DISCLAIMER: I do not own the right to any of the NCIS:LA characters. Only my own.
Again, I'd like to thank my faithful readers for your continued support. I enjoy entertaining you!
The team were up and out the door by seven, breakfast in their bellies by seven thirty and at the police station by eight. Lt. Hammond escorted them to one of the conference rooms where he introduced them to Chief Christopher Farnsworth and Assistant Chief Derrick Friss. There were thermoses of coffee on one of the tables to the side under the window and some pastries sat out on a platter beside the coffee. After introducing themselves, they each got a cup of coffee and sat down.
Callen started with the operation involving Isakk Sidorov, going all the way back to the Sam's work with the CIA task force when he and Michelle met. He quickly moved on to the sleeper agents who'd been murdered and the nuclear bombs that had been stolen. Sam took over and told them about the undercover operation where Michelle went in as Quinn and was hired to kill Anatoli Kirkin. He moved on to Kirkin's staged murder and eventually getting the bombs back.
Katy told them about her undercover operation involving Vitaliy Kirillovsky, Sidorov and how Dmitri Leshev and his son Yuri Larionov tie into the situation at hand. They questioned her about her past many times after she told them that she was Russian born and an illegitimate child of Dmitri's. When they began to scrutinize her loyalties to the United States, Callen intervened and told them that he too was not born in the United States, but Romania and that his family and the Comescu family had been engaged in a blood feud for years. At that point, they seemed to back off.
Lt. Hammond asked Katy if she was truly working for the San Jose paper at the time of her daughter's death. She confirmed that she was legitimately employed by the paper and only working for NCIS on the side. Hammond asked how long she'd been with NCIS and Katy told them that she joined NCIS full time two years ago. Overall, the Chief and Assistant Chief were very impressed with the team and offered any assistance they might need throughout the rest of the investigation. With that, the investigation was officially handed over to NCIS due to the relation to the Larionov-Leshev case. The Chief also assured Katy that they case involving her daughter and Reggie's parents would be reopened.
By the time they walked out of the conference room, Nell and Eric were blowing up their phones. They walked back into the conference room with Hammond and put the phone on speaker so they all could hear the conversation.
"Hey Nell, what have you got?" Callen asked.
"A lot, let's start off with the fun you guys had in North Beach. Eric and I went back through all of the traffic cams in the area and not only did we figure out how they knew you guys were in the area, but we also have footage of them setting the remote systems up." She told them.
"Have you got an ID on them?" Callen asked.
"But of course." Nell said whimsically. "None other than either Anka or Alina Berezin."
Hammond's jaw dropped. "What about the Rocco kids, is there any sigh of them?"
"No, we've been monitoring all of the borders and airports nationwide. Since both of the twins are known to be in San Francisco within the last twenty-four hours, I'm fairly sure the children are there in San Francisco." Nell said.
"What if she passed the kids off to someone else?" Katy asked.
"We've been looking for the kids as well and there's been no sign of them." Nell told her.
"How about the weapons from last night?" Sam asked.
"We were able to trace them back to one of Vitaliy Kirillovsky's deals. They were stolen from a storage facility in Northern California some fifteen years ago. My guess is that Vitaliy in-turn sold them to one of his factions there in the Bay Area." Nell told them.
"Alright, anything else?" Callen asked.
"I've been working with the SFPD analyst about which one of the women gave birth to the children. Unfortunately, because they are identical twins we're going to have to run their DNA against the each of the kids. As soon as we find the kids and whichever of the women we don't already have in custody, we will test her as well. Actually, Pete just sent me the file from Joanie's booking and it looks like that would be Anka you have. So we're looking for Alina." She said.
Katy smiled. "This stuff just keeps getting more confusing by the minute."
"Ha, you're telling me. I'm going cross-eyed just looking at everything on the computer screen; I can't even imagine what it's like in the field. By the way, Katy how are you feeling?" Nell asked.
"I'm actually not feeling too bad, thank you." She told her.
"Alright Nell, we're going to head over to the Russian Hill neighborhood. Can you and Eric start going over the traffic cams to see if you can find Alina?" Callen asked.
"Of course, we will call you when we find something." She said and hung up.
Callen turned to Katy, "I really think you need to sit this one out. If the majority of the Russian population in the bay area has ties to Dmitri, I think you may become a walking target."
"Hell no, I'm not letting you guys go out there without me. You all have targets on your back too because of the simple fact that you arrested Isakk, Dmitri, Yuri and Yegor." She said smugly.
Katy saw the look on Callen's face and knew he was going to pull the team lead card. "Katy." He said with a very serious look on his face.
"Callen." She said trying not to laugh at his seriousness.
He saw the smile she was trying to hide and started laughing. "I hate it when you do that." He said and pushed her out of the room. "I really don't want you going out on this."
"Callen, consider me live bait." She told him.
"No, I don't want you to go out, what if something happens." He said.
"Detach yourself from our relationship, Callen. Right now I'm a team member, not your girlfriend." She told him.
"I know you're right, but with your back and everything I want you to be careful." He told her.
"If it will make you feel better, I'll wear a vest." She told him. "On one condition, you wear one too."
"Katy. I'm not the one they're gunning for." He said.
"Yeah, maybe not the Leshev-Larionov family, but I'm sure if what's left of the Comescu family found out where you were they'd be after you too." She told him.
