Pinch me! Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine I'd find this many people interested in my first story. I'm dazed and keep expecting to wake up and find it's all the result of a chocolate overdose. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who've reviewed!

Onward to lifting up the edge of events and seeing what's been waiting to be discovered under there. Not much Tony in this chapter, but he'll be back – honest!

Not a gadget expert so what Abby's found is imagination at work to keep the story going.

Disclaimer: Don't own NCIS, just borrowing the characters for a little fun.

Chapter 4

Vance sat back in his chair, adjusting his tie, "Ok, lay it out."

Taking a seat, Fornell glanced at Gibbs, "How was Israel?"

Gibbs sent him a sour look as he reached out and snagged one of the folders Fornell had brought with him.

Fornell slid a folder to Vance, before opening another, "Photos. Took a bit of work, but we managed to track a person from just outside the SecNav's property to….well…" He handed out a couple of street maps marked with a long line of sequential numbers from one side to the other, tracing out a path.

"Left side, marker one is the SecNav's residence," he pointed. "Each marker's ID points to its corresponding photo," he spread out a sheaf of photos, "of the intruder who we assume killed Agent Sherman based on timing. Fortunately, the neighborhood there has an abundance of security systems, including surveillance video and infra-red systems. Photo and video sources transition then to ATM, store security, and traffic control cameras, then as the suspect moves into the core DC area, the regular street-level security cameras supplemented the other sources. We were able to track the suspect almost continuously."

Both Vance and Gibbs leafed through the photos of a dark, shadowy man on foot, then the man driving a non-descript sedan. Even in the more well-lit areas, the man kept his face in shadow. Vance asked, "Were you able to run this guy through your face-recognition system? I don't see any good photos of him here."

Fornell passed out one more folder to each. "This folder contains photos we obtained from security cameras at his final destination. We didn't need to by then. We knew who he was. What was interesting was the location."

The photo he took out from his folder was of an apartment hallway, and the man was opening the door to one of the apartments with a key. "The apartment belongs to Officer Ziva David." Gibbs and Vance stared at the photo, at a man both knew. Michael Rivkin.

Gibbs scowled and tossed the photos on the table. "You're a fountain of good news tonight, Tobias."

Handing out yet another folder with far fewer photos, each annotated on their backs, Fornell explained, "These are some of the photos we've started pulling together from around the apartment complex where Abin Tabal was killed. We have a team in LA doing the same for the member of the cell that Rivkin killed there. These photos show Rivkin was in the area when Tabal was killed.

"We've…well, NSA actually, has identified and traced several cell calls from Rivkin to Israel, specifically Mossad." He passed out a single sheet to each with call logs of several phone numbers. "The locations, dates, and times where the calls originated further tie Rivkin to the murders."

"If you'll notice, these same cell phones also made calls to Officer David's cell number, and a handful to NCIS also. David's line I assume. I believe McGee can verify that and you'll let me know?

"NSA is working on decrypting the calls. Might take a while – Mossad has excellent encryption systems." He snorted and grinned, "But then, they don't have the NSA working for them, do they."

Tossing the documents onto the table, Gibbs sat back and asked, "That all?"

Fornell shook his head, "Not even a thank you. You're welcome by the way." He turned to Vance. "We expect a briefing on what you turned up on these calls to David." He looked directly at Gibbs, wary, "You know, right now it isn't looking good for her."

Gibbs stared at Fornell, face expressionless. He knew where this was headed, and he was unhappy with the implications. And he was angry with Ziva for her careless actions, her stubborn refusal to discipline her attitude, and her arrogance in believing that her expertise and identity as a Mossad spy granted her the right to create her own rules of behavior. It would come back to bite her eventually.

McGee and Abby were still working on the emails on the laptop found in her apartment. And he wasn't looking forward to finding out the content of those phone calls between Ziva and Rivkin when the NSA finished their decrypting.

Vance stood up and poured himself a drink, looking worried. "What's the end game here? Especially with Rivkin dead."

Fornell understood Vance's underlying concern, "At a minimum, we need more information on this terrorist cell. Mossad has more on this than they're sharing. We need to know what the terrorists were doing, what they were planning, and if the plan's been short-circuited or is still ongoing."

Sitting back down, Vance wearily said, "And?"

