Chapter 25
"Anything yet, McGee?" Gibbs asked. Tim had been working for the last eight hours without stopping. He never looked away from the computer screen and he had been almost oblivious to outside stimuli. "McGee!"
"Yes, Boss?" Tim reluctantly tore his eyes from his monitor to look over at Gibbs. When he was trying to solve problems, he was able to separate himself from his own mind. Coming out of that was like getting sucker-punched.
"Anything?"
"Well, the cases don't have any common threads. Different agents, different types of crimes, different levels of success."
"So you have nothing?"
"No. All the cases come from the same department."
"How many people in that department have access to the information?"
Tim sighed. "Over a hundred."
"How many have the ability and authority to sneak out the data?"
"That's the hundred. There are more than 200 people in that office."
Gibbs stared at Tim. This was getting them nowhere. He may have to call Abby back after all.
"Agent Gibbs." The voice rang out through the office.
"Yes, Director?"
"Could I see you in my office, please?"
"Certainly, Director Shephard." Gibbs stood, giving a significant glance at Tim as he headed up the stairs. It said very pointedly that Gibbs was almost through fending off the director.
Tim watched the two go into the office. He was making so little headway on the significance of the information. He kept getting distracted, losing his train of thought as he wandered through recent events. He picked up the case file that Gibbs had given him. He rested his chin on one hand as he flipped through the case information. Then, his eyes focused on a name. A name he had heard recently. He grabbed for his cell phone and belatedly remembered that his had been incinerated. He picked up his desk phone and dialed Tony's cell. Nothing. Then, he dialed Ziva's cell. Nothing. They wouldn't have turned off their cells. Not while guarding a witness.
He stood and looked toward the director's office. He couldn't interrupt Gibbs and the Director. The death certificate would read suicide. He might as well have shot himself. He called Gibbs' cell. There was no answer. Either Gibbs was ignoring it or he had accidentally put it on silent. Tim couldn't waste time waiting. Delay could be fatal. It wasn't that he had no faith in Tony and Ziva, but they weren't aware of the danger. He left a frantic message and ran over to Gibbs' desk. The car keys were laying there. Tim hesitated, knowing what he had to do, but not wanting to do it. His hand shook as he grabbed the keys. Sternly, he told himself that this was silly. He had to do something. Decision made, Tim ran to the elevator.