AUTHOR'S NOTES: After ages of kicking my muse's ass I finally updated this story! While this chapter mostly takes place in LA, I did bring it back to Gibbs at the end.
Enjoy!
Chapter 37
Rule 51"So let me get this straight, G," Sam said as he and Callen stood in the squad room. Upstairs, Kelly was getting an update from DC with Kensi and Eric. "Gibbs has 50 rules and one of them is the reason Kelly's here."
"Yeah," Callen replied as he paced between the desks. Pausing for a moment and looking at Sam, he said, "Look, this can't be an official investigation."
"Off the books," Sam said, simply. "How come?"
Callen sighed and looked around. "You can't tell anyone about this." Seeing Sam about to ask the question, he gave his friend a look. "Not even Hetty."
"What, did Gibbs kill the wrong person or something?" Sam asked, casually.
"Gibbs killed the drug dealer that killed Kelly's mother," Callen replied. "Pedro Hernandez. Put a bullet in his head while he was in Mexico."
Sam nodded as he started pacing. "So Gibbs hides this for almost 20 years. Now this guy—"
"Merton Bell," Callen supplied. "Used to head up First Defense PMC."
"Right," Sam said quickly. "Him. He's dead but not before he started digging stuff up on Gibbs." Giving Callen a look, he added, "What about Mace? Did she know about this?"
"I think she did," Callen replied.
x
After wrapping up the sit-rep in OSP's version of MTAC, Kelly waited until Tony and McGee were out of MTAC in DC before saying to Ziva, "I got your email, Ziva."
"And?" Ziva asked, a little nervously.
Kelly sighed as she sat down and said, honestly, "Why the Hell would you invite your father to a ceremony where you basically say that you're an American, not Israeli?"
Ziva sighed. "I know what my father would say about it. I know he feels as though I have turned my back on him and everything he ever taught me." After a moment, she added, "My father believed that my loyalty to Gibbs was some sort of rebellion. Or a way to get attention."
"You're a grown woman, Ziva," Kelly replied. "You don't need Eli David's consent or approval for what you do in your life. And after everything he's put you through… Ziva, why do you care?"
Ziva looked a bit sad as she said, "I just thought that—for once—my father could support something that I wanted to do."
Kelly nodded sympathetically. "I understand, Ziva, but… You know he won't like it."
"I know," Ziva admitted. "But it couldn't hurt to ask."
As she signed off, Kelly heard footsteps behind her and saw Hetty looking hesitant. "It's nothing about the case, Hetty."
"Actually, I was coming to find you because you have visitors, Miss Gibbs," Hetty said, beckoning Kelly to follow her.
Kelly followed Hetty and as the two stood on the ledge overlooking the lower floor where three people stood, huddled together. "When did they get here?"
"Mike Franks arrived with Miss Shakarji only a few minutes ago," Hetty replied, looking down at the former NCIS agent and his family. Turning to look at Kelly, she added, "Are you alright?"
"What the Hell is going on, Hetty?" Kelly asked as she headed downstairs.
Watching as Kelly greeted Mike and Leila, Hetty said to herself, "What, indeed?"
xxx
While Kensi got Leila and Amira settled in a safe house, Mike Franks and Kelly headed to the beach. Sitting at a café with cups of coffee, they tried to blend in with the crowd.
"Dad's in trouble," Kelly finally said, not looking at her father's old boss. "The Reynosa Cartel has him and the Mexican Federales are…" Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "I don't even know. This guy, Alejandro Rivera… something's wrong about him."
"Gibbs told me 'Rule 44'," Mike said, looking at Kelly. "Found out you came here. Figured it was as good a place as any." When Kelly looked at him, he added, "I'm getting to old for this shit, kid. Shoot-outs in old diners with you and the lady director. Hired gunmen firing at me with my granddaughter right there! Now I've got this mess to deal with. I ain't no spring chicken, you know."
"I know," Kelly replied, nodding. "Look it's not any easier for me, you know."
"So what are we going to do?" Mike asked, plainly.
