Chapter 4
Davis watchedas Kai paced back and forth in the gap between the NCIS team’s desks. He could feel the energy around her as if the constant motion would help move the case forward somehow. Davis was drawn into that energy, unable to do anything but watch her. Not only because she was visibly upset that Curran didn’t have answers for her, but because she was just so beautiful.
He looked over at Austin. “Who is Curran to Kai?”
Austin watched her, too, then said, “He was her mentor.” He tapped on his computer keys. “They’re pretty close, and the fact that he won’t help her is getting to her. He is always there for her.”
Davis sighed, pushed off from the desk, and stood in her path. He hadn’t been there for her last night, and she needed someone last night. “Okay, so we got shot down. That’s never stopped me,” he said. “How about you?”
“Hell, no,” she said, and he smiled.
“Let’s go at this in a different direction.”
Kai stopped and rubbed her forehead. He could tell she was tired, and her head was bothering her. Made it hard to think with that double whammy.
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“The only concrete thing we have right now is Mayta’s murder, and we’re sure Lennon was romantically involved with her.” Kai nodded. “So, we run with the murder for now.”
“What about your friend?” Austin asked.
“We find the murderers and we’ll find Carter.”
“It’s clear Carter’s disappearance is related to Mayta’s murder,” Austin said.
“At this point, that’s what we’re going to run with. There’s no direct connection?—”
“There is now,” Justin Mathis, or Math as he was called, their resident nerd said as he came into their area. “Carter Lennon was there in her house. One of the blood samples matches his DNA on the Coast Guard database along with his fingerprints. There were no other prints besides theirs.”
There was a grim silence. “Then where is the body?” Jason asked.
“The sample I tested was too small to be a mortal wound, but that doesn’t mean Lennon is or isn’t dead,” Math replied.
“He could have been injured in a fight,” Austin offered.
“Not at his home. We found no blood there,” Davis said.
“They may have threatened Mayta, and he went willingly?” Jason added.
“That’s possible,” Davis said, nodding.
“There was one other distinctive DNA, but I found no match for that one.”
“One of the kidnappers got injured, maybe?” Jason said.
Math nodded. “It’s probable, but we have something to go on once we track these people down.”
“Anything else?” Kai asked.
“No hits on the bullet that killed our victim, but it came from a suppressed .22.”
“Suppressed?” Austin said.
“Yes, which sounds like a hit to me,” Math said. “And, according to Kelly, she was brutally tortured, which says they wanted something from her in a bad way.”
“And, at this point, we don’t know that she was involved in anything illegal,” Kai said
Just then, Derrick and Amber came into the office. “What did we miss?” Derrick asked. They filled him in.
“What did you find out?” Kai asked.
“Mayta talked to a coworker. She said that Mayta was worried about her dad in Ecuador, and for some reason, Mayta refused to disclose, her boyfriend was looking into it for her. She said he had some kind of lead.”
“Is her work sensitive?” Kai asked.
“No. Her CO said that she was an analyst and that what she was working on wasn’t sensitive. He also said that it would be shocking to find out that someone from China would murder her in that fashion, although now that we know she was killed with a suppressed weapon, it does beg the question, was it some form of torture related to espionage?”
“Since Curran won’t talk to us?—”
“Ah, Kai?” Austin said.
She turned to him and the pensive look on his face. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Curran did talk to Lennon.”
“When?”
“I asked for camera footage from the Pendleton office.” He pressed a button and a frozen still popped up on the screen. “That’s Curran and Lennon.”
“When was this?” Kai asked.
“Two days ago. Lennon looks pissed.” He pressed his space bar and the video started to play. It was clear from Curran’s body language that he was withholding, and from the way Lennon was up in his face, he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“He lied to me?” Kai said, her tone strained. One second her barriers had fallen revealing a vulnerability like he’d seen last night, then the next her barriers had snapped back in place, reinforced with quite a bit of anger. She blinked and looked away, clearly absorbing this information. Davis wanted to touch her, soothe away her confusion and pain.
