DISCLAIMER: I do not own the right to any of the NCIS:LA characters, only my own.
I'd like to thank everyone for their overwhelming response to the story. It's been a pleasure writing it and an even greater pleasure reading your reviews. Have no fear, the stroy is far from over! Enjoy and thank you again for your support!
The four looked at each other. Katy and Kensi were on the verge of tears. Callen and Deeks had the girls in their arms. Both men were whispering reassuring words. Callen couldn't believe it, wouldn't believe it. For the second time in two months, he potentially lost his partner. The passing seconds felt like hours. Callen took a ragged breath and held Katy tighter. She wrapped her arms around him. As much as she enjoyed being his partner while Sam was on medical leave, she would refuse to take the position permanently.
She looked around at the spectators that had gathered, praying to see Sam's face in the crowd. From around the corner of the building walked Sam and the two bomb squad techs. None of them saw the three until they were crossing the police line.
"Sam!" Katy and Kensi yelled and ran towards him, nearly knocking him over when they jumped him.
"I'm fine." He laughed at them. Callen and Deeks walked up to him, visible relieved to see him. "No matter what we tried, we couldn't defuse the bomb. It's like it was on some kind of remote detonation system. I've never seen or heard of anything like it. It was very sophisticated."
"Did you take pictures of it to send to Nell and Eric?" Callen asked.
"Of course." Sam smiled waving his phone.
"Send it now, I'll call them and let them know what's going on." Callen said and walked away from them.
Katy walked to his side, when he'd disconnected the call and put his phone back in his pocket, she began talking to him. "Callen, so you think we should run a thorough background on Reggie and Joanie?"
"You've known them for years, though. I doubt there's nothing there." He said.
"I know about Reggie, it's Joanie I don't know much about." She told him.
"Are you saying this because you have a feeling, or just to cover all the bases?" He asked.
Katy looked at the ground and kicked a piece of brick. "It's a feeling."
"Never ignore your gut feeling. Call Nell and have her run the background." He said.
Katy smiled and pulled out her phone. "Nell, can you do me a favor? Can you run a background on Joanie and Reggie Rocco?"
"Um sure, can I ask why? I thought you were friends with them." Nell said.
"We are I'm not worried about Reggie's its more Joanie I'm concerned with." She said.
"Alright, I'll let you know what I find." Nell said.
"Thank you very much." She smiled and hung up.
By noon, the building inspector had been through the hotel and deemed it structurally sound. The guests who had rooms on the fifth floor were moved and the floor cordoned off, accessible only to law enforcement. The team opted to stay at the hotel, while Lt. Hammond returned to the pier. They walked through the room with the CSIs, hoping to find something they missed.
Katy had a nagging feeling and about jumped out of her skin when her phone went off when she received a message from Nell. She excused herself and walked away, reading the message. Everything that came back on Reggie she already knew, however Joanie's was the one that surprised her. She immediately grabbed Callen and handed him the phone.
He ran his hand down his face. "This changes everything, doesn't it."
"Not only that, it makes her out number one suspect. What does that make her, my aunt or something?"
"No, I actually think it makes her your sister." He said softly, trying to lessen the blow. "We need to tell the others about this."
"Yes, we defiantly do." She said.
Sam, Kensi and Deeks were floored. Not only had Joanie lied about teaching, but she laid about where she was born, who her parents were and well, everything else too. Everyone was looking at Katy who was deep in thought. Vitaliy was right; she was always going to be looking over her shoulder. There was always going to be someone out to get her.
Katy's anger was boiling over. If she were to see Joanie right now, she didn't know what she'd do to her. Everything she'd told Katy and Reggie about herself was a lie. Everything, her heart broke for Reggie, knowing how much he loved his wife. She was truly at a loss and didn't know how to proceed. Callen suggested talking to Reggie before confronting Joanie.
They stood at the base of the steps at the cathedral; Katy didn't want to be the one to tell Reggie about his wife. However, she felt as a close friend she had to be the one. Callen led her up the steps and into the church. She made a left as soon as they got into the building and walked directly into the offices. A receptionist stood and scoffed at them as they walked in and over to Reggie's office.
"Can I help you?" She asked trying to block them from entering.
Katy pulled her credentials, "NCIS, we need to speak with Mr. Rocco."
Reggie heard the commotion outside his door and opened it, "What's going on? Katy, what are you doing here?"
Katy still had her credentials out, "Reggie, we need to talk to you."
His face grew pale as he told the receptionist it was okay. "Katy, you're scaring me, what is this about?"
"I need to know everything you know about Joanie from start to finish." She told him.
He looked at her and asked hesitantly, "Why?"
"Reggie, please just tell us everything you know about Joanie." She said sitting a recorder on the table.
Callen and Katy sat on one side of his desk, Reggie on the other. He told them everything he knew about his wife. The entire time he talked, Katy couldn't help but shake her head. She got up at one point and looked out his window at the cemetery. No wonder he knew Callen was following her, he had a perfect view of Kari's plot.
"Katy, please tell me what has you so upset." Reggie said, walking to her side.
"Reggie, I love you to death, but she's fooled us. All of us." She told him.
