Returning to the hotel and to his suite, Tony called Lizzie. He left her a voicemail. He pulled out the Hawaiian shirt Lizzie had bought for him and a pair of khaki pants. He was in L.A., baby. Time to blend in with the locals even if he hadn't seen any in Hawaiian shirts. He grabbed his phone when it started playing Lizzie's ringtone, Me & Mrs. You. He smiled and answered. "Hello, beautiful."

"Hey. I wasn't expecting to hear from you til later."

"Bad time? Got your other boyfriend over?"

She laughed. "What are you doing?"

"Missing you."

Lizzie smiled. "I miss you too. Is mom being a good protectee?"

"I don't know. She gave us the rest of the day off."

"What, Tony? Why?"

"I don't know. She gave us the rest of the trip off and took the car. Me and Ziva had to take a cab back to the hotel."

Lizzie sat down on the couch of her apartment. That didn't seem right to her, but she wasn't a federal agent or had any idea of how protection details worked. Maybe her mother had decided to visit her grandmother. Jenny wouldn't want to submit two agents to that torture. "Oh."

"I wish you were here. The weather's great. We could be poolside with a couple of drinks."

"We'll take a trip to Los Angeles together. Maybe this summer. Katie's going for spring break."

Tony missed the days of spring break. He'd had many wild times. Some he could remember, and some he couldn't. He told Lizzie a spring break story and had her laughing. The two talked for half an hour before he decided to check out the hotel pool.

He found Ziva in a lounger and reading a book. After much convincing to get the Mossad officer to leave, he and Ziva were waiting for the valet to bring a fire red Mustang GT to them. He planned on cruising down Sunset Boulevard.

Meanwhile, Jenny was picking the lock to William Decker's home. She had briefed Franks on why she had called him away from fiesta and siesta time. At first, he thought it was insane that a woman in charge of an armed federal agency would need his help. Mike Franks was on her husband's short list. Gibbs trusted him with his life, and that was more than good enough for her. She explained it was a classified operation. The mission was to infiltrate a Russian spy ring. Decker had been their contact agent. Oshimida was a code word they were supposed to use if their cover had been compromised. She knew all involved were in trouble after hearing it earlier. Franks didn't have but one foot in the door of getting involved with Jethro's wife. After being told Gibbs was the other agent, he was in the door and ready to go with her plan.

She pushed open the door and smiled to herself. She hadn't lost her touch. Franks entered the house first. His eyes scanned the living room.

"Gibbs teach you that?"

"Gibbs doesn't teach. You watch; you learn," she answered, drawing her gun from her hip.

"You learn. I taught," Franks replied gruffly. He went to one side of the room with his gun while Jenny took the other side. The pair cleared the rooms. Franks stopped at photos of Decker and Sasha.

"We're taking a risk coming here."

"Local LEO's may have missed something."

"I doubt Decker's killer left behind a calling card."

"If he was here, he left something behind." Her green eyes looked around, falling onto a MacBook Pro on the coffee table. "Or Decker did." She made her way to the computer. "He was a pro," she said to Franks, sitting down on the sofa and opening the laptop.

"Yeah, got a little careless in his retirement." He didn't know why anyone wouldn't retire the way he had. His life was simple.

The two heard a noise from another room. Jenny sprang to her feet and removed her sidearm. They circled a closet door. Jenny opened it cautiously. They quickly put the guns away at the sight of Sasha. After being told she wouldn't be hurt, Sasha recognized Jenny from the funeral. They explained bits and pieces of the reason for them being there to Sasha. She was helpful to them. They learned from her of an insurance policy and of a diner out in the desert. Franks took the key from the grieving blonde. Jenny told her to leave and gave her the keys to the rental. Franks learned the excursion would be just the way he liked it. No paperwork. They sat in Decker's home, looking over maps.

They were making more progress than Tony and Ziva who were stuck in traffic. He turned up the Beach Boys, and Ziva quickly turned the radio off.

"I do not like this. Something feels off."

"Yeah, it's the transmission."

"No, it's about the Director. Tony, we are her escorts. We're supposed to be escorting."

"If you want to call and ruin her day, go ahead." He offered Ziva his phone, and she found Jenny on his speed dial.

