Story: Sebastian (part 10 of 11)
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.
10. "In my experience, boys are predictable. As soon as they think of something, they do it. Girls are smarter - they plan ahead. They think about not getting caught." - Eoin Colfer, "Half-Moon Investigations"
"You don't have to do this," Nate said to Deeks as Nate and Kensi took their seats in the Observation Room at the L.A. County Courthouse lock-up.
Deeks opened his earwig case and started to prepare for the interview. Through the two-way glass, he watched Tina Ann Deavers turned Elizabeth Kelly shuffle into the Interview Room with a waist chain and leg irons. The female corrections officer with Deavers started attaching the ankle cuffs, removing the waist chains and handcuffing her charge to a ring on the table top. Turning his attention back to Kensi and Nate, Deeks said "You know, I think someone has said that to me every day since this investigation started. I haven't quit yet, why start now?"
"Because they're caught. Because they're going away forever if they're not given the death penalty. Because you don't give psychos what they want just because they ask for something," Kensi answered.
"Because whatever guilt you have about what happened yesterday to Det. Bernhart or Kensi or years ago to Lt. Moran could be something Deavers would use against you," Nate added.
"He has nothing to feel guilty about when it comes to Matt or me," Kensi said, looking straight at Deeks.
"Can I get that in writing?" Deeks tried to joke. When he got no reaction, he turned serious. "I have my own agenda here. I want to know where the real Elizabeth Kelly is. I want to know why someone who was smart enough to get through Stanford in three years, earn an MBA and JD in three years and successfully run a large financial firm for years could be doing this with her free time."
"She'll be studied for years by professionals," Nate assured him.
"No insult intended Doc, but a lot of shrinks are going to look for the causes of why she did this and most are going to hold her hand to get her to spill. If you think she's going to use my guilt over Kensi, Matthew and Corey Moran against me, don't you think she'll make the shrinks do what she wants for a glimpse into her terrible psyche? And she'll use them. She'll find some lousy thing that happened to her or some slight, real or perceived, that lead her down her troubled path." Deeks's voice dripped with disdain. "I'm not going not hold her hand; I'm not going to offer her any easy outs. She wants to talk to me, great. I have no interest in hearing how she's a victim. I'm looking for external answers. Not really interested in her justifications. Where is the real Elizabeth Kelly is a good place start."
Deeks's phone rang. Caller ID read Frances J. Bernhart. "Frannie, how's Matthew?"
"He's awake," Frannie's joy was obvious even on the cellphone line. "The doctors are with him now but he tried to pull out the ventilator which to me means he's back to his usual self."
"Yeah, I told you, they weren't keeping him down." Deeks said as the door to the Observation Room opened. In walked Callen and Andrea Miller. He heard Kensi's "hell no" before continuing with Frannie. "I'm finishing up something that has to do with the case Matthew and I were working right now. When I'm done, I'm going right to the hospital. Tell Matthew I'm coming."
"I will. Thanks for everything, Marty."
"Frannie, I owe your brother a lot on this case. He saved the day." Deeks disconnected the call and told the room, "Matthew's awake."
"Good news," was Nate's comment.
Kensi was more interested in their FBI guest. "Why is she here?"
"Slumming?" Deeks asked.
"Is that's how you talk about your bosses?" Andrea Miller asked.
"He's not my boss," Deeks said. Pointing at Callen, he explained, "Callen's a colleague. And I wasn't talking about him, I was talking to him." Deeks was happy to see Callen crack a small smile. "Nate and Kensi have expressed their concerns about me meeting with Tina Deavers. You got any?" he asked Callen.
"You have the complete support of NCIS and I'm sure if LAPD had concerns, you wouldn't be here. In the spirit of inter-departmental cooperation, Ms. Miller will observe the interview. Both Hetty and I made it clear we thought it was a mistake and that you and you alone should handle any interrogation of Deavers or Boothe." Callen pulled out a chair next to Nate. "Assistant Director, please have a seat. I've been given the authority to remove you at any point. Don't start anything with Det. Deeks you're not willing to finish in the elevator on your way out of the building."
"Or Kensi. Don't start anything with Kensi. She's the one who wound up in the hospital yesterday and I'm putting that on you." Deeks pointed to Deavers. "My eleven o'clock is waiting." Deeks took the case file folder with him as left. "I don't want to hear a word from you," Deeks told Miller. "You have a question, pass it on to Dr. Getz."
"I don't take orders from you," Miller sniffed.
"No, you don't," Callen said, "but if you distract him, you're gone."
Deeks ambled into the Interview Room. "Good morning Ms. Deavers."
"Who?"
Standing behind the interviewer's chair, Deeks said, "Before we start. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I've just read to you? Knowing these rights, do you still wish to speak to me?"
"I had my rights read to me yesterday."
"And you only said you wanted to speak to me. Before we go on, knowing your rights, do you wish to speak to me?"
"I do."
"Thank you, Ms. Deavers."
"Again, who?"
Deeks eased himself into the interview chair and dropped the file folder on the table. "Tina Ann Deavers. Are you Tina or Tina Ann?"
"I'm Elizabeth Kelly."
"No, Tina Ann Deavers. You shouldn't shoplift from the Gap. They'll ban you from the store and scare the living hell out of you for a shirt or two but four hundred dollars' worth of stuff - you're getting a ride downtown and fingerprinted." Deeks opened the folder and pulled out two fingerprint sheets. "You're Tina Ann Deavers. We're getting a DNA sample from Caroline Kelly and that will end your access to the Kelly fortune."
"Made enough of my own money."
"Fraudulently. And hopefully wrapped up in company stocks. Boothe Financial, which you were so desperate to save while you were bugging my fake office, is toast. SEC was moving in today to try to stabilize the company before selling it for pennies on the dollar to probably Morgan Stanley."
"You found the bug?"
"I'm really not interested in answering questions at this time. I am interested in you answering some of my questions so, where is the real Elizabeth Kelly?"
"I'm the real...
"OK," Deeks tone got harsher. Pulling out his phone, he opened the stopwatch app and set it for three minutes. "You have three minutes to answer my question, otherwise the next time I see you I'll be raising my hand and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
"What do I get out of this? Maybe we can play twenty questions? Quid pro quo?"
Two minutes thirty four, thirty three, thirty two."
"You're not going to leave, you'll do what I say if you want answers."
"Be careful Detective," Nate warned. "You have to keep control but let her think she's got a say in what's going on."
