Chapter 3

10:19 a.m.

The team met Vance in MTAC, to hear the latest from the FBI. The Bureau's interest in the case went beyond its normal pursuit of kidnappers. Bonnie Dakins' mother had been an FBI senior agent before Bonnie was born. They were willing to cede jurisdiction of the case to NCIS due to the current Navy connection, but if there was any whiff about it that smelled of the FBI, they wanted to know.

"Any more clues as to who's behind this?" Vance asked the woman on the large screen.

"Yes, although it sounds to us to be too incredible to be true," said the Bureau official.

"It's not someone on Captain Dakins' ship?"

"Possibly not, although there may be a connection. The clues left behind, the ransom note…our profilers want to drop the age of the suspects a few years. We might be dealing with people who are only in their late teens."

"Only have to be 18 to enlist in the Navy," Gibbs pointed out.

"I know. But this profile skews toward one or more people who aren't sufficiently grown-up, for lack of a better term. The type that the Navy recruiter would tell to come back in a few years."

"Immaturity and criminal motive can be a dangerous combination," Vance remarked.

"But if we're not dealing with pros, it might be easier to outsmart them," said Tony.

11:57 p.m.

Ziva watched, stunned by this strange turn of events. She was too far away to hear what was being said—Tony (or Tim, even as a last-minute substitute) would have known to put on a wire. Abby, evidently, did not. Why Abby was suddenly running after the kidnappers?

If only Abby knew what the team knew about them…

Fearing dire consequences, Ziva followed quietly.

10:41 a.m.

The ransom note, left in the Dakins' mailbox, had produced little information, the FBI relayed later. There were no fingerprints on it found in the AIFIS database, It was just a piece of paper printed from a computer, demanding 1.5 million dollars to be delivered to Prince William Forest Park at 11:55 p.m. for Bonnie Dakins' release.

"They had access to a computer, but didn't send an email demand," Tony noted, back in the squad room, when this news came in.

"Amateurs?" Ziva speculated. "It is not that easy to fake an email address, I do not think. I do not know how to do it."

Tim nodded. "I'm guessing our—" he stopped for a sneeze—"kidnappers aren't too tech-savvy. That alone doesn't tell us much, though."

"A successful kidnapper might have planned this more," said Gibbs. "Feels like kids. Most likely in it to make a buck."

"They would be afraid of killing," Ziva said, nodding. "If they are teenagers, they probably are confident that they can get away with the ransom money and turn Bonnie loose somewhere, and perhaps flee the country."

"Tony, find out what connections the Dakins family has to teenagers…friends, relatives, neighbors, anybody. Ziva, find out who on Dakins' ship has had shore leave in the last 72 hours…particularly age 22 and under. Tim…phone records for the Dakins' phones," Gibbs ordered.

Tim's hands stopped on his keyboard. "Boss, you don't think that the Dakinses have anything to do with their daughter's kidnapping, do you?"

"No, but there might be something they haven't told us about; something they consider insignificant. Go."

12:59 p.m.

The search narrowed down to a couple of suspects. One was Curt Ristler, a 19-year-old community college student who lived near the Dakinses. He occasionally babysat for Bonnie, and was well-liked by the family. Another was Seaman William Ames, from the Captain's ship. He'd had some disciplinary problems, and a known dislike of the Captain, and still had been on good enough behavior lately to have been granted 24 hour leave. There was no sign that Ristler and Ames knew each other, but nothing to rule that out, either.

Ames was back on his ship now, and claimed innocence. His whereabouts during his 24 hours of leave checked out. So did his phone records. Suspicion fell on Ristler, whose family hadn't seen him in three days, saying he had told them he was going to Florida for spring break. He had a student loan, and car payments on a secondhand SUV, but no other debts that his family knew of. He was a good kid, quiet, who had never been in trouble with the law. His cell phone, recently obtained, was seldom used, and it was a trac phone. His flustered mother, not a cell phone owner herself, couldn't find where she'd written down her son's phone number, so it wasn't possible to track him that way.

A BOLO was put out on Ristler's SUV. If he was in Florida, it might turn up there. But if he was still in the DC area, waiting for a ransom drop…sooner or later the car would be spotted.

"Tony, you'll make the drop. Ziva and McGee will be there to back you up. I'll scout for Ristler's SUV in the park area."

"And if the kidnapper doesn't have Bonnie there?"

"I don't think she'll be far away."

12:03 a.m.

"Stop! Stop!" Abby yelled. "Stop!"

