Operation Formosa
Disclaimer: NCISLA characters belong to Shane Brennan. All original characters and this story are mine.
Chapter 12
The weekend was perfect in so many ways. Inviting Philipe to be their chef for the weekend earned Callen more brownie points. They relaxed, walked lazily to the beach and along the sandy shores till the sun went down. There was nothing anyone could complain about except it went too fast. Before either of them knew it they were pulling into the mission ready for another week. Callen couldn't suppress his grin, he knew Sam would pick up on it immediately. They'd arrived back to Los Angeles early to tell their boys the news, both had goofy grins spread across their faces. They couldn't be happier. It was what the boys needed, something concrete to make them family. Callen returned to the pile of paperwork on his desk and waited for the rest of his team to arrive. His face had been kissed by the sun, the pale skin of winter had gone in both of them. Bronte particularly looked much healthier since the Nassirs had been taken by the Formosa Cartel. Since the head had been killed, the cartel had disbanded, but they knew that other cartels popped up in its place. Intelligence gathering continued to keep an eye on the Columbian situation and any future threats on the states. So far all was well, but they knew it was a matter of time before one popped up on their radar and caused problems for them.
But they weren't the only ones that had made the most of their weekend. Marty Deeks and Kensi Blye had spent their weekend at the beach surfing. Deeks had taught Kensi how to surf in the past, just as partners, but this weekend was not about partners of the work kind. Finally after what felt like months of mixed communication, they crossed the line and became a boy and a girl who were falling in love. The first signs something was different was how quiet they were when they entered the mission. The second was how relaxed and comfortable they were in each others company. Callen managed to suppress his own excitement and watched them closely, giving his partner looks when he thought they weren't looking. It gave Callen the perfect distraction from off him and Bronte.
"How was your weekend, G?" Sam finally asked, they were heading off to the gym for hand to hand combat training. They needed to stretch their muscles after the morning sitting at their desks.
"Perfect." His wide grin returned, "she said yes."
Sam pulled him in for a man hug, "congrats, G. I'm so happy for you both. So when's the date?"
"A month away."
Sam raised his brow, "so fast?"
"Before she changes her mind." Callen stretched his muscles ready for Sam to attack. They stood on the mat at the ready.
Nell popped her head in, "we have a case. You're needed up in Ops immediately. She dashed back out, and she sat as if she never left her station when the partners arrived moments later to be filled in.
"What do we have?" Callen looked at the images up on the screen. It looked like a marine had been murdered from where he stood.
"Master Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Wilkinson's body was found this morning by his wife. She'd been away for the past week with their three children, visiting her parents in Florida." Callen shifted his eyes to Bronte, he noticed her body tense.
"We're waiting on an autopsy to determine how long he's been dead. From initial reports, the stabbing he sustained to the abdomen looks like the cause of death. There's a lot of blood pooled around his body on the wooden floor."
"Sam and I will speak with the wife. Deeks and Kensi, you speak with his Commanding Officer." They nodded and left, the addresses were already on their cells, Eric and Nell were efficient.
"I'll feel much better when Bronte stops reacting to cases that reminds her of losing Greg," Callen heaved out to his partner.
"It takes time, G. She may never get over it."
"She looked well for the first time in months this morning, now she looks pale like when Mick and Melissa were abducted."
"I noticed. I can have Michelle talk with her if you like?"
Callen shook his head, "she'll know I've spoken to you about it if you do. Thanks, but I think this is something I'm going to have to speak to Nate's friend, Dr Carter."
"She still seeing her?"
"Yes. She needs to, I don't know how long, but she pushed her grief away and avoided it for so long, especially with Joshua."
"This visit isn't going to be an easy one, you know that, don't you G?" He knew Sam spoke from the personal front, the wife who'd just lost her husband in a brutal manner.
Callen sighed, "I know. Now I'm a parent and about to get married, these sorts of cases will be too close to home. At least it's not the wife that's dead, I can deal with that."
