So cannot believe the amount of views for the first chapter, wasn't expecting that at all so a thank you to everyone who looked at it. And a big thank you to CMalwaysHP, KBLFan and jonesdeere88 for following the story, and a huge thank you to Judit Hale for both following and adding it to your favourites, it means a lot.
Chapter Two
"…certainly sounds as if it's the same group but as I've said I won't know for sure until I look over everything…Yes I know that, but it's been eight years…You know as well as anyone how much a person, let alone a whole group, can change in a year. They've had eight…I'm not grasping at straws; I just want to know if this is the same group. If it is then steps need to be taken…I know. Look my flight leaves in just under two hours okay. I should be landing about 20:00… no, NY time. Yes I'll let you know when I'm boarding the plane." Slender fingers snapped the phone shut and green eyes gazed out of the window.
"That'll be $2.50 darlin'." The voice snapped Kimberly out of her thoughts and she turned to see the kid behind the counter holding out a paper cup filled to the brim with coffee. Handing over the correct money and gingerly taking hold of the cup (Christ above that's hot) she smiled slightly at the kid before stepping away from the counter. Darlin'? He actually called her that? The kid couldn't have been more than 21, at a push. Kimberly walked over to the counter overlooking the parking lot, setting the cup down and reaching for the sweetener packets. Normally she wouldn't add anything but the liquid in the cup was looking more like dishwasher than actual coffee.
She sighed heavily, trying to keep her mind focused, but her thoughts kept drifting. Instead of thinking about the case, like she should have been, all she could think about was the stupid comment that kid had just made. Darlin'. Kimberly almost snorted. So now she was being hit on by teenagers. Great. Of course, it didn't help that she looked about five years younger than she actually was. Add in the height and the fact that she truly had no figure whatsoever; she was more often than not mistaken for being 20, and not 25. Fecking fantastic.
"The coffee isn't all that bad you know." A voice coming from Kimberly's left had her jumping out of her skin. Naturally, the extremely full cup of coffee was in her hand, so it was inevitable that what seemed like half of the contents spilled from the cup and over her hand. With a wince Kimberly dropped the cup onto the counter which the rest of the hot liquid spilled out onto. "Christ I'm sorry, you okay?"
Kimberly grabbed a napkin and started wiping her hand off as she turned her head to look at the newcomer. She was almost half-expecting to see the kid from the counter, and so was slightly taken back by the man staring at her. Mid-to-late 30's, maybe, with short dark hair slightly spiked at the front and dark brown eyes which were looking at her in concern. "Yeah I'm fine. Sorry, my head was in the clouds."
The man chuckled slightly as he grabbed a handful of napkins to help mop up the spilled coffee. "I could see that. I mean, I know the coffee here isn't that great but the way you were glaring at it, it was like you wanted to throw it into a vat of nuclear waste."
Kimberly had to laugh. "Well I never actually took a sip but it certainly didn't look very inviting." She sighed slightly. "No, I just have a million things on my mind at the moment, and being in LA is not helping matters in the slightest." The man looked up at her, confused so she elaborated slightly. "I'm from New York. Here on business. But on my way back home now, fortunately."
"Fortunately? LA can't be all that bad now can it?"
"No, not at all. But like I said, a million things on my mind. The last few months have been stressful and work is just not letting up. Everyone's starting to feel the strain. Me being out here isn't helping. Well, hopefully it will do but not in the short-run."
"So why are you out here then? If you don't mind me asking?" The man looked curious now.
"Something cropped up here in LA that is potentially related to an old situation back in New York. Someone needed to come out here to pick up the information and I was already out of the city, in Washington. Granted it isn't exactly on the way home but it was easier for me to make the detour and come here rather than go back to New York and try and get someone else out here."
He nodded. "I see. And did you get what you needed?"
Wow, curious much. Kimberly was starting to feel a little cautious, but the man didn't appear to be fishing for information. In fact, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, but you could never be too careful these days. "Yes, I'm on my way to the airport now."
"Do you need a lift? I can't imagine you've been driving yourself around."
Kimberly raised an eyebrow at the man's comment. "And why's that?"
