Kensi bounced her leg impatiently as she sat in the passenger seat of her car. Callen was driving again and Sam had been kind enough to take the back when Kensi opened the door and saw the stains Deeks left behind. She didn't even want to keep the car at this point, but that was a problem for another time. Now they were focusing on getting answers.
She couldn't believe that Deeks could've been so close this whole time. It seemed like she should've felt something was wrong, even though that was impossible. But had her partner only been blocks away, hoping for his team to come find him? Kensi prayed she'd have a chance to make this up to him.
It wasn't long before Callen pulled up behind Deeks' car. It was sitting on the street like normal, with no obvious signs of damage. They might not use it during cases, but Kensi knew Deeks was the type to take care of his car and it looked just as she remembered it. Why wouldn't he drive it to the mission if it was sitting right there? Did he feel he was too injured to keep it under control?
"How do we want to play this? We could already have eyes on us," Callen said, glancing around at the different houses surrounding them.
"Call ops and see if they've found anything?" Sam suggested, pulling out his phone. He dialed the number, putting it on speaker. "Got any new information for us?"
"Nothing yet, no," Eric sighed, and Kensi could hear him tapping away on his computer. "Hold up a sec, Hetty is calling. I'll patch her in."
"Mr. Beale?" Hetty's voice questioned.
"You've got us all, Hetty," Callen said.
"Lieutenant Bates is here and he thinks he has an idea of where you can start your search," Hetty replied.
"When Hetty told me what Deeks was doing when he went out of contact with you all, it made me think of a case he'd been working the previous night. If he set out looking for someone connected to the gambling world, he probably would've been looking for Russ," Lt. Bates explained. "I had an officer check Deeks' notes on him and one of the addresses he had listed is right where his car is now."
"Is it this Russ guy's house?" Callen asked.
"The house is listed under the name Caroline Pollard. Thirty five years old and the sister of a Russ Pollard," Nell said. "No priors for her, but a rap sheet a mile long for Russ. Sending the exact address to your phones."
"Looks like we've got a place to start," Callen said, nodding to the rest of the group.
"Be careful with this guy. He's as slimy as they come," Lt. Bates warned.
"Violent history?" Sam asked.
"A few assault charges, but nothing at the felony level. And usually pled out or dropped," Nell answered.
"We can handle it," Kensi said firmly, itching to find this guy and beat some information out of him. "Any updates on Deeks?"
"They are still getting him set up in a room. The hospital has been gracious enough to set him up in a private room instead of the ICU, for the protection of him and others," Hetty replied, sounding pleased with herself.
"We'll let you know what we find," Callen said, signalling to Sam to end the call. Kensi checked her gun, preparing for anything they might encounter. She wanted answers and she was not afraid to use any means necessary to get them. No one hurt her partner and got away with it.
"What's the plan?" Kensi asked.
"You and I will take the front, Sam the back. Let's see if anyone answers," Callen directed. They all filed out of the car, carefully approaching the house that was a few down from where they parked. Kensi glanced at Deeks' car as they passed it, seeing all the doors still locked and the alarm light flashing away.
It felt weird to be going into this without their comms, but they hadn't stopped by the mission to get geared up, eager to get answers as quickly as they could. Hopefully they wouldn't need them in this situation.
"I've got blood here," Sam said, pointing to the chain link fence. Kensi felt her stomach churn at the sight of it, reminding herself that Deeks was alive and safe at the hospital. She knew he bled, so the image of it shouldn't affect her like this, but it still hit her a bit hard. Her partner had been alone and bleeding out and that never should've happened.
"Get in position. I'll make initial contact," Callen said, watching Sam as he sprinted off around the house. Kensi nodded, trailing Callen up the porch steps.
"There's blood on the door," Kensi whispered, pointing to the door that wasn't fully closed. Callen made a noise of acknowledgment, standing to the side of the doorway. He banged on the door, listening for a few seconds for the sound of movement coming from inside.
"NCIS, open up!" he shouted, again pausing for a response. They didn't get one. He signalled for Kensi to push open the door and he led the way, scanning the room with his gun drawn. Kensi was right behind him, moving like she did with Deeks. It felt wrong to be doing this without her partner.
Kensi pinged Sam's phone to let him know to breach the house from his position as she and Callen cleared the living room. Nothing looked out of place until they got to the wall leading to the hallway, where there was a smear of blood. Sam met up with them, signalling that he hadn't found anything so far. As much as Kensi wanted to push past Callen and take the lead, she knew she couldn't do that. She had to keep reminding herself that Deeks wasn't here to be found.
They quickly cleared a bedroom, with nothing obviously out of place. The bathroom was a different story, with dried blood all along the sink and drops on the floor. Kensi imagined someone hurting Deeks and then casually washing up, without even caring about the mess they left behind.
"Focus," Sam murmured, pointing for her to stick with Callen. There was only one room left at the end of the hall to check out. There was the most blood leading up to it and Kensi ignored it, focusing all her attention on the open doorway. They would either find the perps or hit a dead end, but Kensi was ready to have that question answered. But when they finally walked into the room, all they got were more questions.
The first body they encountered was a man, sprawled out on his back. He was covered in blood, with most of it seeming to be from a knife wound in his neck. There was a foot peeking out from the other side of the bed and Kensi moved over to check, finding a dead woman as well. Her robe had fallen away to expose the knife sticking out of her chest.
"What the hell happened here?" Kensi whispered.
"I'm sending their photos to ops to get an ID on them," Callen said, snapping pictures on his phone. Sam was moving around the room, checking out the scene. Kensi was frozen, staring down at the body of the dead woman. The state of undress that she was in said nothing good about this situation. Was she a victim or a perpetrator?
"Got cuffs connected to the bedposts," Sam said, pointing to the rust colored metal. "Must be where Deeks was held." Kensi wanted to gag at the idea of Deeks helplessly tied down on the bed, completely vulnerable. It was one thing to be secured to a chair, but this was so exposed.
"Got positive IDs. Meet Russ and Caroline Pollard," Callen announced, slipping his phone back in his pocket.
"I know Bates said this guy was slimy, but it's a big jump from misdemeanors to kidnapping and attempted murder of a cop," Sam commented.
"I don't think we're gonna be able to figure out the whole story until we can ask Deeks," Callen sighed, stepping carefully back into the doorway.
"What now?" Kensi asked. Part of her wanted to stay and work the scene, but what she really wanted to do was go back to the hospital and sit with her partner.
"I'm going to call Bates and have him send some detectives he trusts to take this case. We're too close and this could be considered a conflict of interest," Callen replied. Kensi wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. The dead bodies here complicated things and they wouldn't want Deeks to suffer if people thought they were trying to cover up anything.
"What do you think happened?" Kensi asked, trying to work through different scenarios in her head.
"I don't know," Sam sighed, frowning down at the bloodstains covering the room. "But the important thing is Deeks made it out." Kensi agreed, but she had a feeling things wouldn't be that simple. Deeks had gotten free and was being taken care of by professionals, but something like this had to have a lasting effect on a person. He'd obviously done what he needed to do, but at what cost?