"Ms. Deavers, there's enough right now just on videotape to get you and Sebastian Boothe the gas chamber. I think we both know the real Elizabeth Kelly is dead and has been dead for a very long time. Now, you can answer or not. You've got about ninety seconds left. Wasn't one of Elizabeth Kelly CEO's keys to success being able to meet a deadline. You have yours. And when I finish here, I'll call Michael Hudson and tell him that I'll push for Boothe not getting the death penalty if he just tells me were Elizabeth Kelly is."
"I had such plans for you."
"Deeks," Kensi warned. "She's baiting you."
"Sebastian didn't like to share," Deavers told him. "It's the spoiled brat, only child in him. Kept finding the right looking guy but always someone we'd have to load up on drugs. Sebastian isn't much of a fighter and when the guys realized the party wasn't going to end, well, some muscle relaxants to keep them compliant, a little Viagra and 'E' to keep things, ahem, up, and let the fun begin. But you, you, I wanted to keep you. And he made sure you were damaged goods when he thought he was caught. Spoiled all my fun."
"Life is full of disappointments. You're about to experience one. If you don't tell me what happened to Elizabeth Kelly, I'm done. Ten seconds Ms. Deavers."
The time ticked away, finally beeping when 0:00 showed up. "Enjoy your cell Ms. Deavers. You'll be in one for the next fifty years or so." Deeks stood, took the file folder and walked to the door.
Just as he opened the door, Deeks heard, "She did it to herself."
"Who's that?"
"Elizabeth. Bethie. Sweet little Bethie. Haven't really thought about her in years."
"Too busy being her, I suppose." Deeks walked back to the table and sat down.
"I suppose." Deavers nodded. "Everyone felt so sorry for her. Sheltered from the harsh outside world, living the oh-so-sad family life. Comatose mother, dead father - poor little Bethie," Deaver's voice was devoid of any sympathy. "She was so desperate to be liked. To have friends. Sebastian saw that right away. He knew."
"How did he know?"
"He reads people. He's really good at it."
"Yeah, he had me figured out," Deeks said with sarcasm.
"No, he had her picked out right away. He could play his shy, socially awkward guy to the hilt even then."
"He told you this?"
"I saw it before."
"You knew Sebastian Boothe before Camp Digital."
"I guess your little file folder doesn't have everything. You want more? I want something from you."
"Absolutely not, Deeks," Kensi told him.
"Be careful," Nate warned.
"Not really into playing games, Ms. Deavers. I just want answers."
"I would have played such games with you," she said as she tried to move her handcuffed hands to his.
"So you knew Boothe before, interesting," Deeks said as he looked back at the Observation Room window.
"I have Nell and Eric looking into this," Callen said.
"How many people do you have on the other side of that window?" Deavers asked. Leaning so she could look right past him, she said "You, in the other room, do you always like to watch?" Turning her attention back to Deeks, she commented, "You must like to perform. Undercover cop, probably always have cameras on you. Any tape on you LAPD hasn't seen?"
"Oh, hose that bitch down," Kensi mumbled, making Deeks smile.
"What's so funny?" Deavers asked.
"They're finding your act amusing."
"Not an act."
"No, it's not. Sadly, we have the videotape to prove it. Back to Elizabeth Kelly," Deeks tried to steer the conversation back to the case.
"Sebastian wanted what you all want..."
"What we all want..."
"You all let the smaller head do your thinking. Sweet little Bethie wanted a dream California boyfriend. A Ken doll come to life who would hold her hand, tell her she was pretty, promise of a long, happy future and never ever touch her. Sebastian wanted to fuck her and smack her around a little bit. That's what he liked at the time."
"Deeks, according to Eric, a Pamela Deavers was a cook for several wealthy Malibu and Beverly Hills types. She never had a child but there has to be a connection," Nate told him.
"And you knew this because he was fucking you and smacking you around."
"What we did was more than that."
Deeks cocked an eyebrow her way. "I'm sure. So what, Elizabeth Kelly didn't want to be beat up by Malibu Sebastian?"
"She didn't want anything. Tried to get away, threatened to go to the counselors. Nobody likes a tattletale."
"Says the woman who is snitching right now," Kensi commented.
"So he killed her?" Deeks asked.
"No. He told her that if she told anyone he'd say he turned her down, make her out to be the needy, camp slut. And it worked. She didn't say a thing. But Sebastian doesn't like a tease."
"Go on."
"He wanted to dig up some dirt on St. Bethie, the Virgin Princess. Make her his."
"And how did you know about this?"
"We were dating when we got there. We'd grab some time when we could. After I got dismissed, Sebastian gave me some money to hang around and we spent a lot of our free time together."
"So where is Elizabeth Kelly?"
"Last day of camp, everyone was saying goodbye and leaving with their nannies or caretakers. Little Bethie is getting limo'd to the Four Seasons where a college transition expert is supposed to help her move in. Me, I'm having a farewell nooner with Sebastian before we go back to L.A. and Bethie finds us. I was barred from camp property and well, he didn't do it on purpose but he grabbed her as she started to leave and she hit a rock."
"Did she hit the rock or did the rock hit her while Sebastian held it?"
"She fell. Sebastian was afraid he'd be blamed. I knew he wouldn't be blamed, the fired help would be."
"You."
"Me. We loaded her into the back of this old car I was using, bought one of those sports duffle bags that hold baseball bats and gear. We dropped her in the Pacific outside Pescadero Beach. I showed up at the Four Seasons that afternoon and nobody ever asked a single question."
"Nell's checking Jane Does that washed up in the summer/fall of 1992 from Camel to Eureka," Kensi told him.
"I don't believe you," Deeks said.
"You wanted to know what happened to poor little Bethie, now you know. May I ask you about your life?"
"No."
"Did it hurt when you were tortured?"
"How did you pass for Elizabeth Kelly at Stanford? She had to do interviews to get into the school."
"Suicidal Daddy paid to get her into Stanford. He knew what he was planning. He was shipping her off someplace. Her interview was with some Stanford alum in Philadelphia. The guy was a drunk because I met him a few years later and he didn't notice the difference. He called her smart, shy but confident in the interview write-up. The rich bitch triple threat."
"Aww, someone's inadequacies are showing."
"You'd know about that, wouldn't you Marty? Unloved, abused child turned outsider, abused cop. Nobody likes poor sweet Martin unless they get to beat on him."
"Nell's found six young women who washed ashore in Northern California," Kensi told him. "Get out of there, Deeks. She's toxic."
"Your girl…" Deavers continued.
"She's many things, including a federal agent, but she's nobody's girl. Maybe that's one of your many problems. You see people as possessions, if you see them as people at all."
"Do you let her hit you or are you one of those guys who takes out getting beat on as a kid by beating on your woman."
"Again, a bit odd with the possessive terms."
"So that's a yes."
