After a two hour long search, Timothy finally found an address for Macsen's family. It was a cabin in the middle of the woods, registered to a Conor Thorne. The father of Everest Thorne.

Jethro sent Anthony to talk with the family. And reluctantly he finally let Liya leave, but with Anthony. Liya wasn't just being let go. Jethro had sent her with Anthony, because she had been following Macsen before he was even on NCIS's radar.

In the car on the way to the Macsen's home, it was a long drive which was made to feel longer by the fact that Liya was quiet. She wasn't saying a word. She had her head leaning against the window as Anthony drove along down the road to the house of Macsen's daughter and son-in-law.

"So…back at NCIS, what was that you were saying to Ziva?" Tony asked

His natural nosiness and curiosity peaked his interest. He wanted to know what Liya was hiding, but more than that he knew that Jethro needed to know what Liya was hiding. Not only could it be important information that pertained to their case. Anthony knew that Jethro had a gut instinct because of Liya's insistence to be 'out there', looking for Macsen. He had the same gut instinct. Her insistence could mean that it was about someone other than Macsen.

"I just want to say thank you for taking such great care of my sister." Liya replied, completely dodging his question.

Tony hummed, "You're welcome."

They hadn't made it to the dirt road yet. They were still within the city limits, when Liya's phone rang. She sat up and answered without looking at the caller ID, and started speaking in Hebrew. She expected that it would either be her partner, her father or someone else from Mossad.

It wasn't though. What she heard through the phone was English. However, she did recognise the voice.

She was now sitting upright with her head high as she held her breath, listening to the person talk.

"Tell me where they are, you bastard?" Liya demanded, angrily.

She became quiet, anger evident on her face as she listened to the person on the phone, giving a hum or an 'mhm' every now and again.

"Okay." She said, "No….Yes, I understand. Yes, I will."

She hung up the phone, and ran a hand through her hair as she let out the breath that she had been holding in.

"Everything alright?" Tony wondered

Liya didn't say anything. She was still holding the phone in her hand, resting it on her lap and tapping it with her fingers. At the next red light, the last one before they would turn onto the dirt road outside the city limits. Opening the door, she got out of the car, running in the opposite direction.

Anthony was speechless as he watched her running away through the rearview mirror. He stared at her phone, which she had left on her seat. All he could think was, 'Gibbs is gonna kill me.' Not only had Anthony just lost Liya, but the fact that she left her phone behind meant they had no way to track her.

Meanwhile back at NCIS headquarters, due to her sister being involved with the case, Ziva had been pulled off the case. It was frustrating, but she understood why.

Periodically, Jethro would ask Ziva questions about her sister, but mostly she was just sitting at her desk filling paperwork. It was boring and painstaking work, but it was also necessary.

"Gibbs." Ziva called as she looked up from the paperwork, "I think I know where Liya was going."

Jethro nodded, "Where?"

"Well, Liya told me that her real mission was to find Melton's niece."

"Why? What's so special about that child?"

Ziva pursed her lips, "Her mother is Jewish. Melton's niece is an Israeli child who was stolen away by her father."

Barnabas Melton was the older brother of Clarence Melton, and the father of this little girl. He died two weeks ago of an alcohol overdose.

"Still she's just one child." Jethro added, "Why is she important enough for Mossad to send someone to find her?"

"Her name is Shula Ronit Koenig, but I do not know why she is so important."

Jethro shook his head, "No. That's not good enough."

"I truly do not know, Gibbs. Liya did not tell me. What I do know is that Shula's mother has been looking for her ever since."

That's all she knew about Shula's mother. The identity of the little girl is unknown. The only reason that Shula's father was known was because he had kidnapped her from her mother and because she had lived with him for seven years until her uncle got custody of her.

Even with Shula's mother looking for her, it still did not explain why Mossad was involved in a missing child that was part of a parental abduction, but it would have to do for now.

Anthony arrived at the residence of Everest and Storie Thorne. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. There was no car in the driveway and peeking in through a window, he saw that the house was in darkness. Anthony walked around the whole house, searching for a way in. He broke a window in the back by throwing a rock through the window.

Entering the house through the window, Anthony's initial hypothesis had been correct. The house was empty, with the exception of some furniture which looked like the staging of a model open house. It lacked any kind of personal touch. Now either somebody had tipped the Thornes off, they were on vacation, or they had never been here in the first place. Whatever the scenario, this was a dead end.

Anthony called his boss to let him know about Liya and the Thornes before getting back into his car, turning the car around and starting the long drive back to the Navy Yard.

Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated. In fact, they keep me going.

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