September 4th 2011
0830 Hours
At the Swartz's Jenny is under the shower head taking a long much needed hot shower. "I feel human!" Jenny sighs in relief.
Next door at Ducky's Gibbs walks in with a coffee tray in his hand and finds Ducky sitting at the kitchen table alone. "Jenny still sleeping?" Gibbs shrugs.
"No getting a shower." Ducky answers.
"She'll be in there for a half an hour." Gibbs laughs and takes a seat at the table.
"I wouldn't doubt it." Ducky snorts and takes a sip from his cup of tea. "Jethro take the two weeks in Paris to your full advantage."
"I will!" Gibbs smiles over at him. "The first time around, it was all hormones between us in the beginning when we first started seeing one another." "The Paris Op I slowed things down a bit and started to romance her by taking Jenny out to dinner a few nights a week, walks in the park together, stuff that couples in love are suppose to do."
"Paris is the perfect setting for romance Jethro." Ducky muses.
"The language gets on my nerves." Gibbs growls in protest.
"That's because you were too ignorant to learn the language." Ducky mutters.
"Why would I want to learn French?" "That's was Jenny's job being my interpreter." Gibbs laughs.
Half an hour later, Jenny walks into the kitchen. "Now that you are out of the shower, I'll start making breakfast." Ducky nods over at her and walks over to the refrigerator.
Gibbs noting that Jenny is wearing blue low rise jeans and a low cut pink shirt smirks over at Jenny's butt as she sits down at the table. "For once I would like your eyes to be focused elsewhere on me." Jenny sighs and grabs her coffee.
"Tight jeans, you asking for too much Jen." Gibbs chuckles.
"I can't return the favor to you, most of the time your jeans are to baggy to check out your butt."
"Do the two of you mind?" Ducky chastises them from the counter.
"It's not like you haven't heard this before Ducky." Gibbs teases him.
"I know I heard enough from the two of you eleven years ago in Paris." Ducky grumbles.
"What are you going to do with Leyla and Amira while we're away?" Jenny curiously asks.
"They should be fine while I'm gone." "Leyla has a burn phone and I told her that I would be calling her on that instead of the landline phone." "Abby, Tony, McGee, Ducky will look after them for me and I'll ask my neighbors to check in on them also."
"I see you that you have all of your t's crossed and you're i's dotted Jethro." Ducky smiles.
"For the first phase of my plan." Gibbs answers and grabs a hold of Jenny's hand on top of the kitchen table. "I'll concentrate on the second phase after I think you're strong enough to take on your dad."
Monday afternoon Ray Cruz gets out of his car in the parking garage at NCIS Headquarters. Ziva keeps ignoring his phone calls. "I want some answers." Cruz says with a hint of determination in his voice. As he approaches the elevator, the elevator door opens and Vance steps out. "Director Vance!" Cruz nods over at him.
"Agent Cruz!" Vance smoothly addresses him. "Does the CIA have business with NCIS?" Vance sheepishly asks.
"No I was here to visit Ziva and catch up on some things." Cruz shrugs.
"Ziva got shot two weeks ago." Vance informs him. Vance noting Cruz's ashen expression on his face. "She's expected to make a full recovery."
"Where is she?" Cruz asks.
"Bethesda Naval Hospital doing rehab, she's expected to be there for another week."
Before Cruz can answer Vance, his cell phone rings for an incoming e-mail. Cruz opens up his phone and notices the e-mail is from Budget Car Rental on the GPS trace on Harriet Jones' Ford Focus. "I have something that I have to take care of first and then I'm going to pay Ziva a visit at the hospital." Cruz abruptly answers and walks off for his car.
"Strange!" Vance shrugs and walks off towards the direction of his Towne Car in confusion over Cruz's actions.
Langley, West Virginia
CIA Headquarters
Ray Cruz is reviewing the GPS trace on Harriet Jones rental car. "It had not moved from the parking garage from the Motel 6 from August 12th until the 20th." "On August 20th just before midnight, the car was parked on 31st street from 2345 hours until 0100 hours on August 21st." "From there the car made a left on to M Street and where it had parked along a street corner near Francis Scott Key Memorial Park." "It stayed there until 0610 hours on the morning of August 22nd where the signal was lost." Cruz says.
