- Do you mind? - Go ahead.
You in town for business?
Something like that.
I'm actually here to forget about business.
You know, you should try it sometime.
Maybe I will.
Excuse me.
All right, you ready for this? Here it comes.
- Oh, uh, Matisse. - Nope, Munch.
Uh...
- Van Gogh? - No, Cezanne.
Wow, you really do suck at this.
- So you wouldn't buy it? - Absolutely not.
I mean, I don't know if I would, I mean, it depends,
I guess it depends kind of on the price.
I mean, yeah, no, I definitely, I would.
You hazing the new guy, or is he hazing you?
Haze me, Kensi, please.
- Seurat. - Monet.
Oh, bing, bing, bing, Sam proceeds to the bonus round
and Kensi wins the consolation prize
otherwise known as a steaming bucket of fail.
- What case is this? - It's not a case, it's Anna Kline.
My best friend from childhood who's visiting L.A.
Our fathers were stationed at Camp Lejeune.
We stayed close, I'm meeting her for lunch today.
Married, 4-year-old son.
- Oh, is she in the art business? - She thinks I am.
I told her I was a curator at a gallery.
A curator?
Well, I had to choose a cover story, art galleries are cool.
Glamorous, filled with sophisticated people.
Who know about art.
I once dated a girl for three months who thought I was a dentist.
Dr. Deeks, DDS. Then one night we were at dinner and her filling falls out,
she's sitting across from me and crying out in pain,
begging for me to help.
- What'd you do? - Ordered shots of 151 proof rum.
Told her to soak it and kill all the germs.
Soon she couldn't even feel her face, let alone her tooth. It was hilarious.
You know, everyone in our line of work
has this regrettable, necessary choice.
Either be a hermit or be a cover story.
Hetty, cover story is just a more dignified way of saying lie.
I am lying to my friend.
Well, sometimes it's better to just leave the lie in place.
If a loved one really cares about you, the lie won't matter.
Are you speaking from experience, Hetty?
It's amazing how much one can learn from field manuals, Mr. Callen.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time again.
You may wanna cancel any impending lunch plans.
- Anyone heard from Nate? - Nope.
Not a call, not even an e-mail.
We don't even know where he is.
What do you have for us, Eric?
The anatomy of a perfect hit.
Cyprus. Meet Special Agent Dan Williams, NCIS.
Yesterday he was meeting a contact.
He was aware that he was being watched.
His tradecraft is good.
He spotted all security cameras and exits.
He's keeping eye on the crowd.
She's running interference.
But for whom?
This guy, upstairs in Williams' room.
Williams is focused on threats in the lounge but not upstairs.
Flirty lady's keeping him busy.
And she's staying anonymous too.
The shape of her hair is hiding her face
from the cameras in the lounge.
Just like that sheik's keffiyeh, obscuring his face from the camera.
The cocktail waitress is only serving people
who are head-on to the cameras.
All we can see is the back of her head.
Hats look natural with the outfits.
No ID possible.
Oh, right there, what was that?
He sent a file from his PDA to the NCIS cloud before he got killed.
Unfortunately it got corrupted.
That sporty couple, tipping off the guy in the room.
Agent Williams was killed by an injection of succinylcholine.
It causes instant cardiac arrest.
Made it look like he died of natural causes upon first examination.
Twenty minutes ago
a man used a Canadian passport to enter LAX from London.
INS photo caught 18 points of interest, 16 of which match,
Jon White, it's an alias.
- Well, where is he now? - Being detained by Customs at LAX.
He's been told it's a routine search. They're waiting for us.
Arrest him, he may not talk. Could be in town for something bigger.
Well, we could take a chance.
Let him go, tail him, see what he's up to.
Just snatch him later.
It's risky.
He killed one of ours.
And if he's detained, he'll already suspect he's being gamed.
Yeah, but if he's in town for something bigger, it might be a risk worth taking.
If he does get away, it's gonna be on us.
I like a little bit of pressure.
It does make things more interesting.
I want you two to cover the other end of the case.
