NCIS Los Angeles s06e17 Episode Script
Savoir Faire
- Look who's here.
- Hey.
He's alive! He's alive! Ha, ha.
Hey, and better late than never, you know what I mean? Congratulations, Deeks.
I'm back eight seconds and I'm already having second thoughts.
For the record, I wasn't late.
Ah, not to be a stickler for details, but you swaggered in here at 8:02.
Uh-huh.
You moving a little slow there, big guy? Come on.
Do not listen to them.
I am happy that you're back, Sam.
- Thank you.
- Come on, - give the guy a break, he got shot.
Mm-hm.
- What's the big deal? I got shot.
- Uh, once.
- Well, it was two bullets.
- Well, I've been shot multiple times.
My gosh, are you really competing over who got shot more often? Come to think of it, you're the only person that hasn't been shot.
Hmm.
- Yes, I have.
- Uh, with a vest on.
Okay, well, apparently, I'm the only one who's smart.
Hey, look who's back.
What's up, bulletproof? - Very funny.
- I try.
- Try harder.
- What do you got for us, Eric? I got a beach body.
- Mm, that's debatable.
- Ha, ha, ha.
There's a dead body at the beach.
Now, that I believe.
Agent Hanna.
So did you make that trade yet? You waiting for the stock to split? No, I made the trade before I came in to work this morning.
That's why you were late? You were playing the stock market? When you say playing, that implies a game where you're winning or losing.
- When I trade stocks, I don't lose.
- But with Granger? I'm standing right here, Agent Callen.
You're gonna make a killing.
- Maybe.
- You got a tip for me? - Maybe not.
- Day trading.
- Granger.
- Smart man.
Hang on a minute, just a second.
Agent Hanna's gonna catch up to you.
All right.
If you want me to give you another tip, I'm gonna have to get a finder's fee.
Listen, you took a bullet to the chest.
Yeah.
I rested up, I ate my vegetables, now I'm 100 percent.
- Now I know you're lying.
- Doctor gave me the green light.
To sit behind a desk.
The doctor has no idea what we do here every day.
What do I have to do for you to prove to you that I'm ready to come back? Burpees.
- Excuse me? - Burpees.
- Burpees? - Yeah.
Burpees.
- You're joking.
- Does this look like my joking face? Do you even have a joking face? You want me to do burp? You want me to get down on the ground and do some burpees? I would never do that to you.
Let's hit the gym.
- You want to hit the gym with me? - Let's do it.
Right now.
- Let's hit the gym.
- Let's go.
Okay.
Who is he? Fahad Ahmadi.
He's one of three Afghanistan National Army soldiers who were invited to the U.
S.
For a security training with the DEA.
The DEA training's supposed to help Afghans combat drug trafficking and conduct surveillance back home.
The three soldiers were living together in an apartment less than two miles from the crime scene.
So we invited Fahad Ahmadi and someone killed him on our watch? That's one way of looking at it.
A cyclist found his body near the Strand in Venice earlier this morning.
The only footage we have is from a beach cam, and it ain't pretty.
After the attack, the two assailants disappeared into the boardwalk.
They're gone.
We're back at square one.
We don't even know what they look like.
- Basically.
- If the press gets this, it'll be a feeding frenzy.
They'll play up the potential terrorist angle.
That's why the DOD is in hyperdrive.
They've called on us, all the other federal agencies, and L.
A.
P.
D.
To investigate.
And I'm sure they're expecting full interagency cooperation? What can I say? The DOD dares to dream.
One other thing.
SECNAV wants us to make sure that this was not a hate crime.
The two other soldiers are at the DEA's offices.
Where's the agent in charge of them? Agent Lindley Richards.
She's currently waiting for you at the crime scene.
Why don't we all pay her a visit? I'll get Sam.
Nice.
So interagency intimidation, I'm gonna bring the big stick.
- Just remember to play nice.
- Of course.
So, what'd Granger want? I'm proud of you, G.
You waited the whole ride over to ask.
Thank you.
You're avoiding the question.
Yeah, that was good.
Just wanted to talk about market stuff.
Futures, munis, IRAs, stuff like that.
- So the usual.
- Exactly.
Mm-hm.
Then why did he wanna meet you in the gym? Did you even finish briefing me? You never wanted to talk so much about Granger in your life.
Agent Callen, NCIS.
We're looking for DEA Agent Richards.
Agent Cornell.
Nice to meet you.
In fact, nice to meet you all.
You always work as a pack? Funny.
Not always.
So where's Agent Richards? Of course.
Agent Richards is, uh Well, she's supposed to be here.
"Supposed to be here" meaning she's not? I hate to disappoint you guys, especially since we just met and all, but she's not on scene at the moment.
Exactly when will she be on scene? Sorry, but I couldn't tell you.
- McCoy.
- Yeah.
Wow.
So much for interagency cooperation.
We gave it the old college try.
What do you wanna do? Find her.
Get Nell and Eric to help you if you have to.
Don't let her go until she gives you a full debriefing.
On it.
Agent Cornell, we're not finished with you.
Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that.
Did you know the victim, Fahad Ahmadi? No, never met the guy.
Who's responsible for him? - That would be Agent Richards.
- Agent Richards.
- Right.
- Look.
The DOD wants our agencies to work together on this, okay? You had to have heard something.
Why did the DEA select Fahad to be in the training program? Honestly don't know.
What's that for? That's for my boss, Henrietta Lange.
You've probably heard of her.
- No? - Oh, well, you soon will.
She keeps a file of any federal agent that obstructs our investigations.
She likes to picture their faces when she goes to sleep, and she never forgets a face, it's amazing.
Come on, you guys, this wasn't my operation.
I hardly know anything.
We'd be happy with hardly anything.
Like why Agent Richards selected Fahad for the training program.
Look, Agent Cornell, no one will know it came from you.
- Suit yourself.
- Okay, okay.
Agent Richards selected Fahad and the other two soldiers because they had top security clearance in the Afghanistan National Army.
Sorry, but I really do have to take this.
Yeah? Soldiers had access to Afghanistan's classified ops.
I know one or two militant groups that would kill for that.
They'd kill after they got what they needed.
That's not what happened.
Unless whoever killed Fahad already got what they wanted.
- Hey, Nell.
- Yep.
You, uh? You busy? Yep.
On a scale of one to ten, how busy? Whatever number gets me back to my work fastest.
So, like, an 11? - Speak, but make it snappy.
- Okay.
Ahem.
Our elusive DEA agent, Lindley Richards, she's nowhere to be found.
- Really? - Yeah.
I know she left her office at around 8:30 this morning, probably after finding out that Fahad Ahmadi had been killed.
Wait, how did you? I did not hack the DEA database.
I chose the second option.
You phoned a friend.
- Well, she owed me a favor.
- "She.
" I do have female friends, you know.
- No, that's a good thing.
- Oh, good.
I mean, we didn't date or anything.
It's a strictly platonic, collegial kind of relationship.
- Cool.
- Cool.
Anyway, ahem, it was she who checked the security log for me.
- And then, she fell off the map.
- Hmm.
Uh, Agent Richards, not my No, no, I got it.
Cool.
Now, I did manage to find her car.