"People who aren't from LA don't really tend to drive here. It can be a bit of a nightmare." He grinned at her.
Kimberly couldn't help but smile back. "Well you are right. I haven't driven here. But try driving in Manhattan. If you can conquer the traffic there, you can drive just about anywhere." She shook her head slightly. "There was no point in me driving here. I only arrived a few hours ago. This is a pit stop more than anything else."
"So do you need a lift?"
Kimberly had to laugh slightly. "Wow, you don't let up do it. Thank you but no, someone's picking me up from here."
"Sorry, that probably came across as some kind of pick-up line. It's not, honest. But at least let me buy you a new drink. It's the least I can do, considering I caused you to drop your first one."
She was about to reply when a flash caught her eye. She turned to look out of the window and saw, just as promised, a silver Jaguar edging into the parking lot. Kimberly wasn't sure whether or not she was relieved to see it. Turning back to the man she smiled regretfully. "As much as I would love to say yes and find out if the coffee really does taste as bad as it looks I can't. My ride's here, and I'm on a pretty tight schedule."
The man nodded, smiling slightly. "Well, I would say another time then, but seeing as you're going back to New York I don't think that'll be any time soon."
Kimberly laughed as she grabbed her bag. "Probably not, but you never know. It was nice to meet you, despite the spillage."
He laughed in return. "Yeah, probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, startle someone when they're holding a full cup of hot coffee." He paused slightly before adding. "It was nice to meet you too."
"Kimberly."
He grinned, holding out a hand. "Don."
Typical, she thought even as she smiled warmly at him, shaking his hand before turning and heading for the exit, taking care not to look over her shoulder as she went. Flack will sure get a kick out of this.
Callen pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine, glancing at his watch before looking over at the diner. Twenty-eight minutes. Damn. Maybe the favours of the traffic light gods had been short-lived. Not seeing Kimberly in the parking lot he pulled the key out of the ignition and was just about to get out of the car when the door to the diner opened and Kimberly stepped outside. He raised a hand to wave slightly and she started making her way over to him. He flicked the lock switch so she could open the passenger door and watched as she slid into the car. "Sorry I took so long. Traffic's started getting heavier again."
Kimberly grinned as she shut the door and put her bag on the floor between her feet. "Don't worry about it. I hadn't even noticed what the time was if I'm honest." She clicked her seatbelt into place as Callen started the car and pulled out of the lot. He saw her raise her hand briefly and when he turned his head he saw a man standing at the front of the diner return the gesture.
"Making friends?"
"Yeah, something like that I guess." He saw her rub her hand slightly out of the corner of his eye. He also noted said hand was looking rather red, but refrained from saying anything. "I would have brought you a coffee but the after looking at it I thought dehydration would be a better way to go." She saw Callen raise an eyebrow. "Anything beats poisoning right?"
Callen swallowed slightly. "Yeah. It certainly does."
Kimberly shrugged slightly. "Sorry, I'm suffering from sleep deprivation, and I tend to ramble a lot when I'm around strangers."
Callen did have to laugh at that. "Don't worry about it. If you met some of the people I work with you'd find I'm more than used to it." His mind drifted slightly to the two analysts and the detective on his team.
Kimberly nodded. "I guess I can say the same about my own team. But usually they're the ones who have to put up with me, rather than the other way around." She paused briefly. "So you probably get this all the time but I have to ask. How long have you and Agent Hanna been partnered?"
Callen snorted. Yes, it was a question they were asked on a regular basis. "What are we now, 2015 so…seven years…maybe eight. In all honesty I've kind of lost track, but it's the longest partnership I've ever had."
She whistled. "Wow, eight years. And you haven't killed each other yet?"
"Not for lack of trying." She looked over at him with a questioning glance. "All in the line of duty of course." He added quickly. "Several times it's come rather close. Though usually it's me on the receiving end."
Kimberly grinned. "That sounds very familiar. I'm always the one who ends up looking down the barrel of a gun. Drives my boss mad. It's probably why none of my partnerships have lasted more than eighteen months."
