Chapter Thirty Two: Shadows in the Woods

Gibbs put the phone to his ear quickly. "Kido?" he asked holding his breath waiting for an answer. There was a brief moment of silence that seemed to last years for Gibbs before he heard her respond.

"Gibbs," she said in a hoarse whisper. He could hear the sounds of night coming through the phone, but nothing of civilization.

"Where are you?" he asked hurriedly turning to Ziva as he did so.

"I don't know," she whispered with a voice caked in fear. "He's out there, Gibbs, he's coming."

"Can he see you?" Gibbs asked.

"No, not right now," she said, her voice strained.

"Sit tight, Kido, I'm coming," he said to her as he walked to Ziva's desk. "Get Abby up here now." Ziva nodded and picked up her own phone calling the lab.

"I'm really scared," Nicole said as he heard her shifting, the cracking of something drawing his attention.

"Don't move around, Kido, stay still. Where are you?"

"In the woods," she breathed tightly. "He's out in the yard, Gibbs, he's looking for me."

Ziva nodded to Gibbs that Abby was on her way up and Gibbs turned away from her thinking what he should tell the child on the other side of the line. He needed her to stay calm enough to stay hidden and not draw attention to herself.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Gibbs asked clenching his teeth, eyes squeezed shut as he waited for her answer.

"He cut me. It's bleeding, it hurts really bad," she replied. Gibbs felt he anger boil over inside as he glanced at the image of Kirkpatrick on the plasma screen. Jen touched him on the shoulder, wanting the answer to his question as well. He looked at her and she knew something had happened.

"Hang tight, Kido, we're working on getting to you," Gibbs said in a low soothing voice. He looked up when he saw movement coming towards him and noticed Abby looking slightly confused. He motioned her over to him.

"What's up, Gibbs?" she asked.

"I need you to trace the incoming call on my phone and pinpoint the location," Gibbs said quickly as he listened to the other side. Nicole had lapsed into silence, as he heard the night sounds and her breathing.

"It her?" Abby asked moving to McGee's desk and plopping down heavily before working the keyboard.

"Yes," Gibbs replied straining to listen to the phone.

Abby's fingers flew over the keyboard working her way into the system to track the phone number that Gibbs was connected to, working to pinpoint where Nicole was. The minutes seemed like hours to Gibbs as the time slowly ticked by, each second another step towards disaster.

"Abby," he growled with closed eyes, Nicole was still silent on the other end.

"Almost there, Boss," Abby said, her fingers frantically manipulating the keys. "She's on the outside of town, subdivision under development, but that's as close as I can get you."

"Address," Gibbs barked as he grabbed keys from his desk and started towards the elevator. Jen trotted up next to him falling in step. Abby told him where the subdivision was and then watched as Gibbs and the Director headed towards the elevator. "Ziva, grab Tony. Meet us there."

Ziva jumped up from her desk clipping her gun to her waist line before trotting out of the bullpen to find Tony in interrogation. Abby sat at McGee's desk staring at the empty bullpen, her stomach in knots.

Once the elevator doors were closed Gibbs closed his eyes, phone still pressed to his ear. "I'm coming, Kido, stay put. I'm coming to get you, to bring you home."

Ziva rapped on the door that Tony sat behind and popped her head, motioning for him to join her in the hall. He could see the urgency in her eyes. He was getting no where with Rogers anyway so he stood and left the room. He met up with Ziva in the hallway.

"What?" he asked.

"Gibbs found the girl, wants us to meet him and the Director there," Ziva replied quickly before turning and heading towards the elevators. Tony stood for a moment before his brain kicked into gear and he quickly caught up with Ziva.

"She's alive right?" Tony asked.

"For the time being," Ziva whispered as the doors shut. They rode the elevator in silence before Tony grabbed his gun from his desk drawer then met up with Ziva again at the vehicle.

Gibbs was quiet in the car as he drove at frantic high speeds across the city. He felt time slipping away from him. His body was tense with fear, anger, and hope. His muscles felt coiled tight, ready to snap.

Jen was sitting next to him, hand firmly gripping the handle to keep herself in the seat she was occupying. She would not comment on his driving tonight, this was a special case, where dangerous speeds and unsafe driving were acceptable.

Gibbs continued to listen to the phone, worrying about battery life. Nicole would whisper to him occasionally, telling him what was going on. He continued to reassure her that he was coming. She was quiet for a while before Gibbs heard a frantic whisper in her ear.

"Gibbs, there's two now," she said straining her voice to be quiet.

"Two what?" he asked.

"Two men. Another man just showed up. They're talking by the houses."

"Ok, I'm almost there, sit tight. I'm going to get you," Gibb reiterated as he took another turn. They were less than five minutes away. Gibbs pushed the accelerator down but it was already on the floor board. He bit at his lip as the phone started to beep, signaling a low battery. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would make it to her in time, he told himself.

