Chapter 39

Ellie looked at her monitor. She had results and she was glad... but at the same time, she wasn't. She knew what would come of this if and when it was verified. People would die. They probably deserved it, but at the same time, she knew that they would simply be killed rather than arrested and tried. This was what she didn't like about the NSA.

Still, it was her job and the evidence she'd found needed to be shared. So she took a deep breath and got up from her station. Then, she went to Director Liu's office.

"I have a report for Director Liu," she said. "It's important."

The assistant raised an inquiring eyebrow and then nodded and called into the office.

"Director, Agent Bishop has a report for you. She says it's important."

There was a pause.

"Director Liu says you can go right in."

"Thanks."

Ellie walked into the office and Director Liu looked at her expectantly.

"You found something?"

"I think so."

"You're not certain?"

"As certain as I can be without people on site confirming."

"How high does it go?"

"At least one general in the army and there seem to be funds coming from two of the major oligarchs."

"No higher?"

"Not that I saw any sign of. I assume that, if they had been successful, Putin would have been informed, but nothing I saw indicated it went any higher than those three."

"Three too many at that level. Lower participants?"

Ellie handed over a list.

"Mostly low-level military. They have training but not position."

"Any ex-KGB?"

"Yes. The general was."

Director Liu nodded.

"Not what I was hoping for, but I suppose it could be worse."

"Yes, sir."

Director Liu was silent for a moment.

"Very well. Agent Bishop, you're not cleared for field work, are you."

"No, sir."

"That's what I thought."

Another silence.

It lengthened and Ellie felt very uncomfortable.

"Sir... was there anything else?" she asked.

"No. That will be all."

Ellie nodded and turned to leave. But she didn't make it to the door before her curiosity got the best of her. She turned back.

"Sir, will you have them killed?"

Director Liu raised an eyebrow at her. He could do that without moving anything else on his face. Only the brow moved. The rest of his face was completely immobile. It was almost like a robot.

"Agent Bishop, why are you working for the NSA?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's a simple question, Agent Bishop. Why? Your psych profile, your temperament, they aren't really compatible with much of the work the NSA does. Why are you here?"

"Well..."

"I'd like you to be honest."

"Well, sir, I..." Ellie felt awkward at being asked to confide in the enigmatic director, but he was still her superior and he was asking her a question. She cleared her throat and went on. "The NSA wasn't my first choice. I applied at NCIS, but I didn't make it past the first interview. I believe in protecting the country and I still wanted to do my part. The NSA was hiring and I applied to work here. I was hired, but only on the computer side. No field work."

"I see. That will be all."

"Yes, sir."

Ellie got out of the office and didn't bother to try to ask her question again. There was a reason he hadn't answered her.

And she probably didn't want to know.

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

Levi sat in the backyard, staring at the garden. He had become fairly adept at keeping the appropriate plants alive over the years. In fact, he did a lot of the gardening because it was a physical activity that he could handle and it got him out of the house and doing something simple.

For now, though, his eyes might be on the garden, but his mind wasn't. He was wondering about what might be happening half a world away.

Arms reached around him from behind. He tensed for just a moment and then smiled.

"I don't see any weeds," he said.

"I wasn't looking at the garden," Tamara said.

"Neither was I."

"I know."

There was a silence.

"You haven't heard anything else?"

"Not yet."

"Do you think you will?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because every time Tim calls, he makes it more likely that someone will be listening for him at the right time. Until his family is safe, he won't want to take that risk."

"Maybe they're safe."

"Not until they're back here."

Tamara moved around and sat down in front of him.

"Levi, I know that Tim's safety matters a lot to you but..."

"It's not his safety that worries me, Tamara. It's his sanity," Levi said. "I am responsible for some of his psychological problems and every blow has a chance of either weakening him or strengthening him. The last time, it almost broke him. I don't know what this one will do."

"You've done what you can, and I know you hate to hear that because you see it as a reflection of your weakness, but it's not. It's a demonstration of who you are, who you've always been. You have done what you could and now you just have to wait to see if there's something more you can do."

Levi didn't respond, although he knew that Tamara was right. He just hated it.

