The near arrest and talk with Officer Hanna had sufficiently scared Deeks. He'd been close a couple of other times, but nothing like this. He'd been such an idiot to let Ray convince him to get involved.
As kindly as Donald Blye had treated him—he could have kicked him out or called Roberta—Deeks could only imagine what he really thought. Last night had essentially verified that Deeks was the juvenile delinquent everyone else saw. Soon Mr. Blye really would start reconsidering if he wanted Deeks around Kensi.
That thought scared him even more.
He'd slept a couple more restless hours before getting up to get ready for work. There was some bread and fruit in the fridge, but stomach felt too tight with anxiety to consider eating, so he just showered and threw on his work pants and shirt. That still left an hour and a half before he needed to be at work, and meant he couldn't ignore Ray's call any longer.
With a sigh, he stopped in front of the answering machine and stabbed the replay button. Ray's panicked voice filled the room again.
Deeks felt a surge of guilt, almost immediately followed by anger. None of this would have happened if Ray had just listened for once. He always thought he was smarter enough not to get caught and every poorly planned out job was too good to pass up.
With a sigh, Deeks whipped his apron off its hook, grabbed his house keys, and headed out.
For as much as Deeks had been threatened with the possibility of prison time throughout his life, he'd never actually seen the inside of one. The cop at the front desk eyed him suspiciously through the entire check in process and right up until another officer came to escort him back to the holding cells.
His heart rate spiked and his palms grew clammy the farther they went. They passed several cells with people who appeared drunk or like they'd been in some kind of fight. Most didn't look his way, and Deeks tried to avoid eye contact, but a couple stared after him, their gaze curious or malevolent.
Finally they stopped about two-thirds of the way down. Ray say hunched over on a metal bench, face lowered into his hands. Fortunately, he didn't have any cell mates.
"Martindale, you got a visitor!" The officer
Ray looked up slowly, his face pale under an uneven layer or two of stubble. He jumped up as soon as he saw Deeks.
"Marty."
"Make it quick," the officer told Deeks. "Remember we can see and hear everything." With that warning, he walked off.
"Oh thank god, Marty. I thought you weren't coming," Ray breathed out, his bloodshot eyes wide as he spoke. He looked terrible, like he'd probably slept even less than Deeks. "At first I thought they got you too."
"No, I got off with a warning," Deeks told him. "What are they holding you on?"
"Breaking and entering and resisting arrest. All I did was run." Ray shook his head, and Deeks pressed his lips together before he said something he couldn't take back.
"They set my bail at $1,000. Otherwise I gotta stay in here til my sentencing hearing or whatever."
"Dude, I don't have that kind of money," Deeks told him. "You know I don't."
"Well get it somehow," Ray said, his voice rising slightly.
"How?"
"I don't know. Ask Blye or her dad or your boss. He'd give it to you no questions asked. I just know I don't wanna spend another night in this place."
"Ray, no one is gonna give me a grand. And I'd never be able to pay it off," Deeks said incredulously. He dragged a hand through his hair. He had a few thousand in his saving account, but his mom would kill him if she found out he touched a penny. Especially for this.
"Who cares about that? I'll be rotting in here if you don't, man."
"And we could lose the house if we can't make our bills." It took all of Deeks' effort to keep his voice from shaking with anger.
"So I'll pay you back," Ray said stiffly, his eyes flashing.
"How?" Deeks laughed humorously. "With another 'job'?" He whispered the last question.
"You can't leave me in here, Marty," Ray repeated. "After everything we been through, you can't abandon me like that."
"Don't you dare," Deeks hissed, forgetting his vow to stay calm. "Don't you dare bring up our friendship again. Not for this. You almost got me arrested. I've supported you through everything, don't pretend I haven't."
"Oh yeah, you support me until it gets hard. Then you turn tail like a coward."
Deeks made an incredulous sound, turning to the side as he bit back another round of comments. He inhaled deeply until he felt less like hitting something, and turned back to face Ray.
"Look, I'll see if I can find a lawyer who does pro bono cases," he offered.
"Save it," Ray spit out, squaring his jaw. "I'll find my own lawyer. I don't need your kind of help."
"Ray," Deeks said helplessly. Ray turned away, flipping him off on his way back to the tiny shelf of a bed.
"You know, you really don't have to help me," Deeks told Kensi as she carried a box of chips out of the storage room to shelve. She'd stopped in about 20 minutes earlier and insisted on sharing his duties while they chatted.
"It would be rude to just stand around while you work," Kensi insisted, standing aside for him to slice the top of the box open. Once he was through, she grabbed a few bags and placed them in the designated spot. "Besides, this seems to be the only way I can see you these days," she added, pausing to raise her eyebrows at him pointedly.
"Sorry, I've just been busy." He flashed her a quick smile, then got to work on unpacking bottles of some fruit flavored drink. "Business always ramps up around this time."
"Well, I'm going on a day trip with the Mandy and the girls on Friday," Kensi started. "You want to come with? Kat's driving."
"I wish I could, but I'm working til midnight," Deeks said, sounding regretful.
"Didn't you work late the last two nights?"
"Yeah, I picked up midnights all week," he finally admitted.
Kensi stopped with a bag of chip in each hand while Deeks continued working at the same steady rhythm. "Deeks, that's insane. You're going to be exhausted. Not to mention your mom's going to be furious when she finds out you've been working so much," she said.
Deeks just shrugged without looking up. "That rule was only for the school year. Besides, she's working most nights anyway, I doubt she'll even notice."
There was a dismissive bitterness to his tone that Kensi didn't like.
"Did you guys have another fight?" she asked, the day trip completely forgotten for the moment.
"Nope," Deeks replied shortly. "I'm just being honest."
Setting the bags to the side, Kensi grasped Deeks' shoulder, holding on until he looked up with a confused expression.
"Deeks, what's going on? You've been acting really weird the last few days. Is this about what happened with Ray?"
He tipped his head back, dragging both hands through his hair, and sat on an unopened box with a sigh.
"Nothing's going on, Kens. I need to work and my mom needs to work."
His dismissiveness hurt more than she expected, and she tried to tell herself that whatever was going on, it wasn't about her. He'd been under a lot stress and was probably tired. She'd just caught him at a bad time. Still, her next question came out a bit more bluntly than she intended.
"Seven days straight?" Deeks shot her a sharp look. She was almost tempted to cross the invisible line surrounding money. He held her gaze for several moments, long enough that she felt heat rising in her cheeks, and she lost her nerve. Looking away, she hastily dropped hand from Deeks' shoulder.
"You know I always worry about you since you seem to take the weight of the world on your shoulders," she ended up saying.
"I know," Deeks murmured, his voice unbearably soft.
"Besides, Tiffani really wants to see you."
"Oh, and we don't want to disappoint Tiffani," he sighed with a chuckle. "Tell her next time."
"She'll want that in writing."
"I'll make her a certificate." He nodded to the wall across from them where a clock hung. "Hey, don't you need to go."
"Oh crap, yeah." Kensi hastily stuffed the few remaining bags of chips onto the shelf, and turned to face Deeks. Feeling oddly uncertain, she held out her arms. Deeks didn't hesitate to hug her at all, holding her tight against his chest. "Hey, don't work too hard, ok?"
"I'll do my best," he promised, giving her an extra squeeze before they parted.
Kensi walked halfway to the door, then paused to watch Deeks bury himself in work again. Whatever was going on, she knew they'd be alright.