One of the three men looked back over his shoulder. "Jeez, lady; are you nuts? We outnumber you, three to one!" But he didn't stop running, any more than his companions did. The female NCIS agent had a grim look, and everyone knew how skilled these feds were with weapons. She could probably kill them all with one shot!

"Curt, I didn't bargain for this…!"

"Shut up!" said the leader. "Shut up and run!"

2:33 p.m.

Gibbs snapped his phone shut. "Going to be just you and Tony, Ziva," he said with a sigh. "SECNAV's called me on a protection detail. Can't get out of it, unless it ends early."

"We could call McGee back in," said Tony. "He can look for the SUV. It won't matter if he sneezes while he does that."

"Naw. Let him sleep off his cold."

Tony, for once, looked a little uncertain. "You think that's wise, boss? Just me, with Ziva on my six?"

She smirked. "You do not think I can give you cover, Tony?"

He gulped, having no safe answer to that come to mind. "You know best, boss."

12:04 a.m.

Abby, stop! Ziva thought in worry, as if she could send a message telepathically. Abby had too much of a head start on her, though, and with her long legs, she was a fast runner. It seemed unlikely that Ziva could catch up with her before Abby caught up with the kidnappers. And what would happen then?

12:08 a.m.

It wasn't until the kidnappers came to the small lot where their SUV was parked that Abby caught up with them. "A-HA!" she shrieked. "Is Bonnie in there? You have Bonnie in there. You have the money; give me the child NOW!"

"You're crazy, lady!" said one of the three, appearing to cower.

"I said, give me the child!" Abby roared. She wasn't acting. It infuriated her that she had come this far along in the exchange and had the briefcase taken from her but didn't have Bonnie free. Feeling she had the strength of ten, Abby felt no worry for her own safety…although, of course, she probably should have. "If you don't, I'll…" She reached in the pocket of Tim's coat, mostly out of a need to do something with her hand.

The kidnappers froze. "Okay, okay!" said the leader. "She's in the car."

"If you've hurt her in any way…"

"No! I swear it! We wouldn't hurt a kid. We were just going to let her go at a gas station or somewhere. Honest!"

"You'd better be telling the truth!" Abby moved her fist in the pocket in rage, which might have been mistaken for gun-toting menace.

"Let the kid out, Howie," said the leader, never taking his terrified eyes off Abby.

"Okay. I'm letting her out now. See? Don't shoot me, please, lady!" The man opened the rear door and reached in, bringing out a mostly-asleep little girl in his arms. "Wake up, kid. This is where you get out."

"Mama?" the little girl murmured. "Pappy?"

Bonnie—for it was clearly the fuzzy-haired scientist-to-be—was passed to Abby's arms. "Soon," Abby whispered to her. "Soon." To the three men (who looked surprisingly young, up close) she said, stiffly, "Well. I have what I came for. You got what you came for. I think we're done here."

"You're…just going to let us get away with all this money? You're not going to stop us?"

For once, Abby saw a slight hole in her plan. Or rather, what would have been a hole, if she'd had a plan. "Uh…"

10:51 p.m.

Gibbs stepped into a nook in the ballroom, keeping the SECNAV in his line of sight, to answer his phone. "Gibbs."

"What's going on, Gibbs?" said Vance. "The FBI says we haven't picked up the ransom cash yet."

"I don't know, but I assume my team is on top of things," Gibbs replied while his mind sorted possibilities. "You were the one who put me on this detail, Leon," he couldn't resist adding.

"I thought you could multi-task. Fix this problem…now."

"I'm getting mixed signals from you, Leon, but I think there are more than enough agents here. They can get along without me."

Vance had already hung up.

Gibbs got the SECNAV's attention and the man nodded vaguely. Thumbing his phone as he walked, Gibbs tried Tony's number…no response. Ziva's number…busy. Tim's number…no response. What was going on?

He sprinted to his car and roared out of the parking lot.

12:12 a.m.

"Her hands are full! Shoot her!" one of the men ordered.

"Are you insane? Killing a cop? The best we could hope for would be life in prison!"

"She's seen our faces! She can identify us!"

"No, she can't! Can you, lady?" one said, practically begging.

"Actually, yes; I'm very good at what I do," Abby said without thinking.

"We can't shoot her. We might hit the kid!"

Inspiration struck Abby. "Give me back the money," she said, raising her voice into a growl.

"Will that make it go easier on us?" one whimpered. "I've never been in trouble with the law before. I'm an A student."

"Shut UP, Jake!" one ordered, finding his gun. "Here's how it goes. We're keeping the money. The kid lives…she's too young to give testimony, anyway. You, though, have to die."