"Point taken." He said and walked back into the conference room.
"You two done with your lover's quarrel?" Sam asked, grinning.
Callen shot him a look and then looked back at Katy.
They spent four hours in the Russian Hill neighborhood. With eighteen or so plain clothed officers and Lt. Hammond, they broke off into pairs and canvassed the area. Callen and Katy took four officers and took the northwest area of the neighborhood. Sam and Lt. Hammond took four officers and worked the northeast section, Kensi and Deeks each took five officers and took the southeast and southwest areas. They talked to hundreds of people and got a few leads, which they passed on to Eric, Nell and Pete to research.
Feeling like they had nothing to show for their efforts, they headed back to the Police station. It was Friday afternoon and the city was gearing up for an event at Yoshi's San Francisco Live Music and Restaurant; an 'Old Skool' House Party featuring a popular Rap artist that evening. In addition to three events over the weekend; The Union Street Eco-Urban Festival on Union Street in the Cow Hollow district, the 3rd annual Green Film Festival at New People on Post Street and a concert at the America's Cup Pavilion down by the Embarcadero. Everyone knew it was going to be a very long and busy weekend for the beat officers.
At five, they called Nell and Eric to see if they had anything new before calling it a day. Unfortunately they had nothing. The system was working on the leads they'd passed, along with the search for Alina Berezin and the three Rocco children. Not to mention waiting on the results of the autopsies and forensic results from both Abby and SFPD. Nell assured them that they'd have something for them soon. Katy knew that the time had come to tell Reggie about the kids and asked Callen if they could stop by the hospital on the way back to the hotel. He agreed and had the rest of the team take the rental car back to the hotel while they took a cab.
Reggie looked good when they walked into his room. He had all of his color back and was able to get up and walk around. The physician was looking to send him home either Saturday or Sunday. Knowing he expected to go home to his children, Katy sat him down.
"What is it, Katy?" He asked worried, knowing whenever she sat him down like this it was bad news.
"Reggie, Alina has an identical twin; Anka. In fact, you're legally married to Anka. Somehow her death certificate was faked and the two have been sharing the Joanie persona for the last fifteen years."
"Um, alright, why are you telling me this?" Reggie asked hesitantly.
"Anka is in custody; she was the one at the house. Alina went to Cheryl's house and took the kids by force the evening you were shot." She told him and was ready to continue when Reggie interrupted.
"The kids, she has the kids? You're looking for them, aren't you?" he asked panicked.
"Of course we are. Our analysts have been checking the airports and borders nationwide. Neither Alina nor the kids have been seen. We have to assume they're still in San Francisco. We spent the afternoon in Russian Hill talking to as many people as we possibly could. We've got our analysts working what leads we were able to get." She said.
"I doubt she'd hurt them. But wait, if I'm married to this Anka woman, who's the children's mother?" Reggie asked confused.
"When we catch up to Alina, we're going to have to run DNA test against both women and the three kids. We might be able to run little Reggie's DNA against Anka's since he was born at a military hospital. You remember they always run a DNA test on babies to verify paternity and if the child is not the alleged father's they refuse to cover it in DEERS." She told him.
Reggie slowly stood and talked to the window. "I can't believe this all is happening. They've got to be scared out of their minds."
"Ready to point fingers and blame me yet?" she laughed.
He turned around and looked at Katy. "I could never blame you. Never so just get the notion out of that hard head of yours."
Callen sat in the corner and laughed. "I've been trying to get things into that head of hers since we met three months ago."
"She is so stubborn, isn't she?" Reggie laughed.
"Hey, I'm still sitting here." Katy reminded them.
"We're only complaining because we love you, Katy." Reggie told her.
She smiled and shook her head. "We're doing everything we can to find the kids. Is there any place you can think of that Joanie would go on her own when she needed time by herself? Or can you think back and remember any differences between the two women. I have to assume since they were sharing the identity, they'd stand in for one another."
"Their voices. One's huskier than the other. Every time I'd ask about it, she'd say she was coming down with something or said she had to raise her voice at her class." He stopped and shook his head. "I can't believe those two bitches pulled some shit like this."
Katy was shocked. It had been years since she'd heard him use foul language.
"Oh stop looking at me so surprised, I'm still a Marine through and through. Just because I'm ordained doesn't mean the foul and cantankerous man is gone. I can still drink and cuss it up with the best of them. You should've heard me watching the Super Bowl; screaming for my Forty-Niners to win." He laughed.
"I know it's just been years since I've heard you talk like that." She said.
"What about places Joanie would go when she wanted to be alone?" Callen asked.
He sat thinking and shook his head. "No, she was very private. In all honesty, we barely talked. I was beginning to wonder if the marriage would survive another few years. She disappeared often, never telling me where she was going. I thought maybe she was seeing someone else. She'd get phone calls in the middle of the night and leave the room to talk to whoever it was."
"On her cell phone?" Callen asked.
"Yes, it was rare that she used the house phone." Reggie told them.
"Can you remember roughly when it was she received one of those calls where she went someplace else to talk?" Callen asked.
"Thursday of last week, the day before Katy got into town." He told them. "Do you think it was possible that someone was watching you in LA and told her you were on your way up?"
