Story: Sebastian (part 8 of ?)
TITLE: "Sebastian"
AUTHOR: tess_dicorsi
RATING: R
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Ensemble
DISCLAIMER: Recognizable characters are not mine. Just playing with them and promise not to break them. There are a few original characters, they're mine. I'm also trying not to break them.
SUMMARY: An old collar from the LAPD and an angry colleague from the FBI are back and looking for Marty Deeks. Established Deeks-Kensi. Multi-chapter story.
Warning: A little more adult language and violent situations than usual.
8. "Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive." - Josephine Hart.
Before Hetty even stopped the car outside the Malibu undercover house, Deeks was off and running. He opened the front gate and started yelling "Matthew" and "Kensi" over and over again.
Opening the front door to the main house, Deeks saw Monty sitting outside of the patio door. Deeks walked out to find Matt slumped against patio wall, blood pouring from his gut.
"Matthew," Deeks gasped as he kneeled next to his friend. Taking off his tee-shirt, he pushed it into what was a nasty stab wound.
"Oh Martin, I fucked this up," Matt said weakly.
"Hold on," Deeks told Matt as he pulled out his phone with his left hand. The right was making sure Matt's insides stayed, well, inside. He hit speed dial for OPs Center and put the phone on speaker.
"What's going on, Deeks?" Eric asked.
"I need an ambulance at the cover house, now. And where the hell are LAPD?"
"There's a small plane that crashed into the water off the Santa Monica pier and a police shooting in Sherman Oaks. Add in rush hour and traffic is a horror show."
"I need an ambulance now. Bernhart has been stabbed and he's bleeding out."
"Let's not get hasty," Matt tried to joke, "it's just a glorified paper cut."
"Nell's calling it in right now, we can't see where you are in the house," Eric told Deeks.
"Matthew must be lying in a blind spot on the patio," Deeks said as Hetty joined him. She had several towels in her hand.
"He took her," Matt told Deeks.
"Boothe?"
"Yes. He had a picture of you on his tablet and said he had you. Kensi went with him to rescue you. He told her he knew about you being tortured and he planned to do it again if she didn't go quietly. I tried to stop her but," Matt looked down at his wound, "I really fucked this up."
"You did fine, Matthew. You need to be still. This is all my fault," Deeks assured Matt as Hetty kneeled on the other side of the injured man, suit jacket off and wearing rubber gloves. "Just hold on."
Hetty pushed her gloved hand and a towel over Deeks's tee-shirt. "Help is coming Det. Bernhart. Stay with us."
"I'm fine," Matt said. "Get your girl, Martin. Get her back."
"Mr. Deeks, have you had Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna stop Boothe's vehicle?"
"Eric, you still on the line?"
"Nell is on with them now. They just pulled the SUV over."
"Tell me when she's the hell away from Boothe."
"You got it."
"Martin, can you do me a favor?" Matt asked.
"No, I'm not deleting your internet cache before Bates gets here. You can explain your Taylor Swift obsession to him once you're on your feet," Deeks told him.
"My love for Taylor Swift needs no explanation," Matt told him. "Promise me you'll look out for my Mom."
"That's your job man. You two need each other. Who else is going to go to fancy restaurants with her and who else is going to feed you? I'm done cooking for you once Boothe is in custody."
"Deeks, are you there?" Eric's voice came over the speaker.
"What's up, and where the hell is the ambulance?"
"They're two minutes out. Deeks, Callen called. The Haungs, Boothe's household staff, were in the Porsche Cayenne. Boothe wasn't driving to Santa Barbara, they were. He sent them up there early this morning to set up his new house."
"He's at the Sea Lane Drive house," Matt whispered, growing weaker by the minute. "Working where he's comfortable. Get Kensi back."
"Deeks," Nell was now on the speakerphone, "a white van was seen pulling into Boothe's driveway about twenty minutes ago. It's not on the list of vehicles he owns,"
"Nell, he just kidnapped a federal agent," Deeks said as he finally heard the ambulance's siren closing in. "He's killed people. An unregistered vehicle is the least of his crimes."
"Go get her. She went to rescue you, dumbass," Matt told him.
"Hello?" a voice came from the back of the house. "EMS,"
"Back here!" Deeks yelled.
As the EMT, Chan according to the name on his uniform, walked onto the patio, he immediately kneeled down next to Deeks. "I have this sir," Chan said as he pushed his hand under Deeks's. "I've got this."
"Mr. Deeks, Miss Blye..."
"Stay with him," Deeks was already making his way to the patio door.
"Of course. And Mr. Deeks,"
"Yes, Hetty." Deeks made room for a second EMT, pushing a gurney.
"Be careful. He's had nearly six years to think about something like this."
"I will. And Hetty, call Roger Bates. Someone needs to contact Matthew's family."
"Oh, let's keep them out of this, shall we," Matt gasped as the second EMT tried to move him. "Just Mom and only after I'm settled."
Deeks raced into the house, grabbing a hoodie from the coat rack and Kensi's keys. "Eric, you still with me."
"What do you need?"
"Call LAPD, they don't need to come here."
"I've already rerouted them to the Sea Lane Drive address. But Deeks, they're still five to eight minutes out," Eric advised as Deeks ran to Kensi's Range Rover.
"I'm on my way there, now."
"Callen wants to talk to you,"
"Yeah, I don't want to talk to him," Deeks disconnected the line and drove away from the house. He was about half way to Boothe's when the phone rang again. He just let it go to voicemail.
As Deeks turned onto Sea Lane Drive, he called Eric back. "I'm about to go in, where's LAPD?"
"About seven minutes behind you," Eric told him. "Callen's not happy."