"What do you mean?" He asked sadly.
"Can I borrow your computer?" she asked.
"Yes, please." He said ushering her around his desk.
Katy connected her phone to the computer and loaded the file Nell sent her. Once it was fully loaded, she got up and let Reggie sit down. It was heart wrenching watching her friend read through everything, the look of utter sadness and despair on his face. He had to push himself away from the desk and turn his back to them at one point. Katy heard him silently weeping.
"Reggie, I'm so sorry." Katy kept telling him.
When he was finished reading through everything, he looked up at Katy. "You, this whole time it was all because of you."
"Yes, it looks that way." Callen said.
"Well, what are you going to do?" He asked.
"We have to bring her in for questioning." Callen told him.
"Please don't do it in front of the children." Reggie begged.
"I promise we won't." Callen assured him.
"Katy, I don't blame you for any of this. It's just the hand we were all dealt." Reggie told her.
Katy broke down, "How could you not blame me? Kari and your parents are dead because of me, because you know me, because we had Kari together. You have every right to blame all of your heartache and pain on me. I'm so sorry, Reggie, I never wanted to hurt you."
"Katy, you had no idea about it." Reggie tried to console her.
"Reggie, your entire marriage is based on lies. I pray she admits to truly loving you." She told him.
"Regardless, I love her and our children. That's all that matters to me." He told Katy.
"Do you know where Joanie might be?" Callen asked.
"I would assume she's at school, but being that she's lied about being a teacher, I don't know where to tell you to look." Reggie told them.
"Katy believes she saw Joanie at the Hotel, after the explosions." Callen told Reggie.
"What about her phone, can't you track her by her phone?" Reggie asked.
Yes, I'll call Eric." Callen said and walked out of the room.
Reggie turned to Katy, "Please don't blame yourself for this. It's out of your control."
"I wish; they're my screwed up family, Reggie." Katy told him.
"Katy, you of all people know we can't control who our family is." Reggie said getting up and walking to her.
Reggie pulled her into a hug and talked to her softly. Callen walked in and looked into Reggie's eyes and knew he truly knew nothing about his wife's true identity. "Um, Eric says her phone's off. As soon as she turns it back on, he'll call us." He told them.
"I'm so, so very sorry, about all of this Reggie." Katy said as she and Callen walked out the door.
"Katy, please stop that." Reggie told her.
Katy hated the pain she saw in her friend's eyes. It broke her heart to tell him that everything he knew and loved was a lie. When she and Callen were on their way back to the hotel, she told him that she also suspected Joanie or whoever she was of causing or having something to do with the accident that killed Kari and Reggie's parents. Callen told her he'd look into it for her. By the time they got back to the hotel, Eric had called with Joanie's location. Kensi and Deeks went over to the house, but found she was there with the kids. So they went back to the hotel.
Callen called Reggie and told him that Joanie had the kids at home with her. Reggie promised that he would call the neighbors and ask if the kids could go over for a while after he got home from work. Reggie met them at the hotel before they headed over to the house. While Callen and Katy asked him to go with the kids, he insisted on being there while they talked to her.
Katy pulled him to the side. "Reggie, this could get pretty ugly, none of us have any idea how she's going to react. Do you guys have any weapons at the house?"
Reggie laughed. "About the worst thing we have in the house are steak knives."
"Are you positive Joanie doesn't have any weapons that you don't know about?" Katy asked.
He sighed. "After everything I learned today, I honestly couldn't tell you."
"Reggie, please at the first sign of trouble, get out of the house." She told him.
"Katy, do you really think it will resort to violence?" He asked.
"I don't know, Reggie. I'd rather be safe than sorry." She said.
"Alright, I trust your judgment. I always have." He smiled, taking her hands in his.
The team pulled up in front of their house just after five thirty. They waited for Reggie to go in, take the kids out and walk back over before they went in. Joanie seemed surprised to see them and asked if they'd be joining them for dinner. Katy told her they needed to talk.
"Where were you this morning around eleven?" Katy asked.
"Well, I was at the school, of course." She laughed.
"Are you sure, because I'm very sure I saw you at the hotel about that time." Katy said.
"Katy, what are you insinuating?" Joanie asked.
"We ran a very thorough background check on you." Callen told her.
"Katy, you know me, why on earth would you do something like that?" Joanie asked defensively.
"I know all about you and your ties to the Leshev family." Katy told her.
Joanie's face turned. "Oh honey, it goes so much deeper than the Leshev family," she laughed.
Katy nodded. "So you're what my sister?"
"I would be your half-sister." Joanie said smugly. "Like you, I'm the result of one of Dmitri's affairs. Only I wanted a relationship with my father and decided the best way to do it as to work for him. He's known you were alive for years. I don't know what he told you when you were interrogating him, but he knew where you were at every moment of every day."
Katy sat silently listening.
"Oh, he knew everything, even about Karolina. So he told me to get close to Reggie, get him to fall in love with me, so you couldn't have him." She said looking right at Reggie. "You were so easy. You were so heartbroken over the fact that Katy wouldn't marry you."
"So everything, all of it was a lie?" Reggie asked.
