Friday

Chapter 9

In the late afternoon, Ziva and McGee are in the bullpen at NCIS Headquarters. They've been working on trying to establish how Chioke was taken out of the country without sounding off any alarms with the Amber Alert.

"I think I found something…" McGee said.

"What did you find?" Ziva wondered.

"The Amber Alert was put in full affect within six minutes of Chioke being abducted…"

"I already know that, McGee."

"If Chioke was on the Kron-Printzen at the time we found out what happened…"

"Get to the point, McGee."

"A cargo ship can't cross the Pacific Ocean in five days. It's just not possible." McGee stated. "He must have been flown out of the country."

"But the Amber Alert was in full affect at all airports."

"True… But take a look at this." McGee puts the information from his computer up onto the plasma screen for Ziva to see. "Take a look at who owns the airport highlighted in red."

"Geoffrey Benson… So what?"

"He's the father of…" McGee presses the enter key on his keyboard. The information shows on the plasma screen for Ziva to see. "Shawn Benson and Petty Officer Wade Benson; the guys involved with the bank heist a while ago."

"Oh…" Ziva recognized the name now.

"Anyway… He owns the airport. And guess what… He also owns one of the airlines. It's highlighted for you."

"His airline took off from the airport within thirty minutes of the abduction. No passengers. It was strictly a cargo flight to Japan."

"My guess is the cargo included Chioke."

"He had Chioke abducted in retaliation for his son Shawn being in a federal prison for the next twenty years without any chance of parole."

"That's what I'm thinking." McGee agreed. "He could easily sneak a person into the airport without anybody noticing."

"You should get in contact with Gibbs to let him know."

"That might be a problem. I think their satellite phone may have been damaged because I lost all contact with them."

Just as Jamie enters into the bullpen, Fornell steps off the elevator. A couple seconds, Fornell enters into the bullpen. He's holding a video tape.

"Gibbs isn't back yet, Fornell." McGee said. "He should be back today or tomorrow. Or maybe he should've been back already. I'm honestly not sure because he never actually gave me a return date and time."

"Jamie… I think you should leave so I can talk to them." Fornell said.

"Whatever you tell them, I'm going to find out later."

"Fair enough…"

Fornell walks to the VCR and puts the video tape in.

"We received this video tape today." Fornell said. He looks to Jamie. "I suggest closing your eyes for this."

"What's on the tape, Tobias?" Jamie asked in concern and worry.

The tape begins playing. The four of them watch. Jamie's eyes get watery as she watches what's on the tape. The tape is video footage of Tony and Gibbs being tortured and Chioke being forced to watch.

"Turn it off." Jamie said as she turns her head and wipes a couple tears from her eyes.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" McGee asked.

"Unfortunately, there's no diplomatic solution for this." Fornell stated. He turns to Jamie. "I'm sorry Jamie. There's not much…" She grabs Fornell and looks him in the eyes.

"Do something!" Jamie shouted.

"Where'd Ziva go?" McGee wondered as he notices she's not at her desk anymore. Jamie and Fornell turn their heads to look around. Ziva vanished from the bullpen without anyone noticing.

A couple minutes pass as Ziva speeds through the streets of Washington D.C.

Ziva arrives at the Israeli Embassy. She barges into the office of Mossad Officer Michael Bashan. He looks up from behind his desk.

"I need…" Ziva begins to say as a security officer enters and grabs her by the arm. She looks to the man's hand as if she's going to break it.

"It's alright, Eli." Officer Bashan said. He motions for him to leave.

The security officer takes his hand off of Ziva. He walks out the door; closing it behind him.

"Come, Officer David… Sit." Officer Bashan welcomed her. "What is it you need?"

"I need to use the secure line." Ziva stated.

"You don't need the secure line to contact your…"

"I'm not going to contact my father, Bashan. But it's urgent. And I need it right now."

"From the tone of your voice, you sound desperate."

"Can I use the secure line or not?!" Ziva exclaimed as she slams her hands on the desk. He stands.

"Come…" Officer Bashan walks out from behind his desk.

Mossad Officer Bashan leads Ziva to the room where the secure line is. They walk into the room.

"You have five minutes, Ziva." Officer Bashan stated. He walks to the door. He walks out and closes the door behind him.

Ziva is now in the room all by herself. She has complete privacy and access to the secure line. She picks up the phone and dials a number. On the other line, a man answers.

"I need your help." Ziva said in the Hebrew language.

Ziva continues talking in Hebrew with the man on the other line. After three minutes, she hangs up the phone. She leaves the room.

"You know Ziva…" Officer Bashan begins to say.

"I really don't have the time to talk about my issues with my father right now, Bashan." Ziva said in frustration.

"I was going to say… If there's anything more you need, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't."

"May I ask what the urgency of the call pertained to?"

"You may… But it's on a need-to-know basis, Bashan. And you don't need to know."

Ziva walks away. She leaves the Embassy and makes her way to the airport.