"No, that's a no. And you'll excuse me if I chose not to discuss whatever private life I have and whatever private life a colleague has with you. Speaking of colleagues, the detective your boy, Sebastian, tried to gut yesterday when he was kidnapping a federal agent is alive, awake and will no doubt be a great witness against Boothe."
"LAPD sold you out last time to get Sebastian in jail because they didn't think they could beat him in court. Why do you think this is any different?"
"You mean besides the forensic evidence that probably be measured by the ton and the video of the two of you being evil incarnate at the Roman house? Det. Bernhart is the name of cop Sebastian stabbed. His father is Chester Bernhart."
Deavers offered a small reaction. "State Senator Bernhart?"
"One and the same. He's got a law and order reputation. Has mentioned his son is a cop several times in campaign material. Now his son was stabbed by one-half of a team of kidnappers-sexual sadists-serial killers during an investigation into said kidnappers-sexual sadists-serial killers. The State Senator, his socialite wife - real socialite, not a faux socialite like you - going to the trial every day. Det. Bernhart is a hero. The trust fund guy who didn't wind up like Boothe - rich, useless and weird. Didn't wind up like you - stealing a rich person's life and being vicious and weird. Best. Trial. Ever. For LAPD and the DA's Office."
"LAPD and the DA's office couldn't convict OJ, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson…"
"You know what those cases had in common? No videotape. Wait until a jury sees a best-of compilation from you two. You'll be lucky to see life in Pelican Bay instead of death row."
"California hasn't executed anyone in over seven years."
"Don't undersell that video collection, Ms. Deavers. Juries love video," Deeks stood and collected the arrest file. "And they're going to hate you."
x-x-x
"Don't screw this up kid," Bates warned as the warning buzzer blared. "The tiny terror thinks you're filling out paper work. I'm not taking the hit for this one if she finds out."
The gate to the county lock-up opened. Walking down the long hall, he passed a number of prisoners in for a court appearance or waiting to return to whatever facility they called home. In the final cell sat Sebastian Boothe. "Hello Sebastian."
"Marty, my lawyer isn't here. You can't talk to me."
"I can't question you. I can talk. I'm good at talking. Everyone says so." Deeks looked around at Boothe's cell - single bed, stainless steel sink and toilet. "Quite a step down from Sea Lane Drive. Though, your house on Sea Lane Drive, not the house of horrors next door."
"How's Brit-Brit?"
"Who?"
"Elizabeth's welcome home gift."
"Tina's welcome home gift," Deeks corrected him, sickened by calling a kidnapped college student a gift.
"Who's Tina?"
"Oh, Sebastian, don't play dumb," Deeks chided. "She was fingerprinted."
Boothe chuckled. "We pulled off the greatest scam ever."
"Convincing the world you were both human beings?"
"Oh Marty, don't be like that," Boothe stood and made his way to the bars. "The entire world thinks poor little rich girl Elizabeth Kelly became a worldwide business icon. She showed me an offer she had from a publisher - a big publisher - to write her autobiography. Surviving tragedy to rise triumphantly through the business world is worth a two million dollar advance. The best part, the heroine was played by Tina Deavers of Pacific Palisades who had an accountant father bail on the family when she was six, a psycho mother, a chef sister who enjoyed a bit too much of the cooking sherry and a lover who made damn sure she made it to the top."
"You know, when you brought her to the bar all those years ago, I did a quick search on her. Read her bio and I was stunned that someone with that fancy business degree from Stanford, from Penn, the law degree was working in the charity end of your business. I guess I figured that Elizabeth Kelly survived the hard times with the help of a nice trust fund and wanted to do good. All that Catholic guilt about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to go to heaven. But no. It all makes perfect sense now. She couldn't get a broker's license, she couldn't take the bar - fingerprints. She could run the charities - nobody asks too many questions about a rich woman giving out checks."
"And having her move into a position of importance after my arrest. Who has cleaner hands than the head of corporate giving?"
"After a search of that house next door, the term clean will never come up in discussions of the two of you."
"Why are you here Marty? City worker gloating because he sees himself as the hero in his own little story? Tell me, who do you want to play you in the movie, Brad Pitt? Bradley Cooper? I'm hoping for Leonard DiCaprio to play me, to be honest."
"No movies. No gloating. No heroes. Just wanted to see you in your natural habitat. See the type of place you'll live for the next fifty years."
"Michael Hudson is already waiting for you," Boothe warned. "By the time he's finished with your background, the jury will think you're an unbalanced washout who couldn't make it as a lawyer, couldn't make it as a cop and is desperate to be a fed. Even got yourself tortured to prove how much you wanted to fit in. You took all that anger out on me. You targeted me. You promised me you weren't investigating me and yet, here I sit."
"Oh, I think discovery is going to be a challenge for Mr. Hudson. And what I promised was that as long as you weren't a suspect in another crime, I had no interest in you. You killed Corey Moran, you had Brittney Russell chained in the house next door. There's video of all the evil you and Ms. Deavers could do. I am the least of Mr. Hudson's worries."
"I'll be out someday. And I'm going to find you and your bitch and …."
"Goodbye Sebastian," Deeks said as he started to walk away. "You're never getting out and except when I testify, I don't ever have to deal with you again. Have a long, miserable life."
x-x-x
Deeks made a stop before returning to the Malibu house to pack up his things and leave. Frannie Bernhart was on the elevator as he boarded. "I needed coffee," she told him.
"Frannie, you're not going to be any good to him if you make yourself sick."
"I don't want him to be alone."
"And he wouldn't want you to be sick," Deeks replied as they got off on the third floor. "I'll make you a deal. You go back downstairs and go outside. Take a cab to the shopping center on North Moorpark. You got all the fast food you could hope for and a couple of places that actually sell semi-healthy food. Find some, eat it. I'll sit with your brother until you're well fed. Deal?"
"The doctors are in with him now."
"And I'm next. Take a cab there and I'll arrange for someone to pick you up when you're done."
"Is there a Subway?"
"Of course, it is a shopping center."
Frannie started laughing. "Dad's back in Sacramento. Mom's decided that she's going to spend nights with Matthew so she's sleeping during the day. I just don't want him to be alone."
"I'll be here every day at lunch if I can. If I can't, I'll send someone. You're to start eating and not just at Subway."
"But I love the five dollar footlongs."
"Frannie, I'm thinking you can probably swing a slightly more healthy meal for lunch."
"But they're good."
Deeks gave her a light peck on the cheek. "And you're your brother's sister. I'd expect the same comment for him."
"That may be the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a long time. Thanks Marty," she handed him her coffee and made her way back down the hall.