It's been parked on Jefferson for the last three hours at a one-hour parking meter.
Let me guess, you have a friend at the DMV, and it's a she.
The point is that Agent Richards got a parking infringement I also managed to find her cell.
It's off and the GPS says it's inside the car.
Okay, how about credit cards? I mean, it's only been a few hours, but she hasn't even used them.
What am I missing? Why don't you check the credit-card statements again? You know, if you made this less of a teaching moment, you could get back to your own stuff a lot quicker.
- Chimney Stack.
- Chimney Stack? In June, Agent Richards was there maybe, what, once a week.
By December, she's there every night.
And now she's at the bar every afternoon.
- So the Chimney Stack is - Is on Jefferson.
Uh-huh.
- One block from her car.
Which means Agent Richards either has a crush on a bartender Or she's got a serious drinking problem.
Thank you.
Wow.
This place is depressing.
I think that's kind of the point.
I think we have found our missing agent.
You think she's ordering that shot of tequila with a side of cosmic irony? Agent Richards? I'm Special Agent Kensi Blye, NCIS.
This is my partner, L.
A.
P.
D.
Detective Deeks.
- Do this again.
- Sure thing, ma'am.
You sure you want to do that? You sure you want to piss me off before asking for a favor? Wow.
We're not here to ask you for a favor.
We're here to investigate the murder of Fahad Ahmadi.
You chose him for your agency training program, is that correct? How did you two find me, anyway? - There you go.
- Well Actually, I don't care.
I take that back, I do care.
You are killing my buzz.
Why, are you celebrating? To the end of my career.
You don't know that.
I'm the one who vetted those Afghan soldiers.
I convinced the DOD to trust them.
Do you feel confident in the intel you gathered about them? I did.
But now those men are here and on their own.
What do you mean, on their own? You don't know, do you? The other two ANA soldiers, they didn't show up for training this morning, and no one's seen them since 7:00 last night.
They're gone.
Beach cam footage.
Fahad was murdered by two men.
One dead, two missing.
Told you I was screwed.
Let's just get it over with.
Talking stocks with Granger, huh? - You act like I was cheating on you.
- I'm just surprised.
Why? - I didn't know you played the market.
- Seriously? Which is fine, you know.
It's good that we don't share everything in common.
Seriously? - What? - G.
, I love you like a brother, but we basically have nothing in common.
Of course we do.
You don't know cars, you don't know music, and you definitely don't know clothes.
I don't know clothes? What do you got, Kens? Well, the other Afghan soldiers who were here training with the DEA are both missing.
Missing since when? Last night.
They were gone by the time Fahad's body was discovered this morning.
They could've killed Fahad and made themselves scarce.
Kens, what's your read on Agent Richards? Once you get past the tequila fumes, I think that she's taking it pretty hard, you know? Like she's been had, like the soldiers planned this.
To be honest, I think it's the guilt talking.
She chose these guys, now one of them is dead because of it.
The DEA and the DOD had to have vetted these guys.
If the other two did have another agenda Our intelligence missed it.
Not only that, we brought them here.
Which means if Fahad was killed because he didn't agree with the plan Then his death is on us.
Stick with Richards.
All right, thanks.
I want to talk to the guy at the DEA who trained those two soldiers.
If anybody has a better idea of what we're dealing with, it'll be him.
Well, let's hope he's easier to find than Richards.
- Do you? - Yes, we do.
I'm sorry, did you say ' "we"? That's rich.
What does Assistant Director Granger have to say about all this? Yes, I used the royal "we.
" Owen also knows how important it is that we find them, and we will.
I'm just supposed to take your word for it? - Should we go back upstairs? - No.
But this is like watching a super-awkward car accident.
- Exactly.
I'm going nowhere.
- Yes.
If this goes south, I want you to know, this is going to be on you.
We'll, uh We'll be here She just hung up on me.
Rough call? You wanna talk about it? No, thank you, Mr.
Beale.
I don't.
SECNAV is turning up the heat.
The Afghan army knows that one of its men has been killed.
We have the narrowest of windows before they find out two more are missing.
And it spirals into an international incident.
Miss Jones, profile those two soldiers.
I want to know what they were doing every minute that they were inside the U.
S.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Eric, keep looking until you find them.
Okay.
DEA Agent Brenner.
Agent Callen.
That's my partner, Agent Hanna.
Coffee? - Please.
- You good? Good.
I just heard about what happened to Fahad.
- It's awful.
- Yeah.
You know, the two soldiers you trained are still unaccounted for.
Kamal Pajman and Abdul Farman.
Yes, I heard about that as well.
You think they had anything to do with Fahad's murder? Absolutely not.
You seem pretty confident about that.
I spent every day with those guys for the last month.
They're soldiers, honorable ones.
They're committed to rebuilding their country.
How did they feel about us? Americans? Uh, nothing but grateful.
They loved it here.
In fact, Fahad was even teaching himself to paddleboard.
He sucked at it, but, uh You think there's any chance they loved it so much - that maybe they wanted to stay? - No.
No, this isn't their home.
What makes you such a good judge of character? I did two tours in Afghanistan.
Army.
You get pretty good at reading a situation.
So, what's your read of this situation? If there's a conspiracy here, it didn't come from Kamal or Abdul.
In fact, if I were you, I'd be more worried about their safety.
I know I am.
Well, Agent Richards seems to, uh, see it differently.
She feels like these two guys played her.
They jumped at the chance to come here, they eliminated Fahad when he got in their way.
She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Because she's a drunk? If you knew she had a problem, why didn't you report her? Why didn't you make sure that somebody capable vetted them before the DEA brought them over? Are you insinuating I let this happen? That this is my fault? I'm sorry if I insinuated that.
I meant to be very clear.
Everybody in our section knows Richards is an alcoholic.
Uh, what I meant, uh No, what you meant was, your section needs to get its ship in shape.
Yeah.
That's something we're gonna have to work on.
Gentlemen.
Keep in touch.
If Brenner is right and those two soldiers didn't kill Fahad That means somebody is probably after them as well.
Tick-tock.
Hetty? Have you finished profiling those soldiers, Miss Jones? Not quite, but we did find them, in a manner of speaking.
Just say it.
There was an attempted abduction at a café this morning.
Not according to the L.
A.
P.
D.
But the people who were there posted about it online.
In my research, I learned that Kamal Pajman got coffee at that same café every morning.
I confirmed it with the café's owner about an hour ago.
You think someone was going after him? Unfortunately, the café is in a dead zone.
No cameras.
And for all the social media posts about a big attempted abduction, there were no photos attached.
No, Hetty, that's the good news.
Kamal Pajman got away.
Abdul Farman wasn't so lucky.
He's a devout Muslim.
Now, the café abduction got us thinking.
So we scanned footage of mosques closest to the apartment that they shared.
And we found this.
Abdul was on his way to morning prayer.
No one reported his disappearance.
That's because no one knew he was missing.
We were able to identify one of the guys who grabbed him.
He's a member of Maktab al-Khidamat.
- The forerunner to al Qaeda? - Yes.
Now, maybe they're trying to reassert their power, make a name for themselves again.
Okay, so if MAK took Abdul and tried to take Kamal, then maybe Fahad's death was a grab gone wrong.
