Operation Formosa
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 8
Hilton Checkers Hotel, Los Angeles
Deeks and Kensi entered the Hilton dressed up for the night out. Deeks was in a navy suit and baby blue shirt that made him look every bit the part of the lawyer that he was. Martin Davies escorted his lovely wife, Jennifer, to the front desk. "Mr and Mrs Davies. We have a reservation."
"Welcome to the Hilton, Mr and Mrs Davies. Please sign here and may I please see some form of identification."
Deeks pulled out his alias' drivers licence and nibbled on his wife's ear, to scan the lobby area of the hotel. Kensi looked in the other direction, but neither could see anyone linked with the Formosa Cartel.
"Here is your key. You're in one of our Junior Suites on the fifteenth floor." Deeks looked at the number and smiled at his partner. "Thank you very much. I'm sure we'll enjoy our stay." He led his so called wife to the elevator and captured her lips for all around them to see, as they waited for the lift doors to open. It was imperative for any guests or hotel staff not to suspect them to be Federal Agents.
Ops Centre
Nell and Eric had pulled through and found the information that they needed. In one of the other Junior Suites, Mr and Mrs Nassir were booked in and according to surveillance cameras, they entered thirty minutes earlier than Kensi and Deeks. Although they looked to be alone, Nell and Eric noticed the three men who hovered around them.
"Okay, Sam and Gibbs. You're turn to clean some windows on the fifteenth floor." It was the easiest floor for them to arrive onto to clean the windows, with the patio that stretched around the suites from the Presidential suite. With the bucket and squeegee in hand, the two agents posed as window cleaners began to get to work. They began with the Presidential suite before moving along to the Junior suites. "Okay, Callen. You're up."
Dressed in a waiter's outfit, Callen knocked on the suite where the Nassirs were booked into. "Your meal has arrived, Sir." Callen pretended to be a Russian, putting on his usual accent when undercover. Thankfully, Mick answered the door and relief washed over their agent, who was relieved to know that the team had come up with a plan to rescue him and his wife, Melissa.
Another man stood in the room and was annoyed over Callen being there. "We did not order anything." He came over and told Callen after he'd wheeled the trolley into the room.
Deeks timed it perfectly, coming in behind him, telling Callen that it was their order, picking up on the Columbian's protest for the food. "Excuse me, Sir, but this is the suite where I was instructed to bring the food to. I cannot just deliver to anyone who comes chasing after me, telling me that it's their food." Callen continued to argue with Deeks, as Kensi, who was crouched down underneath the trolley and hidden by the cloth, peeped out and found her target. She blew a dart laced with a sleeping sedative into his leg and waited for him to collapse. Please that her work was complete, she climbed out from underneath the trolley and handed Mick a weapon. DiNozzo knocked on the door, stating that he was called up due to some misunderstanding. Deeks and Callen both tried to explain their side of the misunderstanding, while Mick whispered to Kensi that Melissa was in the bathroom with the other two men.
"Someone's leaving the bathroom." Gibbs quietly called through on the comms, giving the other agents the heads up. Kensi hid behind the curtain as the second man entered the bedroom. Surprised to see the commotion still going on, he looked puzzled as to where his companion had gone to. Kensi walked up behind him and inserted another dart into his neck. He went down immediately, leaving one last man with Melissa.
Sam quietly cut into the glass of the bathroom and peeped through. Melissa sat in the bathtub, with her captor sitting on the toilet seat, holding a gun. He recognised the frustrations surging through the Columbian. From the photos that Nell and Eric had sent through, he knew that this was the new head of the Formosa Cartel. It was easier than they thought, to fool the Columbian and to chop the head off the cartel on their home turf. Sam fired his weapon through the hole and hit Adán Formosa in the head. He slumped to the floor and blood poured out onto the ceramic tiles. Melissa screamed and Mick ran in with his weapon held out front. Kensi and Callen followed and relief flooded their system that Adán Formosa and his men had been taken without a hitch.
Mick placed the safety switch back on his weapon and slid it into the small of his back. He pulled Melissa out of the bath tub and wrapped his arms around her. He let her cry and get the emotions of their abduction run through her system. She hadn't understood any of what they had been through that day, only that the man wanted Bronte. She'd heard Mick tell the Columbian about his son, Josh, but she was still puzzled. She looked up at him and he wiped her tears away.
"Mick." She took in a ragged breath to gain strength to continue. "Why did he want Bronte and why did he think that Joshua was his son?"
Mick looked awkwardly over to Callen and Kensi. Callen urged Kensi to leave them be and not to mention anything about what she had just heard to anyone. Kensi nodded and left, leaving Callen alone with them.
"Gibbs told me, Mick," Callen admitted. "I promised I would never tell her what really happened."
Mick nodded. "Thanks, Callen. I appreciate it, but it won't be easy. Not now. She'll want answers to why we were taken and by whom."
"We could just tell her that someone from your last case followed you and we've dealt with them, so it's now safe." Callen felt the need to protect Bronte at all costs, just like Mick and Gibbs had done before him.
"Mick?" Melissa had a quizzical expression on her face. "What happened?"
"Not now, Mel. Let's go home to our kids." He looked over to Callen. "Thanks for the rescue. I owe you one."
"No, Mick. That makes us even for when I threw you into the marina tied to concrete blocks."
Mel furrowed her brow, "What in the world is he talking about?"
"Long story, Mel. We'll talk later. But promise me that you won't say a word to Bronte about any of this. Only that someone from my last case followed me home. Okay?"
Melissa nodded, although she wasn't happy about it.
"Bronte and Hetty are with your kids at a safe house. I'll take you straight there."