His phone rang and he glanced at Tamara before answering.

"Hello?"

"Levi, I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Levi asked, leaning forward. He was surprised that Tim was calling and even more surprised that the steel was back in his voice.

"Zahara and Ziva and my kids are on their way home. Would you and Tamara... and probably Gibbs since I'm guessing he's still there, mind meeting the plane and helping her back home?"

"You're not with them?"

"They have Zahara's brother. I'm not coming home until he is."

That didn't really surprise Levi, although he had hoped that Zahara would have been able to persuade him to come back to the States.

"Are they alone?"

"No, they've got physical protection. I think she would appreciate the extra support."

"I see. Well, that's something I can do."

"I'd like to avoid giving the information on their landing over the phone. Can you get it from Roy?"

"I could do that."

"Thanks, Levi. I have to get off the phone."

"Why call? This isn't really necessary."

There was a pause and Levi could almost see Tim's enigmatic smile.

"I have my reasons. Thank you."

Then, Tim disconnected. Levi leaned back and considered the conversation. That wasn't done on a whim. It wasn't because Tim was worried. He likely was, but that wasn't really the reason for the call. It was almost like he was hoping to be tracked, but why would he? The automatic thought would be that Tim was hoping to be caught, but Levi knew that wasn't it. Tim would never hope he was caught. He would hope that no one else had to deal with what he had to deal with, but he didn't want to be caught. That was almost the last thing he wanted. So why?

"He has a plan."

"Tim does?" Tamara asked.

"Yes."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he called me when logic would dictate only doing so when absolutely necessary. If these people are determined to find him, they'll be waiting for a chance like that. And Tim doesn't want them to get him, so he must have a reason for it."

"What did he ask you to do?"

"He asked us to meet Zahara's plane."

"Oh. Yes, you can do that."

"Thank you." Then, Levi realized what he had not done. He smiled a little. "I may be in trouble Tamara."

"Why is that?"

"I didn't tell Jethro that Tim was on the phone."

She smiled back. "I think you'll survive."

"Probably, but I should have remembered."

"Yes, but it's all right that you didn't. Whether he admits it or not, he doesn't have to be here for every single moment of contact."

That was Tamara's first overt complaint about their guest. She believed in being a gracious host, but at the same time, she didn't like having someone who invited themselves over and just stayed with no end date.

"Well, for now, I'll go tell him and see if he'll drive me to Langley."

Tamara gave him a look. He smiled a little bit.

"And then, I'll come back home to wait for the plane's arrival."

"Good. Besides, I want to see Zahara, too."

Then, Tamara leaned forward and touched her forehead to his.

"You're doing what you can, Levi. Stop thinking that you're not doing enough. You are."

"I'll try to believe that," Levi said.

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

Tim hung up the phone and sat staring at it. No one knew just how dangerous this phone could be. They had all been irritated when he had decided to call Levi, but he had insisted and, to appease them a little bit, he had kept it short. He knew they thought it was a mistake to risk revealing his whereabouts, but if they didn't know that they could start looking for him in Cairo again, they probably wouldn't move around. It was vital that there was movement... even if he didn't know who the main players were.

At that, he paused. Surely, the NSA was involved. Maybe Ellie would know something. He would just hack in and look for it himself, but he would be surprised if Director Liu made an official record of this. So he needed information, and asking the director himself would be pushing Director Liu more than Tim wanted to. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but Director Liu had been much more upfront about the frustration of Tim being so important. There was no reason to make his frustration worse.

But Ellie would answer him if she knew of anything happening. He didn't know if she would or not, but she might. However, he didn't want to just call Ellie. She didn't need to be explicitly connected to him in anyone's mind. In fact, he would be surprised if anyone realized just how much work she did with him, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Then, he smiled as he thought back to how he'd secretly got in contact with his friends while stuck in Morocco. Quickly, he sent Ellie a message directing her to the old app Anonymouse. Then, he jumped into the app and created an account using the name SteelvBrick, thinking of what he'd thought about himself and Tony.

Then, it was a matter of waiting.

"What are you doing, Tim?" Tony asked.