"No, I do love you. It just didn't happen the way you thought it did." She told him.
Reggie sank back into the chair, deflated.
Katy shook her head. "So did you have a hand in killing Karolina and Reggie's parents?"
"NO, that I had nothing to do with. I went right to Dmitri after it happened. He never admitted it, but I'm sure he's responsible for it." She said looking from Katy to Reggie. "Kari and your parents were never supposed to fall victim to this. It was just supposed to be Katy."
"So are you responsible for the Bomb on the ship and at the hotel?" Sam asked.
"Indirectly, I simply made a few phone calls. Believe me, Katy between how you screwed Vitaliy and your relationship to Dmitri; a lot of people around the world want to see you dead."
"Who did you call?" Callen asked.
"You don't need to worry about that." She told Callen and turned back to Katy. "Vitaliy paid a lot of money for you. Father was very angry with him when he let you walk away."
"What do you mean he paid for me?" Katy asked.
"Vitaliy owned you, you were his. A possession." Joanie told her.
"Wow, he threw me out and then sold me to the lowest bidder?" Katy asked.
"Pretty much." Joanie laughed.
"We need to know exactly who you called to make arrangements for the bomb on the dinner cruise." Sam told her.
"Joanie, you're only hurting yourself, please just tell them everything they need to know. If you cooperate, they may not be so hard with your punishment." Reggie said.
"My punishment, my punishment; Reggie do you honestly think I'm going down for any of this?" She asked him with an eerie laugh.
"I will testify against you." Reggie said standing defiantly.
"You always were a weak man; I can't believe you excelled in the Marine Corps. But then again, all you military people do is follow orders. Not a one of you are a leader, you're all followers." She hissed.
"Joanie, you're going to need to come with us." Callen said walking towards her.
Joanie pulled a derringer from her pocket and aimed it at him. Within seconds, Joanie had four pistol pointed at her. Reggie immediately stood and begged Joanie to go peacefully. She laughed at him.
"Drop it Joanie." Katy told her.
"Oh, are you afraid I'm going to shoot your precious Callen. Father wants you left with nothing. Nothing do you hear me." She yelled and pinched the trigger, firing a shot.
Katy fired once, hitting Joanie in the shoulder, knocking her backwards. Kensi stepped closer and kicked the small pistol away from her. Katy went to Callen but he was fine, they all turned to find Reggie falling to the ground, blood gushing from his abdomen. The next few moments felt like they were in slow motion, Katy rushed to his side and applied pressure to the wound. Callen called for an ambulance. Sam ran to the bathroom for towels, while Kensi applied pressure to Joanie's shoulder. Katy shook her head and leaned all of her weight on Reggie. Blood was pooling around him on the hardwood floors, soaking the white Persian rug under the coffee table.
She looked back at Callen and everyone else and watched them streaking past her. After what seemed like forever, the EMT's arrived. Callen pulled Katy back so the paramedics could take a look at him. Her mind was racing, she was crying uncontrollable. Callen carried her kicking and screaming out the door to the rental car and put her in it and got in next to her, holding her tight, while she kicked at the windows. Sam stood by the car door making sure she didn't open it.
"Katy, you've got to calm down." Callen told her over and over.
"God, no please. Let me go." She screamed.
Deeks peeked out the door and waved Sam over. They talked for a minute, looking back at the car several times and then he disappeared into the house with him. Callen loosened his grip and she was gone. The door was left open and she was running towards the house. Sam caught her around the waist and held her back as Joanie was carried out on a gurney. Katy swung at her as they passed, screaming profanity at her. He pulled Katy back further as the EMTs brought Reggie out, an IV in his arm, pale. Sam let her go when Reggie reached for her.
"Reggie," was all she could manage to say.
Callen helped get Reggie into the back of the ambulance and then helped Katy into the back. She looked back at him and asked if he could go with them, but the EMT told her no. She looked down at Reggie and out at Callen. Torn between them. At the last moment, she leaned down and kissed Reggie's forehead then jumped out of the ambulance. She stood next to Callen and watched as the ambulance pulled away and turned the corner, siren blaring.
Callen looked over at her. "You could've gone with him."
"No, are you guys coming or what?" she yelled as she walked to the rental ready to head for the hospital.
Kensi was over talking to the neighbor, taking their contact information. She passed the shell shocked woman her car and told her she'd call as soon as she heard anything on Reggie's condition. Deeks met her at the bottom of the porch steps and waved for her to hurry. Sam was at the driver's side door pushing her into the center position in the front seat; Callen got in next to her and immediately took her hand. Kensi and Deeks got in the back.
Once they got to the Hospital, Katy went over to the ER and into the back with Reggie, Sam and Callen were on the phone with Ops and Lt. Hammond. Kensi and Deeks sat in the waiting room. Almost immediately, both Joanie and Reggie were taken up to surgery. Katy walked out to the waiting room, to Callen's open arms. Lt. Hammond was walking up as they were about to head over to the surgical waiting room. Katy's back was killing her, so she leaned into Callen. When they all got up to the waiting room, Katy removed her jacked to find her back soaked with blood. Callen walked her back down to the ER to have her back re-stitched. An hour later, they were back up to the waiting room. Katy fell asleep on one of the couches.
