McGee wanted to act like he had been in the Director's office many times, which he had – well, not many times, but a fair few – in order to preserve the façade of a confident, experienced agent that he was trying very hard to maintain in front of Sampson. Not that he wasn't really a confident, experienced agent, just that… Sampson didn't know all the details about Tushkevich, so of course he didn't have any reason to be worried about the fact that Tushkevich's father was now sitting on the couch in Director Shepard's office, sipping the vodka he'd poured himself upon entering.

The Director herself was apparently intending on being fashionably late, as she had not yet appeared in her own office after ordering them to retrieve Nozdryov from the lobby. If she were trying to make him sweat, she would have to adjust the thermostat. McGee attempted to adjust his cynicism; Director Shepard could be in MTAC gathering intelligence that this was, in fact, Alexander Nozdryov. He had insisted through the entire trip upstairs that he had been instructed not to share the information he'd been given with anyone other than the Director, so it was possible…

McGee wished he hadn't left his unexpected coffee on his desk in the bullpen. Gibbs, naturally, had brought his large cup down then upstairs. Sampson had his as well, but had neglected to bring his weapon. McGee wouldn't have minded the trade-off right now. His hand automatically jumped to it when the office door crashed open, which turned out to be the best case scenario; Sampson dropped his coffee on the rug, creating a large stain the Director didn't seem to notice.

Her eyes were fixed on the man sitting on her sofa as she crossed the room, trailed by Cynthia, who was trying to hand her a file folder. "How the hell did you get into the country?"

Nozdryov stood and extended the hand not holding his glass. "Director Shepard. I thank you for having the courtesy to have my son's body delivered to me for burial. It is not something I suspect many other agencies would have done."

"You didn't travel to DC from Argentina just to thank me for getting Dmitri Tushkevich out of our lives forever."

"No, you are correct. Before getting to business though, I thought it polite to mention my gratitude."

McGee started to wonder if Director Shepard had a weapon of her own under her blazer as she stared Nozdryov down with her hands on her hips. "I'm not interested in your gratitude."

"Very well." Nozdryov finished his drink and set the glass on the coffee table before removing a CD in a case from his coat pocket. "I had thought my life would again be peaceful without Dmitri in it, a terrible thing to say about one's own son…"

"But you're forgetting we knew him," Gibbs muttered at a volume McGee was fairly certain made him the only hearer.

Nozdryov didn't acknowledge it, continuing, "Last week, I was contacted at my home by a man who claimed to have had a business deal with my late son. He seemed to believe that, as Dmitri had been unable to fulfill his obligation, the responsibility should pass to me. Threats were made and I decided the best course of action would be to go along with what this man demanded."

"What kind of threats?" Director Shepard asked haughtily, examining the silver disc she had snatched from his hands. "I was under the impression you had the firepower to handle men your reputation didn't frighten out of threatening you."

"I am getting old, Director Shepard. I do not have much energy to fight anymore."

"Well, forgive me if I don't believe that you're here to help us because some big, bad man scared you."

"I never said that I am going to help you. I am merely delivering information, as ordered."

"We've already got a good idea of who we're dealing with."

"May I ask with whom you think you are dealing?"

"Faiz Safad," she answered with no hesitation. McGee found it odd that this was the first time they were hearing the name if Director Shepard was so confident that she knew who had taken Tony and Ziva.

Nozdryov smiled. "Very insightful, Director. As you know who he is, I am sure you can imagine the types of threats he used to convince me to agree to aid him in this exploit. From the things he has told me, I believe his main objective is to ensure the release of his friend."

"Oh, I don't think so."

"How did you get that disc?" Gibbs asked, finally setting Nozdryov up to say something McGee thought might help.

"It was delivered to me at my hotel. I arrived three days ago with the instruction to wait in my room until I was contacted and given further instructions, which finally occurred just under forty minutes ago."

"Which hotel?"

"The Mandarin Oriental." Nozdryov appeared to be getting bored with the conversation now that Gibbs was asking pointed questions and picked up his glass, brushing past McGee as he moved toward the bar.

Gibbs abruptly barked, "McGee! Take Sampson and…"

"Mandarin Oriental, boss," he finished, already making a beeline for the door. It would be nice to actually being doing something instead of just…

"Hold on, Agent McGee."

"You think this Safad guy is gonna be very patient, Jen? We need to find our people ASAP."

"And I agree, Agent Gibbs. I just think it may be smarter to get all the information Mr. Nozdryov has to offer before we start running around like chickens with our heads cut off."

McGee drew back to where Sampson was lurking in the corner with Cynthia, heads buried in the file she had been trying to hand to the Director. Only Nozdryov seemed unaware that it was advisable to be as far away as possible if Gibbs and the Director were going to have it out. He remarked, "If you are going to my hotel, perhaps you could take me back there. If I am not back within ninety minutes of my departure, one of my favorite, heh, maids will be executed."

"Fine," the Director said. "We'll come with you and talk there. Or we'll just hang onto you in one of our interrogation rooms. Gibbs, before you leave for the hotel, would you take our guest downstairs?"