"Very few people are this morning," Deeks did not have time for Callen trying to run a rescue from sixty miles away.
"He and Sam want you to wait for LAPD."
"Boothe has Kensi. He took her because of me. LAPD is seven minutes out, which means ten and you know it. I'm going in," Deeks pulled up to the front gate. "Can get the front gate opened? Otherwise I'm hopping the fence."
Deeks heard Eric's fingers flying over the keyboard. "It should be opened," Eric paused and Deeks saw the gate open just as Eric said "now."
"Deeks, Kensi should have an earwig in the console," Nell told him. "There's a false bottom."
Deeks pulled the SUV into driveway and shut off the ignition. He unlocked the console and found the earwig. "You with me," he asked as he disconnected the phone and turned on the earwig.
"We got you. Sam really doesn't want you going in," Nell said.
"Ask Sam if that was Callen or Michelle with Boothe, what would he be doing?"
"I think we'll skip asking that," Eric answered. "Deeks, LAPD is still seven minutes out."
"They're not coming fast enough," Deeks said more to himself as he went to the side of the main house. Climbing up the central air conditioner compressor unit, he jumped over the fence to the back side of the pool house. Weapon drawn, he walked alongside the pool house, seeing Boothe tying Kensi to a lounge chair. Just like Corey Moran.
"I have eyes on Kensi," he whispered. "Boothe has her."
"Don't..." Callen started, Eric or Nell obviously patching him in.
"...Get her away from a murdering psycho, no Callen, sorry."
"He's setting you up," Callen warned.
"Look, LAPD is too far away and Boothe's too close to her. He needs to be away from her. The sooner the better." Deeks moved closer to Boothe, noticing that Kensi was barely conscious. "Move away from her," he ordered, raising his weapon. "Now."
"Marty, you've joined our little party," Boothe was back in his happy host persona. "Hey, that rhymes." Boothe stood, scissors in his hand. "You should probably put the gun down. They make me nervous and you've seen what I do with sharp items when I'm nervous."
Deeks fired his weapon just past Boothe's ear. "Put the scissors down or I'll empty the clip into your chest."
Boothe seemed stunned and started to lower the scissors to the ground. Once Boothe placed the scissors on the ground, Deeks closed the distance between them. Kicking the scissors under the lounge chair, Deeks then swung his leg at Boothe's feet, knocking the man to the ground.
"Gonna cuff me Marty?" Boothe asked. "Not usually my scene but I'm open to new things. Especially with you and your girlfriend here."
"Crawl to the pool and get in," Deeks told him.
"I don't think so."
Deeks took a fist full of Boothe's hair and started pulling him to the pool. As the man screamed, Deeks let go. "Crawl to the pool and get in." Boothe crawled to toward the pool. "Once you're in the pool, swim to the middle and just stay there."
"I don't like this side of you, Marty. You'll pay for this," Boothe warned. As he got closer to the pool, Boothe tried to stand but Deeks yelled "crawl" and he did. "You'll pay and so will your girl."
When Booth got poolside, he sat and started to take off his shoes. "Keep the shoes on," Deeks told him as he sat next to Kensi.
"These are Martin Dingman crocodile shoes," Boothe complained.
"Crocodiles like water so they'll be right at home in your pool. Keep your shoes on," Deeks told him. After watching Boothe slip into the pool and make his way to the middle, Deeks turned his attention to Kensi. Grabbing the scissors from under the lounge chair, Deeks put his gun in holster and started tending to Kensi. He noticed her breathing was labored. "What did you do to her, Sebastian?"
"I didn't do anything to her, Marty. You know Hollywood bitches. They like to have their fun. Drugs, vodka, sex… "
As Boothe continued his monologue on Hollywood party girls, Deeks gently shook Kensi. "You with me, Kens? You there?"
"Does Kensi need medical assistance, Deeks?" Callen's voice was calm and reassuring on the earwig.
"Yes. She's not breathing right and while she's tied up, it shouldn't impact her breathing. I'm thinking he ruffied her."
"I've called for an ambulance," Nell advised. "Det. Bernhart was just airlifted to Los Robles."
Deeks noticed Boothe wasn't talking anymore. Standing quickly, he pulled his gun and saw Boothe moving to the pool's steps. "Get back in the middle of the pool. Now."
"You'll pay for this, I'll make you..."
"Hey baby, you ready for some fun?" Elizabeth Kelly asked, walking in from some hidden path up from the ocean. Her hair was tied up as she wore a short, white slip dress and black platform shoes with ankle straps - very non-CEO. "What the hell is this?" she asked as Deeks pointed his gun at her.
"What's going on Deeks?" Sam asked.
"Miss Kelly, really didn't expect to see you." Deeks heard Nell's gasp on the earwig. If they all survived, he'd buy Nell a drink - she was the one most suspicious of Kelly. "Join the chairman of the board in the pool."
"Absolutely not," she told him.
"You jump in the pool or I'll shoot our host and then I'll shoot you."
"I don't know how to swim."
"That's unfortunate. Jump in, make your way to Sebastian. I'm sure he'll lend you a helping hand."
She looked at him. "I had such plans for you. Boy toy bartender who was really a cop. You were in the service business and now you're a public servant. You could have been so much fun servicing and serving us."
"Still will be. He's not getting out of here. You can have your fun with him while I have a good time with Chloe," Boothe tried to bait him.
Deeks thought he heard the sirens in the distance. "In the pool, now. Keep your shoes on." Elizabeth Kelly did a near perfect dive into the pool despite the platform shoes and dress. She made her way to the middle of the pool with ease. So much for not being able to swim. "If I hear a sound like you're moving, you're both done, am I clear?" When he didn't get an answer, he saw exactly what he needed.