Agent Williams was investigating a rebel group in Chechnya.
He suspected they were buying small arms
from a corrupt source inside the Navy.
And how far away are we from fixing that file Williams sent from his PDA?
Uh, we're moving slowly but surely.
It's 13 percent complete.
Welcome to Los Angeles International Airport.
Dentist, gallery curator.
Point of a cover story is to simplify your life, not make it harder.
This is the man who once posed as a sommelier for an entire year.
I've got my vintages, varietals and appellations down pat.
How could I forget?
Merlot, Bordeaux, Pinot.
You bought a gold pin.
And you wore it.
It was my day-to-day cover story.
And I earned that pin, I didn't buy it.
I took classes and I graduated.
I went all out to develop my palate.
You wore a pin shaped like a corkscrew.
- For a year. - You were a magician once.
Not magician, illusionist.
You bought a white rabbit, G.
He came with the hat. There he is.
Here we go.
Taxi.
He's going around the block again.
Something's not right.
The cabby's taking him in circles.
He's not taking him to a meet.
This is the meet. He knows the cab driver.
It's going down right now in front of us.
- He's stopping. - No, he's not.
I knew I should've drove.
Federal agent, stop.
Don't move.
Hey, what's going on?
Federal agent, stay back.
We got nothing.
It was a gypsy cab, Kensi.
Fake medallion number, fake plates.
Driver's in the wind. I didn't get a good enough look to even give a description.
Move.
Well, have Eric keep checking for cameras.
Yeah, we're headed to the boat house.
- Lost him? - For now.
Can't you pull him out of your hat?
Williams was investigating a rebel group in Chechnya
called the Grozny Emirate.
Islamic radicals with ties to Al-Qaeda, founded nine years ago by Vakar.
No known last name.
- Just Vakar? - One name.
Grand tradition of Cher, Madonna, Bono.
Ah, great, and this is the best image we've got.
Well, planning subway bombings in Moscow
probably isn't a photo-friendly occupation.
Or a safe one, Vakar was killed by Russian forces seven years ago.
Well, hiring a hit squad of this caliber
to take out an American agent isn't cheap.
Williams' file says the Grozny Emirate only has $5 million in liquid assets.
Something doesn't track, they can't afford it.
The money or the spotlight that comes with killing an NCIS agent.
Unless it was personal.
Jon Craig.
British citizen, former SAS out of Credenhill.
So, Jon, throwing away 20 years of service
to become a killer for hire.
I'm curious.
- My pension didn't hold my interest. - Heh.
My pension wasn't great either, but I got hobbies.
And a gold corkscrew pin.
Don't ask.
I'm a professional.
Either charge me or release me.
Actually, there's a third option.
Because you're a foreign national and you're a suspect
in the murder of a federal agent, you're classified as an enemy combatant.
Do you know what that means, Jon?
It means you play ball with us or we ship your ass off to prison
in an undisclosed location with a whole lot of sand
and very little regard for human rights.
Is that professional enough for you?
What sort of deal are you offering?
Gentlemen, someone in this city is going to die very soon
unless you give me an incentive to help.
We can re-route your prison flight from Tunisia to Florida.
I would take that.
If you think Tunisian prison cuisine sucks,
well, believe me, the lack of plumbing is even worse.
I'm in Los Angeles for a hit.
My team has been hired to complete a lethal action on a local target.
- Who's the target? - I don't know.
- Who hired you? - I don't know.
I get my fee via wire transfer.
Look, we're a team, same as you, with security protocols.
We don't know the name of the target or location
until we check in at a predetermined rally point.
Who was driving the taxi?
My contact.
That's all I know about the hit.
With you off the board, there is no hit anymore, right?
Wrong.
Each of us has a backup in place.
In case this exact scenario should occur.
If I don't turn up to do the job, then my backup does.
If he doesn't hear from me within the next hour
he goes in.
Has your backup met the rest of the team members?
No.
You wanna pose as Craig's backup, walk into the squad's rally point
and tell them Craig didn't check in, and you're stepping up.
When they take me through the plan we'll have the name and location.
