Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. And thanks for reading everyone. The plot really starts to the thicken in this chapter, and yes, I've unintentionally started leaning towards a pairing that I hadn't quite intended to. Please review and let me know what you think anyway.
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
Chapter Ten
"I hold it the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell his own way."
–Robert Frost.
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They met for a breakfast and briefing rolled into one at seven o'clock the following morning. It was a relatively silent affair before Hotch informed them of ISI's sudden involvement in the case. The entire room burst into an intense bee buzzing and hyena-like screaming and every single person turned to the one next to them to discuss the development. After a few minutes of trying shush them, Hotch gave up and pulled Kalev aside.
"You have contacts in ISI?"
"Of course," Kalev responded.
"Go. Now," Hotch ordered him in a hushed tone. "And don't let yourself be seen by Sinclair. See if you can get any information from them."
"We need them back in our custody, Hotch," the younger man told him firmly.
"I know that. This is a stopgap. You get us what you can so that we don't reach a roadblock in our investigation and I will do what I can in the meantime to get Ghazali and the Waseers back into our custody. Or at least Miandad's."
Kalev nodded and slipped out of the room silently. Hotch looked around. He was amazed that in a room with several FBI, DSS and NCIS agents, nobody noticed Kalev leave. He stood in the centre of the room, silent and hawkish, until the gabble of chatter eventually died down and he had their attention. "Even without Ghazali, Fahan or Hamid Waseer we still have a lot of work to do. Garcia and Abby, get on that video. Sounds, flashes of light, anything that can tell you where they might be. McGee, you have Malik's phone records by now?"
"Yes, sir," McGee replied promptly and turned his desk.
"Morgan and DiNozzo, you're going to the mosque in Muzaffarabad in the Kashmir province. Find Malik or anything about him. Reid, Ziva, work on a geographic profile. If they are working as a cell out of a hideout, it should be central to the mosque to embassy, as well as Lahore. JJ, Ambassador Prentiss is going on the news at ten. Make sure she's ready."
JJ nodded and headed out.
"And us three?" Gibbs asked as close to pleasantly as the former Marine got.
"Politics," Hotch replied as the others noisily took off in the directions he'd ordered them in. "But first I need to speak to the Ambassador." And so, leaving Gibbs and Rossi unassigned in the conference room, Hotch headed up the stairs and down the hallway to the large office at the end, alone.
He knocked twice before speaking. "Ambassador?"
"Come in, Agent Hotchner," Ambassador Prentiss called from her desk.
He entered, wearily, and took a seat in the chair in front of her without saying a word, while JJ busied herself with the mass of reporters gathering outside.
"This mustn't feel that different," she commented. "I still remember when you ran security clearances for me. Do you miss your involvement in the State Department?"
"To be honest, no, ma'am," Hotch answered dutifully.
"No, I guess it doesn't stand up to a career in the FBI," Ambassador Prentiss concluded sorrowfully. "I have been doing this for too long I think. And now it may cost my daughter her life."
"I am doing everything I can to find Emily," Hotch told her firmly. And the look in his eyes showed her that he meant it.
"I believe that you are," she affirmed. "I've always wondered how my daughter ended up in such a strong relationship with a man so much younger than her, you know. I mean he's attractive and obviously in love with her, but he's thrill-seeking and adventurous, and seemingly unreliable. I would have thought my daughter would go for someone with more stability, someone older. I mean, I know that it is against Bureau regulations, but I would have thought she would've gone for someone more like you."
Hotch remained silent, unsure of what to say or do. Thankfully, the Ambassador saved him the trouble.
"But you didn't come here to discuss my daughter's love life, did you?"
"No, ma'am," he replied speedily.
"Have you got some information for me?"
"Do you know that Agent Sinclair handed our investigation over to ISI?"
"He told me that he was informing ISI, yes."
"Well, ISI has taken our only witnesses to whoever perpetrated this kidnapping."
Ambassador Prentiss looked confused. "The men you had in custody?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And I suppose you need them back?"
"They have vital information for us," Hotch stressed briskly. "ISI will investigate them as terrorists which I do not believe they are."
"And you're sure?"
"Very sure, ma'am," he replied in the same robust tone.
"Then I will do what I can," she replied, looking downwards for the first time in their conversation. "It will not make many people in this country's government happy, but we are talking about my daughter's life. I will get those men back into your custody."
