Chapter 9

Tamara heard a door slam and sat up abruptly in the bed. She looked around, for a moment, forgetting where she was. Then, she heard someone walking around outside the door and there was a soft voice singing in another language.

She remembered. It must be Zahara she could hear.

For a few minutes, she sat in the bed, listening to the simple song. She couldn't understand a single word of it, but she could hear the happiness in the voice. It made her heart ache to hear it, but at the same time, she was also happy to realize that Tim was truly trying to make a life for himself, that he wasn't isolating himself out of a misplaced desire to protect those he loved.

I can't stay in here forever, she thought to herself, finally.

Carefully, she got out of bed and limped to the door. Her leg hadn't yet recovered from the long walk...and the initial injury. Her feet were still sore, too. Quietly, she opened the door and saw Zahara in the kitchen. There was a book open on the counter and she was leaning over it while mixing something in a bowl. All the while, she was singing softly, not noticing anything else.

Tamara had seen her briefly at the wedding, but she and Levi hadn't stayed long and they hadn't gone to the reception. Just long enough to see the wedding itself. Tamara had been surprised to be invited and even more surprised that Levi had wanted to go. It had seemed really important to him. Now, looking at Zahara, Tamara was glad to see someone comfortable in her life. She had an air of innocence about her, although she couldn't imagine that Tim would have let himself pretend that there was no potential for danger in their lives together. She must be aware of the world her husband lived in, but somehow, she'd kept that innocence, and her voice was soothing.

"You sound lovely," Tamara said.

Zahara looked up, startled. Then, she blushed a little.

"I am sorry if I woke you," she said. "I was trying to be quiet."

"You didn't. It was the door, I heard."

Zahara grinned. "Tim slams the door all the time. I tell him that it will close without all that force, but he doesn't listen to me."

"What were you singing?"

"A song by Fairuz. She is a Lebanese singer."

"Oh. So it was Arabic, then?"

"Yes, Lebanese Arabic. It is called 'Habbaytak Bessayf'."

"What does that mean?"

"'I loved you in summer.' The song is about a woman who falls in love with a man who leaves her. She sings... Let me think of the English words..." She was silent for a few seconds. "'I loved you in summer. I loved you in winter. I waited for you in summer. I waited for you in winter. Your eyes are the summer. My eyes are the winter. Our meeting, darling...' No, it is my darling. 'Our meeting, my darling, is beyond the summer and the winter.' It is a...sad song."

"Yes, it sounds like it, but your voice is lovely."

Zahara blushed again. "Thank you. I am not as good as Fairuz. She is one of the best Arabic singers I know of." Then, she looked back at her bowl. "I am making breakfast. It is a day for American food. Tim tells me that I...don't need to make breakfast every morning. He is happy with much less, but I like to do it, and I like to try new things."

"What are you making?" Tamara asked.

"Waffles. Tim made them for me once. They are different from what I would have in Morocco."

Tamara limped over to the counter and sat on a stool.

"Thank you for what you're doing for me," she said. "I can't tell you how hard it was to think I might have to do all this alone."

Zahara reached out and touched her hand.

"You need help. We can help. So we will."

"It's not always so simple."

"No, but for me, it is. I know that there are things about Levi Carew that people do not like, but he helped me and he has helped Tim, although I know he has hurt him, too. But Tim wishes to help, and if he wishes to help, then, I do not see that anyone else can say no."

"Oh, people can say no," Tamara said. "Levi has made it easy to do that. And he did it on purpose. I love him, but I'm not blind to what he's like."

"Yes, but Tim is sure they will not. And you may stay with us for as long as you need to. We have the room."

Tamara wanted to say no, that she'd be fine in her house, but the plain fact of the matter was that she was terrified at the prospect of being alone when her life could be in danger.

"Thank you," she said again. "Where is Agent McGee?"

"He is running. He always runs in the morning with his dog. He says it helps him wake up. He will probably be back soon. There is a bathroom just over there. If you would like to shower or something else, you can do so."

"Thanks."

Zahara looked at her intently for a few seconds.

"We are not really the same size. I am taller, but I think your shoulders are broader than mine. I am not sure that you would fit in my clothes, but it is too bad that you must keep wearing the same clothes."