Callen stole a glance at his passenger as they waited at yet another set of traffic lights. She was staring out of the window, her left-hand tapping absently against her thigh. With the air-conditioning on, the strands of her hair that had come loose were waving gently in the breeze, brushing against her neck. Kimberly turned her head slightly as caught him staring at her raising an eyebrow slightly.
He cleared his throat and flashed a grin at her, turning back as the lights changed. She grinned slightly, biting her lip as she turned back to look out of the window.
What the hell was he doing?! You've known her for all of two hours you idiot. Get your head out of the gutter. After the whole fiasco with Joelle at Christmas he wasn't even thinking about contemplating anything with a woman. In his line of work he just could not do it. And after Tracy he did not get involved with law enforcement. Just no.
She was beautiful though. And damn it if a man couldn't observe. He wasn't dead. Yet.
Okay so he was sort of hot. In a rugged, semi-urban way. If that was even a term. The first thing she noticed about his was his eyes. The eyes are the windows into the soul, she had read once, and with Agent Callen it certainly seemed to be true.
With her face turned away from his she stared resolutely out of the window, her eyes darting to his reflection every now and then and she silent cursed her screwed up sense of luck that she was here. On the other hand, she was glad she was, because damn it she wasn't dead; it was nice to be able to be in the company someone like Agent Callen. Hell, even that guy in the diner, Don, wasn't all that bad looking. At the same time she knew she could never get involved with him. Callen that was. Not only did they live on opposite coasts but after Willian…she just couldn't.
But there was no harm in looking. Right?
It took them another twenty five minutes to reach LAX, the traffic more or less co-operating for a change. Callen pulled into the drop-off zone and killed the engine. Kimberly rubbed her eyes before turning to look at him, smiling softly. "Thank you for the ride. Certainly a lot cheaper than a taxi."
Callen grinned. "And quicker. Traffic in this city is a nightmare."
She shrugged. "No more so than Manhattan. It's nice to have a change of scenery though. And blue sky, I'd almost forgotten what it looked like."
Callen laughed at that. "Well it's definitely one of the nicer places I've worked in, which is saying something." He pulled a thick file out from the backseat and handed it to her. "That's copies of all the paperwork we have on the militia. And this has all of our electronic data on it, everything our analysts could find." He pulled a flash drive out of his jacket pocket and handed it over, watching as she put everything in her bag.
"Thank you. Truthfully I have no idea if any of this is going to be helpful, I just have a gut feeling you know? My boss just wants me to make sure it isn't anything more than it appears to be."
Callen nodded. "Well from what I can tell I don't think the two cases are related. We weren't able to tie those involved in with anything else that has happened in America. If we find anything though, we'll be sure to let you know." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a card. "If you do find anything, would you let us know?"
Kimberly nodded as she took the card. "Of course. And yes, if you could do the same that would be brilliant, thank you very much." She pulled out her purse and was tucking his card away whilst pulling out one of her own to pass to him when he caught sight of a photo. It looked like it had been taken at a wedding.
"That your family?" She glanced at the photo and smiled slightly, running a thumb across the picture.
"Sort of. My personal life is several kinds of complicated."
"You're not the only one. Trust me."
Kimberly looked up at him and grinned. "Thank you Agent Callen. I'd better get going. If I miss this flight I will be planning my own funeral."
She opened the door to climb out, as she did so his mouth started working before his brain engaged. "If you ever come back this way I'll show you some places that are far more interesting than our old boatshed."
Kimberly laughed as she closed the door, waiting for him to roll down the window and she leant in slightly. "I might just take you up on that Agent. Likewise, if you're ever in New York…" she trailed off, winking at him.
He grinned. "It was nice to meet you Detective."
"You too Agent." With that Kimberly straightened up and headed over to the terminal, forcing herself not to look back at the man who was blatantly ignoring the sign saying he couldn't stay there for more than five minutes.
Callen couldn't help but shake his head. Gah! What the hell did he just say that for? Watching her walk away though, he couldn't help but feel a slight tightening in his chest. Determined to ignore it he started up the car and went to put it in drive when something in the foot well on the passenger side caught his eye. Frowning he reached over for it, knowing full well the car had been clean when he had gotten into it earlier.
