SUNDAY, LATE AFTERNOON
Kensi and Deeks have spent the afternoon together. She tries to get him to join the search for Tiffany but he reminds her that the team is all over it, they have no leads for him to follow up on, and that he doesn't want to be anywhere but with her. Her smile tells him how comforting his presence is. He knows she will be done with all of it and giving her care team the riot act about going home in no time. But for how he will take her smile and be grateful that they came through another obstacle together.
She does convince him to go get her something on her approved list to drink and eat, and he kisses her and adds some gallant vocalizing of "your wish is my command." She laughs at his performance, and he laughs at the sound of her laughter. He is still chuckling when he walks past the lobby waiting area and hears his name. His full name.
"Martin Atticus Deeks." A statement not a question. A familiar tone. He tracks it to the speaker.
"Jasper Derek Grimes," Deeks responds as he crosses to the old acquaintance.
"Don't call me Jasper," JD says with a not-serious warning.
"Don't call me Martin," Deeks responds, finishing a routine they've done many times before.
"I assume this isn't a coincidence," Deeks tells him.
"No. It's not. How is your wife?"
"Much better. We're hopeful. JD, we need your help."
"I'm not here to help you." Deeks is taken aback, but JD quickly jumps in, his hand in front of him as an apology for the abruptness of the response. "I mean, I believe why I'm here will be helpful to you, but I'm here at the request of my client."
"Tiffany Williams," Deeks says as another puzzle piece comes into place.
"Tiffany Williams," he confirms.
"Is she alright?" Deeks asks, forcing himself to remember Kensi isn't the only one in the middle of this.
JD nods. "She's alright physically. She's a mess otherwise." JD takes out two large manilla envelopes and holds the first one. Deeks takes it, but looks to him for an explanation before opening.
"I just came from LAPD and gave them a copy. It's Tiffany's statement on the events of Thursday night. She recorded her statement in my office and the video and signed transcript are here. I'm sure it will corroborate Kensi's account or fill in any gaps she may have from the head injury."
"How did you…" Deeks wonders out loud how JD got info on Kensi's condition, but JD just shakes his head and waves him off, not wanting to engage that line of questioning. Deeks takes it for what it is, and exhales one long breath letting some of the tension dissipate from his shoulders. The baby is Tiffany's. If Tiffany's account matches up with Kensi's then it's all they need to quell any suspicion or misunderstanding.
"Thank you for this," Deeks says. "Is that another copy of it for NCIS?"
"Duplicates are in the envelope. Sealed. I know the drill." JD says gesturing at the first envelope. "This is more complicated," he says indicating the second envelope. "Can we sit for a minute?"
Deeks looks over his shoulder at Kensi's room. He told her he'd be right back, and after the last seventy-two hours he's not particularly keen on being away from her. He reminds himself the danger has passed and gestures to a chair. JD makes it to the chair and sits waiting for Deeks to do the same. He holds the envelope, and when Deeks reaches for it he doesn't let go.
"Listen first."
JD tells Deeks a story. How he met Tiffany. That about a year and a half ago she got mixed up with Salazar, and blinded by love, she didn't listen to anyone's warnings that he might be trouble. She lost her job during COVID, and JD gave her a job at his law firm, filing and answering phones – a lot of office management stuff. She was looking to put away some money to make a new start. Then she found out she was pregnant.
She rethought taking off. She thought maybe she, Salazar and the baby could be a family, but the further along she got the more she realized that neither of them were really the parental type. He got more and more possessive of her, and then the child, but the affection he showed at the beginning was nowhere to be found. JD was helping Tiffany with a plan when her mom died.
JD handled the estate. It took some time to deal with possessions, sell the house, everything that needed to happen. She used her job with JD to keep it all a secret from Salazar – not one piece of paper went to their house, it never even left the office. Her plan was to take the money and run when it was all settled.
"That's good," Deeks says. "She deserves a fresh start somewhere for her and the baby."
