Back with another chapter. So, now the action is about to go down. Trust me, it's coming soon. Once again, I dedicate this story to the three UAHuntsville professors who lost their lives.
Chapter 13:
Something's 'Bout to Go Down
The trio made it safely to the safe house after a few close calls with several vehicles thanks to Ziva's haphazard driving skills.
"Ziva. The Americans do have speed limits for a reason," Naomi quipped to her as she sat down at the dining room table. "Perhaps we should follow them."
"I like to drive fast," Ziva pouted.
"As do I," Naomi agreed, "but we do not need to get into any trouble than necessary."
"More than necessary?' Abby asked, confused.
"Yes. American customs and idioms are something we are slowly learning, and occasionally we mess them up." Naomi explained. "They drive me up the hall as much as they do Ziva."
"Up the wall," both Ziva and Abby corrected.
"See what I mean?" Naomi grinned.
Ziva sat down again, her expression all business again. "Epsilon assigned us to break into NCIS headquarters again. This time we have to steal evidence. We cannot break the chain of custody."
"We could fabricate the dart and use that one," Abby suggested. "I would need to see the evidence at NCIS."
"We are being watched though. How can we get past Epsilon?" Naomi asked.
"Use Palmer as your conduit," Ziva suggested. "You said you were interested in him, yes?"
"Yes, I see your point. I do not want to make him even more uncomfortable than he is already around me."
"We will find some way to warn him without arousing suspicions."
"We should report in," Abby suggested as she moved to retrieve her laptop.
"Is the channel secure?" Naomi asked, suddenly cautious of electronic monitoring and bugging.
"I have more codes and firewalls on this channel than Timmy can sort through in a day," Abby quipped with a grin.
"Sounds secure enough for me," Ziva replied.
"Boss, Abby is contacting us in MTAC," McGee told Gibbs and Tony.
"About time," Gibbs replied as he motioned for McGee and Tony to follow him to MTAC.
"What took so long for you to contact us, Abs?" Gibbs demanded when he reached MTAC.
"We have a mission to complete," Abby answered. "We have to break into NCIS again. This time, we have to steal evidence from the lab."
"What evidence?" Tony asked.
"The poison dart that was laced with nicotine, the owner wants it back," Naomi answered. "We cannot compromise the chain of evidence, but we have a plan."
"We want to fabricate the dart and exchange it for the real evidence. We give them the fake dart and still retain the original dart in evidence."
"That's a good idea," McGee replied. "How are you going to get inside NCIS without them finding out?"
"We were going to tell you, but you butted in," Ziva quipped back. "Is that the right term?"
"Yes," Tony replied with a grin. "I see my help has benefited you."
Gibbs smacked his head. "Stay on track, DiNozzo."
"Yes, Boss."
Ziva grinned maliciously at him from the view screen. "Now, we do have a plan. Naomi is going to seduce Palmer and gain access to NCIS."
"Palmer?" Tony repeated with confusion. "Why not me or McGee?"
"She did not want to compromise the op. Palmer is easier because he is not a trained agent," Abby answered before Naomi could intervene.
"I do want to warn him that I will be watching him until I can find the right way to intervene."
"I will let him know. You know he is scared to death of you, right?" Tony asked.
"Yes. I know. It will be interesting to see his reaction."
"When will you implement the plan?" Gibbs intervened to keep the conversation on track.
"Tomorrow. We have one week to steal the dart."
"Get to it then. Contact us at the regular time tomorrow." Gibbs cut the connection.
His famous gut was rumbling in discourse. Something big was about to go down.
He could feel it.