Tim looked up from his phone and then down at the app that was still waiting for a response from Ellie. He could talk about this part of it, even if it wasn't going to really explain everything.

"I'm seeing if I can get some more information without be overt."

"From who?"

"Agent Bishop."

"The NSA chick?"

"Yeah."

"Why her?"

"Because I'd be willing to bet that some of our information has come from the NSA and if there are whispers, Ellie might have heard them."

"You're emailing her?"

"No. I'm using an app. I'm just waiting to see if she's going to see the message I sent her and get on."

"Edwards wants to coordinate things before we turn in tonight. You want to wait to do that?"

"If possible, yeah. It won't take long if she contacts me. Either she knows or she doesn't."

"But how long will that take?"

"I don't..."

His phone beeped at him.

"I'm done waiting," he said, smiling a little bit.

Tony smiled back. "I'll tell him to wait."

"Thanks."

Tim focused on his phone again. He was being tapped on the shoulder by Fianchetto. He furrowed his brow and looked that up quickly and then grinned and tapped to turn himself around.

Fianchetto: Hi. What is it?

Tim smiled again. Ellie was getting right to the point.

SteelvBrick: What do you know about the people after me?

Fianchetto: Why ask me?

SteelvBrick: Because I think you might know something. Do you?

Fianchetto: Specifically, what do you want?

SteelvBrick: Names.

There was a long pause.

Fianchetto: Why?

SteelvBrick: I would think that was obvious.

Fianchetto: But what good will names do you? Aren't you on your way back?

SteelvBrick: No. I'm getting my brother-in-law out first. And I need names. If you have them.

Fianchetto: I do. I've already given them to the director, though.

SteelvBrick: Do you feel wrong about giving them to me as well?

Fianchetto: Can I ask what you're going to do with them?

SteelvBrick: I can't be specific.

Fianchetto: Can you just tell me if this is going to be about revenge and you plan on killing them?

Tim was surprised by that question. ...and he was a little surprised that he was surprised. He knew that Ellie was always a little iffy about his intentions, even if she'd accepted that he wasn't trying to dupe her. But it made him think more than it should have. The answer should have been an automatic no unless it was necessary, but Tim knew in his heart of hearts that he didn't care if they got killed and in fact, he rather preferred that idea to just rescuing Ahmed and going home. He wanted those men dead. Anyone who came after him, he wanted them dead.

Can I really want that? he asked himself.

Ellie was waiting for an answer, and Tim didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to give up the chance to get information that could help him track down the people holding his brother-in-law.

For now, he'd focus on Ahmed as much as he could.

Fianchetto: ...

Tim smiled at the rather lackluster dots. Ellie didn't want to say his name even where it was supposedly secure.

SteelvBrick: I want to get my brother-in-law safe, and the odds are much better that we'll find him alive if I have whatever names you can give me. I can't tell you why. It just will.

Another long pause. Ellie was ambivalent. Tim could tell that much. But she had information and he really wanted it. He needed it more than he wished he did.

Fianchetto: Okay. I don't know if these are the people who are in Egypt, though.

SteelvBrick: That's okay. I'll take what you have.

Fianchetto: Okay. Mikhail Akhatov, Artur Yakhin, Alexander Ivanov, Ildar Batyrshin, Sergey Volkov, and Pyotr Popov. You should know that there's at least one person pretty high up in the Russian military.

SteelvBrick: So does the NSA think this is sanctioned?

Fianchetto: Probably not by Putin, but it's definitely sanctioned by someone with the power to support it.

That wasn't good. Tim swallowed the panic that threatened to consume him if he let it.

SteelvBrick: Thanks.

Fianchetto: I hope it helps.

SteelvBrick: So do I. I won't use this again.

Fianchetto: Understood.

Tim closed out the chat but copied the names first. Then, he wiped his phone of every trace of the app and went into his extra SIM card. He took a breath, looked at the box waiting for information. He was afraid of doing this, but he had to. With a nod, he pasted the names into the box and set it running with that extra information.

Then, he took another deep breath, let it out in a whoosh and went into the other room to help with the planning.