"We are going to track Dad from here," Kelly replied, calmly. Seeing Mike's look, she grinned. "Don't knock OSP. Believe me, they can just about run circles around us in DC."
Mike just stared at Kelly. Deep down he was an old school cop. He didn't trust all this technology and stuff. He trusted his gut and what he could see and feel. And despite the fact that he felt old, that didn't change the fact that he wanted to end this.
xxxx
Eric Beal had spent the past 6 hours trying to track Special Agent Gibbs' whereabouts, with almost no success. But just as he was about to take a break, the satellite he'd been using to track Gibbs' location went over an estate in Mexico. Pulling up the images, Eric zoomed in and isolated the people.
"Any luck?" Sam said as he looked at the screens.
"Found Gibbs, Jason Dean, and…" Eric brought up an image of a woman and turned to Sam. "Head of the Reynosa Cartel, Paloma Reynosa."
"Great," Sam replied, his expression stony. "Now what? Kelly thinks the Mexican authorities are in on what's going on."
"Probably are," Eric admitted. "Cartels usually have cops in their pockets."
Sam nodded, but he frowned a bit as he studied Paloma Reynosa's picture. "But what does she have to do with Gibbs?" he mused.
"No idea," Eric shrugged as he continued working on the computer.
"Wait, Eric," Sam said, quickly as he saw another man join Paloma on the live satellite feed. "Reynosa and this guy," he said, pointing to the newcomer. Once Eric had brought up the images, Sam glanced at him before turning back at the screen. "You see what I see?"
"Brother and sister," Eric replied, nodding. Doing facial recognition, he brought up a federal ID. "Alejandro Rivera. Changed his name when he was 18 from…"
Once the birth certificate was up, Sam read the name aloud. "Hernandez."
"Yep," Eric said, not sounding happy about it. "Hernandez."
xxx
"Please tell me we have something," Kelly said as she and Franks came back into OSP later that day. When Callen, Sam, Eric, Kensi, and Nate gathered around, she knew it was bad. "What? Is Dad…?"
"Gibbs is being held by Pedro Hernandez's daughter," Callen replied, simply. "Far as we know he's still alive."
"We did some research on Hernandez," Eric said, picking up the conversation. "His daughter took over the Reynosa Cartel when her husband died and his son joined the Mexican federales."
"Hetty said that she doesn't want to know what our plan is," Callen went on. "Plausible deniability. She said you're in charge of this operation."
"Just say the word and we'll head down to Mexico and settle this," Sam assured her.
But before Kelly could say anything, her cell phone rang. "Special Agent Gibbs. Ziva! Thank God. Okay. Okay. Great. I'll let everyone know. And don't worry, Ziva. I'll be there." Hanging up, she looked at the others. "Dad's on his way back to DC. He's going to stop at home and clean up then he'll call."
"So, then it's over," Kensi said looking at the others.
"Like Hell," Mike said, shaking his head. "Reynosa's not just going to stop going after anyone who knows the truth. We've got to take them all down."
"I'll call DEA and tell them we've got evidence that the cartel ordered hits on Gibbs and Franks," Sam said with a grin.
"What evidence?" Kensi asked, confused.
"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something," Sam replied, still smiling as he turned to head to his desk.
While everyone headed off—Kensi to take Mike Franks to the safe house, Nate to his office, Eric to the upper level, and Callen to… somewhere else—Kelly went to find Hetty who was making a pot of tea.
"I would presume that a course of action has been decided upon and put into play?" Hetty asked, selecting a second cup and placing it with the first.
"Yeah," Kelly replied as she sat down. "Dad's okay for right now."
After pouring tea and handing Kelly her cup, Hetty studied the younger woman. "You know, I have always found your history to be the most fascinating, Miss Gibbs," she said after a few moments.
Kelly laughed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not that interesting, Hetty, really."
Hetty smiled back and replied, "On the surface, no, you are not. Your mother died when you were a child, your father raised you by himself, occasionally remarrying. He took you to work to spend time with you. Not very different from other children of single fathers. What I find interesting is what you have become because of your past."
