Sylvia
Chapter 17
a/n: Lanni's case may be solved & patient testing stopped but Sylvia is still out there…a few more twists and turns and I think I will finally have this one wrapped up…then I'll see what I can do with Surf's Up…I've kinda written myself into a corner and haven't figured out how to get out of it yet…I'd be interested in input if anyone would care to beta a chapter or two…
…..NCIS LA…..
"Aarghh…I cannot take much more of this…If I have to keep looking over my shoulder all the time I am going to go absolutely insane," Deeks cried as he slumped into his desk chair after coming down from ops where the team had hit yet another dead end in their search. The detective rested his elbows on his desk, his head bowed and hands fisted in his wild curls, "it's been over a week and nothing…she couldn't have just vanished into thin air…"
Indeed, the whole team was growing weary of the search…not knowing where and when Sylvia would strike again; and making matters worse…with no sign of Sylvia Gray, the round the clock LAPD protection was being recalled, leaving Chris, Lanni, Paula and now Amanda, without protection.
"We could always move everyone back to the safe house…" Sam commented.
"For how long…" Deeks snapped as he ran his hands through his wild tangle of curls before looking up at his teammates and giving a tired sigh of contrition and frustration. Shaking his head he said more calmly, "no, won't happen. Chris and the girls, they won't go for it… we can't put our lives on hold indefinitely…"
The others watched helplessly as Deeks rose from his chair and began to pace around the room like a caged animal, his tone coming out as more of a growl as he complained bitterly, "God, why can't we find her…she doesn't have any place to go. Damn it, I hate this, hate how she's still controlling our lives…we can't let Sylvia force us to live in fear. We have to find her, damn it…"
Putting her hands firmly on his shoulders to stop his pacing, Kensi forced Deeks to look at her as she said calmly, "we will partner, we will…"
Deeks gave her a weak smile to acknowledge the support.
"Where could she be… she doesn't have the doctor anymore to depend on…the BOLO for her encompasses the whole damn state…her parents are dead…their house was sold years ago…" Callen reiterated what everyone already knew, asking Deeks, "are you sure you can't remember her ever talking about any other family…friends…?"
"She's been locked up for over ten years…doubt she has any friends on the outside anymore…" Deeks commented with a shrug, adding, "we've checked the visitor's logs…besides the lawyer for those first few months after she was incarcerated, she never had any visitors…not even her grandparents…""
"That would just list 'official' visitors…suppose she had someone off the books…?" Callen postulated.
"The only other person who had an interest in her was Shreeves and he had access to her anytime he wanted…" Sam pointed out.
"As far as family…I really don't know who it could be…both of her parents were only children, so she hasn't any aunts or uncles so no cousins either…I never heard her talk about any extended family…" Deeks explained.
"Well, there has to be someone…someplace she feels safe…" Sam said, "grand-parent's maybe…?"
…..ncis la…..
Days continued to pass and still no sign of Sylvia, despite the team's best efforts; and while nothing untoward happened-no incidence of violence…no threats, the team knew the danger the woman posed both to Deeks and themselves, had not lessened, but was perhaps growing stronger the longer the woman remained at large, the longer she had to fall deeper into her psychosis…and to plan her vengeance.
The whole team was feeling the pressure, nerves and tempers fraying, as they waited for that proverbial "other shoe to drop"; and Deeks was nearing his breaking point worrying for, and constantly checking on, the safety of his team and college friends…coming to a head nearly two weeks into the search...
Callen came up to stand by his partner who was leaning, arms crossed, against the doorframe that led into the gym…following Sam's line of sight, Callen saw Deeks at the bag. The detectives face was a deep ruddy red from exertion, his hair hung heavily against his face as sweat poured off of him as he pummeled the bag relentlessly, his face a tight mask a concentration. Though his body moved fluidly in his dance with the bag, both agents saw that Deeks body was still a taunt bundle of nerves.
Nodding into the gym, Callen asked, "…how long he been at it…?"
