The man put his cell phone back in his pocket and took out a digital recorder.
"The son entered the house approximately an hour ago, his sister and an unknown woman had been in the house for an hour before that. An old lady, an African American and a Caucasian male entered after the male Brandel. They stayed for over an hour when the large African American man left the building. I have yet to ascertain who these people are and what steps will be needed to rescue the Brandel girl from her brother." Pete Sterling looked at his notepad He hated kidnapping cases but this one was clawing at his gut. He had received a message a month ago that a man had kidnapped his sister from her husband and was keeping her against her will. He'd been given the name of her brother Martin John Brandel and all he knew was he had a job in the city although all efforts to find him electronically had failed. He had watched Jennifer Brandel being taken to UCLA and brought back by her brother and he didn't seem to like her being alone anywhere.
Manny Mendez had seemed like a nice man when Pete had met him in a coffee shop downtown and had told him how they were newly married and her brother had not liked the fact he was Hispanic even though his sister was half Hispanic as well. He had said that Manny's job as a garage mechanic wasn't good enough to keep his sister as a wife.
Pete balked at that he hated racism in any form and instantly felt for the guy who even though he was obviously a tough man shed a few tears when telling him how much he missed his wife.
All Pete needed was an opening to rescue the poor woman from this controlling brother and reunite her with her family and the two young children Mendez told her they had.
Jen finished washing up with Kensi helping her, they had all enjoyed her cooking, Marty had relaxed and they two agents and his boss could see how relaxed he was with Jen in his life.
After dinner Jen made Hetty a pot of tea and they sat outside as Kensi, Deeks and Callen stayed inside.
"So, Miss Brandel, how are you finding life with your brother?" She asked,
"It was a surprise to find out I wasn't an orphan and that I had family," Jen admitted, She had grown up with the gang and had been told her family were dead.
"How did you meet your brother?" Hetty asked wanting Jen's take on the story.
"I grew up in the gang, I don't remember being anywhere else, my mom died when I was younger and Manny took care of me."
"How old were you when your mother died?" Hetty asked.
"I was twelve, Manny was…well creepy, but he is the leader and he takes care of all of us. But I didn't like him much." Jen admitted, "He made me go to school and made sure I was clean and fed, sure, but he wanted me to marry him and I wanted to go to university. Then I met Marty, he told me his name was Andy Eastman and he was a friend of Julio's…." Jen smiled, "Julio and I grew up together, he's a great kid, anyway Andy found out my name and got a bit weird he said that his real name was Martin he asked me a lot of questions about my parents and then told me he was my brother and I didn't have to stay there anymore, he showed me his badge, he told me he was a cop and he helped me leave…Manny caught him though as we were leaving, Marty made me go I took the car and came here after losing the men Manny sent after me…I checked the hospitals for a week until Marty turned up, they had left him outside the hospital in the parking lot. He told me about the Witness protection program, but I've only been in a few days, I haven't got my new ID yet."
"Mr. Deeks thinks a lot of you Miss Brandel," Hetty said,
Jennifer smiled, "He thinks a lot about you guys too, and apparently you are the family he never had. He loved his job." She said sadly thinking about how much he was going to miss it.
"Loved?" Hetty said instantly concerned.
"Brandel…Dad is in town, Marty mailed his badge back to his boss, Bates, he's quit the LAPD, I don't want to run again." Jen said and then looked Hetty in the eye, "I know the LAPD didn't have his back during the undercover mission where he found me, I was at the hospital with him for two months while he healed, not once did anyone from LAPD come and see if he was ok. He told me your work was important and that you guys couldn't leave to see him in hospital. I know you all work with National Security type stuff and he was ok with that but Hetty, even when Manny was beating him and while he was in hospital in all that pain…..I have never seen him show as much fear as he is with the thought of our father finding us…Can…can you help him…please?" Jen asked.
Hetty smiled and put her hand over the younger woman's "Miss Brandel, I will leave Ms Blye and Mr. Callen here on protection detail, although it is true, as of now Mr. Deeks does not have a job in NCIS as his job was LAPD liaison, However if we can convince him to take up a more permanent post of federal agent then maybe he could be persuaded to stay."
"He's scared Hetty, He's trying to keep things normal for me, but I can tell, even though I've only known him for a short while, He's scared that he's going to have to face our father…and he's scared that your team don't trust him…especially that guy who left….Sam was it?" she asked.
Hetty nodded, for some time now she had noticed a tension between Mr. Hanna and Mr. Deeks, Some was explainable since she had found out about Jennifer as Hetty had been one of the few people to visit Deeks in the hospital. But there was something else. Something Sam was holding in and she hoped she could deal with it and managed to persuade Deeks to become a permanent member of the team.
She got up and with Jen following walked into the small house.
"Mr. Deeks…" she said Marty looked up. "Ms. Blye and Mr. Callen are on protection detail as of now, and you will sign the forms to become a permanent member of NCIS." She said.
"I don't need protection….we'll be fine…I'm not a cop anymore, I don't work for you!" He protested.
"You quit?" Kensi said shocked.
"I….yeah." Marty said not looking at either of his co-workers. "I have to…it's only a matter of time before he finds us."
"We've got your back Deeks, you aren't alone in this." Callen told him, "And Deeks?"
"Yeah?"
"Sign the damn forms." Callen grinned.
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