CIA Agent Darren Wong approaches Cruz with a report. "You owe me big time."
"How long did it take you to hack into NCIS's computer?" Cruz curiously asks and takes the report from him.
"A minute, what did you expect from the bottom feeders of the Federal Arms Agencies." Wong smirks.
"Dinner on me."
"Deal, as long as we double date, we haven't done that since you went out with Ziva." Wong sadly answers and walks away from Cruz's desk.
Cruz opens up the file and reads the report into Ziva's shooting. "Serena Morris my ass, you were meeting Harriet Jones and she was tipping you off about EJ Barrett giving Julien Benoit classified information on Bernardo Suárez." Cruz angrily snaps at Ziva for getting involved with Jenny. He's about to get up from his desk when his cell phone rings. Noting Kort's name on the caller ID. "Cruz!" He answers.
Nice, France
Hotel Beau Ravage
Room 104
2000 Hours CEST
"Did the morons at the car rental company get back to you?" Kort angrily asks from his hotel room sofa.
"Yes, Phoenix left the Motel 6 on August 24th and drove north to Baltimore." Cruz answers and puts up a map of downtown Baltimore up on his computer screen. "She parked her car in a parking lot of a Foodarama on Eastern Avenue." "After that it's a crap shoot to her where a bouts."
"Or Phoenix could have been taken from her room at gunpoint by one of Benoit's men." Kort answers.
"Could be a possibility with her car turning up stripped and burnt out." Cruz answers.
"I'll let the old man know."
"Better you than me." Cruz chuckles.
"Maybe he'll be on his third glass of scotch by now."
"Or maybe Iris is entertaining him in the bedroom."
"Iris is in Rome shopping on Kosmo's hard earned money." Kort laughs.
Cruz gets up from his desk with the report in his hand and starts off for the elevator. "I hate to cut this short, but I'm needed for a briefing."
"If anything comes up let me know."
"I will!" Cruz answers and hangs up. "You will be the last person that I will get in contact with." "You almost got Ziva killed two years ago and besides Jenny's father you are also one of the reasons why Jenny is where she's at right now." "I'm going to run my own investigation from now on and when my end comes clean I will be briefing the new CIA Director about Operation Lodestone."
An hour later, Cruz walks into Ziva's room at Bethesda. "Ray what are you doing here?" Ziva says with surprise.
"Director Vance told me what happened?" Cruz answers and approaches the bed. "Why didn't you tell me?" Cruz asks hurt that Ziva was keeping the attempt on her life a secret.
"I was under orders not to." Ziva answers and sits up in bed. "And I do not have to answer to you Ray; we broke up two months ago."
"Under who's orders?"
"Gibbs!"
Cruz walks over to the door and closes it and then pulls a chair over to the side of Ziva's bed. "Where's Jenny?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Ray." "The last time I saw Jenny was in Tel Aviv two years ago." Ziva defiantly answers.
"I have connections over at NIS; there isn't an operative by the name of Serena Morris." "You're covering for Jenny." "Tell me what happened." Cruz demands.
"As I've stated-"
Cruz quickly interrupts Ziva. "I got the GPS trace on Jenny's rental under Harriet Jones." "On August 20th she drove from her motel on route 29 to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown." "Her car was parked on 31st Street for almost an hour, then she proceeded over to M Street and parked on a street corner near Francis Scott Key Memorial Park." "On August 22nd the GPS device on her Ford Focus was turned off." "The CIA put a bolo out on the license plate of Jenny's rental car and vehicle identification number." "I got a phone call from Baltimore PD; they found what was left of Jenny's rental car."
"As I've stated Ray, I do not know what happened to Jenny." "I met a contact of mine in the parking garage; she had information on a terrorist attack." "We took gunfire, I was hit and my contact fled the parking garage."
Cruz knowing that Ziva's contact got wounded in the parking garage decides to play along with her. "Jenny's lying low because she got wounded."