Her phone ringing interrupted Jenny bitching about Franks not getting a car with navigation. She took a deep breath when she saw it was DiNozzo calling. "Yes, Agent DiNozzo?"

"Um, hi Director. How's everything going? How's the paperwork?"

"Slow…too many interruptions."

"Well, it's a beautiful day to be stuck inside." And traffic he thought.

"You need something, Agent DiNozzo?"

There was her use of Agent DiNozzo. He hadn't heard that from her in months.

"No, just checking in with our fearless leader." He quickly looked at Ziva when he heard a male voice speak. He didn't recognize the voice.

"What'd I tell you, Tony?"

"Not to call you our fearless leader."

"And?"

"To take the day off." He glared at Ziva. He knew he was pissing Jenny off.

"Enjoy your time in L.A. because believe me I could always find something for you to do." She ended the call.

Tony threw his cell phone into the cup holder. "Paperwork had a deep voice."

"She is with a man…does not mean she is sleeping with him."

"You're right." She was a married woman. She wouldn't cheat on Gibbs.

"She's hiding something from us." Ziva talked him into tracking down the GPS coordinates of the Director's vehicle. She was worried about her friend.

On the way to the desert, Franks pulled over for a bathroom break. Jenny called Abby to see what information she had for her. She learned from Abby the Russian was Viggo Drantyev. There was no background on him except that he flew in from Moscow three days ago, rented a car, checked into a hotel, and checked out earlier in the morning. Viggo Drantyev was a burn alias. Jenny told the forensic specialist to erase the search.

Franks looked at Jenny from his crouched position at the passenger side of the Mercury Grand Marquis.

"So Drantyev hits town and before sundown…your boy Decker is dead. Not enough for a conviction."

"Enough for me," Jenny said.

"Who is he?" he asked. Silence was on Jenny's end. "You don't know." Franks realized.

"I know who sent him, and I know who he's after."

Franks shook his head. Redheads. Women were stubborn, and he didn't understand them half the time. He never understood Gibbs' love for them because redheads were ten times worse to deal with than a blonde or brunette. He was learning this off the books soiree into the desert with Jenny was not going to be a walk in the park.

At the Santa Monica pier, DiNozzo and Ziva found Director Shepard's rental. The car was parked and undamaged. Tony parked the car and was ready to leave. Ziva had other ideas. She got out of the Mustang and examined the interior of the Cadillac. Everything appeared to be fine. She got back into the car, and DiNozzo started to drive off. He brought the car to a halt when they saw a black and white a few spaces down from Jenny's vehicle.

"This is not good," Tony stated, parking the car.

They walked down to the beach, flashing their NCIS badges. On the crime scene, Sasha was in a crumpled heap. They spoke with LAPD. Ziva could not leave the Director out of her thoughts. Tony was trying to be logical. Sasha had been dead for two hours, and they'd talked to Jenny within the hour. He wanted to believe it all to be coincidence. Maybe Jenny was with her mother. Maybe that's where the man's voice had come from. Helen Shepard was a flesh and blood woman. Maybe she had a man in her life. He walked away from Ziva and texted Lizzie, asking for her grandmother's phone number. She texted the number to him and wanted to know why. He'd tell her later. He took a deep breath and called Helen Shepard. He listened to it ring several times. He was about to hang up when she answered.

"Hello?"

"Helen, this is Tony. Anthony," he corrected.

"Hello, Anthony. Why are you calling me?"

"I was wondering if your daughter is with you."

"Jennifer? No. Why would she be with me? She's in D.C., isn't she?"

DiNozzo winced. He hadn't known that Jenny hadn't told her mother about coming to Los Angeles. He laughed. "Oh yeah…sorry to have bothered you. I fell for one of Katie's pranks."

Helen didn't believe the young man, but she let him off the phone. He hung up and turned to Ziva. "We need to find her. Her mother lives in Bel Air. I called her, and she's not there."

In D.C., Lizzie threw her phone after Tony did not pick up. She wanted to know now why he needed her grandmother's phone number. Her mother wouldn't ditch detail. She respected rules and protocol. Her father was the one who bent the rules. She thought about calling her father but decided not to. He hadn't been keen on Tony and Ziva being the protection detail in the first place. If anything was wrong, her father would know. She blew out air and paced her living room.