Her jaw clenched, and she said, “Lucy, call Special Agent Curran. I want to see him now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Maybe it would be a good idea to wait a bit?—”
“No,” Kai said, cutting Austin off and staring daggers at the screen. “No waiting. He owes me an explanation and the truth. This is a murder investigation, and it completely trumps his damn classified drug case. We’re here to serve the people who serve. Petty Officer Mosquera deserves justice, and this…this…crap isn’t going to stand.”
“Kai,” Davis said, taking her arm and pulling her to a place that was a few steps away from her team. “If you go at him with an attitude, he’ll most likely clam up. Maybe Austin’s suggestion?—”
She pulled her arm out of his grasp, her eyes flashing. “Maybe we’ve had some moments, Davis, but you don’t know me or how I operate.” Her eyes went glassy. “I’m doing this my way until either my boss or the director tells me differently.” He suspected she was using her anger to cover up feelings of hurt and betrayal.
He’d sworn to himself that he’d be here to support her, to defend her, to help her, to do anything she asked. But the one thing he’d vowed not to do was pressure her, or bring up their future beyond the madness they were enduring in this very important case.
She was so strong and so tireless in doing what she knew she had to do, but she was also human, and worn out, both emotionally and physically. Which was where the teary eyes came from, he was sure. She’d been running on fumes…maybe for years.
He was just as tense, just as committed as she. He wanted Lennon to be alive. His gut told him he was dreaming as he worked to keep the deep grief at bay. He didn’t have a choice but to endure from one minute to the next. Then there was the feeling of failure, that in some way he had let his buddy down when he hadn’t followed through with his gut instinct and pressured Lennon for what was really going on. They had served together protecting the coasts against any threat to the United States. They had bonded like brothers during their service and after, even when Davis had become a civilian. It was a bond that didn’t break.
Whoever was behind Mayta’s execution was ruthless and determined. They’d murdered the girl in her home in a residential area where anyone could have seen something vital. It wasn’t reckless. It was calculated and bold. It sent a message that was loud and clear.
He held up his hands. “I was trying to help, Kai. This case is littered with landmines of emotion, and one wrong step?—”
“Thank you for your input.” She gave him her best steely-eyed glare, something he realized a supervisory agent likely perfected as a matter of survival. She didn’t break eye contact with him, and her challenge turned him on as much as it was pissing him off. He usually had more…aplomb than this. “Lucy!” Kai yelled.
Lucy looked up and responded quickly. “He’s not in the office. He’s gone to a meeting at the courthouse.”
“Then we’re going to the courthouse,” Kai said, breaking eye contact with Davis and looking over her shoulder. Suddenly everyone was moving at once. She ignored him completely after that, focusing instead on driving once they were packed into two vehicles. He’d deliberately thrown his keys to Jason and gotten into the passenger seat beside Kai.
Her jaw remained tense, her shoulders hunched, even after they left NCIS behind. There was something inherently sexy about a woman who not only could hold her own but could call people out when they were being asshats, and Curran had sandbagged them. Why?
And she didn’t seem to be having too hard a time handling him.
The San Diego Central Courthouse was actually the city’s fifth structure, being rebuilt for a myriad of reasons including fire, demolition due to design problems, security issues, seismic vulnerability, overcrowding, and asbestos abatement. Now in their place, was a glass and concrete, twenty-two-story building in downtown San Diego, topped with a modern lighted soffit, shading the building during the morning hours, consolidating criminal trial, family, and civil courts at the intersection of Union and C Streets.
Kai slid into a metered parking space, as Jason parked across the street. After exiting the vehicles, they headed toward the eight-foot entrance with stairs leading into the building which led to an outdoor portico designed for public auctions and news conferences. The light-filled atrium sported large floor-to-ceiling windows. They stopped at security, and after a few moments of showing their badges and stating their purpose for being there, they passed through.
The first impression of the massive internal entrance resembled an airport terminal, especially the touchscreen building directories.
“Which conference room?” Kai asked.
“It’s actually a jury deliberation room and is located on the third floor,” Lucy replied. She looked at the directory and started walking, “This way, boss.”