"You still worry about her after what Formosa did to her, don't you?"
"I don't think I'll ever stop. It's a good thing Hetty's retired and placed her safe inside the office."
"Where she can watch you place yourself in danger everyday on the job. It's not going to be pretty for her, G."
Callen caught Sam's gaze, "I'm trying to not think about it."
"Vance may want to move her out of the office where she can't be affected from making the right decision once he finds out the two of you are engaged."
Callen furrowed his brow, "he wouldn't would he?"
"It only works for Michelle and I because we work for different agencies. And the fact she retired when we had Kamran."
"Until an old case comes up and they have to take up old aliases again. I saw what it did to you, Sam."
"Be prepared for it to happen, G. Bronte's an experienced agent with a career spanning fifteen years in our agency. She's bound to have made enemies, not just the psychotic Formosa."
Callen pondered on Sam's words, it was one thing for Bronte to worry about him. He could deal with it knowing he'd survived so much already and he had Sam watching his back. But he couldn't watch her in danger again. He hoped nothing else from her past came back to haunt her, especially the toll the Formosa Cartel had on her. That was more than enough to last a lifetime.
Sam pulled up at the victim's home. They showed their id's to the local police and they moved underneath the police tape. The blood and body had been removed, it was a good thing, there had been so much blood. But blood splatters on the walls remained. They looked at the tape on the floor where their victim died in relation to the blood splatter.
"He was standing over here," Callen noted. "Then he struggled this way before he fell to the floor. Why did he move in this direction, the phone is over here?" Callen furrowed his brow in concentration. He walked in the direction the victim had moved. He stopped and turned around trying to figure it out. He squatted and scanned the area. He narrowed his eyes and then he spotted it. Underneath the sofa he found a thumb drive. He pulled his black latex gloves on and picked it up. "I think that Wilkinson was trying to protect whatever is on this."
"We'll get it to Eric for analysis." Sam frowned, "not a nice welcome home with the kids in tow." Just as Sam finished speaking, the assigned Detective, Christopher Devon entered the room.
"The wife is sitting out back, but I don't think she can tell you anything, she only arrived home this morning."
"She might have an idea over who might want her husband dead," Sam replied.
"If you don't need me, I have another case."
"Thanks for keeping the scene preserved."
"Not a problem." Detective Devon hated cases like this, such a brutal killing, he was pleased to be passing the case over to NCIS. He had enough on his plate as it was.
Callen and Sam exited the rear of the house and found Wilkinson's wife, Emily. "Mrs Wilkinson, I'm Special Agent Callen and this is my partner, Special Agent Hanna. We're with NCIS. We would like to ask you some questions." Emily Wilkinson stared out into the garden, her thoughts far away into the abyss. "Mrs Wilkinson?"
Emily's gaze shifted to her visitors. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe he's gone." Her body shuddered from the memory of finding her husband's body.
"We're sorry for your loss."
Callen and Sam sat down at the outdoor table. "I found this in the living room, do you know what's on it that would have him killed?"
She shook her head, "I've never seen that thumb drive before."
"I think your husband was trying to hide it from whoever tried to kill him."
She furrowed her brows, "why would someone kill him for something so small?"
"Unfortunately it looks like they did." Callen watched the woman closely, she was still in shock. He wondered if this is what Bronte had been like after losing Greg and Carrie. He shook the thoughts from his head, he needed to focus. "Do you have any camera surveillance around the house?"
She shook her head, "no. We never had the need for any. It's always been a safe neighbourhood."
Not anymore, Callen thought. He knew the neighbourhood from his youth. It had been one of the good foster families, although he only stayed for four weeks. "If you can think of anything, please call us." Callen gave her his business card. There wasn't anything else they could do from here, they needed to get the thumb drive back to Eric for answers.
Office of Special Projects
Kensi and Deeks entered the old Water Commission building and climbed the stairs. "Any word from Callen or Sam?" Kensi had expected to see them when they entered Ops.