Deeks took one sip of the mud passing as hospital coffee and found the closest trash pail. Matt's hospital room door opened and a doctor and nurse walk out. Deeks sent a quick text to Bates, asking if someone was available to bring an exhausted Frannie Bernhart back to the hospital from the Conejo Valley Plaza Shopping Center Subway. "There will be," was the Lieutenant's immediate reply.
Matt had tubes coming out of about every opening in his hospital gown. IV's, catheters, drains - all items Deeks remembered from his last hospital stay. "You look like shit," Deeks said without malice.
"No, I look butch and brave. You looked like shit in the spring."
Deeks sat down in the chair next to his bed. "You and me, Matthew, we need to make a pact. No more getting hurt for the rest of our careers."
"Where's the fun in that?" Matthew asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Actually living long enough to collect on our pensions. How entertaining would it be for Bates and Deputy Chief Warner to actually have to say nice things about us at our retirement dinners?"
"I don't want a dinner. I want a celebratory farewell at the Boobie Bungalow."
"Of course you do," Deeks chuckled. "How you feeling?"
"Gut hurts. They have me on some super strong painkillers and it still hurts. Not looking forward to recovery and rehab."
"If you want someone to hang with during that, I'm happy to be around. I owe you."
"You owe me nothing," Matt smiled and batted his eyes at Deeks, "your friendship is payment enough."
"I owe you for last spring. I owe you for working this case. I owe you for saving Kensi."
"From what Bates told me, you saved Kensi. Going in alone is going to guarantee you don't get a retirement dinner."
"I needed to get her away from him. Then he wound up being them."
"I met her, that not-Elizabeth Kelly bitch, at some ladies who lunch thing my mother ran. I think Mom was improving libraries in bad neighborhoods. Saw her and thought she was hot. Jesus, you're usually the one with lousy radar when it comes to psycho chicks."
"She fooled everyone. If she didn't show up when she did, she'd still be running free."
"How's Kensi?"
"Worried about you."
"Not the answer I was looking for but good to hear."
"She's good. Doesn't remember much."
"He jammed a water bottle in mouth as I was figuring out if my intestines were going to fall out."
"Yeah, our computer people picked up a reflection."
"He came up from the beach. Sam was right about that being a vulnerability."
"Sam's really good at his job."
"So are we. Two screw-up cops and a fed caught the bad guys. Or bad guy and girl."
"I wanted to talk to you about that."
"Oh no. They're not getting out, are they?"
"No, oh no. They're either going to supermax or going to death row."
"OK."
"This is your bust. NCIS is fine with giving credit to LAPD and I'm moving it over to you."
"Our bust."
"Your bust. You're the one who stayed conscious long enough to tell me where Kensi was. You're the one who saw the boat a couple of Sundays ago."
"That was fake-Elizabeth Kelly?"
"The fake foundation she set up to own the mansion next to Boothe's had a boat registered and docked in a nearby marina. There was an assortment of wigs at the house. Can't prove it yet but it was her. Your bust."
"Martin…"
"Matthew, I owe you. You saw him take Kensi. I owe you forever."
"She's amazing."
"She is."
"Normally I'd say you outkicked your coverage but I saw her before you met. Couple of us went out for drinks and she was cool. She's different now. Looks at you like you look at her. It's nice."
"It is."
"I got the impression from Sam that he doesn't know."
"He knows. Or he has some idea. They all do on some level but we're not officially out there as a couple and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Nothing to worry about from me, man. I just want to host the bachelor party."
"Yeah, two things on that. First, let's see where Kensi and I go."
"You happy?"
"Yes."
"She happy?"
"She tells me she is."
"So you're happy. What more do you need?"
"Good point."
"Now, what's second?"
"Any bachelor party you run is likely going to include a barn animals, a car chase and possibly a run in with the Mexican Federales."
"It isn't a party until someone calls the cops."
x-x-x
After arranging a schedule with Frannie, Hetty and Bates that allowed him to visit Matt, Deeks finally returned to the Malibu house. He found Kensi packing. And by packing, she was throwing all her belongings indiscriminately into a couple of duffle bags.
"You know, if you fold things neatly," he suggested, "you might get more into each bag."
"I'm just going to wash most of this when I get home, what's the difference Felix Unger?"
"Felix Unger? Someone's been watching scripted TV."
"When Callen and I were in New York, one of the local stations ran it. You should watch it, it's very funny."
"I've seen it. A lot. Mephistopheles."
"The devil?"
"Yeah, we need to do an "Odd Couple" weekend at some point."
"Speaking of the devil, the FBI found dental records from a retired dentist in Pennsylvania who treated then 12-year old Elizabeth Kelly. He kept all of his files. The films are in rough shape but the FBI computer forensics lab is going to try to match the real Elizabeth Kelly dental records of the young women who washed ashore in California from 1992 on."
"And as her final act as an Assistant Director at the FBI, Andrea Miller helps bring home the real Elizabeth Kelly."
"Hetty told you?" Kensi asked.
"No, but it makes sense. She'll go out on a high note. Probably earn a commendation and you got kidnapped, Matthew got stabbed and I plan on filing a long complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility."
"It won't matter, she's going to resign to run for her mother's seat. Her mother may even retire early to guarantee the seat stays in the family."
Deeks plopped down on the bed alongside Kensi's duffels. "Unbelievable."
"Deeks, two serial killers are in jail, a kidnapped girl is back with her family. I'm fine, it sounds like Matt is going to recover and LAPD CSU thinks twenty-five murders may be solved when this is all finished. Andrea Miller gets her little victory. Everything you started six years ago when the investigation into Sebastian Boothe was opened is done. He's never getting out of jail."
Deeks looked up at her, standing with her hands on her hips absolutely exasperated at him. "Thank you," he said softly.
"For what?"
"Everything. Six years ago, I was by myself on this case. I had Ruben, I had Bates but mostly, I had me. And it was fine. It worked. Boothe went to jail for the wrong crimes but he went to jail. Six years later, I still have Ruben and Bates. I found Matthew somewhere along the way but what I really have is you."
"Everyone at NCIS knew you could…"
"Not talking about NCIS. For all the 'I'm just a dumb cop trying to keep up' posing I do in the office, I know I'm good at this. I'm a good cop, I'm good at running an undercover operation. I learned a lot from Bates and Ruben and Matthew. And I can do this."
"Damn right you can."
"But I do it better with you. I still have some problems…"
"Like neat freakery," she smiled as she interrupted.
Deeks lifted an eyebrow at her, "You're not free of issues there either, Oscar Madison. But I'm better with you. Everything's better with you."
"I told you that Sunday morning when this all started I had your back."
"You did. You always do."
Kensi turned serious. "I always will."
-30-
One chapter to go. Thanks so much for riding along.
