"So we were searching through McCormick's phone records," began Eric.
"And found that he made numerous repeat calls to a man named Kurt Crustoff," finished Nell as she flashed Crustoff's picture on the screen. He was a heavy Russian man with wild curly hair cut near to his head.
"Crustoff has several charges of assault along with weapons dealing."
"Weapons dealing," stated Sam, "No better place than to find military grade weapons than through a Marine at Camp Pendleton."
"How long have the two been in contact, Eric?" questioned Callen.
"A little over three months."
"Do we know if there have been any meets between the two," asked Kensi.
"It doesn't appear they have ever had contact other than phone calls, but we are looking into Crustoff's emails most of which seem to be encrypted. Maybe he is in cahoots with a bigger arms dealer and we can track down his next location."
"Good work, Eric, Nell," Callen congratulated each with a small smile, "Let us know if you find anything else on Crustoff."
"Will do," they replied in sync as they rotated in their chairs and began to furiously type on their computers.
The rest of OSP returned to the bull pen in order to go through what little evidence they had with a fine-toothed comb.
"Okay, so we have a pregnant wife that is now four months. An arms dealer our Petty Officer had been in contact with for three months. And nobody on the Marine base saw or heard anything going on that was unusual for McCormick who has been stationed there for over a year," listed Kensi.
"How is it that nobody saw a change in behavior? I mean the guy has a perfect record and suddenly he's taking up calls with a dealer and nobody noticed? It's not like McCormick was catching up with an old high school buddy," Sam question exasperated.
"Unless he thought it was an old friend," suggested Deeks who had been unusually quiet in OPS, "Or maybe McCormick is really good at acting."
"But fooling his wife would have been hard," countered Kensi glad that Deeks seemed to be returning to normal.
"Yeah, unless he knew she would be safe if he could hide what was going on. I mean, Callen, you said the wife mentioned the McCormick only took calls when she was out of the room, right?"
Callen nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she said he had seemed a little off lately but thought he was just nervous about becoming a dad. McCormick had apparently lost his at a young age and had told his wife on multiple occasions he wasn't sure he could handle the responsibility. However, when he found out she was pregnant he was ecstatic. He thought of it as a chance to prove himself, I guess."
Deeks furrowed his brow and ran a frustrated hand through his messy blonde locks as he thought over what Callen had just said. He felt such a parallel between himself and the dead Petty Officer. His actions did not go unnoticed by Kensi. She could tell he was still a little overwhelmed by the widow and her baby. She reached over and placed a hand on his forearm and gave it a tight squeeze in hopes to pull him out of his own thoughts. She couldn't figure out why this case was so hard on him.
"What else do we know?" Kensi asked.
"That we are looking for someone that is willing to brutishly murder and then defile a Marine. But they also need strength to be able to hang him from the rafters." The response came from Callen, "And Crustoff seems to fit that description based on his records and physical stance. But why would he kill someone he could potentially get weapons from?"
"Maybe McCormick wasn't complying to his demands?" suggested Sam.
"I mean it's possible but why wait three months later to kill him? Was McCormick complying in the beginning?"
"Eric said that there was no record that any weapons had been misplaced at Camp Pendleton. They were all accounted for every time," reminded Kensi, "So obviously he wasn't working out of the base if McCormick was supplying Crustoff."
"Not to mention everyone thought highly of the Petty Officer on base except for a few quips here and there. Plus his record is pristine. Why ruin that and a chance at being good father for a weapons dealer?" asked Deeks, "There was no money in it for McCormick according to bank records."
"No, but maybe Crustoff used a threat instead of a bribe. What did McCormick have that Crustoff could use as leverage?" Sam thought aloud.
Kensi and Deeks shared a sad glance and announced to the team, "His baby."
A look of realization passed through the team leader's eyes, "And he could still come after Sarah."
"Yeah, but why would he? It's not like she has access to the weapons on base," Sam inputted.
"Doesn't matter, we need to get her in protective custody now. Kensi, Deeks you go find the wife and take her to the safe house. Hetty has a key for you. Sam, you and I will try to track down Crustoff and see where he has been the last few days.
Kensi and Deeks once again were taking the long trip back to base when Deeks blurted out, "He never had a chance."
"A chance for what?"
"To be a father. I mean his wife said he was nervous but who wouldn't be? It's a small life in his hands, but he never got to prove his worth. He will never hold that baby."
"A man can be worthy before becoming a father. I mean, people admired McCormick on base as the good Marine he was," reminded Kensi.
"Yeah, but it's not the same. His child will never throw a baseball with his dad or ever be the lead in the ballet and have her father be her biggest fan. I just…I know what that feels like and it's not good."
"Deeks, I'm sorry this is so hard on you but why is this all coming up now?"
Deeks thought about a possible answer to Kensi's question. How could he explain to her that he wants to be a dad? That he needs that in his life to prove he isn't his father. Deeks stayed silent and Kensi kept contemplating why this was coming up.
"You aren't you father, Deeks." At that Deeks became alert and glanced over to see Kensi giving him a reassuring glance.
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Why? How do you see any similarities between the two of you at all?" Kensi's tone frustrated.
"Max." The single reply made Kensi fall silent as Deeks' face showed signs of hatred and disdain for his undercover detail.
