Gunshots echoed in the warehouse. Chaos ensued and shouting could be heard from all corners of the building. Sarah looked around, trying to figure out what was the next steps. This was not supposed to happen. The plan was supposed to work flawlessly. She looked around and could not see any of her team. They were just there, just in her line of sight and now she could not find them.
"Sarah!" She turned her head toward the call and could not see where it came from. It echoed as she struggled to find the source. It sounded like her partner, but she could not find her.
"Sarah!"
She shot up from lying flat and found herself trying to catch her breath. She looked around frantically, but quickly realized she was in an FBI holding cell. She noticed an agent standing on the other side of the gate, giving her an odd look. She rubbed her face and adjusted her hair. She noticed on her hands some of her makeup smudged, but she shrugged it off.
"Agent Fornell would like to speak to you." He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and held them up. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the door. She stuck her wrists through the bars so he could secure her wrists in front of her. She removed her wrists from the bars so he could open the gate. He held her arm as he guided her to interrogation. He sat her down facing the one-way mirror and left her to sit alone. She looked down at her handcuff-clad wrists and sighed. She was just hoping she would get more answers.
Gibbs watched Sarah through the glass. He could see her confusion. He was just as confused. He told Fornell he wanted to watch his interrogation. He watched as Sarah was trying to get settled in her chair with her attention on the handcuffs on her wrists. Confusion was still evident on her face as she stared down at her hands.
Fornell stepped into the room, thick folder in hand. He sat across from Sarah and opened the folder.
"Why am I here?"
"To talk." Sarah raised her arms.
"With these?" Fornell dug a key out of his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists as she pulled them close to her chest. "Thank you."
"Where were you last week?"
"Working a case. Just ask Gibbs. We have been busy, and I have been trying to make sure I can get this weekend off."
"On a Friday night?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I was home. Alone." She leaned forward. "What is this about? You arrest me for murder and do not tell me anything else. I have a right to know exactly what I am being accused of." Fornell sighed and pulled out a stack of photos from the back of the folder.
"Single slash to the throat. No defensive wounds. Deep. Sounds like something a trained CIA agent would do." He placed a picture of the slashed neck in front of her. "FBI agent found in an alley. Gunshot to the chest for good measure it seems." He placed another photo in front of her. Her eyes opened wide. "M.E. says he died quickly. Quick and efficient." Gibbs noticed her immediate discomfort. She knew the victim, but he saw in her face a hope it was not who she thought.
"Who is this?" She already knew, but she wanted to be wrong. Fornell spread out more pictures, but she was focused on the victim's face.
"Special Agent Gregg Mortar. You last worked with him…."
"… 5 years ago," she finished. Her head snapped up. "I did not do this. No way. I worked with Gregg. He was a friend. He was helping me with something."
"You were the last person to talk to him, according to phone records. We need to know what that conversation was about. And about that last case." Sarah ran her hands through her hair and let out a large sigh. She felt herself struggling to hold it together and stay calm. "What were you guys working on?"
"Wait, you think I did this? Gregg was my friend. I would never do this." Gibbs noticed panic overtaking her from the other side of the glass.
"Just answer the question, Sarah."
"C'mon Fornell, I did not do this. You know I would never do something like this."
"You and I both know that guilty people will say the same thing."
"I. Did. Not. Do. This!" she shouted as she stood up. She hit her hand against the table with the last word. She stared intensely down at Fornell sitting across from her. She was shaking in anger. After a minute, she sat back down in the chair.
A knock on the glass behind him caught his attention. Fornell grabbed his folder and walked out of the room, leaving the dejected teen alone in the interrogation room. She pulled her knees up close to her and stared at the pictures he left on the table. She studied them closely. The last case they worked on played vividly in her head, like a movie reel on loop. Fornell found Gibbs was joined by Director Asher in the observation room. He looked mad and waited until Fornell closed the door to open his mouth.
"Agent Fornell, you are not read into that case. She cannot be speaking to you or Agent Gibbs about classified cases."
"With all due respect, Director, if it is officially closed, then she should be able to speak about it, especially if it is related to the case of our dead agent."
Asher sighed and looked through the glass at Sarah. She had not moved in the chair. The stress was evident in her features. It seemed like she was in her own world when he watched her. "She was supposed to leave it alone. I gave her strict orders to drop it multiple times. It was closed. She kept saying something in her gut told her that something did not add up." He returned his gaze at the men. "I have half a mind to take this over internally, but I am afraid she is right this time."
"If the death of this FBI agent could be related to that case, then she could be next," Gibbs said. He noticed Sarah had rested her head on her knees. He could not tell what she was doing beyond that.
"Then I will take her back to the CIA. She can be protected there."
"Absolutely not," Fornell said. He knew if Asher did that, they would never see Sarah again. "If this is truly related to this case, it could be someone in house."
"Then let me take her back to NCIS in protective custody. Then there is no chance of anyone there while investigating."
Asher crossed his arms and sighed. "Fine, but I want to be kept in the loop on this. Sarah is one of our best." He turned toward the door but stopped and turned back. "I will read you gentlemen in tomorrow since you will be investigating."
Gibbs and Fornell were stopped in the hall as they were walking to gather the necessary paperwork for the transfer. The teen looked no older than 16 and seemed to be in a hurry. He recognized them immediately and grabbed their attention.
"Agent Gibbs, Agent Fornell. I need to talk to you."
"And you are?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him.
"Officer Jordan Strait. I work with Sarah at the CIA."
"We already talked to your director. She will be with Agent Gibbs and his team at NCIS." They started to walk away.
"Wait!" They stopped and turned around. "I heard what happened. And I know the case that could be related."
The men approached him again. "Your boss said that it was classified."
"Yeah well, it doesn't mean I do not know about it. After all, it was the case that killed my sister. Her partner."
Fornell gave him an inquisitive look. "She never mentioned anything about losing her partner."
"That is because it is the only case she never could close. And the hardest loss. My sister was her best friend. Jess and Sarah were inseparable and did everything together." Gibbs motioned for them to take a seat at a nearby table. "Jess died because something went wrong. She was shot despite everything being in place. Sarah did not take it well and she still refuses to talk about it." He sighed. "Honestly, I am glad she found your team, Agent Gibbs. She almost died in every mission after that. She was sent on the hardest assignments. I thought she was finally getting better when she took the liaison position at NCIS."
"Why are you here, Agent Strait?"
"Jordan, please." He sighed. "I wanted to make sure she was ok and see if I could get her out of here. She did not kill Gregg. Gregg was the only one on that case who listened to her when she thought something wasn't right. She told me the other day he had sent her a message asking to meet about something important but when he didn't show up, she thought he forgot or got stuck at work. She would also not kill an agent, especially without cause. That is not her."
"Jordan, what happened?"
"I don't know. Like I said, she refuses to talk about that night. I only know what happened at the hospital because I beat her to it." He stood up and pulled out his phone. "Listen, I have to get back to the agency, but I trust she is safe with you, Agent Gibbs. Let me give you my number in case you both have any questions, or I can do anything to help. Sarah is family." Gibbs and Jordan exchanged numbers quickly. He pocketed his phone and started in the opposite direction of Gibbs and Fornell.