Chapter 31

Tim was standing beside the tent, looking out at the desert. To an extent, he could understand why Suhayl preferred this to modern society. There was a feeling of safety even in the midst of a harsh land.

Because there was no one else around.

And if someone was coming, usually, you could see it.

"Tim?"

He looked back and saw Zahara. They had all been given different robes to wear, and Tim had to admit that his wife looked beautiful and natural in her garb. He was sure that he looked like he was dressed up for Halloween or something.

"Yeah?"

"Imād says that it is time for dinner."

"Oh. Thanks. Are we eating with him or in our tent?"

"In our tent, but Maryam has prepared something for us since we don't have any supplies of our own. It is very kind of them to take care of us."

"Yeah. They've always been like this."

Zahara walked over and hugged him.

"I can see why you like them."

"Yeah, I do," Tim said and smiled a little as Zahara let him go.

"There is nothing else we can do right now, Tim. Let it be for the moment."

"I'm trying."

"Then, come and eat with your family. We love you."

"And I love you."

"Come."

Tim allowed himself to be led into the tent to eat with his family.

...and the CIA guard who was there to protect them.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"What was that?" Ziva asked.

Tony looked at his phone and didn't recognize the number. He shrugged.

"Determined spammers, I'm sure," he said and then put his phone away.

They turned their attention to reading about what was known of Tim's whereabouts, but they didn't get very far because Tony's phone beeped, signaling a voice mail.

"Man, they left a voicemail? I never thought of getting spam calls while trying to rescue a friend. They don't show that in movies," he said.

"Perhaps you should listen to it," Ziva said. "What if it isn't spammers?"

"What else would it be?" Tony asked. "The CIA people are right next door. They wouldn't call us. They'd come over. It's not anyone in my contacts."

"What if it is someone who knows about Tim? Or Ahmed?"

That cooled Tony's irritation pretty quickly, although that seemed unlikely.

"Just to be safe," she said. "It's probably nothing, but just in case."

"Okay, okay."

Tony pulled out his phone again and went into his voicemail.

And to his surprise, he recognized the voice.

"DiNozzo, it's Gibbs. Check the number next time. It's what you're looking for."

"Ziva, listen to this," he said and put his phone on speaker to play it again.

Ziva's eyes widened. Tony could see that she really hadn't expected the call to matter. She had been determined to remove any possibility of error, nothing more.

"Why is Gibbs calling you from a number that is not his... and expecting you to know it was him?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Tony said. "It's got to be some kind of a message, but why? He wasn't doing that before."

"Maybe they learned something that made it more dangerous to just call."

"Maybe. Okay. Let's listen to it again."

"DiNozzo, it's Gibbs. Check the number next time. It's what you're looking for."

"Check the number. It's what we're looking for," Tony repeated. "Since the number wasn't what I was expecting and it's not Gibbs' number, then, I wasn't looking for it. So..."

"What is the number?" Ziva asked.

Tony brought it up. They both looked at it and then at each other and shrugged.

"I have no idea," Tony said. He got out a piece of paper and wrote the number down.

"1924648253," Ziva read. "I'm not seeing it."

"Neither am I," Tony said. He looked up the area code. "Well, 192 isn't in use as an area code in the U.S."

"So this is definitely a fake number," Ziva said.

"Yeah."

He thought about the message Gibbs had left again.

"It's what we're looking for, but it's not," he said. "We're looking for where Tim might be and..."

He looked at Ziva in sudden realization and he saw the moment she got the same idea.

"Where is a map?" she asked.

"Well, it sucks, but on my phone," Tony said. "It'll have to do."

They quickly brought up a map and plotted the GPS coordinates. Tony figured out that the 6 and the 3 were supposed to be letters as part of the latitude and longitude. Then, they stared at the location. Najran province, in the middle of nowhere.

"Well, if this is right, we know exactly where to go."

"And how to get there?" Ziva asked, smiling a little.

Tony chuckled and then sobered.

"Well, it's probably too late to go out there tonight when we don't know the territory, but we should tell Hammami and Drake about it now."

"Yes, we should."

They walked next door and knocked. There was a delay and then the door opened and Hammami was looking at them warily.

"What is it?"

"We have news," Tony said.

Hammami looked at them with some impatience.

"We were supposed to be out of contact for 24 hours."

"We didn't make the call. We received it, and it was done in code," Ziva said. "May we come in?"

Hammami sighed and nodded. He stepped aside and let them into the room and then closed the door.

"We..."

"Wait," Hammami said and gestured to Drake who got out some strange-looking contraption and then beckoned them to come where he had set it up.

"What is that?"

"Smartdust blocker," Drake said. "Can't be too careful."

"What?" Hammami asked.

"We have the coordinates of where Tim and his family are... or at least where they were."

"How?" Drake asked in surprise.

"I don't know, but Gibbs got them and sent them to us in code."

"When?"

"Ten minutes ago," Tony said. "I know it's probably too late to get out there tonight, but..."

Hammami nodded. "Well, that's what we're here for. Guess we should get ready. You're sure of this?"

"As sure as we can be without calling. I don't know why Gibbs didn't contact us in the normal way, but he didn't and there's probably a good reason for that," Ziva said.