"Well running away with the child of a Villanueva family foot soldier is a dicey proposition."
Salazar was getting more possessive and jealous. Tiffany was just too anxious about everything to pull it off. He got more threatening, and when he sensed she was up to something, he told her he would kill her and the baby before he let them get away.
"Hard to be sad Kensi killed him," Deeks says under his breath. "So Tiffany's free. She and her daughter can go wherever she wants, and with a little money from her mother estate she'll get a clean start."
"Well, yes and no," JD tells him. "Tiffany's gone. She left this morning, and I've been instructed not to tell anyone where she's going."
"That's good, isn't it?" Deeks asks, unable to ascertain the source of JD's seriousness.
"She left alone. She wants to start over alone."
"She left the baby?" It's disbelief. He would worry that it sounds judgmental but the last few days have been so exhausting he can't make himself care. "Where's the baby?"
JD releases his hand on the second envelope. "That's where this comes in. Read the letter first."
Deeks is momentarily afraid to read it. Finally, he breaks the seal on the envelope, and takes the page out. It's handwritten. He wouldn't recognize Tiffany's handwriting, but every indication is it's from her. JD gives him space, and he reads.
Deeks,
I should never have called you. Things with Michael were bad. I needed help. He was going to kill me that night. I really believe that. When Kensi answered, I should have just hung up. The last time I was in that much trouble I almost ruined your life. This time I almost ruined Kensi's.
I'm so sorry I left Kensi in that house. I called 911. I did. But I was afraid to be there when the police came and afraid there might be more of Michael's friends coming.
I'm leaving LA. All I find in this town is trouble. Too much history. Too many friends with bad ideas. I'm starting over. I'll always be grateful for everything you've done to help me. You were the only one who looked at me and saw more than a teenage hooker. You were the only one who believed in me.
But if I want a different life I need to go find it. I'm going to start over on my own.
I want you and Kensi to take care of the baby. She'll be better off with you. I already signed the paperwork to make you and Kensi her mom and dad. All you have to do it sign. Her biological dad is dead. He had no family. I have no family. I'm the only one who gets a say, and I say this is what's best for her. You two will give her all the love she needs to have a good life.
I'm not even going to tell you her name. You give her a name that means something to you. You'll be a great family.
Thank you. I know you'll say yes, and knowing that is how I have enough peace to go start over somewhere new.
Tiffany
Deeks's eyes are wide and he's blinking while he gets himself under control. He opens the folder that accompanied the letter, and his lawyer skills kick in. It's a petition for an order of adoption.
JD has stayed in the area while he read it, giving Deeks some semblance of privacy. He keeps his distance until Deeks looks up. His expression is disbelief. JD still being there gives him a sanity check that he didn't imagine it all.
JD has walked people through some tough times, and he recognizes the look on Deeks' face. He needs someone to deal with the logistics while he wraps his own mind around the gravity of what is happening.
"Talk to Kensi. Sign the papers. Call this number." JD hands Deeks a card. "We'll have someone file them for an emergency determination. We'll get the child out of foster care, and we'll get her home with you. If that's what you want. If we're ready to file when the court opens tomorrow we could have a hearing by Tuesday."
"What happens when she changes her mind and comes back? It will destroy Kensi. It will crush me. I don't know that I can just jump in knowing that the only thing predictable about Tiffany is her talent for being unpredictable."
"She's gone, Deeks. She never felt a connection. She was good to..." JD almost says the baby's name but catches himself. "She was good to the baby, but never connected. I think she thought the baby would make Salazar who she thought he was, that it would if him, but she was fooling herself from the beginning."
"We could help her with the baby if she needs help."
"She doesn't want help. She wants to move on. It isn't a choice you can understand, but I really think this may be the best outcome."
"You really think you could get an emergency hearing that quickly?" Deeks asks, for the first time letting his mind process the reality of what he's holding.