Kelly thought about that as she sipped her tea. "If Mom had survived the crash… I don't know. I have no idea what would have happened to me."
"Exactly my point," Hetty said, sipping her tea. "With all this unpleasantness I've started thinking about how one event can cause a cascade. One simple action can cause numerous others."
"The butterfly effect," Kelly simplified, something starting to occur to her. "But if you catch the butterfly—or if you isolate that first incident—then you can stop the chain reaction."
Hetty looked thoughtful although there was a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke. "The butterfly is already loose, Miss Gibbs. The dominoes are falling over. Perhaps the best option is to cut off the line."
"Right," Kelly replied, thoughtfully, her mind running through all the happenings of the past weeks. The question now was how to figure out the endgame and how to save Gibbs from… whatever Paloma Reynosa had in store.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Within 12 hours of releasing Gibbs, Paloma Reynosa had the US's Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI breathing down her neck about contract killings, kidnapping, and who knew what else.
Once out of Mexico, she called a few contacts and found herself in a penthouse apartment in Los Angeles, California overlooking the beach. She frowned as she thought about the situation. True, her father had been a drug dealer and a murderer and she could certainly understand revenge. But the scale of payback was never her idea. She'd wanted to look into the eyes of the man who had killed her father. To see justice done. Alejandro had been the one out for bloody vengeance. After meeting Abby Scuito, the forensic scientist from Washington, DC, he had been certain that she would be able to ascertain who had murdered Pedro Hernandez.
This Ms. Scuito had done and Alejandro had seemed to snap after finding out that his father's murderer was also a cop. Paloma had tried to get her brother to calm down but he'd apparently started to lose his mind, making crazy plans to kill every single person who knew anything about Gibbs' actions in Mexico 19 years ago.
Standing in front of the window, Paloma felt alone. Her father was gone, her mother had died years before him. And God only knew what was happening to Alejandro. When her phone rang, she pulled it out, hoping the caller was her brother. "Alejandro?"
"Not even remotely," the caller replied. It was a male and he sounded to be about her age. "So what brings you here, Miss Reynosa?"
"How do you know who I am?" Paloma asked, going to the window and looking around at the crowded beach below. "How did you find me?"
"Not important," the caller replied. "Now, if you ever want to see your brother again sit tight until I call you again."
Paloma's fear gave way to anger as she said, "If you hurt my brother they will never find all of the parts I will cut off of you."
"Temper, temper," the man replied. "Haven't you done enough threatening lately? Now just sit tight. I'll call back later."
Paloma's eyes turned to ice as she threw the phone against the wall. Breathing heavily, she left the apartment and headed down onto the busy boardwalk. Stopping into the first electronics store she found, she grabbed a pre-paid phone and strode quickly to the counter.
The young man who rang up the purchase didn't even blink as he watched her dig cash out of her pocket. "Not from around here, are ya?" he asked with a smile as he paid out the order.
"No," Paloma replied, curtly.
"Thought so," the young man replied. "Would you say no if I asked you to dinner tonight?"
'Blend in,' Paloma thought. "No," she said with a smile. "I wouldn't." Holding out a hand, she said, "Elena Alverez."
The young man shook it and smiled, his green eyes holding a bit of a devilish look. "Chris O'Donnell. Pick you up at your place? 7ish?"
Once back outside, Paloma had just turned on her phone when it rang. When she answered it she heard the same male voice who had called her earlier. "I told you to sit tight."
"Who are you?" Paloma demanded. 'Tell me."
"You really want to do this around all these people?" the man asked.
Paloma looked around, looking for who might be watching her but didn't see anyone who seemed to match the voice. "What do you want from me?" But the caller hung up without answering. Looking around again, Paloma wondered just what was going on. She'd anticipated the American authorities to come after her but this didn't feel like the government after her.
"Lost?"
"What?" Paloma asked, turning to see a young woman standing behind her, leaning on a cane. The young lady was a redhead and she had hazel eyes. "I'm sorry. Yes, I am lost. Can you tell me how to find the nearest restaurant?"
