NYC FBI OFFICE
"So," Martin said as Danny and Jack came in. "Our Major's safe and sound?"
Danny flung his notebook onto his desk, and there were a few surpised looks. "I sure hope so," he snarled. "Because she's not in that clinic."
Samantha furrowed her brow. "You said she was."
"Stockwell's using a stand-in to get us off the case," Jack replied shortly. "What about Webb?"
Gibbs sat back in his chair, having seen the whole thing. "He's pretty mad all around. Something about if he were on the field, this wouldn't have happened."
"Does he know about Stockwell?" Jack asked.
"What about him?"
"What you were thinking," Jack said impatiently. "About him being the turncoat."
"He's not talking. You tell him what happened, maybe he'll tell."
"Well then, let's go." Without another word, Jack and Gibbs left the room.
Webb groaned and swore under his breath.
"Did you know about this?" Gibbs asked.
"I had my suspicions, like I said," the man retorted.
"You better tell us what is going on," Jack said in a low voice, his tone cold. "If you give a whit about your agent, then you better start talking."
"Has she contacted you?" Gibbs asked, the question bordering on a snarl.
"No, not in the last two days."
"Start talking!" Jack barked.
"I had my suspicions about Stockwell, which is why I brought Lin onto this case - plus the fact she can speak and understand Serbian. Lin was ostensibly reporting to Stockwell, and Stockwell to me. I was using Lin to double check on what Stockwell was telling me." Webb shrugged. "Also vice versa."
"And?" Gibbs' voice rose.
"No 'and,'" Webb replied. "That's it."
"This drop-off...pick-up...whatever...when is it?"
"Need to know."
"Where?"
"Need to know."
"She's going to be dead," Jack growled. "You better start talking."
Webb rolled his eyes. "Stockwell said it himself. She only has a time. She doesn't have a place - she was supposed to show up to get that. The whole reason you were on the case is because she didn't show for the meeting."
Jack sat back. "She doesn't know about the pick-up."
"She can't go because she doesn't know where it is," Webb said sarcastically.
"So what're you going to do," Jack retorted in the same tone. "Sit around and wait for her to call?"
"She's got to come out of hiding sometime," Webb shrugged. "In the meantime, I'm going to use somebody else to do the assignment."
"In the meantime," Gibbs imitated, his eyes a stormy, dark blue, "Stockwell is still hunting her."
Webb rolled his eyes. "Gibbs. For a former Marine, you sure don't have much confidence in a Marine's abilities, do you."
"We let him go?" Jack asked as Gibbs finally came up into his office.
"No reason to hold him," Gibbs replied heavily. "And it's most likely better for Major Lin if he's out there and not sitting in here."
Jack nodded. "Have a seat. We're just talking the case."
"Or lack thereof," Cate muttered.
Tony looked at his boss, and then started. "Here's what we got. Our Marine is still missing. Stockwell is most likely the turncoat, and he's using a stand-in for the major to throw US off track. The pickup has apparently just been tossed to the wayside, and our little spook is just going to sit around and wait for our Marine to call."
"Yup." Gibbs leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hand in frustration over his face.
"That's just stupid," Cate muttered.
"Never leave a man behind," Jack replied, his tone souring slightly. "She should have stayed with the Marines."
"No kidding."
"Webb wouldn't just decide to leave the pickup by the wayside," Vivian suddenly spoke up in disagreement, her brow furrowed as she shook her head. "He's too focused for that. He wouldn't just let it go. And he's not going to use somebody else. He doesn't know who to trust at this point."
"You're saying that Lin is still going to be the one doing the assignment," Samantha replied for clarification.
"Yeah, but we know she doesn't know the location," Danny replied. "So how is she going to get there?"
"Stockwell didn't tell her." Cate shrugged. "She didn't even see Wittenstein - that bullet was from Webb's gun. I doubt whoever tried to blow her up told her."
"Well." Martin leaned back in his chair. "That bomb was pretty sloppy work. Stockwell didn't seem to have really bright help, there. They might've gotten cocky and told her."
"No, seriously," Danny disagreed. "She'd most likely find out from Webb. That's the only guy she can trust."
"We've been tracking his cell phone and everything for the last three days," Samantha replied, shaking her head. "Besides that cherry blossom conversation, there was no other correspondence."
Gibbs' eyes flashed. Cate shrugged. "What?"
"The phone conversation. Where's the transcript?"
Samantha went to her desk and flipped through a few stacks, then found it and handed it to him.
Gibbs scanned the transcript quickly as the others watched him carefully. "Soft-shell crabs...carp...."
"Chesapeake Bay area doesn't really have carp," Cate replied, her brow furrowing. "Catfish and soft-shells, but not carp."
"Neither does New York," Vivian replied.
