Chapter 9

It was late at night. Gibbs had gone back to the hotel room he was staying at after checking in with Dabi and assuring himself and his team, again, that Dabi was fine.

Steve was back, having crashed on the couch with Catherine, with Dabi reluctantly taking his bed. It was large, comfortable, and he even let her keep her knife under the pillow, encouraging it, in fact, especially when he saw it. When he found out who the knife had come from, he admitted to knowing the two men.

"Good guys," he said. "I owe Sam a steak."

"If this keeps up, I'm going to be owing the entire NCIS SOP team bakery goods," Dabi grumbled.

Now, Dabi found herself downstairs, unable to sleep. Thoughts kept going through her head, thoughts and memories.

Going into the kitchen, she heated herself a cup of coffee and snitched a pen and pad of paper from Steve's desk before settling down at the kitchen table, knife clipped to her sleep shorts.

A sleepy Steve wandered in. "Can't sleep?" he asked the teen.

She shook her head. "Sorry. Too much going through my head."

"That's okay. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping at night."

"Feels like the calm before the storm," she admitted.

"It does," he admitted, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He watched as she fiddled with the pen, having scribbled down various notions on the pad. "What are you thinking about?"

"I can't remember what happened to me at the parking lot with Quinn, Sam's wife. I know there was a fight and Dad said Quinn said the only reason I stopped fighting was because someone hit me with a tranquilizer," said Dabi. "They found the syringe and my purse, which also had my phone. They didn't even try and take Gibor, my dog."

"Do you remember anything about the airport?" Steve asked.

Dabi rubbed her temple. "I think I do. I remember some guy hitting me because I kicked him in the goolies. He wasn't too happy about that. He had a ring on the hand that hit me."

"Possible DNA evidence if you can remember what he looked like," he said, watching as she made a note of that on the pad.

"I remember seeing a guy in the shadows. He looked familiar, like someone I'd seen before." She wrote down two names, one above the other. Arboreal Omen and Aaron Belmore. "I remember talking to someone about this guy. He's important, but I can't remember why."

She looked at Steve. "Who was the guy I killed at the airport? The one who tried to hurt me? Dad said you guys found him dumped in an area that was different from where I know I left him."

Having seen the final report from Max, Steve knew the answer. "A low-life by the name of Carl Thames. According to his jacket, he won't be missed."

"He will be, just not by anyone he hurt," said Dabi.

As Steve got up to raid the cookie jar, Dabi studied her notes. Her brow furrowed as she noticed something. The letters in Aaron Belmore and Arboreal Omen were the same, just in a different order... the guy at the airport... the way the others had treated him... oh my god!

"Son of a bitch!" Dabi yelled.

Steve nearly slammed the lid of the cookie jar on his hand in surprise and he spun around, ready for a fight, only to see Dabi staring at the notepad with an incredulous look on her face. She looked up at Steve, her eyes going eager.

Catherine charged into the kitchen, her gun ready, only to stop when she realized there was nothing wrong.

"What's going on?" she asked Steve, who shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"We've got him! Dad said no one's ever seen Arboreal Omen, but I have! I know what that miserable bastard looks like and I know why no one's ever seen him! His name isn't Arboreal Omen, it's Aaron Belmore! Aaron Belmore is an anagram for Arboreal Omen!" Dabi said excitedly. She shoved the notepad towards Steve, who looked at it, his own eyes going wide. Catherine studied the letters and swore she felt her heart stop. "What better way to run a business as deadly and illegal as gun running? You create a fake personality and everyone deals with and blames that personality and leaves you alone to work behind the scenes! It makes perfect sense! Eric, the IT guy in L.A., said Belmore pretty much lived off the grid, with an account that got a regular paycheck from some company that was a shell of a shell of a shell of another company, possibly one that tied back to Omen!"

Dabi was right; it made perfect sense, Steve realized. "That's why he's so determined to find you; because he's worried you might have figured this out."

"That also explains why no one's ever actually seen Omen, because he doesn't actually exist!" said Catherine. "You can't capture a guy who doesn't exist!"

"But Aaron Belmore does! He's the real mastermind behind the organization!"

"Get your dad, tell him everything you just told me," said Steve. He headed back to the living room to grab his cell phone just as his mother came down the stairs.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"Yeah, it took a teenage girl to see what was right in front of us the whole blasted time," said Steve, hitting speed-dial on his phone to call Danny. "We have a new lead on the Arboreal Omen case and the best part? A witness, one who may help us finally bring down one of the biggest weapons organization currently running."