"No. They could be still talking to the wife." Nell continued typing away at her computer, searching for anything to help find the killer.
"They left before us, Callen called us. He said he found a thumb drive near the victim's body, he thinks that whatever is on it might be why he was killed."
Nell knitted her brows together, "they should be back."
Before she could say anything to Eric, he had Sam's GPS locator on his challenger brought up on the screen. "That's odd."
"What is?"
"It says that the challenger is in the multi-storey carpark at the Beverly Centre. Why would they be there? If they have evidence, they wouldn't do anything to prevent them from coming here. This doesn't make sense."
"Can you look at any cameras in the parking lot to see if his vehicle is there?"
"On it." Eric brought up live feeds of the said Beverly Centre carpark, after a few minutes, he found Sam's challenger.
"No signs of Sam or Callen."
"Go back fifteen minutes," Deeks suggested. They watched the feed from earlier, Sam pulled the challenger into the car parking spot, Callen beside him. Both men quickly exited the vehicle, they scanned the area and bolted for the stairs. "They're being followed." Deeks stepped closer. "Can you see who?" They watched as an unmarked van entered the same level car park and pulled up beside the challenger. They looked around and three men left for the stairs. "Kensi and I are on our way, call LAPD for backup." Deeks and Kensi bolted out of Ops and ran swiftly down the stairs and out the door for their silver SUV.
Bronte looked up from her laptop, she had expected Callen and Sam to be back by now, she'd seen the junior partners arrive and rush out the door. She was a curious creature, she ran up the stairs, two by two and entered the sliding doors. Her heart stopped for a brief moment, security images of Callen and Sam running with three men chasing them. "What's going on?"
Eric and Nell jumped at the sound of her voice. "Callen and Sam should have returned by now, Eric searched for the GPS in Sam's car, he located them at the Beverly Centre multi-storey car park. We couldn't understand why they didn't come back here. Kensi said Callen found a thumb drive at the victim's home. It looks like someone figured Callen and Sam have it, he thinks that Wilkinson was killed for whatever is on it."
Shivers ran down her spine. Fear for Callen and Sam rushed through her. "Have either of them issued agent in distress code yet?"
"No."
"They must think they're okay. Call them." She waited with her hands gripped hard on the table. Her knuckles went white like marble. She hoped Deeks and Kensi arrived to back them up soon.
"They're not picking up." Frustration seeped through in Nell's voice.
Eric brought up more camera footage. "They've moved into a more public place, they're on the ground level of the the Beverly Centre."
"They're probably trying to get lost in the crowds. Try their cells again." Nell dialled Sam's cell this time.
"Now's not a good time, Nell."
"We're watching you on the security cameras. Deeks and Kensi are on their way. LAPD are sending some units."
"Good. We need to lead them away from the crowds. Can't afford to have innocents get caught in the crossfire."
"You can hide in the crowds, wait for backup."
"We think there's a tracking device in this thumb drive G's found. We were followed from Wilkinson's house. Couldn't afford to have us traced back to any of our safe houses."
"Good move. There's an Apple store, ask an employee to take you through to the back to upload the data and send it through to us."
Sam scanned the shops, "I see it, it's on the first floor. G, up there." Sam pointed to the the Apple store and they bolted up the stairs.
Ten tech employees stood waiting to help customers as they entered. Another fifteen were busy with customers already. Callen walked up to one who looked fairly senior, although they all looked like they were fresh out of college. The man was serving a customer, he was taken aback by Callen's abruptness. "Sorry, government business, we need your help. Get someone else to serve the customer." He showed his badge and the man quickly called a free employee over.
"Shane will help you," he told his customer. He led Callen and Sam through to the back into the secured area. The adrenaline pumped through their veins.
"We don't have much time. We need to upload what's on here to a secure system, can you help us?"
The man nodded. "Of course." Richard logged into a Macbook Pro and handed it over to Callen. Callen inserted the thumb drive and typed into the office's secure system.
