Disclaimer: Not saying it this time.

A/N: A little bit closer...

As soon as Pride walked into the office he headed straight to his desk. The drive from the hospital back to the office had helped him think. In his attempt to not focus on his worry about Merri, he'd forced himself to go over the case piece by piece. With the little clue Brody had given he'd been able to put a few of the pieces together and if he was right than they might just have a lead to go off of.

"Moultrie not 'mall train'," he stated as he walked past LaSalle's desk while the other agent hung up his desk phone. "She was disoriented and couldn't speak coherently. It only sounded like 'mall train'." Why he hadn't figured that one out before he wasn't sure, though he had the suspicion that seeing a wounded Meredith Brody might have had something to do with it. He'd been off his game and it wasn't acceptable.

"Moultrie?" LaSalle repeated, not sounding all that convinced. "Well, they did reopen the investigation not long ago. Not too surprising she was thinking about it while out of it like that."

"She gave a name while I was at the hospital," he said while opening the Moultrie file on his computer. "She said Marcus Shanks."

"Doesn't ring any bells." LaSalle stood from his desk and made his way over. "You?"

"It sounded familiar. I couldn't figure out why until I was on my way back." He skimmed the file details on the incident, looking for the name he was now certain he'd find.

"And?" LaSalle prompted.

He focused on skimming the casualty report and when the name he was looking for came up he switched it over to the big screen. "Marcus Shanks," he said while standing and moving over the screen with Christopher. The photo appearing on the screen was of a young man with reddish brown hair and brown eyes. "Twenty-seven years old. He was one of the five fatalities aboard the Moultrie."

"Why would Brody say his name? Of any other name, any of the other officers, why Shanks?"

"That's what we need to figure out."

"It might not be connected," LaSalle pointed out. "The mind will go to strange places when it's under that kind of strain."

"It might not," he agreed. It could have been another part of her incoherency. If she had been thinking of the Moultrie than Shanks could have followed. It was possible there was no actual connection between it and the attack. At the moment it was the most they had to go on though. "We have to start somewhere though. See where Ryan Anson is."

"He did take re-opening the Moultrie investigation pretty seriously."

"It was personal for him," Pride said with a nod. "He served with some of the men who died that day on the Moultrie. He'd certainly have the motive."

"Not to mention the training and ability it'd take to get the jump on Brody," LaSalle added without looking up from his computer. A few seconds later a smirk spread over his face and Pride knew something had been found. "And guess who was on leave until 0900 this morning?"

"Where at?"

"New Orleans," LaSalle answered. "I got the name of the hotel he was staying at too. It's about eight miles from Brody's place."

"Where is he now?" Pride asked, moving over to look at the information coming across LaSalle's computer.

"D.C. apparently."

"Let's have a talk with Mr. Anson."

Pride waited for the video feed to clear. It took a few seconds, but finally the call went through and Ryan Anson appeared on the conference screen. Anson didn't look all too concerned, but he did look somewhat curious. "Agent Pride. Agent LaSalle." he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Agent Anson," King greeted in return. "We have a few questions we'd like to ask you."

Anson studied them both with a somewhat suspicious stare. "Regarding what?"

"Agent Brody," he answered. "And the Moultrie incident."

Anson seemed to relax minutely. He shifted in the desk chair and folded his hands calmly on top of the desk. "Agent Brody was cleared after the investigation. I sent you a copy of my final report."

"And it was much appreciated," he stated. "That's not really what we wanted to ask about though."

"Than what is it, Agent Pride? I have things to be doing and I assume you and your team does as well."

"Where were you last night? Around midnight to be exact."

"You didn't answer my question," Anson pointed out. "I've done my fair share of interviews, Agent Pride. I know an interrogation when I hear one. So what is this about...exactly?"

Pride looked sideways, sharing a quick look with LaSalle, before answering. "Agent Brody was attacked last night. We believe it may be connected with the Moultrie incident."

"Your flight left at 0300 this morning," LaSalle continued. "That's plenty of time to get from Brody's house, back to your hotel, and then to the airport."

"So again we'll ask," he said, picking up from where Christopher left off. "Where were you around midnight last night?"

"In my hotel room," Anson deadpanned. "Sleeping. I was at a nightclub until approximately 2200 last night and then went straight to my room to get some sleep before my flight left. I didn't attack anyone. Let alone a NCIS agent. I assume you don't actually have any evidence against me. Otherwise I'd be arrested by now instead of sitting in an office roughly a thousand miles away."

"You had friends aboard the Moultrie, didn't you?" Pride picked up the file on the corner of his desk before continuing. "Re-opening the investigation was very personal for you," he added without waiting for a reply. "Maybe the results weren't too your liking, so you decided to take matters into your own hands." Pride noticed Anson's jaw tighten, but from agitation or nervousness he couldn't be sure.