"Deeks, LAPD is five minutes out," Eric told him.
Walking over to the dining area, Deeks heard Elizabeth Kelly start again. "Does your girl bruise, Det. Deeks? Sebastian likes them best when they bruise. Loves to admire his handiwork."
"Shut your mouth," Deeks couldn't help himself as he started working behind the bar.
"Do you beat her? I've read where children of abuse often grow up to be abusers themselves."
"Is that your issue Elizabeth? Daddy a little fast with the hands? Or maybe his hand had other interests."
"That's enough," Sebastian Boothe ordered. "You don't get to speak to us that way."
"Oh, I do," he said as he walked back to the pool, carrying the bar refrigerator and a power strip. Placing the appliance down, he flipped open the electrical outlet cover by the pool and plugged in the power strip. Deeks pulled the strip to the pool's edge where he plugged in the small refrigerator. "One more word out of your mouths, either one of you, and, well, there's a shocking ending for both of you. If you think you can get out of the pool faster than I can push this in, good luck."
Deeks heard the sirens closing in. Walking back to Kensi, he noted her breathing was getting more labored. Ruffied, Deeks thought, probably mixed with the vodka from the bottle opened he saw by the bar. What a great morning- he probably got Matthew killed, got Kensi ruffied. He took the scissors and started cutting through the ropes.
"They won't believe you, you know," Boothe's voice was gentle. "Whore Hollywood girlfriend, troubled cop. We've been having an affair since I got out, you know. She was looking for a real man. You left her last night, she woke up alone. Stopped by for a quickie."
"It would be a quickie with you Sebastian, wouldn't it." Deeks called back.
"What hurt more Marty? Being beaten by your father or being tortured?" Kelly asked.
"Deeks, don't do anything stupid," Sam warned.
"I mean you were a kid when…." Deeks again blocked out Kelly while he continued to free Kensi. As Deeks cut the last rope holding Kensi to the chair, she started gasping for air. "Eric, where is the ambulance. Kensi's not breathing right. I think she was drugged."
"They're with the LAPD. And LAPD just arrived at the front gate."
"We're back here," Deeks called out. "Eric, they know I'm here with Kensi, right?"
"Yeah, they're looking for you and Kensi."
The door from the house to the pool opened and six SWAT officers walked out in formation.
"Oh thank God you're here, officers. He's gone crazy." Boothe told the SWAT team members as they closed in on the pool. "His girlfriend's been coming on to me since I've returned home. She fled here after a fight. He's violent. He's obsessed with me."
"You OK, Det. Deeks?" one of the SWAT officers - Ruiz, according to his nameplate - asked. "Lt. Bates filled me in."
"I'm fine. Agent Blye here needs medical attention now."
One of the other SWAT officers called for the EMTs to be brought in.
"Who is Agent Blye?" Elizabeth Kelly asked.
"Who's the girl in the pool, Deeks?" Ruiz asked while Kelly's question was ignored.
"Elizabeth Kelly. Seems Boothe had a partner in crime." Deeks saw the EMTs walk in. "Over here."
"Miss Kelly, slowly, make your way to the pool's stairs. Mr. Boothe, you remain right where you are,"
"No," she answered.
The EMTs started working on Kensi, freeing Deeks to deal with his suspects. "Get out of the pool Miss Kelly or I'll drag you out myself."
"You don't touch her," Boothe warned. "But I touched your girl."
"Are you confessing to assaulting a federal agent, Mr. Boothe?" Ruiz eyed Deeks.
"She's no federal agent. She's …"
"Special Agent Blye, NCIS. All a set-up Sebastian. You stabbed a cop back at an undercover house. This is a joint operation. NCIS and LAPD. And there won't be a deal this time," Deeks told Boothe. "And your girl is going down too."
"We need to get Agent Blye to the hospital," an EMT named Hamilton told Deeks. A second medic hustled to the door saying he was getting the gurney.
"Get out of the pool Miss Kelly. Now."
Elizabeth Kelly whispered something to Boothe as she started swimming to the pool steps. Coming out of the water, it became obvious she was wearing nothing under the white slip dress. "Like what you see, boys?" she asked as she slowly put her hands up. Shaking the water out of her shoes, she looks at Ruiz, Deeks and then started running to Kensi.
Deeks was able to grab Elizabeth Kelly from behind before she launched at Kensi. "Oh no, you don't." Deeks pushed her down to the ground. A small box cutter fell from her hand. "I don't have cuffs," he told the other officers.
"I do," Elizabeth Kelly purred.
"You're under arrest," SWAT officer Daniels told Kelly as he put handcuffs on her wrists. "You have the right to remain silent…."
As Kelly was having her rights read to her, Boothe was ordered out of the pool. Deeks showed the Ruiz the box cutter and suggested Boothe gave it to her in the water. While Boothe begged his case to LAPD, he was quickly handcuffed once out of the water. Two SWAT team members appeared with towels from the pool house, wrapping them around the suspects.
The EMT's lifted Kensi onto the gurney and started to wheel her away from the pool area. "I'm going with Kensi to the hospital," Deeks announced.
"Where are they taking them, Deeks?" Sam asked. "I'm going to drop Callen off there and take a look at the house."
"Where are they going?" Deeks asked Ruiz.
"Metro."
"NCIS wants to send someone in to talk to them."
"I'll tell Bates. You attend to your partner."
"Thanks man," Deeks shook Ruiz's hand. "Sam?"
"Yeah, Deeks."
"Elizabeth Kelly walked up from the beach and wasn't in her usual CEO gear. Where'd she come from?"