"Are you getting this, Nell?" Sam remained on the cell with her until he knew they had the information.
"Yes. It's all uploaded. You will need to destroy the thumb drive."
"No." Nell could hear Callen's voice in the background. He turned to Richard.
"Do you know how to safely pull one of these apart?"
Richard nodded."What am I looking for?"
"A tracking device of some sort."
The Apple store manager nodded and quickly worked on dissembling the thumb drive. "Found it." In a matter of a minute, Richard had found the tracking device. Sam took it off him and crushed it underneath his boots.
"We need to get out of here without being seen."
"Back door. I'll show you." Richard led them through, the excitement pulsated through his body. He hoped the Federal Agents remained safe. He'd watched the Bourne movies, he was a big fan.
"Thanks." Callen and Sam ran along the corridor that led to another car park. They knew they had to search for where they left the challenger. Callen was pleased that Sam was more familiar with the mall.
"This way." He followed his partner, they ran up a flight of stairs, but Sam halted. "Damn."
"What?"
"They left their driver watching my car. We're blocked in."
"Kensi and Deeks are almost there." Nell responded.
"Tell them to meet us at my vehicle, we have a problem getting out of here."
"We can see you," Nell advised, watching their every move from the various security cameras.
They took a few breaths, they could hear the blood pulsating through their veins. A few minutes later, Sam spotted the silver SUV coming their way. Kensi drove like a mad woman, Callen was glad he wasn't in there. The thought of the motion sickness he often suffered at her hands made him queazy. But he was glad she was the one behind the wheel, they needed to get the driver of the van distracted so they could get out of there.
"Get out of my way," Kensi shouted and honked her horn.
"Go around me," The driver replied and motioned with his arm.
She honked again. "I want this spot, you're blocking it." Deeks moved silently as she distracted him, before the driver could react, Deeks punched him through his open window, knocking him unconscious.
Sam and Callen moved out towards the challenger. "Perfect timing."
"You guys okay?" Kensi's face became serious.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Anytime. You better get out of here, we'll wait for the others, LAPD have all exits blocked from the car park."
"Good move, unless they run on foot. Then we've lost them for good."
"You have to get the thumb drive back to Ops."
"You take it," Callen decided. "We can wait out for our new friends." A smirk crossed his features.
"They won't suspect we've passed it on. We managed to get the intel uploaded, Eric and Nell are analysing it already."
"Good. Are you sure?"
Sam nodded. "Go. Get that thing out of here."
Kensi nodded and they both climbed back inside the SUV and drove off. Now the tracking device had been removed, it was safe for them to head back to the mission.
Sam and Callen waited on either side of the stairs for the three assailants. Deeks and Kensi had left five minutes before the three armed men arrived. The senior partners took them down in three swift moves. LAPD came and took the suspects into custody and headed off to the Boat Shed along with the driver whom Deeks knocked unconscious. He'd started to stir when the cuffs were locked onto his wrists.
"All in a good day's work," Callen smirked across to his partner.
"And it's only lunchtime." Sam's stomach groaned.
"Let's get something to eat from here before we head back. I'm starving."
"I thought you had Philipe cook for you all weekend?"
"We did. But breakfast was at five this morning. It feels like dinnertime." Sam nodded, it had been an exciting morning indeed.
Bronte sighed with relief when Callen and Sam arrived back to the mission. "Where have the two of you been? Deeks and Kensi have been back for over an hour."
"You missed me?" Callen stepped forward, but she held up her hands in defence.
"I saw you being chased, G. This isn't something to make light of. You should have issued an agent in distress call immediately."
"We were fine. Are fine. We captured the bad guys didn't we?"
"This time. You need to come upstairs and look at what Eric and Nell have found on the thumb drive."
"That interesting?"
"Yes." They followed her up, Callen could see the strain on Bronte's face from that morning. Sam was right, perhaps it was better if Bronte and he didn't work on the same team. She'd only worry every time he was in danger. Her reaction when he returned was proof of that.