Chapter 20

Several days later, Deeks walked into ops with Kensi, he was dressed in a nice suit and tie, carrying a briefcase as well as his normal messenger bag. Open mouths met his appearance. "Don't swallow your tongues and don't get used to it! I have to attend a deposition with Meaghan this morning as I'm her attorney. We're meeting with Paul Timmons's attorney at 10:30 at his office."

"How's she holding up?" asked Callen.

"She's a trooper. We've prepped for this meeting and I think she's as ready as she'll ever be. I think she's actually enjoying her first excursion into the legal world. She keeps asking me all kinds of questions about the law. If I'm not mistaken, she might be considering a career as an attorney."

"G. We need to have a talk with her as soon as possible! This has to be nipped in the bud right now!" quipped Sam.

"Ha, ha, ha. I'll have you know that most lawyers are hardworking, honest people. You only hear about the crooked ones, same as with cops. Anyway, I should only be gone a couple hours. Any update from the wonder twins?"

"Nothing yet, Deeks. Give them time. They can only work on researching Timmons when there's nothing else going on." replied Callen. The day the team had agreed to look into the judge, they'd caught a case concerning a dead marine with possible ties to theft of armament from Camp Pendleton. They'd managed to find the missing weapons and put away the rest of the men the marine had been working with, one of whom had killed the man, thinking he was double crossing them. None of them had had any time to focus on Timmons, being more focused on staying alive.

"That's cool. You know how much I appreciate any time you guys can give me on this." Deeks directed the last statement to everyone in the room, including Kensi. They all nodded and got back to work. The sooner the after action reports on the case that had wrapped up last night were done, the sooner they could focus on Timmons. As long as another case didn't drop in their laps.

At 10:00, Deeks saved the last of his paperwork and stood up. "I need to head downtown now. Like I said, I should only be a couple hours."

Kensi looked up "Want some company?"

"Kensalina, I always want your company but this is going to be boring. You can't come into the room with Meaghan and me; you'll have to either wait in the car or the waiting room. The only people who'll be allowed inside will be Meaghan, me and her mom."

"Still beats paperwork and I would be there to have your back." Getting to the real reason she wanted to go with him she added "Maybe the four of us could go out to lunch afterwards?" The two Shelton women had fast become a fixture in her and Deeks's lives. The Admiral was away from home so often, they didn't see much of him, but they saw Laura and Meaghan at least once a week for the self-defense lessons, as long as they weren't on a case, and often stayed for brunch afterwards. The first impression Laura had made on them had faded and they both considered the women friends. Kensi knew something had been exchanged between Laura and Deeks last Saturday. There had been a marked change in their interactions since, Deeks now easily calling her Laura instead of Mrs. S. or Mrs. Shelton. She hadn't pried and he hadn't volunteered. She had an idea that Laura had shared something with him, something he felt honor bound to keep to himself. While it drove her nuts not knowing, she respected his need to keep a confidence.

"Come on Deeks. Let me come with you. Let me come with you. Let me come with you." Kensi wheedled, changing her inflection each time she said it. He laughed and held out his hand, pulling her up out of her chair and the two left the Mission, still hand in hand. Sam and Callen exchanged a smile and went back to their paperwork. Once the worry about the two of them having a romantic relationship outside work had worn off, the more they realized that the two of them had always been one unit, perfectly complementing each other. The change in their personal lives had had little to no impact on their job performance; in fact, they seemed even more cohesive than ever before.

Pulling into a parking space in front of the law firm of Miller, Miller and Crosby, Deeks turned to Kensi and asked "Do you want to stay here or come in?"

"I'll come in. At least it'll be air-conditioned." They walked into the building together.

Meaghan and Laura were already there, waiting on Deeks. Both were pleased to see Kensi and happily agreed to do lunch when the deposition was done. Now that everyone was present, the secretary led Deeks, Laura and Meaghan to a small conference room, asking if anyone wanted anything. When they all replied no, she left them alone. Deeks turned to Meaghan "How're you doing sweetie? Everything ok? You remember everything I told you? Answer concisely. Only answer what they ask, don't volunteer any additional information. If you aren't sure how to answer, look at me, I'll help you. If I feel the line of questioning is irrelevant to the case, I'll step in."

"Marty! We've been over this a hundred times. I think you're more nervous than I am!" Meaghan laughed.

The door opened and Ken Crosby, attorney for Paul Timmons stepped in. The man that followed him caused the temperature to drop in the room. Judge Mitchell Timmons walked in as if he had every right to be there. Looking at the three people sitting on the other side of the table he said "Deeks." disdain dripping from the one word.

Replying in kind, Deeks said "Timmons."

"Judge Timmons!"

"Detective Deeks." Their exchange over, Deeks turned to the other attorney. "Judge Timmons has no right to be here. This deposition is only between you, Meaghan and me, as her attorney. If he stays, this meeting is over with, now!