"There is that possibility, but we were staying in a safe house because Yuri Larionov had been to Callen's house several times when we didn't know, caught us in a very compromising situation." Katy told him.
Reggie smiled, "Ah caught the two of you making a little hanky-panky?"
Katy turned bright red and looked at the floor. "Yeah, something like that."
"Don't worry; it happens to the best of us. You've never lived until you've had a child walk in on you. It's 'don't worry honey, Mommy and I were just wrestling or we were looking for something.' Talk about scaring the child." Reggie laughed.
Katy laughed, "I can't even imagine."
"I'm going to have Nell and Eric go through Joanie's phone records to see who those calls were from." Callen said suddenly changing the subject.
Katy and Reggie laughed. "Alright, you two, go enjoy a Friday evening in the city. No more dinner cruises please."
"I think we're going to stay close to the hotel. We'd gone to North Beach for dinner last night and wound up having something happen." Katy told him.
"What happened?" he asked.
"We were waiting to cross the street when we heard gun shots. When we figured out where they were coming from and made our way up to where the shooters should have been, we found a remote firing system." Callen told him.
"Oh my Lord." Reggie exclaimed.
"We know that Alina set it up. Nell and Eric saw the whole thing on the traffic cams in the area." Katy added.
"Please be careful. No one was injured in all of it?" He asked.
Callen gave a laugh, "The bullets were blanks."
Reggie just shook his head. "What the hell is going on?"
"We wish we knew, Reggie." Katy said as she stood.
"Alright, go get some rest." He told them.
Callen called Sam before they left to hospital to see what they had done or wanted to do for dinner. Sam suggested just ordering pizzas and hanging out in the neighborhood around the hotel. Katy and Callen agreed and told them they'd be there in fifteen to twenty minutes. Kensi, Deeks and Sam were waiting for them in the hotel bar when they got back. They had a quick drink and headed out to get dinner. Instead of going for Italian, they chose the Cheesecake Factory on Geary. It wasn't a long walk, but long enough to have them looking around cautiously, given what had happened the previous evening.
It was a forty-five minute wait just to be seated. They had all suggested several times that they find someplace else to eat, but one of the other patrons waiting to be seated told them that anywhere else they went would be as long if not a longer wait. So they just waited. When they were seated, the place was buzzing, the noise level was horrible; they felt like they had to yell at one another just to be heard. When they ordered their meals, they had to yell at the waitress in order for her to hear them. At one point Katy asked if it's always like this and the waitress nodded. Telling them that it's like this at every restaurant nationwide and the best time to come would've been in the late afternoon or a couple hours till closing.
An hour after ordering, they finally received their dinner. In spite of the atmosphere and noise, the food was very good. As the hours progressed, the crowd thinned out and the noise level died down. They ordered dessert from their vast cheesecake menu and each of them tasted everyone else's slice. By ten o'clock, the restaurant was virtually empty. When the waitress returned to refill their coffees, they asked for the check. After paying, they walked back to the hotel without incident and went up to their rooms.
The weekend was long and boring. Sam spent a lot of the time in his room on the phone with Michelle and their kids. Kensi and Deeks decided to go out and explore the city while Katy and Callen stayed in bed and were for the most part lazy. They met up for dinner Saturday night at the restaurant in the hotel and then headed out to Pete's party. Kensi and Katy were dressed to the nines and drew a lot of attention. Callen, Sam and Deeks watched from one of the tables by the dance floor while Kensi and Katy were dancing with Pete and his friends. At one point, in Pete's drunken state, he grabbed Katy and pulled her to him. He pawed at her inappropriately, Callen was ready to pounce on the kid, but Katy took care of it. They only stayed a half-hour longer before they left. It was still early, so they stopped by the bar in the hotel and had a couple drinks.
Reggie was due to be released Sunday morning, so Callen and Katy were going to pick him up and take him to Sunday service at Grace Cathedral. There still was no news on Alina or the kids and it bothered Katy. The longer they were gone, the more she feared they'd never find them. Reggie was dressed and ready to go when they walked into his room. His bag was packed and the hoards of flowers and balloons had been placed in several boxes. The doctor followed Katy and Callen in with Reggie's discharge papers. He spoke to them for a few minutes about after care while at home. Katy pulled Callen out of the room for a minute.
"I never made arrangements to have the house cleaned." She told him.
"Don't worry, the house has been cleaned. Kensi called the morning after Reggie was shot and had a company come out. Don't worry about it; it's all been taken care of." He assured her.
"Thank you," she smiled. "Remind me to thank Kensi too."
The doctor was walking out of the room as they were going back in. He told them that the orderly would be there in a few minutes to help get everything out to the car. Callen took Reggie's bag and pulled the strap over this shoulder and grabbed a box of flowers. Katy took a box and a bundle of balloons while the orderly pushed Reggie out in a wheelchair. He too had a box of flowers and bundle of balloons in his lap.
"Do we want to run all of this to the house before we head to the church?" Katy suggested.
"No, we can take all of this over to the church and put the plants and balloons in my office, the flowers we can put on Kari's and my parent's graves." Reggie said smiling over at Katy.
