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"What do we got?" Gibbs shouted as he entered the bullpen.
"It turns out Jared Simpson is already on CID's watch list. They were alerted when we began our investigation," Ziva said.
"Great," he muttered. "Why?"
"He was suspected of being involved with an illegal sale of intel to the Chinese. There was no actual proof of his involvement. Others were arrested, but he came out clean. He was later dishonorably discharged from the army for an unrelated incident. Something about insubordination and assaulting an officer," McGee explained.
"And what does he want with DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Umm… We don't know," McGee admitted.
"Last known address?" Gibbs asked.
"Hume, Missouri, boss," Ziva answered.
"You and Diamond pack up," he ordered. "Plan to spend at least one night. I want you to talk to anyone and everyone who knew this guy. His barber; his priest; his mother's sister's best friend's nephew. Got it?"
"On it," they answered in unison already heading to the elevator.

Maggie emerged from interrogation with more information than she expected, although they still didn't have much to go on. She had spent some time taking everything she could from Sarah. Later, Sarah's roommate Eliza and her best friend Lane, who had been dating Simpson, we brought in for questioning. Maggie made her way to her desk.
"Anything?" Gibbs asked.
"Nothing remarkable, but a few things to chase down," she responded.
"Get to it," he said shortly as he made his way toward the elevator. Before he made it, the doors opened and Lt. Col. Hollis Mann stepped off.
"Not so fast, Jethro," Mann said.
"I thought we might see you today, Holl," he responded. "I don't have time to hold your hand, I have a missing agent. Sullivan will fill you in on any details," he said gruffly as he disappeared into the elevator.
"You must be Agent Sullivan," Mann introduced herself to Maggie. "I'm with Army CID," she added in explanation of her presence there.
"DiNozzo was taken by a former soldier on your watch list Friday night. A Jared Simpson," Maggie said as she put the information up on the screen. "We know how he baited and abducted him. We know his name, where he was working, last known address, etc. We have his phone records and family history. What we don't have is any sort of motive for holding Tony," Maggie explained. "McGee is tracking his financial records, and Abby is working on trying to pull files from his girlfriend's laptop. She claims he used it several times while he was with her."
"Nice work," Mann said with a smile. "We'll be sure to keep you in the loop," she said, attempting to take the file from Maggie.
"I don't think so," Maggie said, holding the file out of her reach. "I briefed you on our progress because Gibbs instructed me to do so. I sincerely doubt NCIS will be handing this investigation over to you, and I will continue to take my orders directly from Gibbs and Director Shepard with no interference, until I am specifically told otherwise," she said confidently.
"So you're new, but no pushover," Mann said with a skeptical laugh. "Jethro has trained you well already."
"I've been here nearly six months. I may be new to NCIS, but I wasn't born yesterday," Maggie said, standing her ground. Mann cocked an eyebrow and grinned. Maggie knew she was humoring her, thinking she was in her twenties. It was at that point Gibbs returned.
"Stop harassing my agents," he said irritably. "Please," he added. "And you can go ahead and back off. We'll allow you to assist, but NCIS will be leading this investigation to its completion. One of our own is jeopardy," Gibbs said, not giving her a chance to comment. He began to make his way to the Director's office.
"Jethro?" Mann tried to stop him. The elevator dinged and Fornell stepped off.
"Tobias," Gibbs said, retracing his steps to greet him. "While her visit was expected, I can't fathom what would bring you here today."
"I can't let you touch Simpson," Fornell said shaking his head. "He is suspected of trying to procure some classified intel for sale to the highest bidder. We have an agent undercover and are really close to taking him out, along with his buyer who is our primary target."
"I respect your position, Tobias, and I can promise you we will not compromise your operation if it isn't completely necessary. But we will continue to lead this investigation until DiNozzo is out of it," Gibbs said, leaving no room for argument. The buzzing of the phone interrupted them.
"Gibbs, it's Abby," he heard when he answered his line. "I think we might have something."
"On my way," he responded. Gibbs, Sullivan, Mann and Fornell all made their way to Abby's lab.

"That was quick," Abby said as they paraded into the lab. "And we have guests."
"The report, Abs?" Gibbs questioned impatiently.
"We've been able to isolate some activity from Lane's computer according to the dates and times she gave us that Simpson was using her computer. There were some transactions with a bank in Zurich that McGee is cross checking with Simpson's financial records. He also spent a lot of time networking on a couple of military forums, and some time exchanging instant messages. Some seem innocent enough, but others are a little bizarre. I suspect he was using some sort of code," Abby explained hurriedly. "I have traced the IP addresses of the people he was IMing with, and came up with a hit. The strange messages in question were exchanged with someone located right here in DC, in a private residence; 146 Bell Avenue," she recited. "The home owner is Edward Jeffers, but he is supposedly out of the country. He works security at the Pentagon," she added excitedly. "We are still working on decoding the messages," Abby added, although Gibbs had already turned his attention to McGee.
"And the money?" Gibbs asked.
"So far we have been able to trace a total of $3.6 million that has been transferred into Simpson's account from an unknown entity. I haven't found a link to Jeffers, but I'm working on it," McGee reported.
"Also," Abby interjected, "the topics he read on the forums were related to a rumored experimental SONAR system for nuclear submarines that the Navy won't confirm or deny the existence of. He only lurked – no posting," she added.
"What?" Gibbs asked for clarification.
"He only read information and the comments others were making," she explained. "He didn't actually type anything or give any information to anyone."
"We just received a call from the SecNav," Director Shepard said as she entered the lab. "We have twenty-four hours to find DiNozzo before Homeland Security takes over our investigation," she warned. "I drove a hard bargain, but that was all I could get."
"Let's move!" Gibbs barked. "McGee, Abby; keep working on the financial records and decode those messages. Sullivan; grab your gear. You're with me."
"I'm going with you," Mann insisted as she practically ran to keep up with them.
"Suit yourself," he said without looking back.
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