They surgeon who'd been working on Joanie came out and told them the surgery went as planned and that she was being moved to recovery. Lt. Hammond asked why they were bringing Joanie in for questioning. He couldn't help but look over at Katy as Callen told him how it all tied in together.
"I can't believe she's still kicking ass and taking names after everything she's been through. I remember the accident you guys are talking about. It was a horrible crash. The brake lines had been tampered with, but we didn't have anywhere enough evidence or suspects to arrest anyone for it. Her hair was shorter, brown and she had a little more weight on her then. She and the girl's father got there as quick as they could. She was working for the San Jose paper at the time. They were so distraught. I've never seen anyone as devastated as they were." Lt. Hammond told them.
"Joanie admitted that she felt that Dmitri Leshev had something to do with the accident. She also said she made phone calls to let whoever her contact was, know that Katy was in town." Callen told him.
"Do you think she'll admit to it again?" he asked.
"If she doesn't, I recorded the conversation." Katy said from the corner.
"Katy, how are you feeling?" Callen asked, surprised she was awake.
She pulled herself up and walked to sit with the others. "I'm hanging in there. I don't think I'm going to be doing much of anything the rest of the week or this weekend." she laughed.
"Did you really record the conversation?" Callen asked.
Katy smiled and pulled the recorder out of her pocket. "Here you go."
"Did she know you were recording the conversation?" Lt. Hammond asked.
"I doubt it, I know it's not admissible, but I got the confession I wanted." She said leaning into Callen.
"Seriously, I've never met another group like you guys." Hammond said shaking his head.
Callen put his arm around Katy looked at the rest of his team and smiled. "Thank you. They are the best of the best. Oh, there's two more back in LA that we absolutely couldn't do our jobs without."
"Well, it's truly been a pleasure working with you guys. How much longer are you going to be in town?" Hammond asked.
"We still need to figure out who Joanie called, whether or not whoever she called planted the bombs." Callen told him.
"Well, you're welcome here in San Francisco any time." Hammond laughed.
"I'm sure Katy and I will be back at least once a year." Callen said kissing Katy's temple.
"Katy, I'm truly sorry for your loss. I was part of the team that investigated the accident. In light of the new information, I'm going to talk to the Chief about having the investigation re-opened." He told her.
"Thank you. Reggie and I appreciate it." Katy told him with a tearful smile.
Forty-five minutes later, the surgeon who operated on Reggie walked into the waiting room. Everyone was on their feet. He explained that there was extensive damage, but that they were able to repair it. He was being moved to recovery and was asking to speak to Katy. She looked at Callen who nodded for her to go. Hesitantly, she followed the doctor back to recovery.
When she walked in, she looked around for Joanie, but didn't see her. Reggie was laying on his back an IV bag of fluids leading to his arm and two oxygen tubes in his nostrils. He was already awake and smiled when she walked to his bedside.
"How are you feeling?" Katy asked.
"Ah, no worse than when I lost my leg." He laughed weakly.
"I'm sorry about all of this, Reggie." She said tears rolling down her cheeks.
Reggie lifted his arm and gently brushed the tears away. "I've always loved you Katy, even when I met Joanie, you were the one who always had my heart."
"Reggie, I love you, but not the way I love Callen." She told him.
"I'm not asking for you to be with me like that. Just be my friend. You were always right that we were better off as friends than anything else. I see how much you love him and how much he loves you. I could never ask you to turn your back on a man like him. He's perfect for you and can give you everything I can't." he said holding her hand. "The only think that I ask is if you two ever decide to get married that you let me officiate the ceremony."
"Oh Reggie," Katy laughed. "Let's not rush into anything."
"I just want you to be happy and taken care of." He said, looking beyond Katy at Callen.
"I am, Callen truly is; next to you and Karolina; the best thing that's ever happened to me." She said and jumped when she felt a hand on her back.
Reggie reached past Katy and shook Callen's hand. "Take care of my girl, please."
"I will, Reggie don't worry about that." Callen told him. "How's your back, Katy?"
"What happened to your back?" Reggie asked.
"I pulled the stitches out when I had my little breakdown after Joanie or Alina or whoever she is shot you." She told him embarrassed.
"That was no little breakdown. At least I know someone cares enough to freak out like that over me." Reggie laughed. "Go get some rest, I'm not going anywhere for a few days. Can you ask Cheryl, my neighbor to keep the kids for a few days?"
"Kensi already talked with her. She said she'd be more than happy to keep them until you're released. Deeks called the Bishop to let him know what happened." Callen told him.
"Thank you, I can't thank you enough." Reggie said. "Now go get her in bed."
"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow." Katy said kissing Reggie's forehead before they left.
As they walked out of the recovery room, Callen stopped her and kissed her. They walked back into the waiting room and waited for the others to gather their belongings so they could head back to the hotel. The lobby was surprisingly full for that time of night. The night manager met them at the elevator and asked if there was any new information about the situation on the fifth floor. All of the agents glared at him and walked into the elevator when the doors opened. Deeks pressed the close button so the doors would close quickly. Callen and Katy said goodnight to their co-workers and went into their room.
