Chapter 14

"I hacked the CIA last year," Tim began. "I thought I had managed to avoid them, but I hadn't...not completely."

"Why did you hack the CIA?"

Tim took a breath. This was not how he had wanted all this to work out. He didn't know how he had wanted it to work out, but not like this. "Gibbs asked me to find out who had ordered the polygraphs. It came from the La Grenouille operation."

"This is about Lodestone?"

"No," Tim said firmly. "No. I wish it was that simple. Me finding Lodestone is what it's about, not Lodestone itself. I had noticed that I was being tracked occasionally. I thought...I hoped that it was nothing. I reset all my firewalls, changed some of my tracking habits. Once I put a trace on the one tracing me. I couldn't follow it. Then, it stopped. I figured it was over, whatever it was. I was wrong."

"What happened?"

"I'm still not sure why those people thought it was Morris for so long. I've been...working with...them for quite a while."

"Who are they?"

"How much do you know already?"

"That you've been working for the CIA, that this is an arrangement you voluntarily entered into and that you're on their payroll. I could share all the facts and figures, but I'm sure you know them already," Jenny said pointedly.

"Yes. I know them," Tim said. The expression on his face was not one of pleasure.

"So? Who are they?"

"They're CIA...marginally. They're one of those groups that don't exist."

"Are you sure they are who they say they are?"

"Yes." Tim looked away for the first time since she'd begun questioning him. "I hacked them, too."

"When?"

"When I was hacking the CIA before," Tim sighed. "I'm not explaining this very well."

Jenny suddenly realized that she was in a hospital room, talking to one of her agents who, less than six hours ago had been imprisoned, drugged and tortured. She was chagrined at her callous attitude. Tim was twitchy and pale. The lights in the room were low because up to just a couple of hours ago he had acted as though the light was killing him. She sat down in the chair recently vacated by Ziva.

"I'm sorry, McGee. Take your time. You have total license not to be at your best at the moment."

Tim leaned back against the bed and tried to school his thoughts. Where should he start? "Okay, so...I was hacking for Gibbs. I followed the signal all over the world and then it went to the CIA. I lost it in a bunch of Black Ops chatter. While I was trying to find it again, I ended up someplace I wasn't supposed to go."

"Wouldn't all that be encrypted?"

"Yes...it...was."

"You decrypted it?"

"Only while I was trying to find the signal. I didn't really think I'd be able to. It's the CIA, not MySpace. I was bouncing around, trying to keep out of their sights and trying to recover the signal. I ended up in...an out-of-the-way part of the CIA."

"Wouldn't that sort of define the CIA as a whole?"

"Yes. This was out-of-the-way...even for them. I didn't see much of anything there. I realized it wasn't the origin of the signal so I left the area right away. I reestablished my link and followed it to Lodestone. When I found it, I noticed I was being tracked. I thought it was the CIA people trying to see what I knew, what I'd managed to sneak into. I was right in a way. They were...but it was this other group, not Lodestone, not even the CIA proper."

"Do they have a name?"

"No. That only makes them scarier. People with names have some sort of oversight. I don't think these people do." Tim actually looked frightened. Jenny was surprised because he hadn't acted as though this was anything other than a typical debriefing up to now. She saw that he was truly afraid of the people he was talking about.

"So...you got away from them. How did they track you down?"

"I told you that I had noticed people shadowing me on the Internet, but then it stopped. I think it must be because they found Morris and thought they had their guy...or at least, some of them did. Kristine Blumell wasn't a part of the group that...hired me. I would have recognized her."

"You've met them all?"

"No. I've only met my...handler."

"Then, how–?" Jenny began. "Oh...you hacked them."

"Not hacked, just extended my access a bit."

"Semantics, McGee."

"Yeah, but they didn't know."

"Are you sure? This doesn't seem like–"

"They told me there would be tests...of my loyalty. They wanted to be sure that I wouldn't crack under pressure."

"You knew this would happen?"

Tim gestured at his arm which showed a large bruise from the pierced vein. "This? No. Over the last two months, I've been going through intelligence tests, tests of my computer knowledge, programming, hacking. I'm probably better at it now than I've been since college. They told me that there would be other tests, but I would have to wait and see what they were because true tests of loyalty wouldn't come on schedules. I only knew that there was more coming. They've still been using me. They just are waiting to see how I do. I'll bet the people who took Morris and then me don't know really what's going on. They only know that I'm supposed to be tested." Tim shuddered and his hand moved to his back, seemingly on its own.