Danny shrugged doubtfully. "We don't grow mangoes and we get them shipped in."
"So why does he promise her a carp dinner?" Cate asked. Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her expectantly. "He's not," she said slowly as understanding dawned. His slight nod showed she was on the right track.
"Philly has carp," Tony said suddenly.
Seven faces turned to him, and Gibbs gave him a nod to continue.
A slow grin spread on NCIS agent's face. "That area, anyhow. See, when I was working in Philadelphia, there were these guys called the 'Philly Fish Guys.' They just fish and then throw 'em back. They caught a lot of carp. 24-incher is considered small."
"Wait a minute." Martin flipped through his little notebook. "Philly. She's from Philly, right outside the city."
"They're going to use an area she knows to do the pickup," Jack said slowly. "That's what Webb meant by 'familiar to you.' It's 1700, according to Stockwell, and I'm guessing that was the 'dinner' reference." Jack shrugged. "OK, but where specifically?"
"You fish carp on the Schyulkill," Tony replied, shaking his head. "Not the Delaware, generally. If she's actually in Philly, it shouldn't be that hard to find where she might be."
There was a long silence for a moment, and then a mad scramble for their bags.
PHILADELPHIA
"We've searched everywhere!" Samantha exclaimed breathlessly, throwing up her hands as she slowed her running to stop.
Jack sighed, rubbing his temples as Danny put his hands on his hips.
"Where's everyone else?" Samantha asked as she and Vivian approached.
"Martin and DiNozzo are still checking out the fishing boats, and I have no idea where Gibbs and Todd are," Jack replied.
"Right here," Gibbs replied, stepping up from behind the FBI agent, Cate just two steps behind.
"We have got less than half an hour," Vivian said.
Just then a car screeched into the lot behind them, and out jumped Martin and Danny.
"We found it," the NCIS agent said, still trying to catch his breath. "I talked to an old coworker here who used to do carp fishing. He said most of them still fish on the Schuylkill, but that one guy is moored in the Delaware, and he doesn't just fish for fun. He's the only one in dock right now. Erik Johannsson."
"Does he have ties to Lin or to Stockwell or to anybody?"
"Martin's checking," Tony replied.
"As well as I could, while Dale Earnhardt practiced," Martin replied, still typing away quickly as Danny held the laptop for him.
Cate shot Tony a 'told you so' look.
"Got him." They crowded around Martin. "Erik Johannsson, 78. Single. No ties. Not anything to any of our guys. He's Norwegian, and he's never met any of them, as far as I can tell."
"So why pick him?" Danny asked.
"It might be a random target," Jack replied. "No way people could really trace it because he doesn't have ties to anyone."
"But what if he's on board his boat?" Samantha asked.
"He won't be," Gibbs replied, already running to the car. "He's a target because he's predictable. He's most likely already turned in for the day. Tony, get us down there. Martin, you're with us, we're going to need the location of the docks."
Car doors slammed as the teams piled into the two town cars. Tony wheeled the car out of the lot and took off, Jack following close behind.
"He's going fast," Jack muttered, as he pressed his foot onto the pedal harder in order to catch up. "I'd hate to be in his car any time."
"How much longer?" Vivian asked over her intercom.
Cate replied, "Tony indicated two minutes, but I think that's if you drive normally."
Tony took a sharp right, and Jack followed. They wheeled into the parking lot and jumped out.
"Fan out," Jack instructed.
The pairs searched, running up and down piers and checking the names of the docked boats.
Tony and Martin were at one pier, at the last boat. Tony looked up and shook his head at Gibbs, then pointed silently at the next pier, which was still a good ways down.
Gibbs and Cate headed for the pier, their weapons drawn, as Jack and Danny disappeared behind them. Over the intercom line, they could hear Vivian and Samantha checking the alleyways to their left, and Jack and Danny to their right.
The pair slowly made their way towards the pier. They made their way between the boats, checking each one.
There was an old but sturdy boat near the end. As Cate checked the register, she nodded and pointed it out to Gibbs. They went around the boat, nearing it quietly. Gibbs was about to slip on board when he paused. At Cate's puzzlement, he slowly moved away, his eyes scanning the exterior of the boat.
A tiny red light flashed again just as the rocking of the boat again submerged the small explosives device stuck onto its hull. There was the softest of all locking noises, and the light flashed on permanently. Gibbs shoved Cate on ahead of him as the two dove off the pier and into the water.
Samantha and Vivian were watching one instant and then taking cover by an outside stairwell the next as there was one explosion, then another, then another, each progressively larger than the other. "There's no way that was only one bomb," Vivian muttered as she and Samantha finally got to their feet, when it was quiet. They watched as the last bits of the boat landed in the water.
The entire boat was gone. There was nothing left. The small bit of hull floated briefly and then sank rapidly, leaving just planks on the water, burning.