"It's imperative we find out what Mossad is not sharing." Fornell glanced at Gibbs, then back at the call logs. "We want to question Officer David."

Both the other two men knew that this was why Fornell had readily shared what he had on the phone logs and on Rivkin's activities. The FBI had shown more than ample cause for interrogating Ziva on what she knew about Rivkin and his mission. Given the proof of Rivkin's contact with Ziva, NCIS could do nothing but agree.

Gibbs ran a hand across his face, his gut churning. With just what had been uncovered so far, he knew she'd have to come up with compelling reasons to explain her actions, or she would find herself back in Israel and off the team at a minimum.

His phone rang, and he answered it. After several seconds, he hung up, rising, "It's Abby. She and McGee have something." Fornell stood, and after a long look at him, Gibbs seemed to deflate. With a nod, he told Fornell, "Might as well come. It involves Rivkin, and I doubt it's good news."

-000-

As the three men entered the lab, Abby looked up from the lab table where she'd been working. McGee sat across from her with the partially assembled laptop on the table next to him, his attention glued to the monitor in front of him.

Tony stood up from where he'd been looking over McGee's shoulder, watching him work. His eyes darted to Vance and Fornell before turning to Gibbs, trying to figure out what was coming, and to remain calm. The dark circles under his eyes looked worse than they had just that morning.

Vance glanced at his watch, then spoke to DiNozzo, "Special Agent DiNozzo, if you're up to it I want you to report to the IA office for the post-shooting interview. You're not officially scheduled to report for another hour, but Special Agent Morris can adjust his schedule to accommodate your early arrival. When you're done, report directly to my office."

Tony stood slowly and nodded, "Yes, sir." Without another look at anyone present, he left the lab heading for the elevator, face expressionless.

Fornell gave a Gibbs a sympathetic grimace, which Gibbs ignored.

Abby chewed on her lower lip, worried about Tony. Gibbs prompted her, "What do you have, Abby?" She fidgeted, until Vance added, "Ms. Sciuto?" With a glare at the Director, she spun to the lab table, scolding Gibbs over her shoulder, "You should have gone with him, Gibbs. He's a mess right now."

"He'll be fine, Abby. Now what have you got for us?"

With a delicate hemostat clamped to an edge, she lifted the listening device that had been found at the SecNav's house which she'd so carefully pieced back together and slipped it under a microscope, focusing it carefully, before togging the display so it mirrored the view to the large plasma screen.

"After reassembling what Jules so stupidly smashed, I was able to do a detailed analysis of this listening device. At first glance, it appears to be a rather sophisticated device that uses wi-fi with a burst transmission mode to send what it recorded. Its range is pretty limited, and the battery life short, indicating that it was only intended to be in use for a short time – a couple of hours max. Not a common device, but not out on the cutting edge of technology either. Pricey, but it can be either picked up at a well stocked electronics shop or from a few internet vendors.

"But," she said clomping up to join the three men at the plasma display, "all is not as it seems on the outside. I almost missed it." Returning to the microscope, she took a slender probe and carefully pried the device open, exposing a circuit board. "Nothing special about the circuit board either at first glance. None of the markings are unusual. But…."

Abby changed the resolution on the microscope, magnifying the edge of the circuit board even further. Taking up an even smaller probe, she slowly and carefully pried at the edge of the circuit board, exposing what looked like another layer of circuits on a very thin, almost translucent board sandwiched in-between split layers of the outer circuit board.

"I had to use specialized tests to show the details of this hidden layer since prying it apart further would have damaged it." Abby turned to her keyboard and toggled another image up of what appeared to be an x-ray of a small circuit board. "This is a schematic of the hidden board."

She returned to stand with the men who were studying the image. Vance spoke, "What is it? And what does it do? Can you read any of the identifiers stamped on the board?"

Abby beamed, "It's the actual device. The outer circuit board was just a dummy. It has a specialized connector to the outer shell, using it to amplify its range out to double that of the dummy bug. A receiver could be a good 30 meters away and still pick up its transmission. And, it's much more sensitive to noise levels; it'd easily pick up conversations in the room."

Gibbs turned to Abby, "Where could someone get a bug like this?"

