Chapter 8:
By the time Abby had finished with the fake ids, McGee and Ziva had finished reviewing the information provided by Fornell and had started mapping out the route which Gibbs and Tony would be traveling, highlighting possible detours that could be made during the course of the trip.
That in itself was not an easy task. There were several points along the Youghiogheny River, which broke off into separate areas. It would be impossible to guess which ones would be more likely to be used than others as alternates, as each route sooner or later re-routed back to the original course that had been plotted by the tour guides.
After going over the information with Tony supplied by Fornell, Gibbs decided to call it a night. Besides, McGee and Ziva seemed to be going cross-eyed from studying the map for as long as they had.
The next day began bright and early, as they still had a lot to do. When Fornell arrived, he had brought another agent with him, Agent Brian Cooper. He, like Fornell, was not happy about having to ask NCIS for help. Not liking his attitude, Gibbs sent him down to the lab with McGee to work with Abby on setting up GPS trackers.
Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and Fornell continued to work on the map of the area, making note of side roads and hiking trails that could be easily accessed. After lunch Gibbs and Tony headed down to Abby's lab for their GPS trackers. Ziva and Fornell started working on the details of surveillance of the tour group while they were at the cabins before leaving for the trip.
Entering the lab, instead of hearing the normal blast of music, Gibbs and Tony heard Abby arguing with Agent Cooper.
"It's not right! Are you trying to give them away!" she screamed.
"Please, it's a perfectly reasonable…"
"Piece of shit!"
"Abby!" yelled Gibbs. "What the hell is going on?"
"Fornell is going to want his agent back in one piece, after all," Tony said, and McGee shared a smirk.
"Agent Cooper was getting a car for you to drive tomorrow. Do you know what he got?" asked Abby, her voice giving away her frustration. Not waiting for an answer she continued, "A Saturn! Of all the vehicles out there, he gets a freakin' Saturn!"
"You have got to be kidding me," said Tony. "Exactly how long have you been working with the FBI?"
"Not very long, I don't think. I tried to tell him, but he didn't believe me," said McGee.
"Look, Saturn's are a very popular car. What is your problem? Or are you just looking for an excuse to make this difficult?" growled Agent Cooper.
"Yea, your right. Saturn's are a very popular car. In fact, they're too popular," Tony shot back.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Agent Cooper.
"Take it away, Probie!" Tony said with a dramatic wave of his arms.
"Most federal agencies drive Saturn's. You send them in driving one, you might as well broadcast it on TV that they are federal agents," supplied McGee, taking obvious delight in putting the FBI agent in his place.
"The car needs to fit their cover, you don't just pick one out of convenience," continued Abby.
Agent Cooper just stared at the three of them as Gibbs watched on in amusement. "Maybe you should join your boss upstairs. I'm sure he could use your expertise," Gibbs told him, and with that Agent Cooper stomped off towards the elevator.
"Thank God! I was beginning to think he was going to break something!" said Abby in relief.
"Don't you mean you were afraid that you were going to break him?" joked Tony.
"That too," she replied with a evil grin.
"Alright, FBI's not here, fun's over. What have you two got?" Gibbs intervened before they got carried away.
"More work apparently. Now we have to worry about arranging a car for you guys," said Abby.
"Abs, the GPS trackers?" said Gibbs.
"Right. Well, for you two, we've got watches."
"Water-proof watches. You'll be able to wear them while you're on the water and not have to worry about losing them in your bags," McGee said.
"No kidding," said Tony sarcastically.
Rolling his eyes, McGee continued, "You won't need to worry about going out of range since we will be using satellites to track your movements."
Nodding is head in approval, Gibbs asked, "What about the other trackers?"
"Right, we've got four. One for each Petty Officer, and I figured one for each of you to have handy to plant with the drugs in case you get the chance to look for them," said Abby. "They are your usual GPS trackers. Nothing fancy. Just keep them in their plastic containers so they don't get wet."
"Now why didn't we have these water-proof GPS trackers before I was chained to a killer?" questioned Tony.
"Director Morrow put in a request for them afterwards," answered Abby.
"Good work. How long until you can get a car ready?" asked Gibbs.
"Shouldn't take long, 2 hours tops," answered McGee.
"And what kind of car are you getting?" questioned Tony with a smirk.
Snickering, McGee replied, "Actually I was thinking of a truck, a Ford."
"Good choice McGee. You should give Agent Cooper a crash course in proper automotive usage for undercover ops," laughed Tony as he nodded his head in approval.
Gibbs just rolled his eyes. "Just as long as it runs. Last thing we need is to break down on the side of the road."
"Yea, but the way you drive Boss, you'll probably run the transmission raw anyways, no matter how good it runs," said Tony. All he got in reply was a headslap.
Chapter End Notes:
Argh, figures the one day I have to work late is a Friday! Blah! Anyways, here’s the next chapter. I tried making it longer, I'm pretty sure it's longer than previous chapters…well enjoy! Looking forward to reading reviews! They have been very helpful and encouraging! Oh, by the way, Youghiogheny River is real! Look it up online if you don't believe me. Lol.