She nodded. It had already been a week since the memorial service and hadn't planned on returning to see her until her birthday in six months. Callen saw the apprehension in Katy's face. When they arrived at the church, there were a dozen parishioners waiting in the parking lot for the service to start. They all greeted Reggie, Callen and Katy warmly. Callen and Katy followed Reggie into the church and back to the office where they unloaded the plants and balloons. Katy looked out the window at Kari's grave and took a deep breath. Reggie led the way through the offices to a back door that let them out in the cemetery. All of the flowers had been place in one box and Callen carried it as he and Katy walked side by side.
"Are you going to be okay going back so soon?" He asked softly.
Katy looked at him and already had tears in her eyes. As they walked closer to the graves, Katy noticed something taped to the back of Kari's headstone and stopped Reggie. She walked up ahead and pulled the envelope off. With Callen standing by her, she opened it and found a photo of the morning before the memorial service with a red 'x' across her and Reggie and a note that said they were next. Callen immediately took it from her and put it back in the envelope. He looked around and saw nothing, then nodded to Reggie that it was alright. Together the three places the vases of flowers at the base of the three headstones before they went back into the church for the service.
Callen stopped out front to call Sam before joining them inside. "Sam, Katy just pulled an envelope off her daughter's headstone that had a picture of Katy, Reggie and I from the morning of the memorial service with Katy and Reggie crossed out."
"So you want us to meet you there?" He asked.
"I don't know if there's any point, we have no idea when this was place there. I'm going to go through the church's surveillance cameras to see if I can figure out when it was place there." Callen told him.
"I'll call Lt. Hammond and let him know. Was there anything else with the photo?" He asked.
"It said that they were next." He said and scratched his head. "Cryptic, I don't know if they're next for kidnapping or killing."
"Alright, we'll meet you outside the church. I don't think we should take Reggie back to his house. Do you want me to get him a room at the hotel?" Sam asked as he walked to the door of his room.
"I don't think it would be a bad idea. If we have to, get an adjoining room and Katy and I will move into the room next door. I don't want to let either of them out of my site for longer than we absolutely have to." Callen told him.
"I agree. I'm headed downstairs right now to check on the room. Kensi, Deeks and I will meet you at the church. Do you know if they went out again today?"
"I don't know, they may have." Callen said looking around the area.
"What's going on between them?" Sam asked.
"I'll fill you in on that later. The service is about to start, I'll see you in a little while." Callen said.
"Alright, I'll call the love birds and have them meet me at the church." He said and hung up.
Callen smiled at Sam's last comment and put his phone on silent before he walked into the church and found Katy and Reggie. They were standing inside one of the pews near the front of the church surrounded by a group of people. Nervous by the number of people around them, he hurried up to them. Katy gave Callen a questioning look and he gave her one back that told her they'd talk about it later. Just before the service started, Callen leaned over and told Reggie he needed to see the church's surveillance footage immediately after mass. He nodded and sat back again.
It was a long service; Callen and Katy both looked at each other and yawned as they listened to the older clergyman speak. Even Reggie seemed to be bored by his sermon. Katy looked around the church at the other parishioners and noticed they were all about to fall asleep. At the end of the service, they were bombarded by church members asking when Reggie would be well enough to return to the ten o'clock service. Katy nearly laughed, but managed to hold it in until they were in the office, at which point all three burst out laughing.
"Oh my good Lord, I forgot how boring Jeffery was to listen to. Did you see the poor people sitting around us? I actually think I head snoring from the back of the church." Reggie laughed.
"Oh he reminds me of that Chaplain from Lejeune we used to have to endure when we were stationed out there. He was horrible." She said looking at Callen. "He spoke in a monotone voice; there was no change in his voice what-so-ever. I can't tell you how many times Reggie and I got hauled out of the chapel and yelled at because we fell asleep or were laughing."
"Do you remember that time the Captain pulled us out and bitched at us, then five minutes after we got back in the chapel the asshole fell asleep too. What were we throwing at him, tissues?" he laughed.
"You two cut up in church?" Callen asked laughing.
"Not just in church where ever we were together we were goofing off. It was really bad when we had a class or something, the instructors would cringe and roll their eyes whenever they saw us coming." Katy told him.
Callen smiled. "I wish I'd known you then."
"No you don't, she was a very dark person then. You definately would not have liked her." Reggie said straight-faced. "A lot of the goofing off was to hide the pain."
Callen nodded and looked at Katy, she was nodding in agreement. "I really am a better person now." She told him with a huge smile.
Callen walked over to her and put his arms around her. "I'd believe that." He said and kissed her. "I'd bet you were pretty cute in your dress blues."
"She was hot in her dress blues." Reggie said. "Sorry, I'm just being honest."
"I know, no problem Reggie." Callen said and shook his hand. "You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of her in uniform, would you?"
"Good Lord, Callen. You know all that stuff Hetty had stored for me; my blues are in all of that along with the pickle suits."
A devious grin crossed Callen's lips. "We're getting that stuff first thing when we get back to LA and you're putting that uniform on for me."
"Other women put sexy lingerie on to turn their man on, all I need to do is put on a fourteen year old uniform and I've got mine eating out of the palm of my hand." Katy laughed.
"Alright, enough about that stuff, you wanted to see the cameras, they're in here." Reggie told him.
"Katy, do you want to go see if Sam, Kensi and Deeks are here yet?" Callen asked.
"Sure, I'll be right back." She said and walked out of the office.
"So what was in the envelope?" Reggie asked. Callen opened the envelope and took out the picture. Reggie went pale. "Is that a death threat?"