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.
10. "In my experience, boys are predictable. As soon as they think of something, they do it. Girls are smarter - they plan ahead. They think about not getting caught." - Eoin Colfer, "Half-Moon Investigations"
"You don't have to do this," Nate said to Deeks as Nate and Kensi took their seats in the Observation Room at the L.A. County Courthouse lock-up.
Deeks opened his earwig case and started to prepare for the interview. Through the two-way glass, he watched Tina Ann Deavers turned Elizabeth Kelly shuffle into the Interview Room with a waist chain and leg irons. The female corrections officer with Deavers started attaching the ankle cuffs, removing the waist chains and handcuffing her charge to a ring on the table top. Turning his attention back to Kensi and Nate, Deeks said "You know, I think someone has said that to me every day since this investigation started. I haven't quit yet, why start now?"
"Because they're caught. Because they're going away forever if they're not given the death penalty. Because you don't give psychos what they want just because they ask for something," Kensi answered.
"Because whatever guilt you have about what happened yesterday to Det. Bernhart or Kensi or years ago to Lt. Moran could be something Deavers would use against you," Nate added.
"He has nothing to feel guilty about when it comes to Matt or me," Kensi said, looking straight at Deeks.
"Can I get that in writing?" Deeks tried to joke. When he got no reaction, he turned serious. "I have my own agenda here. I want to know where the real Elizabeth Kelly is. I want to know why someone who was smart enough to get through Stanford in three years, earn an MBA and JD in three years and successfully run a large financial firm for years could be doing this with her free time."
"She'll be studied for years by professionals," Nate assured him.
"No insult intended Doc, but a lot of shrinks are going to look for the causes of why she did this and most are going to hold her hand to get her to spill. If you think she's going to use my guilt over Kensi, Matthew and Corey Moran against me, don't you think she'll make the shrinks do what she wants for a glimpse into her terrible psyche? And she'll use them. She'll find some lousy thing that happened to her or some slight, real or perceived, that lead her down her troubled path." Deeks's voice dripped with disdain. "I'm not going not hold her hand; I'm not going to offer her any easy outs. She wants to talk to me, great. I have no interest in hearing how she's a victim. I'm looking for external answers. Not really interested in her justifications. Where is the real Elizabeth Kelly is a good place start."
Deeks's phone rang. Caller ID read Frances J. Bernhart. "Frannie, how's Matthew?"
"He's awake," Frannie's joy was obvious even on the cellphone line. "The doctors are with him now but he tried to pull out the ventilator which to me means he's back to his usual self."
"Yeah, I told you, they weren't keeping him down." Deeks said as the door to the Observation Room opened. In walked Callen and Andrea Miller. He heard Kensi's "hell no" before continuing with Frannie. "I'm finishing up something that has to do with the case Matthew and I were working right now. When I'm done, I'm going right to the hospital. Tell Matthew I'm coming."
"I will. Thanks for everything, Marty."
"Frannie, I owe your brother a lot on this case. He saved the day." Deeks disconnected the call and told the room, "Matthew's awake."
"Good news," was Nate's comment.
Kensi was more interested in their FBI guest. "Why is she here?"
"Slumming?" Deeks asked.
"Is that's how you talk about your bosses?" Andrea Miller asked.
"He's not my boss," Deeks said. Pointing at Callen, he explained, "Callen's a colleague. And I wasn't talking about him, I was talking to him." Deeks was happy to see Callen crack a small smile. "Nate and Kensi have expressed their concerns about me meeting with Tina Deavers. You got any?" he asked Callen.
"You have the complete support of NCIS and I'm sure if LAPD had concerns, you wouldn't be here. In the spirit of inter-departmental cooperation, Ms. Miller will observe the interview. Both Hetty and I made it clear we thought it was a mistake and that you and you alone should handle any interrogation of Deavers or Boothe." Callen pulled out a chair next to Nate. "Assistant Director, please have a seat. I've been given the authority to remove you at any point. Don't start anything with Det. Deeks you're not willing to finish in the elevator on your way out of the building."
"Or Kensi. Don't start anything with Kensi. She's the one who wound up in the hospital yesterday and I'm putting that on you." Deeks pointed to Deavers. "My eleven o'clock is waiting." Deeks took the case file folder with him as left. "I don't want to hear a word from you," Deeks told Miller. "You have a question, pass it on to Dr. Getz."
"I don't take orders from you," Miller sniffed.
"No, you don't," Callen said, "but if you distract him, you're gone."
Deeks ambled into the Interview Room. "Good morning Ms. Deavers."
"Who?"
Standing behind the interviewer's chair, Deeks said, "Before we start. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I've just read to you? Knowing these rights, do you still wish to speak to me?"
"I had my rights read to me yesterday."
"And you only said you wanted to speak to me. Before we go on, knowing your rights, do you wish to speak to me?"
"I do."
"Thank you, Ms. Deavers."
"Again, who?"
Deeks eased himself into the interview chair and dropped the file folder on the table. "Tina Ann Deavers. Are you Tina or Tina Ann?"
"I'm Elizabeth Kelly."
"No, Tina Ann Deavers. You shouldn't shoplift from the Gap. They'll ban you from the store and scare the living hell out of you for a shirt or two but four hundred dollars' worth of stuff - you're getting a ride downtown and fingerprinted." Deeks opened the folder and pulled out two fingerprint sheets. "You're Tina Ann Deavers. We're getting a DNA sample from Caroline Kelly and that will end your access to the Kelly fortune."
"Made enough of my own money."
"Fraudulently. And hopefully wrapped up in company stocks. Boothe Financial, which you were so desperate to save while you were bugging my fake office, is toast. SEC was moving in today to try to stabilize the company before selling it for pennies on the dollar to probably Morgan Stanley."
"You found the bug?"
"I'm really not interested in answering questions at this time. I am interested in you answering some of my questions so, where is the real Elizabeth Kelly?"
"I'm the real...
"OK," Deeks tone got harsher. Pulling out his phone, he opened the stopwatch app and set it for three minutes. "You have three minutes to answer my question, otherwise the next time I see you I'll be raising my hand and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
"What do I get out of this? Maybe we can play twenty questions? Quid pro quo?"
Two minutes thirty four, thirty three, thirty two."
"You're not going to leave, you'll do what I say if you want answers."
"Be careful Detective," Nate warned. "You have to keep control but let her think she's got a say in what's going on."
"Ms. Deavers, there's enough right now just on videotape to get you and Sebastian Boothe the gas chamber. I think we both know the real Elizabeth Kelly is dead and has been dead for a very long time. Now, you can answer or not. You've got about ninety seconds left. Wasn't one of Elizabeth Kelly CEO's keys to success being able to meet a deadline. You have yours. And when I finish here, I'll call Michael Hudson and tell him that I'll push for Boothe not getting the death penalty if he just tells me were Elizabeth Kelly is."
