A/N: Thanks to all those who are still reading and reviewing this story. It's most appreciated. For those who are also reading my other stories, I apologise for not updating them as regularly. I promise I'll get back to them shortly.
Chapter 36
Eric elected Nell be the one to phone Hetty and tell her the news, his excuse being that he was too busy scanning the footage from the traffic cameras. Nell rolled her eyes at her friend but did not protest. Activating the blue tooth device in her ear, Nell contacted Hetty.
"Sam and the others breached the warehouse safely" said Nell. "One bad guy was killed and the other two were taken down alive but with injuries."
"What about Hendricks?" asked Hetty and when Nell did not immediately respond, Hetty asked again "Miss Jones, please tell me there's good news."
"Actually no, I'm afraid there's not" said Nell. "It appears Hendricks was never at the warehouse. He apparently jumped out when they stopped at a set of lights."
"Is the source reliable?" asked Hetty.
"Oh yes" answered Nell. "There's no doubt that he was telling the truth."
"I see" was all Hetty said.
"I might have something" interrupted Eric. "I've gone back over the footage and isolated the time and place when Hendricks jumped ship, so to speak."
"Well, Mr Beale, spit it out, we haven't got all day" said Hetty.
"He jumped out on W Washington Boulevard where Abbot Kinney Boulevard joins" said Eric. "Unfortunately I lost him."
"So he's closer to the beach properties than our team and he could be anywhere" stated Hetty.
"I'm afraid so" said Eric.
"But we'll keep looking" said Nell
"You do so! I suggest you let the others know what you've discovered. The captives need to be taken to the boat shed and then they can try and pick his trail from where you last saw him" said Hetty disconnecting.
She sighed heavily and removed her glasses so that she could pinch the bridge of her nose. She was developing a tension headache and she tried to alleviate the pressure. Gibbs came down the stairs and recognised the movement.
"Anything wrong Hetty?" said Gibbs.
"Mr Callen's hurt, he remains angry at me and his life's still in danger. Oh what could possibly be wrong, Jethro?" she answered her voice heavy with sarcasm. Gibbs tilted his head to one side but said nothing. Hetty sighed again and her stature seemed to decrease in size. "I'm sorry Jethro that was uncalled for." She paused before continuing. "I'm so frustrated! Mr Hanna and the others went to the warehouse where the getaway car was located. There were three people there, one was killed and the other two wounded but Hendricks was nowhere to be seen. One of the captives said he was never there, that he jumped out of the car at lights."
"Do we have any idea where he is?" asked Gibbs.
"No, Miss Jones and Mr Beale are searching for him but let's put it this way, when he ditched the car he was closer to us than our team is."
"That's not good" stated Gibbs.
"Indeed it's not" agreed Hetty.
"Is he making his way here or will he wait?" asked Tom who had joined them.
"That's the million dollar question" stated Hetty.
"We should prepare for him coming here to finish what he started sooner rather than later" said Gibbs.
"Agreed" concurred Hetty. "What does Mr Callen know?" she asked Gibbs.
"He's sleeping at the moment which is why I'm down here. He seems to remember everything up until he was sedated. I gave him a brief rundown on who Hendricks is and what's happened" said Gibbs. He paused before continuing. "When I told him you were shot he was very concerned" added Gibbs.
Hetty nodded. "Well, he doesn't like anyone getting hurt because of him. However that's unlikely to change the issue he has with me" said Hetty sadly. "I trust you showed him Hendricks' picture but more importantly, does he know that Hendricks has escaped?"
"I showed him a photo but he didn't remember seeing him and yeah, he knows Hendricks is on the loose. I'll go and tell him what we know now" answered Gibbs.
"Let him rest a while longer" said Hetty. "I have a feeling he may need all his strength before the day is over."
Sam followed Kensi and Deeks to the boatshed where they put the prisoners into separate interrogation rooms and a medic treated their injuries. They found Granger and Arkady at the boatshed where they had been re-interrogating the original perpetrators. Having gleaned all information from them they had been taken back to a secure lock up facility.
"What we got?" asked Granger, getting straight to the point. He was tired and frustrated by the turn of events. He had lost more agents and they were no closer to knowing where Hendricks was or how many men he had at his disposal.
"These two plus a third man who was killed were at the warehouse waiting for further instructions" said Sam. "Hendricks was never there according to the two survivors. Eric located the place where he jumped out of the car but lost him. We're waiting to see if the Wonder Twins can find him again."
"Does Henrietta know?" asked Granger.