"I'll take a look around."
"Eric, can you see who lives in the houses around here?"
"We checked before you moved into the cover house. You have Jenny Ellis, the soap star, on one side, some businesswoman on the other side."
"Check the whole area. Beach side of Sea Lane Drive. See where Kelly came from." Deeks saw the EMT's starting to shut the door to the ambulance. "I'm going with her," he told them.
x-x-x
In the Los Robles Hospital waiting room, Deeks sat silently while Bates and Hetty quietly negotiated who would interview Boothe and Kelly. Matt was in surgery while Kensi was being treated for possible drug and alcohol poisoning.
"Where's my son?" a woman's voice cried out in pain at the nurse's station. "Where is my son?"
A nurse walked up to a pair of well-dressed women. The woman in her late fifties was making demands while the much younger woman was trying to keep things calm. Deeks looked at Bates and said "I've got this," as he started to walk to the women. "Mrs. Bernhart, Frannie, do you remember me? Marty Deeks?" he asked.
"Of course," Mrs. Bernhart said. "You're Matt's friend. Where's my son? What happened? Who did this to him?"
"Why don't we go to the waiting area and I'll explain everything," Deeks said as he signaled to the nurse that everything was under control.
"I want to see my son," Mrs. Bernhart demanded as Deeks gently directed her to the waiting room sofa.
"He's in surgery right now," Deeks started.
"Just tell us what happened, Marty," Frannie said as she sat with her mother, patting the woman's arm.
"Matthew and I were working a case as part of a federal taskforce. He's been working a longer undercover operation and it was folded into an investigation I was working on. This morning, there was a threat to one of the undercover federal agents involved in the case. Matthew tried to stop a killer from abducting the agent. The killer had a knife and he cut Matthew. He's been in surgery for a while, we're waiting to hear from the doctors."
"Has the man who hurt Matt been arrested?" Frannie asked.
"He's in custody. Matthew was conscious when we found him and he was able to tell us everything we needed to know to not only capture the suspect but the other undercover operative was rescued too."
"My son's a hero," she tried to comfort herself.
"Your son's a hero every day, Mrs. Bernhart. And he wanted me to make sure you're alright so why don't I get you two some coffee or water or something."
"Sit with us Marty, please," Frannie urged. "Dad's chartering a flight from Sacramento and Luke's in New York."
"Of course." Deeks assured her. "I'll wait."
"I can't lose my son, Marty."
"You won't Mrs. Bernhart." God, he hoped that was true.
x-x-x
State Senator Chester Bernhart, Matt's father, arrived just as Kensi was being move to a room. Deeks was able to leave Bates with Matt's family while he looked after his partner. Kensi was in a semi-private room, sleeping off what was done to her. Hetty, carrying what Deeks thought was Kensi's medical records, stopped in before returning to the office. Ruben dropped by to say hello before sitting with Matt's family. He promised to keep Deeks informed on Matt's status. So far, no news on Matt while Kensi was out cold.
While waiting for the results of her blood work, the doctors told Deeks they thought Kensi was given rohypnol with alcohol. A quick sobriety test when they got her into the emergency room had her blowing a 0.14. She was given charcoal tablets and her oxygen intake was being monitored but so far, so good. Oh, the doctor told him, the rape kit came back negative.
It was after 3PM when the door opened. Deeks expected to see Ruben but Callen walked into the room. "How is she?" he asked, sitting next to him alongside Kensi's hospital.
"Unconscious. Hasn't moved since she got here." Deeks turned his attention back to Kensi.
"Let's go outside, we need to talk."
"No."
"Deeks," Callen sighed. "I know you're upset about what happened but I'm just going to take you downstairs for some lunch. We're not leaving the building."
"No, we're not."
"Deeks, she's probably not waking up in the next few hours."
"No."
"Look…"
"No, you look. Last spring, she wasn't there when I woke up."
"That's on me."
Deeks put his hand up. "I get why she wasn't there and it's not on you. It's on Sidorov. All of last spring is on Sidorov. I told her it wasn't a problem and it wasn't. She doesn't believe me. She's apologized constantly that she wasn't there. She thinks she failed me because she wasn't there. She thinks I'm putting on a good show when I tell her I understand why she wasn't there."
"So you're going to be here when she wakes up," Callen nodded his head.
"When Kensi's bothered by something, especially something that doesn't matter that much to me, means it would bother her if it happened to her. And she's plenty bothered."
"She was beside herself chasing Sidorov and not being with you."
"I got a glimpse of that this morning going between Kensi and Matthew. I have to figure out how to live with the fact that this was done to the two of them because of me."
"Now you know how Sam feels about you."
"I don't know why nobody believes me when I say the only person I blame is Sidorov." The two sat quietly for a few minutes. "Anyone talk to Boothe yet?"
"As soon as he got to Metro, he lawyered up. Michael Hudson is making noise about this all being a set-up by you but I doubt much will come of that."
"Elizabeth Kelly selling him out?"
"That's what I'm here to talk to you about."
Deeks looked at him, "Nell had her figured out long before we did. This morning, Andrea Miller kept wondering why I was telling lies about her. She gets to take the high road on this one."
"Not quite. The FBI is investigating her having you picked up. LAPD is pushing the narrative that you being removed from the cover house caused enough confusion to let Boothe get in, stab Bernhart and grab Kensi. Since Bernhart and Kensi can't give statements right now, the FBI is handling her while LAPD and NCIS are running point on the case."
"Good. Maybe we should let Nell run the whole thing. She pointed out her suspicions early."
"Nell's busy with a new mystery. Deeks, that woman you had brought in this morning - she's not Elizabeth Kelly."
