Tony left the interview with Rivera with a smile on his face. Rivera thought he was clever and could pull one over on NCIS. He had told Dinozzo that he had no desire for revenge and that he had turned over a new leaf while in prison. Tony didn't believe it for a second. Rivera denied any involment in the marine's murder. Tony did not say anything about what was found on the body or about the search for Kelly. What Rivera didn't know is that the new warden was an old friend of Tony's from his days as a cop in Baltimore. He was going to keep an extra eye on Rivera and see if there was any evidence linking him to the dead marine or Kelly. Tony got a copy of the visitor's log on his way out. He wanted to see if any of the cartel had been by for a family visit.
Gibbs had noticed the new guard in the NCIS parking lot acting a bit jumpy when they came through the gate. Gill Thompson had been working there for about a month. How odd thought Gibbs and then he connected the dots. So did Ziva.
"You want me to get Abby and McGee to look at the surveillance tapes from the last 48 hours?" Gibbs nodded as Ziva opened the car door.
"Also get the phone and bank records of Thompson." He called after her. He had taught his team to anticipate and he wasn't disappointed. He also knew Ziva would check with some of her contacts to see if there was any chatter about Rivera or the whereabouts of Kelly. He got out slowly and started to head towards the door of NCIS but then decided he needed some coffee and changed directions to walk down the street.
Gibbs turned the corner and almost walked into Agent Fornell. The FBI agent handed Gibbs a cup of coffee. Gibbs just grinned as he took it. "Well Tobias I wondered when you were going to show up." Gibbs took a drink of the rich brew as both started walking towards the entrance.
"Jethro, you are starting to scare me." said Tobias. The men didn't say another word until they got into the elevator and Gibbs hit the stop button. "Gibbs we have got a sticky situation here. Word on the street is that baby brother has taken over as the head of the family. He is out for revenge for the death of Paloma."
Gibbs nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. "I figured it was just a matter of time before someone else took over at the helm. And I am guessing that my head on a platter is the prize?"
"Not exactly Jethro. He is holding off on that. Apparently your murdered marine is a message to you about Kelly."
"That I got Tobias. You got anything else? Like is she really alive? Or is someone just yanking my chain for the fun of it!" Gibbs almost shouted.
"Gibbs I cannot imagine what you are going through right now. But trust me we are using every resource we can to make a case against him and find Kelly. Let me give you my theory. I think she got out of the van or was pulled out by someone. I think she was adopted by a couple that had some kind of legal contacts to make the adoption legit. I am checking out a few shady adoption lawyers and cross referencing them with anyone on the hill."
"But how did the cartel family find out?" asked Gibbs "How did they know that Kelly was alive?
"Apparently it was some kind of fluke. They had managed to get their hands on the files that JoAnn had gotten from the private investigator. Apparently her place had been broken into while she was on vacation a couple of months ago. I don't think she realize what they took. He got lucky Jethro. We would of never of known it if it had not been for the FDEL agent who arrested one of Rivera's goons for drug trafficking.
"Well, his luck is about to run out." Said Gibbs as he hit the button for his floor and took another drink of his coffee.
"Yeah, I thought you would say something like that." Fornell replied as the doors opened and Gibbs stepped off. "I will let you know if anything comes up that connects Kelly with an M. Collins."
"You do that Tobias" said Gibbs as the elevator doors closed. "Ziva what do you got for me?'" asked Gibbs as he headed over to his desk.
Ziva got up and headed over to pull up the video. "Gibbs someone sweet talked Thompson the other night into letting him into the parking lot." She started the surveillance video. This was a placed camera that few NCIS agents knew about. She zoomed in closer. "I think he presented himself as an agent and that he left his wallet in one of the vehicles. And of course the new guy is a bit gullible and apparently can also be bought. You can see the exchange of hands. The man is smart enough to keep his head down as he goes into the parking lot and stops behind their car. You see him bend down like he dropped something. And then he is up and gone. "
"Get this to McGee and see if there is any way he can pinpoint who this guy is. And get Thompson up here. I think he needs some sweet talking by a former Mossad Officer."
Ziva grinned and headed down towards Abby's lab to give the video to McGee.
The elevator doors open and Dinozzo walked in. "It's about time you got back. What did you find out? Gibbs questioned.
Tony put his stuff down and headed over to Gibbs. "Boss, Rivera knows something. He is trying to pretend to be all goody two shoes and everything, but it isn't working for him. I got the warden watching him and he is sending over the recordings of his phone calls in about an hour. I have the visitors log and I am going to start running names."
Gibbs looked up at Tony. "Good work Dinozzo. Let me know when you find anything else." Gibbs stood up and started to walk towards the back elevator. "I'm going down to the lab to check on Abby and McGee. Be in observation in five minutes to keep Ziva from killing Thompson."
"You are kidding right? She really won't do that now that she is a full fledge NCIS agent. Would she?" asked Tony. Gibbs didn't answer and kept walking. Tony thought about it for a moment before he jumped up out of his chair and ran towards the observation room. He didn't want to take a chance.