"Yes my contact got wounded, but I do not know where she went to after fleeing the parking garage." Ziva angrily answers and pushes in the button for the nurse.
Ziva's nurse walks in a minute later. "Yes Agent David." She sweetly answers.
"Could you have security escort this man out of my room and out of the building?" "He's harassing me."
"Yes ma'am!" "Sir!" Nurse Marshall nods over at Cruz.
"You do not need security, I know my way out." Cruz nods over at her and gets up from his chair. "We'll continue this conversation later on, once you're out of the hospital." Cruz warns her and walks out of her room.
"Who was that?" Marshall curiously asks.
"My ex-boyfriend!" Ziva frowns.
At NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs is finishing up a report when his cell phone begins to ring. "Yeah Gibbs!" He answers.
"Gibbs I need to see you right away." Ziva urgently asks him.
"Ziva what's wrong?" Gibbs asks noting how anxious Ziva is on the phone.
"Please!" Ziva begs him. "And bring Tony and McGee."
"We're on our way." Gibbs answers and hangs up. "DiNozzo, McGee with me." He shouts over to him and gets up from his desk and starts to walk over to the elevator.
"What's the matter with Ziva?" Tony frowns with worry and gets up from his chair and chases after Gibbs with McGee following him from behind.
"We'll find out when we get there." Gibbs answers.
Half an hour later, Gibbs, Tony, and McGee arrive in Ziva's room. "Close the door behind you." Ziva instructs them. McGee closes the door and they approach the bed. "Director Vance told Ray Cruz about what happened to me."
"How much does he know?" Gibbs growls and takes a seat in a chair beside Ziva's bed.
"GPS trace came back on Jenny's car and Ray has the car on 31st street the night of the shooting." "He also has Jenny's car parked near Francis Scott Key Memorial Park."
"Boss what are we going to do?" Tony asks.
"He's only on to Ziva and not us." Gibbs answers.
"He is under suspicion of you, since I lied to him." Ziva sighs.
"You were under orders." Gibbs barks.
"Boss we'll have to get new burn phones." McGee grumbles.
"That's right Jenny had called Ducky on the night of the shooting, damn it!" Gibbs snarls and gets up from his chair. "After work I want Jenny to have full protection detail."
"We can't stay out on the street; the CIA will be on to us." McGee answers.
"Set up hidden cameras in the windows inside of Ducky's house after work."
"How do we warn Harriett?" Tony sheepishly asks.
"There's free Wi-Fi access down in the hospital cafeteria with several computers." "I'll e-mail her." McGee answers.
"E-mail her under Ziva's account." Gibbs nods over at McGee as he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
"This sucks!" Tony grumbles.
"Three days to go." Gibbs sighs.
Vance walks into the room. "I thought that you might be here, I just bumped into McGee when I got out of the elevator." Vance smiles.
"We were on our way back from questioning a witness and popped in for a visit." Gibbs lies and walks over to Ziva's bed and squeezes her on the hand. "You keep getting stronger." "I need somebody to keep DiNozzo in line." Gibbs smirks.
"Nobody can keep the Big D in line." Tony grins and walks off for the doorway.
"I'll see you back at the office." Gibbs nods over at Vance and leaves the room. "Almost!" Gibbs answers taking a deep breath.
"Boss three more days." "Just keep saying it over and over again."
"I won't be relieved until our plane lands in Germany Thursday morning."
Over at the Swartz's Jenny is working on Ziva's laptop when she spots an incoming e-mail for Ziva with the subject 911. Jenny clicks open the window and reads the e-mail from McGee. 'Message from Poppa Bear zero communication from our burn phones turn them off and keep inside your safe room until further notice.'
"I wonder what happened." Jenny answers and picks up her burn from on top of the table and shuts it off.
Back at NCIS Headquarters, with Vance out of the building still, Gibbs has a team meeting down in Abby's Lab in the backroom. "McGee I want you monitoring all of Cruz's calls on his cell phone." Gibbs instructs him. "We'll also have to get new burn phones." Gibbs grumbles.
