The Lone Wolf and the Detective
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 12
Nell looked at her watch, it was getting late in the day and she needed a way to leave. She'd spotted Granger by the cafe when he arrived so she knew the rest of the team were close by. She needed intel to pass onto them, Luca was her way in. Once she'd gotten what she needed, she would thank him for his hospitality and leave. The sun lowered behind the city, causing a rich orange hue to spread over the sky. Another warm day expected tomorrow as well. The heatwave was expected to last for another two days and then autumn would hit the region fully.
It shouldn't have been so warm at this late in the year, Luca mused. He was used the the warmth after his years on the Mediterranean. He'd been spoilt and now he revelled it this sudden burst of heat before winter came. He shuddered from the cool air that drifted over the sea. Nightfall was a shock after the heat of the day.
"It's getting late," Nell stood up and looked at Luca. "You have been very kind, thank you for your hospitality, Luca. My mother will be worrying if I don't return soon."
"It's been my pleasure, Mirela. You are a beautiful woman, you deserve to be taken care of, not for you to take care of an old woman."
"Don't you care for your mother?" She looked up at him with her hazel eyes, she had him bewitched.
She saw sadness in his eyes, "my Mother is not here. She's in Southern France, she moved there after my parents divorced."
"I am sorry, you must miss her."
"I do, I go when I can. I used to live with her, then after university in Italy, my father demanded I came here. He's getting old, but we take care of him."
"We?"
"My brother and I. Andrei is much older, he stayed with our father, so I don't really know him. He's secret with much what he does."
"Could I please use your bathroom before I go?"
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry, I've delayed you leaving. Thank you for your company today, Mirela."
"Thank you, it's been nice to have company."
Luca led her inside the house and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom.
Nell locked the door behind her and breathed out slowly. She focused on what she'd seen so far in the house, it's layout in relation to where she was. Memories flashed back to a time when she, Eric and Vance waited with bated breath to hear news from the team in Constanta. They heard about Hunter being there, they'd found evidence that she'd been there before. Worry grew over Hetty and the team. Could they trust Hunter? Could they safely get Hetty out and survive the invasion without being killed? Her thoughts were distracted with raised voices nearby.
"You don't bring just anyone into our home," the unfamiliar voice growled.
"You're not being reasonable, Andrei." Luca huffed out at his brother. "You may be older but you are not the boss of me. I can invite whomever I chose."
"While our father is ill, I am the boss of this family."
Nell stayed put inside the bathroom, hoping that Andrei would leave so she could get out of there. She looked at the bathroom window and contemplated an escape. But with all the guards she'd seen scattered around the place, it was safest to leave her cover intact.
"More like pigheaded," Luca scoffed. He'd been raised better than his brother, time with his mother had served him well. But Andrei had been left behind with their father. Now, Luca regretted his move and wished to be back home in the south of France.
Andrei gripped his hands tight around his brother's neck, "you will never talk to me like this again."
His face went red from anger, Luca stood his ground and took the abuse. He knew his brother was secret with much of what he did, Luca had yet to be exposed to the real dealings the Comescus were famous for. His father had placed him in the legitimate side of the family business, with his degree in business. And after a year on the job, he was going well. Today was the first time he'd faced his brother's anger. For what? Bringing a girl he liked into the family home? His brother was behaving like a wild bear who was out of order. He frowned, their father's illness had been sudden and he laid in his bed upstairs for the past month.
"We'll see what father has to say about this," Luca coughed to clear his throat. It throbbed from Andrei's hold.
"Father will agree with me," Andrei hardened his eyes, "Mother has made you weak." Andrei spat as he walked off, annoyed with his kid brother from his lack of respect on their family.
The hallway was silent again, Nell flushed the toilet and washed her hands. Now was the time to leave or else be stuck there forever. She unlocked the door and found the hallway empty. She pondered about going for an exploration of the place, but quickly changed her mind after the anger Andrei displayed with Luca. If he behaved like that with his brother, how much more violent he would be with her? No, she would not place herself in anymore danger than she had already. She could imagine the anger on Callen's face if he knew where she was. She couldn't put him through it. She made her way back to the kitchen, where she found Luca pouring himself a cup of coffee.