They followed her to a bank of escalators, navigating the crowds of people jostling for space on the three-story lobby escalator. The lobby connected with a vestibule and a raised entry plaza, a fritted glass curtain wall bright with natural light spilled into the corridor lined with wood benches. The east part of the building catered to the public and the west to judges and administrative offices. Defendants were transported from the basement holding cells through secure elevators that ran from the basement to the upper levels.
Kai turned to the team. “You all wait here while I talk to Nate.” Expecting her order to mean everyone, she cast him another glaring look as he settled into step beside her.
“This is a joint investigation and as the senior CGIS agent involved, I will go where you go.” When he was around her, he experienced emotions so caveman primitive, it left him raw. She was deeply under his skin, and he’d had years to eradicate her, but he could never do it. He’d cheated on every woman he’d ever been with after he’d met Kai, in his thoughts and in his heart. He took a hard breath when she just intensified that determined look on her face and marched on. “I still think this is a mistake.”
She rounded on him, stopping him in his tracks. “You think just because you barged your way into my life and into my personal problems, that you can tell me what to do in my professional life. You wonder why I’m not being warmer and more generous to Nate?” She lifted her chin. “He was my mentor and is my friend, a close friend who I relied on. Never had he lied to me about anything. It doesn’t matter what’s going on with his investigation. He should have been straight with me regarding Lennon. That is just common agent courtesy, and not to mention, I outrank him. He has a lot of nerve.”
He was silent for a moment, mostly because she had good points. When the silence stretched to the point of being strained, he said, “You have a lot going on in your life. Serious pressures from both your personal and professional life. I’m not questioning your dedication or the points that you just laid out. They are valid, but something is going on with all of this crap?—”
He caught the profile of a man who was being escorted by two guards, his train of thought interrupted by the sudden shock of recognition.
“Nishida? What are you looking at?” She turned around and stiffened at the same exact time he mimicked her words. “That’s Carter Lennon,” she said between gritted teeth, glancing at him, then back to Carter. “Damn, Nate. What is he pulling here? That’s our suspect.” Without waiting for his confirmation, she started for the trio. “Special Agent Lennon! We would like to have a word with you,” she said firmly, her voice reverberating in the open space that led to the corridors and the jury room.
There was something terribly off with each guard’s body language, and before Davis knew why he was running, he was already a hair”s breadth away from Kai.
Carter’s head turned toward them, terror filling his eyes, his bruised and battered face contorting on some strong emotions. “Davis, run!” Then without warning the two guards pulled their weapons pointing them toward Kai and opened fire.
Terror filled him, and he hit her, taking her down to the floor, his body covering hers as bullets zipped over their prone shapes. They were no more than thirty feet from the men, the stench of flash burns from their weapons lingering on the air.The two fake guards, restraining Carter between them, sprinted toward the jury room Kai was heading toward before they had their brief argument.
Two more men in long coats pulled out automatic weapons and sprayed the area, before pulling open the doors and covering the two guards and Carter as they forced him inside.
He got off Kai, and they ran back to the team who had taken cover.
Jason was kneeling next to Lucy, who was clutching her arm. Blood. She’d been hit.
“Is she all right?”
“Yeah, winged her. I’m going to take her away from here,” he said as several armed courthouse guards showed up. Jason explained quickly to them what had happened. One of the guards got on his radio to call for SWAT.
“What the hell is going on?” Austin said, his gaze never wavering from the closed jury room door.
“I have no idea. That was Lennon they took inside,” Kai said, the perplexed tone of her voice threaded with anger.
“What? This case just keeps knocking us on our asses. It’s starting to piss me off,” Derrick said.
Suddenly, shots rang out in the room, chilling Davis to his bones and freezing his gut. Moments later the four men came barreling out into the hallway. One of the thugs threw a metal object toward the windows, while all those bastards took cover behind the door. In moments the building shook with the force of the blast that blew out several windows, wind whipping into the corridor.
