Chapter 9: Back to the Present

Present Day:

Hetty looked at the people gathered around her and asked "How is it that he has been missing for almost two weeks and none of us knew it? He could be anywhere by now. I can't believe we let him slip through the cracks like this. When we find him, there will be new protocols put into place so that each agency knows exactly where he is at all times!" There was no response as no one had any answers to her questions, but they all took note of the fact that she said when, not if. They hoped she was right, as she usually was.

She looked over at Bates "Exactly what date and time did you meet with him for the debrief Lieutenant?" Bates gave her the date and an approximate time. "Eric, Nell, go back to Ops and start searching for his car. Start with traffic cams at the precinct around that time and see if you can find him. It's the last place we know he was for sure. If we can track his movements from there, maybe we'll get lucky and see who took him. The rest of you, go over to his apartment and see if you can find anything there that would give us some clue as to what the hell is going on."

She turned to Bates, "Can you go back to the precinct and see who had access to Sgt. Conroy's office and see if anyone remembers a woman placing a call from there?" Bates nodded and was about to head out the door when Callen spoke up.

"Why now? Why did she call after two weeks? If she hadn't, who knows how much longer we would have been in the dark about where Deeks really is. What's her angle?"

Bates offered "I was about to call Marty back in, we needed him to go back undercover at the same place. Some of the Intel he gathered didn't pan out and we were hoping he could just slide back in. Maybe his cover was blown and whoever has him thought they could throw us off by claiming he was dead and kill the op? "

"It's possible but that doesn't seem likely. Plus, in that case wouldn't she have called you and claimed he died on an NCIS case?" said Callen "Who else knew you were going to bring Deeks back in?"

"Unfortunately, a lot of people knew. Everyone on the undercover teams, our admins, and my boss." replied Bates.

"Do you really think this case would be reason enough to abduct him Bates?" asked Sam.

"No, I really don't see how it could be connected. These guys are just locals, not a major drug ring and they aren't exactly Mensa candidates." Bates replied. "I'm really just grasping at straws here. I'm worried about that boy." he added softly.

"We don't know if she is acting alone or with someone else. We don't know exactly when he was taken or why. At this point we have nothing but a missing detective and a whole lot of questions. What we do know is that she, or they, were smart enough to steal one of our own, right from under us." Callen said in frustration and turned to his team. "Let's head over to Deeks's place and see if we can find something, anything." Everyone in the room scattered to their respective tasks. They all wanted to find something that could clue them in to what had happened to their friend and colleague and maybe lead to getting him back.

When Callen, Sam and Kensi got to his place, they immediately noticed that the detective's car was parked in its usual spot. Sam tried the door and found it unlocked. Deeks never left his car unlocked so, whatever had happened, it had most likely been just as he got home or as he was about to leave again. At least it meant he had made it back there before he was taken so it gave them a starting place. They searched it but found nothing useful. They headed up the stairs to his apartment and Kensi used her key to let them in. Neither of them said anything about her having it; they both knew that the two of them had progressed well beyond the partners and best friends stage. They also didn't comment on the fact that some of what were obviously her clothes were folded neatly at the end of his couch. She blushed when she noticed them looking but didn't make any effort to explain their presence.

"Kens, why don't you to start in the bedroom? We'll start in the living room." said Callen, figuring if the two of them were that involved, it would be less of an invasion of privacy and she would be more likely to notice something out of place.

Sam and Callen started in the living room while she headed into the bedroom. "I feel weird, G. It's like we're sneaking around behind his back. It seems wrong to be going through his stuff without him here." Sam muttered.

"I know, but if it helps us find him, he won't mind." was the reply. The agents swiftly and methodically completed their search of the room and then started on the kitchen. Once done they went back into the living room to meet up with Kensi. None of them had found anything out of the ordinary. Kensi was disappointed and on edge. She desperately needed to do something, anything but couldn't figure out what.

As they left the apartment, Callen called Eric and filled him in on the fact that Deeks's car was there, to let him know to start looking for video from that area if he couldn't pick him up at the precinct. Kensi had a sudden thought. "Monty!" she said. "Marty would check in immediately with his neighbor who was keeping him. Maybe she heard or saw something!"

She ran downstairs and knocked on the door of Mary Hudson, the older lady Marty paid to watch Monty whenever he was away on assignment. She heard Monty bark and then Mary opened the door. "Kensi dear, how nice to see you! Is Marty back?"

"I'm not sure Mary, he was supposed to be back today but he hasn't called me and he's not in the apartment. Have you seen or heard anything?" Kensi replied. Mary shook her head no and Kensi deflated. She thanked the woman and told her she was sure Marty had just had to extend his assignment and would be updating Kensi shortly. She apologized for bothering her and walked away.

She met up with Callen and Sam at the bottom of the stairs, letting them know the neighbor was of no help. Three very angry and frustrated Federal Agents piled into Callen's car and headed back to the Mission, hoping either Eric or Nell would have better news.

Once they arrived back, they headed straight up to Ops. Eric was working away on his computer and Nell was standing in front of the big screen with Hetty who turned when the three of them entered. "Well, we've had some progress; Eric was able to pick him up leaving the precinct. He's in the process of following Mr. Deeks back to his apartment. He tried to locate him through the GPS on his phone but it's turned off."

"I found his phone, along with his badge and gun, stashed in his safe at the apartment Hetty. Just like he always does when he goes undercover." Kensi told her. Hetty turned back to the flashing pictures on the screen. They watched as the traffic cam video captured Deeks as he arrived home and pulled into his space. Watched as he got out of the car and shut the door then looked out to the street where a silver Honda Civic had just pulled up. He walked over and leaned in through the passenger side window, saying something to the driver. Straightening up, he opened the door and got in. They couldn't see the driver clearly, couldn't even tell if it was male or female, but it looked like whoever it was, was holding a map. A few moments later they drove away together.

"What the hell?' exploded Callen. "He knew the driver? He went willingly? If this is some kind of twisted prank, he is going to regret this for the rest of his life!"

Eric zoomed in on the back of the Civic as it drove away. "I don't think he knew that was going to happen, Callen. There are no plates on the car. Plus, I caught this from the next intersection." Eric pointed up at the screen as the silver Civic drove through, Deeks visible leaning up against the passenger window appearing to be asleep, unconscious or dead.

"Can you track where the Civic went from there, Eric?' Kensi asked hopefully.

"I was able to track them to the 405 but lost them when the car exited at this off ramp in Santa Monica. It disappears when it turns off onto some more rural roads where there are no traffic cams. I haven't found any trace of it through any other video surveillance." he replied.

"Well, we have more than we had when we started, Mr. Beale. Ideas anyone?" asked Hetty.

Nell piped up "We're pretty sure that whoever took him works at LAPD and fairly closely with the undercover division. I doubt that the car was stolen, otherwise, why bother removing the plates? Eric, let's run a cross check of all LAPD employees and owners of silver Honda Civics!"

"Um, it's going to mean I have to hack into the LAPD database." Eric said.

"Your point, Mr. Beale?" was Hetty's response. He nodded, turned back to his computer and started typing away, accessing both the DMV and LAPD while the rest of the team watched him anxiously.

"Got three matches! Two are male and only this one belongs to a woman." said Eric triumphantly. "Oh wow, check this out! She works at LAPD as an Administrative Assistant and her boss is Lt. Bates." Eric pulled up her driver's license picture and put it on the big screen. "Meet Laura Adams, voted most likely to be our abductor!"