Yuri was picked up and Carla and I headed back to the mission. We'd just arrived when Eric called me to OPS and Hetty called Carla to her office. Nell awaited me with a file folder in her hands and a look of frustration on her face. "What did you find Nell?"

Nell placed the folder on the OPS table and opened it. "Not much. Her file is redacted almost entirely. Only the last ten years are available to us. She worked in the Philippines to keep an eye on Abu Saif for four of those years. The next six were spent in Langley working at Quantico, teaching close personal combat and the use of small arms. She met and married James Andrews while in the Phillipines. He died three years ago of a brain aneurism and it buried at Arlington. He'd been a captain during Grenada. He retired from the army and went to work for the CIA. She is singularly responsible for most of the moves we are taught at Fleetc, but before that she didn't exist; anywhere."

I caught myself being angry at the situation but realized that I'd had it pretty good the last two days. She's a capable operator and a smart woman. Why so secretive? I needed to ask Hetty some questions apparently. "Thanks Nell. Keep looking and if you find anything else, call me."

I left OPS and went back to my desk. My partner and our boss had left a note on my desk explaining that they'd gone to lunch. I guess I was on my own. I went down the block to where the food trucks parked and got a lunch which I ate at a park bench. I sat there eating and thinking about Carla and how she came into my life. I wondered if Hetty had planned the whole thing, down to Sam's deployment to Africa.

When I got back Kensi and Deeks were sitting at their desks eating lunch. "Chief Petty Officer Jones is AWOL. We've posted a bolo for him. Shore Patrol and Agent Parsons are looking for him in San Diego." Kensi looked around. "Where'd Carla go?"

Jones disappearing made the case that much easier for us but not for Yuri. He'd go down for all the murders if we didn't find Jones. We'd have to work on that one. "Hetty and Carla are having lunch somewhere. They should be back soon."

Deeks glanced at Kensi and she met his eyes and nodded back. "Let's go to the boatshed." They both got up to leave and I sensed a problem.

I didn't move from my seat. "What's going on and why the boatshed?"

Kensi looked my way and I saw concern but for who? "We need to talk without being overheard by anyone." She sent her eyes looking in the direction of Hetty's office.

My face must have given the silent agreement they needed because they went toward the door. I got up to follow them. We got halfway to the door when Hetty's voice stopped us cold. "Going somewhere?"

I stopped and turned to face her. "Yes, we have something to check out." I looked past her to see if my partner was with her. "Where's Carla?" I was really trying to give us the advantage but I didn't win anything in the process. She saw right through me. Hetty is all knowing. Deeks and Kensi wanted to share something with me and I needed to hear it.

Hetty eyed us again. "Carla had an appointment that she needed to go to. She'll be in tomorrow. Where were you going?"

Deeks met her gaze. "We were heading over to Precinct 12 to talk to an informant of mine. He works the Molina Cartel angle. He may have seen who shot Juan and Raul Molina."

Hetty gave us her nod. She wasn't buying it. "Mr. Deeks, you go see that informant. Miss Blye and Mr. Callen need to stay here in case the bolo comes back on Chief Petty Officer Jones." Hetty turned on her heel and went to her office. Kensi and I watched each other as we sat at our desks. We felt like we'd been caught with our fingers in the cookie jar. Deeks left to do whatever he could do. I kept asking myself, why did she split us up? She knows something she doesn't want us to know.

Hetty sat at her desk and pretended to be busy, but I knew that she watched us. I returned her watchful eye. Something in all this was about me and I intended to find out what.

My phone dinged with a text. "My place? Tonight?"

I nodded to her and got up to go to the armory. I needed to shoot something.

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I called home to let Sara know I'd be late. She told me to be careful and she'd save dinner for me. I'm a lucky man.

We all left work separately but we all ended up at Kensi's around seven.

Kensi opened the door to me and ushered me inside while looking around to make sure I hadn't been followed. Kensi's nerves were showing.

Deeks handed me a bottle of beer and told me to have a seat. My curiosity had been roused earlier by my friend's insistence on this meeting. Then Hetty very neatly sidelined it. That made me angry and more determined to hear what they had to say. Kensi had been stewing on something all day. I saw it in her eyes, in the set of her jaw and the drumming of her fingertips on her desk. It was eating at her and I needed that to stop, at least for her. "What's up Kensi?"

She sat peeling the label off her beer. "Last night when we were in the bar Carla told you things. What she told you didn't match the look in her eyes. She said she had two children who died years before. While it is probably true. I got the sense that it isn't exactly correct. Hetty gave me the impression that we are supposed to take her at face value and not question any of this. I can't do that."

I looked at Kensi and could see the worry in her eyes. "Is that all you have Kens?"

Her look became dark and uncertain; as if she wasn't sure she should be sharing what she knew. "She and Hetty go way back, to their youth. Carla told me her parents met in Europe and they came back here and got married. She was born in D.C and a sister was born three years later. Her father went back to Europe and was killed by a drug trafficking group. There are too many coincidences for me to be comfortable with."

I could see why she'd been worried. That was too much for me to not look at it and be curious. "Who would she be though, my aunt? She couldn't be my mother, I saw her killed in front of me."

I began to wonder about who this woman might really be. I felt a small bit of uneasiness working with her, just small waves nothing big, but it was there. That's why I'd called Nell. "I had Nell check her out. She didn't exist before ten years ago. Not in our paper work or any other agency."

I slid sat back on the couch. All of this information stunned me when put together. I put my bottle down on the table and Deeks watched me. "Listen man, if you want Kensi and me to talk with her we will. I know this might be tough on you right now."

Turmoil hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. What little beer that I'd already drank was churning inside. I broke out in a sweat and felt myself shiver. My brain went into overdrive. Who could she be? I only knew two people with that answer but finding Carla would be difficult. We had no address on her. Hetty would be in the office in the morning. I rose and started to the door. "I want to be the one to talk to them. If Carla's a part of my family then I need to the one to do this. Thanks for offering." I shook Deeks hand and hugged Kensi. I was glad that they had my back.

Kensi followed me. "Are you alright? Can we follow you home and make sure?"

I really wasn't alright but I needed my two girls. "I'll be fine. I'm going home to Sara and Gretchen. See you in the morning."

As I drove home and I thought about Carla and who she might be. The information only pointed one way and one way only.

I walked in the back door and met Sara in the kitchen and held on to her for dear life.