Edvina was nervously shuffling papers when Gibbs finally returned to the hotel. The US Army had not employed her simply for her translation skills – Edvina prided herself on her character assessment and observation skills, and to that end, she had made sure she had a large, strong, black coffee waiting for the ex-Marine when he came in. He gave her a strange look when she forced the cup into his hands before he had even had a chance to shrug off his jacket, but decided not to say anything until he had taken a grateful gulp of coffee.
"Where's Kate?"
Edvina went pale at the gruffness of his tone, and replied, "She went for a drive with Isak. They are looking in the mountains for Tony and McGee."
Gibbs stared at her uncomprehendingly for a second. "Start at the beginning, Edvina, and tell me why the hell they've got off by themselves." Once Edvina had taken him through it, he swore vehemently, before dialling a number on his cell. "Kate, what the hell do you think you are doing?" he barked. "I've had just about enough of you lot wandering off without me, but I thought you knew better!" He listened for a second or two before saying, "Kate, I can hear you hissing, don't pretend reception is poor! Don't try that trick – ". He broke off abruptly, snapped his cell phone shut, and glared at Edvina.
"Have they found anything?" she asked innocently.
He shook his head. "And we didn't find anything in his house either," he said tiredly. "Well, nothing that pointed to where he might have gone. And nothing that I can decipher," he said, shooting a glare at Howard's laptop. If looks could kill, the machine would have burst into flames.
"McGee was the one good at computers, no?" Edvina sighed. "I hope he and Tony are all right."
Not for the first time, Gibbs wished he knew more about computers. He seemed to be the only one in his team who couldn't use the damn things properly. His team. A light bulb went off in his brain as he thought that. Not all of his team were in this bloody country. He called Abby with a relieved smile.
"Hey bossman, any news?"
"Sorry Abs," he said, switching the phone to speaker and laying it on the table. "Nothing yet, but I think you might be able to help me. I need to look at Howard's laptop, and since McGee isn't here, you'll have to talk me through it."
"Spy-guy left his laptop behind? What a stupid thing to do! Well, first things first, you'll need to get into his hard drive."
"Abs, I haven't turned it on yet," Gibbs said, aware Edvina was now laughing at him.
"The power button is the big button on the side of the laptop," Abby said with extreme patience. "Is it on yet?"
"It's asking for a password."
"Type overwrite 360. If the laptop is CIA issue, it's the standard overwrite code for all of their software." Gradually, bit by bit, Abby talked him through the complexities of hacking. Gibbs gave up on trying to remember how she did it, and concentrated on typing exactly what she said. Once again, he made a mental note that Abby deserved a pay rise.
Isak and Kate were making their way around several of the areas Isak had marked out as possibilities. They came across several small villages, little more than hamlets really, but at each one, Isak stopped and asked around. News of an American in a new Toyota Landcruiser would be easy to track, once they found the right area. They had had no luck so far though, and Kate was beginning to doubt the wisdom of hanging up on Gibbs.
"He will be mad?" Isak asked, when she explained why she was a little jumpy.
"Mad won't cover it," Kate said despondently. "He'll probably kill me, and then fire me."
Isak looked confused for a second, before he laughed, as the meaning of her words became clear. "But surely he will be pleased if you find Tony and McGee?"
"Yeah, he'll probably stop at just killing me then."
The next village hardly deserved the name. It was a collection of five houses, built around a mountain track, next to a small brook. One of the houses looked long abandoned, and another still had bullet holes in it from the war. An old man watched from the porch of one of the houses, eyes watchful and suspicious. No one else could be seen. Kate thought she'd rarely seen such a dreary place.
Isak approached the old man cautiously. They had already been chased away from one village by an angry man with a shotgun, who seemed to believe they were after taxes. Kate watched through the windshield as the two talked. To her surprise, this was a longer conversation than normal and Isak gestured towards her, before beckoning her over to them.
"He says he saw a red Landcruiser through here several hours ago," Isak said with a triumphant smile.
"Where? Where did they go?" Kate cried, forgetting that their witness did not speak English. The old man looked at her sadly before talking to Isak again.
"He says they went further up the mountain, and that he hopes you find your friends. He said he lost too many people in the war, and he would not like you to lose people you love," Isak translated.
On impulse, Kate leant forward and hugged the old man. "Thank you," she whispered. He nodded and, for a second, it didn't matter that neither understood the other's language.
Gibbs swore when he saw the number on his caller ID. Telling Abby to hang on, he put her on hold and picked up the phone to speak to Howard again.
"What do you want?" he said gruffly.
"I think you know. Which arm would Agent DiNozzo most like to be shot in Agent Gibbs?"
"Wait! Don't, don't do that." Gibbs took a deep breath, aware that his boss would kill him for even thinking about bargaining with this man. But Tony's life hung in the balance. "I'm working on getting you transport out of Kosovo."
Howard laughed. "You expect me to believe that?"
"If you can just give me a couple more hours," Gibbs pleaded.
"Well, who would have thought it? The great Jethro Gibbs, begging." Howard laughed again and Gibbs swore privately that he would see the man dead at the end of all of this.
"Don't hurt my guys anymore. I just need a few more hours." Gibbs poured every ounce of sincerity in him into his voice.
Howard paused. "You really mean that?"
"Yeah I do."
"You've got another three hours Agent Gibbs. And then I want a result." Howard hung up.
Gibbs stared at his phone with unrestrained hatred. "Oh, you'll get a result Howard. Don't ever doubt me on that."
Tony was unconscious again. He had woken up again for a few minutes, long enough to give McGee the small knife he always carried, disguised as part of his belt buckle, before he had passed out again. McGee noted with concern that each time he drifted off, Tony seemed to sink a little deeper into unconsciousness. Not a good sign. Nor was his breathing, which was becoming more erratic and gasping. McGee knew that was another symptom of shock, and had done his best to keep him as warm as possible, but unless they got out of here soon, Howard was going to come and shoot Tony again.
McGee looked around the small room again, hoping for inspiration. If he was Kate or Gibbs, he was sure he would have thought up a way out, but he was just Tim McGee, the Probie. He sat there, slumped against the wall, facing the door. Idly, he began playing with Tony's knife.
After a while, he stood up and examined the door a little closer. Excitement and apprehension rushed through him, and he shook Tony, trying to wake him up.
"What?" he asked groggily.
"Tony, I think I've got an idea."