Deep Lacerations: Chapter 28

Sonja Gracy was going beside herself with worry, both at the state of the twenty-four-year-old Navy lieutenant junior grade in front of her and the former Marine gunnery sergeant who ran off after a potential terrorist and murderer. Since she couldn't do anything about Gibbs, she focused her attention on Mahida.

Her worry increased exponentially when the ambulance arrived before Gibbs returned. "Damn it, Gibbs, where are you? And why is it that going without back-up is suddenly acceptable?" she muttered under her breath as the paramedics focused on getting two large-bore IVs into Mahida's arms. She shivered in the cold of the empty building, knotting her hands together in the front pocket of her sweatshirt. The EMTs had immediately covered the young officer in blankets and handed Gracy her NCIS windbreaker, which was now crumpled uselessly at the CID agent's feet. The inside was stained with blood. Gracy didn't want any more blood on her hands that day.

She brought her wrist to her mouth, about to activate the mic to ask Gibbs for a sitrep, but stopped herself before any words passed her lips, not wanting to distract him in case he was in the middle of something. She lowered her wrist and returned her attention to the work of the paramedics for the second time in two days. She was beginning to feel like a black cloud.

The paramedics were sliding Mahida's gurney into the back of the ambulance when Gibbs finally reappeared, looking a bit scuffed up, as if he had tackled someone to the dirt. Judging by the man he was roughly escorting, arms held behind his back and his face and clothes looking like he just lost a battle with the ground, he had done just that. Gracy found herself frozen in place as she focused on the man's face. Afran Musawi. Somehow, knowing his name didn't make her feel any better.

He gave her a cold smile, the same one he had given to her fifteen months before, standing in the entryway to her Alexandria townhouse. "Dr. Gracy. It is good to see you again."

"I hope you'll forgive me if I don't return the sentiment," she said coldly. Bastard, she added in her head.

Musawi kept his eyes on Gracy as Gibbs forcefully jostled his arms to keep him moving. "Do you know what your husband's last words were?" he asked casually.

"Shut up," she commanded, her voice just above a whisper. "Just…shut up."

His cold smile turned into an evil grin. "'Uhib uki, Sonja.' That is what he said."

"Shut up," she managed, squeezing her eyes closed, not doubting for a moment that Musawi was telling the truth. Scott had said those words many times over the years. She could remember the first time she had said them back to him.

"Uhib uki, Sonja," Scott Gracy said softly, his forehead resting against hers as they separated from their kiss. Sonja Herzlich opened her eyes to find herself staring right into his eyes. His unnatural blue eyes, dark enough to look black from a distance, but startlingly blue up close. Those were actually the first thing she noticed about him, once she got over how much he annoyed her.

"Uhib uki," she repeated. To her surprise, he laughed.

"Uhib ukato," he corrected. "A man says uhib uki to a woman. From a woman to a man, it's uhib ukato."

She sighed in frustration as she kissed him again lightly. "How about this? You can go on saying whatever you want in Arabic. I'll just stick with 'ich liebe dich.'"

He grinned as they separated. "That works with me."

"Gracy." She blinked away the memory and focused on Gibbs' voice, wondering in the back of her mind how many times he had said her name before it registered. "I need you to stay here and guard the scene until a team arrives. They'll bring you a car. Come right back to NCIS as soon as they release you."

She nodded absently, looking away to avoid one last glance at Musawi as Gibbs stuffed him in the back of the car. She hoped the replacement team arrived soon. This was one interrogation she didn't want to miss.

Officer Ziva David paused just outside Observation. She had been watching a movie and lounging on Tony's hospital bed—accepting his explanation of it being easier to guard him from his bed now that he was the only patient to guard—when Gibbs called, telling her that they caught Musawi and she should head back to NCIS to watch the interrogation now that Tony was free from danger. She realized just how far out of the loop she had been when she didn't even know who Musawi was or what he had to do with the case.

The door pushed open easily to reveal a single figure standing in the middle of the darkened room. "If you don't mind, Ziva, I'd kinda like to be alone right now," Agent Gracy said without moving.

Ignoring the other agent's words, David continued into the room, stopping less than a foot from Gracy. Instead of watching the interrogation, she kept her attention focused on the CID agent. Her hands were resting on the ledge in front of her. "I did not notice before that you wear your wedding band."

Gracy glanced down at her own hands before removing the platinum band from her left ring finger and transferring it to the right. "They gave it back after I checked out of the hospital," she said. "Fifteen months of wearing it on the right can't erase ten years of having it on the left. Or this case just has me more rattled than I realized."

Ziva nodded slightly before finally giving the interrogation her full attention. "Is that Musawi?"

Gracy sighed. "Ziva…" Her voice trailed off. The Mossad officer again turned to face the other woman, seeing the wet tracks down her cheeks, her face fixed in a forced neutral expression. "Yeah, it's Musawi."

"He killed your husband."

"So he says," Gracy said softly. "I believe him. I believe he killed Hawke and Farver as well, or at least ordered someone else to do it." She was silent for a moment before she added, "And I know he held a gun to Maddie's head and made her spend seven hours watching her mother perform an autopsy on her father."

Ziva turned away from Gracy and focused on what was happening in front of them in Interrogation. Gibbs was leaning over the back of the terrorist's chair, his best 'intimidating interrogator' expression on his face. "Tell me about Louis Farver," he said.

"Oh, come on, Agent…Gibbs, is it? We both know it is not Farver, nor Hawke, nor Mahida that you care about. Major Gracy, that is who you want to know about. My only question is, which Major Gracy is it that you are most interested in?" Ziva saw Gracy visibly flinch at the words. "Yes, Agent Gibbs, I know that you kept dear Dr. Gracy at that storage facility so she would not have to ride back in the same vehicle as myself. I noticed the way you looked at her. I may be a bad man, but I am a man." He shook his head slightly. "You should have seen the way she looked at her husband fifteen months ago. Even dead, she looked at him in a way that she will never look at you. How do you feel about that, Agent Gibbs?"

"Did you kill him?" Gibbs asked coldly. Musawi looked up at him calmly.

"Yes," he said simply. "Would you like the details on how I did it?" When Gibbs didn't respond, he continued, "Very well. His capture was more difficult than I would have liked. He was vastly outnumbered, yet continued to fight. That was very admirable. Not admirable enough for me to spare his life, mind you, but I do appreciate a good fight. Even after he was captured, Major Gracy continued to be uncooperative. It was soon obvious that threatening his life would not get us the information that we required."

"So what did you do then?" Gibbs asked, almost mocking. "Threaten his wife, his children?"

"It is difficult to threaten something that is several thousand miles away, Agent Gibbs," Musawi said calmly. "I simply authorized my men to use…increased force. Perhaps I was not more specific. There is very little Major Gracy could tell us dead."

"What did you want to know?"

Musawi looked at him and rolled his eyes, looking away. "Nice try, Agent Gibbs, but I believe that is information that someone more talented in…interrogation should be asking. We both know you are sending me to your 'Gitmo'. Perhaps I will talk then."

"Why did you let them kill Gracy? Did you get what you needed?" Gibbs backed away from the chair, slowly circling the table. "The names of the other Calypso officers?"

Musawi gave a short laugh, his dark eyes just as cold as before. "I did not need that information from Major Gracy, Agent Gibbs," he said casually. "I already had that information. How did you think I knew Major Gracy was the one to target?"

"So how did you get it?"

"From the one who sent Major Gracy on that mission. The one who had taken special interest in his career since almost the beginning. The one who Major Gracy respected like a father." He looked up at Gibbs, wanting the man's full attention before making his big finish. "Colonel Lars Hauser."