11 A bullpen full of probies

When Gibbs and Ziva return to the office, there are too many agents there not obviously doing anything. "Has the investigation stopped?" Gibbs asked.

"We have a ransom drop to get ready."

"It won't take all of you to get it ready. Keep working the case until I tell you otherwise. Keep running down the BOLOs. If anyone doesn't have something to do, I'll tell you what to do. When the drop's ready, I'll let you know. Allen, what about that cell tossing?"

"Nothing interesting. Prison phone logs don't show any overseas calls. Nothing in emails, either."

"Cosgrove. Get the prints from the ambo drivers?"

"Bill—Agent Burns—ran them down."

"Who's reviewing the current case files?"

Cosgrove says, "Bill and I are. We have a list of every investigation over the last three years that either Tony or Ziva worked, and we're tracking down every suspect. We have the whereabouts of virtually all the servicepeople. About half are still in Leavenworth and accounted for."

"Pick out the most dangerous ones at Leavenworth and have their cells tossed, too. What about the half that aren't in Leavenworth?"

"Most of the others are at duty stations, but they were misdemeanor arrests—most of them just got infractions. We have a few big chicken dinners that we can't account for yet."

"Check with LEOs in their home areas. And if none of this turns up a few suspects, turn back the clock, work the older cases. What about the civilians?"

"That's a lot harder. We're checking last addresses and the state and local prison systems, but there's not much more we can do without court orders. The privacy laws are a lot stricter here."

Privacy laws. And they all take it so seriously. A little girl is missing, her father's probably dying, and he has a bullpen full of probies. "Ziva, keep your cellphone on and charged up. And go lie down."

"But he's going to call," Ziva says.

"McGee and Abby are both tracking your calls. There are people all over this office who can hear it ring. Go lie down. It's going to be a long night."

She doesn't want to go, but Gibbs takes her by the arm and steers her into Tony's office. The faces in the frame smile back at him. Again, he's pricked by the sense that there's something in that MTAC conference that he should be remembering.

"Cosgrove. I need to see the video feed from an SAIC Europe conference with Leon Vance."

"They have them every Monday."

"Last Monday, not this Monday. I just need the last five minutes or so. Track it down."

"Should I send it to your cell phone?"

"Send it to Abby's iPad."

"I'll have it in about an hour. We don't store the feeds here."

"Okay. But do that first."

He catches Bill Burns and Tawan Allen exchanging smiles. "What's so funny, special agent?"

"Nothing. It's just that we've heard stories. So far you don't disappoint."

"You don't want to see me disappointed, Agent Burns."

"No, Special Agent Gibbs, I do not. And I'm going to pull some more case files right now."

There's not much for him in the lab. McGee couldn't triangulate the cell precisely, but he knows the call was made within a 20-mile radius. "That's still a big area," Gibbs says.

"Not as big as you might think. A lot of that radius is over water."

"Did you record the call?"

"Sure."

"Abs, any reason to think it wasn't live?"

"How ghoulish, but I knew that was coming. No, no reason. There's no sound of mechanical manipulation, and the conversation flows pretty naturally. Also, you can hear Becks in the background when the perp's talking. Not Memorex."

"What else have you got?"

"No joy from the knife or the clothes. The fingerprints on the knife are on the blade and the top of the hilt, and they're Tony's and the ambulance driver. Nothing usable on the grip. Tony did have a lot of blood on his hands, and I think it's mostly his, but there was some skin under his fingernails. Enough for a match."

"ID?"

"Well, if he's military or in the Interpol database. But this equipment is like five years out of date, Gibbs. Don't expect it tonight."

"Does Spain have a DNA database?"

"No. Of course they have tissue donor registries and blood donor registries just like we do, but we don't know how to hack them."

"And the privacy laws are much tougher in Spain." McGee has started the sentence, but Gibbs finishes it. "So I've heard."

"Gibbs, one more thing. Maybe it's obvious, but I'll mention it. Tony would have left some marks. If you find a guy in the next few days with some long scratches on his arm, cuff him."

"Could you identify the scratches?"

"Only in a general way. It would have been so much easier if Tony had bitten him."

And that gives Gibbs the first good laugh that he's had in a long time. "I may have to make that rule 52. Always bite. Cosgrove is sending some video to your iPad, Abs. Let me know when you've got it. McGee, stay on the phones."

McGee follows him out and pulls him aside. "Boss, I did a little checking."

"On what?"

"Tony and Ziva. I felt kinda dirty doing it, but…"

"No, it's the right thing to do. What'd you find?"

"Nothing. No unusual activity on their bank accounts, deposits or withdrawals. No odd purchases on their credit cards. No car rentals or hotel rooms. Nothing off in any of the personal email accounts I could find."

"Cellphones?"

"Nothing on Ziva's. Tony has a personal cell which I checked. He doesn't use it much. He's, um, probably abusing his work phone."

"McGee, do I look like I'm interested in filing an inspector general complaint?"

"No, I'm just guessing anyway. The problem is that Tony has a special encrypted iPhone, like all the SAICs. I can't get access to his calls or text messages without permission, and that's virtually all of his calls."

"Who gives permission?"

"Vance."

"Get it."

"Will do. But I thought you might want to ask for that five hundred thousand euro loan first. We should start assembling the cash now. He might call back any minute, and it might be very hard for us to get it in country. We might have to pull reserves from several embassies. I think there's a fund for this, but I'm not sure how much is on hand."

"That's good thinking, McGee. I'll start working Vance."

McGee's right: this can't be done in ten minutes. "May take three hours. It'll have to come from Lisbon as well. And I'll have to arrange couriers and protection."

"You don't seem worried about the money, Leon."

"I expect you to get it back."

"Not if it means risking a little girl's life."

"You're more resourceful than that. How's Tony?"

"Ducky can give you the technical details."

"Has David been in touch with her father?"

"I don't think so. You don't think Eli would kidnap his granddaughter, do you?"

"That's not what I'm thinking. I'm in a delicate position right now. Eli has some great assets in Europe. But I'm not sure I should involve him without her knowledge."

"When I need Eli David's help, you can put me on the retired list."

"For how long?" Vance chuckles and hangs up. Gibbs doesn't get the upper hand on Vance very often. No one does.