Doris smiled. "Amazing how a change of perspective can change a case, isn't it?" she asked.

A few hours later Gibbs, Dabi, and the Five-0 team were at Headquarters, with the exception of Chin, who was picking up the newly arrived NCIS team from the airport. During the night, more information had come in.

"NCIS in L.A. ran names of the lawyers and legal aids connected to Governor Denning's office," said Kono. "They found something interesting; there's a private account under Governor Denning's office and appears to have had Omen's fingers in it. The account has had several deposits from one of Omen's shell companies, deposits that number in the fifteen-thousand range. The most recent one was just before Gibbs' cover was blown at Tall-Tree Custom Furnishings." Kono pulled up a file photo of the lawyer. "Only one person has access to that account and it's this fellow, Shane Carpenter, who specializes in international law."

"Which means he'd know about the loopholes in the laws regarding weapons being sent overseas," said Danny.

"Do you recognize him, Dabi?" Gibbs asked.

Dabi shook her head.

"That's okay. Governor Denning has agreed to let us meet all the lawyers and legal aids. You'll come with us and if you see anyone familiar, you let us know," said Steve.

There was a shriek from behind them and everyone but Dabi spun around. A girl with black hair in goth clothes had just seen Dabi and now she was running as fast as she could in her platform boots towards her. It was Abby Sciuto and right behind her were Special Agents Tony DiNozzo, Tim McGee, and Ziva David. Behind the group, wearing an amused grin on his face, was Chin.

Dabi was nearly tackled to the floor by Abby and caught by Tim and Tony. Abby was babbling so fast that Dabi couldn't read her, and Tony and Tim and even Ziva were talking to her. Danny saw the panicked look on her face and, glancing at Gibbs, managed to extract the girl from the over-eager group.

"I know you guys are eager to talk to her and I'm sure you have a lot to say, but she's been through a lot over the past few days," Danny said, tucking Dabi firmly behind him, much as he would his own daughter.

"Right now we have new information concerning Omen," said Gibbs.

"We finally got the warrant for the plane that was in the hangar at the airport that Dabi arrived at," said Kono.

"McGee, you, Abby, and Ziva go with Kono and Chin and scour that plane from top to bottom. I want to know every dirty little secret that plane has," said Gibbs. "I want to know where it's been, who flew it, and how long it stopped at each destination, even if was just for fuel. If it has compartments, empty them. Strip it down to the nuts and bolts if you have to, but find me something I can use against that bastard or against the lawyer that let Omen into the country."

"On it, Boss," said Tim.

Abby dug into her bag and pulled out a brightly colored woven bracelet. "Amira asked me to give this to you," she said, handing the bracelet to Dabi. "She said you were teaching her how to make bracelets like this just before you left."

Dabi accepted the bracelet, nodding. "I remember," she said. "How is she?"

"Doing good and asked me to tell you she loves you and hopes you come home soon," said Abby. "Your grandparents and Eric said the same thing."

"I remember them," said Dabi. "Bits and pieces, but I remember them."

"Ducky said it'll take time, especially with any head injury," said Ziva. "Just be patient with yourself and let the memories come."

Dabi nodded and watched as Abby, Ziva, and Tim followed Kono and Chin out.

"We are headed to the Governor's office and until Omen is captured, you are not leaving sight of any of us from now on," said Gibbs.

"Fine. I want a gun," said Dabi. "I'm tired of being shot at and not being able to shoot back."

"I have just the thing for you," said Danny. He went into his office and came back a moment later with a small black gun in a holster. "You ever use a Glock?" Dabi nodded. "This little babe is a Glock 33. It uses nine .357 caliber bullets and is known as the pocket rocket." He handed her two clips. "This should keep you happy and the bad boys away."

"Then let's go pay the Governor a visit," said Dabi, accepting the gun and quickly checking it over. Glocks were good guns and she was glad to have it.

Governor Denning was waiting for them. "I'm sorry to hear about your recent adventures in our country," he said to Dabi.

"Not as sorry as I am to have them," she replied.

"I've sent for Mr. Carpenter to explain the account," Denning said. "This should be interesting."

The doors to the meeting room opened and in walked a man wearing a pricey suit and an expensive hair cut.

"Mr. Greenwald, what can we do for you?" Denning asked.

"I was sent by Mr. Carpenter to let you know he'll be on his way shortly. There's a legal snafu he's trying to sort out," said Greenwald smoothly.

He glanced at Dabi and his eyes went wide. Dabi looked at him and memories crashed through her mind.

She saw red.