"They're right, Hammami," Drake said. "No matter what, we have to pursue this. The sooner the McGees are out of danger, the better."

"Okay. Let's look at this and decide how we're going to do it. With as little attention as possible."

Tony pulled out the paper and they began to check out the location and how to get there.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Mama, when will we go home?" Salma asked softly as Zahara tucked her in.

Zahara tried to smile encouragingly.

"Soon, Salma. Someone will come to get us and we will go home."

"I'm scared, Mama," Salma said, her lower lip quivering ominously.

Zahara leaned down and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"It's all right to be scared, dearest. I'm a little scared, too, but we will get home and we will all be safe."

"Mama?"

Zahara looked up at Jonathan who had got out of the blankets and was tugging at her robe.

"Yes, Jonathan?"

"Uncle Ahmed? Is he safe, too?"

Zahara tried to suppress her own fears for her brother. There was nothing Jonathan could do about it.

"I hope so, Jonathan. Maybe tonight, we could pray for him. Would you like that?"

"Will God hear?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, God will hear us. I do not know the answer He will give, but He will hear us."

"Good."

"Then, get back into your blankets and pray."

Jonathan nodded and kissed his mother on the cheek before eagerly climbing back into his bed and praying quietly.

"Where's Baba?" Salma asked.

"Outside. I will get him. You stay here."

Zahara got up and saw Omar watching her. She mustered up a smile and then left the tent. She looked around and saw Suhayl, obviously standing guard. He noticed her and then pointed toward the edge of the camp. She looked and there was Tim, standing alone. She walked over and as she came near, she heard Tim whispering as he stared up at the sky.

At first, she couldn't understand what he was saying, but then his words were audible.

"'Though my soul shall set in darkness, it will rise with perfect light.

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.'"

"Tim?" she said softly.

Tim turned toward her, much as he had earlier.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

Tim shrugged a little.

"Just a poem. The stars are beautiful out here, aren't they."

She walked over beside him and looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled down on them.

"Yes, they are."

Zahara was surprised that Tim could even notice the stars right now.

"When I was running from people who were after me, I tripped and fell into a creek. When I woke up later, it was dark and the stars were so bright and beautiful. For just a moment, I escaped from everything that was happening to me and just looked at the stars. Just for a moment, all that existed was the night sky."

"And now?"

"Now...I wish it could be that way... but the sky is still beautiful."

"Yes, it is."

"Did you need something?"

"Salma needs you to come and say good night. And I need you to come and go to bed, even if you have a nightmare. Please, Tim. Stay with us. Don't take yourself away."

Tim took a breath and then nodded. He hugged her tightly and then let her go and took her hand. She squeezed it and they walked back to the tent together.

"Baba?" Salma asked.

Tim walked over and knelt down beside his daughter.

"I'm right here, Salma."

Salma hugged him tightly and Tim hugged her back, resting his cheek on her head.

"I love you, Salma. I'm right here."

For a long moment, it was silent as Tim comforted his daughter. Then, he let her go.

"Now, it's time for you to sleep," he said. "Your mama and I will be here. We're going to bed, too."

"You'll be here?" Salma asked.

"Yes."

"Mama, will you sing?"

Zahara smiled. "Yes, I will sing. Lay down."

Salma did as she was asked and lay down under the covers. Zahara gestured for Tim to do the same. He smiled and lay down on their designated space. Trying not to feel self-conscious with Omar there, Zahara sat down by Tim and thought about what to sing. Then, suddenly, she remembered the song that Tim had sung to Jonathan just after he was born, a song he said his mother had sung to him when he was young. Knowing that Tim would be listening, needing the comfort as much or even more than Salma did, Zahara lay down and started to hum the tune softly. She looked at Tim and saw the smile on his face. He recognized it from the first note, probably. Then, Zahara looked at Salma and began to sing.

"Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high.

Your daddy's rich
And your mum is good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry.

One of this mornings
You're going to rise up singin'.
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mummy standin' by."

As she sang, she let her voice get softer and softer and by the end, Salma's eyes were closed and she was sleeping. Tim slid over beside her and put his arms around her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Ahabbak," Zahara said in return.

Then, the two of them slept.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They had left him alone for a while now, but he was still hooded, and his leg still throbbed from his captor stabbing him. He ached all over from the beatings, but for the moment, he was alone, tied to the chair, wherever he was.

Ahmed sat there, in pain, fearing for his life, angry that this had happened and afraid of what would happen to Zahara if these men got to her. He knew that Zahara would not accept his death should it come to that, but he knew also that he would give up his life to keep Zahara safe. It was the last thing his father had told him when he left. He was now the man of the house and it was his job to watch out for his mother and his sister.

"Ahmed, anta rabu al-usra."

"Baba, limāthā tatruknā?"

"Yajib 'alī, ibnī."

And then he had left. Nothing Ahmed had said had stopped him from leaving and he had never returned.

No matter what else, he couldn't betray the trust his father had put in him all those years ago. No matter the pain. Zahara would not suffer because her brother could not protect her.

The door opened and Ahmed couldn't keep himself from hunching his shoulders in anticipation of more pain.

There seemed to be no escape.