The Next Morning

McGee and Bishop walked into NCIS to find Kellie at Gibbs's Desk.

Agent Reeves was standing next to Kellie discussing the case as Gibbs handed Kellie a coffee. Bishop and McGee looked surprised at how civil they both were to each other.

"Marcus Devouxe does have companies in New Orleans and in the same part of Mexico where we traced Le Requins flights and shipments," Reeves said, "He is suspected of being involved a recent uptick in violence in New Orleans. Cops have nothing concrete. Got on the wrong side of some local business man if you can them that, no offense, Mrs. Scott."

"None taken," Kellie said, "I know the score on that front. Never denied that."

"Whose Marcus Devouxe?" Bishop asked.

"Bella Le Requin's sometimes fiancee," Kellie replied, "and their business partner. Known to lay the groundwork for moving into new areas."

"Looks like Devouxe recently purchased some real estate in New Orleans," Reeves said.

"It's one place to start looking," Kellie said, "But I guarantee there's less easy to find purchases."

"Your guy done tweaking your program?" Gibbs asked.

Kellie held up the thumb drive, "Here you go, McGee. Now we're looking for patterns between the Le Requins shipments and Marcus Devouxes in Mexico. See if we can tie it to New Orleans."

McGee took the thumb drive, "Do we even have the data yet?"

"It was fairly easy to get the warrant for it," Reeves said, "Since he has known ties to the Le Requins. Some of it was already obtained because a navy officer was killed in one of the warehouse explosions in New Orleans. NOLA NCIS is already keeping an eye on that case. FBI has jurisdiction on that one. There's still more information coming in. But we have something to start with."

Leon was standing at the top of the stairs.

"Gibbs, my office," Leon said. Gibbs went upstairs. McGee plugged in the data and checked the program.

"I'm going to see if I can track done any more shell companies they may be using," Reeves said and headed back to his desk.

"What was that?" Bishop asked as Kellie sipped her coffee.

"What was what?" Kellie asked.

"You and Gibbs, all getting along and stuff," Bishop asked, "Did you put a spell on him or something?"

Kellie just shrugged, "I'm going to find Tony and give him an update. Let me know when you find something"

Kellie grabbed her coffee and left.

Leon's Office

"It looks like you and Mrs. Scott have been burning the midnight oil on this one," Leon said, "All the intel said the Le Requins partnership with Marcus Devouxe fractured with the last break up between him and Bella. Now you're putting a lot of eggs in one basket focusing on Devouxe being their pick up man in Mexico."

"Rule Number 3: Never believe what you're told. The Le Requins specialize in smoke screens," Gibbs said, "it isn't too far fetched that they'd give the illusion of a dissolved business partnership. As for putting all the eggs in that basket, you did it when you let Corinthos in on the investigation."

"Do I even want to know how you and Kellie Scott clued into Devouxe," Leon asked.

"Do you really want to know that she asked Sonny Corinthos if he'd heard anything about activity going on in the entire gulf coast?" Gibbs replied, "Activity that might point us in the direction of where to look first and narrow the search area."

"The warehouse explosion and the shootouts," Leon said, "So now we're walking into the middle of mob war then."

"You know the search would have led us there anyway," Gibbs said, "Just not quite as fast."

"I assume we'll have to worry about interference from the people Devouxe is at war with down there," Leon said.

"According to Corinthos it's unlikely," Gibbs said, "Why bother taking out your enemy if you think law enforcement will take care of the problem for you. He's trying to move in on their territory. It happens that way sometimes, Leon."

"If anyone would know, Kellie Scott would," Leon said, "We're not going to be able to send her down there since the mobs involved. Even if it's just from the outskirts. Given her ties to the Corinthos and Alcazar organizations, she could be a liability. I made a few calls. Rumor has it, some of her father's associates thought she knew about Lorenzo Alcazar's attempt at taking down the Port Charles mob. They're content to leave her alone as long as she leaves them alone. It's too dicey to put her in that type of situation."

"I agree. It could make her a target if someone thinks she's making a move," Gibbs said.

"Agent Gibbs, is that concern you might have for the Mob Queen masquerading as a do-gooder," Leon asked, "It hasn't escaped my notice you seem to have made peace with her working on this case."

"You don't waste good," Gibbs replied.

Abby's Lab

Tony was spinning in a chair.

"Tony, go make yourself useful," Abby said, "Like getting me more Caf-Pow."

"But you already have some," Tony said.

"Tony, stop driving Abby up the wall and let her work," Kellie said, "It's bad enough you made her think she was on some alleged former Mafia Queen's hit list."

"Kellie, please get him out of my hair," Abby said as Tony glared at her.

"Please tell me you're making progress on whatever theories were noodling in your brain," Tony said.

"New Orleans," Kellie said, "Still need to connect a few dots. But we're getting closer and closer."

"How close?" Tony asked.

"An associate of the Le Requins is trying to establish himself in New Orleans," Kellie said, He also has some holdings in Mexico."

"Close enough to the Le Requins to take anything or any one they're moving I take it," Tony said.

"That's the theory," Kellie said, "Agent Reeves is looking for real estates purchases or leases that Marcus Devouxe has made along with the Le Requins. McGee's looking for shipments and transactions that match what we know about the Le Requins activity."

"Still going to be difficult to get search warrants in New Orleans," Tony said, "You'll need something more substantial then correlating activity between Mexico and New Orleans to get there."

"We'll find it," Kellie said, "Did I mention Devouxe's methods for establishing himself have already caught the attention of law enforcement, including NCIS."

"Really," Tony said.

"Navy officer got caught in a warehouse explosion," Kellie said, "NCIS didn't get jurisdiction."

"But they're in the loop," Tony said, "You said warehouse explosion? New player in town. That can't make certain people happy. Do I detect the hint of Sopranos action?"

Kellie rolled her eyes and smacked Tony upside the head."

"Come on," Kellie said.

"What? Are you taking lessons from Gibbs now?" Tony asked, following her.