It was a photograph, fairly old judging from the wear and tear it had sustained. Callen unfolded it and gently eased out the creases. The picture was faded but he was able to make out three people; two women and a man. The younger woman he instantly picked out as Kimberly – there was no way he could mistake the hair. The man stood behind her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders in what appeared to be a warm embrace. His other arm was around the second woman who was also holding Kimberly in a warm embrace. How they got into that position was a mystery, Callen wandered idly even as he was trying to make the woman out. He had to squint to make out her face; the camera focus wasn't all that great. When his brain finally registered who the woman was he gasped. Impossible!
Callen was scrambling for his phone as he tried to get out of the car, cursing his luck for the umpteenth time as an airport traffic warden appeared by his side. Before she could say anything he flashed his badge at her. "Federal Agent" was all he said as he snapped open his phone and pressed quick dial, praying he wouldn't be kept waiting, and brushed past the warden, running into the terminal whilst looking around for the cop. She was in a hurry so he made a split-second decision and began heading towards the check-in desks.
A click on the other end of the time was followed by the calm voice of his Operations Manager. "Yes Mr Callen? I hope you're not driving…"
"How much do we know about Detective T-Driscoll Hetty?" Callen cut her off, scanning the crowds as he walked further into the building.
"Enough Mr Callen, why do you ask?"
"Because I've just found a picture that must have fallen out of her bag in my car. There's three people in it, one of them is her."
He heard Hetty sigh down the phone. Not seeing Kimberly at any of the check-in desks he started to head over to the security checkpoints. "And who are the other two people Mr Callen?"
"I've emailed you a copy of the picture. You should have it now." As he said it the email icon appeared in the corner of Hetty's laptop. She clicked on it to reveal the image Callen was worked up over. "See anyone you recognise?"
Hetty's eyes glanced over the man and younger woman before coming to rest on the taller woman. Eyes widening she sank back in her chair.
There was silence on the end of the phone as Callen skirted around a crowd of Chinese tourists. Finally he head his Ops managers' voice as the security checkpoints came into view and he could see Kimberly standing in the queue, waiting to go through.
"Oh bugger."
She hated airports. Hated them with a passion. If she could get away with it she would drive. But driving from Washington to California wasn't exactly feasible. Fortunately she had been able to check in online when she had been in the diner earlier so she could avoid that queue. But there was no way Kimberly could avoid the security check; as a police officer it was more than crucial she went through the check point because she was carrying her service weapon, her backup and an extra clip. After last year, she wasn't going anywhere unarmed. Fortunately Kimberly was able to block out the people around her. She wanted to be able to sit down and start going through the files but the material was extremely sensitive; she would have to wait until she was back in her office in New York before she could start reading it.
When it finally came to her turn to pass through the checkpoint she took off the only piece of jewellery she owned – a long gold chain with a small pendant attached – and put it in the tray along with her bag. She then pulled her badge from her back pocket and handed it over to the security guard along with a letter of confirmation stating she was carrying a gun and was cleared to use it is she deemed it necessary. Just as she was about to present the weapon Kimberly heard her name being called; turning around she saw Agent Callen heading over to her.
Raising an eyebrow she watched as he ducked under the railings and came up to her, his face devoid of any emotions. She frowned, feeling a little concerned. "Is everything okay Agent…"
He cut her off. "I need you to come with me. Something…something's come up."
Kimberly let out a slightly startled laugh. "You're joking right? I can't, my plane leaves in just over an hour. I have to get back to New York."
"I know but this is from my boss. She needs…your help with something."
Her eyes widened in disbelief, even as she caught the pause in his words. "I'm sorry? What the hell is going on Agent Callen?"
Callen was close to just showing her the photograph and demand an explanation, despite what Hetty had said to him, when a tingling sensation crossed the back of his neck. Almost simultaneously Kimberly focused in on something over his shoulder, her forehead creasing before her eyes widened again, this time in alarm.
"Get down."
She grabbed his arm and yanked him down beside her, just as gunfire erupted behind them.