"Thanks, Callen. They must be scared after what happened."
"Ella hid in a closet until Bronte found her. Thomas was found by LAPD crying in his cot, but once he saw Bronte, he's settled. They both have."
Safe House
There were tears when Mick and Melissa entered the safe house and reunited with their children. Ella ran into her daddy's arms and snuggled into his shoulder. Thomas waddled, refreshed after his sleep and dinner. Melissa scooped him up into her arms and kissed his chubby cheeks. "We've missed you two so much." Melissa told them, thankful to be home.
"We missed you too." Ella told them.
Bronte walked over and hugged Melissa and Mick, relieved that they were found safe. "So glad the two of you are okay." She quickly wiped the tears that fell down her cheeks, annoyed with herself for getting so emotional. She turned to Callen. "Thank you, for finding them. Where did you find them?"
"In an abandoned warehouse in Montebello." Mick told her, surprising Bronte for answering for Callen. But the truth was, he needed to hide the truth of what really went down that day from her. Questions would be asked if the hotel came into mention.
"Told you that Eric and Nell are the best at what they do." Callen added, to take the pressure off Mick from Bronte's inquisitiveness. Mick was right about one thing, it was going to be difficult to keep this secret from her and he understood the strain Mick had been under for all of these years. If Bronte found out, the guilt that she would carry with her over the death of Greg and Carrie would be too much for her. Not that any of this ever had been her fault. She was the victim, but thankfully she had been drugged and had no memory of her time in captivity with the Columbian.
There was a knock on the door and when Bronte answered it, her face lit up, seeing Gibbs and DiNozzo on the front verandah. "It's about time you came to L.A., Tony." She hugged both men and urged them inside.
"We couldn't head home without seeing you, Bron." Gibbs nodded over to Hetty who walked over and hugged him. "Nor your Mother. Hello, Hetty."
"Jethro, it's good to see you again." She looked over at his companion and sized him up. "It's good to see that your team have better dress sense than my team here in Los Angeles." She stepped forward and outstretched her hand.
"Hetty Lange."
Tony look down at the petite woman and felt her presence was as he'd heard. Never take this woman for her small package. She was larger than life. "Tony DiNozzo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lange. You may be a puzzle, but I like the way the parts fit."
Hetty roared out laughing at his use of one of Frank Sinatra's quotes. "I see that Bronte told you that I know Frank personally." She patted the back of Tony's hand she still held. "I've heard a great deal about you, Mr DiNozzo. You're love for the classics is the part I would love to spend more time talking with you about."
"If only we had the time." Tony relaxed and noted just how intricate Hetty was as a woman. When she needed to be she was the tough ninja, but here in amongst family she was a pleasure.
"Yes, I'm afraid we're needed back east, Hetty." Gibbs added and wrapped his arms around Bronte once more. "Good to see you both are safe now, Mick. It was good to see you again, Melissa."
"Thank you, Gibbs, for coming all of this way to help Callen and his team find us. You too, Tony." Melissa shook Tony's hand and gave Gibbs a hug.
Hetty and Bronte looked between them, curious to know exactly the details on what had gone down. But the main thing was that Mick and Melissa were now safe and could go home with their children and not fear about being taken captive again. But Bronte was too much like her mother, it was no surprise once the Nassirs, Gibbs and Tony left, did she start inquiring for more information.
"Not much to tell, Bron. All you need to know is that Mick and Melissa are safe and the danger has been eliminated."
Hetty watched on and she knew her team leader well. He's hiding something. She'd seen it in Mick's eyes too. Not just today, but when Greg and Carrie were killed. Mick knows something and Callen now knows what it is. And I'll put my house on it, Gibbs knows it too, she pondered to herself. She brought a tray of tea out onto the verandah and joined Callen and Bronte who watched Michael and Max continue the leaf fight that Callen had enjoyed earlier with them and Ella. "Nothing like a good cup of tea to end the day with. You must both be exhausted. How about I cook you all dinner over at my place tonight?" She looked between them and suddenly doubted that either would even make it. They both looked shattered, which she realised was unusual for Callen. For a man who rarely slept, he looked like he was carrying the weight of the universe on his shoulders.
"I'll think we'll pass, Mom. But thank you. I've had a long day, starting early in D.C. I can't believe that Gibbs and Tony can return straight away and not want a good night's sleep first." She rested her head on Callen's shoulder, her eyes closed and soon her breathing evened and deepened.
"Why don't the four of you stay here for the night, Mr Callen. It looks like the boys are happy here. Have you thought about moving into a larger house?" Callen looked around and nodded. "I have, but the hassle of finding a good neighbourhood and a house at our price has put us off from looking. Plus we've been so busy with work of late." Callen gently moved hair from off Bronte's face and kissed her on the temple.
"Why don't you move into this place. The four of you look so relaxed here. I don't think I've ever seen you so happy with the kids before today." Hetty stood up with the empty cups of tea and pot. "Think about it. After what I witnessed earlier, I can see that the two of you might be thinking of expanding your family."
Callen raised his brow in surprise. "I don't think Bronte could go there again, Hetty. After all that she's lost already, it's a big step for her."
"I know all too well what she's been through. Yet after losing Joshua, she still fell in love with Greg and had Carrie and Max. In time she'll be ready for it. That I am certain. I see it in your eyes, Mr Callen. Your desire to have children with her." She left him alone to ponder on her words. Even if Bronte didn't want to take that step, she wasn't alone anymore, she had Callen to be there with her and she knew that with all that she'd heard from Vance, trouble from the Formosa Cartel would soon be a thing of the past.