Commander Roberts disconnected his call and turned to Gibbs, Vance and Harmon. "Admiral Winslow has agreed to dishonorable discharge and five years if she gives you the passport IDs," Bud said. "I need to advise her and find out how she wants to proceed. Who has this one?"
"Gibbs, you take it," Vance said. "Harmon and I have business to discuss." Gibbs and Harmon stared each other for a moment before Vance insisted Harmon follow him to his office. Bud re-entered the interrogation room while Gibbs went into observation. Because lawyer-client privilege was a right accorded the accused, there was no audio, so Gibbs couldn't listen in on what was going on, but after only a couple of minutes, he saw Lopez nod her head and Bud looked up at the two-way mirror and waved him in. Gibbs let the tech know he could start recording the events of the interrogation room and left to join Roberts and Lopez.
"Private Lopez," Gibbs said as he sat at the table. "I'm told you've already been informed of your Article 31 rights, however to be safe, I am Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, investigating agent from Naval Criminal Investigative Services. I am investigating the alleged offense of selling US passports to non US citizens, of which you are suspected. I advise you that under the provisions of Article 31, UCMJ, you have the right to remain silent, that is, say nothing at all. Any statements you make, oral or written, may be used as evidence against you in a trial by court-martial or in other judicial or administrative proceedings. You have the right to consult a lawyer and to have a lawyer present during this interview. You have the right to military legal counsel free of charge. In addition to military counsel, you are entitled to civilian counsel of your own choosing, at your own expense. You may request a lawyer at any time during this interview. If you decide to answer questions, you may stop the questioning at any time. Do you understand your rights?"
"Yes," Lopez said.
"You are represented by Commander Bud Roberts from the Judge Advocate General's Office. Are you willing to answer questions?"
"Yes," Lopez said.
"Private Lopez," Gibbs began. "We began investigating the possibility that one or more of your unit may have been aiding enemy operatives while serving as embassy guards in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." He waited for Lopez to react before continuing. "During the course of our investigation, allegations have been made that you personally have been involved with enemy operatives in obtaining blank passports for non US citizens. Do you have anything to say to these charges?"
"Yes," Lopez said. She squared her shoulders and looked Gibbs in the eye.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
"Why did you give Gibbs my case?" Harmon asked after he closed the door to Vance's office.
"Gibbs and his team had important information for you concerning this investigation," Vance said.
"Yeah," Harmon responded. "DiNozzo called me this morning and told me what Dukes said. I was working on it."
"Did DiNozzo also inform you that you should bring Lopez into the office so he could discuss this development with her?"
Harmon put his hands on his hips and nodded. "Yeah," he said with a sigh. "And I decided to go ahead and investigate the allegations. Gibbs and his team should be focusing on keeping their guy safe, not taking over my investigation."
"Did it occur to you that the safety of Ahmad al-Zuhri and the actions of PFC Lopez and his bodyguard may be connected?"
"I don't see how their side business could have anything to do with keeping al-Zuhri safe."
"Really?" Vance asked. "Maybe their side business would give them incentive to work with whoever hired the hitman, or hit woman in this case."
"That would mean they knew who hired her."
"Safir works for Hamas!" Vance snapped. "Do you think he doesn't know who hired her?"
Harmon sighed as he looked around the office. "I'm sorry Leon," he said. "I was focusing on finding out if those Marines were dirty and clearing them if they weren't."
"So why didn't you take the help that was offered?"
"Because I wanted to do it myself," Harmon exclaimed. "If I had found a connection between Lopez and the assassin I would have informed Gibbs."
"Do you know why Gibbs runs the MCRT and you're stuck in Silverdale?" Vance didn't wait for a response. "Gibbs has a lot of personality problems, but he doesn't have an ego. When he sees that he needs more than just his team to help him he allows them to help. He understands that his team isn't always limited to the three agents under him. It consists of this entire agency. When you learn that and put your personal problems aside, you might find yourself here in DC more often."
"Come on Leon," Harmon said. "You know I work well with other agents. Hell, I personally called in Red Team last month to help us with the serial rapist. Summerskill and I got along great and we worked together to catch those guys."
"Summerskill isn't Gibbs," Vance said. "Listen, the investigation is still yours. I want it cleared before the weekend. Gibbs is questioning Lopez in case she and al-Zuhri's bodyguard are connected to the assassination attempts. Jag is probably already moving on the passports. I want you to find out if she's been compromised further."
Harmon stood a little straighter. "Yes sir," he said. "And dig deep into the rest of the unit, including Dukes."
"Yes sir," Harmon repeated. "With your permission, I want to interview him while he's still here."
