Ding.
The elevator doors slid open as Gibbs stepped out, walked through the bullpen, and slammed his coffee in front of a startled agent.
"McGee! There had best be a good reason you didn't call me last night with any updates. I hope it's not because you were sleeping."
"No boss. I'm still working on sorting out cell records from the perp. He's a fan of burn phones, not much to work with."
"Good answer McGee. Because nobody sleeps until Sergeant Moline has his daughter back and that guy," he said, pointing to a clip from surveillance footage, "is behind bars."
"Rough night Gibbs?" Vance was looking down from the railing outside his office.
"You could say that."
"If you have a minute, I need to see you in my office. I have a proposal to make. You just might be interested."
As Gibbs turned on his heel and ascended the stairs, a curious look passed between McGee and his fellow agents, Tony and Ziva.
"So how's the case coming?" Vance started.
"Not as well as we'd like, but we're doing the best we can. My agents haven't slept in a day and a half, and we're no closer than when we started. No cell phone records, no bank transactions, no names, nothing. All we have to go on is the footage from the house across the road. We have theories as to the motive, but they all rest on the assumption that the wreck was intentional.
"Well if your theory is correct, and the missing girl is somewhere in those woods, you're going to need help finding her. That's a lot of ground to cover. I've arranged for some assistance."
"Well your assistance better get here fast. My team leaves in 15 minutes to start scouring the area. We plan on searching a five mile radius from the scene of the accident."
"No worries Agent Gibbs. I believe they should be waiting just outside the door." Vance replied with a smirk. He phoned his secretary's desk saying, "You can send them in now."
The door opened as a middle aged woman and her large German Shepherd entered the office.
"You must be Officer Cooper. My name is Leon Vance and I am the Director of NCIS. This is Special Agent Gibbs, head of our Major Case Response Team. You will be working with Gibbs and his team on the Moline case."
"A pleasure to meet you both," Sam Cooper replied. She reached to shake their hands, receiving a tight smile from Agent Gibbs in return.
Vance continued, "As you are already aware, Tuesday at approximately 2200 hours there was an automobile accident on Route 4 outside of Rock Creek Park near Hawthorne. The vehicle ran off the road, went through the guard rail, and rolled down a small embankment where it finally stopped. The driver, 30 year old Melissa Moline, was unconscious when first responders found her. When she woke, she realized that her 6 year old daughter, Hanna, was missing from the vehicle. Hanna's seat belt had been cut and the door had been pried away from the damaged car."
"Who made the 911 call?" Sam asked.
"There was a house across the road. The residents heard the crash and made the call, but did not go outside. They did, however, have a camera on the front of their house that caught the blurry image of a large man approaching the car and carrying the girl away from the scene and into the trees. He appears to be around 5'8", 180 pounds, and has dark hair."
"We were just getting ready to head out and do a search of the area near the accident. He arrived on foot, no tire tracks at the scene. He had to have taken Hanna out to a hideout somewhere in the trees," Gibbs said.
"Why does NCIS have an interest in a missing children's case?"
"Her father is Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jacob Moline. We believe the child was taken to fulfill a ransom plan," Vance answered.
"Yep. And it's our job to find her before things get out of hand. You coming or not?" Gibbs snapped.
"Lead the way."