One of the men spewed automatic gunfire at them as the two fake guards and the other automatic-carrying thug ran toward the now blown-out full-length windows. The explosion had shattered the glass pane into slivers. Davis noticed the backpacks they all carried before all three of them launched themselves out. The fourth followed after one more burst of gunfire.
Then, they were simply gone. Davis and Kai rushed toward the window and saw four parachutes gliding toward the bay.
He was turning back to the team, dreading the grim scene they were about to walk into, when another explosion erupted in a wave, rocking the building, a snap of fire and debris, knocking him back, the corridor billowing with smoke. The deafening whoosh ripped over him, the power of it pushing him across the floor, the pressure from the percussion squeezing and affecting every cell in his body, the pain beyond a scream. He could barely see, or breathe, his head swimming.
He sat up, searching the area, noting it was empty…Kai. His head whipped toward the broken windows. Dear God…fuck…. He scrambled to his feet, barely feeling the pain, and rushed over, the warm wind catching in his hair. Bracing himself on the frame, he looked down, his gut clenching and churning at the sight of Kai dangling from the side of the building, her ponytail whipping around her head, her sweater rippling against her body.
He went to his knees, but immediately realized she was too far down, but he tried to get to her anyway. Her eyes were colored with terror. He felt every nuance of that emotion prickle through him at the thought of her?—
He cut that off as she reached toward him.
It was too far, and the only thing keeping her from falling was the one handhold on a piece of rebar. She dangled in mid-air, a thirty-foot drop beneath her onto hard concrete. Certain death. No. There was enough of that today. “Grab onto the bar with both hands. Don’t let go!”
He turned and spied the solid cherry bench bolted to the floor. He wrapped his lower leg around it, hooking his knee to anchor himself, then he leaned out the window, sliding against the side of the building. Reaching down to her, he grabbed one of her wrists in each hand. He grunted in pain but held tight. “Let go. I have you. I have you,” he shouted. With a monumental effort, digging deep for the strength he needed, fueled by desperation and adrenaline, he heaved her up and back into the building, then rolled with her away from the opening.
“You okay?” He kissed her forehead, held her face in his hands. He broke apart inside, the sight of her locking everything else out, and he crushed her to him, wanting only the solid feel of her in his arms. “Kai, babe?”
“Yeah, yes,” she said hoarsely. She nodded, clinging to him, but it was the tremor in her voice, the receding fear that took his breath away, and did him in.
He turned his head to look toward the door, the smoke dissipating from the wind streaming through the open area. Austin’s shoulders dropped, and when he turned to look at Davis, his devastated face said it all.
There were no survivors.
Several fire trucks,ambulances, and what looked like the whole SDPD, including SWAT, filled the street in front of the courthouse. Flashing lights lit the area. Traffic on the road was being rerouted around the building. Austin paced in front of him, grumbling under his breath. He understood the man’s frustration. This was all about forensics and recovering body parts.
It was all that was left of the people inside the jury room.
The explosion left little evidence for forensics, but as soon as they got back to NCIS, they were going to run face recognition from his admittedly vague composite of the gunmen. An EMT settled a blanket around his shoulders. His forehead was bandaged neatly, the blood trail down his throat drying.
“Austin, you’re going to wear out the pavement.” The man stopped and rubbed at his forehead. He, Derrick, and Amber were unharmed. They had been behind cover when the blast went off.
“I’m scrambling to make sense of this case, how this is all connected.”
Davis slid him a glance and arched a brow. “All of us are reeling. I lost a friend in there, and I don’t know why.”
Austin’s features tightened, and he said, “I’m sorry, man. Kai lost someone, too. Nothing about any of this is clear, especially Lennon and Curran’s parts in it.”
Davis’s gaze followed the bodies being carried out on stretchers, and Kelly, along with the San Diego coroner were examining them, holding up a mangled hand.
“This is connected to my case, and we are already involved.” That was Kai’s voice rising above the low murmur. She rested one of her hands on her gun, her tone sharp and decisive, the grief she must be feeling for Nathan Curran all but hidden. She looked worse for wear about now. She also had patched-up cuts on her face, some with small bandages, others with butterflies, bruises forming on her face, throat, and, he swallowed hard, wrists. But her sweet, toned body was stiff with anger, twisted with muscle and every man in the vicinity watched her intently.