"I don't know, but we're not taking any chances. I'm not letting either of you out of my site until all of this is over. You're not going home; Sam got a room for you at the hotel. If he could swing it, it's an adjoining room, Katy and I will be right next door." Callen told him.
"Is this all necessary, though?" Reggie asked.
"If something happened to you, Katy would never forgive herself and if something happened to Katy I'd never forgive myself. This is the only way to keep both of you safe. When we're out working the case, you'll either have an officer with you or you'll be with us." Callen said sitting down to the computer.
Katy walked back into the office followed by the others. The six of them sat around the monitor watching as Callen rewound and played the footage. An hour before the Rocco children were taken, a figure walked into the cemetery and over to Kari's grave. Whoever it was knew where all of the cameras were and never looked at them. They wore a hooded sweatshirt pulled over their head and wore baggy pants. None of them could figure out if it was male or female. He changed the view on the monitor to the parking lot, but the suspect parked in such a way that the parking lot cameras didn't have a good shot of the license plate. They would have to rely on Nell and Eric to go through the city's traffic cams tomorrow.
Sam told Callen that he was able to book the adjoining room. Reggie looked like he was losing steam, so they headed to the hotel. It just so happened that Reggie was put in the room right next to theirs and all they had to do was open the pass through doors. Callie wandered into Reggie's room and up on the bed. Katy watched from the door as he realized it was the same cat from before Kari was born.
"I can't believe she'd still alive." He said petting her.
"Yeah, she's going on seventeen." Katy said smiling.
"She's still a beautiful cat, just like you." Reggie said when the cat head-bunted him.
"Stop Reggie." Katy said waving the comment away.
"I'm only being truthful, Callen would agree. Wouldn't you?" He asked as Callen walked up behind Katy and put his arms around her.
"Oh yes, I definitely second that." He said kissing her neck.
"What's stopping you two?" Reggie asked.
Katy gave him a sideways glance. "Reggie."
"I'm serious; it's so very obvious that you love one another. You work well together and you're already living together. What is it that's stopping you two from getting married?"
"Reggie, we've only been together two and a half months. Our relationship is nowhere near ready for that step." Katy told him.
"Tell me why you're relationship isn't ready for that? I want reasons, not excuses." Reggie told her.
Katy's mind went blank, there weren't any reasons. "I'm scared ok. I'm afraid if we make a commitment to one another like that that something will happen. You know my track record. Look at you and me, we had a child together and look what happened. Your parent's and our daughter is dead and you cannot say that it isn't my fault. It's entirely my fault. I've put you, Callen and the entire team in danger." She said and walked away.
Callen and Reggie looked at each other. They were talking between themselves when they heard the room door close. Callen spun around and ran to the door. By the time he opened it, the hallway was empty. He ran down the hall to Kensi's room and asked if she was there, she wasn't. Reggie, Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks went looking for her. Kensi and Deeks took the stairs while Callen, Reggie and Sam rode down to the lobby in the elevator. When the elevator stopped at the lobby Callen ran to the desk and asked if they'd seen Katy come through. The manager said she walked out a few minutes ago.
Callen walked back to Reggie and Sam just as Kensi and Deeks walked out of the stairwell. "She went out a few minutes ago." He said.
"Let's go find her." Sam said.
They walked out onto the street and looked around. There was no sign of her. Callen and Reggie went right, Kensi and Deeks left while Sam crossed the street and headed towards Union Square. Reggie and Callen walked straight up Sutter towards Taylor Street. They looked in all of the shops and restaurants along the way. Callen called her phone several times, but she never answered. Kensi and Deeks walked to Powell Street before they called Callen to let him know there was no sign of her. No sooner had he hung up from talking to them, and Sam called. Callen stopped and turned on his heels, running back towards the hotel while Reggie tried to keep up.
Kensi and Deeks saw Callen run back into the hotel and asked Reggie what was going on. He said he didn't know, Sam joined them and the four of them waited for Callen to come back. Five minutes later, he walked back out of the hotel with the gadget Nell had given him when he came looking for her. He turned it on and waited for one of the two phone numbers to show their location on the screen. Finally, they showed. The prepaid phone showed the hotel address and her cell was walking up Geary towards Hyde Street.
"How the hell did she get down to Geary so quick?" Sam asked.
"You've never run with her. I had trouble keeping up with her." Callen told him.
"What are we waiting for?" Kensi asked.
The five of them walked quickly through the crowds to Taylor and turned left. Once they hit Geary, Callen pulled the tracker out again and saw that she'd stopped just past Shannon. Callen looked at Reggie. "What's just past Shannon Street on Geary?"
"Swig." Reggie smiled.
"What the hell is Swig?" Sam asked.
"It's a swanky bar I took her to a few years ago. She always sneaks off at least once while she's here to have a drink there." He said.
"I guess we're getting a drink then." Sam said.
They walked the next block and a half before they came across the bar. Just before they were about to walk in, Kensi asked what was said that made her run off.
"I was asking her to give me reasons, not excuses as to why she didn't want to marry Callen." He told her.
All eyes were on Callen. "I didn't know you guys were talking about marriage." Sam said.
"It's on the table, but we both understand that it's too early in our relationship for that." Callen explained.