"Where're Cate and Gibbs?" Samantha asked from her spot. They advanced slowly, weapons drawn. "FBI!" she shouted to screaming bystanders. "Stay calm, and stay put!"
Tony and Martin emerged from where they'd taken cover and stood on the pier they'd just been searching, watching the wreckage in horrified fascination.
"DiNozzo!" shouted a voice from under their feet.
Tony looked down to see Cate and Gibbs in the water, looking like drowned rats. Cate was shivering, and her hair hanging over her face, some seaweed stuck in it. "Hey, you look like Cousin It," he joked with obvious relief.
Cate shot him a look of death.
Tony and Martin reached down and grabbed her arms, helping to haul her up. Cate's teeth rattled as she shivered. Jack and Danny came running, and just as Cate's feet touched the pier, they reached over the ledge to Gibbs.
"You two OK?" Samantha asked breathlessly as she and Vivian ran up.
"Just a little wet," Gibbs replied. "Cate? You OK?"
"I'm freezing," she muttered, her lips turning blue. Danny stripped off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, but the shivering didn't stop.
Police cars and other unmarked town cars were wheeling into the area, and spectators were starting to gather. Somebody had obviously called an ambulance, because it soon arrived, alarms blaring.
"We could use the help over here," Vivian called when they jumped out.
Jack stood alone, watching as the debris from the fishing boat floated on the water - the debris that hadn't been incinerated in the explosion. The LEOs were already sweeping the area in boats, gathering up the evidence before the river current took it away.
Samantha came over to stand next to him, giving a concerned glance. "I guess she's really gone now."
"Yeah."
They stood in silence for a moment, and then she murmured, "Do you think there's the chance she might've...?" She trailed off, shrugging, but her expression still hopeful.
"That explosion?" Jack said, looking over the debris, then shaking his head. "No one's lucky that many times."
NYC FBI OFFICE
"Is it ready to go?" Gibbs asked as he crossed the bullpen.
Tony nodded. "All boxed up."
"All of it?" Gibbs asked incredulously.
"Jack said something to them," Tony replied. "I think that FBI agent actually likes you, boss." The younger man grinned. "There's a first time for everything. 'Course, he might just be doing that to piss off Fornell and Freeman, too."
Gibbs just gave him a look and headed out to Malone's office.
Samantha looked over at her as Cate packed up. "You OK?"
"Yeah."
"Not sick from your little dip yesterday?"
Cate smiled a little. "Nope." She zipped up her bag and then said quietly, "Does it ever bother you?"
"What's that?" Samantha asked.
"Not finding them alive," Cate replied, with a small shrug. "Doesn't it ever bother you?" She paused a moment, then smiled a little wearily and added, "At least with most of our cases the guy is already dead."
Samantha chuckled softly, thinking for a moment. "Of course it bothers us when they're not alive." Her smile grew wider. "But with our every case we can hope they're still alive. More than can be said for you."
"Hope junkies." Cate smiled, and the two women laughed.
Tony watched as Gibbs shook hands with Malone, back there in the latter's office. He soon sensed Danny and Martin behind him, and he turned.
Danny looked at him carefully, then extended a hand. "Good luck."
Tony shook it. "Thanks."
"Don't kill yourself driving down there," Martin replied, then grinned as he extended a hand, which Tony shook.
"Whaddya think they're talking about in there?" Danny finally asked, apparently bursting with curiosity as he looked into Jack's office. At the surprised looks, he grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Martin replied, with a grin.
"Yeah, but cats have nine lives," Danny reminded, a similar grin on his face.
"And you're not on number nine yet?" Martin asked with mock incredulity.
"Funny, Fitzy. Funny."
"How many boxes?" Gibbs asked as Malone read the file.
"Twenty-seven. And you get to deal with the angry...carp...fisherman."
Gibbs just smiled as he made a few notes in his notepad. "I'm going to be doing paperwork for a week."
"My head on a platter," Malone commiserated. He handed Gibbs the file. "This is everything that was bagged and tagged throughout the whole investigation. That includes the boxes of the fishing boat. I'll send you anything else that comes up here."
Gibbs nodded his thanks.
"I'm wiping my hands of this business." Jack straightened a few things on his desk, and Gibbs turned to go. At the door, Jack suddenly said, "Oh, and Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs turned around.
"If you see our mutual...friend...Tobias...Fornell," Jack deadpanned, drawing out the name, "tell him I said hello."
Gibbs raised an amused eyebrow.
"Personal greetings from New York to Washington, you know."
A trace smile crossed both Gibbs' and Malone's faces. As Gibbs disappeared down the hall, Jack was sure he could hear the man's laughter.
End
Chapter End Notes:
"Nine Lives, Part II" is "NCIS" only. posted to FF.net 3/21-4/2/04