"Go to it."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Michael Harmon descended the stairs feeling better about his position. As he reached the bullpen, the elevator doors opened. He barely noticed the woman coming off until the agent escorting her called his name.
"Agent Harmon," he said. "This is Anita Fairmont from the State Dep-" the agent didn't get to finish the introduction because he found himself in a stranglehold with a gun pointed at his temple.
"Drop the gun!" Harmon shouted, as he drew his own weapon. Hubert responded by firing a shot at him. Fortunately, he managed to dive behind DiNozzo's desk in time to avoid being hit. Several agents appeared out of nowhere all pointing their weapons at her.
"Everyone, drop your weapons or this man's brains will ruin my new jacket!" she shouted. She smiled as she noted none of them complied. She swung her pistol to the right and fired while keeping her head just behind her hostage's head. The shot was accurate and one agent went down.
"I want Ahmad al-Zuhri and Shawn Dukes brought to me now!" she called.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Gibbs heard the shot and looked towards the door. His sig was in his desk, but he still had his .38 strapped to his ankle. "Stay here," he said to Roberts and Lopez. He dashed out the door and raced down the hall. He heard a second shot coming from the bullpen area. With his .38 in hand he edged around the corner and saw someone holding an agent hostage. Beyond them he saw another agent down with blood pouring from his wound.
"I want Ahmad al-Zuhri and Shawn Dukes brought to me now!" he heard the woman shout. Dammit, he thought. She's got balls. He pressed himself as close to the wall as he could get and hoped he was out of sight and waited.
"Crystal Hubert," he heard Vance shout. "Put your weapon down and let Agent Walker go."
"I said bring me al-Zuhri and Dukes," Hubert answered. "I won't negotiate."
"Neither will we," Vance said. "I'm not bringing them out here just to be executed."
"We'll see," Hubert said and fired another shot towards the bullpen. Gibbs heard a body hit the floor and wonder briefly if it was Vance.
"Now," Hubert said. "Bring me al-Zuhri and Dukes."
Gibbs waited, hoping she'd give him the opening. He saw movement at the same time she did, someone crossed the room and she swung to face them. Gibbs fired at the same time she did. He fired three shots to her back. As she and Agent Walker went down, he and the remaining agents converged on her. Harmon got to her first and cleared her weapon. Gibbs grabbed Walker's wrist and pulled him clear. Harmon had her handcuffed while Gibbs checked Walker to make sure he wasn't hit. He looked around and saw that the two agents that were shot were being attended to and he looked at Harmon.
"How did you know I'd be there?" he asked.
Harmon smiled as he rolled Hubert onto her back. "I knew you had to have heard those shots," he said. "And I know you're not the kind of guy who would just sit back and let someone else handle this."
"It took balls to cross that opening."
"I'm just glad you were there."
Gibbs moved toward the conference room and nodded to Vance as he passed. Vance raised an eyebrow and Gibbs stopped. Shaking his head, he turned back. "Mike," he said. When Harmon looked his way he said, "Good job." Harmon smiled as Gibbs went to check on Ahmad and Dukes.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Tony called Ziva as they left NCIS to let her know they couldn't get in touch with Abby. Ziva let them know that the adoptions over the past decade were bogus. She suspected Father Thomas was trafficking the children and he may have taken everyone hostage if he discovered they were on to him. Tony and McGee pulled into the alley just behind the convent. He and McGee were instantly out of the car with pistols in hand. Tony pointed to himself and then to the right of the building. He pointed to McGee and then to the left. As he rounded the corner on the side next to the church, McGee rounded the opposite corner. Tony went to the front door and waited twenty seconds before going in, his gun leading the way.
He cleared the main room and moved to the next. He heard a door open to his left and aimed that way in time to see McGee enter the room. A moment later, they entered next room, clearing it as well. McGee indicated with gestures that Tony should take point on the next door. On a silent three count, McGee pulled the door open and Tony burst through, going low and to the right, sweeping toward the center of the room. McGee followed staying high to the left and sweeping straight. Each room on the main floor was clear, so McGee pointed to the stairs that led to the cells, library and chapel. It took four minutes for the two of them to clear the convent.
"We should check the dorms next," McGee said when they reconvened in the library.
"How many nuns are at this convent?" Tony asked.
"Eleven," McGee said. "Well thirteen counting Abby and Ziva," he nodded.
"Plus a ton of kids," Tony added.
The two of them slipped out the back door and headed for the dorms. This time McGee took point while Tony backed him up. As soon as Tony opened the door, they poured into the building the same as they had the convent. Within five minutes they had cleared both dorms with no sign of Abby, Ziva or the nuns. Just as they were preparing to leave McGee noticed the files on the table in the common room.
