Till Death Do Us Part
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 10
Boat Shed — five hours later
Adam Green sat opposite NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger in one of the interrogation rooms. Although this was only the second time Green had visited the boat shed since joining the team, he was well aware what this location was used for: interrogating witnesses and suspects. Every muscle in his body was screaming after his combat fighting with Sam, those Zap knives hurt, it felt like he was being electrocuted. He thought his wrestling and boxing with Deeks was hard, but he should have known that his previous sparring with his new partner, had Sam being easy on him. He'd let Sam down out in the field and now he was paying the consequence for his failure.
Green studied the older man whose hairline had receded back quite considerably and his face was weathered from many operations in harsh winters and burning deserts. He appeared lean, less bulky than Deeks and especially less than Sam, who was built like a fortress. He'd only just finished his session experiencing first hand his ability from those well built arms and legs of his. He knew who Granger was, Owen had visited the Boston office over the years since moving to NCIS. But before now, he hadn't had such close contact with him.
"What is your name?" Owen sat nonchalantly across the table from Green, his brown eyes caught Green's green eyes.
"Adam Green." Green had no idea what was going on so he was honest in his answers.
"Fail." Owen stood up and leaned over the table. "If you get caught by an enemy, Green, you better improve on your agent skills. It's not just your life that hangs in the balance here, but that of your team and other agents out in the field." Owen sat back down in the chair. "Let's start again."
"What is your name?"
"Stuart Bromich."
"Make me believe you when you lie, Green. I don't believe you. Who are you?"
"I'm Mick, a cafe owner in Venice."
"Mick who?"
"Brown. Mick Brown."
"What's the name of the cafe?"
"Mick's." Green's lips curled slightly up to the sides from humour.
"Wrong." Owen stood up, annoyed. This guy was a smart aleck and he would play around with him, not understanding the seriousness of it. "Let's start again."
He continued another round with Green, but his frustrations with the man only tripled. "We'll commune again, this time tomorrow. You better prepare for next time. You've not only got yourself killed, but your family and your team." Owen gave up after an hour. Green was failing miserably. But Granger had expected him to fail. He could see the training was taking a toll on the younger man and on the inside, Owen Granger was smiling broadly. But on the outside, Granger appeared his usual gruff self.
Much of the rest of the week went along the same way as Monday had. Green became worse in his shooting, wrestling, boxing, combat fighting, fencing and marital arts against Hetty. As Green stood opposite the petite Operations Manager he felt like a small boy, being reprimanded for doing the wrong thing in school. Hetty on the other hand stood stoic opposite the newest member of the team and felt like Yoda, training young Anakin Skywalker, knowing he'd turn bad in the end. But in this case, as Hetty suspected, he'd already gone bad. Yet she wasn't afraid of Green. He appeared to be no threat to her team, who'd proven to be far superior in their skills against Green, and inwardly she smiled. Proud of her people, her family.
She met him in the middle of the mat, Green appeared not to be bothered about Hetty's ability, until she threw him onto the mat and pinned him down till after the countdown. No matter what he tried, Hetty swiftly moved him onto the floor into the most awkward and painful position each time. Muscles he never knew he had screamed out to him in pain. He wanted to go home. This was the worst week in his career that he could think of. How was he going to continue working there, if this is how they treated him? He was relieved when Friday came and went and the weekend arrived.
He took the time to relax. He went out clubbing that night and drunk his sorrows in beer and hard liquor. He picked up a brunette and went with her to her home. He didn't realise just how much aggression had boiled up inside of him, until he found himself with someone weaker than him. Sandy laid on the mattress underneath him with fear in her eyes when he held her throat too tight. Images of the beatings he'd endured from training that week flashed before his eyes. I'll prove to them I'm no weakling. But before he could stop himself, Sandy lay lifeless underneath him. He lay beside her in his drunken state and fell asleep.
The sun peered through the open window and brought reality with it. The woman, Sandy, was dead and he had killed her. The lack of control he had with his anger over the years had finally caught up with him. He had a crime scene to clean up. He found disposable gloves in the cupboard under the kitchen sink and bleach in the bathroom. He gently placed Sandy's body into the bath and filled it up with water, destroying any evidence of him from her. He washed the bedding and removed all fingerprints that he might have left around the place, especially door handles and door frames. He was well attuned to crime scenes from the hundreds he'd worked as a Federal Agent. But this was not meant to have happened. Now he had two women's lives in his hands. Alexandra Holden and Sandy's. He was cracking up and he knew he needed to sort himself out. Satisfied that he had cleaned the crime scene up and mopped the floor and remade the bed as if no one hadn't slept in it the night before. He wasn't sure how long it would be before anyone would come looking for Sandy, he knew he needed to act fast and get out of there without anyone seeing him, or cameras picking up on him being anywhere near the place.