Not taking his eyes off the detective, Sam answered with a sigh, "I've been here for at least twenty minutes…and that's after Kensi came to me worried because she already tried to get him to stop before that…"
Matching his partner's worried frown, both men stood for another moment and watched as Deeks ferocity against the bag never let up; Callen finally commenting, "he can't go on like this much longer…" referring to the bag and the case.
"I know, G…we have got to find this woman…" Sam replied, finally turning to face the other agent, "wonder twins find anything yet…?"
Callen shook his head wearily; truth be told, none of them could go on much longer…in her unstable condition, it was a crap shoot who Sylvia might target next and being on constant guard was wearing on them all.
"Maybe we need to look at this from a different angle…" Callen commented thoughtfully, "We've been waiting for her to make a move…maybe we need to make the next move…"
"How, G, we don't know where she is…we don't have any place to look…" Sam replied with curiosity.
"We know she's still out there, she's not just going to walk away from all this...from everything the doctors at Pine Crest said, and from everything we've seen, we know she's not going to let the past go…that she's still very much obsessed with Deeks…"
"What…I'm not sure I like where this is going G…providing we even had any clue where to start looking…are you suggesting we dangle Deeks out there as bait to lure her out of hiding…" Sam said incredulous, "…one slip up and he's dead, you know that…this woman is too unpredictable to even come up with a plan…"
Nodding back towards the Detective who still attacked the bag like an enraged animal, "and if we don't? Look at him, Sam…she's killing him just as surely now than if she were actually standing here…"
Eyes back on the detective, Sam sighed and nodded his head, "I know G, I know…doesn't mean I have to like it…"
If there reluctant consensus of the reality of the situation was not enough, Deeks cemented there decision when a particularly savage and wild punch tore the bag from its hook…as his fist collided with the bag, letting it loose from its hook, the man let out an inarticulate howl of pent up anger and frustration: suddenly confused by the disappearance of the bag, he began pacing in small circles as though unsure where he was or what he should be doing.
Exchanging quick, startled glances, both agents quickly made their way to the confused man, reaching him as he crumpled to the floor, landing heavily onto his knees, head bowed and his breath coming in pained gasps.
Going to the floor next to him, Sam grabbed Deeks shoulders to steady him as Callan made his way to Deeks discarded bag to scoop up a water bottle.
"Whoa…hold up man…come on Deeks….slow it down, you're gonna hyperventilate…just take it easy…" Sam coaxed, taking the bottle Callen handed him and holding it up to the insensate man, "come on, drink up…you're getting dehydrated…"
Unfocused, Deeks meekly took in some water. As he held the man steady, Sam couldn't help notice how baggy his clothes were; indicating the detective had also lost a significant amount of weight.
Deeks turned away from the upturned bottle and tried to pull away from Sam's hold. Not succeeding in dislodging the steadying hands he, instead, began to rock back and forth.
Both agents exchanged worried looks, when, still not quite aware of his surroundings, Deeks began to mumble incoherently, "why…why doesn't she just do something already…what is she waiting for…gotta find her…I need to find her….need, need to protect…need to find her, make her stop…I gotta do something to make her stop…find her…where…where to…wait, no hated it...but maybe" Deeks gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, "…wouldn't' go back…so where…"
As Deeks ramblings trailed off, Callen commented, "He's exhausted…" Trying not to wince at just how dark the circles were under the sunken, dull eyes of the detective.
"And he's lost weight…too much weight…" Sam replied, trying to get Deeks to stop rocking and take in more water.
"I'll get Hetty…Deeks needs more immediate help than just finding Gray…" Callen said, turning to leave the gym, feeling extremely guilty that they were all so focused on the case that they failed to see just how deeply this had truly affected the detective. From the looks of it, it was likely the detective hadn't really eaten or slept much since this entire nightmare began.
"Find Nate too…" Sam called, before turning back to the detective, "come on Deeks, snap out of it…sorry man, we knew this case was tough…getting to you…just didn't realize how bad…that changes now, you hearing me detective…it's time we start making sure you take care of yourself…"
Slowly rousing from his fugue state, Deeks looked around the gym in confusion before his eyes came to rest on the concerned, expectant face of Sam.
