Chapter 25

"Are you sure?" Tim asked.

"Give me a little credit, Agent McGee. I do understand how the process works."

Tim blushed, even though he was alone.

"Sorry."

"No apologies necessary. Actually, I have to say that Logan was very sloppy. Either he's become rusty over the years or else he never reckoned on the NSA getting involved."

"I can't speak to the former, but considering that I'm surprised, the latter would make sense to me."

"Remember that I want to keep it that way."

"I remember."

"So we were able to track him down from the auto mechanic's shop and follow his movements very easily. He went to the site of the cabin you told me about and then to this house. However, he hasn't left that location in days, at least, not that has shown up. If he's as good as he's reported to be, he might be able to elude us. That just depends on what his intentions are and how aware he is of the possibility of being tracked, but I can tell you that he has definitely been in that area."

"Did you see any sign of Levi while you were looking?"

"I didn't tell them to look for him."

"They had to get him to the house sometime in the last couple of weeks."

"Well, there's a garage on this house, Agent McGee. If they had any intelligence at all, they wouldn't move him where he might be seen. There aren't close neighbors here, but there are other houses. And you never know whether or not there'll be nosy neighbors."

"Right. Okay. Could you send me the coordinates?"

"Already done, with the source encrypted."

"Understood. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. Remember to tell me how it goes."

"I will."

Tim hung up, more surprised than he would admit that this had turned out any results at all, let alone so quickly. He hurried back up to his computer and checked his email.

Sure enough, there was a message from an encrypted source. He had GPS coordinates and an address.

In southern Virginia, near the gas station where Jorgenson had been seen.

Could it really be shaping up to something significant? After days of very little, could they have hit pay dirt?

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

Bri couldn't decide how she felt as she drove south. First of all, she was coming down for more than one reason. She didn't necessarily want to worry about her father, but she was worried about her mother. And she hated the feeling of worry. Worrying made her irritated. She had always made a point of ignoring worry in her work. Everything was about getting a result. It wasn't about real people. That had been a hard habit to break, but she was working on it. Being away from anyone who might know her had helped, and she resisted getting dragged back into anything related to the life she'd led before. Including her father.

So she wanted to see her mother, but she didn't know about her father, but she was still a bit worried about him, but she still wasn't sure about him, but she knew that things had changed, but she didn't like leaving in the middle of a work week, but...

All in all, the miles passed with Bri uncertain about what she was doing. When she got closer to DC, she decided to call her mother again and get exact directions to wherever she was staying. She had insisted she was safe.

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

Closer and closer. He knew he was almost there. He hoped to see Tamara soon, but for some reason, the final goal kept eluding him.

Maybe there's a reason for that.

The voice...or was it a voice? He tried to figure out whether he was really hearing something or not, but that took too much effort. He tried to open his eyes.

And there was Quinn, his son, dead so many years now, was staring at him, but from a distance, as if across a deep chasm.

"Are you there?" he whispered.

There was no response to his query. He supposed that must mean that his son wasn't really there. Delusions were to be expected with the way he was being treated.

But wherever he looked, there was Quinn, staring at him.

"It was my fault," he said. "I knew that...that... you could have died, but I never... thought it would be... because of me."

The words made him breathless and he had to just breathe for a while. And Quinn was there, not moving, not speaking, just staring. His son had often been that way. He was quiet, reserved, much as he had remembered his own father.

Not typical CIA material, but he had been good at his job, and he'd had the build to let his strength get him further. Who knew where that larger build had come from. Certainly not from his side of the family.

Still, he stood there, quietly evaluating his father, waiting.

Waiting for what? He was dead. Waiting for what? What could he possibly be waiting for?

"Are you really there?" he asked again.

Are you?

Quinn. Never long on words, but big on meanings.

All those lost years.

"I thought your mother...would be here, not you."

Why?

It seemed to be a direct response, but was this real? He really couldn't tell. Not at all. He was just trying to keep breathing, although there was the question of why he was doing that. He was getting closer. He knew it. If he could just get back to the farm again, he could make it.

But he couldn't.

Not with Quinn there. Dead or not, he was there, and he couldn't leave while he was.

And Quinn didn't leave. He just stood there. Staring silently.

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

Tim ran into Abby's lab, address in hand. As the doors opened, he started talking.

"Abby, I have something for you to..." he trailed off as Tony, Ziva, Abby, Gibbs and a woman he didn't know all turned to look at him.

"Ms. Sutton, this is Agent McGee. He's also on our team," Tony said.

Tim blushed bright red. He could feel his cheeks burning, but he smiled and nodded.

"Hello, Ms. Sutton. You're making a sketch of the man you saw in your neighborhood?"

"Yes, that's right. I can't say that I feel I'm helping all that much, though. I just didn't get a good enough look at him."

Tim glanced at Abby and she shook her head. It wasn't enough.

"That's all right," he said. "Every little bit helps."

"I hope so. Tamara sounded so upset when I talked to her. I know she loves Levi so much and after all the struggles they've had..." she trailed off. "Well, is there anything else I can do?"

"I think that's all for now," Tony said. "If we have any other questions, we'll call."