"I had such plans for you."
"Deeks," Kensi warned. "She's baiting you."
"Sebastian didn't like to share," Deavers told him. "It's the spoiled brat, only child in him. Kept finding the right looking guy but always someone we'd have to load up on drugs. Sebastian isn't much of a fighter and when the guys realized the party wasn't going to end, well, some muscle relaxants to keep them compliant, a little Viagra and 'E' to keep things, ahem, up, and let the fun begin. But you, you, I wanted to keep you. And he made sure you were damaged goods when he thought he was caught. Spoiled all my fun."
"Life is full of disappointments. You're about to experience one. If you don't tell me what happened to Elizabeth Kelly, I'm done. Ten seconds Ms. Deavers."
The time ticked away, finally beeping when 0:00 showed up. "Enjoy your cell Ms. Deavers. You'll be in one for the next fifty years or so." Deeks stood, took the file folder and walked to the door.
Just as he opened the door, Deeks heard, "She did it to herself."
"Who's that?"
"Elizabeth. Bethie. Sweet little Bethie. Haven't really thought about her in years."
"Too busy being her, I suppose." Deeks walked back to the table and sat down.
"I suppose." Deavers nodded. "Everyone felt so sorry for her. Sheltered from the harsh outside world, living the oh-so-sad family life. Comatose mother, dead father - poor little Bethie," Deaver's voice was devoid of any sympathy. "She was so desperate to be liked. To have friends. Sebastian saw that right away. He knew."
"How did he know?"
"He reads people. He's really good at it."
"Yeah, he had me figured out," Deeks said with sarcasm.
"No, he had her picked out right away. He could play his shy, socially awkward guy to the hilt even then."
"He told you this?"
"I saw it before."
"You knew Sebastian Boothe before Camp Digital."
"I guess your little file folder doesn't have everything. You want more? I want something from you."
"Absolutely not, Deeks," Kensi told him.
"Be careful," Nate warned.
"Not really into playing games, Ms. Deavers. I just want answers."
"I would have played such games with you," she said as she tried to move her handcuffed hands to his.
"So you knew Boothe before, interesting," Deeks said as he looked back at the Observation Room window.
"I have Nell and Eric looking into this," Callen said.
"How many people do you have on the other side of that window?" Deavers asked. Leaning so she could look right past him, she said "You, in the other room, do you always like to watch?" Turning her attention back to Deeks, she commented, "You must like to perform. Undercover cop, probably always have cameras on you. Any tape on you LAPD hasn't seen?"
"Oh, hose that bitch down," Kensi mumbled, making Deeks smile.
"What's so funny?" Deavers asked.
"They're finding your act amusing."
"Not an act."
"No, it's not. Sadly, we have the videotape to prove it. Back to Elizabeth Kelly," Deeks tried to steer the conversation back to the case.
"Sebastian wanted what you all want..."
"What we all want..."
"You all let the smaller head do your thinking. Sweet little Bethie wanted a dream California boyfriend. A Ken doll come to life who would hold her hand, tell her she was pretty, promise of a long, happy future and never ever touch her. Sebastian wanted to fuck her and smack her around a little bit. That's what he liked at the time."
"Deeks, according to Eric, a Pamela Deavers was a cook for several wealthy Malibu and Beverly Hills types. She never had a child but there has to be a connection," Nate told him.
"And you knew this because he was fucking you and smacking you around."
"What we did was more than that."
Deeks cocked an eyebrow her way. "I'm sure. So what, Elizabeth Kelly didn't want to be beat up by Malibu Sebastian?"
"She didn't want anything. Tried to get away, threatened to go to the counselors. Nobody likes a tattletale."
"Says the woman who is snitching right now," Kensi commented.
"So he killed her?" Deeks asked.
"No. He told her that if she told anyone he'd say he turned her down, make her out to be the needy, camp slut. And it worked. She didn't say a thing. But Sebastian doesn't like a tease."
"Go on."
"He wanted to dig up some dirt on St. Bethie, the Virgin Princess. Make her his."
"And how did you know about this?"
"We were dating when we got there. We'd grab some time when we could. After I got dismissed, Sebastian gave me some money to hang around and we spent a lot of our free time together."
"So where is Elizabeth Kelly?"
"Last day of camp, everyone was saying goodbye and leaving with their nannies or caretakers. Little Bethie is getting limo'd to the Four Seasons where a college transition expert is supposed to help her move in. Me, I'm having a farewell nooner with Sebastian before we go back to L.A. and Bethie finds us. I was barred from camp property and well, he didn't do it on purpose but he grabbed her as she started to leave and she hit a rock."
"Did she hit the rock or did the rock hit her while Sebastian held it?"
"She fell. Sebastian was afraid he'd be blamed. I knew he wouldn't be blamed, the fired help would be."
"You."
"Me. We loaded her into the back of this old car I was using, bought one of those sports duffle bags that hold baseball bats and gear. We dropped her in the Pacific outside Pescadero Beach. I showed up at the Four Seasons that afternoon and nobody ever asked a single question."
"Nell's checking Jane Does that washed up in the summer/fall of 1992 from Camel to Eureka," Kensi told him.
"I don't believe you," Deeks said.
"You wanted to know what happened to poor little Bethie, now you know. May I ask you about your life?"
"No."
"Did it hurt when you were tortured?"
"How did you pass for Elizabeth Kelly at Stanford? She had to do interviews to get into the school."
"Suicidal Daddy paid to get her into Stanford. He knew what he was planning. He was shipping her off someplace. Her interview was with some Stanford alum in Philadelphia. The guy was a drunk because I met him a few years later and he didn't notice the difference. He called her smart, shy but confident in the interview write-up. The rich bitch triple threat."
"Aww, someone's inadequacies are showing."
"You'd know about that, wouldn't you Marty? Unloved, abused child turned outsider, abused cop. Nobody likes poor sweet Martin unless they get to beat on him."
"Nell's found six young women who washed ashore in Northern California," Kensi told him. "Get out of there, Deeks. She's toxic."
"Your girl…" Deavers continued.
"She's many things, including a federal agent, but she's nobody's girl. Maybe that's one of your many problems. You see people as possessions, if you see them as people at all."
"Do you let her hit you or are you one of those guys who takes out getting beat on as a kid by beating on your woman."
"Again, a bit odd with the possessive terms."
"So that's a yes."