MAK would want them alive.
That's the only way they would learn what the soldiers know about Afghanistan's classified military ops.
And what exactly do they know? Well, they know how their army plans to disrupt the opium trade in the Helmand province.
Drug trafficking in that area has been a major source of income for the Taliban.
If their army could cut that off, that would be a devastating blow to the terrorists.
Which means that we have to get to Abdul before he talks.
And we need to find Kamal before MAK does.
Learn anything from Agent Richards? Yeah, she prefers Scotch after midday.
We're not gonna get anything else out of her, not until she sleeps it off.
Nell, tell us everything you got on Kamal Pajman.
The soldier who got away.
He's 24 years old.
And no girlfriend, which isn't unusual in Afghanistan.
He is off-the-charts intelligent.
Considered to be a rising star in the Afghanistan National Army, and three years ago, the Taliban made him an orphan.
Wow, that'll convince you to join the fight.
Well, his motivation isn't exactly clear.
What do you mean? So when the DEA selected Kamal to come train in the United States, he said yes without hesitation, and Richards made a note of it in her file.
Because a soldier does what's asked of him.
Or maybe Agent Richards noted it because she felt it was cause for concern.
That Kamal was a little too eager to get to the United States, and now that he's here, maybe the reason no one can find him is because he doesn't wanna be found.
If Kamal wanted a fresh start, this would be it.
It's not like he's got a lot waiting for him back home.
You disagree? When I read this intel, I see a die-for-my-country soldier.
I think the reason no one can find Kamal is because he was attacked this morning by the same men who attacked his friends.
Okay, I don't care which version of the man you believe.
The security of the Afghan National Army's at stake.
- We need to find him.
- Yeah.
Before MAK gets their hands on him like Abdul.
Nell? I still think Kamal has gone underground.
What do you think, Sam? He'll try to contact someone he can trust, someone with authority.
Consulate General to Afghanistan? It's a good place to start.
Two teams.
Two theories.
It's what I call a perfect solution in an imperfect world.
Let's go.
We both love beer.
Can we agree that we both love beer? We can agree that if you offer me a beer, I'll drink it.
- But I'm more of a champagne guy.
- Champagne over beer? Dom Pérignon Rosé? The best bubbles in the world, baby.
What about basketball? You know I'm more of a football man.
- Pancakes.
- Waffles.
- JFK.
- Movie or the airport? You're funny.
We're running out of time.
There's no sign of Kamal.
According to Hetty's contact, he's not already inside the consulate.
If he was, MAK would've sent someone here by now.
Let's give it a little longer.
We don't know how much longer Abdul has.
Hey, excuse me, miss? Do you recognize this guy? - Uh, no, sorry.
- Thank you.
Oh, about to make it hot, baby.
Look out! - Deeks? - What's up? Okay, so not a bite, not a nibble.
Nobody in Kamal's neighborhood recognizes him.
Well, that makes sense.
He's only been here for a few weeks.
Probably spends every single day at the DEA office training.
- I have a question.
- Yeah? What exactly are you doing to help the case? I gotta be honest, if I'm a stranger and people are looking for me, the first thing I'm gonna do is change my appearance.
Which is why I think we should go in here.
This is not his style.
You don't know what his style is.
This is nobody's style.
Who buys this? Okay, there's a, uh, trunk in my garage.
It's a blue one that says "college" on it.
Yeah, don't look in there.
Note to self.
Excuse me, ma'am? Hi, I'm NCIS Agent Kensi Blye, this is Detective Deeks.
Do you recognize this man? I do.
He was here this morning.
Knew that one was trouble.
And now you two are looking for him? Pfft.
I have to call Gina.
That man gave you a problem? No, not if we're getting into specifics.
But he was a weirdo.
How so? First, he shows up before I've even had my cup of joe.
- You just don't do that.
On a Monday? - No, you don't.
So I tell him the register's closed.
He says he'll pay cash and, get this, doesn't need the change.
Go on.
I gotta know how this story ends.
- I like you.
- I like you.
From the moment you walked in.
You're a Capricorn, aren't you? Oh, he's something.
What did he buy? Do you see the fashion-forward merchandise I have here? This is the L.
A.
Experience.
These clothes are in all the magazines.
But the guy you're asking about? This is what he chooses.
This doesn't say L.
A.
This says Milwaukee.
- Hence, he's a weirdo.
- I rest my case.
Guy asked me where the closest bus stop was.
I couldn't tell him fast enough.
So our guy's wearing a black T-shirt, baseball cap, heading for a close bus stop.
That narrows it down.
Nell's right.
Kamal's going in hiding.
Come on, Kamal, where are you? G.
, there he is.
Guard just locked the gate.
I don't like where this is headed.
Kamal? Federal agents.
Kamal's gone.
And you're a sorry consolation prize.
Where's Abdul Farman? I don't know who that is.
What were you planning on doing with Kamal Pajman? - The guy from the consulate.
- Those guys just asked me to drive.
- I swear.
- Did you kill Ahmad Fahadi? What? No.
Listen, that wasn't me.
- Are you part of Maktab al-Khidamat? - No! Dalbir Gilani.
You're a fourth-year student at Culver City Community College.
That's a two-year college.
- You know that, right? - Studying Theological Ethics, then a few propaganda videos and chat rooms later, and you're a member of MAK.
Your professors must be so proud.
As they should.
I'm a soldier.
Maybe you're not aware of the important work Maktab al-Khidamat is doing.
Hmm.
Enlighten us.
We're uprooting criminal regimes.
Like the Afghanistan National Army? We're purifying the lands by enforcing the judgments of Islam.
Did you kill Fahad Ahmadi? No.
No one asked me to do that.
So if the judgment of Islam called for Fahad Ahmadi to die, would you have answered that calling? That's what I thought.
Yes.
I would've done it.
I'd have killed him.
You call yourself a soldier because you think war is something that's played out overseas.
The danger in that is you think you're safe.
But you're wrong.
Fahad's blood is on your hands.
You're gonna pay for his murder, even if you weren't holding the knife.
All right, Eric, go ahead.
So I won't bore you with how the sausage is made, but just know that Kamal Pajman was not easy to find.
Of course he wasn't easy to find, he's well-trained, and for all he knows, he's in enemy territory.
Right, but the takeaway is that I found him.
And it was, heh, virtually impossible.
Well, consider this a virtual pat on the back for doing your job.
So where is he now? Um, well, after the consulate building, he headed south.
He's in Culver City at a diner on Washington and Centinela.
I'll let you know if that changes.
I wanna go back in there.
We're close to breaking him.
I wanna find out where MAK's keeping Abdul.
Okay.
I wanna be there when we find Kamal.
Wait, so are you thinking what I'm thinking? We're gonna do a little, uh, partner swap? - That's a good idea.
- All right.
I'll head out with Sam.
At the end of the day, we can swap back and talk about all the lessons we learned from our new partners.
- Kensi, you should probably stay here.
- Yeah, no, sorry, too late.
See you.
You two have fun.
Yeah, why don't you do some bonding? Yeah, maybe compare pancake recipes or something.
- Ha-ha-ha.
