"It's her, Boss. Abby's iris mapping program makes it a ninety-four percent match." McGee turned away from the plasma screen and faced his superior.
Gibbs glared at the two pictures on the screen. On the right was the passport photo of Maria Elena de la Cruz. On the left, the most recent known photo of Conchita Muñez de Bianchi, sister to Paolo and wife of one of Argentina's most successful drug runners.
It had taken them four hours to sort out Maria Elena's identity. She'd been very careful to cover her movements, but one slip-up with a limo and a credit card had led them to graduate student Juan Muñez. That was followed by her hasty exit from the US and a disappearing act in Guatemala, which was conveniently timed with Conchita's arrival home from visiting family in Latin America.
"Dammit, I'm tired of being played by these people," Gibbs growled, slamming a file down on his desk. "Get me Paolo. I want to have a little talk with the local branch of the Family Muñez."
"On it," McGee nodded, pulling his Sig from his desk drawer.
Gibbs turned his attention to Tony who was asleep at his desk, snoring faintly. He was tempted to wake the agent up and demand something from him as frustration set in, but he knew it wasn't fair. Tony had been working just as hard as the rest of them, possibly harder and on less sleep. And with all the connections to South America rearing their ugly heads, he had a gut feeling that Tony would be needed to take on a potentially dangerous assignment.
He flipped through the reports on his desk again. All intel pointed to two things. Purcell still alive in Paraguay or Argentina with his businesses somehow linked to the Muñez family. And someone here in Washington running an operation that they would prefer to keep very private.
But how were those two things linked and why target him and his team? What did they see or know that could make them such a threat? He decided to make a mental list once again, hoping something would make sense this time.
Taking a sip from his coffee, he realized it had gone cold. Deciding the walk to DC Beans would help him sort the problem out he slid his gun in his holster and made his way out of the building.
As he walked, he kept part of his awareness on his surroundings, but the early evening was peaceful, unlike the morning. Grateful for the silence, he sorted through everything he'd seen and done in the past several weeks.
He reached the door of the coffee shop and movement from the shadows caught the corner of his eye and shattered his thoughts. He froze trying to place the image, eyes searching the dusk for the individual who'd stopped him cold. There! Just as he spotted the man, Gibbs was jostled by a caffeine-deprived patron desperate for her fix, drinking as she walked out the door. Hot coffee went everywhere, scalding Gibbs and the woman, earning a string of curses from her as her obviously expensive shoes were now ruined.
"And my dry cleaning bill! You're going to pay for that, too!" she fairly shrieked. Gibbs had had enough. He pulled out his badge and looked at her dispassionately.
"NCIS, Special Agent, Ma'am. I'm sorry about the coffee. I'll buy you a new one. But you're on your own for the shoes and the cleaning." With that he stepped up to the counter and ordered two cups of coffee, both black and strong. As he walked back past the woman, still swiping ineffectively at her skirt with a napkin, he set one cup down on the napkin stand next to her.
"Have a nice night." He didn't stick around to see if she would drink the brew he gave her or not. Women like that reminded him of why he was single. Again.
He walked back to HQ sipping on the strong, hot beverage and mulling over where he'd seen that face before. He was nearly back to his desk when the memory came to him.
He walked up to the door of DC Beans and glanced to his left, noting the man sitting in the shadows. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the man, but Gibbs filed him away, as he did all faces that struck a particular chord in him.
When he pushed through the doors, fresh coffee in hand, he spied Ari, sitting at a table, waiting for him. He smiled inwardly at the prospect of taking down this traitorous bastard as he approached the table.
He should have shot that smarmy piece of shit when he had the chance and worried about the consequences later. If he had, then maybe Kate would still be alive. He clenched his free hand into a fist and ground his teeth. No, he couldn't allow himself to get caught up in what ifs. Kate was gone, God rest her soul, and he would have to live with that. The best he could do now was go on and catch her killer.
Ari's parting shot was a bomb, to prevent the agent from following the yellow-clad motorcyclist. Gibbs leaned under the table where he sat and found the device, secured to the underside of the table. As he ripped it free and stood, he caught sight of shadowy man from earlier, now standing as well. As Gibbs turned to dash down the alley, he passed the man, calmly walking the opposite direction, a faint smile on his face.
Gibbs set his coffee down on his desk. Did the memory of that elusive face mean something? Only one way to find out. He picked up his phone and dialed down to the lab.
"Abbs, I need you to get the facial artistry software ready. I have somebody I need you to draw for me."
Thirty minutes later, Abby was shaking her head. "I don't know, Gibbs. He's pretty generic looking."
"I can see that, Abby. Just do what you can. Run him through every database you can think of. He has some connection to Ari, I can feel it."
"This is about Kate?" Abby's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say so?"
"This may be about everything." He pointed at the face on the screen and sighed. "That's the only thing I've come up with that could be a reason for someone coming after me. Find him and maybe we start finding some answers."
Abby looked at her tired friend with grim determination. "I'll find him."
Just then the door to the lab swished open and McGee stuck his head in. "Hey, Boss. Got Paolo Muñez waiting for you in Interrogation One."
Gibbs ran a hand over his face. "Thanks, McGee. Go round up DiNozzo and meet me in Observation."
"You got it." McGee ducked back out of the lab and Abby gave Gibbs a disapproving look.
"You're exhausted. You need to sleep," she told him, flatly.
"Right after I finish with Muñez. I need some information on what's going on and I need it yesterday. None of this makes any sense."
Abby gave a soft snort. "There's your proof the CIA is involved. Nothing they do makes sense."