-30-
AUTHOR: tess_dicorsi
RATING: R
GENRE: Mystery
CHARACTERS: Ensemble
DISCLAIMER: Recognizable characters are not mine. Just playing with them and promise not to break them. There are a few original characters, they're mine. I'm also trying not to break them.
SUMMARY: An old collar from the LAPD and an angry colleague from the FBI are back and looking for Marty Deeks. Established Deeks-Kensi. Multi-chapter story.
Warning: A little more adult language and violent situations than usual.
8. "Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive." - Josephine Hart.
Before Hetty even stopped the car outside the Malibu undercover house, Deeks was off and running. He opened the front gate and started yelling "Matthew" and "Kensi" over and over again.
Opening the front door to the main house, Deeks saw Monty sitting outside of the patio door. Deeks walked out to find Matt slumped against patio wall, blood pouring from his gut.
"Matthew," Deeks gasped as he kneeled next to his friend. Taking off his tee-shirt, he pushed it into what was a nasty stab wound.
"Oh Martin, I fucked this up," Matt said weakly.
"Hold on," Deeks told Matt as he pulled out his phone with his left hand. The right was making sure Matt's insides stayed, well, inside. He hit speed dial for OPs Center and put the phone on speaker.
"What's going on, Deeks?" Eric asked.
"I need an ambulance at the cover house, now. And where the hell are LAPD?"
"There's a small plane that crashed into the water off the Santa Monica pier and a police shooting in Sherman Oaks. Add in rush hour and traffic is a horror show."
"I need an ambulance now. Bernhart has been stabbed and he's bleeding out."
"Let's not get hasty," Matt tried to joke, "it's just a glorified paper cut."
"Nell's calling it in right now, we can't see where you are in the house," Eric told Deeks.
"Matthew must be lying in a blind spot on the patio," Deeks said as Hetty joined him. She had several towels in her hand.
"He took her," Matt told Deeks.
"Boothe?"
"Yes. He had a picture of you on his tablet and said he had you. Kensi went with him to rescue you. He told her he knew about you being tortured and he planned to do it again if she didn't go quietly. I tried to stop her but," Matt looked down at his wound, "I really fucked this up."
"You did fine, Matthew. You need to be still. This is all my fault," Deeks assured Matt as Hetty kneeled on the other side of the injured man, suit jacket off and wearing rubber gloves. "Just hold on."
Hetty pushed her gloved hand and a towel over Deeks's tee-shirt. "Help is coming Det. Bernhart. Stay with us."
"I'm fine," Matt said. "Get your girl, Martin. Get her back."
"Mr. Deeks, have you had Mr. Callen and Mr. Hanna stop Boothe's vehicle?"
"Eric, you still on the line?"
"Nell is on with them now. They just pulled the SUV over."
"Tell me when she's the hell away from Boothe."
"You got it."
"Martin, can you do me a favor?" Matt asked.
"No, I'm not deleting your internet cache before Bates gets here. You can explain your Taylor Swift obsession to him once you're on your feet," Deeks told him.
"My love for Taylor Swift needs no explanation," Matt told him. "Promise me you'll look out for my Mom."
"That's your job man. You two need each other. Who else is going to go to fancy restaurants with her and who else is going to feed you? I'm done cooking for you once Boothe is in custody."
"Deeks, are you there?" Eric's voice came over the speaker.
"What's up, and where the hell is the ambulance?"
"They're two minutes out. Deeks, Callen called. The Haungs, Boothe's household staff, were in the Porsche Cayenne. Boothe wasn't driving to Santa Barbara, they were. He sent them up there early this morning to set up his new house."
"He's at the Sea Lane Drive house," Matt whispered, growing weaker by the minute. "Working where he's comfortable. Get Kensi back."
"Deeks," Nell was now on the speakerphone, "a white van was seen pulling into Boothe's driveway about twenty minutes ago. It's not on the list of vehicles he owns,"
"Nell, he just kidnapped a federal agent," Deeks said as he finally heard the ambulance's siren closing in. "He's killed people. An unregistered vehicle is the least of his crimes."
"Go get her. She went to rescue you, dumbass," Matt told him.
"Hello?" a voice came from the back of the house. "EMS,"
"Back here!" Deeks yelled.
As the EMT, Chan according to the name on his uniform, walked onto the patio, he immediately kneeled down next to Deeks. "I have this sir," Chan said as he pushed his hand under Deeks's. "I've got this."
"Mr. Deeks, Miss Blye..."
"Stay with him," Deeks was already making his way to the patio door.
"Of course. And Mr. Deeks,"
"Yes, Hetty." Deeks made room for a second EMT, pushing a gurney.
"Be careful. He's had nearly six years to think about something like this."
"I will. And Hetty, call Roger Bates. Someone needs to contact Matthew's family."
"Oh, let's keep them out of this, shall we," Matt gasped as the second EMT tried to move him. "Just Mom and only after I'm settled."
Deeks raced into the house, grabbing a hoodie from the coat rack and Kensi's keys. "Eric, you still with me."
"What do you need?"
"Call LAPD, they don't need to come here."
"I've already rerouted them to the Sea Lane Drive address. But Deeks, they're still five to eight minutes out," Eric advised as Deeks ran to Kensi's Range Rover.
"I'm on my way there, now."
"Callen wants to talk to you,"
"Yeah, I don't want to talk to him," Deeks disconnected the line and drove away from the house. He was about half way to Boothe's when the phone rang again. He just let it go to voicemail.
As Deeks turned onto Sea Lane Drive, he called Eric back. "I'm about to go in, where's LAPD?"
"About seven minutes behind you," Eric told him. "Callen's not happy."