Abby spun on her heel, looking smug as she headed back to her computer, inordinately please with what she'd found. "It isn't available on the open market. In fact, there's only one place it's manufactured, and it's used by only one agency." With a couple of keystrokes, she brought up a map, centering the display on one country. Israel. "Mossad."

Fornell turned from the display, shaking his head, incredulous, "What in hell? Mossad couldn't be that careless. What are they up to?"

Vance replied, "Good question."

McGee spun his chair around to face them, "I might have an answer, or a part of one at least."

As the three men gathered around him, he turned back to his display and brought up a list of documents on the laptop. "These are emails from Rivkin that we've managed to decrypt and translate from Hebrew." He clicked on one email after another, displaying the contents, highlighted phrases drawing attention to key text in each.

"There are still several dozen emails left to work on still, but the ones here - they're reports to a handful of other operatives and controllers in which he details his activities and receives orders. Several have to do with tracking members of the terrorist cell we're working on now. Dates indicate this operation started several months ago with the murder of a Mossad agent by someone in this group." McGee pointed out dates and phrases in several emails that the men scanned over his shoulder.

"What's interesting though were indications in the more recent emails that things weren't going as well as expected. It seems as though his control officer was not happy with some of the intel Rivkin had been sending back; deadlines were being missed, information either inaccurate or incomplete. Demands for explanations started about two months ago, and it looks like the problems had been increasing rather than getting better." Spinning his chair partially around, he looked up at the men, "If Rivkin had been having problems he might have been careless about placing the bug."

McGee closed the emails, then brought up several with more recent dates. "These emails were sent to Ziva, and her replies. The first explained he was traveling to the US "on business" and said he was looking forward to stopping in DC for a few days to visit with her.

"The next were sent while we were in LA working with OSP. He mentioned he'd run afoul of NCIS 'again' while in LA, and was on his way back to DC. He'd asked Ziva if she had any new intel on the 'death of the agent' at the 'meeting,' and specifically if they'd found any physical evidence left behind that might indicate the identity of intruder. He'd also asked her if she could find out more on the investigation into Chandler's murder. He'd hinted of an unfinished job he had in DC, and was looking forward to seeing her again."

Shifting uneasily in his chair, McGee quickly flipped through several more emails. "These shorter emails are in some sort of shorthand between them, dates, two or three words that won't translate from Hebrew. Someone who knows it might be able to make sense of its meaning."

Closing the last of the emails that he had brought up, he stared at the screen, tense, swallowing hard. Gibbs moved and propped himself on the edge of the table facing McGee. He waited.

It didn't take long before McGee spun his chair around to face Gibbs. "There were a few emails that were…that…," he grimaced, not pleased. "They were talking about Tony."

Fornell half laughed, "Third wheel?"

Abby took two quick steps towards Fornell, getting into his face, ruby red lips scowling, eyes narrowed and furious, "Don't you dare say anything bad about Tony, do you hear me?" She stabbed him in the shoulder hard with one rigid finger, before her fists planted themselves firmly on her hips, staring the FBI agent down.

McGee turned to glare at Fornell, his expression harsh and angry. Gibbs added his glare at Fornell, who decided to refrain from further comment, sidling slightly away from Abby nervously. McGee continued, "They were…at first they were joking, saying Tony was upset because Rivkin was in town. Ziva said he was jealous, and that she was angry because Tony wouldn't stop trying to find out more about Rivkin. She told Rivkin she'd made it clear to Tony to stay out of their business, and that she would have to do something about it if he didn't back off. Rivkin said he was an idiot, called him 'Agent Meatball'. He said he'd 'take care of him' if he ran across him."

Gibbs spoke, "I told him to stay on Rivkin. He was suspicious about what Rivkin was doing in DC."

McGee looked to Gibbs, "Ziva, she doesn't really think Tony is…she's worked with him for years now. How could she think Tony is incompetent?"

Gibbs replied with a reassuring half smile, "Don't worry about it."

Vance straightened up looking disturbed, "Thank you, Ms. Sciuto, Special Agent McGee. Please continue with your work. McGee, call in a linguist if you need, but get the rest of those emails translated."

He started towards the door, but turned back, "Do not share any of this with Officer David, either of you. Report your findings directly to Gibbs or me only." After both acknowledged his orders, he headed for the elevator, "Gentlemen, there's more to discuss. And after hearing McGee's report on those emails, you're not going to like what I have to add."