She talked with them for a few more minutes and Davis simply enjoyed Kai in her element. She had an air of absolute authority that was intimidating to anyone she interacted with, including the stern, grizzled FBI agent.
She stopped and spoke to Jason, Lucy’s arm already bandaged. Then turned and headed to them. “We’re leaving.”
“But—”
“No, buts,” she said, giving Austin a stare that could freeze water, then she looked around. “We’ll talk back at the office, and I’ll share the information I have all at once.” She met Davis’s eyes. Her face softened for a moment, the grief she was feeling spilling out and contorting her face for all of two seconds, then she ruthlessly reined it in on a hard breath. She lifted her chin, nudging it toward him. “You okay? That looks painful.”
He touched the bandage on his temple. “I’m good, just as pissed and confused as everyone else.”
She nodded, looking like she wanted to touch him. But instead, she turned on her heel and headed for the side street where they’d parked their vehicles.
Back inside the car, Jason following, they drove back to Pendleton in silence, Davis preoccupied with the tangle of information, emotions, and loss in his head and heart. He and Lennon had been close, had served together in the Coast Guard, and CGIS. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, the man’s death feeling surreal. Davis felt the freshness of his own grief again, and as if she knew it, Kai shifted in the driver’s seat, then her hand slipped over his and squeezed.
He suddenly noticed that the sun was sinking into the west, closing down a day filled with death, pain, loss, and utter confusion.
Once they were all assembled at the office, Kai went to her desk, tapped on her keys and the widescreen lit up with small photos.
She walked to the center of the strip between the desks. “This is the list of the people expected to be in the room.” She took a soft breath, clicked on the first picture. “This is US Attorney Betsy Marlowe. She was heading up the OCDETF Task Force for San Diego.” She started clicking through the photos. “ATF Agent Francisco Martinez, DEA Agent Cal Huff, US Marshal Clyde Jackman, ICE-HS Investigator Rita Cabrera, US Coast Guard representative, Lieutenant Sasha Young, and…” She paused, her voice breaking slightly. “NCIS Special Agent Nathan Curran. We are also aware that CGIS Special Agent Carter Lennon was also present. We are now sharing this case with several government agencies all out for blood: the attorney general, ATF, DEA, the marshal service, ICE and Homeland. The FBI is taking point on the forensics and autopsies, with Math and Kelly running shotgun. As soon as they know something, we’ll know it.”
She set down the clicker and was quiet for a moment. “We’ve lost very good people today, and the only thing we have to go on is Petty Officer Mayta Mosquera’s murder. This is where it began. That is what we’re going to pursue regardless of the government agencies involved. We will get justice for her, Special Agents Curran and Lennon. That’s our mission.” She started for her NCIS boss’s office. “Work that now, and I’ll hear what you have uncovered when I get back.”
In her wake, they were all quiet for a moment, then Lucy piped up. “I noticed that Mr. Mosquera’s text was on a group text that also went to his ex-wife. I tried to contact her, not only for questioning about her daughter, but we needed to deliver the death notice for Mayta, but her mother isn’t answering through any means, text, phone, email. I find that strange and alarming. We should track her down.”
“Good catch, Lucy,” Derrick said. “Why don’t you and Amber work on that.”
She nodded, her eyes moist as Amber slipped an arm around her and gave her a hug, then they went to their desks.
Davis decided to do a timeline on both Mayta and Carter, track their activity, hoping for some clue that could help them. It was about fifteen minutes later when Kai came out of her boss’s office.
She walked over to him as he looked up. “You and I are going to Ecuador to track down Mr. Mosquera, find out what his text means, and ask him about his daughter.”
Yeah, that was a good plan, and he was all in. Whatever Mayta triggered, and she was the epicenter, it had left nine people dead, including Mayta. What would they find out after digging into her life? The reason for her death or much more?