I seem to do only surprise updates these days. I'm sorry I've gotten so off schedule, but life is crazy at the moment. Haven't had time to write in two weeks, and I want to do this right, so I apologize upfront if there's going to be more time between chapters for the time being. Also, I'm not a technical writer. It's why I normally avoid cases altogether. The whole hassle of finding out why things work the way they work in a language that's not my native tongue is difficult, so I try to avoid it. All mistakes made are mine. Just so you know. ;-) Let me know what you think!
Callen was staring out of the window. He hadn't said anything since they'd left the boatshed. Sam was still trying to piece everything he'd seen together in his head. Seemingly, a lot had happened in Callen's life he wasn't aware of.
At last, Sam cleared his throat. "Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"
Callen tore his eyes away from the glass. "Like what?"
"I don't know… From watching that conversation you had earlier, I've missed out on a lot." Sam was trying to keep his tone neutral, but he was struggling. He didn't understand why Callen hadn't said anything. Not when things were as serious as they seemed to be.
"Like what?"
"You have a name?"
"Yeah."
Sam was getting irritated with this passive aggressive attitude. "How long have you known?"
"Little over a year."
If Sam's sharp intake of breath was anything to go by, he wasn't happy about it. "You didn't tell me?"
"Apparently not." Callen turned back to the scenery out of his window. "Does it matter?"
"Apparently not." Sam gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "Were you going to tell me that you've moved in together?"
"Not for a long time."
Sam parked the car behind a fire truck and turned the engine off. "Something I did?"
Callen threw his door open and got out. "Not really. Like I told you a few weeks ago, I needed to figure this out by myself. You've met her now, you know what she's like."
"Not really. I've said hello." Sam followed him. "She seems strong."
"She is." Callen flashed his badge and ducked under the tape. "Welcome to Indulge."
It was a mess. Debris everywhere. The ambulances had been long gone. Callen looked around. They'd had dinner here yesterday. Ted and Jess's fling, Ethan, had shown up and the girls had made a late supper after the café closed. And now it was gone.
Deeks showed up in front of them. "Hey, guys. No ID's on the victims yet." It was an almost apology to Callen. "Deja okay?"
"Pissed about being dragged away from home without a reason. Hawkins put her in the interrogation room."
Deeks frowned. "I'm sure Hetty's orders were to get her to the boatshed. Hawkins is just a kid. Surely, he didn't mean to treat her as a suspect."
"Either way, I chewed him out, sent him back to Ops." Callen pointed to what was left of the kitchen. "Blast came from there, right? It's right under the apartment. Have you found what's left of the bomb?"
"Bits and pieces." Deeks looked back to Sam as they started off in the direction of the kitchen. "You okay?"
Sam sighed, clenched his fists. "Other than that my partner doesn't want to tell me anything about his girlfriend or what his life is like, just great."
Deeks looked between the partners. "Give him a moment. This is all a lot for a Friday morning. He doesn't mean to be rude."
"No, he means to shut me out." Sam exhaled. "Where's Kensi?"
Deeks gestured to the kitchen. "Back there."
"… too little time to process everything. She's holding up." Callen indicated the mess around them. "What did LAPD tell you?"
"Not much. There's not much left." Kensi threw what was left of a pot back onto the floor. "Whatever their plan, they wanted this destroyed." She eyed Callen for a moment. "Are you sure you want to be here? We would all understand if you stayed at the boatshed with Deja."
He shook his head. "Dee is fine. Hetty will take care of her." Shrugging, he turned around. "You sure LAPD hasn't told you anything about Lindy or Jess?"
"Nothing," Kensi said. "It was the first thing we asked."
His expression turned grimmer with every corner he eyed. Relaxing his hands, he nodded towards the office. "I'm going to see if we have any missing keys. Deeks, show Sam whatever you found of that bomb?"
He swallowed once inside the office. His eyes scanned the mess; looking for the safe that he knew kept the deeds to Indulge. And with it a key of Dee's apartment. Kensi appeared in the doorway. "Sam is not happy with you," she whispered. "What happened?"
"Nothing happened," Callen said, pulling on his gloves and moving things out of the way. "He's met Dee and every other secret I've been keeping from him with it."
Kensi frowned. "Like what?"