Nozdryov appeared unmoved from the angle McGee was watching him, but his voice trembled as he replied, "Director, if I have been unclear, I apologize, but you do understand that an innocent young woman's life is in danger if you do not allow me to leave?" His face assumed a troubled expression only when he turned. "Mr. Safad was not foolish enough to believe I would not be questioned, monitored and followed, but he was insistent that I return to the hotel within the specified time."

McGee was distracted from what was sure to be a sarcastic response as Cynthia plucked his sleeve. "Agent McGee? George and I think this is suspicious. Will you have a look?"

He accepted the folder without remarking on her use of Sampson's first name, although he still found it odd that Tony had bothered to hook up the pair. As Tony was currently being held hostage in parts unknown, he concentrated his attention on the file and not on why Tony had never set him up with a girl. Woman. Tripoli? McGee scanned down the page, blinked and looked again at the list of locations the private jet that had brought Nozdryov from Buenos Aires to Washington had been to prior to that charter. The Director had mentioned Cairo, Tripoli and Marrakech during the unenlightening briefing she'd given, albeit with no detail beyond the names of the cities. Still, it couldn't be coincidence that the same jet Nozdryov had been traveling on had recently been to the same destinations – unless the Director had just been naming random cities in North Africa to make it sound like she was actually giving them something to work with. He was beginning to consider pouring himself a drink.

Sampson looked at him expectantly, whispering, "Well?"

"We'll show Gibbs as soon as…"

"Why the hell should we trust what he's telling us?" Gibbs suddenly exploded, causing McGee, along with Sampson and Cynthia, to press tightly to the wall.

The Director was not as impressed with the outburst. "He is the only link we have to Safad at the moment." She turned slowly. "Agent McGee, Agent Sampson, if you would wait in the other room for a moment with Mr. Nozdryov. And you, Cynthia."

McGee was about to make Nozdryov stop and return the vodka bottle he'd taken from the Director's bar, but a glance at Gibbs' back told him it would be a better idea to spend some time in the antechamber with a drinking Russian arms dealer.

Jenny walked over to her plasma screen and slipped the disc Nozdryov had brought into the built-in DVD player, ignoring Gibbs' ranting while she did so. She knew he was demanding that she revise their priorities and make rescuing their people the top one, but he failed to understand that this could be their best opportunity to capture what was, in her opinion, one of the most dangerous terrorists currently free in the world. Tony and Ziva were trained agents who could take care of themselves…even if they were tied to chairs.

She didn't begin to feel the effects of the video until Safad appeared in the frame. "Director Shepard, you are responsible for many crimes as the chief authority of an American terrorist agency, but I am currently concerned only with one. You are holding my friend Afzal Sahrawi prisoner without having charged him with a crime and under dubious conditions. You will set him free in exchange for Agent Anthony DiNozzo's safety and freedom. As a more dangerous threat both to myself personally and to my associates worldwide, NCIS will not be allowed to negotiate for the release of Officer Ziva David, but you are welcome to share this message with the terrorists of Moussad, which I have no doubt you would do regardless of…"

She paused the video, freezing the image of Safad's confident smirk on the screen. Her fingers tightened around the remote she was holding. If she threw it hard enough and it went straight through his head onscreen, would it he feel it wherever he was right now? No, she wanted to see him suffer. Hopefully, Ziva would bring him in alive if she did manage to free herself. Knowing what she did, Ziva couldn't possibly kill Safad before Jenny had her say. Or would she?

The video began to play again and Jenny realized Gibbs had pried the remote from her hand. "Turn it off."

"We need to find out all we can about this guy. He kidnapped our people, in case you can't see them tied up in the background!"

"So send it to Abby and have her analyze it."

"Jen…"

"I said I've seen enough!" She retreated to the window, parting the blinds to look out at the river. Seeing Sahrawi in Morocco had been hard enough, and he had been the prisoner then. Would capturing and interrogating Safad be as unsatisfying as that had been? Or…had that been unsatisfying because it had only been one of the men who had captured her and Lavoie? And Sahrawi hadn't even been the one to kill her partner in front of her, so maybe…

Gibbs paused the video again. "How do you know about this guy?"

"It's not important." She held up her hand to cut him off. "What is important is catching him."

"And finding DiNozzo and David."

"Of course." When she found them, she would find Safad. "We should get Nozdryov back to his hotel and set up surveillance."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"We won't let him out of our sight." She suddenly realized that it was ridiculous for her to be justifying herself to a subordinate. "And he's our best link to Safad for the time being, so don't act like monitoring him is taking you away from the investigation. If they haven't tried to contact him again within twenty-four hours, we'll bring him back in."

Gibbs didn't argue further but walked toward the door. Just before opening it, he said, "I'll bring Nozdryov down to interrogation now."

"Agent Gibbs, what did I just tell you?"

"Shoulda paid attention to the tape, Jen."

She scanned back as he yanked the door shut behind him. Safad's voice sent chills through her once again. "Do what you wish with Mr. Nozdryov, as we have no further use of him. He has my guarantee that we will not carry out any threats that were made. I will contact you with further information when you have had some time to make your decisions."

Jenny ejected the disc and barely stopped herself from snapping it in half.