, Rick hefted her and both Kristy and Ricky pulled her up. Amy climbed up the shelves and up into the attic.
"Rick come on." She called back down at him.
"No, I'll stay down here. I'll be fine." He told them. The kids began to cry and call for him. Rick climbed up the shelves and pulled the attic cover closed.