- Oh, yeah? You like pancakes? You know who likes pancakes? I like pancakes.
I make pancakes with marshmallows, but not the big ones.
I use the little ones, then I combine them with chocolate chips.
That's delicious.
Let's just focus on Dalbir Gilani.
Okay? I call them s'more-cakes.
Because it's the same ingredients as a s'more.
You can try them.
Bring it by the house? Yeah, no, because you got a good rhythm going.
I'll just stay out here and stretch my calf muscles.
What happened to the other guy? Oh, Agent Hanna? Paperwork.
To prosecute you for the murder of Fahad Ahmadi.
- Murder? - Yeah.
Look.
I can possibly help you out here.
Just tell me where your friends are keeping Abdul.
- I don't know.
- Dalbir.
Let me explain to you how this works.
Okay? You tell me where I can find Abdul, and maybe you don't spend the rest of your life in solitary confinement.
Man, come on.
I don't know.
They don't tell me that kind of stuff.
I'm low-level, I swear.
You're probably right.
How long have you even been a member of MAK, anyway? - A few months.
- Exactly.
You haven't even had enough time to prove yourself yet.
All right, I get it.
But they know I'm for real.
How could you have proved that already? They thought my girlfriend was gonna be a problem.
She's not Muslim.
You handled that? I know how to prioritize.
A smart guy like you, I have no doubt.
Exactly.
Well played, Callen, well played.
You got him wrapped around your pinky.
Not that it isn't something I haven't done a thousand times.
Except for, of course, I did it in a courtroom with a ton of people.
Judge staring me down.
Jury sizing me up, saying, "What you got, public defender? What you got?" Uh, Deeks? Huh? You know that I can hear you, right? Yeah, no, no.
Yeah, no.
I definitely know that you could I knew you were there, if that's what you're asking.
Good.
Because I'm here too.
Oh, Nell.
Hi.
What's up? - Detective.
- Ooh.
Granger.
Of course Granger is there.
It's like the whole Ops-apalooza.
What's going on, guys? What can I do you for? - Question.
- Hmm? Do you crumble graham crackers into your s'mores-cakes? Do I crumble? Wait, are you being serious? Do you really wanna know? What do you think? I think you wanna know where Abdul is.
And? And Dalbir had to prove his loyalty to MAK despite having a non-Muslim girlfriend, which means he had to do something recently to take advantage of said girlfriend.
So we just have to figure out who she is and where she fits into the story.
And if we follow that line of investigation, I'm pretty sure we'll find out where they're keeping Abdul.
Hey, so just for the record, to clarify, I wasn't really I wasn't talking to myself earlier, when I was That was kind of an inner monologue that I then said out loud, subsequently, which kind of defeats the purpose, but, um Guys? Find the girlfriend.
- Yeah.
- Coming up.
All right, Eric.
Thank you.
Kamal left the consulate and crossed the road into that pawnshop about seven minutes ago.
He's liquidating whatever he can.
He's planning to run.
Well, can you blame him? I've got the street.
You got the car.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
He saw you at the consulate.
He'll recognize you.
I'll take the street, you take the car.
Touché.
- What did you just say? - Touché.
Great observation.
You know Deeks says that all the time.
Yeah? Now I know why.
- Good call, good call.
You made one.
- No, yeah, okay.
All right.
Kamal Pajman? Kensi Blye, NCIS.
Hey! Stop! Kamal! Stop! Kamal, listen to me.
We know who you are.
We know who's after you.
- We're here to protect you.
- Why should I believe you? We know what happened at the café this morning.
Abdul was taken by the same men who tried to grab you.
Maktab al-Khidamat.
They took Abdul? As he was walking to mosque for morning prayer, yes.
And Fahad? Fahad was killed while running on the beach this morning.
I'm sorry.
Fahad is dead? We think it was a mistake.
They want you alive, so they can interrogate you about the army's plans for the opium trade in the Helmand province.
Taliban in the Helmand province fuels insurgents in the rest of my country.
Now that the U.
S.
Has pulled out of the region It is more important than ever that we protect that land.
Which is why you're in America training with the DEA.
We know.
What do you want me to do? We want you to find Abdul.
And avenge Fahad's death.
What do we have? Dalbir Gilani's girlfriend is Nedda Japour.
She's American, but her parents are immigrants from Afghanistan.
They own a shoe repair shop.
When Nedda's not in school, she's working at the store.
So he's gotta be familiar with the shoe repair shop.
Here's what's strange.
It's the middle of the day, shop is closed.
No one's answering the landline, and Nedda and her parents'phones are turned off.
So I took a peek at the traffic cams near the closest major intersection.
And? And a white van has been driving back and forth on that street all day.
Shoe repair shop.
It's a perfect place to torture Abdul.
MAK doesn't even have to bring tools.
Eric, have Kensi and Sam meet us there.
You must be Kamal.
Agent Callen.
Detective Deeks.
Got an entrance in the front and an entrance in the back.
Blinds are shut.
Place says it's closed, and we have no idea how many guys we're gonna be going up against.
Is there a plan to get in without kicking down a door? They are looking for me.
If I knock, they'll open the door.
We good? We're good.
You heard the man.
You'll need a weapon.
Thank you.
That's actually my backup.
Then say, "You're welcome.
" You're welcome.
It's got a light trigger, go easy.
Kensi, Deeks, take the front with Kamal.
Flush them out.
- Sam and I will take the back.
- Okay.
- Be smart out there.
- Okay.
Uh, that means don't do anything stupid.
And don't worry.
From him, it's a term of affection.
Go.
Eric, we've got Abdul.
- Send an ambulance.
- Copy that, Callen.
Where are the hostages? Got a family.
Clear! We're federal agents.
You're gonna be fine, okay? Gonna be fine.
Abdul.
I didn't tell them.
I didn't tell them.
I know.
I know.
I hear the DEA offered you an extension on your visa.
That's right.
I'm a lucky man.
It's a great opportunity.
Continue your training, spend a little time in the land of the free, home of the brave.
Yes.
I also heard you turned it down.
I'm grateful for what you and your country have done for me and my people.
But it's time for me to go home.
Mm-hm.
It was an honor meeting you, Sam.
It's been an honor having you fight beside us.
Maybe one day, when the fighting is done, you will come to visit me in my country.
I'd like that.
Take care of yourself.
"Don't do anything stupid.
" - Ha, ha.
- Got it.
Good night, Hetty.
Monet.
What's that? You and Mr.
Hanna, you both appreciate Claude Monet's paintings.
- How did you even? - Personally, I find them a little dainty.
But to each his own.
Good night, Hetty.
- Good night, Mr.
Callen.
- Night, guys.
- See you.
- Night.
- Coming? - I am gonna catch up with you.
Okay.
- Uh, Hetty, can I steal a moment? - Yeah.
Um, when you asked me to profile Kamal today, I thought I did.
I thought I had researched him enough that I was inside his brain, that I could predict his every action and reaction and And? And I was wrong.
I analyzed him the best that I could, but, yeah, I was wrong.
Well, intelligence only takes us so far.
Why is that? We're human.
We're too mercurial to ever really be known.
Hmm.
Hetty, as an intelligence analyst, not exactly encouraging.
Well, I'm not suggesting that it is.