"You with me…?"
"With you…did we go somewhere? Uh…Sam…why are we on the floor in the gym…?" Deeks asked slowly. This time Sam released the detective when he pulled out of the agents hold to sit cross legged on the mat.
"You haven't been eating…or sleeping, have you…?" Sam accused lightly, changing his position also, so his knees were resting on the mat and he was sitting back on his haunches.
"What? Where did that come from…?"
"You're exhausted…you're not eating…after a while your body will start to shut down on you… you start hallucinating…" catching and holding the detectives gaze, Sam continued, "start thinking about doing dumb things…."
Looking away from the gaze, Deeks mumbled, "don't know what you're talking about…"
"I think you do…I think you just remembered something…" Sam pressed.
"What…I've told you everything…" Deeks shot back with a vehement shake of his head, though he almost immediately turned his face away from the agent.
"That safe house is still an option…" Sam warned.
"Sam, I've told you everything…you think I'd hold something back…you think I want to keep living like this…" Deeks raged weakly.
"No, I don't think you'd hold back anything purposefully…not with everything that's at stake…" Sam replied calmly, "but this case…its bringing up some bad stuff for you…a lot happened…a lot you'd like to forget forever…and maybe something that you buried is trying to come through…"
"Oh, so now I'm crazy…" Deeks huffed.
Sam raised his eyebrow and made a show of slowly moving his eyes to the bag that lay in a heap across the gym.
Following Sam's line of sight, Deeks eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the bag and turned back to the mildly amused agent, "I did that…?"
Sam just smiled lightly and stood, offering a hand and hoisting the unsteady man to his feet, "let's get you cleaned up and get some real food in you…then a good eight hours of sleep to top it off…"
Deeks protest died on his lips as he saw Sam's pointed look, with a shrug he allowed Sam to help him towards the showers, timidly asking, "Hetty going to take that out a' my pay…?"
With a chuckle, knowing Deeks needed the release and redirection, Sam just commented, "she might let it slide this time…wouldn't do it again though…"
….ncis la…
"Is he going to be okay?" Kensi asked, her eyes moving to take in her partners sleeping form, recrimination in her voice as she continued, "how could we have been so blind…how could we have missed it…he's been right here with us, but she's still taking him away from us piece by piece…"
With Deeks cleaned and feed, a mild sedative in his soda as an added measure; the detective was now sleeping under the watchful eyes of his team as Nate laid out what they all had come to realize, almost too late.
"You've all been under extreme stress…I don't doubt that all of you have not been sleeping well or eating much…and as agents are so won't to do…hiding your owns stresses behind worrying for your teammates…being laser focused on the job at hand…" the last, a mild rebuke they all took in stride from the operational psychologist. "The detective is no different…he hid it and suppressed it until it literally overwhelmed him…"
"But he's gonna be alright…?" Callen pressed, his eyes also going briefly to the detective.
Nodding slowly, Nate replied, "eventually…yes. But this case, it's brought up a lot of terrifying memories for Deeks…things he would just as soon forget and it's left him torn. He's fighting to suppress those memories of what he went through…of any and all memories of Sylvia Gray, but he is also aware that something from all that may give us a clue to where Sylvia might be. And, besides everything that has been happening recently, after this is all over, he's going to need to work through everything that this case has stirred up from his past…which leads me to the comment you made Sam…about what Deeks was saying while in his fugue state…you seem convinced he was remembering something…why…?"
All eyes now turned to the agent, "I'm not sure he knew what he was saying…just that he needed to stop her but he didn't know where to look. But then he stopped for just a second, like he was remembering…he said…'wait, maybe..' then he shook his head and said, 'wouldn't go back there…hated it…' "
"Go back where…?" Callen asked.