Ken Crosby held up his hand. "Judge Timmons asked to be included as a professional courtesy. I see no reason why he can't remain."

Deeks looked at the man incredulously. "You see no reason why he can't remain? He's the defendant's father! His son assaulted and attempted to rape my client!"

"Allegedly, Detective, allegedly!" Timmons contributed smugly.

"There's no alleged about that video footage! Your son did attack my client and he will pay for it!" Deeks responded.

"Pay, detective? Is that what this is about? Extorting money from me and my family?"

Before Deeks had a chance to respond, Laura stepped in. "I don't know you Judge Timmons nor do you know me or my family. If you did, you would know the last thing we need from you is money. Your son did what he did and needs to be punished for it!"

"My son was attacked by your daughter who broke his nose! If anyone should be on trial here, it should be her!"

Deeks intervened before things got more out of hand. "If Judge Timmons is to remain, we're leaving now. We'll reschedule, at a time of our convenience and he will not be there. At this point, I think my client has been traumatized enough for today. I will also be lodging a complaint about this. It's unethical and you know it!" he threw the last at the attorney now standing red faced beside the judge. Deeks sighed; Timmons had thrown his weight around again, probably threatening the other attorney. He stood and motioned to Meaghan and Laura to precede him from the room.

Kensi looked up in surprise from the magazine she had been flipping through when the three of them reentered the waiting room. "That was quick!" Seeing the thunderous look on Deeks's face and the shell-shocked looks on Meaghan's and Laura's, she quickly added "What's wrong? What happened?" She looked past him to see Judge Timmons entering the room with another man she didn't recognize. Her mouth dropped open.

"Let's go. We're out of here!" said Deeks, storming past her, Meaghan and Laura hurrying along in his wake.

Kensi hesitated and looked the judge in the eyes. He didn't know who she was and dismissed her immediately as not worth his attention. That is until she wouldn't drop her eyes. He frowned at her, wondering who this woman was and why she was with that detective who was playing at being a lawyer. She cast him a feral smile and said "Judge Timmons." as she turned and followed the others out. He shivered, not liking that look or her tone of voice at all. Maybe he should look into Deeks's associates.

Kensi caught up with the rest of them outside the building, Deeks pacing back and forth while the two women watched him, never having seen him so angry before. She put a hand on his arm to stop his pacing and found him shaking with anger. "Deeks, you have to let it go, for now anyway. If anything, this little stunt of his had given us more ammunition against him. He thinks he's untouchable but he is sadly mistaken." She reached up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes. She smiled at him, feeling the shaking fade and watching the anger drain from his face.

He put his forehead against hers and said "Ah, Fern. What would I do without you?"

She smiled at him, relieved he was coming down from his anger. "My intention is that you'll never have to find out!" He hugged her tight and then let her go.

He turned and started to apologize to the Sheltons. Both waved away his apologies. Laura looked at him closely "There's more between the two of you than just his son's assault on Meaghan, Marty. Do you want to fill us in?"

He raked his hand through his hair. "Yeah, actually, I do. It's a little earlier than we had planned for lunch so how about we do brunch somewhere instead and I'll tell you all about it."

The four of them agreed to meet at a new place Kensi had been dying to try and they got into their respective cars. Before starting up the SRX, Kensi turned to Deeks and said "It's going to happen, you know. We're going to take him down and he's not going to know what hit him!"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I know, I just don't want to get the Sheltons into the middle of this."

"Deeks, they were caught up in the middle of this as soon as Meaghan agreed to go out to breakfast with that man's son. They're just lucky that you're on their side. Other lawyers might be intimidated by the judge's power and connections and not have stood up for Meaghan."

"I hope so, Kens. You need to watch me, you need to make sure that I don't let my feelings about Timmons get in the way for what's best for Meaghan."

"There's no way you would ever let anything get in the way of what's best for her, but okay, I'll keep watch. Now let's go eat, I'm starving!"

He laughed with her and they pulled away from the building. Judge Timmons watched them drive away from the third floor window of the law firm. After watching the interchange between the two, he assumed the brunette was just Deeks's girlfriend and he finally dismissed her, not realizing that she was a federal agent and NCIS now firmly had him in their crosshairs. He turned and glared at his son's attorney. "I want to know when the deposition is rescheduled for."

"I can't let you come in again, sir. Deeks will never allow it!"

Sighing in frustration, Timmons turned away from Crosby and said "Very well, but I want to be told every single thing that little tramp says about what happened between her and my son. Is that understood?"

Ken Crosby frowned at the back of the man standing at the window. At this point, he really wished his firm had not taken Paul Timmons on as a client. He found himself siding with Deeks but wasn't sure how to get out from underneath the powerful man before him. For now, he would play along and see if he could find a way out. "As you wish, sir."