Anson didn't falter for even a second though. "I've had my closure."

"Yeah? At whose expense?" LaSalle asked darkly.

For a moment Anson didn't reply, only stared back at them over the feed. "I didn't attack Agent Brody," he finally stated.

"Well someone did." Pride opened the file and picked up the photo of Merri's injures that'd been taken at the hospital. He held it up so Anson could get a good look at it. "Someone tried to kill her. They stabbed her, dragged her into a side alley, and then proceeded to try and slit her throat," he continued, his anger growing harder to reign in. "It wasn't meant to be a quick death."

Anson stared at the photo and for a moment his thoughts seemed to visibly drift to somewhere else entirely.

"Does the name Marcus Shanks sound familiar?" LaSalle asked. "Was he one of your buddies? One of the men who you felt needed a little vengeance in their name?"

Something flashed across Anson's face, Pride noted. Recognition maybe. Or maybe surprise. "Shanks didn't die right away," he suddenly said. "Open the medical report involving his death, Agent Pride. Take a look at his injuries. Compare them to Agent Brody's. From what I'm seeing in that photo, they aren't that dissimilar. Marcus had a piece of shrapnel lodge in his abdomen that punctured his liver and another piece of shrapnel had slit his throat. He didn't die directly from the explosion. He died from blood loss and internal hemorrhaging. It wasn't a quick death," he added pointedly.

Pride lowered the photo and placed it back in the folder, glancing at it briefly in the process. Loretta could have been more right than even they'd known. Maybe Merri's injures were even more precise than they'd originally believed. He closed the file and looked back up at the screen. "Are you sure you're over the incident, Anson? You make it sound awfully personal still."

The other man's jaw ticked again. "I didn't serve directly with Shanks like I did two of the others. I did serve with his brother though and I met him a few times. Marcus was a good man, Agent Pride, and a good soldier. When that kind of person dies...It's the kind of thing I take personally. That doesn't mean I haven't moved past it. And it definitely doesn't mean I tried to kill Agent Brody."

"You haven't really given us a reason not to suspect you," LaSalle pointed out dryly. "Want to try again?"

Anson rolled his eyes and seemed about ready to argue, but then another look crossed his features. This one of realization. "I spoke with Aaron Shanks, Marcus' older brother, a couple of weeks ago. Just before the investigation into Hackett's death was opened and the re-opening of the Moultrie investigation. I told him where I was going and what I was going there to do."

"Are you trying to say that Marcus Shanks' brother may have been the one behind this?" Pride asked with a hint of suspicious. Anson didn't seem the type to pass blame onto someone else, especially not someone he'd served with and apparently considered a friend.

"No," Anson answered. "I'm just saying..." he trailed off for a moment and looked away from the camera before facing them again. "Aaron is a good officer. He had some trouble after his brother's death though. He was put on leave and given a psych eval a few months after it happened. He was cleared, but assigned to desk jobs."

"Did he ever talk about any resentment about how the original investigation went? Maybe blamed Agent Brody for his brother's death?" Pride asked.

"I never heard him mention anything about it directly. It was pretty much unspoken that he agreed with me about my own views of it though. My views of it before the investigation was re-opened that is," Anson added, obviously trying to make sure they understood that he didn't feel the same way anymore.

Pride almost believed him. Almost.

Anson seemed to pick up on their lingering doubt and suspicion. "Look, I was angry about the bombing. I blamed Agent Brody for her part in it, I admit that. I've moved past that though. I don't have any reason to want Agent Brody dead."

"If he heard about the results of the re-opened investigation," Pride began thoughtfully. "Do you think Aaron could be angry enough to try and kill Brody?"

Anson didn't answer right away. After a few prolonged seconds of silence he finally nodded a fraction. "I think that Aaron could do anything he put his mind to."

Pride nodded in return. "Thanks for your cooperation. We'll be in touch."

"Agent Pride," Anson suddenly said before he could end the call.

He turned back to face the screen and waited for Anson to continue.

"Will Agent Brody recover?"

His initial response was 'yes', but the truth of the matter...no matter how much he told himself otherwise...was that they couldn't be sure. Merri was a fighter, just like he'd told LaSalle, but all the fight in the world didn't always guarantee survival. He wasn't about to doubt her though. He'd back her up right till the end.

"We'll see," he replied and then ended the call.

'Whoever put her in this situation better hope she did,' he thought to himself. As he turned from the screen he could practically see the same thought going through LaSalle's mind. "Let's see if we can't find out where Mr. Shanks has been the last few days," he said aloud.