"I was way ahead of you Gibbs." "I was in Alexandria for an electronics show." "They had latest big screen TV's, blu ray recorders, and-" Abby opens up her desk drawer. "Burn phones!"
"Abby what made you think of buying burn phones for all of us?" McGee curiously asks.
"The ones that Jimmy picked out have lousy reception." "These are the top of the line burn phones and I got them real cheap." Abby smiles.
"Let me know how much-"
Abby quickly interrupts Gibbs. "You aren't paying me one red cent." "Our government will once this is over and done with." "I chose a Tracphone, instead of T-mobile." "It should keep suspicion down." Abby answers.
"Abby get the phones registered and our phone numbers by the end of the day." Gibbs orders.
"I'll get started on that when you leave the room."
"Do you think you could seal up the wall between Ducky's house and the Swartz's after we leave the house on Wednesday night?" Gibbs nods over at Abby.
"I took a piece of the wallpaper from the wall in the Swartz's closet, a friend of mine runs a wallpaper store and can make an exact copy of it for me." Abby answers.
"Since the wall will be dry walled you'll need to take the door down over at Ducky's and put up a wall on his side of the house."
"My boyfriend Danny who helps me volunteer at Habitat for Humanity can give me a hand with that this weekend." "We'll put up a new wall, paint Ducky's closet and put up shelves where the door use to be."
"Abby I'm paying for the work on that, you're not doing that for free." Ducky smiles.
"We all have to be looking over our shoulders from here on out." "Tony and McGee take a cab over to Ducky's tonight."
"When are you coming over?" Tony asks.
"Not until tomorrow morning." "My gut tells me that Cruz will be following me tonight once I leave the office." "If Jenny wants to get a hold of me, do it over our new burn phones."
That evening at Gibbs' house, Gibbs is out in the backyard pushing Amira on her swing. From the corner of his eye he finds Ray Cruz parked across the street observing his every move. Leyla walks out the back door and walks over to Gibbs and Amira. "Dinner is done."
"Good, because I'm starving." Gibbs grins and grabs the back of Amira's swing to keep it from swinging. Gently he helps her down on to the ground.
An hour later down in the basement, Gibbs is cleaning up his basement, when his burn phone begins to ring, spotting Jenny's name from Paris on the caller ID. "Yes Rose!" He playfully teases her.
Jenny lying on her bed. "I was enjoying the full run of Ducky's house once Maggie left for the day." Jenny mutters.
"Sorry, but I want you to keep safe between now and Wednesday night." Gibbs says with regret.
"I'm hoping that Ray doesn't tell Kort or my father." Jenny frowns with worry.
"We have no control over that." "What we have going for us at the moment is that you have not been seen with any of us." "Ray only knows that your rental car's last known where a bouts was right in front of Francis Scott Key Memorial Park." "He can't pin point you to another location." Gibbs reassures her.
"When are you coming over?"
"I'm trying for tomorrow morning, but I doubt it." "Ray is camped outside in front of my house." Gibbs growls.
"I guess I'll have to live with Ducky's feeble attempt at coffee then." Jenny pouts.
"By the end of the week we'll be drinking real coffee in Paris." Gibbs smiles.
"It seems like it was an eternity since we were in Paris." Jenny sighs with anticipation.
"Once you've regained your strength we'll make up for lost time." Gibbs smirks.
"You have this planned out." Jenny laughs.
"It's what's keeping me going." "You and I in Paris."
Amira runs down the stairs. "Bedtime story!" She shouts up to him.
Jenny hearing Amira in the background. "It seems that somebody wants your undivided attention." Jenny giggles.
"I promised her that I would read her Cinderella tonight."
"Tell Amira that sometimes the fair lady does find her Prince Charming." Jenny softly answers. "Good night Jethro."
"Night Rose!" Gibbs smiles and hangs up.
"Who's Rose?" Amira shrugs.
"A friend!" Gibbs smiles and picks up Amira and starts up for the stairs. "I read you Cinderella last week."
"Again!"
"Alright!" Gibbs laughs as he makes his way up the stairs.