It's a reminder, our work is never done.
- Hey.
He's alive! He's alive! Ha, ha.
Hey, and better late than never, you know what I mean? Congratulations, Deeks.
I'm back eight seconds and I'm already having second thoughts.
For the record, I wasn't late.
Ah, not to be a stickler for details, but you swaggered in here at 8:02.
Uh-huh.
You moving a little slow there, big guy? Come on.
Do not listen to them.
I am happy that you're back, Sam.
- Thank you.
- Come on, - give the guy a break, he got shot.
Mm-hm.
- What's the big deal? I got shot.
- Uh, once.
- Well, it was two bullets.
- Well, I've been shot multiple times.
My gosh, are you really competing over who got shot more often? Come to think of it, you're the only person that hasn't been shot.
Hmm.
- Yes, I have.
- Uh, with a vest on.
Okay, well, apparently, I'm the only one who's smart.
Hey, look who's back.
What's up, bulletproof? - Very funny.
- I try.
- Try harder.
- What do you got for us, Eric? I got a beach body.
- Mm, that's debatable.
- Ha, ha, ha.
There's a dead body at the beach.
Now, that I believe.
Agent Hanna.
So did you make that trade yet? You waiting for the stock to split? No, I made the trade before I came in to work this morning.
That's why you were late? You were playing the stock market? When you say playing, that implies a game where you're winning or losing.
- When I trade stocks, I don't lose.
- But with Granger? I'm standing right here, Agent Callen.
You're gonna make a killing.
- Maybe.
- You got a tip for me? - Maybe not.
- Day trading.
- Granger.
- Smart man.
Hang on a minute, just a second.
Agent Hanna's gonna catch up to you.
All right.
If you want me to give you another tip, I'm gonna have to get a finder's fee.
Listen, you took a bullet to the chest.
Yeah.
I rested up, I ate my vegetables, now I'm 100 percent.
- Now I know you're lying.
- Doctor gave me the green light.
To sit behind a desk.
The doctor has no idea what we do here every day.
What do I have to do for you to prove to you that I'm ready to come back? Burpees.
- Excuse me? - Burpees.
- Burpees? - Yeah.
Burpees.
- You're joking.
- Does this look like my joking face? Do you even have a joking face? You want me to do burp? You want me to get down on the ground and do some burpees? I would never do that to you.
Let's hit the gym.
- You want to hit the gym with me? - Let's do it.
Right now.
- Let's hit the gym.
- Let's go.
Okay.
Who is he? Fahad Ahmadi.
He's one of three Afghanistan National Army soldiers who were invited to the U.
S.
For a security training with the DEA.
The DEA training's supposed to help Afghans combat drug trafficking and conduct surveillance back home.
The three soldiers were living together in an apartment less than two miles from the crime scene.
So we invited Fahad Ahmadi and someone killed him on our watch? That's one way of looking at it.
A cyclist found his body near the Strand in Venice earlier this morning.
The only footage we have is from a beach cam, and it ain't pretty.
After the attack, the two assailants disappeared into the boardwalk.
They're gone.
We're back at square one.
We don't even know what they look like.
- Basically.
- If the press gets this, it'll be a feeding frenzy.
They'll play up the potential terrorist angle.
That's why the DOD is in hyperdrive.
They've called on us, all the other federal agencies, and L.
A.
P.
D.
To investigate.
And I'm sure they're expecting full interagency cooperation? What can I say? The DOD dares to dream.
One other thing.
SECNAV wants us to make sure that this was not a hate crime.
The two other soldiers are at the DEA's offices.
Where's the agent in charge of them? Agent Lindley Richards.
She's currently waiting for you at the crime scene.
Why don't we all pay her a visit? I'll get Sam.
Nice.
So interagency intimidation, I'm gonna bring the big stick.
- Just remember to play nice.
- Of course.
So, what'd Granger want? I'm proud of you, G.
You waited the whole ride over to ask.
Thank you.
You're avoiding the question.
Yeah, that was good.
Just wanted to talk about market stuff.
Futures, munis, IRAs, stuff like that.
- So the usual.
- Exactly.
Mm-hm.
Then why did he wanna meet you in the gym? Did you even finish briefing me? You never wanted to talk so much about Granger in your life.
Agent Callen, NCIS.
We're looking for DEA Agent Richards.
Agent Cornell.
Nice to meet you.
In fact, nice to meet you all.
You always work as a pack? Funny.
Not always.
So where's Agent Richards? Of course.
Agent Richards is, uh Well, she's supposed to be here.
"Supposed to be here" meaning she's not? I hate to disappoint you guys, especially since we just met and all, but she's not on scene at the moment.
Exactly when will she be on scene? Sorry, but I couldn't tell you.
- McCoy.
- Yeah.
Wow.
So much for interagency cooperation.
We gave it the old college try.
What do you wanna do? Find her.
Get Nell and Eric to help you if you have to.
Don't let her go until she gives you a full debriefing.
On it.
Agent Cornell, we're not finished with you.
Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that.
Did you know the victim, Fahad Ahmadi? No, never met the guy.
Who's responsible for him? - That would be Agent Richards.
- Agent Richards.
- Right.
- Look.
The DOD wants our agencies to work together on this, okay? You had to have heard something.
Why did the DEA select Fahad to be in the training program? Honestly don't know.
What's that for? That's for my boss, Henrietta Lange.
You've probably heard of her.
- No? - Oh, well, you soon will.
She keeps a file of any federal agent that obstructs our investigations.
She likes to picture their faces when she goes to sleep, and she never forgets a face, it's amazing.
Come on, you guys, this wasn't my operation.
I hardly know anything.
We'd be happy with hardly anything.
Like why Agent Richards selected Fahad for the training program.
Look, Agent Cornell, no one will know it came from you.
- Suit yourself.
- Okay, okay.
Agent Richards selected Fahad and the other two soldiers because they had top security clearance in the Afghanistan National Army.
Sorry, but I really do have to take this.
Yeah? Soldiers had access to Afghanistan's classified ops.
I know one or two militant groups that would kill for that.
They'd kill after they got what they needed.
That's not what happened.
Unless whoever killed Fahad already got what they wanted.
- Hey, Nell.
- Yep.
You, uh? You busy? Yep.
On a scale of one to ten, how busy? Whatever number gets me back to my work fastest.
So, like, an 11? - Speak, but make it snappy.
- Okay.
Ahem.
Our elusive DEA agent, Lindley Richards, she's nowhere to be found.
- Really? - Yeah.
I know she left her office at around 8:30 this morning, probably after finding out that Fahad Ahmadi had been killed.
Wait, how did you? I did not hack the DEA database.
I chose the second option.
You phoned a friend.
- Well, she owed me a favor.
- "She.
" I do have female friends, you know.
- No, that's a good thing.
- Oh, good.
I mean, we didn't date or anything.
It's a strictly platonic, collegial kind of relationship.
- Cool.
- Cool.
Anyway, ahem, it was she who checked the security log for me.
- And then, she fell off the map.
- Hmm.
Uh, Agent Richards, not my No, no, I got it.
Cool.
Now, I did manage to find her car.
It's been parked on Jefferson for the last three hours at a one-hour parking meter.