He turned and smiled her way, "you found your way back out okay?"
She nodded, "yes, thank you. I better go, my mother will be worrying."
"I'll escort you home." He said it with no room for her to argue.
"Thank you." She knew that whatever she had heard go down between the brothers, had also been heard by Eric and Hetty. She needed to find out more about Luca, she couldn't allow the team to kill just anyone in the Comescu home. If Andrei is the one behind the attacks, then it's him who they should be after, not the likes of Luca, who has so far, displayed nothing but kindness to her. They walked the couple of blocks to the small house where Hetty waited for her. As long as Luca had no idea who Hetty was, her cover would continue to be safe.
Abandoned Warehouse
Sam's cell beeped, he looked at the text Hetty had sent him.
"Nell is safe, she's on her way home. She has company. Stay clear."
Callen's eyes met Sam's, "who is it from?" They'd settled in a different part of the abandoned warehouses, two blocks back from the beach house. After their last encounter, he didn't want to take the risk to make it even easier for the Comescus to find their base.
Sam's eyes darted over to Deeks, "Nell's left the beach house."
"Then we go now." Callen stood up and slipped his weapon back into the rear of his jeans.
"Hetty said specifically to stay clear."
"Of where?" Frustration spread through him like a wildfire. "The beach house or where they're staying?"
Sam realised he had no idea. He quickly sent a message back to Hetty for clarification. "Stay clear of where?"
A few blocks away
"I'm sorry if I caused problems between you and your brother," Nell tested the waters, it had been obvious she'd heard them argue. To not mention it could raise suspicion.
"I'm sorry you had to hear all of that." Luca grabbed her hand and stopped on the sidewalk. "My brother has had a hard life compared to me. He stayed behind with our father who was rough on him. I think he's felt the pain of mother leaving our father the most, and he is jealous of me because I went with her."
"Surely that's not your fault?" Nell looked up at him with genuine sympathy.
"No, none of it was. But my father is a hard man. I was ordered to come here to work for the family business, he didn't care that I had plans to return to Marseille after I finished university."
"I'm sorry, Luca. Parents can be a challenge at times."
"Like you with your mother?"
Nell nodded.
"I'm sorry for rambling on about my problems, you have many of your own."
She'd already come up with a story how she had to take care of her ailing elderly mother, to Luca earlier by the beach. It gave her cause to leave before sundown.
"It's fine, Luca. Really it is. We both have that in common. At least you have a brother you can share the burden with."
"You don't have any brothers or sisters?"
Nell shook her head. "No. It's just the two of us." She looked sad and almost felt guilty for the lie. Back home she had parents who were full of life and siblings that filled the house with their own families. She was the baby of the family and the only one who'd yet settle down and have kids. The pressure from her family was getting stronger each time she spoke with them. It was hard because she couldn't tell them the truth of what she did for a living and that with all that she'd witnessed, there was no safe place for her to have a family of her own. She couldn't risk losing them, not after she'd seen had happen to Callen. They continued the walk until they'd reached her house. "Well this is it."
Luca looked at the tiny house, it looked like the others that bordered on either side, run down and in need of repair.
"How long are you staying in Constanta?"
"Just the week." Nell wrapped her arms around herself, the sudden chill of the night's air was sharp.
"It's a bit of a shock after the warm day. Thank you for your company today, Mirela. I've enjoyed having you around."
"Me too." Somehow Nell felt that she half meant it too.
He leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek. She shivered.
"Goodnight, Mirela."
"Night." Nell entered the house and locked the door behind her. She leaned on the back of the door and sighed. When she opened her eyes, Hetty sat there with a wry smile across her face. They waited until they'd heard Luca's steps fade down the road before they spoke.
"You did well today, my dear." Hetty poured two glasses of scotch. "A toast to a good job well done."
Nell stepped forward and picked up the tumbler and gently knocked it onto Hetty's before swallowing it down in one smooth gulp.
"Something's on your mind," Hetty observed.
"He's nothing like his brother, I doubt he knows anything about the family business, well the illegal part anyway.
"Eric's been busy while you've been working. He's found a great deal about young Luca. He would have to agree with you on this. He's been living with his mother since he was two. Andrei is ten years older, left behind to fend for himself with their father, who has a ill temper."
