Store cleared, DiNozzo joined them and they filled his Senior Field Agent in on what was going on. The man then ran off to do something, Jethro not all that concerned about the fact. His focus was their pregnant Marine lieutenant.
"Did my SOI at Camp LeJeune," he shared. Jethro wanted to connect with the clearly scared Marine and Camp Lejeune was a great place to be stationed. He'd enjoyed his time stationed there. "You like it there, Lieutenant Reynolds?"
"Call me Emma," she replied. "And yes, I did. Wish like hell I was there now."
"The weather there's a hell of a lot nicer," he agreed.
DiNozzo finally rejoined them with what looked to be a large cup of coffee in his hand. "Weather is getting pretty bad, Boss. Tractor-trailer jackknifed on the highway. It's bumper-to-bumper."
"You out getting coffee, DiNozzo?" he inquired.
"No, no, no." DiNozzo smiled. "This is hot chocolate for the preg… the lieutenant."
"Uh," the lieutenant said. "Listen, everyone, I don't want any special treatment. I'm a Marine first and pregnant second."
He smiled. "Oo-rah!"
The blonde shot him a sassy look. "Oo-right."
"Well," Ziva stated, "I will gladly take the special treatment." She turned to DiNozzo. "I like mine with extra marshmallows. The little tiny ones, please."
DiNozzo shot Ziva a look. "Who do you think I am, your elf?"
"Actually," the lieutenant said, "I'll take one with marshmallows too."
"Hey," DiNozzo retorted, "thought you said you didn't want any special..."
Jethro shot his SFA a pointed look. The least that they could do was make the young woman comfortable while she was stuck in this stressful situation.
DiNozzo easily took the hint. "Extra marshmallows, coming up."
As the younger agent headed out to grab the hot chocolate, Jethro turned to face the lieutenant. "So who is after you, Lieutenant?"
"I don't know," the blonde Marine stated. "Only ever been a squared-away Marine until eight and a half months ago. I was stationed outside Kabul. Our unit was training local Afghan soldiers. One of them spoke English. His name was Amir."
He dipped his head slightly. "Things got romantic."
The lieutenant gave a weak chuckle at that. "At least what passes for romantic in that hellhole. Sand can get in some pretty inconvenient places."
"Any disciplinary action?" he inquired.
"I took responsibility," the young blonde explained. "C.O made me forfeit two months' pay and sent me stateside. Thought that was it."
"But?" he pressed.
"Last week," Reynolds stated, "I noticed I was being followed by a black SUV. I would shake it, then another one would show up."
"Multiple people were following you?" Ziva asked.
The lieutenant nodded. "Three men, separate SUVs. I got one of the license numbers. It was registered to the Department of Defence."
He turned to Ziva. "Call McGee. Have him follow up."
The young Israeli gave a little hum in response and left to do as ordered.
"So you skipped town with Marsden?" he asked the lieutenant.
"Jake's an old friend," Reynolds replied. "He offered to drive me to my parents' place in Ohio. But that's when things got crazy."
"They followed you," he said knowingly.
She nodded. "They tried to run us off the road. I cut my hand when the window broke. And we lost them, but I started feeling woozy, so we went to the hotel. When Jake didn't come down, I knew that I had to get out of there."
"Why didn't you call the police?" he questioned.
"If these guys were government," she said, "they would send local LEOs looking for us too. I don't know what this is about or how far up this goes."
"Well," Jethro assured the lieutenant, "you can trust us."
She gave him a warm smile. "Thank you."
"Where's the father now?" he asked.
The blonde gave a small sigh. "He passed away."
Jethro nodded, not really sure what to say that didn't sound like a false platitude.
He chatted with the young lieutenant for another couple of minutes, trying to ascertain if she had any other information that they could use, and then Jethro checked in with McGee to see if the younger agent had a lead.
Apparently, during his brief meeting in MTAC, McGee had learned that Amir Mayat, the father of Lieutenant Reynolds' child, died in an IED explosion seven months previous. The lieutenant went on leave right after the incident. She and Amir had also decided to keep the baby secret from his family. When McGee mentioned the three DOS vehicles, the guy was baffled and stated that their cars got stolen all the time and that they had thousands of vehicles registered but he'd look into it. The man had vehemently denied that Lieutenant Reynolds was on DOD's radar.
He'd just hung up with McGee when Ziva rejoined them. They chatted for fifteen or so minutes, waiting on DiNozzo among other things, and then his phone rang again.
Jethro checked the call display and noted that it was Abby. "Yeah, Abs?"
"Gibbs, what are you still doing there?"
"The snow is falling faster than my holiday spirit. There's a pregnant Marine being hunted on Christmas. Heaven and nature are not singing."
"Well," he explained to the goth, "I'm waiting on intel and escort from state troopers. Just tell me what you got."
"Background on Lieutenant Reynolds' baby daddy - Amir Mayat," she said. "And he is not a poor farmer." And just what exactly does that mean? "The Mayat tribe controls a massive and critical land parcel just outside of Kabul."
"The family is wealthy," he stated.
"Extremely," she confirmed. "And Amir was the sole male heir."
Well, that's a solid motive. "'Til he was killed."
"Yes," Abby said. "And if Emma has a boy, then…"
"The kid inherits everything," he said, finishing the sentence.
"Practically royalty," Abby said. "At least extremely valuable."
