Chapter Seven: Busted

"Ziva, you are Kelly's personal guard, she is your only job."

"I will not leave her side." The assassin affirmed, gluing herself to the girl's hip.

"McGee, DiNozzo, you two in the SUV behind us, you're on recon. Once we get to the site, Ziva will drive Kelly immediately back here."

"But Dad-"

"No buts, young lady, you will stay with Ziva and follow her every command, no matter what, is that clear?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Yes, sir. Do I get a gun?"

"No." All four agents responded. She cringed and sat back with a huff what turned into a thick cough.

"Turn left up here." She whispered from the backseat an hour later. Gibbs saw her in the rearview mirror moving to perch between his seat and Ziva's. The road was black as pitch, and he didn't see a turn, so he slowed down and waited for the whispered, "here." A moment later the trees gave way to a narrow road, little more than a path through the think woods.

"It'll curve to the left." She said, eyes closed, tracing the path in the air with her fingers. "when it forks, go to your right and keep straight."

About fourteen hazy directions later the road suddenly widened and he felt himself relax a bit after checking for the fifteenth time to make sure the boys were still behind them in the other car. After parking between the trees they climbed out silently and followed Kelly's stealthy steps to the edge of a clearing, where she dropped to her knees. There, ten yards away, was a building, and parked beside it; the gray van.

"They're taking the girls in – right on time." Kelly whispered. Her father knelt beside her, his hand laid protectively on her shoulder.

McGee and DiNozzo snapped pictures from afar and then moved to circle the compound as Gibbs turned to Kelly and Ziva. "It's time to go."

Once the two had left, he turned back to the compound. DiNozzo and McGee had captured the contact and his two assistants by the time the lead agent got there.

"Where are the girls?" DiNozzo was demanding, shaking the weakest man violently.

"The freezer." Gibbs reminded him, and watched the younger man holster his gun and move toward the silver door on the other side of the dark room. DiNozzo yanked it open angrily but softened the moment his eyes fell upon the figures inside.

They were huddled together, clinging to one another like life rafts. He froze as he took in the sight – they were so young!

"It's alright, no one is going to hurt you." He announced softly, pointing to the badge clipped to his belt. "We're federal agents. You're safe now, you can come out." They started to rise cautiously but didn't move toward the door until one of them saw the contact and his two men hand-cuffed in a neat line, McGee and Gibbs standing over them sternly. Gibbs opened his badge and McGee followed suit as the ten girls came out of the freezer, some angry and hard, some terrified, all of them young. Gibbs felt his stomach wrench at the sight of them. They would never be the same again.

The momentum of arrests, children services and parents filled the next hour. Finally Gibbs pulled himself away from it to call Ziva. There was no answer. After ordering McGee to track her phone and almost clocking the poor young agent when he reported that it was still at the drop site, he raced to his car, DiNozzo at his heels, leaving McGee to fetch the director to finish dealing with the girls.

The car was on it's side along the back road. There was blood on the driver-side window. Gibb's mind reeled with possibilities, but one look at the open and unmarred passenger door sent him racing. He nearly tripped over the person lying in a heap in front of the car. "Ziva." His fingers shook slightly as they felt for a pulse. It was there; soft, thready, but there. He heard DiNozzo behind him, calling for an ambulance. Gibbs looked around the woods for any clue as to where Kelly was, though in his heart he knew who took his daughter.

Kingsley.

Kelly woke to the sound of a motor. The upolstry and shape of the seats confirmed before she opened her eyes that she was in the backseat of a car. She reached to touch her aching head but found that her hands were tied together by tight, rough rope. Glancing bleary-eyed toward the front seat she saw a familiar hand reach to adjust the radio.

Kingsley.

Something inside Kelly tightened and coiled into a sickening knot. Anger boiled as the fear rose. Thoughts of her father's agent, sent to protect her, left injured on the backroad, fueled the hot fire as she rose and grasped the head rest of the driver's seat to steady herself. Kingsley had barely caught the sight of her out of the corner of his eye when her fists, joined together by his own rope, came down together on the side of his head, knocking it into the car window as the vehicle careened onto the sidewalk in shock. Then came a sickening thud as the car slammed against the side of a brick building, knocking Kelly against the window. As soon as she recovered her balance, the girl launched herself into action, not stopping to check that Kingsley was unconscious, alive or dead. She simply slammed open the back door, launched herself out of the car, dodged the shocked gazes of passersby and took off into the night.

_

"Boss, we have a report of a 2002 Silver Contour that crashed downtown half an hour ago. License plate confirms it's Kingsley's." McGee shouted excitedly into his cell phone. Gibbs was checking the second drop site while DiNozzo, having seen to Ziva at the hospital, was investigating the third, hoping Kingsley had taken her there. "Police have him in custody and witnesses say a girl jumped out of the backseat right after it crashed."

"Where?" McGee gave him the location, grimaced when Gibbs ordered him to stay put and search for updates, and then sat down to call the hospital for another update on Ziva.