Max was up on the stand first on Wednesday morning. He had spoken to his lawyer the previous night, and had decided he was going to tell the truth. He had seen what Tony had gone through since the previous Thursday, and he had had enough.

"Mr Johnson, you wanted to tell the court something. Please, go ahead," said Fields.

"I helped Tracy plan the kidnapping. I told her to leave that part to me. It wasn't hard to figure out what Tony was going to do once he saw the message we left him, so I waited outside the hospital. When I saw him leaving, and saw that Agent Gibbs was too far away to do anything, I hit him with a rock that I had found in the garden bed. It was heavy, so I knew it would do damage and keep Tony unconscious long enough to get on the road to LA."

"Why would you do something like that?"

"I didn't want to kill the man, I just wanted to incapacitate him long enough so that he wouldn't be able to fight us. Once we were in LA, the plan was to leave him with Zoe so they could talk things over."

Fields was shocked at how easy it had been to get Max to admit his guilt, and he had no more questions, so he sat down, allowing Bud to have a chance to ask questions. Bud, however, had no questions. There was no need; Max had just helped the jury make their decision about his guilt.

"Your honour, it's easy to see that Mr Johnson is guilty. He's admitted it. Can we please move on to Ms Keller?" Bud asked tiredly. It had been a long week.

"That sounds like a great idea. Ms Willis, put your client on the stand and ask your questions." The judge was just as tired as Bud and couldn't wait for the case to be done with.

A moment later, Tracy was sitting in the witness box, her lawyer standing in front of her.

"Tracy, you've been accused of some pretty harsh things. Can you please explain that?"

"There's nothing to explain. I didn't do any of it because I wanted to. I did it because I had no choice."

"Why didn't you have a choice?"

"Because Max and Zoe forced me into following their plan. I would never do anything like that to another person."

"What was your part in this plan?"

"All I had to do was get Zoe out of jail and keep her from running anywhere."

"Did you hurt Agent DiNozzo?"

"Of course not."

"Nothing further." Willis sat down, feeling confident that Bud wouldn't be able to ruin anything. After all, Tracy had admitted what she had done, just not in a way that could get her into trouble.

Bud stood and faced Tracy. "Miss Keller, you forgot to mention something when your lawyer asked you to explain the crimes you are being charged with. How did you know about the tunnel that you used to break Ms Keates out of jail?"

Tracy frowned. She couldn't possibly answer that and still look innocent.

"Ms Keller? Please answer the question."

"I... I had heard about it when I was working for the CIA."

"You worked with the CIA in Los Angeles. Never once did you step foot in DC on work. How did you know about the tunnel? And remember to tell the truth."

Sighing, Tracy knew she wasn't getting out of this one. "Fine. I heard about it from a friend. He's a criminal that I met a few years ago. He told me where the tunnel was and where I could find a hatch into the prison."

"Why would you even think about breaking someone out of jail?"

"She's my sister."

"Your sister had been convicted of a crime."

"So? She's still my sister."

"Is that why you came up with the plan to kidnap a federal agent?"

"Yes."

"And is that why you asked Mr Johnson to help you kidnap Tony?"

"Yes." Tracy groaned. "I came up with the whole plan. Max knew the details and agreed to help. Zoe had nothing to do with it. She tried to stop us, but we didn't listen. We let Agent DiNozzo get hurt and we never planned on him surviving."

Bud nodded, satisfied. "Nothing further." He returned to his seat, noticing that even Harm was stunned.

Wednesday afternoon was sunny. Everyone was still stunned by Tracy's sudden confession, and there was no doubt in their minds that she and Max were guilty. Even the judge was shocked.

"Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.

"Yes, your honour."

"For the defendant, Max Johnson, how do you find?"

"We find the defendant guilty of all charges."

"And for Ms Keller?"

"Guilty of all charges."

"Thank you for your service. You are free to go."

The jury filed out quickly, then the judge turned to the defence table.

"Max Johnson, you have been found guilty of kidnapping and assaulting a federal agent. I am sentencing you to seventeen years in prison. Tracy Keller, you have been found guilty of coercion, kidnapping, breaking a person out of jail, and planning to commit murder. You are sentenced to twenty five years in prison. Bailiff, you can take them away."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the two were led away in handcuffs. He couldn't believe how lucky he had been to have survived all of the injuries he had sustained, and to have all three people responsible sent to prison for a very long time. It was finally over.