Let me guess, you have a friend at the DMV, and it's a she.
The point is that Agent Richards got a parking infringement I also managed to find her cell.
It's off and the GPS says it's inside the car.
Okay, how about credit cards? I mean, it's only been a few hours, but she hasn't even used them.
What am I missing? Why don't you check the credit-card statements again? You know, if you made this less of a teaching moment, you could get back to your own stuff a lot quicker.
- Chimney Stack.
- Chimney Stack? In June, Agent Richards was there maybe, what, once a week.
By December, she's there every night.
And now she's at the bar every afternoon.
- So the Chimney Stack is - Is on Jefferson.
Uh-huh.
- One block from her car.
Which means Agent Richards either has a crush on a bartender Or she's got a serious drinking problem.
Thank you.
Wow.
This place is depressing.
I think that's kind of the point.
I think we have found our missing agent.
You think she's ordering that shot of tequila with a side of cosmic irony? Agent Richards? I'm Special Agent Kensi Blye, NCIS.
This is my partner, L.
A.
P.
D.
Detective Deeks.
- Do this again.
- Sure thing, ma'am.
You sure you want to do that? You sure you want to piss me off before asking for a favor? Wow.
We're not here to ask you for a favor.
We're here to investigate the murder of Fahad Ahmadi.
You chose him for your agency training program, is that correct? How did you two find me, anyway? - There you go.
- Well Actually, I don't care.
I take that back, I do care.
You are killing my buzz.
Why, are you celebrating? To the end of my career.
You don't know that.
I'm the one who vetted those Afghan soldiers.
I convinced the DOD to trust them.
Do you feel confident in the intel you gathered about them? I did.
But now those men are here and on their own.
What do you mean, on their own? You don't know, do you? The other two ANA soldiers, they didn't show up for training this morning, and no one's seen them since 7:00 last night.
They're gone.
Beach cam footage.
Fahad was murdered by two men.
One dead, two missing.
Told you I was screwed.
Let's just get it over with.
Talking stocks with Granger, huh? - You act like I was cheating on you.
- I'm just surprised.
Why? - I didn't know you played the market.
- Seriously? Which is fine, you know.
It's good that we don't share everything in common.
Seriously? - What? - G.
, I love you like a brother, but we basically have nothing in common.
Of course we do.
You don't know cars, you don't know music, and you definitely don't know clothes.
I don't know clothes? What do you got, Kens? Well, the other Afghan soldiers who were here training with the DEA are both missing.
Missing since when? Last night.
They were gone by the time Fahad's body was discovered this morning.
They could've killed Fahad and made themselves scarce.
Kens, what's your read on Agent Richards? Once you get past the tequila fumes, I think that she's taking it pretty hard, you know? Like she's been had, like the soldiers planned this.
To be honest, I think it's the guilt talking.
She chose these guys, now one of them is dead because of it.
The DEA and the DOD had to have vetted these guys.
If the other two did have another agenda Our intelligence missed it.
Not only that, we brought them here.
Which means if Fahad was killed because he didn't agree with the plan Then his death is on us.
Stick with Richards.
All right, thanks.
I want to talk to the guy at the DEA who trained those two soldiers.
If anybody has a better idea of what we're dealing with, it'll be him.
Well, let's hope he's easier to find than Richards.
- Do you? - Yes, we do.
I'm sorry, did you say ' "we"? That's rich.
What does Assistant Director Granger have to say about all this? Yes, I used the royal "we.
" Owen also knows how important it is that we find them, and we will.
I'm just supposed to take your word for it? - Should we go back upstairs? - No.
But this is like watching a super-awkward car accident.
- Exactly.
I'm going nowhere.
- Yes.
If this goes south, I want you to know, this is going to be on you.
We'll, uh We'll be here She just hung up on me.
Rough call? You wanna talk about it? No, thank you, Mr.
Beale.
I don't.
SECNAV is turning up the heat.
The Afghan army knows that one of its men has been killed.
We have the narrowest of windows before they find out two more are missing.
And it spirals into an international incident.
Miss Jones, profile those two soldiers.
I want to know what they were doing every minute that they were inside the U.
S.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Eric, keep looking until you find them.
Okay.
DEA Agent Brenner.
Agent Callen.
That's my partner, Agent Hanna.
Coffee? - Please.
- You good? Good.
I just heard about what happened to Fahad.
- It's awful.
- Yeah.
You know, the two soldiers you trained are still unaccounted for.
Kamal Pajman and Abdul Farman.
Yes, I heard about that as well.
You think they had anything to do with Fahad's murder? Absolutely not.
You seem pretty confident about that.
I spent every day with those guys for the last month.
They're soldiers, honorable ones.
They're committed to rebuilding their country.
How did they feel about us? Americans? Uh, nothing but grateful.
They loved it here.
In fact, Fahad was even teaching himself to paddleboard.
He sucked at it, but, uh You think there's any chance they loved it so much - that maybe they wanted to stay? - No.
No, this isn't their home.
What makes you such a good judge of character? I did two tours in Afghanistan.
Army.
You get pretty good at reading a situation.
So, what's your read of this situation? If there's a conspiracy here, it didn't come from Kamal or Abdul.
In fact, if I were you, I'd be more worried about their safety.
I know I am.
Well, Agent Richards seems to, uh, see it differently.
She feels like these two guys played her.
They jumped at the chance to come here, they eliminated Fahad when he got in their way.
She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Because she's a drunk? If you knew she had a problem, why didn't you report her? Why didn't you make sure that somebody capable vetted them before the DEA brought them over? Are you insinuating I let this happen? That this is my fault? I'm sorry if I insinuated that.
I meant to be very clear.
Everybody in our section knows Richards is an alcoholic.
Uh, what I meant, uh No, what you meant was, your section needs to get its ship in shape.
Yeah.
That's something we're gonna have to work on.
Gentlemen.
Keep in touch.
If Brenner is right and those two soldiers didn't kill Fahad That means somebody is probably after them as well.
Tick-tock.
Hetty? Have you finished profiling those soldiers, Miss Jones? Not quite, but we did find them, in a manner of speaking.
Just say it.
There was an attempted abduction at a café this morning.
Not according to the L.
A.
P.
D.
But the people who were there posted about it online.
In my research, I learned that Kamal Pajman got coffee at that same café every morning.
I confirmed it with the café's owner about an hour ago.
You think someone was going after him? Unfortunately, the café is in a dead zone.
No cameras.
And for all the social media posts about a big attempted abduction, there were no photos attached.
No, Hetty, that's the good news.
Kamal Pajman got away.
Abdul Farman wasn't so lucky.
He's a devout Muslim.
Now, the café abduction got us thinking.
So we scanned footage of mosques closest to the apartment that they shared.
And we found this.
Abdul was on his way to morning prayer.
No one reported his disappearance.
That's because no one knew he was missing.
We were able to identify one of the guys who grabbed him.
He's a member of Maktab al-Khidamat.
- The forerunner to al Qaeda? - Yes.
Now, maybe they're trying to reassert their power, make a name for themselves again.
Okay, so if MAK took Abdul and tried to take Kamal, then maybe Fahad's death was a grab gone wrong.