"Deeks, you're a lawyer. You know how this works. Let my office handle the specifics. I can't surf, I'm a crappy golfer, and LAPD doesn't like my driving skills, but I'm a better lawyer than you. This is as solid as it gets. We've done everything on our end to respect Tiffany's instructions. She has signed the papers to sever her parental rights, and we are holding them because she only wants them filed if you and Kensi agree."
The letter is in his hand when he steps back into Kensi's room.
"I thought maybe you ran away with Nurse Anne," she jokes, as he said he'd be right back but was gone a little while. "Deeks, I'm hungry," she tells him, disappointed that all he has in his hand is paper. "What?" she asks, recognizing that he had no catchy comeback for her joke. She starts to worry. "Did you find Tiffany? Is she ok?"
"Ummm, sort of," he says enigmatically, but seeing her confusion he realizes it's a bad time to be mysterious. "We didn't find Tiffany, but her lawyer contacted us."
"I thought she considered you her lawyer."
"Apparently she's retained other representation," he tells her.
"What did her lawyer say?"
Deeks tells her what he knows, that Tiffany got away unharmed Thursday night. She took Kensi's car and drove it downtown. She parked it where she thought it wouldn't get found, and put so many levels down in the garage that they didn't get a GPS signal from it. That she wanted to leave but didn't want to leave the baby with Salazar and knew he'd never let her go. That now that Salazar is out of the picture, she thinks it's the right time for a fresh start. That she swore out a statement that corroborates Kensi's version of events Thursday night and that it's been delivered to LAPD.
"Her boyfriend looked like a real piece of work. If she and the baby get a fresh start that's great."
"Well, there's the wrinkle," he tells her. "She didn't take the baby. She left the baby in the state's care and left."
"What? Why would…." She stops, changing her train of thought. "She was so scared. She'll come back when she's had some time. We can help find her."
"That isn't what she wants."
"Well what does she want?" Kensi asks.
"This," he tells her, taking the letter he's holding and handing it over to his wife. He watches her face as she reads it, looking for any hint of where her head is. There's disbelief. That's evident. And then excitement and guilt and anxiety. And more disbelief.
"I….," she begins, but doesn't know what to say next. And then the final memory hits her. She sees it again like she's reliving it. She silent, but her hand reaches out. Her fingertips dance on his forearm and she pulls him close.
"Babe, are you ok?" He can't read her expression.
"I want to say yes, I absolutely want to say yes. But what if she comes back in a few months and wants her back. Would we just hand her over? Would we fight her? Adopting the child of someone we know seems more complicated than a stranger."
"She signed the paper to sever her parental rights and told her lawyer to file it with the courts if we say yes. I've looked over the documents. It's airtight."
Kensi wants to believe. She looks at the letter one more time, as though it will yield any additional wisdom or information. She looks up at Deeks, her reluctance changing to hope. "A baby girl?" she asks him.
"A baby girl." It's said in wonder. "There are still hoops, but the paperwork's all ready to be filed. It could happen pretty quickly if we sign the papers. And we'd still need a judge's determination, and there's always some amount of uncertainty depending on the judge and the state's recommendation."
He reaches into the envelope and takes out the pen JD wisely included inside. He tempered her excitement with reality, but it didn't temper his. Despite the fact that there is still a chance their petition isn't approved, he's willing to take jump in. He can't imagine not. He doesn't think he'd forgive himself if he didn't.
"Even if we sign it, it might not happen," she confirms.
"They could refuse to hear it as an emergency petition. They could hear it as an emergency and decide to defer the decision until they get more information. They could defer and have the request rejected. There are lots of things that could happen," he tells her realistically.
"But if we don't sign, then there's no chance," She points out. He loves the optimism of the comment. He just nods, and she lets a smile spread across her face. "I want to be bold with you," she tells him, and puts her hand out for the pen. He hands it over, not believing they are so close to something they want so much. She puts the papers on the sliding table across her lap and signs her name. Then she deliberately turns the papers to face him, putting the pen in his reach.
"We're doing this," she whispers.
"We're doing this," he says as he takes the pen.