"And who hated it…him or Gray…?" Kensi asked, "Could it…could it be somewhere she held him…maybe its someplace he doesn't want to go back to…"
Eyes turned to Hetty for an answer, "as far as the police were ever able to discern, Ms. Gray only held Mr. Deeks in one location…"
"Surely she wouldn't try to set up shop in the same place…even as unstable as she is, she has to know that would be the first place we'd look for him…" Callen postulated, "So it has to be someplace Gray doesn't like…"
"But Nell and Eric haven't found anything…all her parents property was sold when they died…" Kensi said with a shrug, "and she didn't have any aunts and uncles…"
"But she did have grandparents…" Sam put forth.
…..ncis la…..
"I can't believe we missed it…it was turned over to the state ten years ago when the grandparents died..." Eric said shamefacedly. He and Nell had spent the rest of the afternoon sifting through all the data they had collected and came across an obscure reference that had been previously overlooked.
"We know Sylvia Gray's parents were killed in a car accident when she was fifteen…after that she went to live with her paternal grandparents in a small town about four hours away…Cordwood. Her grandparents owned a small farm, sets on about 300 acres…goats, chickens, eggs…a few dairy cows used to make cheese and a blueberry field that was open to the public in the summer…they supplemented their retirement with the blueberry sales and by selling produce at the local farmer's market…"
During Nell's explanation the team shot surreptitious looks towards the liaison officer, gauging his reaction to the news…though he had slept most of the afternoon, he still looked anything but rested.
"She hated it…" Deeks said tonelessly, his eyes never leaving the overlay map of the area the farm was located into, his tone didn't change as he took up the story, "when she left to go to college, she never went back…she would never talk about it, or say why…I figured with my crappy childhood, I didn't have any right to pry into hers if she didn't want to talk about it…she only mentioned the place once or twice in passing…"
"Since Gray was in Pine Crest, when her grandparents died the property was forfeited back to the state for back taxes…" Nell interjected when it was apparent Deeks was not going to add anything to his story.
"She hated the place…she wouldn't even talk about the place…she wouldn't go back there…" Deeks reiterated.
"If it's the only option open to her…maybe she would…" Callen countered.
"But why…how, even-if it's been in state custody…" Deeks argued.
"Still in state custody yes, but it was never sold…so it's empty…" Eric interjected.
"So, it is quite possible she could be hiding there…" Hetty commented.
"What about Scottsville, where she's from….anyone there she could stay with…" Kensi asked.
It was Eric who answered the query, "…doubt it…it's one of the first places after the State Police we issued a BOLO too…besides, even after twelve years, Sylvia Gray is still well known and not well liked at all…the rest of her juvenile records were finally released…and, not only was she suspect in the White boy's death; but the crash that killed her parents was also suspicious…"
"The Scottsville police think she might have had something to do with her parent's death…" Callen asked in surprise.
"As we issued the BOLO, I wanted to personally contact some of the places Ms. Gray might try to hide out, get their opinion and impressions of the woman…the police chief in Scottsville remembered Sylvia and was quite forth coming with his theories…" Hetty said.
"Just like with Deeks friend Taylor Martin…Gray's parents also suffered a fatal car crash…" Nell added.
"Any particular reason they would suspect Sylvia of trying to kill her own parents…" Sam asked.
"According to the records of the investigation, her parents were considering having her committed after the White boy died so mysteriously…apparently they suspected their daughter was unwell, even then…" Hetty explained.
"To protect their daughter and prove her innocence or because they suspected she had something to do with the kid's death…" Sam mused.
"Either way, Gray wasn't buying it…" Callen commented, adding with a look towards Deeks, "she doesn't have many resources to stay in the city…and if she would be that easily recognized in Scottsville, then Cordwood is the only option left…"
"It's almost a four hour drive from here…" Kensi commented.
"Then let's go…" Deeks said.
