We needed to get to HQ ASAP, and I needed to track Adrestia's video – Gibbs and Sloane were relying on me to pull myself together and take on the responsibility of being the Senior Field Agent.
Half an hour later on blue lights and we were back in the bullpen, furiously brainstorming anything which could answer the multitude of questions we were already facing – Who was this Adrestia? Where was she holding Gibbs and Sloane? And what on god's given Earth did she have with the White Palace? Surely we had caught the figurehead, Shepherd? Or were we looking at this all wrong.
Thinking about that video gave us all hope – after all, Adrestia hadn't killed Gibbs and Sloane, which was something we were all afraid of initially, all things considered. However, she did kill that DEA agent, Agent Devlin, in cold blood. And now her son is motherless; Adrestia would not be stopped by anything, so we needed to get there first, for everyone's sake. My gut told me this was by far not her limit – we could expect more from her, so we needed to strike first.
Seeing Ellie in her wheelchair, Nick, Kasie, Vance, Jimmy all working together in harmony helped to sooth my nerves. I will not let Adrestia beat us or feel threatened by her.
It took longer than expected, but I had finally tracked down the video to an abandoned warehouse not far from where the initial raid had taken place.
"Hey Kasie, can you go grab Vance quickly. I think I've located the video location," I called out, some veiled excitement marking my voice.
"Got ya McGee," Kasie called down, hastily making her way up the steps and almost bumping into Vance, who must have already been on his way down to discover the source of our loud conversations.
"Can I take that this is good news?" Vance queried. "I sure hope so, boss," I replied out of habit, before correcting myself.
"Okay, let's send a team down to see what's there, under extreme caution. We've had trouble with the White Palace, so I'm sure that this could definitely lead to some trouble. And Nick," Vance started, seeing Nick perk up and slowly pivot towards the elevator, "we don't need a hero, we need you alive. Stay here with the others and recuperate." Vance turned, before adding, "Up to MTAC everyone."
"I need a team sent there ASAP. But proceed with extreme caution. We still don't know where she sits with the White Palace." I put down the phone and headed down the corridor to MTAC, where McGee had already set up communications with the team which were on the way to that abandoned warehouse. Luck was never something I had relied on, but I think today of all days warranted an exception. I should have realised perhaps that the White Palace raid seemed too perfect, but in this job, we take that a blessing and a sign of good work on our behalf, not second guess ourselves.
"I put all my worries in a small compartment of my brain, sitting down in my designated seat, watching how Nick and Jimmy carefully helped lift Ellie out of her wheelchair and be seated comfortably. The tension was high, but hopefully this would all end very, very soon. In hindsight, I realise that I should have known better.
"In about 30 mins, the REACT team had pulled up to the warehouse, and we all had frontline seats to the action in MTAC. The raid had commenced. Unsurprisingly, there was some resistance, but it seemed too little for the place where Adrestia supposedly was.
"Heading into the main area," buzzed a comment from one of the REACT agents. All eyes were fixated onto the screen. Even from where I was sitting, I could see how hard Kasie was squeezing Jimmy's arm.
"All of a sudden, a large boom was heard, and led to the video feed physically shaking. "REACT, do you copy?" I queried, tense at the prospect of more fatalities at the hands of the White Palace. Eight very long seconds passed before the Commander responded, "A booby trap was set off at what seems to be a hidden drug stash – 2 are injured. The main group and I are heading into the main room now."
"The group burst in to the room, and were met with pure emptiness, notwithstanding the body of a young woman in the midst of a pool of coagulated blood. The commander walked up to her and turned her over – it was Agent Devlin, deathly white in the crimson pool. Now I had seen a lot of dead people, but this one chilled me to the bone, and looking around MTAC, I could see that the temperature had dropped dramatically.
"Hey, Commander". One of the REACT team was trying to get the Commander's attention, who turned to face the wall behind him. 'THEY WILL BE NEXT' was smeared in blood, a final touch to the décor of the room.
"Clear. Suspect not on site. NCIS agents not on site. Reporting back." The Commander had signalled the end of the raid, which had merely resulted in finding the body of Agent Devlin, but no sign of Adrestia or Gibbs and Sloane. She must have known we would have hopped on to her first video.
"I was on the verge of leaving MTAC, already conjuring up anything which we could do to not stagnate on the spot, McGee's voice split through my thoughts.
"She sent us another video," he stated, starting the video on the big screen.