Chapter 4

Tim was up and ready to go the next morning before Paul had even finished making coffee. They each filled a travel mug and headed out, Paul in front of him. As they exited the elevator and stepped outside into the parking lot, Paul suddenly drew his sidearm.

"What is it, Paul?"

"A feeling. Stay close."

Paul took out the keys to the SUV, and hit the auto start as they made their way across the parking lot. Before they could take another step, the SUV exploded. Paul shoved Tim to the ground as debris from the vehicle landed around them.

"Are you okay, Director?"

Tim sat up, and looked at Paul, who was breathing heavily. His gaze went beyond his bodyguard to the SUV behind him, up in flames.

"What-what-"

Paul was already on the phone before Tim could coherently formulate a sentence, yelling at someone to start an immediate investigation. When he was finished, he pulled Tim to his feet and dragged him toward the building.

"We need to get you out of sight."

"What the hell is going on, Paul!" Tim shouted over the approaching emergency vehicles.

"Upstairs first... I need to know that you're safe." Paul ushered him back toward the elevator.

"Agent Forsythe, stop right now!" Tim shouted authoritatively, causing Paul to nearly skid to a stop in his tracks. "I want some answers, and I want them now, not when we get upstairs. Why in the hell was I almost blown up!"

Paul blinked, shocked to see this side of his new Boss. He nodded and sheathed his weapon momentarily.

"I'm sorry, Director."

Tim calmed a bit.

"It's all right. Just talk to me, Paul."

"There has been an Op running from our office for over a month now, involving a high profile cyber-terrorist. I don't have clearance to be read into the entire Op, but I can tell you that it's why Director Thomas got shot, and why you were almost blown up."

"We need to get to NCIS, and I want to be read in on this Op immediately. And I want to talk to Director Vance ASAP."

"Yes, Sir. When I called in, I requested another transport to bring you back to NCIS. I'll be in the car with you, but we're going to have an armed escort all the way there."

"ETA?"

"Any minute now."

"Good. Let's get back outside."

"Yes, Sir."

Paul started to walk ahead of Tim, unsheathing his weapon. Tim grabbed his arm to stop him. "No worries, Paul. You're not in trouble for anything, and we're still friends, okay?"

Paul smiled and nodded as more sirens could be heard approaching.

"That sounds like our guys. Shall we?"

Tim nodded, and he and Paul made their way back out into the parking lot. A team of Field Agents was already processing the scene, and there was another SUV waiting for them. They climbed in and headed to NCIS, with an escort surrounding the car. When they arrived, the driver pulled into a secure location, and Paul along with three other Agents escorted Tim into the building. Once everyone was past Security, Paul turned to the Guard.

"Everybody that comes through those doors gets checked for ID. They don't have credentials, they don't come into this building. No exceptions. Is that clear?"

"You can count on me, Agent Forsythe."

Tim went straight inside, and right up to the Rome building's version of MTAC. He made a beeline for the technician.

"Get Director Vance on the line, now."

"Yes, Sir."

The technician did some typing, and in a few minutes, Tim was looking at Director Vance.

"It's good to see you, Tim."

"I want to know about the Op that put Director Thomas in the hospital."

"I heard about what happened to you this morning. I'm glad you're all right, Tim."

"Me too. Why did you send me to Rome without reading me in on an Op that could have gotten me killed!"

"That was a huge miscommunication, and I'm sincerely sorry about that. You were supposed to be read in as soon as you got into the country. Who met you at the Airport?"

"Agent Forsythe."

"He was supposed to take you straight to Headquarters to read you in on this. He didn't?"

"No... it was the middle of the night. He took me to my apartment. It's not his fault, Director, I assure you."

"He isn't in trouble... I just want to know why he wasn't given the instructions that I requested when he picked you up."

"We'll have to look into that. First, I want to know about this Op."

"What do you know about William Cloud?"

"You mean the most wanted hacker in the free world? Don't tell me he's resurfaced again."

"We've been waiting for years to catch movement from him, and it finally happened a few weeks ago. The Cyber Unit in the Rome building was tracking his movements, and we found out that he's been aiding terrorists, smuggling fully automatic US Military weapons out of the U.S. All he has to do is hack into the system of whatever airport the weapons are being shipped from, and erase the cargo manifest. By the time the cargo plane lands and customs pulls the manifest, the guns have been unloaded and the smugglers are long gone."

"He's making it so no one can track where the guns are being shipped to."

"Exactly. The problem is that he's not only erasing the manifests he needs, but other military cargo manifests as well. He can steal anything he wants, and we'll never know where in the world it went."

"How did this escalate into Director Thomas getting shot, and me almost getting blown to pieces?"

"Cloud knows NCIS is tracking him. He thinks by taking out the Director of Cyber Crimes, it would scare us enough to back off."

"The hell we are," Tim said sharply. "Cloud is going down... he's messed with the wrong person this time."

Vance smiled.

"I knew I sent the right man to Rome."

"We need every available man on this - your Cyber Unit and mine. We need to find him and take him down. He'll never see the light of day again when I'm done with him."

"You sound more like Gibbs every day, McGee."

Tim chuckled.

"Tony told me that once, too." He paused. "How is everyone?"

"The same. I'm going to read Gibbs and his Team in on this, if you're all right with that."

"Absolutely."

"Keep in touch with your progress. We'll do the same."

"Will do."

Vance gave the signal, and the screen went black.

TBC...