"Their father is sick, he's been unwell in bed for a month, Luca told me."
"I heard."
Nell nodded, "of course you did." Her eyes darted to the door, "we cannot allow the team to go in and kill everyone, not all of them are like Andrei and their father."
"I agree, which is why I've instructed them to stay clear until we come up with another plan."
Abandoned Warehouse
Anger surged through Callen. He paced the building like a caged tiger.
"You need to stop doing that, Callen. I can't think." Deeks ran his hand through his long locks, trying to come up with another plan.
"We should be there now, killing them all."
"You heard what Hetty said, G." Sam stepped in, annoyed as well, but the worry etched in his usually warm brown eyes.
"Well if we can't go and do what we're here for, then I'm going to where Hetty and Nell are to sort this delay out." Callen went to walked out, Deeks grabbed onto his arm.
"Not so hasty, Callen."
Sam's cell beeped, all eyes moved onto him. They watched with annoyance as Sam narrowed his eyes, not giving away anything to the other occupants in the building. He looked up, "Granger's bringing us a gift."
They heard footsteps and as the door opened, a tall blond figure, blindfolded, entered with his hands tied behind his back. Granger cleared his throat leading him in and looked to Callen.
"No one harms him."
"Who is he?" He asked him, taking the lead from Granger to speak in Bulgarian. He narrowed is eyes at the older man, clearly annoyed that he'd kept his talent of speaking his birth language a secret. He now knew that Granger had heard everything he'd spoken to his grandmother the night before. He felt exposed.
"Luca Comescu. The younger brother of Andrei Comescu. I have been told he's innocent to the illegal side of the family business and his brother's actions." Granger spoke of Joelle's murder, stressing to Callen that Luca had nothing to do with it.
Callen shifted from his spot, he wanted to hurt Andrei Comescu as much as he'd hurt him. He flexed his muscles under his shirt.
"No, you're not going to hurt this one. Direct orders from Hetty."
"Why, what's so special about this one? No one spared my wife and child, why should I spare his brother?"
"Because he showed kindness to someone close to you today." Granger stood his ground, "you're about to step over the line of becoming rogue, don't make me take you off this case."
The sound of footsteps had the agents on guard, they raised their weapons, until Ava, Sal and Nikita entered.
"What took you so long?" Callen continued to speak only in Bulgarian, hoping this Luca did not understand him.
"We had to make sure we followed Andrei. He's gone to a location five miles away. To a warehouse."
"So he's not in the beach house?"
"No." Ava looked over at the man blindfolded. She looked to Granger, "why did you take him?" She followed suit and only spoke in Bulgarian.
"To keep him safe."
She nodded, she recognised him as the young Luca who'd played the pure gentleman with their Nell earlier on the beach. She also knew he was the younger brother to Andrei.
"As long as having him here doesn't place us in danger with Andrei."
Luca stood still on the spot where he'd stopped after he'd entered. Foreign words was all he could hear, he made out his and his brother's name, but that was it. He was fluent in Romani, French, English and Italian. He'd not had a reason to learn any others.
He could hear a slight echo in the building, the floors were wooden, he could clearly hear footsteps as people walked around. Having his eyes blindfolded put his other senses on high alert. He'd watched many American films when people had been kidnapped and he had concluded to stay silent was the safest bet. He'd just walked Mirela home after his spat with his brother. After a year in Constanta, he'd concluded that his brother was up to no good. But what exactly, he had no idea. There was one voice in particular who sounded angry. As he concentrated on the man with the anger, he realised that it covered a grief that was deep. He kept his breathing deep and steady as he continued to analyse what was going on around him. After he'd been taken, no one had done anything to hurt him. He felt safe for the moment.
"Sit." Granger commanded Luca, ordering him in English.
Luca picked up the American accent, but why were Americans after him? Luca did as he was told, he allowed the man with with gravelly voice to lead him to a chair and he sat down. It was an old wooden chair, but it still felt sturdy. Had his brother ordered his kidnapping to teach him a lesson that he was the boss now? Was this because he brought Mirela into the family home? None of it made sense.