MAK would want them alive.
That's the only way they would learn what the soldiers know about Afghanistan's classified military ops.
And what exactly do they know? Well, they know how their army plans to disrupt the opium trade in the Helmand province.
Drug trafficking in that area has been a major source of income for the Taliban.
If their army could cut that off, that would be a devastating blow to the terrorists.
Which means that we have to get to Abdul before he talks.
And we need to find Kamal before MAK does.
Learn anything from Agent Richards? Yeah, she prefers Scotch after midday.
We're not gonna get anything else out of her, not until she sleeps it off.
Nell, tell us everything you got on Kamal Pajman.
The soldier who got away.
He's 24 years old.
And no girlfriend, which isn't unusual in Afghanistan.
He is off-the-charts intelligent.
Considered to be a rising star in the Afghanistan National Army, and three years ago, the Taliban made him an orphan.
Wow, that'll convince you to join the fight.
Well, his motivation isn't exactly clear.
What do you mean? So when the DEA selected Kamal to come train in the United States, he said yes without hesitation, and Richards made a note of it in her file.
Because a soldier does what's asked of him.
Or maybe Agent Richards noted it because she felt it was cause for concern.
That Kamal was a little too eager to get to the United States, and now that he's here, maybe the reason no one can find him is because he doesn't wanna be found.
If Kamal wanted a fresh start, this would be it.
It's not like he's got a lot waiting for him back home.
You disagree? When I read this intel, I see a die-for-my-country soldier.
I think the reason no one can find Kamal is because he was attacked this morning by the same men who attacked his friends.
Okay, I don't care which version of the man you believe.
The security of the Afghan National Army's at stake.
- We need to find him.
- Yeah.
Before MAK gets their hands on him like Abdul.
Nell? I still think Kamal has gone underground.
What do you think, Sam? He'll try to contact someone he can trust, someone with authority.
Consulate General to Afghanistan? It's a good place to start.
Two teams.
Two theories.
It's what I call a perfect solution in an imperfect world.
Let's go.
We both love beer.
Can we agree that we both love beer? We can agree that if you offer me a beer, I'll drink it.
- But I'm more of a champagne guy.
- Champagne over beer? Dom Pérignon Rosé? The best bubbles in the world, baby.
What about basketball? You know I'm more of a football man.
- Pancakes.
- Waffles.
- JFK.
- Movie or the airport? You're funny.
We're running out of time.
There's no sign of Kamal.
According to Hetty's contact, he's not already inside the consulate.
If he was, MAK would've sent someone here by now.
Let's give it a little longer.
We don't know how much longer Abdul has.
Hey, excuse me, miss? Do you recognize this guy? - Uh, no, sorry.
- Thank you.
Oh, about to make it hot, baby.
Look out! - Deeks? - What's up? Okay, so not a bite, not a nibble.
Nobody in Kamal's neighborhood recognizes him.
Well, that makes sense.
He's only been here for a few weeks.
Probably spends every single day at the DEA office training.
- I have a question.
- Yeah? What exactly are you doing to help the case? I gotta be honest, if I'm a stranger and people are looking for me, the first thing I'm gonna do is change my appearance.
Which is why I think we should go in here.
This is not his style.
You don't know what his style is.
This is nobody's style.
Who buys this? Okay, there's a, uh, trunk in my garage.
It's a blue one that says "college" on it.
Yeah, don't look in there.
Note to self.
Excuse me, ma'am? Hi, I'm NCIS Agent Kensi Blye, this is Detective Deeks.
Do you recognize this man? I do.
He was here this morning.
Knew that one was trouble.
And now you two are looking for him? Pfft.
I have to call Gina.
That man gave you a problem? No, not if we're getting into specifics.
But he was a weirdo.
How so? First, he shows up before I've even had my cup of joe.
- You just don't do that.
On a Monday? - No, you don't.
So I tell him the register's closed.
He says he'll pay cash and, get this, doesn't need the change.
Go on.
I gotta know how this story ends.
- I like you.
- I like you.
From the moment you walked in.
You're a Capricorn, aren't you? Oh, he's something.
What did he buy? Do you see the fashion-forward merchandise I have here? This is the L.
A.
Experience.
These clothes are in all the magazines.
But the guy you're asking about? This is what he chooses.
This doesn't say L.
A.
This says Milwaukee.
- Hence, he's a weirdo.
- I rest my case.
Guy asked me where the closest bus stop was.
I couldn't tell him fast enough.
So our guy's wearing a black T-shirt, baseball cap, heading for a close bus stop.
That narrows it down.
Nell's right.
Kamal's going in hiding.
Come on, Kamal, where are you? G.
, there he is.
Guard just locked the gate.
I don't like where this is headed.
Kamal? Federal agents.
Kamal's gone.
And you're a sorry consolation prize.
Where's Abdul Farman? I don't know who that is.
What were you planning on doing with Kamal Pajman? - The guy from the consulate.
- Those guys just asked me to drive.
- I swear.
- Did you kill Ahmad Fahadi? What? No.
Listen, that wasn't me.
- Are you part of Maktab al-Khidamat? - No! Dalbir Gilani.
You're a fourth-year student at Culver City Community College.
That's a two-year college.
- You know that, right? - Studying Theological Ethics, then a few propaganda videos and chat rooms later, and you're a member of MAK.
Your professors must be so proud.
As they should.
I'm a soldier.
Maybe you're not aware of the important work Maktab al-Khidamat is doing.
Hmm.
Enlighten us.
We're uprooting criminal regimes.
Like the Afghanistan National Army? We're purifying the lands by enforcing the judgments of Islam.
Did you kill Fahad Ahmadi? No.
No one asked me to do that.
So if the judgment of Islam called for Fahad Ahmadi to die, would you have answered that calling? That's what I thought.
Yes.
I would've done it.
I'd have killed him.
You call yourself a soldier because you think war is something that's played out overseas.
The danger in that is you think you're safe.
But you're wrong.
Fahad's blood is on your hands.
You're gonna pay for his murder, even if you weren't holding the knife.
All right, Eric, go ahead.
So I won't bore you with how the sausage is made, but just know that Kamal Pajman was not easy to find.
Of course he wasn't easy to find, he's well-trained, and for all he knows, he's in enemy territory.
Right, but the takeaway is that I found him.
And it was, heh, virtually impossible.
Well, consider this a virtual pat on the back for doing your job.
So where is he now? Um, well, after the consulate building, he headed south.
He's in Culver City at a diner on Washington and Centinela.
I'll let you know if that changes.
I wanna go back in there.
We're close to breaking him.
I wanna find out where MAK's keeping Abdul.
Okay.
I wanna be there when we find Kamal.
Wait, so are you thinking what I'm thinking? We're gonna do a little, uh, partner swap? - That's a good idea.
- All right.
I'll head out with Sam.
At the end of the day, we can swap back and talk about all the lessons we learned from our new partners.
- Kensi, you should probably stay here.
- Yeah, no, sorry, too late.
See you.
You two have fun.
Yeah, why don't you do some bonding? Yeah, maybe compare pancake recipes or something.
- Ha-ha-ha.
- Oh, yeah? You like pancakes? You know who likes pancakes? I like pancakes.