"Yeah Nell told her and she'll be the first to know if they find him" answered Sam. "Did you get any more information from the others?"
"Some though I'm not sure how useful it'll be" answered Granger.
"Any snippet of information is more than we've got at the moment" said Sam heavily.
Arkady had been watching and listening to the exchange. Finally he spoke, his voice thick with a Russian accent. "I've put feelers out to my men and contacts. If they hear something they'll let me know."
Granger nodded. "Good. All we can do is pool the information and see what we got" he said.
"Hendricks was shot in the shoulder by Hetty" said Sam. "We didn't give him any medical care; that would've been done here."
"He's gonna be in pain" observed Deeks.
"Yeah" agreed Kensi "but he's unlikely to draw attention to himself by going to a hospital."
Sam jumped up suddenly and rushed towards the door.
"Hanna, where're you going?" asked Granger.
"We're so stupid!" said Sam. "The guy works in a hospital and no-one but Tom knows his background."
"You think he's gone to his hospital to get patched up?" asked Deeks running his hand through his shaggy hair.
"That's where I'd go" said Sam.
Sam stood and looked at Granger, who nodded and Kensi and Deeks followed Sam as he rushed out the door. "I'll let the Wonder Twins and Hetty know" shouted Granger after them.
Immediately Granger called Ops and without preamble instructed "Beale, we think Hendricks has gone to the hospital where he works to get treatment. Get into their security system and see if you can spot him. Let Hanna know. He, Blye and Deeks are on their way there now. Keep me and Hetty in the loop." Before Eric had a chance to acknowledge the instructions Granger hung up.
Eric looked round and saw that Nell was looking at him and she said "We should've thought of that." Eric nodded a little shame faced but immediately set about the task of accessing the hospital's security cameras.
Hetty picked up her phone and recognised Granger's number. "I hope you have some good news for me, Owen" she said.
"Yes and no" he said. "Whilst we've not got much from the original captives or the ones from the warehouse, Hanna had an idea. He thinks Hendricks has gone to the hospital to get treatment."
"Would he risk it?" asked Hetty. "All gunshot injuries have to be reported."
"Why wouldn't he? He's injured and hasn't received any treatment. No-one at the hospital but Tom knows his background. I'm sure he'd come up with a plausible story to explain his injury and cover his tracks" answered Granger. "Anyway Hanna, Blye and Deeks are on their way to the hospital and the Meerkats back in Ops are looking at the hospital's security footage. They'll let us both know if they find anything."
"It's a long shot Owen" said Hetty grimly.
"Maybe" agreed Granger "but it's all we got at the moment. How's Callen?"
"His fever's gone and he's awake" said Hetty. "Jethro has filled him in on what's happened and he knows he's still in danger. I've given him a gun just in case."
"But he's not got active agent status at the moment" said Granger thinking of the legal ramifications if Callen used his weapon.
"I'm quite aware of that Owen" snapped Hetty "but I'm not going to leave him defenceless if Hendricks or his cronies get past us. We're spread a little thin here and we can't pull the same trick again. He'll be wise to it."
"Well, you're the one in charge over there so I'll trust your judgement" said Granger. "If you need extra help, let me know and I'll come over."
"I think you're better off managing the situation from there" Hetty said "but thank you for the offer. It's appreciated."
Sam, Kensi and Deeks arrived at the hospital and went to the Emergency Department. They spotted a nurse who had looked after Callen, and went over to speak to her.
"Hello agents" she greeted brightly. "How's my former patient doing?"
"Getting better" answered Sam giving her a quick smile in return. "Thanks for asking but we're in a bit of a hurry. How you seen Melvin Hendricks recently?" he continued his manner changing to one of seriousness.
"Mr Hendricks?" she asked a little puzzled. "I didn't see him but I was told he came in about an hour ago just before the shift change. I haven't seen him since." Looking at their faces she asked "Why, is anything wrong?"
"No, we just need to talk to him" reassured Sam. "If you see him, it's important you don't approach him, just give me a call" he instructed handing her a card with his details.
Looking worried the nurse took the card, glanced at it before slipping it in her pocket and said "I will." Still puzzled she watched the agents turn to leave.
Sam activated his ear piece and spoke to Eric at Ops. "Eric, have you found anything yet? A nurse has just confirmed that Hendricks came in about an hour ago. You got eyes on him?"
"We've been looking but now we've got a time we can narrow down the search" answered Eric and Sam could hear furious tapping on the keypad.
Nell interrupted "I've got footage of him, Sam. He came in and made his way to the medical supplies room where he was selecting supplies for his injury."