"I did change once already. I've only been in these clothes for a day."

Tamara was surprised to see that Zahara still seemed bothered by it. For a few more seconds, she thought, and then, her expression lightened.

"I know. If you are willing to wear some sweats and a t-shirt for a few hours, I can wash your clothes. Then, you will have clean clothes for today until we know what will come next."

"Oh, I don't want you to go to all that trouble, Zahara."

"No, I want to do this for you. It is so little. The washer and dryer just require me to push the right buttons."

Tamara smiled.

"All right."

"If you will put the clothes outside the bathroom, I will get them washing quickly."

"You're very kind."

Tamara went into the bathroom, surprised that she felt so safe here with these people she barely knew.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim slowed to a walk and then turned around and made eye contact with his guard. He came up beside Tim and matched his pace. They walked side by side without looking at each other.

"Tamara Carew came to your building last night."

"Yes. I was wondering if you'd noticed her."

"We did."

"Any sign of someone following her?"

"None."

"She's in my apartment and will be for a while."

"Can I ask why?"

"Someone has abducted Levi Carew and tried to kill Tamara. She's asked for my help in finding him and I'm giving it. I know that the CIA can't run an investigation, but if you know anything about it, I'd like to be told."

"I don't know anything about it, but I'll make that report."

"I'd appreciate it if you kept the report to a very small circle of people. When I have no idea who's responsible, I don't want to let people in on it if I don't have to."

"Understood. Are you going to make this official? A civilian, even if he is a former federal director, doesn't fall under the purview of NCIS."

Tim smiled. "Only as official as I have to make it. There's going to be a lot of averted eyes."

There was an involuntary chuckle.

"Director Morgan will know about this within the hour, at least, he will if you stop running."

Tim's smile widened to a grin. "Do you guys try to get out of this part?"

"Absolutely. We're spooks, not athletes."

Tim laughed.

"Is that everything?"

"For now," Tim said. "I'll head home."

"Good."

The man fell back as Tim began jogging again. He ran back to his car and then drove home. When he got inside, Zahara was running the waffle iron.

"What's in the wash?" Tim asked, hearing the machine going.

"Tamara's clothes. She don't...no, it is didn't."

"That's right."

"Didn't, doesn't, don't. English is so complicated. I don't have to think of many different ways of saying not in Arabic or in Spanish."

"That's because you already know Arabic and Spanish. English is the language you're learning and the complications are what make it fun. It only took you two tries."

Zahara tsk-ed at her mistake and then went on. "She didn't bring any clothes with her and she will not fit in mine. So she will wear some of your sweats until her clothes are clean. They are too big, but it is better than nothing. Then, maybe you will know what will come next and she can get more clothes from her home or else we can buy her some."

"Sounds fine with me. Waffles?"

"As soon as you are clean."

Tim smiled and hurried back into the bedroom to shower and change. By the time he finished and came back out to the kitchen, Tamara had joined Zahara at the counter.

"Smells like waffles," Tim said.

Zahara smiled. "It has not changed since you went into the bedroom."

"Good."

Zahara portioned out waffles onto three plates and they ate without much conversation. Tim had questions, but he didn't want to ask them while Tamara was eating. It was clear that it had been a frightening and traumatic experience for her. Why ruin a meal with that?

As they finished, Tim looked at Zahara and widened his eyes for a moment. She smiled and nodded.

"I will clean up," she said. "You don't need to help, Tamara."

"I hate to leave you to clean up after me," Tamara said.

"Actually, I need to ask you for some details, if you can give them," Tim said.

Tamara nodded.

"I can see that you would need to know more. I may not be very helpful, though."

"Maybe not, but we never know if we don't ask. Come on over to the couch and I'll get what I can before I go to work."

"All right."

They walked over and sat down while Zahara took her time cleaning up the kitchen. Tim could tell that she was going as slowly as possible so that she could listen in, and he tried not to smile at her obvious eavesdropping.

"Okay. Do you and Levi go to that cabin often?" Tim asked, getting out a notebook to take notes.

"Fairly often. Levi likes getting away from people. He told me once that he had spent so many years in forced contact with people he hated that he wanted the chance to get away from them."

"How long would you generally stay?"