Jen looked at him but remained quiet. It was not a time to talk, they were going to make it, and no words would make the time go by faster. The car skidded around another corner and they saw the entrance to the construction site. Gibbs slowed down, turning into the cul-de-sac and turned off his lights. He didn't want to announce his arrival. They started slowly down the road searching for any sign of human activity.

"Nicole, where are you?" Gibbs asked. "We're at the development." He received a crackle of an answer before his phone shut off. "Shit," he said as he pulled the phone down and looked at it.

Kirkpatrick searched the yards looking for the girl. He cursed aloud, as he continued to find nothing. He walked up and down the front of the houses looking for tracks of where she had gone; he couldn't find the trail in the dark. He squatted behind one of the houses and closed his eyes, clearing his mind. He would wait, once Travis showed up they would be able to search more ground.

He waited for what seemed an eternity before he heard a vehicle pull slowly into the subdivision and he slowly stood and moved from the shadows walking out to the road and standing where he could be seen. He smiled when he saw Travis parking. The younger man stepped from the vehicle and looked around, spotting Kirkpatrick standing in front of one of the houses. They came together and Travis could read the stress in Kirkpatrick's eyes.

"How bad is it?" Kirkpatrick asked.

"They have Deeves, Malford, Powell, and Rogers in custody. They're working on getting Dangle. They know your name, and are on their way to getting mine. I think it's time to cut and run, Rob," the younger man answered him with a shake of the head.

"One last deed," Kirkpatrick said cocking his head to the side. "First tell me about who is working this case."

"A real hard head named Gibbs. Guess one of the shining stars of NCIS. His team is working this pretty hard right now, number one priority. They put all this together in just over four days, Rob. I think we really need to cut and run."

"Travis, there is an eleven year old girl that got the better of me out here right now. After I take care of her, we can make a run for it. You have the passports and cash with you?"

"Of course, Sir. I've got two clean passports for both of us, and enough cash to get us somewhere safe. Just tell me what friends will take us in."

"Let's find the girl then we can make plans. I also need a clean phone, the girl has mine."

"Rob, what happened?"

"Underestimated her, must be slipping. I'm told it happens with age."

"I have three clean cell phones that we can use for short periods of time. The numbers are routed through other accounts. They're hard to trace back to us."

"Let's find that little girl, my guess is she is in the woods right now, split up and take that side, I'll take the other. You find her, let a whistle and we meet back here."

"Alright," Travis said walking towards the woods. Kirkpatrick set off across the grass and came up to the edge of the woods he scanned the darkness looking for any sign of the girl. He knew she had on light colored clothing and should be easy to spot. He walked further into the brush and stopped once again. He took in the sounds of the night, filing each sound away and filtering what belonged. Then he heard the whisper and turned to that direction. He smiled when he saw a small scrape of clothing sticking out, with a small foot attached.

He moved towards her slowly, pulling the knife from its sheath, his eyes never leaving her foot. His movements were slow and calculated as he moved with no sound through the woods. He was coming up from behind on her now as he circled slowly through the thick underbrush. He was almost too her when he heard a second vehicle. The tires crunched the gravel in the road drawing his attention from the girl to look up.

He saw two people, and man and a woman, exit he vehicle looking around. The man was scanning the woods, his gun drawn, eyes taking in everything he saw. The woman was looking at Travis' car parked in the middle of the road. It was then that the girl sprang to her feet, breaking for the man and woman in the road. He made his move coming up swiftly behind her.

Nicole listened to Gibbs breathing on the phone, helping to calm her mind. She had never been so frightened in her life and just having a connection to him helped her cope with the paralyzing effects of the terror. He had told her he was almost there; he was coming to get her. She could see the two men still talking in the front of the house but then they split and went separate ways.

She lost sight of the younger man but the older one was coming towards the woods. She watched him as best she could without moving but soon he was gone from her line of sight. She heard Gibbs tell her he was there and she felt the first pang of relief soak her body. He was asking her where she was when the phone started to cut in and out, she told him where she was but the line was dead. The relief she felt just a moment ago, fled her body and panic replaced it.

She looked at the phone and saw that the call had been lost. Her connection to Gibbs was gone. But he was here, her mind told her, he was coming to get you, he promised to bring you home. It was then that she saw Gibbs and Jen get out of their car and scan the area. She felt the surge of excitement hit her again and she jumped up from her hiding place with every intention of running to him.

She had taken three steps when she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder, squeezing hard, bruising the flesh. She screamed in agony and surprise as she felt the knife come up to her throat. She was lifted from the ground and held, one arm across her shoulders holding the knife to her neck, the other tightly clamped over her hips.

Gibbs heard Nicole scream and his attention zeroed in on the area it had come from. There was the man from the photos, holding her, knife to throat. He felt the explosion of rage inside him as his gun came up and he moved quickly through the yard.

TBC…