"Very few people are this morning," Deeks did not have time for Callen trying to run a rescue from sixty miles away.
"He and Sam want you to wait for LAPD."
"Boothe has Kensi. He took her because of me. LAPD is seven minutes out, which means ten and you know it. I'm going in," Deeks pulled up to the front gate. "Can get the front gate opened? Otherwise I'm hopping the fence."
Deeks heard Eric's fingers flying over the keyboard. "It should be opened," Eric paused and Deeks saw the gate open just as Eric said "now."
"Deeks, Kensi should have an earwig in the console," Nell told him. "There's a false bottom."
Deeks pulled the SUV into driveway and shut off the ignition. He unlocked the console and found the earwig. "You with me," he asked as he disconnected the phone and turned on the earwig.
"We got you. Sam really doesn't want you going in," Nell said.
"Ask Sam if that was Callen or Michelle with Boothe, what would he be doing?"
"I think we'll skip asking that," Eric answered. "Deeks, LAPD is still seven minutes out."
"They're not coming fast enough," Deeks said more to himself as he went to the side of the main house. Climbing up the central air conditioner compressor unit, he jumped over the fence to the back side of the pool house. Weapon drawn, he walked alongside the pool house, seeing Boothe tying Kensi to a lounge chair. Just like Corey Moran.
"I have eyes on Kensi," he whispered. "Boothe has her."
"Don't..." Callen started, Eric or Nell obviously patching him in.
"...Get her away from a murdering psycho, no Callen, sorry."
"He's setting you up," Callen warned.
"Look, LAPD is too far away and Boothe's too close to her. He needs to be away from her. The sooner the better." Deeks moved closer to Boothe, noticing that Kensi was barely conscious. "Move away from her," he ordered, raising his weapon. "Now."
"Marty, you've joined our little party," Boothe was back in his happy host persona. "Hey, that rhymes." Boothe stood, scissors in his hand. "You should probably put the gun down. They make me nervous and you've seen what I do with sharp items when I'm nervous."
Deeks fired his weapon just past Boothe's ear. "Put the scissors down or I'll empty the clip into your chest."
Boothe seemed stunned and started to lower the scissors to the ground. Once Boothe placed the scissors on the ground, Deeks closed the distance between them. Kicking the scissors under the lounge chair, Deeks then swung his leg at Boothe's feet, knocking the man to the ground.
"Gonna cuff me Marty?" Boothe asked. "Not usually my scene but I'm open to new things. Especially with you and your girlfriend here."
"Crawl to the pool and get in," Deeks told him.
"I don't think so."
Deeks took a fist full of Boothe's hair and started pulling him to the pool. As the man screamed, Deeks let go. "Crawl to the pool and get in." Boothe crawled to toward the pool. "Once you're in the pool, swim to the middle and just stay there."
"I don't like this side of you, Marty. You'll pay for this," Boothe warned. As he got closer to the pool, Boothe tried to stand but Deeks yelled "crawl" and he did. "You'll pay and so will your girl."
When Booth got poolside, he sat and started to take off his shoes. "Keep the shoes on," Deeks told him as he sat next to Kensi.
"These are Martin Dingman crocodile shoes," Boothe complained.
"Crocodiles like water so they'll be right at home in your pool. Keep your shoes on," Deeks told him. After watching Boothe slip into the pool and make his way to the middle, Deeks turned his attention to Kensi. Grabbing the scissors from under the lounge chair, Deeks put his gun in holster and started tending to Kensi. He noticed her breathing was labored. "What did you do to her, Sebastian?"
"I didn't do anything to her, Marty. You know Hollywood bitches. They like to have their fun. Drugs, vodka, sex… "
As Boothe continued his monologue on Hollywood party girls, Deeks gently shook Kensi. "You with me, Kens? You there?"
"Does Kensi need medical assistance, Deeks?" Callen's voice was calm and reassuring on the earwig.
"Yes. She's not breathing right and while she's tied up, it shouldn't impact her breathing. I'm thinking he ruffied her."
"I've called for an ambulance," Nell advised. "Det. Bernhart was just airlifted to Los Robles."
Deeks noticed Boothe wasn't talking anymore. Standing quickly, he pulled his gun and saw Boothe moving to the pool's steps. "Get back in the middle of the pool. Now."
"You'll pay for this, I'll make you..."
"Hey baby, you ready for some fun?" Elizabeth Kelly asked, walking in from some hidden path up from the ocean. Her hair was tied up as she wore a short, white slip dress and black platform shoes with ankle straps - very non-CEO. "What the hell is this?" she asked as Deeks pointed his gun at her.
"What's going on Deeks?" Sam asked.
"Miss Kelly, really didn't expect to see you." Deeks heard Nell's gasp on the earwig. If they all survived, he'd buy Nell a drink - she was the one most suspicious of Kelly. "Join the chairman of the board in the pool."
"Absolutely not," she told him.
"You jump in the pool or I'll shoot our host and then I'll shoot you."
"I don't know how to swim."
"That's unfortunate. Jump in, make your way to Sebastian. I'm sure he'll lend you a helping hand."
She looked at him. "I had such plans for you. Boy toy bartender who was really a cop. You were in the service business and now you're a public servant. You could have been so much fun servicing and serving us."
"Still will be. He's not getting out of here. You can have your fun with him while I have a good time with Chloe," Boothe tried to bait him.
Deeks thought he heard the sirens in the distance. "In the pool, now. Keep your shoes on." Elizabeth Kelly did a near perfect dive into the pool despite the platform shoes and dress. She made her way to the middle of the pool with ease. So much for not being able to swim. "If I hear a sound like you're moving, you're both done, am I clear?" When he didn't get an answer, he saw exactly what he needed.