I stay with the hit squad,
you get a tactical team into position at the kill point.
You move in when the hit happens
and we take these guys out.
Well, Craig is the only one we positively ID'd in Cyprus
which means we can't arrest them until right before the hit goes down.
Catch them red-handed while they're already on high alert.
This is a dangerous op we're talking about.
I know this is the only way, but it doesn't mean I gotta like it.
Call your backup, tell him everything's fine.
You're gonna tell me everything there is to know about him.
These are highly trained individuals.
Former military and intelligence.
- You won't last five minutes. - That's my problem.
I appreciate your concern, Jon.
Just make the call. This time I'm driving.
His name's Nathan Wilson.
Take me through your cover story.
I'm Nathan Wilson, former Green Beret,
buddy of Jon Craig's from our contracting days in the Green Zone.
I'm good to go.
My button mic is up and running.
I'll be here with Kensi and Deeks.
We hear the distress word, we'll be inside in less than 60 seconds.
And the distress word is abracadabra.
Which one of you is Thierry?
I'm Nathan Wilson.
I don't know you.
Jon Craig missed his check-in call.
Why wouldn't Jon check in?
I don't ask questions, I just stick to the plan.
- He's clean. - I find this all very interesting.
- Why is that? - Because I'm Nathan Wilson.
- Did Jon Craig give us wrong intel? - We gotta move in now.
Not yet, he didn't say the distress word.
I know my partner.
Okay, so tell me, who the hell is this guy?
Thierry, I know we haven't met,
but this guy has gotta be a cop. Jon is a professional.
If he doesn't check in, it's because he's been arrested.
And he gave up this location and my name.
I don't know why.
I don't know who the hell this guy is,
I hope you haven't given him any information on the target
because this guy's a cop.
This guy's the cop. He's covering his own ass.
And he's outraged and counter-accusing.
Standard police protocol when your cover's being blown.
I heard all about it from a fed that Jon and I worked with in the Green Zone.
You both have ten seconds to sort this thing out.
The loser dies.
- Ten - Go.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
Heh, I'm impressed.
Jon would've needed a new pair of skiwies.
Welcome to the team, Nathan.
It was a test.
You passed. Heh.
The target's name is Emma Mastin.
- Location? - Sherman Oaks.
Eric, I need everything on Emma Mastin.
She lives in Sherman Oaks.
Emma Mastin, 29 years old, no criminal record.
Looks like she's a stay-at-home mom.
Perfect credit, normal balances in all of her accounts,
married to Clay Mastin who also checks out.
No criminal record.
Both clean.
Why hire a pro hit squad to take out a soft target like her?
They're gonna whack some lady in the suburbs?
I'll watch G's back.
You two pay Emma Mastin a visit, see what you can dig up on her.
And keep your cover story simple, "Dr. Deeks."
Eric, we're gonna need help getting in the front door.
I'm on it.
Initial surveillance indicates the target goes to this Fields Market on Moorpark
every Tuesday at 4 p.m.
How long was the initial surveillance period?
Four weeks. Our intel is solid.
Tradecraft is a dying art.
Nice to see someone pays attention to the details.
Well, welcome to the A-Team.
We'll be positioned inside the grocery store when the target enters.
This will be an undercover operation. We'll be posing as employees.
Why this market? I mean, why not the parking lot or at her house?
What makes this the ideal location?
I thought you didn't ask questions.
The parking lot is a half a block from the police station.
Her house has neighbors,
potential witnesses who may remember anomalies.
And the market has multiple exits.
And access to three different freeways within, what, half a mile?
And the security camera blind spot located right here.
We'll make sure she lands on it.
And when she does, you'll strike.
Now, if you miss for any reason, I'll be there to complete the objective.
- Yes? - Hetty, it's me.
- What do you have, Sam? - I've got the hit squad's game plan.
It's going down this afternoon, I need a tactical team
in position at the Fields Market on Moorpark.
What do you know about alarms?
Enough. Did two years L.A.P.D. Robbery Division.
I did an urban counter-surveillance course at Quantico.