Eric continued. "He was surprised by a nurse who looks like she was going to report the gunshot wound to a doctor and he took her hostage. He took her by force using a gun and they went to his office."
"I suspect he forced her to treat his wound" continued Nell. "Unfortunately we lost him again. He disconnected the cameras in the corridor nearby and there are none in the offices."
"Well we know he's armed" said Sam. "Do we know what he did with the nurse?"
"No" Eric and Nell said in unison.
"Okay, we'll go to his office and see what we can find" said Sam. "In the meantime, check the cameras in the car parks and nearby streets to see if you can spot him" Sam added as he disconnected the call and made his way to Hendricks' office with Kensi and Deeks close on his heels.
It was early morning and the corridors were empty. Outside Hendricks' office, Sam, Kensi and Deeks pulled their guns. Sam listened at the door but could hear no sounds coming from inside. Reaching out he touched the door handle and shook his head to indicate that it was locked. Kensi bent down and took out her lock picks and made light work of unlocking it. Sam waited until she had put them away and was ready with gun in hand before he gave the signal to breach the door, announcing themselves as Federal Agents. The office was of medium size with a desk and book shelves and empty. There was a door leading off the main office to a small anteroom used for storage and there they found the nurse, gagged and tied to a chair but otherwise unharmed.
Deeks quickly went to the nurse and removed the tape that covered her mouth. "You hurt?" he asked as he untied her. Her eyes were wide in fright but she shook her head.
"Did Hendricks do this?" asked Deeks and the nurse nodded in the affirmative, rubbing her wrists which were red raw from struggling.
"What happened?" asked Deeks gently, getting to his feet.
"I came to the medical warehouse to get some extra supplies that might be needed in the ED and Mr Hendricks was in here. I asked him what he was doing as it's unusual for an administrator to be getting medical supplies. That's when I noticed he'd been shot and I went to get help but he grabbed me and forced me by gunpoint to go to his office and treat him" she said, still a little shaken
"Where's he now?" asked Sam.
"I don't know" she answered. "After I patched him up, he tied me to the chair and put the tape over my mouth. He left locking the door behind him."
"How long ago was that?" asked Sam anxious to get any lead he could.
The nurse glanced at her watch and said "About twenty minutes ago."
The nurse got to her feet and Kensi said "Are you okay?"
"Yes thank you but I need to get back to work" she answered. As she turned to leave, the nurse hesitated and asked "Why did he grab me and force me to treat him? I would've helped him, it's my job after all."
"Let's just say Hendricks isn't all he appears to be and we need to find him before he hurts someone we care about" answered Sam.
Kensi took the nurse's hand and said "It'll be beneficial if you didn't tell anyone what happened. We think he's long gone but if you spot him please don't approach him, just call us." The nurse took the card Kensi handed her and nodded. "You experienced firsthand how desperate he is and luckily he decided not to harm you. You might not be so lucky next time."
Putting the card in her pocket, the nurse turned back the Kensi. "He's taken my car keys!" she said. "I'd just come back from my car when I thought about getting the supplies and I hadn't gotten round to putting them back in my locker."
"What car you got and we'll need the licence plate" asked Sam.
"The number is 1COD970 and it's a Red Honda Accord" she answered.
"Thank you" said Sam. "We'll do all we can to get it back for you." When the nurse had walked away, Sam contacted Ops. "Got the details of the car Hendricks left the hospital in" he said and gave Eric the car's description and licence plate.
"I'll put it into Kaleidoscope and see what we can come up with" Eric said.
"We're also looking at footage from the hospital and the traffic cams nearby to see if we can locate it" added Nell.
"Keep us in the loop" said Sam as he disconnected.
"What do we do now?" asked Kensi
Sam ran his hand over his head and then rubbed his eyes. He was dog tired but he had no intention of resting until Hendricks was either in custody or dead and Callen was safe. "There's not a lot we can do until the Wonder Twins come up with something concrete" he said.
"Let's go back to the boatshed" said Kensi. "We'll at least be close to Venice if something crops up and we may be lucky and get some useful information out of the captives."
"Good idea" said Deeks "but can we at least stop and pick up some coffee? I'm running on empty at the moment."
"Sure" said Sam. "I could use a bit of a boost myself."
As they made their way outside to their vehicles, Nell contacted them via their ear devices. "Guys, we've located the car" she announced urgently. "It's outside the rented beach property."
"Alert Hetty and then Granger" said Sam. "We're on our way" he added already dashing to his car.