"Why did you agree?" Jenny asked, after watching Tim for a few moments.

Tim smiled humorlessly and let his hand fall back to his lap. "You think I had a choice? Gibbs gave me a get-out-of-jail-free card, but that doesn't mean anything to these people. Their pitch was something along the lines of I could voluntarily work for them or I could end up dead and they would mourn the loss of my unique talents. I couldn't tell anyone. I couldn't get out of it. My only consolation has been that at least they're working for the good of the country...even if the country doesn't know about it." Tim clenched his teeth tightly for a moment and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "If I...pass this test, I guess I'll keep working for them. If I fail..." Tim didn't bother to finish the sentence.

"What have you been doing?"

Tim looked worried. His gaze shifted all around the room. Was it possible that they had managed to place surveillance in this place as well? So quickly? Jenny followed his thoughts. "This room has been under strict guard since you were brought to the hospital. I understand that Ziva never left your side."

"I've learned...the hard way, not to underestimate them, Director." Tim thought back to the first time he'd found a bug in his apartment. "I'm under surveillance a lot more than you might think. Just about the only place they haven't bugged is NCIS and that's only because the security sweeps are too good."

Jenny cocked her head to the side. "Didn't you suggest tightening our security a couple of months ago?"

Tim nodded. "I had to have somewhere I could feel safe...and you don't need to have the added worry of being spied upon by fellow citizens. But they've bugged my car, probably everyone else's as well. My publisher's office is bugged as is Abby's apartment, Ziva's apartment and Tony's apartment. Sarah is also under surveillance. My apartment has video and audio both. I tried removing them once." Again, the tears seemed close to the surface. "I woke up in the middle of the night, surrounded by some of my new colleagues. They...educated me on the fallacy of my actions."

"Tim..." Jenny said in shock. "No one noticed?"

"They're smart. They know where and how to hit so that it doesn't show."

"Is this a permanent job?"

"I don't know. I haven't dared ask. Director, I've seen and done more in the last two months that scares me than I have in the last four years."

"How did they contact you first?" Jenny asked, amazed that Tim had managed to hide this so completely.

"An email," Tim said, an ironic smile on his face. "I got it at the end of the day, right before I left. I read it and then, trashed it, thinking it was spam. It wasn't. They were waiting in my car. They forced me to drive home. One stayed out in my car and my handler followed me inside. She put me through the paces and then made their pitch. I had no time to make a real decision. She had the gun all ready in case I said no."

"You didn't."

Tim seemed to wilt. "Maybe I should have, but I just didn't have the time to think, and...well, I have to admit that I didn't want to die. They had already proven how much they knew about me and how easily they could get to me. I'm stuck, Director. Can't you see how easy it is for them? You can't hide me. It would have to be forever, and I'm not willing to give up my life that way. I might as well be dead. I can't back out. I can't quit. If they find out that I've talked to you..."

"They won't."

"How can you be sure?"

"Tim, no one is omniscient...except God and I highly doubt He's working for the CIA."

Tim laughed weakly.

"You say these people have no oversight?"

"Not that I could find."

"How many are in this little secret cabal?"

"At least ten that I know about."

"Who's the leader?"

"That I haven't figured out. They're too well-hidden. I haven't dared make too much noise in my personal investigations."

"Understandable." Jenny now skewered Tim with an intense stare. "You've pretty much ruined my day, Agent McGee."

"It hasn't been a great day for me either, Director Shephard," Tim said, surprising her with his retort.

She smiled. "Since we're in the same boat, we'll help each other out. You seem to be painted into a corner."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Well, being painted into a corner is only a problem for a limited time and that time is even shorter if you have someone to help you out." She stood. "We'll figure it out."

"You won't tell them, right? Gibbs and everyone? They can't know. That's too many people. It's too dangerous...for me and for them."

Jenny's face softened. "McGee, I understand your reticence, but people will have to know. I won't tell them now. I'll figure out a way to get the information to them securely...maybe in MTAC...or my office."

"Autopsy would be better," Tim muttered.

"I'll take that under advisement. Now, you get some rest. I think you've earned it. The agents outside your door won't leave and I can personally vouch for them."

"Thank you, Director."

"Don't thank me yet. Wait until you're free." Then, she left.

It was only when she got back to NCIS that she realized Tim had never told her what he was doing for this nameless group.