Carly led Jethro, Fornell, Tony and Sacks down into the basement. The two FBI agents looked around the room seeing the washer/dryer and the chest freezer and that was it. Jethro and Tony were watching Carly though.
"I told you there wasn't anything down here. We've checked the size compared to the original plans and everything." Agent Sacks told Tony.
Tony held up his hand, ignoring the other man's sputtered protest. Carly had walked over to the far wall and was walking back looking at the floor. To Fornell and Sacks it just looked as if she was staring at the floor not wanting to admit she was wrong. Jet and Tony knew different and saw that she was pacing the slabs looking for something in particular. When she had paced off 15 slabs, she stopped and bent down. Running her finger around the joints of the slab, she made a show of comparing it to the slabs around it for Fornell and Sacks.
"This slab has been moved." She told them and they all gathered around to look at the differences she pointed out to them.
"I'll be damned." Fornell said and Jet was quick to agree he probably would be.
Laughing momentarily, they quickly set about taking up the slab. Jet grabbed a wire hanger from the laundry area of the basement, bent it and slipped it between the loose slab and the one beside it. Twisting the wire, it slipped under the slab and he pulled up until they could lift the slab the rest of the way off. They had uncovered a hole in the ground. Sacks stood back up.
"Well, we found where they were hiding something but they've taken it." He said. Turning to walk back upstairs, he stopped with Carly asked for Tony's flashlight.
Tony took it out and shined it in the hole. Nearly covered with dirt and hidden in a corner of the hole was an SD memory card. Carly slipped a glove on and reached down to retrieve it. "Let's see if they forgot anything important, ok boys?" She walked to the stairs and turned back to Sacks. "You're lack of faith is disheartening Agent Sacks. Why don't you recover the hole?"
Tony laughed but quickly cut it off when Jet's hand met the back of his head.
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Abby and Carly were working on breaking the encryption on the SD card when Gibbs walked in followed closely by Fornell. "What have you got for us?" He asked.
Abby turned and shook her head. "Nothing yet. We've almost cracked their encryption but we're not there yet."
The two men watched as the women worked in unison to get to the information that could lead them to the terrorists and stop whatever they were planning. When they saw them both look at each other and nod, Gibbs and Fornell knew that they got it. With the touch of a few keys, the files were displayed on the plasma. Gibbs cursed when he recognized the target.
"Washington Dulles International?" Fornell said, staring at the layout of the airport's terminal. "My God."
Carly pointed a file out to Abby and she opened it next. Groaning when nothing but code came up on the screen, Abby told Gibbs, "We might need McGee's help decoding this Gibbs."
"Decoding what?" McGee asked as he walked in with Ziva. He stared at the plasma for a few moments before moving to Carly's computer. She willingly stepped out of the way, knowing he worked faster typing on his own. After five minutes of having people stare at him, McGee said, "Go get something done, I can't concentrate with all of you staring at me like that."
Gibbs smiled at the floor and smacked the back of McGee's head when he passed him. "Sorry boss, I just..."
"McGee!" He barked.
"Yes, boss?" McGee looked at Gibbs.
"Don't apologize! Now get back to work!"
"Yes boss." McGee said and went back to decoding the file.
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McGee's eyes were as big as saucers. Connecting to the plasma in the bullpen, he said, "Boss, whatever they are planning its set for today."
Gibbs got on the phone to Jenny and Fornell called his office. They were in the middle of arranging teams to get to the airport when Fornell's phone rang again. He jerked around to look at the tv and motioned for DiNozzo to turn the volume up.
"This is Isabelle Weathers, reporting live from the The Oaks Mall in Fairfax, VA. The situation as it stands now, there is one lone man inside wearing a bomb. He hasn't made any demands to the police or FBI that are on the scene. The only thing we have been able to find out that he's said is that no one is to leave until he gets orders from a higher power to release people. There is no word yet on who and what this higher power is. This is Isabelle Weathers and we'll be here live at The Oaks Mall to keep you up-to-date with any developments."
Gibbs stared at the television before having Tony turn it down. "It's a distraction. Odds are the higher power is whoever is behind the attack on the airlines."
McGee came running into the bullpen from the stairwell. "Boss, if the bomb is on a timer, there's a possibility that there is a back-up detonator on a radio frequency."
Gibbs looked at Carly, taking a moment to read her expression before he made the decision. "We have teams heading for the airport. If this guy is a distraction, we might be able to get more intel on where and what is going down at Dulles."
As they walked to the elevators, Gibbs paused by Carly. She told him, "I need to be there. If the FBI can take this guy down, it won't matter if he talks or not, I can get information out of him. Just make sure Fornell's people don't kill him."
He looked in her eyes knowing she was right. "You stay well out of range until they get that bomb taken care of." She nodded her understanding. As they moved together towards the elevator he asked, "What are you going to do if he's thinking in Arabic?"
Carly looked surprised and then smiled. "Well then Ziva will find out my secret, won't she?"
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.