The others smiled. "Katy did the same thing when I asked her to marry me. I asked on the Friday before Memorial Day and I didn't see her again until we went back to work on Wednesday morning from the ninety-six. To this day, she still won't tell me where she was." Reggie told them.
"So no proposal has been made?" Kensi asked with a smile.
"No, no proposal has been made, believe me you guys would be the first to know." Callen said looking at Katy through the open door.
"Let me go talk to her since I started this." Reggie said.
"We'll be at this first table in case she tries to run off again." Sam said.
Reggie walked to the stool next to hers. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.
Katy smiled without even looking. "How did I know you guys would find me?"
"You probably should've gone to a bar I haven't taken you to." Reggie laughed.
"Yeah, you're probably right." She said taking a sip of her drink.
"Look, I'm sorry. I know I was pushing too hard. I just want to see you happy." He told her as the bartender walked over. "I'll take an ice water, please."
"I know Reggie, but I am happy with the relationship we have now." She told him.
"What are you so scared of? You did the same thing when I asked you to marry me." He said.
"I'm afraid if we do wind up getting married some day that I'd lose him like we lost Kari. That I'll do something or say something to make him angry and I'll wake up one morning to find him gone. Not that it could really happen since we live in his house. I just don't want to screw this up by throwing the dreaded 'M' word into it." She said, choking back the tears.
"We both know Callen would never do that." He said nodding to the bartender when he returned with the ice water.
"I don't know that. You know my history with men. When it comes to the male species I'm frigging clueless. I've been hurt too many times, even now that Callen and I have been together for two and a half months, and I'm still waiting for something to happen. I'm waiting for my walking papers and if I get them from Callen, it will kill me." She said choking back the tears.
Reggie put his hand on her shoulder, "I don't ever think Callen would do that. I've met and married a lot of couples with my job and I can tell a good relationship when I see one. You two have a rock solid relationship. He understands you."
"Callen was raised in foster care. Lived in over thirty some odd homes before he turned eighteen, we've been through a lot of the same stuff. The drugs, the abuse." She said looking over at Callen.
"All the more reason to open up to him." Reggie said.
"How much more open can I get? I think he knows everything now. The only think I didn't tell him about was you and Kari." She said.
"And he didn't run off when he found out. He was very supportive. Katy, you've got to start letting someone breaks down those walls you've got put up." He said.
"I know, Reggie I know." She smiled. "Just please promise you won't bring up the 'M' word again for at least a year. Let's see here we are a year from now. Maybe then I'll be ready for that, okay?"
"Okay, should we go join the others at the table?" he asked.
"Sure. I can't believe you guys followed me." She said smiling and shaking her head.
Callen stood as they walked towards the table and wrapped her in his arms. "Please stop doing that."
"I will I'm sorry." She smiled and kissed him.
They sat there for a couple hours, having a few drinks before they headed back to the hotel. It was a nice walk; Callen and Katy were surrounded by not their friends, but their family. They laughed and talked as they walked. Kensi and Deeks were actually holding hands, which Sam took great delight in taunting and teasing them for. When they got back to the hotel and went to their respective rooms, it sounded like the closing of a Walton's episode as they all said goodnight to one another over and over.
Callen, Katy and Reggie went in through Callen and Katy's room and sat up talking for a while before they went to bed. They all hoped that there would be some news on the whereabouts of the kids and Alina. Katy could tell that the events of the last week were wearing on Reggie. He had a little more grey at his temples and across his hairline above his forehead. She gave him a big hug before he went into his room to go to bed. Callie was between the two rooms all night.
Bright and early Monday morning, Callen's phone rang. He stumbled out of bed and over to the dresser where his phone was plugged in charging. "Hello?" He said half-asleep.
"Well good morning sleep head." Nell laughed.
"Hey Nell, sorry. What's up?" he said looking back at Katy. She had a one of her long legs on top of the covers, her blonde hair fanned out across her back and the pillow. He was so busy looking at Katy that he didn't hear what Nell was saying.
"Callen, Callen did you hear what I said?" She asked.
"No, I'm sorry. I was distracted by something." He said. "Tell me again."
"We got back some information on some of the leads you got from Russian Hill and also got some results back from the traffic cams around the cathedral. Which would you like first, the good news or the good news?"
Callen laughed, "I'll take the good news."
"Ok, we were able to get a plate on the car that the suspect from the cemetery was driving. We went through the DMV records and found out it is registered to a Joanie Berezin. Go figure. We also have an address. Eric and I went back through the footage to the morning that Alina took the kids and we have shots of her taking the kids into the house. They have not been brought out since, but we have seen them playing in the back yard." Nell said Callen could hear the smile in her voice.
"How long ago did you see them playing in the back?" Callen asked unplugging his phone and walking to Reggie's room, knocking on the door frame to wake him up.
"Yesterday afternoon." She said.
"Yesterday," He said excitedly. "And they don't look to be harmed in any way?"
"No, Alina was actually back there playing with them." She told him.
"Alright, send me the address and keep an eye on the house. If Alina leaves or takes the kids anywhere, let me know. Has there been anyone else at the house?" He asked, waving Reggie over to the room before he woke Katy up.
"There has been one other person coming and going from the house. A male; we're still running him through the facial recognition software and as soon as something comes back we will call you." She said.
"Ok, so what was the other information you had for me?" He asked.