"They were here," he said, looking through the files.
"Let's check the church," Tony said.
They stopped in their tracks when they heard a car door slam. McGee and Tony looked out the window and saw two men walking into the church.
"I know that guy," Tony said. "Let's go."
The two of them moved quickly from the dorms to the side door of the church. This time McGee went in first after Tony opened the door. They moved quickly and quietly down the hallway, clearing each room as they went. They came to an intersection with a hall going right and a door directly across from it. They saw a light flash behind them and both of them spun around with their guns pointed straight at Ziva.
She quickly made her way to them as quietly as a shadow.
"Where is Abby," she whispered.
"We don't know yet," Tony answered. "This place is deserted. No one at the convent or the orphanage,"
"They must still be here," she surmised. "Father Thomas's car is still here."
"We saw two men coming in here," McGee added.
"One of them was Palestinian," Tony whispered. "Ahmad al-Zuhri's former bodyguard."
Ziva nodded, not allowing that information to distract her. "The door to the left is the nave," she whispered. "If they have all of the nuns and the children, they'll probably be in there." McGee nodded and Ziva and Tony slipped past him to hug the wall on the other side of the closed door. Ziva carefully twisted the handle and opened the door just a crack. She peered into the room and saw twelve nuns, eleven of whom had their heads bowed in prayer. She scanned the pews and found the children sitting bound and gagged. The nun who wasn't praying suddenly looked at the door and her eyes widened. Her eyes quickly flicked to the front of the room before she blinked three times.
Ziva placed a finger between the door and the frame and motioned to Tony and McGee that there were three men at the front of the nave. McGee grabbed the doorknob and Ziva raised a finger. On the three-count, McGee swung the door open allowing Ziva to rush in aiming high and to the right of the door bringing the three men into her sights. Tony followed aiming low and to the left with McGee bringing up the rear moving to Ziva's left and staying behind Tony. The three men reacted by aiming their weapons at them. Ziva and McGee fired quickly dropping all three of them. As Tony cleared the room and McGee covered her, Ziva approached the three men and cleared their weapons by kicking them away from them.
Tony ran to Abby and removed the tape from her mouth. "Are there any more of them?" he asked her.
"No" she said as he cut the tape off her. As soon as she was free, she threw her arms around him and hugged him close. "I knew you guys would save us," she cried.
"Abs," McGee said, coming over to her and pulling her into a hug. "Tell us what happened."
As Tony worked to release the rest of the hostages, Ziva placed Father Thomas and one of the others in zip-tie restraints. The third was dead and wouldn't need them.
"Father Thomas got the drop on us," Abby said. "He's been pretending to get these kids adopted and selling them to foreigners as slaves. I don't know who these two are."
"The smiling ray of sunshine there is Safir al-Ajami," Tony said. "Human trafficker and former bodyguard to one Ahmad al-Zuhri."
"Boss," McGee said into his phone. "We found Abby. And we have some news about Ahmad's bodyguard."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
"Got it McGee," Gibbs said before closing his phone. He turned a stare onto Ahmad al-Zuhri. "Did you know about Safir trafficking children?"
Ahmad looked at him stunned. "I thought you said he was smuggling children here to save them from poverty," he said after a moment.
"Yeah, well that what he told Lopez he was doing," Gibbs said as he sat down.
"How could he have been doing this without me knowing?"
"Good question," Gibbs said. "And one I want an answer to."
"I swear to you Agent Gibbs," Ahmad said. "I knew nothing of what Safir was doing. I didn't think he did anything but follow me all day and keep me safe."
"So he had to have been conducting business with your knowledge."
"No," Ahmad shook his head. "I swear to you. I never knew."
"Then how could he have gotten it past you?" Gibbs wondered.
"I do not know," Ahmad answered. "Unless he was arranging all of this on his days off."
"I thought taking a day off went against Palestinian work ethics," Gibbs said.
"No," Ahmad said with his head in his hand. "I mean normally it does, but I began giving him a day off occasionally when Shawn and I wanted to be alone."
"How did Safir react to your relationship?"
"Safir is progressive enough to accept who I am," Ahmad said. "I would give him a day off because he is also Muslim enough to not want to be a party to my lifestyle. Besides, making love is an act for which I do not wish to have an audience."
Gibbs interrogated Ahmad for another twenty minutes trying to catch him in a lie or find a way that Safir could have been trafficking American children without his knowledge. A knock on the door ended the conversation as Gibbs stepped out to find his team back and in one piece.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