"Not so fast…you wouldn't get there until well after two in the morning…far too late to begin any kind of search. Eric and Nell can notify the sheriff in Cordwood…they can begin the sweep of the property first thing in the morning…" Hetty directed, eying all her agents critically, "you're all exhausted…go home, get some rest…if it proves that Ms. Gray is indeed settling in at her grand-parents farm, it will be a very trying day for all of us…"
Reluctantly the team headed back down the stairs and began gathering their things…they, along with Eric and Nell headed to the parking lot, exchanging good nights as they climbed into their vehicles.
Deeks climbed into the passenger seat of Kensi's SUV…just as Callen had been staying with Sam, Deeks and Kensi had been going back and forth between their apartments, so that no one on the team was ever alone.
Sam made eye contact with Kensi, giving her a quick nod, the signal that told her that he and Callen would, as had become habit over the last couple weeks, follow them to Deeks place before heading home themselves.
Loading his messenger bag and laptop case in the back seat of his car, Eric looked up a final time to see Nell climb into her car and follow the NCIS SUV's out of the parking lot…it didn't sit right with him waiting until morning to check on the Cordwood property or notify the small sheriff's department. This case had drug on forever, the team, and especially Deeks, was suffering and Eric felt it was his fault…if he had just looked a little harder he might have found the property sooner…this whole nightmare might already have been over. And with two weeks having passed the team knew it was just a matter of time before Sylvia would finally dare make a move...either for vengeance or for Deeks, it was still uncertain.
He looked back at the mission, it would now be running on a skeleton staff…providing Hetty left shortly after her agents, no one would raise an eyebrow or give a second thought to Eric being in ops…he practically lived there anyway. He watched for several minutes…it was hard to tell when the operation's manager left as she parked her car on the other side of the building…but he figured she needed rest just as much as the rest of them.
Going back into ops some twenty minutes later, the night shift paid the tech little attention as he slid back into his station. Hetty was right about one thing…it was far too late for the team or the Cordwood sheriff's department to start a search of the 300 acre property…besides the inherent danger of searching the large, unfamiliar area after dark…the thought of running into the crazed woman on her own turf was not an appealing prospect.
Eric sat there a moment trying to decide what he should do…the biggest danger to them all was that they didn't know where Sylvia was at the moment; was she indeed at the farm or was she in the city-stalking Deeks, or anyone of them, at this very moment. He gave a sigh and a quick look at the overnight crew to see that he was being ignored and them keyed in the code for the nearest thermal satellite in the area…usually not something they were authorized to do, except under the most extreme of cases.
He managed to key into one that was in the general vicinity…it was moving out of range, but would give him a view of at least part of the property. He laid out the map of the farm and then keyed in the overlay thermal image area…the screen lit up with hundreds of weak dots, indicating the local wildlife…but nothing in or near the old house or cabins to indicate a human presence.
The tech frowned…while he didn't get a view of the entire 300 acres…it was still enough; and if the imaging was being translated correctly then the danger was closer than was comfortable…because that meant that Gray was no doubt in the LA area…but stalking who at the moment. Despite the safety of ops, Eric gave a shiver of fear.
With new determination, Eric began keying in the, by now, very familiar traffic cams…god, how many times had he checked these same streets over the last two weeks. He first scanned the area around the hospital where Lanni was still a patient. He then scanned the streets outside of Chris, Paula and Amanda's apartments…finding nothing overtly suspicious he then keyed up Nell's street…followed by Sam's and finally Deeks place. After nearly an hour of continually cycling though the streets around the teams' homes, Eric realized he couldn't keep it up…despite his best intentions, he was just as exhausted as the rest of them.
He then tied in the facial rec program to the traffic cam cycle, a program he ran on most days to track the team whenever they left the mission. Eric then laid back in his chair to rest his eyes…if she showed up anywhere near any these places the alarm he had also programmed in would alert him to the danger.
At 5 am the alarm startled Eric from his dozing….
….NCIS LA….
I know, evil cliffy…but I have the rest of the story sorted out, just have to flesh it out and get it down…should be one more chapter then an epilogue….it has taken me months and months and months to figure out how to involve Eric in a realistic way (at least as realistic as TV and fan fiction can be…)