Graduated top of my class.
Well, I guess there's book smart and then there's street smart.
I'll run point.
I wasn't bragging.
Of course not, you were just one-upping me.
I'm not a one-upper.
Not normally, somehow just with me. But, uh, have fun running point.
- Great, have fun watching. - See, one-upping.
- Hi. - Hi, Mrs. Mastin?
We're from Live Feed Security.
Oh, what took you guys so long?
I keep turning it off, but it keeps turning back on.
Let me take a look at the cue pad.
Here we go.
It was a system error. Just needed to key in the master override code.
Mommy, the strange man is snooping.
Joshua, this man is our guest. Be polite.
He made all the noises go away.
What's up, little man? I'm Marty.
Do you play video games?
I do, I do, but I'm actually, I'm actually working right now, Joshua.
Mommy, can he play?
Well, if it's okay with you, Marty.
Uh, yeah, no, absolutely, show me the way.
- So how old is he? - He's 6.
My God, mine's 4.
It all happened so fast, it blows my mind.
- You're a working mom? - Yeah.
- May I? - Sure.
That's my husband, Clay.
Heh. You're awesome at this. When do I go? You tell me when.
Yeah, like you said, it feels like things happen so fast.
Right when we started dating, I got pregnant.
How are you so much better than me?
But we were in love.
- Took it as a sign, we got married. - Oh, time's up.
You got me, buddy.
- Beautiful family. - I'm really lucky to have Clay.
I've actually never heard that language before, I just had to ask.
What, uh? What is it?
It's Chechen.
There's something you need to know.
My partner and I are federal agents.
NCIS.
Someone wants you dead.
That doesn't make any sense.
- Please leave my house. - Emma.
We're not here to arrest you. We're here to help you.
But to do that, you have to work with us.
Go.
You're in serious danger. You and your family.
I need to know the truth for your family's sake.
Please, be honest with me.
Sometimes it's easier to just leave the lie in place, isn't it?
Nathan.
Hey, guys, I don't speak, uh, Arabic.
It's not Arabic. It's Farsi.
- No, I don't speak that either. - The syringe is in the bag.
Don't stick yourself.
- No gun? - You won't need one.
- Hello? - Deeks, Vakar's still alive.
Whoa. But the file said he was killed seven years ago by Russians.
The file was wrong.
Vakar's the one who put the hit out on Agent Williams.
Now he's got them after Emma Mastin.
What's up, dude?
Why does Vakar want you dead?
He's alive.
He hired a hit squad.
I have no idea why some Chechen psycho wants me, of all people, dead.
Emma, can you stop lying to me, please?
We're here to protect you.
We can only do that if you help us.
Even if you stop this hit squad, he'll just send another one.
There is a way to end this right now.
Who are you?
Someone who is willing to do anything to protect her family.
That is not an answer.
Let them come.
- Use me as bait. - I can't ask you to do that.
I'm in no position to authorize it.
I'm volunteering. I want to do it.
Why, Emma?
Because if Vakar did send these people,
I need to send a message back to him.
And what message is that?
It is not gonna be easy.
Talk to your team.
This is your best shot.
- Hello? - We need to meet.
NCIS must be in real trouble
if the Duchess of Deception is meeting me in person.
Almost as much trouble as you were in, in Cape Town.
Cape Town.
Who is Emma Mastin?
I haven't heard that name in a while.
She's a former Shahidka.
That's Chechen for...
Oh, for Black Widow.
Women whose terrorist husbands are killed in action.
Mm-hm.
Islamic groups take advantage of their grief.
Program them to become suicide bombers.
But she obviously wasn't a suicide bomber.
Well, she was no run-of-the-mill grieving widow either.
She started as an operative, intensive training by ex-KGB.
She's fluent in five languages, run by Grozny Emirate.
And she was good.
Solid tradecraft. But scary.
Easily as deadly as any of the men.
Pardon my language, but how the hell did this woman
wind up a housewife in Sherman Oaks?
Typical Cinderella story.
If Cinderella was a Chechen assassin.
