Chapter Eight - "Keep Searching"

Tony walked down the hall back towards the bullpen. He couldn't believe Ziva lied straight to his face. Sure he could understand why she did it, but at the same time he couldn't understand it. Of course she'd tell Gibbs, he knows everything anyways. It was just who he was. He thought she trusted him that she knew he'd always be there for her, but no she lied to him, so he'd stop asking questions. Tony walked into the bullpen and walked over to McGee's Desk.

"I have a lead" Tony said to McGee not caring if he made sense right now. He was still trying to make sense of everything else.

"A new one or the one you won't tell us about?" McGee Questioned.

"Both" Tony said. "Ziva's building has security cameras. I was able to get the last five months of footage. Abby and I watched it and we found our suspect around the victim's apartment around the time death. Now we need to prove he was there"

"It's been months, if there was anything left to find it'd be gone by now" McGee said to him.

"Not where we have to look. Now let's go" Tony said. He then walked over to his desk and grabbed his bag before heading towards the elevator, McGee following behind.

"Everything okay Tony?" McGee asked once the elevator doors closed.

"Yeah I'm fine" Tony said, he was more side tracked with everything going on with Ziva the anything about himself.

"You seem distracted" McGee said to him.

"Look we have a case we need to focus on" Tony said almost in defense.

"This is about Ziva isn't it" McGee said. "You always get defensive when it involves Ziva."

"Fine I'm worried about her, that bastard is after her." Tony snapped at him.

"We're all worried about her" McGee said. "We'll find him before her hurts her."

"Too Late" Tony said under his breath.

"You okay Ziva" Abby said peering her head into the conference room. Abby had seen Gibbs leave and decided to check on Ziva. She knew he should stay in her lab, but wanted to see her friend. Abby also knew she had to make it seem like everything was okay when she knew it was far from it, but she made the promise to Tony.

"Abby" Ziva said looking up at her. "I am fine."

"I know this must be tough for you" Abby said as she walked into the room and over to Ziva. "Must be bringing up some bad memories, If you want to talk I'm here."

"There is nothing left to talk about" Ziva said to her almost emotionless.

"Okay" Abby said, not believing it. She knew what she saw, she just wonder what Tony had found out. "In case you need to talk you know where to find me." Abby gave her a smile.

"I know" Ziva said.

"We are getting closer to finding him and getting enough evidence to prove he's guilty" Abby said to her, hopping it be good news.

"You should not be telling me this Abby" Ziva said to her.

"I know, but I was hoping it be good news for you" Abby said to her.

"That is sweet, but I do not want to get you in trouble for telling me" Ziva said to her.

"I won't" Abby said. "I'm not telling you details, just cliff notes."

"Abby" Ziva said.

"Okay fine, I was never here" Abby said and then exited the conference room.

"Send her home Agent Gibbs" Vance said to him. Once Vance had gotten word of everything about the case he called Gibbs right into his office. He wanted to make sure nothing could screw up this investigation.

"She is a witness to a crime, and the only witness we have" Gibbs said to him, but that wasn't the whole truth.

"Get her statement and send her home. We can't have her on the case" Vance said to him.

"She's not on the case. She is in the conference room where I have told her to stay" Gibbs said to him.

"Send her home" Vance said to him. "That is an order not a request."

"He is after her, I'm not about to let her leave so he can go after her" Gibbs said to Vance.

"What is really going on here Agent Gibbs?" Vance asked him.

"He blames Ziva for everything that has gone wrong. We believe he will go after her" Gibbs said to him, again only using half of the truth. "She is here for protection."

"I will put a detail on her, so send her home" Vance said.

"She is my agent Leon" Gibbs said to him.

"No she is MY agent" Vance snapped at him correcting him.

"The last thing she needs is to be surrounded by strangers." Gibbs said. "My team is capable of protecting her and doing their job."

"Okay, but she is to never leave's your sight" Vance said. "She does anything to screw this up and we will lose this case."

"I have taught my team better" Gibbs said.

"I hope so or it's your head" Vance said. Gibbs headed out of the office and back down to his desk, where Abby was waiting for him.

"How's she doing Gibbs" Abby asked him. She knew she had gone to see Ziva only minutes before, but Ziva was good at hiding how she really felt and Gibbs was always one to know the truth.

"Okay" Gibbs said.

"No really" Abby said. "She's hiding something I know it."

"Abby, Ziva will be fine. We just need to worry about catching our killer" Gibbs said to her. She knew he was holding back.

"We are doing everything that we can, but he's just a bit too good" Abby said to him.

"Then we need to be one step ahead of him. "Gibbs said. "We need to get in his head to stop him before he kills again."

"Rule 35" Abby said, she then walked over to McGee's desk and started to go through the crime scene photos. She then pulled up a photo that included some of the crown. "You said to get in his head. Rule 35…"

"Always watch the watcher" Abby said and Gibbs said together.

"If he is trying to get to Ziva, chances are he returned to the crime scene to see if Ziva was there" Abby said as he started to scan the photo. "He knows how to appear and vanish without anyone noticing, so there is a chance he was there."

"We know what he looks like" Gibbs said to her.

"He's a chameleon Gibbs" Abby said to him. "He knows how to blend in without being seen."

"Can you find him?" Gibbs asked.

"Give me a minute" Abby said, she then pulled up a picture on the plasma and zoomed in to show a guy in sun glasses and dirty blonde hair. "That's him."

"Are you sure?" Gibbs said looking at the picture.

"I'll have to check it, but yes sure that is him." Abby said. Gibbs turned to her.

"I want you to check the rest of the crime scene photos and find him" Gibbs said to her. Abby got up and started to leave. "Abby, good job" He said to her. She smiled at him before leaving.