"None of the leads really panned out except for one. Apparently Kensi and the team she went out with for the canvass ran across a gentleman who gave them an address of where he'd possibly seen Alina. It just so happens to be the very same address." She said.
"Okay, very good; I'll wake the other and get with Lt. Hammond. I'll call you before we go over to the house to get the kids and Alina." He said looking from Katy to Reggie. Katy was standing on the bed dancing and Reggie dropped to his knees sobbing.
"Alright Callen, we will be waiting for your call and if we see anything I'll call." She said and hung up.
"They found the kids?" Katy said as soon as he got off the phone.
"Yes, they are perfectly fine. Nell said they were playing in the backyard with Alina. There's only been one other person in and out of the house; an unidentified male. We're still going to approach this with the utmost caution. Let me wake the others so we can make a plan." He said walking to the door.
When he opened the door, Kensi, Sam and Deeks were standing there. "We heard Katy and came as soon as we could." Sam said.
"Come on in; let's figure out how we're going to get the kids back and Alina in custody." Callen said.
They sat and talked for an hour formulating a plan before Katy, Callen and Reggie got dresses and they headed to the police station to see Lt. Hammond. He was please to hear their analysts were able to find their location and offered one of the tactical teams as back up. Callen appreciated all the help they could get. The team suited up and rode over to the address in Russian Hill in the SWAT van. Callen called Nell to see if there had been any movement over night. Once she said there had been none and that it was just Alina and the kids in the house, they moved in.
Callen turned to the team and several of the SWAT members and said. "Room by room, we want the kids unharmed and Alina alive."
They all nodded. Kensi walked to the door and knocked, waited for someone to answer. Alina answered and Kensi started talking to her. "Hi my name is Mary, I'm new to the neighborhood and I just wanted to introduce myself." Kensi looked beyond her and saw Cassandra sitting at the table coloring. Alina looked back at her. "She's cute."
"Thank you, that's my niece. I'm watching them until their father gets out of the hospital." She told her. "Where do you live, I didn't know any of the houses in the neighborhood were vacant."
"Actually, I'm living with my uncle for the time being. Kind of fell on some hard times." Kensi said looking a bit ashamed and dejected.
"Oh honey it happens to all of us. My name is Ali, did you want to come in for a few minutes?" she asked.
"If it wouldn't be an imposition?" Kensi said with a smile.
"No, I was about to take the kids out back to play for a while, you can sit on the deck with me and we can talk." She said letting her in the house.
"Alright, thank you. I really appreciate it." Kensi said and turned around to look back at the team.
"Ok, Kensi's in the house." Callen said over the com. "Kens, as soon as you have eyes on all three kids, give us the signal."
"You have a beautiful home, Ali." Kensi said as Alina led her into the great room and out to the back yard.
"Hey do you guys want to go play out back for a while?" Alina called.
Little Reggie and his youngest sister Mary came bounding down the stairs. "Hey guys, this is one of our new neighbors, Mary. Can you say hello?"
"Hello Ma'am." Reggie said and offered his hand.
Kensi smiled. "Well aren't you just the proper little gentleman."
"Oh yes, his father was in the Marines. He's all about manners and being proper." Alina told her.
"My dad was in the Marines too, I remember how it was. And who might you be?" She said kneeling in front of a little brunette child with her thumb in her mouth.
She removed her thumb and said, "I'm Mary too." Smiled and put her thumb back in her mouth.
"Well it's nice to meet you Mary too." Kensi smiled, the little girl giggled.
"This budding artist is Cassandra." Alina said standing by the table.
"Nice to meet you Cassandra." Kensi said looking at the picture she was coloring. "That's a wonderful picture, who are all those people?"
"Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Ali, Auntie Katy, that's me and that's Bubba and Sissy." She said pointing to everyone.
"That a really good family portrait. With an artist like you, who needs a photographer?" Kensi said with a smile. "Should we get the three of you beautiful children out back to play?"
"Yes, please." They youngest said.
"Oh Mary, did you want some iced tea?" Ali asked stopping in the kitchen to get herself a glass.
"Yes, that would be nice, thank you." Kensi told her.
She took one last look at the picture on the table, hoping Katy had heard that Cassandra had drawn her into the picture. Ali handed her a glass of iced tea and she followed her out the door. She gave the signal and waited for Callen's word.
When he gave it and the door busted open, Kensi pulled her gun and pointed it at Alina. The woman froze with fire in her eyes. Within second, the yard was full on armed men and women. Katy immediately went to the kids and ushered them out of the yard. Cassandra grabbed the picture off the table and tried to show it to Katy as she led them out the door. Once they were outside and Katy swung the rifle over her shoulder, she gave each of the children a hug.
"Why did you come and get us like this? We were just visiting Aunt Ali." Reggie told her.
"You know that's not Mommy?" Katy asked.
"No, Mommy is Anka that's Aunt Ali." Reggie said.
"Alright, let's get you guys over to Daddy." She said walking over to Lt. Hammond's car.
The back door opened and Reggie stepped out the kids saw him and went running to him. "Daddy, you're okay? Aunt Ali said you were going to be in the hospital for a while longer."
"No I'm fine are you guys okay?" he asked hugging them and giving them the once over.
