Chapter 9
"Hey, Deeks! Qué pasa, mi amigo?"
An Hispanic man with a stethoscope around his neck grabbed Deeks in a bear hug and almost squeezed the breath out of him. When he released him, Deeks inhaled deeply and said, "Oh, you know, Manny, just living the dream."
Manny looked him over. "You don't need a slug dug out of your butt or some stitches, do you?"
Deeks smiled. "Not tonight, thank goodness."
Manny turned to Kensi. "And this pretty lady doesn't appear to be in any distress."
"Manny, this is my new partner, NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye. Manny's the 3 to 11 charge nurse."
"Nice to meet you, Manny," said Kensi as she shook his beefy hand.
"Likewise. Back in the day, your guy was a frequent flyer here in the E. R. All those undercover gigs with shady characters," said Manny. "I hope you can keep him out of dark, dingy alleys."
Kensi looked at Deeks with a smirk. "You got shot in the butt? I can't wait to tell Sam and Callen."
"I'd rather you didn't. So, back to the real reason we're here. We need to speak with the Beckwith couple."
"Beckwith. Right. They're around the corner in bay eight. Neurology is checking Mrs. Beckwith right now for a possible concussion and Carla is cleaning up Mr. Beckwith's arm. I'm sure you remember Carla."
"Yeah, my girl Carla," nodded Deeks. "She's seen more of me than should be legal. It'll be good to see her again without her jabbing a needle in me."
Manny threw back his head and laughed. "I hear you, bro. Nobody escapes Carla and her hypodermic."
In her mind's eye, Kensi pictured a buxom nurse in a too-tight uniform who would flirt outrageously with Deeks. Well, well. This should be interesting.
"Manny, two gunshot victims, ETA 8 minutes," called a nurse from the desk.
"Go do your thing," said Deeks as he and Kensi started down the hall. The curtain at bay eight opened just as Deeks and Kensi reached it and a short, hefty Filipina nurse looked up in shock. She planted her hands on her hips. "Marty Deeks, as I live and breathe! Then she hugged him. "Where have you been?"
"Trying to keep the good citizens of Los Angeles a little safer. I'm surprised you're still here, Carla."
"Only a couple more years, then I'm gonna call it quits."
"But what will you do then?" asked Deeks.
Carla laughed. "Babysit the grandkids, of course."
"Good plan. Carla, this is Kensi Blye, my new NCIS partner."
Carla looked at Kensi and nodded with approval. "Nice to meet you, Kensi. You keep my Marty out of trouble, you hear?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm doing my best."
"Hey, Carla. How soon before we can talk to them?" He inclined his head toward the curtain.
"Give Dr. Satterfield another five minutes or so."
"Got it."
Around the corner, the noise and confusion that accompanies trauma patients could be heard. "Duty calls," said Carla. "Good to see you, Marty. I almost didn't recognize you with pants on."
Deeks laughed. "You're a riot, Carla. Take care."
"Carla must have some enlightening stories about you," said Kensi when the nurse rounded the corner.
"She does. But she'll never tell. Carla's got my back."
"Don't you mean backside?" Kensi snorted with glee.
Deeks grinned. "Okay, Kensalina, touché."
The doctor stepped out and said, "Good evening, Detectives. You may question them now, but not more than 10 minutes. They're tired and anxious to get home."
"Understood," said Kensi.
"They came out of nowhere," exclaimed Mrs. Beckwith with a heavy sigh. "They wore masks. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced."
"Yes, one had a Trump mask and the other had an Obama mask," said Mr. Beckwith. "Obama grabbed my Rolex and Trump grabbed Emily's purse and shoved her down."
"There were reports of shots fired," said Kensi.
"Yes, one of them, I'm not sure who, fired when I tried to help Emily. Thank goodness it was only a flesh wound."
Mrs. Beckwith took his hand. "Ronald, you could have been killed!"
"I was more concerned about you, dear," said Mr. Beckwith soothingly.
"Was there anything familiar about the men? Their voices, their mannerisms, anything?" asked Deeks.
"Nothing," said Mr. Beckwith. "But now that I think about it, I'm fairly certain the Obama guy dropped my watch when they ran off. Wouldn't he have picked it up?"
"What made them run off?" asked Kensi.
"Our neighbors on both sides have dogs and they started barking," said Emily Beckwith. "I'm a cat person, but I've never been so glad to hear barking dogs."
"Man's best friend," said Deeks.
"Have there been any other crimes in the neighborhood?" asked Kensi.
"Well, our neighbor across the street had her car stolen two weeks ago, but it turns out Janie had left it unlocked in the driveway. She's 90 years old," said Mrs. Beckwith. "Said she forgot to lock up."
"Have you had to fire anyone recently from the staff or has anyone left under unusual circumstances?" asked Deeks.
Mr. Beckwith shook his head as he cradled his injured arm. "One of the maintenance men quit about a month ago. Said he got a job closer to home. That's the only person's who's left recently. Overall, the staff is very stable."
Deeks pulled out his cell phone. "Do you recognize this man?"
Both Beckwiths studied the image intently, but neither knew him. "Who is he?" asked Mr. Beckwith.
"Don't know, maybe no one of interest. But he seemed to be following us when you were giving us the tour," said Deeks.
"It was quite crowded that day and that can make it hard to observe everyone," admitted Mr. Beckwith.
"True. Okay, I guess we're through here. If you think of anything, please let us know immediately," said Deeks.
"Of course. And thank you for all you're doing," said Mr. Beckwith.
Deeks and Kensi were almost to the exit when a woman in tight pink scrubs called out, "Marty, is that you?"
Deeks turned his head. "Hi, uh . . ."
"It's me, Tina. Remember, I took your blood that time you got shot."
"Oh yeah, Tina. How've you been? Still draining patients dry?"
Tina giggled. "Of course. That's my job!" Before the conversation could get any more awkward, Manny waved a hand. "Tina! Leave the detective alone. We need a CBC stat in bay one."
"Okay. Call me sometime, Marty." She giggled again as she pushed her blood draw cart toward bay one.
Deeks sighed. "What an airhead. I think she wrote her number on the hem of my ripped tee shirt. But what I definitely remember was that she had to stick me three times before she hit a vein and I have really good veins." He stuck out his forearm for Kensi's inspection.
A prominent vein was visible in the crook of his right arm. "Wow, even I could hit that one. You sure you didn't keep the tee shirt?" she said.
"No way. Some drunk perp I was trying to arrest had just thrown up on me."
Kensi wrinkled her nose. "Gross."
"Yeah. Right before his equally drunk buddy shot me in the butt."
"The glamorous life of Detective Deeks," laughed Kensi. "Hey, I think that could be a new comic book series."
They climbed in Deeks' car and he shook his head. "I get no respect. Wait, do you like comic books?"
Kensi eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah. Do you?"
"Yeah. Did Hetty somehow know that when she made us partners?"
"I really couldn't say," replied Kensi.