"About a month at a time. I didn't want us to stay longer because we'd be too tempted to stay forever," Tamara said, smiling.

"Is the cabin yours?"

"Yes. Officially, Levi bought it, not the two of us. But he bought it after we started this."

"Regular purchase?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean did he buy it in the usual way, through a realtor?"

"As far as I know."

"So there'd be a record of it."

"Yes. Yes, there would be," Tamara said, her expression indicating that she was understanding why he'd asked.

"Okay. Now, how long had you been there this time?"

"About two weeks."

"Whoever they were, they couldn't have done this on the spur of the moment. Did you have any indication of someone watching you?"

"No," Tamara said, firmly. "I can say that Levi would never have stayed if he'd felt that someone was watching us. So if someone was, he must not have realized, either."

"What happened that night?"

There was some tension, and Tim understood why. Recounting a traumatic event was hard, especially when there had been no resolution to it. Tamara took a deep breath.

"We went to bed. Well, I went to bed. Levi stayed up. He sometimes would stay up until he couldn't stay awake anymore just so that he'd be able to sleep. I've found him sleeping on the couch before." She smiled a little. "Everything was normal...or as normal as we get."

Tim smiled sympathetically.

"I fell asleep right away. I never heard him come to bed, so I would guess that he didn't. Although he's said that sometimes he likes to watch me sleep because it helps him relax."

She laughed a little and then looked down. Tim just waited, letting her collect her thoughts.

"The next thing I knew, I heard Levi from outside the house." She stopped again and looked up. "Agent McGee, you know what Levi is like. I don't know if I've ever heard him out of control, not even when we were young. He took so much time to plan everything that almost nothing ever took him by surprise. Even when he was happy, he was still in control. Last week, when this happened...he wasn't. I heard him." Tears came into her eyes. "He screamed my name. I've never heard Levi sound like that, and I had been waking up already. There was some noise, but when I heard that...I knew something was wrong and I ran. There are doors in the bedroom leading out to the deck. I ran out, and then, I felt the explosion. It knocked me out. When I woke up, the fire was burning down and no one was around."

"So you don't know how they got Levi out of the house?"

"No idea."

"But he was alive."

"Yes."

"All right. Where exactly is the cabin?"

"In southern Virginia, in the mountains. It's off the road, on a little private lane that goes back into the forest almost a mile. It's off the grid, and very quiet. There's a private well. Heat comes from a fireplace and a geothermal system. There are solar panels on the roof and in a clearing near the cabin. There's also a basin for catching rainwater. It's not rustic so much as isolated. We didn't want to rough it. We just don't see anyone when we go there."

"So it wouldn't be a surprise if no one knew what had happened."

"Exactly. It's remote. No houses within ten miles. It's what Levi wanted."

"All right. If you could write down the address for me, that will make it easier to find."

"I could go with you. I've been there so many times that I could easily give you directions."

Tim shook his head. "No. Right now, I think it would be safer if we kept you out of sight. If someone did want you dead, too, then, we don't want them to know that they failed."

"All right, but if... when you find Levi, I need to go with you."

"Understood."

"Okay."

Tamara took the notebook and wrote down the address and some street directions and then handed it back.

"How long do you think it will take?" she asked.

"I don't know," Tim said, "but I will do everything I can as fast as I can. I'm not phoning this in."

"I know. That's why I came to you," Tamara said. "Levi said once that you were a person who would help because it was right, not because he deserved it. And he's never said it, but he likes you, Agent McGee."

Tim laughed a little and saw Zahara trying not to smile.

"I don't know if I can honestly reciprocate," Tim said. "But there's a lot I can respect about him."

"I know," Tamara said. "I'm just so grateful that you're doing this for him."

Tim squeezed her arm.

"I'd better get going. I'll let you know where we're going next, when I get back this evening."

"All right. Thank you."

Tim nodded and stood. He walked over to Zahara and kissed her on the cheek.

"I will take care of her," Zahara said softly.

"I know. Take care of yourself, too."

"I will."

"See you tonight."

"Be careful," Zahara said.

"Always."

Tim grabbed his bag and headed to work. As he drove, he couldn't help wondering how Tony and Ziva would react. Probably, a lot like Gibbs, only worse.