I make pancakes with marshmallows, but not the big ones.
I use the little ones, then I combine them with chocolate chips.
That's delicious.
Let's just focus on Dalbir Gilani.
Okay? I call them s'more-cakes.
Because it's the same ingredients as a s'more.
You can try them.
Bring it by the house? Yeah, no, because you got a good rhythm going.
I'll just stay out here and stretch my calf muscles.
What happened to the other guy? Oh, Agent Hanna? Paperwork.
To prosecute you for the murder of Fahad Ahmadi.
- Murder? - Yeah.
Look.
I can possibly help you out here.
Just tell me where your friends are keeping Abdul.
- I don't know.
- Dalbir.
Let me explain to you how this works.
Okay? You tell me where I can find Abdul, and maybe you don't spend the rest of your life in solitary confinement.
Man, come on.
I don't know.
They don't tell me that kind of stuff.
I'm low-level, I swear.
You're probably right.
How long have you even been a member of MAK, anyway? - A few months.
- Exactly.
You haven't even had enough time to prove yourself yet.
All right, I get it.
But they know I'm for real.
How could you have proved that already? They thought my girlfriend was gonna be a problem.
She's not Muslim.
You handled that? I know how to prioritize.
A smart guy like you, I have no doubt.
Exactly.
Well played, Callen, well played.
You got him wrapped around your pinky.
Not that it isn't something I haven't done a thousand times.
Except for, of course, I did it in a courtroom with a ton of people.
Judge staring me down.
Jury sizing me up, saying, "What you got, public defender? What you got?" Uh, Deeks? Huh? You know that I can hear you, right? Yeah, no, no.
Yeah, no.
I definitely know that you could I knew you were there, if that's what you're asking.
Good.
Because I'm here too.
Oh, Nell.
Hi.
What's up? - Detective.
- Ooh.
Granger.
Of course Granger is there.
It's like the whole Ops-apalooza.
What's going on, guys? What can I do you for? - Question.
- Hmm? Do you crumble graham crackers into your s'mores-cakes? Do I crumble? Wait, are you being serious? Do you really wanna know? What do you think? I think you wanna know where Abdul is.
And? And Dalbir had to prove his loyalty to MAK despite having a non-Muslim girlfriend, which means he had to do something recently to take advantage of said girlfriend.
So we just have to figure out who she is and where she fits into the story.
And if we follow that line of investigation, I'm pretty sure we'll find out where they're keeping Abdul.
Hey, so just for the record, to clarify, I wasn't really I wasn't talking to myself earlier, when I was That was kind of an inner monologue that I then said out loud, subsequently, which kind of defeats the purpose, but, um Guys? Find the girlfriend.
- Yeah.
- Coming up.
All right, Eric.
Thank you.
Kamal left the consulate and crossed the road into that pawnshop about seven minutes ago.
He's liquidating whatever he can.
He's planning to run.
Well, can you blame him? I've got the street.
You got the car.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
He saw you at the consulate.
He'll recognize you.
I'll take the street, you take the car.
Touché.
- What did you just say? - Touché.
Great observation.
You know Deeks says that all the time.
Yeah? Now I know why.
- Good call, good call.
You made one.
- No, yeah, okay.
All right.
Kamal Pajman? Kensi Blye, NCIS.
Hey! Stop! Kamal! Stop! Kamal, listen to me.
We know who you are.
We know who's after you.
- We're here to protect you.
- Why should I believe you? We know what happened at the café this morning.
Abdul was taken by the same men who tried to grab you.
Maktab al-Khidamat.
They took Abdul? As he was walking to mosque for morning prayer, yes.
And Fahad? Fahad was killed while running on the beach this morning.
I'm sorry.
Fahad is dead? We think it was a mistake.
They want you alive, so they can interrogate you about the army's plans for the opium trade in the Helmand province.
Taliban in the Helmand province fuels insurgents in the rest of my country.
Now that the U.
S.
Has pulled out of the region It is more important than ever that we protect that land.
Which is why you're in America training with the DEA.
We know.
What do you want me to do? We want you to find Abdul.
And avenge Fahad's death.
What do we have? Dalbir Gilani's girlfriend is Nedda Japour.
She's American, but her parents are immigrants from Afghanistan.
They own a shoe repair shop.
When Nedda's not in school, she's working at the store.
So he's gotta be familiar with the shoe repair shop.
Here's what's strange.
It's the middle of the day, shop is closed.
No one's answering the landline, and Nedda and her parents'phones are turned off.
So I took a peek at the traffic cams near the closest major intersection.
And? And a white van has been driving back and forth on that street all day.
Shoe repair shop.
It's a perfect place to torture Abdul.
MAK doesn't even have to bring tools.
Eric, have Kensi and Sam meet us there.
You must be Kamal.
Agent Callen.
Detective Deeks.
Got an entrance in the front and an entrance in the back.
Blinds are shut.
Place says it's closed, and we have no idea how many guys we're gonna be going up against.
Is there a plan to get in without kicking down a door? They are looking for me.
If I knock, they'll open the door.
We good? We're good.
You heard the man.
You'll need a weapon.
Thank you.
That's actually my backup.
Then say, "You're welcome.
" You're welcome.
It's got a light trigger, go easy.
Kensi, Deeks, take the front with Kamal.
Flush them out.
- Sam and I will take the back.
- Okay.
- Be smart out there.
- Okay.
Uh, that means don't do anything stupid.
And don't worry.
From him, it's a term of affection.
Go.
Eric, we've got Abdul.
- Send an ambulance.
- Copy that, Callen.
Where are the hostages? Got a family.
Clear! We're federal agents.
You're gonna be fine, okay? Gonna be fine.
Abdul.
I didn't tell them.
I didn't tell them.
I know.
I know.
I hear the DEA offered you an extension on your visa.
That's right.
I'm a lucky man.
It's a great opportunity.
Continue your training, spend a little time in the land of the free, home of the brave.
Yes.
I also heard you turned it down.
I'm grateful for what you and your country have done for me and my people.
But it's time for me to go home.
Mm-hm.
It was an honor meeting you, Sam.
It's been an honor having you fight beside us.
Maybe one day, when the fighting is done, you will come to visit me in my country.
I'd like that.
Take care of yourself.
"Don't do anything stupid.
" - Ha, ha.
- Got it.
Good night, Hetty.
Monet.
What's that? You and Mr.
Hanna, you both appreciate Claude Monet's paintings.
- How did you even? - Personally, I find them a little dainty.
But to each his own.
Good night, Hetty.
- Good night, Mr.
Callen.
- Night, guys.
- See you.
- Night.
- Coming? - I am gonna catch up with you.
Okay.
- Uh, Hetty, can I steal a moment? - Yeah.
Um, when you asked me to profile Kamal today, I thought I did.
I thought I had researched him enough that I was inside his brain, that I could predict his every action and reaction and And? And I was wrong.
I analyzed him the best that I could, but, yeah, I was wrong.
Well, intelligence only takes us so far.
Why is that? We're human.
We're too mercurial to ever really be known.
Hmm.
Hetty, as an intelligence analyst, not exactly encouraging.
Well, I'm not suggesting that it is.
It's a reminder, our work is never done.