Los Angeles Police Department
"How do you want to play this?" Deeks asked Kensi as they walked up the stairs to the police station. Kensi noticed the intense glares from every passing officer. "I don't know- the we're innocent card?" she replied.
"I was kind of hoping that was already known," Deeks answered. He opened the door and allowed her to step inside. Both agents walked up to the counter where a female secretary sat at the front desk.
"Excuse me," Kensi called. The secretary looked up and pushed her glasses up her nose. She didn't recognize Kensi, but recognized Deeks. "Oh, Detective Deeks. What can I do you for?"
"It's agent, actually…..and we need to speak to the Chief of Police about the car bombing from a few days ago."
The secretary's expression instantly darkened. "I'll call him right away." As the woman turned away, Kensi placed a hand on her cheek. " We are so screwed."
"It can't…be..that bad." Deeks leaned against the counter and eyed the door behind the desk, "at worst we'll be yelled at."
"At worst? Deeks, we could be arrested!"
"They don't have any proof to- wait, we could be held for 24 hours." Deeks straightened up, "If this is as bad as we think this is."
"You're too much of an optimist-"
"Deeks!" they suddenly heard from down the hallway. Even with the door to the police hallway being closed, both agents could both hear the irate Police Chief loud and clear. Deeks took a step behind Kensi and said, " You're right, we're completely screwed."
"You Agent Blye?" the Police Chief snapped after nearly pushing the door off its hinges. Kensi slowly nodded, "Yes, I am."
"You two better have a damn good reason for disappearing off the face of the map for two days!"
"We were on a mission-"
"That's a damn lie and you know it!" The Police Chief was now in Kensi's face. Deeks slid in between them and replied, "Back down -"
"Shut up!" The Police Chief pointed towards one of the interrogation rooms. "You'll tell me everything….and I mean everything."
"Ok," Kensi answered. She tugged on Deeks' arm and pulled him into the interrogation. Neither got the chance to say a word before the Police Chief pointed to the chairs across from them and barked, "Sit down."
Both agents complied and sat down quickly. The Police Chief clasped his hands together and stated, "San Diego. Explain."
"Well, what had happened was that we took some time to….deal with the recent changes and the case," Deeks stammered, " that has been going on for the last week or so."
"So you drove two hours and went off the grid? Come on, give me something better than that." The Police Chief spotted Deeks' nervousness in his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be in D.C training to become NCIS's new puppy?"
Why is everyone coming after me as of late? " I'm finish my training to become a full agent here in Los Angeles. Training….was one of the things that we did while on our mission."
"I see. You two want to tell me why you were at Lyons' car before it exploded?" the Police Chief asked.
"We were looking for him- "
"Why?"
Kensi and Deeks exchanged looks before Kensi spoke up, " Do you think that we were trying to blow Lyons up? Why would we be standing right there when it happened?"
The Police Chief gave her smug look. " I don't know. Maybe NCIS is lowering their standards with their agents these days. I mean, they hired the shaggy detective over here." Deeks shot the Police Chief a glare and added, "You shouldn't be looking at us for the bombings. Try anyone like his enemies."
"I am. Lyons told me that you have beef with him."
I knew that would come back and bite me in the ass. "Yeah, we butted heads, but I've only known him for a week, tops."
Kensi cut in. "Are you charging us with anything? Because if not, we'd like to go."
"We'll see about the charges," the Police Chief stood up and stepped towards the door, "Why don't you two sit tight?" He walked out before either agent could respond. Deeks slid forward in his chair and muttered, "They aren't going to let us go, are they?
Kensi crossed her arms and answered. "Nope."
Across town, Callen stepped onto the front steps of Hetty's home. After a few hours at the new crime scene with Sam and Donnelley, he had spent the remainder of his afternoon working on paperwork to please Granger. It was midnight now and the agent finally had time to get some answers from Hetty.
Callen knocked twice before Hetty answered. Dressed in a robe, she looked up at Callen, peering through her glasses. "Mr. Callen, it's a little late to be making house calls, don't you think?"
"Granger was watching Sam and I like a hawk all day. I didn't get a chance to step away." Hetty nodded and beckoned him into the house. Oddly enough, the living room was well lit; files were scattered on the living room table, surrounding a large cup of tea.
"Did you think I'd idly stand by while this case goes to hell?" Hetty asked. Callen chuckled, feeling like she had read his mind. Hetty sat down on the couch and asked, "You said that Granger was watching you and Sam. What about Mr. Deeks and Ms. Blye?"
"LAPD is still holding them without charges. The Chief claims that the LAPD is looking into something that they can't a.k.a won't tell me. Hetty, what the hell is going on here? Is this just a spy in the agency or is this bigger than that?"
"Bigger. While you were out with the new liaison, I had found what happened to the money that had left Lyons' account." Callen sat down on the lounge chair next to her and asked, "And?"
"The $12 million was withdrawn from the account from a bank in Los Angeles by a woman seen in this photo." Hetty pointed to the photo of a skinny brunette walking out of a bank with a large purse over her shoulder. She was wearing a white sundress and large expensive sunglasses. Callen took the photo in hand and said, " She looks high class. Did the banks raise any alarms? You can't just take out $12million and walk out."
"She had been approved by the bank ahead of time, which is precisely how I found her. This is woman is here in the city and I have an address. In regards to how the money got there in the first place, I can't answer that. What I do know is that the money jumped around many, many times before this woman took it." Hetty took a minute to sip her tea while Callen processed the information.
"So we can assume that this woman knows Lyons close enough to be able to pull out that much money on his behalf. Any ties to Granger-"
"That won't be easy, Mr. Callen. Granger is a good agent. He'll be hard to catch."
"I see." Callen ran a hand over his face and groaned. He was exhausted and frustrated now; the deeper that they went into this case, the more confusing and twisted it got. " Alright, let's run this from the top. Three petty officers find encrypted messages with codes for a program about a project for the Navy's newest submarine. This information dates all the way back to December of 2003 and had been written in French. From that alone, we know that there is a spy in NCIS sending off military secrets."
"Right."
Callen stood and started pacing slowly between the couch and the fireplace. " The Navy would want something like that investigated, but China Lake waited two days before calling us. And when they did finally call us, we get pulled off once Granger or Lyons or whoever else is in involved found out that Deeks had found the back bags. Now we have a suspicious new liaison, Lyons off the grid, Deeks and Kensi in LAPD custody and you on suspension. Where does that leave us?"
"With a bloody mess. Here's what we'll do: we need solid proof that Granger and Lyons are covering up for a spy within our Navy. So, I want you and Sam to find this woman…..Alexandria Kalhi and bring her to me. In the meantime, I'll get Mr. Deeks and Ms. Blye out of the LAPD. "