On the other side of the door, stood Kayla and Geoffrey Rushford-Smith, wanting to welcome their new neighbours.
"Hello," Mary greeted the visitors. "Can I help you?"
"Hello. We live next door. We wanted to welcome our new neighborus." It was Kayla who did all the talking. "Geoffrey and Kayla Rushford-Smith."
"Come on in. I'll see if they are up for visitors." Mary left the Rushford-Smiths in the front sitting room, as she walked to the rear of the house to where Kensi and Deeks were still exploring their house.
"You have guests." Mary spoke quietly to warn them the suspects were in the house.
"Thank you, Mary." Deeks smiled at the other agent. "You may send them through."
Kensi had perched herself on a sun bed out by the pool, with Deeks reading the paper beside her. He stood to welcome their guests. "Hello." He smiled to the couple that stood before him. "I'm Derek Hobson, and this is my wife, Kelly."
Kensi stood to welcome their guests. She greeted Kayla first. "Hello."
"Hello, Kelly. I'm Kayla and this is my husband, Geoffrey."
"Hello, Derek. Kelly." Geoffrey shook Deeks' hand. "Welcome to our neighbourhood. We hope you settle in quickly and enjoy living here, as we do. You'll have to come over soon for drinks."
"Thank you, that would be great." Deeks kept his smile in place, as he conversed with their new neighbours. "Can we offer you anything while you are here?" He asked politely, while studying the man before him. He and Kensi wore button cams, with mics, so the rest of the team could have visual and audio of their time with the suspects.
"Yes, thank you. That's would be great." They moved to the outdoor dining area, which looked over the expansive pool, as they waited for Mary to bring out the drinks.
While Geoffrey and Kayla sat next door, talking with Kensi and Deeks, Sam and Callen snuck into their home to plant cams and mics, with Charlie on the lookout.
It seemed too easy, Callen thought to himself. Too easy for him and Sam to just sneak into their suspect's home like that. His gut told him something was not right.
"I don't like this, Sam. This is all too easy." Callen whispered to his partner, as they headed up the stairs of the Rushford-Smith home. "Hetty, advise Mary and Jonty to keep a special eye on the visitors with Kensi and Deeks."
"Will do, George." Concern crossed Hetty's face as she thought on her nephew's gut instinct.
"Someone's just pulled into the driveway guys," Charlie advised Callen and Sam. "Get out now."
Charlie watched two men in business suits arrive to the Rushford-Smith's home. "They are carrying," she added. She hoped they could get out. She didn't want anything else to happen to her team, especially after them all just starting to return to normal again.
Callen and Sam quickly exited the rear of the home and jumped over the wall to Kensi and Deek's home. They were protected by bush from being seen by the suspect, thankfully. They could see Geoffrey's cell ring and he excused himself to answer it.
Rushford-Smith ended the call. "I am sorry, but I am going to have to return home. Some business associates of mine have arrived. Are you happy to stay, Kayla dear?" He looked over to his wife.
"If Kelly doesn't mind, I would appreciate some female company," she replied.
Kensi nodded. "That's fine." She put on a smile for the woman. The husband was their only suspect, so far in this case, and they had no idea of what the wife knew of her husband's work. This time with the wife alone, could give them a heads up if she was in on it too.
Kensi poured some more ice tea, as Deeks excused himself as well. He entered his office and Skyped with Hetty, Eric and Jackson, on what was happening. Eric and Jackson filled Deeks in on the two men who had arrived next door.
"So tell me, Kelly, how long have you and Derek been together?" It was a simple question that one would ask a new neighbour, so Kensi was prepared to answer. They chatted for the next hour, and from all that Kensi could determine from their time together, Kayla appeared harmless.
Callen and Sam moved quietly around the house and out onto the street, back to the car. Charlie sighed with relief as she saw them appear. "That was close," she told them.
"Too close," Callen replied. There was something that just didn't feel right about this case. But he couldn't put his finger on it.
Kensi revealed about the two babies she had lost, in her conversation with the wife, and could see how much her story had affected the woman. Kayla seemed emotional, and quickly excused herself. Kensi took a few deep breaths to push the grief out of her system. It had been hard for her to talk with this woman, although the truth had been altered somewhat for the case, it still hit too close to home for her. She needed some time alone, and ventured up to the master suite. With tears pouring down her face, she locked herself in the bathroom and cried on the floor. Knowing the team were listening into the conversation with the neighbour, had made it harder. She had pushed them all away while she grieved the loss of another child. Now she was admitting her pain to them all. The reality of her decision to go in as Kelly Hobson, hit her hard. She threw her earwig onto the floor after she had switched it off. She needed to cry alone, and not be heard by everyone else.
But Marty Deeks had heard the tremor in her voice and her rapid breathing as she ventured upstairs. He had picked up on her struggle to bare all about her grief. He ran up the stairs and unpicked the lock of the bathroom. It tore at his heart, seeing her in tears on the floor. He fell to his knees and pulled her closer. "Ssh! It's alright, Fern. I'm here for you." He kissed her forehead, and sat there for all the time it took, for Kensi to become calm again.
Kensi clung onto Deeks with all her might. She hadn't realised just how much she had needed him. He was such a comfort to her, one which she needed, but had somehow forgotten. "Marty!" She whispered back, unsure how her voice would handle speaking properly. "Don't go. Please!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Fern. You're stuck with me all the way now." He tried to make light of the situation, knowing that was what she needed. He managed to get a small smile out of her. "That's better. You are so beautiful when you smile, Kensi. My sunshine and gunpowder."
Kensi lightly punched him in his arm. She liked his description of her. He knew her better than herself, sometimes. "What will I do without you, Marty? How did I ever survive without you?"
Her admission made Deeks' heart expand. He knew that they were on their way to being the family he had wanted for a long time.
***
Sam, Callen and Charlie watched Kayla walk back over to her house. They took in turns to watch through the binoculars, snap photos on the camera and scan the surrounding area, whilst they listened into the conversation going on in the suspect's home.
"Something's not right with our new neighbours," Kayla admitted to her husband.
"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Geoffrey frowned and began to worry.
"The wife, she has that mark in her eye. Ahmed Solak warned us of a Federal Agent, who works for NCIS, with a mark in her eye. I think it's the same woman." Kayla trembled with fear. "He promised us a baby, if we did this job for him, Geoff. We can't afford for these agents to prevent us from going through with this." All her hopes of finally having a baby were smashing into smithereens.