He'd found the best route out of there. He jumped a few fences before finding his car down the road from the club, where he'd left it the night before. He hopped in and drove it away. He needed a new car but with it being a work one, he needed to get into the mission and swap it. Car trouble. That's what he'd come up with as an excuse. He rang Nell.
"Hi, Nell. Sorry to bother you on the weekend. I'm having car trouble. Can I swap it for another? You can organise a pick up truck to collect the car and get me back to the mission? Thanks." He'd heard the wind in the background and supposed she was at the beach.
Nell hung up and furrowed her brow. She opened her tablet that she carried around with her and clocked into the computer system at Ops. She typed in a request for a pick up truck to collect Green and his vehicle in Culver City and for a new car to be issued to him until this vehicle was back in working order.
"What's up, Nell?" Deeks noticed that something was bothering her.
"Um, nothing. Not sure, actually. Just got to arrange for a new vehicle for Green. He says he's broken down."
Deeks nodded. "He rang you on the weekend? He needs to get a life and a new job." Deeks shook his head, thinking at how someone like Green could be called a Federal Agent, when he was terrible at the job. Deeks on the other hand was a detective and a good one at that. He'd had a few teething issues, but nothing like Green. Deeks was more seasoned than Green and they must be around the same age, he supposed.
Nell typed in the vehicle particulars and found Green's movements from the evening before. The camera feeds that she found had her eyes wide opened. What are you up to, Green? She saved the images from the video feeds and emailed them onto Granger, knowing that he would want to see what she had found. Her brow quirked up into an arch as she watched Green walk back to his vehicle suspiciously. Where did you go with the brunette? She typed in the particulars of the woman's vehicle and her drivers licence came up on the screen. She typed in the address and found cameras in the vicinity. She searched for the early hours and noticed Green went into the woman's house with the brunette, but only Green exited out the back door. Why are you going that way? Her gut clenched tight and she made a phone call.
"Assistant Director. I think we have a problem."
"Miss Jones, what is it?" Owen sat on the balcony of his home with his wife, Melinda, sipping ice tea. Spring had come in summer bursts, which wasn't unusual for southern California. He stood up and walked into the house. Work wasn't for his wife to worry about.
"It's Green. He's asked for a different vehicle. Said he's had car trouble. I've issued for a pick up truck to pick him up in Culver City and to be taken to the mission to pick up his replacement vehicle. But I had a gut feeling. I went looking to see what he's been up to. I've found camera footage from last night of his movements. He went to a club, Maleficent, and he left with a brunette. A Sandra Duncan. I found her address and found Green enter her house with her in the early hours of this morning. He left about an hour ago, there's no sign of the woman. He's acting weird."
"In what way?" Owen Granger collected his car keys and knew it was going to be a long day.
"He left by the back door and jumped over fences. I've managed to break into neighbouring security cameras and caught him. He's acting too suspicious."
"Give me the address, Nell. I'll drive by and see if Miss Duncan is okay. You're right, he's acting very strange."
Owen Granger drove over to Gardena and found the address Nell had provided him with. He walked up the path and rang the door bell. After ten minutes of no one answering and checking the windows, he called Nell back.
"I can't see anyone here. Do you have a cell number for the woman?"
Nell quickly brought the details up on her screen. "Yes, I do." She passed on the number and left Granger to call the woman. She looked up and laughed, watching Kensi and Deeks paddle boarding on the same board with a paddle each. She was sure Deeks was determined to make Kensi fall off and get her very wet. Her sudden concern over Sandra Duncan left her as she watched Deeks succeed in his aim of doing just as she thought.
"Deeks. I swear, if you do that to me again, I'm going to feed you to the sharks."
Nell's cell rang and she sighed as she saw Granger's number. "You were right to be concerned. LAPD's arrived. We've entered the property after no answer on her cell. We found her body floating in the bath." Granger tensed the muscles in his arms. "From what you've found, we have proof that he killed her. But there's no proof at the crime scene. He's wiped the place clean. We need to tread very carefully, Nell. You obtained evidence by breaking into neighbouring security systems that we can't use in a court of law. We'll keep it quiet for now, but we'll get LAPD to release her suspicious death on Monday, as if he's in the clear. We can't be seen to be spying on him. The safety of the team is imperative. We still need to find out about his dealings with the European terrorists that Alex reported to Vance, when she saw him in Ukraine back in February." He heard laughter and the sound of the wind in the background. "Are you out, Nell?"
"Yes, I'm at the beach with Beale, Kensi and Deeks."
"Don't mention this to them and enjoy your time at the beach. But we need to get onto Green's connections fast before he kills again."
"Agreed, Sir." She disconnected the call, but felt sick in the stomach. Her gut instinct from her training served her well. "Trust your training." Callen's words rung in her head and she missed the team leader more than before. "We miss you, Callen. Please come home soon," she whispered to herself.