Chapter 10

Callen and DiNozzo sat in the front seat of the Malibu that they'd drawn from the motor pool, parked at the corner of Segundo Avenue and Coombs Street.

Callen needed Tony to tell him about Ari Haswari but since they were all on coms it might be dicey and would more than likely irritate Gibbs, but he still needed to try. Getting the information might help with the investigation further on down the road.

While both men respected Gibbs and wouldn't want to deceive him, Callen felt that the information Tony could supply would outweigh Gibb's anger and give him a better understanding of the situation. Callen took his earwig out and turned it off motioning to Tony to do the same.

Tony knew this moment would happen but hadn't expected Callen to pull this stunt so soon. He took out his as well and switched it off

. "Well G. what do you want to talk about that Gibbs can't hear?"

Callen gave one of his smirks. "Ari Haswari. What happened there?"

Tony's face showed his grave concern for his boss and mentor. DiNozzo's eyes looked back at Gibb's car. It was a moment before he started the painful story. "It was twelve years ago when Ari first came around. He snuck into autopsy to retrieve evidence in a terrorist plot in Norfolk. Ducky, my partner Kate and the autopsy assistant at that time, Gerald Jackson, were in there with him. He ended up shooting Gerald in the shoulder before he escaped. Gerald has since regained use of the shoulder but refuses to come back to NCIS. Ari played games with us for the next year or so. All of that time he baited Gibbs. We're pretty sure that he was trying to get Gibbs to kill him: suicide by cop. But instead of Ari killing Gibbs he killed Kate. Gibbs blames himself for Kate's death. In the end Ari ended up dying in Gibb's basement. His half-sister Ziva David shot him to keep him from killing Gibbs, but we didn't know that until much later. Everyone thought that Gibbs had killed him.

Ari Haswari, even though he's dead, is still creating problems for NCIS and Gibbs. Last year his half-brother Sergei Mischnev came after Gibbs in retaliation for Ari's death. Took him close to ten years to come, and in the process many innocent people died including Gibb's ex-wife Diane. Now Jamal Mohammed Haswari is after Gibbs." Tony gave a small but emphatic chuckle as he looked in his side mirror at the sedan down the street. "I often wonder how many more will come?"

Callen now knew all of it and felt for his friend down the street. This is a lot of heavy baggage to carry through life and now it made sense for Gibbs to be here to finish it. He motioned for Tony to replace his earwig. "Thanks Tony."

A voice came over the coms. "Are you two done telling secrets yet?" Gibb's voice had that growly sound he uses when annoyed but both men knew that is was just an act. Callen and Tony both assumed that Gibbs would know what they were up to.

Tony responded in the way he knew Gibbs would expect. "Yes Boss." He looked in the side mirror at the car halfway down the block. He chuckled and gave a smirk back to G.

Further down the block Sam and McGee sat in a panel van filled with sound equipment. Tim was keeping track of Haswari's phone just in case it was used. They'd just listened to the exchange from the other cars. Sam had known that G meant to talk with Tony he just didn't expect him to be so brazen about it.

Sam's mind went to Haswari, their Haswari, not Gibb's. He couldn't understand why Jamal chose this time to act out. "Why now?"

Tim had been lost in his own thoughts. "What was that?"

Sam kept his eyes on the building where their quarry was believed to be holed up. "Why did this happen now? His cousin died eleven years ago and his other cousin a year ago. What made him do this now?

McGee sat back to think. After a couple of minutes, he spoke. "We can assume that there had to be some forethought to it. He came with the Molina Cartel to do harm to many people or at least attempt it. Is it his foot hold into the United States or something more within Hamas? You said there had been a letter at the initial bomb site? That sounds like a well thought out process. I wonder if the Molina's knew he'd done that? If they didn't know it, he deceived them and that might make them angry enough to have them turn on him. We might want to save that for if the stake out doesn't work."

Sam gave a sideward smile at Tim. He liked the way Tim thought. "You're right. It might work out if this doesn't."

Tim, still thinking, looked out on the street where they had parked. He hoped something happened here soon. Stake outs had never been his thing anyway.

Gibbs sat in his car with Bishop. He could hear the gears grinding in her brain. "Ask the question Bishop."

Ellie had been piecing the story together since DC. She'd got snippets from Tim on the plane out here and when she pulled it up on the computer much of it had been redacted. It seemed odd to her that the case had been shut down so much.

Gibbs repeated himself. "Ask the question."

Ellie's face screwed up. Which question did she really want to ask first? "When did all this start and why?"

Gibbs wasn't taken in by her question. He knew that Bishop had been through all of the files and had pumped both Tim and Tony. "Bishop, the real question, the one you really want the answer to."

Ellie Bishop turned in her seat and faced Gibbs. "Did you really kill Ari? If you did, why did it take so long for Mischnev and Jamal Haswari to come for you?"

Gibbs looked at his quarries building. "That's a damn good question, Bishop." His eyes began to scour the street and he began to wonder if there was more to this case than meets the eye. It set his mind to working. Where had Mischnev been all that time? Did he need the time to find the information? Gibbs doubted it. Who set him on the path for revenge and why? Did the urge to find him for the new Haswari come from Hamas or did the same person who sent Mischnev send Young Haswari as well? Gibbs could only think of one possible connection and that had been Russian. He'd have McGee check out his new Russian buddy. "McGee do a background check on our friend the Russian Secretary who handled Mischnev, Anton Pavlenko. Make it as deep as it can go."

McGee heard the request and looked at Sam with a quizzical look. "Yes Boss. Can I ask why?"

Gibbs smiled at Ellie. "I heard Sam's question and Ellie just asked something similar. Mischnev was driven to come after me and when he fails, someone else comes calling; our young friend Haswari. The question has been why now, but it really should be who's bankrolling this and then the question is why now? Hamas took credit for the bombings but not Agent Blye's attack. That was personal and pointed at NCIS and they knew it would get my attention with the name Haswari. They wanted me here. Why?" McGee, can you do this?"

McGee didn't care for this line of reasoning only because it would lead to danger for Gibbs. "Yeah I can start it while here but I'd like a bigger computer for digging real deep like the ones Eric uses. Can I hand this off to him for now and talk with him later?"

Gibbs knew if anyone could find anything it would be McGee but he liked it better with Hetty's minions in on the process as well. "Do that McGee. You start here and let Eric and Nell know what we're looking for and they can start searching as well."

McGee picked up his phone and called the OPS center.

Gibbs felt like the investigation was moving along now.

It, however, turned into a very long, boring afternoon. Haswari never made a move.