Tony and Ziva were both combing through the papers the CIA had brought over a few hours earlier, per the director's orders. "Wow, this is really a twisted SOB."
"I will not argue that," Ziva said without looking up. She was busy looking up the names of Acosta's associates.
"The Shepards were far from his first murder victims. I guess Abby and I must have missed a bunch of stuff when we did our research. We got kind of distracted when we realized the director had such a personal connection to the investigation," Tony said.
"I am not surprised. The Shepards' murders were extremely brutal and without feeling. It would be shocking if they turned out to be his first," Ziva said.
"This doesn't look good for McGee," Tony said nervously.
Just then, Jenny descended down the stairs and came over to them. "I want an update.
Gibbs also came through at that very moment. "Someone better have something."
Tony winced as he looked between his two supervisors. It hard enough when just Gibbs demanded answers that they didn't have, but now he was being double teamed by him and the director. "Uh, well, we're still looking. We're doing everything we can to..."
"I may have something," Ziva said.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he was no longer at the mercy of his team leader and the director of the entire agency.
"I have been looking up the names of Acosta's associates. Most are either dead or still at large, but I found one," Ziva said before putting the information up on the plasma.
They all walked over to see it.
"This is Lucas Martinez. He was imprisoned ten years ago money laundering and drug trafficking. He is serving time about an hour away from here. Should we have him transferred?" Ziva asked.
"No. That will take at least a day. I'll go myself," Jenny said before heading for the stairs.
"We'll go," Gibbs corrected as he followed her.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
About an hour or so later, Gibbs and Jenny were sitting in an interview room as a man with dark hair and dark skin wearing a prison jumpsuit was brought in and seated in front of them.
"Let me know if you need anything," the guard said to Jenny and Gibbs before leaving the room.
"Mr. Martinez," Gibbs greeted.
"Who are you people?" Martinez asked.
"NCIS. This is Special Agent Gibbs and I'm Director Shepard," Jenny said.
Martinez couldn't hide the surprise and recognition when he heard Jenny's name. "I wanna go back to my cell. I have nothing to say to you."
"I see you know the name 'Shepard', no doubt because of your boss," Jenny said.
"I have nothing to say," he repeated.
"Oh, you've got plenty to say and you will say it," Gibbs said in a threatening tone.
"You think you intimidate me, Agent Gibbs? Have you ever met Sebastian Acosta? He puts the most dangerous man you've ever met to shame," Martinez said.
"You're the idiot who took up with him," Gibbs said.
"I didn't know what he was truly capable of. I had no delusions that he was capable of killing, but there's a difference between murder and the brutal decimation of a family of four."
"You were there? You saw him kill my brother and his family?" Jenny asked with rage in her voice and eyes.
"I...I didn't say that," Martinez backpedaled.
"You son of a bitch, you were there!" Jenny growled.
Gibbs put a supportive and restraining hand on her arm. While this piece of garbage certainly deserved his ass kicked, they needed him right now to help find Tim.
"As I've already told you, I have nothing to say. And if you wanna stay alive, you'd drop this. The last person who tried to take him down was brutally tortured and murdered along with his family," Martinez said.
"And you did nothing to stop it," Jenny said through gritted teeth.
"Damn right! I would've been next if I even tried, which is exactly why I won't be saying a word now. I have a family too," Martinez said.
"You have kids? You have a son?" Gibbs asked.
Martinez nodded.
"Jasper Shepard had a son too," Gibbs said.
"I know. There's not a day that goes by that I don't see that boy's face," Martinez said.
"Well, you're going to see it again," Jenny said as she pulled a picture from her jacket pocket and placed it in front of the man.
Martinez shuddered as he stared at the picture. "What's the point of showing this to me. This kid is one of the reasons I won't help you. All I need is for my own kid to suffer his fate."
"You're not like Acosta. You're still a waste of space, but you have a conscience. You hate what happened to that kid. He's haunted you for almost twenty years. You said yourself you see his face every day. Make it right," Gibbs said.
"How do you propose I do that. I can't bring him back," he said.
"You don't have to. He's not dead," Jenny said.
"You are delusional if you believe that, Director. Acosta kept him alive after that night, but there is no way it would last eighteen years. "
"He escaped. He got away and he managed to evade Acosta this whole time, but now he's in his clutches. You can help save him," Gibbs said.
Martinez laughed. "Save him? There's no saving him. Even if he's alive, you can't save him. What that kid saw alone would scar him for life. Let's not even get into what Acosta planned and probably did to him. He's ruined."
Jenny couldn't help but be rattled by the man's words. She'd tried not to think about the hell her nephew went through until he was at least safe, but it was nearly impossible, especially when he was in the exact situation. She knew he was seriously messed up. But she refused to believed he was, as Martinez said, 'ruined'. In fact she knew he wasn't. She'd seen him every day for two years. He might be messed up, but he was also a strong, caring young man and an amazing agent. "We didn't ask for your opinion on my nephew's state of mind, Mr. Martinez. Help us find him!"
Martinez sighed. "I don't even know where Acosta is, so I couldn't even help you if I wanted to."
"You know how he thinks. Tell us what you know," Gibbs demanded.
Martinez seemed to debating with his conscience.
Gibbs picked up the photo and held it up. "This boy had haunted you for years. You want him to for the rest of your life?" Gibbs asked.
Martinez sighed. "You have to swear that this conversation never happened."
"Agreed," Jenny said immediately.
"I don't know where he is, but I might be able to help you figure out where he might go. If taking your boy wasn't planned and it was something that just fell into Acosta's lap, he won't go far and he will probably be alone. That'll work in your favor. But you'll have to find him quick. Knowing Acosta, he'll prolong killing him for a little while to punish him for getting away, but he won't leave him alive very long," Martinez said.
"How long?" Jenny said with fear in her voice.
"Can't say for sure, but he usually takes a few hours with a kill, torturing them for a bit. I'd say he'll let your boy live a day or two at most," Martinez said.
Jenny stood up. "Let's go. We don't have long."
Gibbs got up and followed her to the door.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Tim screamed and convulsed in pain as electricity flowed through him from the taser that had been shoved into his neck. Acosta had come in to torture him several times. He would torture him for a bit and then leave him be for... Well, he didn't know how long, but wasn't long enough.
Tim was in agony pretty much from head to toe. Acosta had done a number on him. He'd slammed a hammer into both his kneecaps and his feet multiple times. Tim was pretty sure they were all broken, maybe even shattered. If there was any hope of escaping it was gone now. Even if he managed to get his arms free of the chains, he would still be unable to walk, and he doubted that Acosta was going to let him live long enough this time for his broken feet and knees to heal at all.
Acosta had also kicked him several times in the stomach, probably breaking several ribs and broken two of his fingers. The man had been just as brutal as he was last time and Tim was sure he was not done.
Acosta smirked at Tim. "You are not as vocal as last time. You're screaming good of course, but there's no pleading this time. Why's that?"
"Go to hell," Tim said in a pained voice.
Acosta laughed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a switchblade. "Let's keep going."
Tim shut his eyes, knowing what was coming. It wasn't long before he felt a sharp pain in his arm and screamed out in pain.
Acosta continued to laugh. "I do love it when you scream. I've enjoyed it with everyone, but especially you. I think it was because of how young and innocent you always looked. That's why I kept you alive so long last time too. I enjoyed watching that innocence slowly drift away. I need to remember that I can't wait so long this time though. No, our fun will end tonight," he said before sticking the knife in his leg this time, earning him another scream.