Abby trembled, but she remained erect for the child's sake. "Bonnie," she said, setting her down, "I want you to run back that way, as fast as you can. Don't stop until you meet a woman named Ziva. She's very nice. She'll take care of you."

The child looked up at her. "I don't like the dark," she whimpered. "Won't you come with me?"

"In a bit," said Abby. "There's nothing to be afraid of in the dark. You'll see. Now, run, child. God bless." She gave the girl a pat on the back to get her started, and then faced the men with all the courage she could muster, prepared to meet her end.

"Very brave," the man with the gun sneered. "Brave to the last."

"I think so, too," said Ziva, stepping suddenly into the light, gun drawn. "She is very brave. You three are under arrest for kidnapping. Drop the gun."

Two of the men slowly raised their hands. The third laughed and said, "You're still outnumbered."

"Not anymore," came Gibbs' voice, behind them. "And you're outgunned." That made the kidnapper with the gun drop his.

12:20 a.m.

With the three men disarmed and handcuffed to a railing, all the NCIS people could do now was to wait for the night shift team to come out from DC with a van to haul the perps away and have their SUV towed to the Navy Yard.

There was a picnic table nearby, and there Abby, Ziva and Gibbs sat. Bonnie slept with her head on the table and Gibbs' jacket around her like a blanket.

"I'm even afraid to ask what happened here tonight," Gibbs said in quiet exasperation.

Abby flushed. "Somehow, I think you might get mad at me if I say anything."

"Abbs…"

"But I want to say something in my own defense. I meant well. And, as you can see, I saved Bonnie."

"And we saved you," Ziva pointed out.

"Where is DiNozzo?"

"He got in a car accident on the way here. Broke his shoulder, I think."

"And McGee?"

"He's home sick. Don't you remember, Gibbs? He left work early, and then I did, too, and—" Even in the dim lamplight she could see his glare, and decided to not push it.

"And so you took it upon yourself…"

"Well, I kind of had to. After I broke McGee…"

"You what?"

"See, I knew you would yell at me! I just wanted to…to do this, and make everything come out all right, and then I thought, tomorrow I would tell you about breaking Tim and it wouldn't seem so bad by light of day 'cause he's not too badly broken and he will heal, in time, and…where was I going with this? I can't remember."

Gibbs sighed. "Abby, did you at any time tell the kidnappers that you were an NCIS agent?"

She eyed him. "Why, no, Gibbs. I wouldn't do that. It never occurred to me."

"You never said you were a LEO of any sort?" He pulled Tim's NCIS swoop cap off her head.

"No!"

"Gibbs, lots of employees wear NCIS gear," Ziva put in. "It is permitted. Although usually non-agents wear caps that are not black."

Realization dawned. "No, Gibbs," Abby said, shaking her head. "Never did I say that. I know it's an offense to impersonate a LEO, and such a thing could get this case thrown out of court. I was just…me. I borrowed some of Tim's clothes—without his knowledge—to fool Ziva when I went to make the drop. She was expecting to see Tim, and I wanted to show her Tim. It almost worked, perfectly."

"It almost ended, tragically," Ziva said softly. "Abby, you did not think this through at all. You did not wear a wire. Nor a vest, I would guess. And you do not have a weapon. You had a kind heart, but that was all."

"Am I forgiven?" Abby asked, in a small voice.

"Depends," said Gibbs. "How badly did you 'break' McGee?"

She coughed.

Ziva's phone chirped. It was Tony.

"Zee-vah! Are you done with the case? I still need someone to pick me up at the hospital…please? Pretty please?"

"Tony, I do not understand why pleas are ever pretty," Ziva replied. "But although the hour is late, I will come by the hospital and get you when we are done here." She clicked off.

"The thing that got me down here," said Gibbs, "was the FBI calling me and saying no one had ever picked up the cash. How did you bluff your way around that, Abbs?"

"I used my own briefcase," she admitted. "Weighted down a little with…stuff."

"You took a risk, Abby," Ziva said, shaking her head. "If they had opened it to count the money…"

"They couldn't. It was locked."

"Locks can be picked."

She smirked. "Not my locks. They take a lot longer. And sometimes are booby trapped."

"Remind me not to cross you in a kidnapping case," Gibbs said, shaking his head.

"Gibbs-san, I'm always on your side. You know that!"

"Good to hear. Now, just one thing more."

"What's that, Jefe?"

"Stop breaking my agents. I need them."

-END-