"And if I think of anything else, I still have your card."

"I will take you to the entrance," Ziva said. "This way."

"Thank you."

Tim barely glanced back as the neighbor left. His attention was all on Tony, Abby and Gibbs.

"You look like you're about to explode, Probie," Tony said. "What's going on?"

"Abby, I need you to check on an address for me. See if you can find out who owns it, how recently it's been occupied, everything."

"What is it?"

"My source came through. He got me a location, but I need to make sure that this is it before we go storming in there."

"Well, then, lay it on me, Tim," Abby said. "I can't read your mind."

"Good thing. I think you'd get lost in all the circles," Tim said, grinning.

Abby grinned back and took the address he'd written down.

"So how did he get this?" Tony asked.

"I didn't ask, but it's trustworthy. I promise."

"How sure are you?" Gibbs asked, breaking his silence.

"As sure as I can be. The very fact that he's done anything means that there's something to this."

"But so fast? You just did this this morning. ...right?" Tony said.

"I know, but what he told me makes sense."

"Makes sense, but is it right?"

"That's why we're checking it out before we go rushing in there, Tony," Tim said, feeling a little frustrated. "I didn't just go..."

His phone rang.

"I have to take this," he said and answered. "McGee."

"Hey, Tim. I have something for you. It might not be much, but it's better than nothing, I figure."

"Great! Let me have it," Tim said, feeling more surprised than he'd ever admit at having two bursts of info all at once.

"Logan had a girlfriend. They dated for about a year. He used to take her to a family-owned house down in southern Virginia. She doesn't remember where it was exactly. It's been a while and they broke up before Logan went rogue. But she told me that there were two floors, and she thought there was a basement. A fairly large house, and Logan claimed that he was the only one left with ownership in the property so he could use it whenever he wanted to."

"Tim, here's the house at that address," Abby said, pointing to the computer.

Tim looked at it.

"Daniel, you said two stories and probably a basement, right?" Tim said, slowly, staring at the photo.

"That's right."

"We might know exactly where it is."

"You can't leave me out of this, Tim."

"I know. Can you come over to NCIS? We have some checking to do before we head down there."

"Yes. My participation is official as far as finding Logan."

"Okay. I'll let Henry know you're coming."

"Be there in less than an hour."

"All right. Bye."

Tim hung up.

"Logan used to take a girlfriend to a family house down in southern Virginia," Tim said, trying not to sound triumphant. "Two stories, probably a basement."

He gave Tony a dagger stare, daring him to say that it was just a coincidence.

Tony didn't.

The lab doors opened and Ziva came back.

"What is going on?"

"We may have found the place that Logan is hiding out and that means that it could be where Levi is," Tim said. "Two sources pointing to the same area. Also, the same area that Jorgenson has been seen in. Coincidence, Tony?"

It was a challenge, and they all knew it.

"No," but it was Gibbs who said that. "It's no coincidence. Abby, keep working. I need to give a report."

Tim tried to protest.

"People will likely die during this takedown, Tim," Gibbs said bluntly. "If NCIS is going to be involved in it, Jenny needs to know."

Tim nodded. He knew that was the case. He just didn't like spreading information around like that. It seemed like it was asking for trouble. ...but if they could move fast enough...

Gibbs strode out of the lab, leaving Ziva still looking confused.

"How did all this happen in five minutes?" she asked.

"My sources came through. Daniel's on his way here."

"Why? He's CIA," Tony said.

"The CIA wants Logan. They're authorized for that."

"He won't just be doing that, though."

"When has it stopped the CIA in the past?" Tim asked.

"Never," Abby said. "I hope this works out. I'm still checking on the house."

"Good. I hope it comes through soon," Tim said.

"For your sake, so do I," Abby said.

Tim smiled and then stared at the computer, willing it to get the results he wanted.

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

"I shouldn't authorize this, Jethro," Jenny said.

"If you weren't going to, you should have put your foot down a week ago. Tim won't stop now. If you say no, he'll just go on his own...and probably get killed."

"We don't have jurisdiction. If the slightest thing goes wrong, it will be a nightmare."

"Then, it had better not go wrong," Gibbs said. "Maybe you should get in touch with the CIA and offer to help apprehend Marc Logan."

"I don't like it when you get political, Jethro," Jenny said. "You're too good at it."

Gibbs smiled. "Aren't you lucky that I don't bother most of the time."

"No, I'm not. It's almost worse when you ignore politics," Jenny said, but she did smile a little. Then, her smile vanished. "Be careful, Jethro. This is off the books, even if we do get nominal cooperation from the CIA. I don't know if you really know what you're getting into."

"I don't, but Tim does."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Gibbs said. He hated that he didn't know, but he was sure that Tim did, and Tim wouldn't knowingly lead them into an unwinnable situation. Not even for Carew.

"Then, good luck, and keep your head down. ...and keep Tim's head down, too."

Gibbs nodded once and left the office. It was like they'd be trudging through knee-deep snow for days and now it had instantly melted and they were barreling downhill at a faster speed than was safe.

He just hoped that it would work out all right.