Katy heard yelling from the back yard and ran back to the house. Alina was refusing to let anyone touch her. Katy walked back in to the yard with her rifle drawn. Alina looked at her and hissed at her in Russian.
"It's over Alina; you need to let us bring you in." Callen told her.
"No, never, I'd rather die than surrender to you. My sister was stupid enough to allow herself to be arrested, there's no way I'm going peacefully. I will see my mission through and kill you, Katya." She snapped.
"I'm right here, Alina no balls." Katy smiled.
"You bitch. If I don't get you some one of the others will. I promise you that." She said.
Katy looked at Callen and lowered her weapon; she walked over to Alina and stood face to face with her. "I'm right here, right in front of you. I'm waiting." She taunted.
Alina lunged at her and Katy swung, hitting her square in the jaw. She staggered for a moment before she fell to the ground. Katy looked down at her and laughed. Rolled her over and cuffed her. She and Kensi pulled her to her feet and led her out to the waiting squad car. Alina kicked and thrashed about as the car pulled away from the curb and headed towards the station.
Katy ran back to Reggie and the kids to make sure they were fine before rejoining the team. They piled back into the SWAT van and headed back to the station. Callen and Sam went in to talk to Alina and presented her with a court order for a DNA test. She spat at them and started yelling in Russian. When Callen opened his mouth and started speaking Russian back at her, she stopped and sat down.
Katy's phone ran, so she excused herself from the observation room and took the call. "Hey Nell, what's up?"
"I did a little more digging and you're not going to believe what I found. Within a ten year period, Dmitri impregnated over thirty women, those who delivered a single child were killed and the child sent to the orphanage. The women who gave birth to twins were spared and the kids were taken care of. Once the twins reached the age of eighteen both had an identity, then one would mysteriously die. Anka and Alina aren't the only set of twins out there. The other fifteen have apparently been hunting down the single birth kids and eliminating them." She said.
"Dmitri created his own army and those of us who weren't good enough are being systematically dealt with." She said.
"Exactly. Hetty wants you in her office as soon as you guys get back from San Francisco. Apparently the Director and the CIA want you to head a team to help the single birth kids." Nell told her.
"Um, alright." She said realizing she had more family than she knew what to do with.
"You okay?" Nell asked.
"Yeah, I've just never heard of one man being so prolific. At least forty-five children." Katy said astonished.
"That's just the ones we were able to find. I've already started compiling a list of twin and single births for you." Nell said.
"Alright, thank you. Let me get back in. I'll call you later." She said and hung up.
Katy needed to talk to Callen, to tell him about this so he could question Alina about it. She walked back into observation and knocked on the window. Both Callen and Sam looked back. Sam walked out and met her in the hall. His jaw dropped as she told him about her conversation with Nell. He walked back into the room and pulled Callen out. His reaction was pretty much the same as Sam's, though he added a few choice words. No sooner did they walk back into the room and he mentioned it to Alina.
Her complexion went pale and her face showed no emotion. "How did you know about that?"
"Don't worry about how we know; I want to know which set of twins is going after which single birth." He told her passing her a pen and paper.
"I don't know that information. We were raised with Katya as our target. We had no interaction with the other sets of twins. Can I ask why you need the DNA test?" She asked.
"We need to know which one of you had the kids." Sam told her.
"Anka is their mother and is the one legally married to Reggie. I never slept with him and was never with them for more than seventy-two hours. I only stood in when Anka had to meet with father." She told them.
"Were you the one Anka called when about Kay and I going on the dinner cruise?" he asked.
"Yes, I made the bomb and had Tara Kaminski carry it on board. She didn't know what it was; I put it in with some of the vegetables that went into the store room." She admitted. "I work part time for Hornblower in the catering department. I was the one responsible for the menu and supplies for the cruise that night."
"Are you the one who planted the bomb at the hotel?" Callen asked.
"Yes. Someone told me that Katy was staying in that room. Obviously my informant was wrong." She said looking at the mirror.
"We're going to need the name of your informant as well. As a matter of fact, we're going to need the name of all of your contacts." Callen smirked.
After two hours in with Alina, they had the names of all of her contacts and her informant at the hotel. He called Nell with the list of names of the contacts and gave Lt. Hammond the name of her informant at the hotel. As it turned out her informant and the man who Nell and Eric had seen come and go from the house was one of the night managers. In fact, the one who had questioned them as they were getting onto the elevator. Callen was pleased with how the case wrapped up.
Before heading back to the hotel to pack, he and Katy stopped by to see Reggie and the kids. Reggie had decided that he was going to sell the house. He'd already been in contact with a realty company. They sat down to talk more with the kids about them knowing the difference between Anka and Alina.
Callen and Katy both were disturbed with the whole situation, that both women came and went with the children knowing who they were. None of the children would say why they never told Reggie about it. They assumed they'd threatened them with something. They visited for a while before they left for the hotel. Katy wanted to tell him about the team the director and CIA had formed, but decided she'd speak to Hetty before telling anyone about it.
They packed up all of their belongings and took all but a change of clothes down to the car. Then they met Sam, Kensi and Deeks for one last meal before turning in early so they could leave the following morning. The others were flying out that evening to return to LA. Before they fell asleep they talked about everything that happened while they were there. Just talking about it was exhausting little lone living through it. Katy and Callen fell asleep wrapped in each other arms with Callie laid across the top of them.