"My name, the fact that we've moved in together." He finally found the small safe and pushed the code into the keypad. It clicked open and he rummaged through it. All the papers were there, but no key. In fact, the safe not being split open from the blast was odd as the office was located right next to the kitchen.
"What are you looking for?" Kensi asked.
"The spare key from the apartment." It not being in the safe of course meant that it wasn't here. There was no other place she would keep it. He handed Kensi the papers. "This needs to get back to the boatshed. Keep it safe for me, will you?"
"Of course." She hesitated. "Callen…"
Callen looked up. "What is it, Kens?"
"I don't want to meddle… Maybe you should throw Sam a bone. If only for the moment. You need to work together, and much as I like you both, I'm not switching partners so you can go on ignore each other. Tell him something, okay?"
"Like what?"
"At least acknowledge that you know he feels left out. He's figured out Deeks and I know about her."
There was that. He gave her a curt nod. "I will."
"Okay."
Callen looked around. Something was wrong. Even if there were only remnants left to sift through, something was throwing him off. He tapped his earwig. "Eric?"
"Yes, Callen?"
"Any word on the victims?"
"Not yet."
He turned to Kensi. "Have Deeks call LAPD again and demand answers. I need to know who's died. Those four wounded can give witness statements, maybe they've seen something."
Kensi nodded and went in the direction for Deeks. Callen went back to Eric. "Eric, check if you can find Jay Fletcher. If so, let me know where he is?"
"On it, Callen. Who is he?"
"Jay's the chef. Early shift today."
It stayed quiet on the other end. Then he heard Nell's apprehensive voice. "Callen… We don't mean to pry… You know an awful lot about this café and its inhabitants."
He exhaled. "Yeah, I know. Deja's my girlfriend."
"Ah."
"So I need your absolute best on this, okay? The sooner we find the bastard, the faster this is over and everyone can go back home and be safe."
They didn't need more. "Got it."
Sam showed up in the door. "You found what you were looking for?"
Callen nodded towards the safe. "Safe doesn't have a scratch on it. It doesn't have a key, either."
"Safe not locked away in a cabinet somewhere?"
"Nope. Under the desk."
"What about the key?"
"It's the spare for the apartment. It's the only way I can think of that they could've entered without setting the entire alarm off immediately."
"The apartment doesn't have an alarm?"
Callen shrugged. "I tried. Dee insisted that having one at the café was enough."
"Can you think of anyone who might have it?"
"I've asked Eric to check for Jay, but I don't really think he has it, either."
Sam pursed his lips. "Bomb was C-4."
"That's not really a surprise," Callen said, standing up.
"It's not. But why rig the café instead of your house? If that's where she lives anyway?"
Callen picked up on Sam's irritated tone, but decided to ignore it. "It's a warning."
"A warning?"
"Of what he can do to her." His eyes lit up in remembrance and he tapped into Eric and Nell again. "Nell? Has Gibbs checked in yet?"
"I haven't heard Hetty about it yet. If he does, I'll make sure to patch him through."
"Thanks. Any luck finding Jay?"
"Not yet."
"Keep looking."
"Will do."
Callen turned around to Sam. "C-4 on a timer?"
"Yeah. They weren't here when it blew."
"Of course not." Callen sighed. "Let's go take a look at that message, maybe that I can get something else out of it."
But the message on the wall didn't make him any wiser than he already was. Frustrated, he looked at Deeks. "Anything?"
"Victims were all transported to Cedars-Sinai. Rose made some calls and found out names."
Callen braced himself. "Lindy? Jess?"
Deeks took in his set shoulders. "Jess is in the hospital; they're keeping her in a coma for the time being. It'll be touch and go for a while."
"What about Lindy, Deeks?"
Deeks swallowed. "Lindy didn't make it."
Callen swore under his breath. Now he had to go back and tell Dee that her best friend had died. "Has anyone called Ted?"
"The coroners office is working on it."
Callen was already halfway through the door. "We're going to make a detour to the house; go back to Ops, wait for Gibbs' call. We'll be at the boatshed."
Kensi and Deeks watched him go, his reluctant partner on his heels. Once out of sight, Deeks hurled a piece of what used to be a table at the wall. "It's not fair on him."
Kensi shook her head. "I know. It's not fair on Deja, either."
Taking a deep breath, Deeks nodded. "Yeah." He pulled his gloves off. "Come on, let's see if we can reach Gibbs."