"No, that's a no. And you'll excuse me if I chose not to discuss whatever private life I have and whatever private life a colleague has with you. Speaking of colleagues, the detective your boy, Sebastian, tried to gut yesterday when he was kidnapping a federal agent is alive, awake and will no doubt be a great witness against Boothe."
"LAPD sold you out last time to get Sebastian in jail because they didn't think they could beat him in court. Why do you think this is any different?"
"You mean besides the forensic evidence that probably be measured by the ton and the video of the two of you being evil incarnate at the Roman house? Det. Bernhart is the name of cop Sebastian stabbed. His father is Chester Bernhart."
Deavers offered a small reaction. "State Senator Bernhart?"
"One and the same. He's got a law and order reputation. Has mentioned his son is a cop several times in campaign material. Now his son was stabbed by one-half of a team of kidnappers-sexual sadists-serial killers during an investigation into said kidnappers-sexual sadists-serial killers. The State Senator, his socialite wife - real socialite, not a faux socialite like you - going to the trial every day. Det. Bernhart is a hero. The trust fund guy who didn't wind up like Boothe - rich, useless and weird. Didn't wind up like you - stealing a rich person's life and being vicious and weird. Best. Trial. Ever. For LAPD and the DA's Office."
"LAPD and the DA's office couldn't convict OJ, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson…"
"You know what those cases had in common? No videotape. Wait until a jury sees a best-of compilation from you two. You'll be lucky to see life in Pelican Bay instead of death row."
"California hasn't executed anyone in over seven years."
"Don't undersell that video collection, Ms. Deavers. Juries love video," Deeks stood and collected the arrest file. "And they're going to hate you."
x-x-x
"Don't screw this up kid," Bates warned as the warning buzzer blared. "The tiny terror thinks you're filling out paper work. I'm not taking the hit for this one if she finds out."
The gate to the county lock-up opened. Walking down the long hall, he passed a number of prisoners in for a court appearance or waiting to return to whatever facility they called home. In the final cell sat Sebastian Boothe. "Hello Sebastian."
"Marty, my lawyer isn't here. You can't talk to me."
"I can't question you. I can talk. I'm good at talking. Everyone says so." Deeks looked around at Boothe's cell - single bed, stainless steel sink and toilet. "Quite a step down from Sea Lane Drive. Though, your house on Sea Lane Drive, not the house of horrors next door."
"How's Brit-Brit?"
"Who?"
"Elizabeth's welcome home gift."
"Tina's welcome home gift," Deeks corrected him, sickened by calling a kidnapped college student a gift.
"Who's Tina?"
"Oh, Sebastian, don't play dumb," Deeks chided. "She was fingerprinted."
Boothe chuckled. "We pulled off the greatest scam ever."
"Convincing the world you were both human beings?"
"Oh Marty, don't be like that," Boothe stood and made his way to the bars. "The entire world thinks poor little rich girl Elizabeth Kelly became a worldwide business icon. She showed me an offer she had from a publisher - a big publisher - to write her autobiography. Surviving tragedy to rise triumphantly through the business world is worth a two million dollar advance. The best part, the heroine was played by Tina Deavers of Pacific Palisades who had an accountant father bail on the family when she was six, a psycho mother, a chef sister who enjoyed a bit too much of the cooking sherry and a lover who made damn sure she made it to the top."
"You know, when you brought her to the bar all those years ago, I did a quick search on her. Read her bio and I was stunned that someone with that fancy business degree from Stanford, from Penn, the law degree was working in the charity end of your business. I guess I figured that Elizabeth Kelly survived the hard times with the help of a nice trust fund and wanted to do good. All that Catholic guilt about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to go to heaven. But no. It all makes perfect sense now. She couldn't get a broker's license, she couldn't take the bar - fingerprints. She could run the charities - nobody asks too many questions about a rich woman giving out checks."
"And having her move into a position of importance after my arrest. Who has cleaner hands than the head of corporate giving?"
"After a search of that house next door, the term clean will never come up in discussions of the two of you."
"Why are you here Marty? City worker gloating because he sees himself as the hero in his own little story? Tell me, who do you want to play you in the movie, Brad Pitt? Bradley Cooper? I'm hoping for Leonard DiCaprio to play me, to be honest."
"No movies. No gloating. No heroes. Just wanted to see you in your natural habitat. See the type of place you'll live for the next fifty years."
"Michael Hudson is already waiting for you," Boothe warned. "By the time he's finished with your background, the jury will think you're an unbalanced washout who couldn't make it as a lawyer, couldn't make it as a cop and is desperate to be a fed. Even got yourself tortured to prove how much you wanted to fit in. You took all that anger out on me. You targeted me. You promised me you weren't investigating me and yet, here I sit."
"Oh, I think discovery is going to be a challenge for Mr. Hudson. And what I promised was that as long as you weren't a suspect in another crime, I had no interest in you. You killed Corey Moran, you had Brittney Russell chained in the house next door. There's video of all the evil you and Ms. Deavers could do. I am the least of Mr. Hudson's worries."
"I'll be out someday. And I'm going to find you and your bitch and …."
"Goodbye Sebastian," Deeks said as he started to walk away. "You're never getting out and except when I testify, I don't ever have to deal with you again. Have a long, miserable life."
x-x-x
Deeks made a stop before returning to the Malibu house to pack up his things and leave. Frannie Bernhart was on the elevator as he boarded. "I needed coffee," she told him.
"Frannie, you're not going to be any good to him if you make yourself sick."
"I don't want him to be alone."
"And he wouldn't want you to be sick," Deeks replied as they got off on the third floor. "I'll make you a deal. You go back downstairs and go outside. Take a cab to the shopping center on North Moorpark. You got all the fast food you could hope for and a couple of places that actually sell semi-healthy food. Find some, eat it. I'll sit with your brother until you're well fed. Deal?"
"The doctors are in with him now."
"And I'm next. Take a cab there and I'll arrange for someone to pick you up when you're done."
"Is there a Subway?"
"Of course, it is a shopping center."
Frannie started laughing. "Dad's back in Sacramento. Mom's decided that she's going to spend nights with Matthew so she's sleeping during the day. I just don't want him to be alone."
"I'll be here every day at lunch if I can. If I can't, I'll send someone. You're to start eating and not just at Subway."
"But I love the five dollar footlongs."
"Frannie, I'm thinking you can probably swing a slightly more healthy meal for lunch."
"But they're good."
Deeks gave her a light peck on the cheek. "And you're your brother's sister. I'd expect the same comment for him."
"That may be the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a long time. Thanks Marty," she handed him her coffee and made her way back down the hall.