Katy was striping her clothes off before Callen even closed the door. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to take a nice hot shower." She told him as she walked to the dresser and pulled out some clothes.
"Do you really think that's a good idea since you've got fresh stitches?" Callen asked.
"With the kind day we've had today, I just want to wash it all away." She told him.
"Come here." He said sitting on the edge of the bed.
Katy walked to him and sat on his good leg. "Please remind me to tell Sam that I'm going to kick his ass if he pulls some crap like that again. I could have throttled him when he casually walked out from the side of the building like nothing was wrong."
Callen laughed, "Yeah, I can agree with that. I was just relieved to see him alive and in one piece."
"You guys just don't understand, between Reggie and you guys, you're all I have. I can't lose any one of you." She told him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Callen kissed her before she got up and walked into the bathroom. "Do you want some company in the shower?"
Katy turned around and smiled, unclasped her bra and tossed it at him as she walked in the door. "If you'd like, no funny business, I'm too sore."
Callen was off the bed in a heartbeat pulling his shirt over his head and unbuckling his belt. He kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants, following her into the bathroom. Katy was already under the water when he pulled the shower curtain back. She smiled at him as she wet her hair. He pulled her body close and kissed her neck before he lathered up her hair. When she rinsed out the shampoo, he put the conditioner in her hair.
"Thank you." She smiled as she stepped out of the way so he could soap himself up.
"You're welcome; I know your back hurts. I didn't want you to have to stand there with your arms up washing your hair." He told her while he washed his chest.
"Do you want me to wash your back for you?" she asked with a sexy smile.
Callen gave her a smile and handed her the washcloth and turned his back to her. When she was finished scrubbing his back she handed him the washcloth back. Once he'd rinsed the suds off his body, he stepped out of the way so she could rinse her hair. While she did, he soaped up the washcloth and began washing her body. Katy watched his face as he did. He had content, loving look on his face. She took the rag from him and pulled him close.
"I love you, Callen." She told him.
"I love you too, Katy. I'll let you stand under the shower for a while longer. I'll see you in the room." He smiled and got out of the tub. She heard him pull a towel from the bar and dry himself off, then the door opened and closed again.
Ten minutes later, Katy walked out of the bathroom wearing one of his Patriots t-shirts and a pair of panties. He looked away from the TV and looked her up and down, smiling.
"I was wondering what happened to that shirt." He laughed and pulled the covers back on her side of the bed. "I think it looks better on you than it ever did on me."
"I'll give it back after we get home." She smiled and cuddled next to him. "I hope you don't mind if I just fall asleep?"
"I was just waiting for you." He said turning off the TV and rolling over to face her. He put his hand on her hip and kissed her. "You know, I followed you in when you went to see Reggie. I heard what you said."
Katy smiled, "I meant every word of it. The way I love Reggie is completely different than how I love you. I love him because we had Kari together and because he's like a brother to me, which sounds really aweful. I love you and want to be with you. I want to do all the dirty little things with you."
"Dirty little things?" Callen laughed. "Is that the only reason?"
"Well, they're fun, but no you care about me, you protect me. You've been there for me since we met. I love just doing this, lying in bed talking, cuddling. I'd be content if we never had sex again, as long as I can be with you doing this." She told him.
"I couldn't handle never having sex with you again. I enjoy it too much, I love the noises you make and the way you throw your head back." He said burying his face in her neck. "I love the fact that I can share everything with you; our job, our life."
Katy smiled and sighed. "I don't know how I existed before you."
"I love you so much Katy." He said kissing her.
"I love you too." She smiled.
It was just before three in the morning when she rang the doorbell. Cheryl stumbled to the door shocked to see her. "I thought you were in the hospital?" she said.
"I was released, I'm fine." She smiled.
"Is Reggie ok?" she asked.
"Yes, Reggie's fine. He'll be in the hospital for a few days before he comes home." She told her. "Do you mind if I take the kids?"
"Oh, no that's fine." Cheryl said. "I'll help you get them over to the house."
"I'm not taking them home, there's still a huge bloody mess over there. I'm going to take them to a hotel for the rest of the week and probably the weekend." She said.
"Oh, why don't you just stay here with us? We've got the room, Joanie." Cheryl said walking to the extra room.
She flinched at the name, "No, I couldn't impose. We'll just stay at a hotel."
"Really Joanie, it's not an imposition." Cheryl insisted.
She grabbed Cheryl by the throat and pushed her against the wall. "Bitch just let me have my damn kids."
With eyes wide and full of fear, she stumbled over her words. "O... ok, just go."
She let go of the woman and walked to the bedroom, carrying the kids out to the car one by one. As soon as Cheryl closed the door, she ran to the kitchen and called the police.
Sam, Kensi and Deeks walked to Callen and Katy's door and knocked. They heard talking inside the room and footsteps coming to the door. Callen opened the door and stepped back to let them in. Katy was still in bed, lying on her side. Kensi asked how she was feeling, but could tell by the look on her face that she was in a great deal of pain.