"Thank you very much, Ambassador," Hotch said as he got up to leave. He nodded slightly towards her before opening the door and leaving. He quickly made his way down to the lobby where he met with Gibbs and Rossi. Tossing the NCIS team leader the car keys first, he grabbed some files from the waiting FBI legal attaché and followed the other two out the door.
With Gibbs driving, they were at the FIA headquarters in less than ten minutes. Gibbs parked just as badly as the day before, but nobody really noticed, and they quickly made their way to the same briefing room they'd been in the night before to meet up with Zaki Miandad.
"You have something for me?" Zaki asked pleasantly, walking over to greet them.
"Files on Pakistani nationals working at the embassy," Hotch replied, holding the manila folders up at eye level. "The FBI and DSS are re-running full checks on the American staff."
"And you want me to do the same with these people?" Zaki asked rhetorically.
"Please," Hotch requested.
"Of course. And now to business. I've not yet had any luck with ISI. They will not give me anything."
"Well, I'm leaning on Ambassador Prentiss to help us out there."
"I've sent a good team with your Agents DiNozzo and Morgan," he told them. "They will be in excellent hands."
oOo
And so they were. The two men in the front seats of the Humvee were definitely likeable and trustworthy in both Morgan's and Tony's opinion. They had just passed the border into the Azad Kashmir province and were heading into Muzaffarabad, which was not far away. Tony took a chance to get some idea of the cultural aspects of the war-torn province, hoping to find a way to relate to the locals he would interview. Scenically, however, the land was beautiful. He could see himself bringing Ziva and Anthony on holidays there. They crossed the bridge over the Neelum River and headed into the main berth of the city.
"We're here," the driver announced. He'd introduced himself as Imran and his partner as Nasir. With Urdu as the national language in the area, Tony was certainly glad to have them along. He slid out of the vehicle and made his way around the side to meet up with the others in front of the mosque.
The imam happily invited them inside, so they removed their shoes and entered the grand and ancient place of worship.
"What can you tell us about Muhammad Abdul Malik?" Tony asked.
"May I ask what this is about?" the imam put forward.
"His name came up in an investigation," Morgan replied briskly.
"Ah, into the disappearance of that American FBI agent from the embassy in Islamabad, yes? I watch the news, too, my friends."
"Can you tell us about him?" Morgan requested.
"He is not a terrorist," the imam told him clearly.
"We never said he was," Tony replied. "In fact, we never mentioned the word terrorist. We said that his name came up in an investigation into a kidnapping."
"Around here they are the same thing," the imam replied. "Ask your friends over there."
"Look, we aren't here to cause trouble with your worshippers here," Morgan bargained. "We are here to speak to one man in particular about this incident, but if you like, I can call in the rest of the FIA and start talking about terrorism."
The imam stepped back and stared at him for a moment. Chewing on the inside of his lip, he made a hasty decision. "I know where he might be. The house of his cousin in the city's south. He mentioned staying there sometime in the future while his cousin was in Karachi for work. I didn't know when that would be but it may be now. I will give you the address."
Tony handed him a notepad and the imam wrote the address for them in English.
"Thank you," Morgan said graciously.
"as-salaamu alaykum," Tony added, speaking the common greeting in the Muslim world.
They walked back to the Humvee and Morgan handed the address over to Imran. They drove there directly from the mosque and arrived twenty minutes later. The house looked well-kept and tidy, and, even though there were no signs of life in or around it, Tony and Morgan drew their sidearms as they approached. Imran and Nasir followed suit.
"Mr Malik," Tony called out at the front door. "This is the Federal Investigation Agency."
Nasir repeated the announcement in Urdu. They waited three seconds before Morgan kicked down the door, allowing Tony to enter first. Imran and Nasir took the living room and kitchen, finding nothing, while Morgan headed into the bathroom and main bedroom. His search, too, turned up nothing and just when he thought that the entire foray had been for nothing, Tony called out to him from the second bedroom.
"Ah, Morgan?!"
The shaven FBI agent responded immediately to his friend's cry and was tailed closely by Imran and Nasir.
"I found him," he told them as soon as they entered the room. But he didn't need to say it. They could all see the decomposing corpse of the man that was once known as Muhummad Abdul Malik lying on the bed, a bullet hole between his eyes. Eyes that were still open.
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"I could do almost anything to you."