Deeks took one sip of the mud passing as hospital coffee and found the closest trash pail. Matt's hospital room door opened and a doctor and nurse walk out. Deeks sent a quick text to Bates, asking if someone was available to bring an exhausted Frannie Bernhart back to the hospital from the Conejo Valley Plaza Shopping Center Subway. "There will be," was the Lieutenant's immediate reply.
Matt had tubes coming out of about every opening in his hospital gown. IV's, catheters, drains - all items Deeks remembered from his last hospital stay. "You look like shit," Deeks said without malice.
"No, I look butch and brave. You looked like shit in the spring."
Deeks sat down in the chair next to his bed. "You and me, Matthew, we need to make a pact. No more getting hurt for the rest of our careers."
"Where's the fun in that?" Matthew asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Actually living long enough to collect on our pensions. How entertaining would it be for Bates and Deputy Chief Warner to actually have to say nice things about us at our retirement dinners?"
"I don't want a dinner. I want a celebratory farewell at the Boobie Bungalow."
"Of course you do," Deeks chuckled. "How you feeling?"
"Gut hurts. They have me on some super strong painkillers and it still hurts. Not looking forward to recovery and rehab."
"If you want someone to hang with during that, I'm happy to be around. I owe you."
"You owe me nothing," Matt smiled and batted his eyes at Deeks, "your friendship is payment enough."
"I owe you for last spring. I owe you for working this case. I owe you for saving Kensi."
"From what Bates told me, you saved Kensi. Going in alone is going to guarantee you don't get a retirement dinner."
"I needed to get her away from him. Then he wound up being them."
"I met her, that not-Elizabeth Kelly bitch, at some ladies who lunch thing my mother ran. I think Mom was improving libraries in bad neighborhoods. Saw her and thought she was hot. Jesus, you're usually the one with lousy radar when it comes to psycho chicks."
"She fooled everyone. If she didn't show up when she did, she'd still be running free."
"How's Kensi?"
"Worried about you."
"Not the answer I was looking for but good to hear."
"She's good. Doesn't remember much."
"He jammed a water bottle in mouth as I was figuring out if my intestines were going to fall out."
"Yeah, our computer people picked up a reflection."
"He came up from the beach. Sam was right about that being a vulnerability."
"Sam's really good at his job."
"So are we. Two screw-up cops and a fed caught the bad guys. Or bad guy and girl."
"I wanted to talk to you about that."
"Oh no. They're not getting out, are they?"
"No, oh no. They're either going to supermax or going to death row."
"OK."
"This is your bust. NCIS is fine with giving credit to LAPD and I'm moving it over to you."
"Our bust."
"Your bust. You're the one who stayed conscious long enough to tell me where Kensi was. You're the one who saw the boat a couple of Sundays ago."
"That was fake-Elizabeth Kelly?"
"The fake foundation she set up to own the mansion next to Boothe's had a boat registered and docked in a nearby marina. There was an assortment of wigs at the house. Can't prove it yet but it was her. Your bust."
"Martin…"
"Matthew, I owe you. You saw him take Kensi. I owe you forever."
"She's amazing."
"She is."
"Normally I'd say you outkicked your coverage but I saw her before you met. Couple of us went out for drinks and she was cool. She's different now. Looks at you like you look at her. It's nice."
"It is."
"I got the impression from Sam that he doesn't know."
"He knows. Or he has some idea. They all do on some level but we're not officially out there as a couple and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Nothing to worry about from me, man. I just want to host the bachelor party."
"Yeah, two things on that. First, let's see where Kensi and I go."
"You happy?"
"Yes."
"She happy?"
"She tells me she is."
"So you're happy. What more do you need?"
"Good point."
"Now, what's second?"
"Any bachelor party you run is likely going to include a barn animals, a car chase and possibly a run in with the Mexican Federales."
"It isn't a party until someone calls the cops."
x-x-x
After arranging a schedule with Frannie, Hetty and Bates that allowed him to visit Matt, Deeks finally returned to the Malibu house. He found Kensi packing. And by packing, she was throwing all her belongings indiscriminately into a couple of duffle bags.
"You know, if you fold things neatly," he suggested, "you might get more into each bag."
"I'm just going to wash most of this when I get home, what's the difference Felix Unger?"
"Felix Unger? Someone's been watching scripted TV."
"When Callen and I were in New York, one of the local stations ran it. You should watch it, it's very funny."
"I've seen it. A lot. Mephistopheles."
"The devil?"
"Yeah, we need to do an "Odd Couple" weekend at some point."
"Speaking of the devil, the FBI found dental records from a retired dentist in Pennsylvania who treated then 12-year old Elizabeth Kelly. He kept all of his files. The films are in rough shape but the FBI computer forensics lab is going to try to match the real Elizabeth Kelly dental records of the young women who washed ashore in California from 1992 on."
"And as her final act as an Assistant Director at the FBI, Andrea Miller helps bring home the real Elizabeth Kelly."
"Hetty told you?" Kensi asked.
"No, but it makes sense. She'll go out on a high note. Probably earn a commendation and you got kidnapped, Matthew got stabbed and I plan on filing a long complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility."
"It won't matter, she's going to resign to run for her mother's seat. Her mother may even retire early to guarantee the seat stays in the family."
Deeks plopped down on the bed alongside Kensi's duffels. "Unbelievable."
"Deeks, two serial killers are in jail, a kidnapped girl is back with her family. I'm fine, it sounds like Matt is going to recover and LAPD CSU thinks twenty-five murders may be solved when this is all finished. Andrea Miller gets her little victory. Everything you started six years ago when the investigation into Sebastian Boothe was opened is done. He's never getting out of jail."
Deeks looked up at her, standing with her hands on her hips absolutely exasperated at him. "Thank you," he said softly.
"For what?"
"Everything. Six years ago, I was by myself on this case. I had Ruben, I had Bates but mostly, I had me. And it was fine. It worked. Boothe went to jail for the wrong crimes but he went to jail. Six years later, I still have Ruben and Bates. I found Matthew somewhere along the way but what I really have is you."
"Everyone at NCIS knew you could…"
"Not talking about NCIS. For all the 'I'm just a dumb cop trying to keep up' posing I do in the office, I know I'm good at this. I'm a good cop, I'm good at running an undercover operation. I learned a lot from Bates and Ruben and Matthew. And I can do this."
"Damn right you can."
"But I do it better with you. I still have some problems…"
"Like neat freakery," she smiled as she interrupted.
Deeks lifted an eyebrow at her, "You're not free of issues there either, Oscar Madison. But I'm better with you. Everything's better with you."
"I told you that Sunday morning when this all started I had your back."
"You did. You always do."
Kensi turned serious. "I always will."
-30-
One chapter to go. Thanks so much for riding along.