"You aren't Max," Kensi mumbled, but somewhere deep down she knew that Max would always be a part of who Deeks was. The angry womanizer with no self-dignity. Max is Deeks' father.
"Ha," a grumbled, almost hysterical laugh emitted itself from Deeks lips," I'm glad you think so." The sarcasm filled the vehicle.
"How do you think I created Max, huh, Kens? How do you think it is so easy to fall into character?"
Kensi stayed silent as she wasn't sure how to reply.
"I'll tell ya. He lives in me. I can't escape him. It's like no matter what I do Max haunts me and makes regular appearances in my life. I don't want that. I especially don't want him to overtake me. It's easy to become Max but very, very hard to leave him behind after an op. Tell me why that is, if I'm not Max?"
"Deeks."
"No, Kensi tell me," his anger at himself being thrown onto his partner.
"I can't. I'm sorry." Deeks just scoffed at her answer, "But I can tell you that you are a good person. Without a doubt I know that. You are a cop, Deeks. You save lives every day. And before that you tried to protect the innocent as a lawyer."
"Yeah, but all I've done is failed. Sam sees it. The guys at the station see it. They don't trust me and they think I'm worthless."
"Since when have you ever needed the approval of others to reassure you who you are?" Kensi asked with a bit of menace, "Deeks, those guys don't know you. I know you. I'm your partner and I see what you do every day. That you would do anything in your power to help people without a second thought for yourself. I admire that about you. And I will defend you against anybody who says differently, even if you say it about yourself," Kensi trailed off as she realized how much she actually would protect Deeks if the time presented itself. He wasn't Max. He was Martin Deeks, LAPD Detective, and Kensi's best friend.
Deeks didn't look like he believed his partner but decided to let the topic go and gave her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. Very rarely did he and Kensi talk about their feelings but when they did it was like a hurricane and usually left disaster in its wake. And yet somehow every time they got in the car today the feelings emerged like little devils haunting him. Too much time to think.
In an attempt to change the subject, Kensi asked him once again for Sarah McCormick's address on base and the two were back in professional mode, any lingering emotions left behind. As she pulled up to the ordinary house she sensed something was off. It was getting late but the lights weren't on in the house. As the partner's approached the front door they heard a window shattering in the back.
Kensi signaled to Deeks that she was going around back to check it out and that he should take the front door. He nodded in agreement. It made him nervous not to be with Kensi but knew the suspect could get away if they didn't cover all possible exits.
He quickly checked the front door to find it was locked. Good thing Kensi spent so long training me in the art of lock picking, he thought with a small smirk. Within moments he had the door unlocked and was silently stepping through the doorway. He removed the safety from his gun and cleared the foyer without problems. He then stepped into the dining room to the left. Once again cleared. That was when Deeks heard footsteps in the back of the house. Quietly he made his way through the dark to check it out. Gun raised he yelled, "LAPD! Drop you weapon!"
"Deeks, it's me!" hissed Kensi. Flipping on a few lights she saw her partner lower his own weapon.
"Did you see anything out back?" Deeks questioned.
"Yeah, a neighborhood boy decided to throw a baseball but it broke the window. He took off. I didn't see anything else, although the back door was unlocked. What about the front?"
"Door was locked. I cleared the first two rooms when I heard you."
"So why would the back door be unlocked? And why does it appear as if Sarah isn't home? We told her to stay here." Kensi leaned back against the counter, when she suddenly heard a noise upstairs.
"Deeks, you said you didn't get a chance to clear the whole house, didn't you?" Deeks shook his head and Kensi let out a curse under her breath.
Slowly the two made their way up the stairs, Deeks in the lead. He signaled for Kensi to go right as he went left. Deeks slowly opened the door to a bedroom that looked in the process of being remodeled. Baby nursery, thought Deeks with sadness. He looked around the room and saw a few blankets and rocking chair in the corner. There were several stripes of paint in different shades of yellow as if the McCormick's were having a hard time choosing. Deeks heard Kensi shout, "Clear" from the other room, but was lost in thought.
"Deeks, you good?" Kensi asked as she walked into the nursery to see her partner standing there.
He slowly turned and offered a sad smile, "Yup. We're good. Must have heard a mouse on these creaky boards."
"Alright, let's get out of here and see if we can have Eric trace Sarah McCormick's whereabouts for us."
Deeks nodded and replaced his weapon at his back.
As they headed back to the car, Kensi felt some of the tension of the day ease when Deeks asked if she wanted to grab a bite at the local hamburger joint. He laughed as she order two burgers for herself.
"What? One for here and one for the road," she explained.
"And how do you expect to eat it 'on the road' when you won't let me drive?" Kensi's only response was to toss him the keys to her beloved SRX. Deeks smile filled his face and for the first time since that morning his eyes lit with their usual upbeat shine.
"Awww, is my Kensi going soft for me?" Kensi noticed the use of my Kensi but let it slide, enjoying the banter that had returned between partners.
"Only for the night, Deeks."
"As in the whole night," Deeks winked and stuffed more burger in his mouth. Kensi just smiled and settled into her fries and added milkshake not giving Deeks the satisfaction of an answer. The day had been tough for both of them and emotions were whirling. A little peace was very welcomed as they relaxed into the booth of the small diner.