"Please tell me you're not going to try to come out with us today?" Kensi asked sitting on the bed next to her.
"I don't feel like staying here alone and I can't ask Callen to stay with me, so I guess I'm going in with you." She said.
"I got a call from Lt. Hammond a couple hours ago." Sam said.
Callen and Katy looked at him curiously. "About what?" Callen asked.
"It seems that Joanie went to her neighbors last night and picked up the kids." He told them.
"How, she's in the hospital with officers posted outside?" Katy said.
"We don't know how she did it. The neighbor said she was trying to convince Joanie to stay with them since there was still a mess in the house, but Joanie insisted on taking the kids to a hotel. When the neighbor pressed the issue, she grabbed her by the throat." He said.
"Have they checked to make sure she's still in the hospital?" Callen asked.
Sam nodded, "Yes, Hammond went and checked himself. Asked the officers outside her door and the nursing staff, she never left the room."
"Did the neighbor get the make, model and plate numbers of the car Joanie or whoever, left in?" Kensi asked.
"No, she was too scared. The first thing she did was call the police. I've got Eric and Nell checking the traffic cams around the area." Sam said.
"What about the airports?" Katy asked.
"Nothing so far, Hammond's got an officer waiting at the school in case she takes the kids to school. Right now, it's a waiting game." He said.
Katy pulled her knees to her chest. "How the hell did Joanie do it?" She reached for her phone and called Nell. "When you were running the background check on Joanie yesterday, was there any information on a sister?"
"No, but I'll go back and check the birth records. See what I can find and I'll let you know." She said and hung up.
"What are you thinking?" Callen asked.
"It's a very long-shot, but what if Joanie has a sister? Twin or something." Katy said.
A smile slowly crept across his face and he nodded. "That is a distinct possibility."
"I think we need to check out the Russian Hill community, see what we can find out there." She said.
"With a Joanie look alike out there, I don't want you here alone. Do you think you can come with us and not do too much?" Callen asked.
Katy smiled. "I can try."
"Alright, get dressed, we'll get breakfast and go see Hammond." He said.
"Can you toss me a pair of jeans?" she asked Callen.
"We can leave so you have some privacy." Sam said standing up.
"No need." Katy said pulling the jeans on under the coves. She got out of bed and grabbed her bra and shirt before she went into the bathroom. "Callen, can you help me with my hair?"
"I've got it." Kensi said. "Do you just want it up in a pony-tail?"
"Yes, please." Katy said and sat in the chair so Kensi could brush her hair and put it up.
After breakfast, they headed over to the hospital to talk to Lt. Hammond and Joanie. Katy sat in the corner of the room observing the conversation until Joanie made a snide remark about her and Reggie. Katy was trying to get out of the chair when Callen stopped her. He whispered that Joanie was just trying to egg her on. She agreed and stayed put. Ultimately, Joanie refused to talk, even after Lt. Hammond played the entire conversation Katy had recorded. Katy tried not to laugh when Joanie got a deer in the headlights look as she listened. Shortly after ten, her lawyer showed up and that ended the conversation right then and there. He also said he'd petition to have the recording thrown out since Joanie was not notified that the exchange was recorded. Callen merely smirked as he walked out.
"Do you think the petition can be denied due to the nature of the case?" Katy asked.
"We're definitely going to try." Callen said. "Why don't we go check on Reggie, see how he's doing."
Katy smiled and walked to the elevator. They took it down one floor and walked to his room, showing their credentials to the officers outside his door. He was sitting up watching the new while he ate breakfast and smiled widely when they walked in. They didn't stay long and mentioned nothing about the kids. Once they had more information, they'd tell him. From the hospital, they went to the pier to see what new information was available. Nell and Eric had been working closely with the technical analysts from SFPD. The information Katy had asked for was waiting for her when they arrived.
"It seems that Dmitri Leshev was very active in his extra-marital activities. So far, we've been able to track down at least ten children as a result of his affairs. Several were put up for adoption after their mother's mysteriously died. Others were kept around and several now work with or for the Leshev-Larionov family." One to the techs told her.
"Ok, but my question is whether or not Joanie has a sister." Katy said.
"Not only does she have a sister, but an identical twin. We have records on her until she reached the age of eighteen, when she supposedly died. Apparently she and Joanie have been sharing Joanie's identity ever since." He told her.
"So I wonder who is who?" she said.
"Your techs were able to find a second set of finger prints on record. As soon as the woman in the hospital is booked and fingerprinted, we will be able to figure which twin she is. The sister's name is Anka; Joanie's birth name is Alina." He smiled.
"Thank you." Katy said walking back to the team. "Well, Alina; aka Joanie has a twin sister named Anka. Nell, Eric and your techs were able to find a birth certificate for both, and a death certificate for Anka. For the past fifteen years, they've shared Alina's American identity. Joanie was eighteen when she met Reggie, so now I'm wondering which one of the twins he's actually married to."
"Where were they married?" Hammond asked.
"San Diego County; once he got orders to Pendleton." She told him and immediately walked back to the tech. "Do me a favor, check the marriage license application for Reggie and Joanie, I'm pretty sure the state fingerprints all applicants, we should be able to see who he really married."