Callen's in place.
Once Thierry moves in on Emma, he'll intercept him.
We'll have the squad for attempted murder.
I'll be with the tactical unit on site.
I still don't feel comfortable about putting her at risk.
You'll keep a tail on her outside the market.
Everything goes smoothly, we'll take this crew down.
Guys, that file that Special Agent Williams
sent from his PDA, it's now restored.
I'm sending it to the main screen.
A sonogram. First trimester.
Date indicated as January 7th, 2004.
The same month Vakar was supposedly killed.
Looks familiar, doesn't he?
Joshua.
I just spoke to my source.
Evidently, Emma was a former Grozny Emirate operative.
She thought her husband Vakar was dead.
Seven years ago he was seriously wounded
in a raid by Russian forces and barely survived.
He wanted everyone to think he'd been killed.
Emma discovered she was carrying his unborn child, flipped sides.
Agent Williams figured out that Vakar had a child.
When Vakar knew what Williams knew,
he hired the hit squad to take him out.
Now Emma's the only thing standing between him
and the thing he wants more than anything else.
His son.
We're waiting on Callen's signal. He'll give us the green light to move in.
Roger that.
You take care of the employees?
They're tied up in the back.
The syringe is prepped?
- Ready to go. - Good.
If you lose your opening, give me the word.
I'll clean up.
All right, thanks.
Protective detail just moved Joshua. He's secure for now.
If Emma's a former operative, then she's got situational awareness.
She knew what this was about from the very start.
That's why she offered herself up.
She's not a soft target, she just looks like one.
That's why Vakar sent professionals to take her out.
Thank you.
- Welcome to Fields Market. - What kind of cheese is this?
It's cheddar. It's been aged for five years.
- Would you like to try one? - Maybe another time.
Oh.
If you like that sauce, you need to try the new cuts our butcher got today.
- That good? - Wouldn't steer you wrong.
They're just around the corner. I'd be happy to show you.
Just go right in the next aisle. She'll be out in just a moment.
Okay. Thank you.
She's in the blind spot.
Callen's about to tell Thierry the syringe is jammed.
- Get ready to move in. - Got it.
Thierry, the syringe malfunctioned. Time to step up.
Move on my command.
Sam, I don't see Thierry anywhere.
Do not move in. I repeat, do not move in.
Something's up. Thierry's changing up his plan.
Thank you.
This woman's good.
She's maintaining her cover.
Knows the hit squad's still watching her.
Thanks a lot, buddy.
Thierry's gone, Sam.
I don't have him either, G.
Damn it. Move in now.
Let's go. Move in, move in.
Federal agents.
Federal agent. Nice try.
Likewise.
Stay down.
This team's a decoy.
- Who has got eyes on Emma? - Kensi and Deeks.
She'll be heading home.
Keep it coming.
Good.
Keep it coming.
A little more.
That's good.
We're blocked off from her.
It's a setup.
- Cover my back. - Right.
Ready? Go.
Follow me.
Not bad for a magician.
Illusionist.
Okay, great. Thank you.
So Joshua's protective detail should be here any minute now.
I thought I left that life behind.
From what I saw, you seem to still be pretty good at it.
My husband's on his way home.
He's gonna want answers.
He raised Joshua like his own flesh and blood.
I will tell him anything about my past that he wants to know.
But I can't tell him the truth about Joshua.
- About his real father, Vakar. - Emma.
This is one lie that I need to keep in place, Kensi.
If this man loves you as much as you love him, it's not gonna matter.
The truth will not pull you apart. If anything, it's gonna bring you closer.
Emma, what happened? What's going on?
Who's this?
Thank you for everything.
There's something I need to tell you.
So Emma and her family got their happy ending.
New names, new locations and brand spanking new cover stories.
There's still one loose end.
You guys had an audience today.
Vakar.
He was there.
How did it go with your friend?
I blew it. That's how it went.
Felt like Anna saw straight through my cover story.
It gets easier, right?
Yes.
You're lying.
Am I?
Good night, Hetty.
Oh, Sylvia.