"There's a sandwich shop down the boardwalk," the young woman replied, pointing. "Can't miss it."
"Gracias," Paloma replied, nodding. She hurried away, not looking back.
x
Kelly pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kensi as Paloma walked away. "She's heading your way, Kensi. Tell Sam to get ready."
xxxx
Back at OSP, Eric monitored what was going on as Paloma Reynosa entered the deli and ordered a salad and a bottled water. When Kensi instructed Paloma to have a seat, Eric spoke over the earbud. "Sam, when she sits down come in the rear entrance.
xxxx
In the deli, Paloma had just turned back from a visual sweep of the room when a large, well-built black man sat down opposite her. "You know who I am," he said, his eyes cold as he stared at her. It hadn't been a question.
"What do you want?" Paloma asked, opening her bottle of water and taking a long drink.
"You killed a friend of mine," the man said, simply.
"And you want revenge?" Paloma asked, quietly.
The man didn't reply as a waitress brought out Paloma's salad. Once she'd left, he said, "I don't want revenge."
"Then what do you want?" Paloma asked again. "Money? Tell me."
There was a look in the man's eyes she recognized. He did want revenge but he wouldn't take it. After a long moment, he stood and pulled out a badge. "I want you to stand up, turn around, and put your hands behind your head."
Paloma smiled as she did as instructed. "NCIS, I presume." As she was being handcuffed, she asked, "Who was your friend?"
"NCIS Special Agent Lara Macy," Sam said, leading Paloma outside.
The next morning, Kelly awoke in her old bedroom at her father's house and she dressed in a pair of black slacks and her favorite red shirt. After heading downstairs, she found her father waiting for her in a dark navy blue suit with a blue shirt and striped tie. "Ready to go?" Kelly asked with a smile. "Don't want to let Ziva down."
"I'm afraid we need to talk first," said a female voice from by the kitchen table.
Kelly turned to see M. Allison Hart standing there. On the table were books of legal codes and laws and the forensic report from Abby regarding the murder of Pedro Hernandez. Turning to her father, Kelly said, "Dad, I'll catch up. Go and meet the others at the courthouse."
Gibbs started to argue but when he saw his daughter's look he nodded. "I'll see you later, Kelly."
Once Gibbs had left, Hart frowned at Kelly. "This is not going to go away, Miss Gibbs."
"That's Special Agent Gibbs," Kelly snapped, glaring at Hart. "How dare you come here and act like you're Dad's friend? Like you're doing him a favor. You don't have kids. You don't have a husband or a family. I do. And trust me when I say that you do not get to talk about right and wrong until someone you love is murdered! Dad wouldn't even have his own code if it weren't for my mother." Waiting until Hart was looking her in the eye, Kelly asked, "What are your rules? What code do you live by? Or do you just spew back whatever they crammed down your throat in law school?"
"That's not the point," Hart said, sadly. "The law is the law. We are both officers of the law and we have to follow it."
"The point," Kelly said, grabbing her purse and car keys. "Is that there is nothing in the world that is more important than family. If you had one you'd know that."
Hart didn't say anything as Kelly left the house. After a few moments, Hart left herself, thinking about what lay ahead. She'd have her work cut out for her on this case.
Stillwater, PA
3 Days Later
Jackson Gibbs looked up as the bell above the door of the store jingled. He froze when he saw the man standing there. There was a crazed look in his eye and Jackson wasn't sure what the younger man was on but he seemed ready to kill. "Just take it easy, son," Jackson said, calmly, taking a few steps back.
"My whole family has been ruined by you," Alejandro Rivera Hernandez said, as he turned the 'Open' sign on the door to 'Closed'. "My father… my sister…" Pulling out a gun, he pointed it at Jackson's head. "And now your son will know how I feel."
xxx
High on a hill, a figure in camouflage waited, lining up the crosshairs of the sniper rifle on the back of Alejandro's head, waiting until there was a clear shot.
As if knowing what was going on, Jackson Gibbs moved slightly to the side and the sniper lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger, watching the would-be killer fall to the ground.