"That explains why the lieutenant is still alive," he commented.
"Oh, yeah, yeah!" the very energetic forensic scientist exclaimed. "They don't want her dead. They want the baby. Alive."
One thing was still bothering him. "It doesn't explain DOD's involvement."
McGee was apparently in Abby's lab as well. "This might, Boss."
"What, McGee?" he asked.
"I did some digging," McGee explained. "I tunnelled under the DOD firewall. Turns out U.S. Military forces in Afghanistan are trying to build a trade highway through Mayat land. It's vital for fighting insurgents and stopping weapons shipments."
"And the tribal elders aren't cooperating," Abby chimed in, sounding as though she was reading off a screen, "which is costing the DOD millions of dollars."
"And if the project goes under," McGee stated, "they lose even more."
"Well," he said, "they need a bargaining chip."
Abby's tone said she didn't like the insinuation. "The little baby heir."
"By birthright, he'll be head of the Mayat tribe." McGee sounded a little resigned. "They have the kid, they have the land."
This was a minefield. "Can we prove it?"
"I can't find anything concrete connecting the DOD and our three kings," McGee swiftly replied, clearly frustrated somewhat by the fact.
He wanted more answers. "Keep looking."
Ending the call, Jethro walked back over to DiNozzo who'd finally returned and was handing the drinks he'd bought out.
Jethro wanted to be on the move now given the lieutenant was actively being hunted and apparently, the lieutenant sensed the urgency in his step. "Is something wrong, Agent Gibbs? What did you find out?"
"I'll tell you on the way out," Jethro said as he helped her up.
"The car is out back, Boss." The SFA gave Jethro a pointed look. "They started closing highways. Not gonna open 'til the morning. We're on our own."
"Back roads?" the lieutenant questioned. "What if someone follows us?"
"Can't wait any longer," he replied.
The lieutenant eyed him. "I want a weapon."
"You don't need one," he said. "You got us."
Don't patronize me. I was the top shot in my platoon. You think Deputy Dawg has ever seen actual combat? I did three tours."
Jethro didn't respond to that. Privately, he understood why Lieutenant Reynolds wasn't convinced that the young deputy that they'd met earlier could cover her six.
"Where is Barney Fife, anyway?" DiNozzo asked.
"I thought he was out back with you," Ziva replied.
They all shared a concerned look and decided on a plan of action before going outside.
DiNozzo led Jethro and Lieutenant Reynolds out the back of the store, where the three of them found Officer McCormick, unfortunately. being held at gunpoint by a large guy with an extremely thick Russian accent.
"I'm sorry," the deputy said.
"Shut up," the Russian snapped.
"He came out of nowhere," the deputy stated.
"Shut up!" the Russian asked again.
"He's one of the three," the lieutenant confirmed.
"NCIS," Jethro said, identifying himself like he was required to. "Let him go."
"Give me the woman," the Russian said.
"No," he shot back. "it's not gonna happen."
"I don't want to hurt him," the Russian stated.
"I know exactly what you want," he said. "Drop your weapon."
The Russian shot Jethro what he figured was intended to be an intimidating look. "You are in no position to make demands."
Jethro gave a small smirk. "Net, no ona yest'." (I'm not, but she is.)
The Russian's eyes widened slightly at the use of his language.
"Yesli vy ne khotite umeret' segodnya, opustite pistolet." Ziva had walked out from the side of the building and was right behind the Russian with her own weapon drawn and pointed at his head. "Teper'!" (Unless you want to die today, put it down. Now!)
The Russian conceded after a moment and lowered his weapon.
Jethro turned towards his Senior Field Agent. "DiNozzo, you and the deputy take him back. We got the lieutenant."
"Alright," DiNozzo said, "meet you back at the Navy Yard." The SFA started to cuff the Russian. "On it, Boss." Something caught DiNozzo's attention. "What's that all about? Hedge trimmer accident?"
The Russian shot them a smug look. "Proof."
"Of what?" DiNozzo asked.
Ziva didn't miss a beat. "Nerve."
"Initiation ritual," Jethro explained when he realized the Russian was missing a finger. "Common in Russian prison gangs."
"Any of your other friends missing fingers?" DiNozzo pressed.
"You will see for yourself," the Russian sneered.
"What does that mean?" the lieutenant asked.
"It means… we're getting the hell out of here," he replied, quickly shuffling the young lieutenant into the car. "Watch your head."
While Jethro was driving them down the exceptionally snowy road in the dark, he and Ziva filled Lieutenant Reynolds in on the Russian mercenaries that had been hired to take her and her baby.
They had just reached a small service station on the outskirts of Ridgeville, Maryland, alongside State Route 15 when the car suddenly started to seize.
"What happened?" the lieutenant asked. "Is it the engine?"
"The Russians," he said. The man tampered with the car while we were inside.
"There is no signal out here," Ziva said.
"There's a light up ahead," he said, maneuvering the car into the gas station before it came to an abrupt halt.
They all got out of the vehicle and Jethro immediately went to check the car's engine, which was beyond overheated. "God."
Ziva groaned. "Do you think we can fix it?"
"I don't think we've got a choice," he stated
"I saw a garage around back," the lieutenant said. "I'll help push."
He took a good look at the very pregnant lieutenant. "Don't push." The last thing that they needed was for Lieutenant Reynolds to go into labour.
The three of them had managed to find themselves in one hell of a situation.
