Chapter 9

Knowing it was going to take time for Eric and Nell to go through the video and knowing Gibbs was due to show up, Sam took Dabi shopping. She would stay with him and his family for the time being.

On the way back, with an armful of baking-related groceries, Sam stopped to get some gas at a local 7-Eleven. Dabi decided she wanted a Slurpee and headed inside with Gibor, after swearing on her life to Sam to watch her surroundings.

When she was heading back to the car, a medium-size Dr. Pepper Slurpee in hand, something caught Gibor's attention near the garbage bins.

"Gibor! We need to leave!" Dabi called, while Sam glared.

But Gibor ignored them; instead, he started whining and pawing at a box that had garbage on it.

Curious, Dabi came over and lifted the box up, revealing the oddest-looking kitten she'd ever seen.

Black and white, with bright blue eyes, the tiny kitten had no bones in his forearms and walked on his elbows instead.

Gibor barked and his tail started wagging. The kitten hissed at him.

"Feisty little kitty, aren't you?" said Sam, grinning.

Carefully, Dabi picked the kitten up, who immediately started purring.

"We can't keep him," said Sam.

"Wanna bet?" Dabi shot back, cuddling the kitten protectively.

That was how they wound up at a veterinary.

The veterinarian explained that the three or four-week old kitten had a genetic condition known as radial agenisis, where the bones in his forearms never developed.

It wasn't common, but it also wasn't uncommon, as evident by a website known as Love Meow. Otherwise, aside from being hungry and a bit thin, he was okay. The veterinarian recommend various protective shots when he was a bit older.

Gibor refused to let the kitten out of his sight. For Dabi and Sam, it was comical to watch, especially when the kitten finally stopped hissing at the dog and started trying to play with him.

"Your dog just found a new best friend," said Sam, grinning at the pair.

"Now I just have to figure out how to get him home."

Back at OSP, Eric and Nell had an up-date for them.

"J-Man, otherwise known as Louie Harrus," said Eric. "He has a record a mile long for various nasty things, most of it dealing with assault and battery and anything involving weapons."

"We have him on video assaulting a staff member from Vintage Imports, which is enough to get him arrested," said Nell.

"So let's get him arrested and brought to the boathouse," said Deeks.

"First we've got to find him," said Eric.

"Which is what I thought you two were experts at," said Callen, pointedly.

"Which is what we're already doing," Nell shot back. "We've also managed to identify this guy," she said, pulling up the grainy picture Dabi had taken earlier. "Meet Aaron Belmore, no residential address aside from a post office box."

"And?" Kensi asked.

"And that's it. Clean driver's abstract, one bank account, no Internet addresses that we can find, not even a passport or credit card. This guy is about as off the grid as you can get," said Nell. "The only thing we could find was his name on a few passenger manifests to various cities around the States, plus a monthly check from a shell corporation that we're still trying to trace. He pays for the airline ticket and that's it. The rest of the money goes into a savings account that's currently in excess of several hundred thousand dollars."

"So what's his connection to the warehouse where we found Joseph Fielding?" Callen asked.

"At this point, your guess is as good as ours," said Nell.

"And you guys need to plan to loosen your belts," said Sam, coming into the room. "Dabi just unloaded enough baking stuff to do about four different recipes, and Gibor's got a new friend."

"Hiya buddy!" said Deeks, getting down to the floor to accept an enthusiastic face-licking from Gibor. Right behind him was a tiny black and white kitten who was walking on his elbows.

While Nell and Kensi cooed over the kitten, Dabi and Sam explained.

"What are your grandparents going to think?" Callen asked.

"My roommate, Fran, is already demanding pictures of him, and Nana and Pop-Pop have agreed to get a litter box and food dish for him. They even suggested a name for him; Jed, which means God's friend in Hebrew."

"He's a lucky little guy," said Callen, scratching Jed's head. Kensi put the kitten down and he immediately toddled over to Gibor and tried to 'attack' him.

"Luck is the only thing that's stopping me from putting a bullet up your ass!" came Supervisory Agent Gibbs' voice as he stormed into the room.

"Hi Dad, nice to see you, Dad. You were supposed to beep me when you got in, Dad," said Dabi, going to him and accepting his tight hug.

"You're supposed to be at a nice, safe conference," Gibbs snapped. "Not running around chasing after bad guys!" He had just arrived at OSP and been up-dated on the case by Hetty. Needless to say, he was not happy.

"It's not my fault some loser had more bullets than brains! Besides, I got a look at one of the guys and managed to put a round in him in retaliation for putting a round in someone else!" Dabi shot back.

Gibbs glanced at Hetty, who nodded in confirmation.

"How the hell did you get your hands on a gun in the first place?" Gibbs demanded.

"I was with Kensi and she had hers with her but when the shooting started, some guy built like King Kong tackled us. She got the worst of it. I grabbed her gun and popped a few rounds off."

"And she did a most excellent job of it," said Hetty. "One of the street cameras caught the action."

"Did you at least catch the guy?" Gibbs demanded.

"Sort of. My putting a bullet in him made him a liability to some guy named Arboreal Omen, and he wound up with a second bullet, this one between his eyes," said Dabi.

"Wait a minute; Arboreal Omen? Are you serious?" Gibbs demanded, looking at the others, who nodded in confirmation.

"That's what I was told," said Dabi, shrugging.

"Damnit," Gibbs growled.

Dabi's eyebrows shot up. "Your hit list too?"

"He's known to us," said Gibbs. "We've had a few dead Navy officers because of him."

"We suspect him of gun running and trying to force some local import businesses to do the running," said Callen.

"That's him, alright," said Gibbs. Then he spotted Jed. "What's with the furball?"

"I wish I knew. Gibor found him when Sam and I did a pit stop at a 7-Eleven. The vet says he has something called radial agenisis. The bones in his forearms never developed," said Dabi.

"Never heard of that before," said Gibbs. "How's his life expectancy?"

"Apparently quite good, especially if he's neutered. He gets around on his elbows."

Watching the kitten play with Gibor, moving around on his elbows and behaving like a typical kitten, Gibbs had to admit he could see why Dabi had taken to him. "What are you going to do with him?"

Dabi shrugged. "Keep him if I can. Maybe catch a ride back to DC to get around the animal problem.

"You got a name for him?"

"Jed. It's a Hebrew name for God's friend, according to Pop-Pop."

"You know you did it again, don't you?" said Gibbs. At his daughter's quizzical expression, he explained. "You saved another life."

"I'm not sure who saved who this time," Dabi admitted. "All I know is I couldn't turn my back on him. He needs a flea bath, which is going to be so much fun. But if he starts going where me and Gibor go, it's not my fault!"

"In the mean time, Agent Gibbs, how do you feel about going undercover?" Hetty asked.

"As?"

"A wood worker. It seems Dabi managed to get an employee of Tall-Tree Custom Furnishings fired," said Hetty.

Gibbs saw the look on his daughter's face. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"The slimy pervert had it coming," said Dabi, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"I think you're spending way too much time around Ziva and Abby," said Gibbs.

"Speaking of which, that reminds me, how loud did Tony scream?" Dabi asked innocently.

"He had coffee in his hand when it happened," said Gibbs. "That was his favorite suit, you know. To quote him, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Dabi's eyes went wide. "Oopsie."