Immediately, the tech was typing away at the keyboard. "It looks like Reggie is really married to Anka." He said as he turned to look at her.
"So I wonder which one of the two gave birth to the three kids?" she asked.
"Where were they born?" The tech asked.
Katy thought for a moment. "The oldest was born at the Naval Hospital at Pendleton, the other two were born here in the city, and I don't know which hospital."
"That might take a little more time." He said and smiled at her. "Um, I was wondering what you were doing later tonight?"
Katy stopped and smiled nervously. "I'm going back to my hotel and going to bed."
"Well, you've got to eat. I know of a really nice Italian restaurant in North Beach." He said shyly.
"Um, North Beach it the little Italy of San Francisco." She laughed. "What's your name?"
"Pete, Pete Mason." He said offering his hand.
"Look Pete, I'm seeing someone." She said trying to be gentle.
"Oh, okay I had no idea. I'm sorry. Well, he's back in LA, right. It's just dinner." He said.
Katy looked back at Callen and back at Pete. "No, actually he's here in San Francisco."
"Oh, oh one of the other agents." He said and backed away. "Please tell me it's not the big, very intimidating black guys who looks like he could break my pencil neck with his bare hands."
Katy laughed. "No actually, the guys with the dark blonde hair in the light blue shirt."
"Oh, ok. Yeah, he's intimidating too." Pete said. "I'm sorry, forget I said anything."
"It's alright Pete, if I wasn't with him, I'd be happy to go to dinner with you." She smiled and patted his back.
With that being said, she quickly turned around and walked back to the team. She smile and shook her head. Callen asked her what was wrong and she told him she'd tell him later. He shrugged it off and went back to what he was doing. Katy wandered over to some folding chairs and took a seat. She leaned forward, trying to take pressure off her back. Callen saw and walked over to sit in the seat next to her.
"You okay?" he asked rubbing her back.
"Yeah, just a little sore." She said smiling at him.
"So you want to tell me what happened with you and the tech?" Callen asked.
"He asked me out to dinner and kind of freaked out when I told him I was with you." She said.
Callen laughed and looked at the kid. Who quickly turned back to his work. "He seems a little shy."
"No Baby," she said patting his knee. "That's fear. I didn't tell him which one of you guys I was with. At first he thought it was Sam. I think he used the words big and intimidating and said Sam could break his pencil neck with his bare hands."
Callen laughed and shook his head. "What did he say when you told him who you were with?"
"He just said you were intimidating too." She said.
"That's it, just intimidating?" He said trying to act offended.
"It's hard to be anything else with those eyes, Honey." She said patting his cheek.
Callen took her hand and kissed it. "Really?"
Katy smiled and looked around; all eyes in the building were on them. "We probably shouldn't do this here."
Callen looked around and nodded his head. "Yeah, you're probably right."
Callen walked back over to the table to listen to the others. He looked back at Katy and smiled. Lt. Hammond and the rest of the team were talking about Russian Hill and which of the spots in the neighborhood would be the best to canvas and question the residents. Hammond looked at his watch and suggested they start on that the following day. They all agreed and headed out for an early dinner.
Callen walked over to Pete and nearly laughed when the kid cowered. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were together." He said.
"Don't worry about it. I was wondering if you'd like to show all of us that restaurant you were talking about?" he said placing his hand on the kids shoulder.
He relaxed a bit. "I um, ok. Are you guys sure you're okay with me tagging along."
"I'll even let you sit next to Katy." Callen offered with a smile.
"You don't need to go that far, but I'll show you where the place is." He smiled.
They headed out and over to the community of North Beach in the city and ate at Tommaso's Ristorante Italiano. Katy and Callen split two dinners; Scampi over Asparagus and Cheese Ravioli with Pesto Sauce. Deeks ordered the Baked Eggplant Parmigiana, Kensi ordered the lasagna and the two shared their dishes as well. Sam and Lt. Hammond both had the Linguine with prawns, scallops, clams, fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. Pete ordered himself a pizza with fresh spinach and shaved parmesan cheese.
As they ate, the team told stories Hammond and Pete about some of their adventures. Pete was mesmerized by the tales and even made the comment that he wanted to be just like them when he grew up. Everyone at the table laughed until they noticed he wasn't. Katy asked how old he was and he said he'd just graduated from MIT last spring and had only been with the SFPD for six months. His twenty-first birthday was in fact that weekend.
They asked what his plans were for his birthday and found out he and some friends were going to one of the local bars to celebrate. They all looked at one another and silently agreed that they'd join them for a few drinks. Katy hoped she was up to it, she was feeling pretty good at the moment, but attributed it to the two glasses of Chianti she'd had with dinner and the Grappa she had with the Spumoni for dessert.
Katy's cheeks were red and she giggled at everything. Callen loved when she was tipsy, but not drunk. He didn't restrict her drinking because she hadn't had any of her pain pills all day and knew she wouldn't need it to fall asleep with. She leaned over and kissed him, Pete's smile turned to a frown. Callen put his arm around her and pulled her close, smiling at the others.