"Deeks, LAPD is five minutes out," Eric told him.
Walking over to the dining area, Deeks heard Elizabeth Kelly start again. "Does your girl bruise, Det. Deeks? Sebastian likes them best when they bruise. Loves to admire his handiwork."
"Shut your mouth," Deeks couldn't help himself as he started working behind the bar.
"Do you beat her? I've read where children of abuse often grow up to be abusers themselves."
"Is that your issue Elizabeth? Daddy a little fast with the hands? Or maybe his hand had other interests."
"That's enough," Sebastian Boothe ordered. "You don't get to speak to us that way."
"Oh, I do," he said as he walked back to the pool, carrying the bar refrigerator and a power strip. Placing the appliance down, he flipped open the electrical outlet cover by the pool and plugged in the power strip. Deeks pulled the strip to the pool's edge where he plugged in the small refrigerator. "One more word out of your mouths, either one of you, and, well, there's a shocking ending for both of you. If you think you can get out of the pool faster than I can push this in, good luck."
Deeks heard the sirens closing in. Walking back to Kensi, he noted her breathing was getting more labored. Ruffied, Deeks thought, probably mixed with the vodka from the bottle opened he saw by the bar. What a great morning- he probably got Matthew killed, got Kensi ruffied. He took the scissors and started cutting through the ropes.
"They won't believe you, you know," Boothe's voice was gentle. "Whore Hollywood girlfriend, troubled cop. We've been having an affair since I got out, you know. She was looking for a real man. You left her last night, she woke up alone. Stopped by for a quickie."
"It would be a quickie with you Sebastian, wouldn't it." Deeks called back.
"What hurt more Marty? Being beaten by your father or being tortured?" Kelly asked.
"Deeks, don't do anything stupid," Sam warned.
"I mean you were a kid when…." Deeks again blocked out Kelly while he continued to free Kensi. As Deeks cut the last rope holding Kensi to the chair, she started gasping for air. "Eric, where is the ambulance. Kensi's not breathing right. I think she was drugged."
"They're with the LAPD. And LAPD just arrived at the front gate."
"We're back here," Deeks called out. "Eric, they know I'm here with Kensi, right?"
"Yeah, they're looking for you and Kensi."
The door from the house to the pool opened and six SWAT officers walked out in formation.
"Oh thank God you're here, officers. He's gone crazy." Boothe told the SWAT team members as they closed in on the pool. "His girlfriend's been coming on to me since I've returned home. She fled here after a fight. He's violent. He's obsessed with me."
"You OK, Det. Deeks?" one of the SWAT officers - Ruiz, according to his nameplate - asked. "Lt. Bates filled me in."
"I'm fine. Agent Blye here needs medical attention now."
One of the other SWAT officers called for the EMTs to be brought in.
"Who is Agent Blye?" Elizabeth Kelly asked.
"Who's the girl in the pool, Deeks?" Ruiz asked while Kelly's question was ignored.
"Elizabeth Kelly. Seems Boothe had a partner in crime." Deeks saw the EMTs walk in. "Over here."
"Miss Kelly, slowly, make your way to the pool's stairs. Mr. Boothe, you remain right where you are,"
"No," she answered.
The EMTs started working on Kensi, freeing Deeks to deal with his suspects. "Get out of the pool Miss Kelly or I'll drag you out myself."
"You don't touch her," Boothe warned. "But I touched your girl."
"Are you confessing to assaulting a federal agent, Mr. Boothe?" Ruiz eyed Deeks.
"She's no federal agent. She's …"
"Special Agent Blye, NCIS. All a set-up Sebastian. You stabbed a cop back at an undercover house. This is a joint operation. NCIS and LAPD. And there won't be a deal this time," Deeks told Boothe. "And your girl is going down too."
"We need to get Agent Blye to the hospital," an EMT named Hamilton told Deeks. A second medic hustled to the door saying he was getting the gurney.
"Get out of the pool Miss Kelly. Now."
Elizabeth Kelly whispered something to Boothe as she started swimming to the pool steps. Coming out of the water, it became obvious she was wearing nothing under the white slip dress. "Like what you see, boys?" she asked as she slowly put her hands up. Shaking the water out of her shoes, she looks at Ruiz, Deeks and then started running to Kensi.
Deeks was able to grab Elizabeth Kelly from behind before she launched at Kensi. "Oh no, you don't." Deeks pushed her down to the ground. A small box cutter fell from her hand. "I don't have cuffs," he told the other officers.
"I do," Elizabeth Kelly purred.
"You're under arrest," SWAT officer Daniels told Kelly as he put handcuffs on her wrists. "You have the right to remain silent…."
As Kelly was having her rights read to her, Boothe was ordered out of the pool. Deeks showed the Ruiz the box cutter and suggested Boothe gave it to her in the water. While Boothe begged his case to LAPD, he was quickly handcuffed once out of the water. Two SWAT team members appeared with towels from the pool house, wrapping them around the suspects.
The EMT's lifted Kensi onto the gurney and started to wheel her away from the pool area. "I'm going with Kensi to the hospital," Deeks announced.
"Where are they taking them, Deeks?" Sam asked. "I'm going to drop Callen off there and take a look at the house."
"Where are they going?" Deeks asked Ruiz.
"Metro."
"NCIS wants to send someone in to talk to them."
"I'll tell Bates. You attend to your partner."
"Thanks man," Deeks shook Ruiz's hand. "Sam?"
"Yeah, Deeks."
"Elizabeth Kelly walked up from the beach and wasn't in her usual CEO gear. Where'd she come from?"