It was only seven when they walked out of the restaurant. So they walked the streets of North Beach, window shopping. It was a very relaxing evening. Katy had sobered and was walking hand-in-hand with Callen, Sam at their side. Kensi and Deeks walked a few feet behind walking very close. Lt. Hammond and Pete had already gone home for the night. None of them was worried about the time or anything else for that matter until they walked to a street corner and were met with a hail of gunfire.
They stood there in the middle of the street with weapons drawn; looking to see which direction the shots came from. Kensi spied movement on top of one of the buildings across the street and took off running with Deeks on her heels. More shots were fired; Katy, Callen and Sam had their backs to one another looking around, it was chaos. People were screaming and running through the streets away from the gunfire. Callen caught a glimpse of a rifle and took off running to the entrance of the building behind them. Sirens blared in the background, amid the gunfire and screaming. Sam and Katy looked at one another and back up to the tops of the buildings.
Sam saw something on the rooftop on the opposite corner. "Go help Callen." He said and ran towards the building.
Katy ran to the building Callen ran into and up the three flights of stairs. When she got to the roof access, she peered out and saw Callen making his way to the front of the building, hiding behind the tall pipes. Katy stepped out onto the gravel covered roof; Callen looked back at her and waved her in the opposite direction. With weapons at the ready, they met back up where the shooter should've been. Instead, they found a high-powered rifle set up on a remote firing system. Katy pulled the leads from the power source and the rifle fell silent. They looked at the other building to fine the other standing there staring at the same set-ups.
Two uniformed officers came up behind Katy and Callen and ordered them not to move. Both dropped their weapons as ordered, looked at the other buildings and saw the same scene. Kensi, Deeks and Sam were all surrendering their weapons with their hands in the air.
"We're NCIS Agents," Callen said as he turned around. "I'm going to lift my shirt do you can see my badge, and then I'm going to reach into my back pocket and pull out my credentials."
As Callen lifted his shirt, the officers lowered their weapons and placed them in their holsters. "Are you the ones working with Lt. Hammond on the cruise bombing and the bomb at the Marines Memorial Hotel?" One asked.
"Yes, we are. My names Special Agent Callen, this is Special Agent Katy Levin. On the other two buildings are Special Agent Sam Hanna, Special Agent Kensi Blye and Detective Marty Deeks, LAPD Liaison." He said as the officers picked up their pistol and handed them back.
"What the hell happened?" The taller of the two officers asked.
"We'd gotten done with dinner, Lt. Hammond can vouch for us; he joined us. We had some time to walk around, we got to the corner and the gunfire started. No one was shot in all of it which leads me to believe the remote system was firing blanks." Callen explained as he walked over to the rifle and opened the ammunition can beside it and took out a bullet, examining it closely.
Sam, Kensi, Deeks and the other four officers walked out onto the roof and over to them. "Yours blanks too?" Sam asked as he stopped a few feet away from them.
"Looks like it. This is one hell of a system, three high-powered rifles all on remote firing systems and all they're shooting off is blanks?" Callen said with a puzzled, thoughtful look on his face.
A few minutes later, Lt. Hammond stepped onto the roof and walked over to them. "Does this kind of stuff always happen when you're around?" he laughed.
"No, honestly it doesn't." Callen laughed.
Hammond turned to the other officers. "You boys want to pack this stuff up as evidence and get it to the station. I'm sure the forensics team is going to have fun picking this stuff apart." He said as he watched four of the officers leave the roof.
"We were at the corner waiting to cross the street when the gunfire started." Callen said.
"You were just standing there?" Hammond laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. I've just never seen this type of stuff happen to one group of people. First the two of you on the dinner cruise, then the bombs at the hotel and now this. I'm beginning to get the feeling that someone's taken exception to you guys being here."
"It's me, all of these ties into me." Katy said truthfully.
"The only reason this involves you is because of Leshev. I think the rest of us are targets because of the arrests we've made in the last few months." Callen told her.
"Alright, I think it's time you guys read me in on what exactly you've been dealing with for the last few months." Hammond said.
"We need to talk to our Operations Manager and possibly the Deputy Director before we can say anything." Callen told him.
"Alright, do you think we can make it happen tomorrow morning, at the station? The Chief is going to want to hear this too." He said as he led them back down to the street.
"We will see what we can do. Regardless, we will meet you at the station." Callen said and turned around to shake his hand.
As they drove back to the hotel, they talked about how whoever would've known they were there. They all surmised that someone had to have been either watching on the traffic cameras or there was another surveillance system they were using. When they got back up to the hotel, they went up to Katy and Callen's room to call Hetty. She reluctantly gave them permission to tell the Chief and Lieutenant about the operations involving Sidorov, Kirillovsky and the Leshev-Larionov case.
Callen asked if Eric and Nell could look at all the available cameras both for the city and privately owned to see if someone was either watching them or if they had been tapped into. She agreed and said she would get Eric on it as soon as he got in the following morning. Hetty also said that she would have Nell research the remote firing systems used as well as the weapon serial number. Without being able to do much more than wait, they parted ways and went to bed.