"I'll take a look around."
"Eric, can you see who lives in the houses around here?"
"We checked before you moved into the cover house. You have Jenny Ellis, the soap star, on one side, some businesswoman on the other side."
"Check the whole area. Beach side of Sea Lane Drive. See where Kelly came from." Deeks saw the EMT's starting to shut the door to the ambulance. "I'm going with her," he told them.
x-x-x
In the Los Robles Hospital waiting room, Deeks sat silently while Bates and Hetty quietly negotiated who would interview Boothe and Kelly. Matt was in surgery while Kensi was being treated for possible drug and alcohol poisoning.
"Where's my son?" a woman's voice cried out in pain at the nurse's station. "Where is my son?"
A nurse walked up to a pair of well-dressed women. The woman in her late fifties was making demands while the much younger woman was trying to keep things calm. Deeks looked at Bates and said "I've got this," as he started to walk to the women. "Mrs. Bernhart, Frannie, do you remember me? Marty Deeks?" he asked.
"Of course," Mrs. Bernhart said. "You're Matt's friend. Where's my son? What happened? Who did this to him?"
"Why don't we go to the waiting area and I'll explain everything," Deeks said as he signaled to the nurse that everything was under control.
"I want to see my son," Mrs. Bernhart demanded as Deeks gently directed her to the waiting room sofa.
"He's in surgery right now," Deeks started.
"Just tell us what happened, Marty," Frannie said as she sat with her mother, patting the woman's arm.
"Matthew and I were working a case as part of a federal taskforce. He's been working a longer undercover operation and it was folded into an investigation I was working on. This morning, there was a threat to one of the undercover federal agents involved in the case. Matthew tried to stop a killer from abducting the agent. The killer had a knife and he cut Matthew. He's been in surgery for a while, we're waiting to hear from the doctors."
"Has the man who hurt Matt been arrested?" Frannie asked.
"He's in custody. Matthew was conscious when we found him and he was able to tell us everything we needed to know to not only capture the suspect but the other undercover operative was rescued too."
"My son's a hero," she tried to comfort herself.
"Your son's a hero every day, Mrs. Bernhart. And he wanted me to make sure you're alright so why don't I get you two some coffee or water or something."
"Sit with us Marty, please," Frannie urged. "Dad's chartering a flight from Sacramento and Luke's in New York."
"Of course." Deeks assured her. "I'll wait."
"I can't lose my son, Marty."
"You won't Mrs. Bernhart." God, he hoped that was true.
x-x-x
State Senator Chester Bernhart, Matt's father, arrived just as Kensi was being move to a room. Deeks was able to leave Bates with Matt's family while he looked after his partner. Kensi was in a semi-private room, sleeping off what was done to her. Hetty, carrying what Deeks thought was Kensi's medical records, stopped in before returning to the office. Ruben dropped by to say hello before sitting with Matt's family. He promised to keep Deeks informed on Matt's status. So far, no news on Matt while Kensi was out cold.
While waiting for the results of her blood work, the doctors told Deeks they thought Kensi was given rohypnol with alcohol. A quick sobriety test when they got her into the emergency room had her blowing a 0.14. She was given charcoal tablets and her oxygen intake was being monitored but so far, so good. Oh, the doctor told him, the rape kit came back negative.
It was after 3PM when the door opened. Deeks expected to see Ruben but Callen walked into the room. "How is she?" he asked, sitting next to him alongside Kensi's hospital.
"Unconscious. Hasn't moved since she got here." Deeks turned his attention back to Kensi.
"Let's go outside, we need to talk."
"No."
"Deeks," Callen sighed. "I know you're upset about what happened but I'm just going to take you downstairs for some lunch. We're not leaving the building."
"No, we're not."
"Deeks, she's probably not waking up in the next few hours."
"No."
"Look…"
"No, you look. Last spring, she wasn't there when I woke up."
"That's on me."
Deeks put his hand up. "I get why she wasn't there and it's not on you. It's on Sidorov. All of last spring is on Sidorov. I told her it wasn't a problem and it wasn't. She doesn't believe me. She's apologized constantly that she wasn't there. She thinks she failed me because she wasn't there. She thinks I'm putting on a good show when I tell her I understand why she wasn't there."
"So you're going to be here when she wakes up," Callen nodded his head.
"When Kensi's bothered by something, especially something that doesn't matter that much to me, means it would bother her if it happened to her. And she's plenty bothered."
"She was beside herself chasing Sidorov and not being with you."
"I got a glimpse of that this morning going between Kensi and Matthew. I have to figure out how to live with the fact that this was done to the two of them because of me."
"Now you know how Sam feels about you."
"I don't know why nobody believes me when I say the only person I blame is Sidorov." The two sat quietly for a few minutes. "Anyone talk to Boothe yet?"
"As soon as he got to Metro, he lawyered up. Michael Hudson is making noise about this all being a set-up by you but I doubt much will come of that."
"Elizabeth Kelly selling him out?"
"That's what I'm here to talk to you about."
Deeks looked at him, "Nell had her figured out long before we did. This morning, Andrea Miller kept wondering why I was telling lies about her. She gets to take the high road on this one."
"Not quite. The FBI is investigating her having you picked up. LAPD is pushing the narrative that you being removed from the cover house caused enough confusion to let Boothe get in, stab Bernhart and grab Kensi. Since Bernhart and Kensi can't give statements right now, the FBI is handling her while LAPD and NCIS are running point on the case."
"Good. Maybe we should let Nell run the whole thing. She pointed out her suspicions early."
"Nell's busy with a new mystery. Deeks, that woman you had brought in this morning - she's not Elizabeth Kelly."
-30-