Corporal werth is your poster boy for the marine corps.
Rapid improvement in every facet
Since he enlisted four years ago:
Strength, speed, stamina, mental acuity, everything.
Mcgee, back off!
Damon, what are you doing?
Stay down.
Oh, man, my head.
Heatherton.
Yo, heatherton.
Man, was that a party or what?
Step to it, marine.
All right. Home again, home again.
Let's get some lights on in here.
Look at that.
You got rid of the piles of magazines.
Looks nice. Homey.
Not "homie" as, in, you know,
"you're my homie" I meant the place.
I'm gonna check your, uh,
Fridge for some food.
I just asked you to drive me, mcgee.
Always happy to drive you, boss.
There's nothing in here but fish food.
Well, you know what I could do?
I could, uh,
Feed the fish, and if you get hungry,
You could eat the fish.
Sorry. It's a bad joke.
Uh, you need help with your shoes, or...
All right.
Got a new lock on the front door.
That's to keep out unwanted guests.
Ah.
All right. Pick you up in the morning.
I know my goldfish didn't eat a t-bone.
Payback, agent gibbs.
Friends are welcome.
You're not a friend.
I need your help.
I didn't want anyone to see us talking.
You're paranoid.
I'm clean.
I'm off the juice.
Who do you think's watching you?
Guy named aaron szwed. He's got a trucking company.
Friend of mine from the corps's been doing work for him.
Questionable work.
Go on.
This is...
This is heatherton and me.
After we got shipped stateside.
Wife and kid left him. He had some trouble
Making the transition back to civilian.
Unlike you?
I didn't carry him out of the desert so he could wind up dead
In some alley tonight.
He came by for a drink.
Partied. He was upset.
He wanted to tell me something about the last job, and I...
You what?
I blacked out again.
Is your head straight?
I only had a couple of beers, I swear.
You only had a couple you remember.
He's still laying out there, gunny.
Hello. Hey, mcgee.
Yeah, boss? Day's not over.
Well, it's, uh... It's the district.
So, technically, it's metro's jurisdiction.
But we can take it if we find a reason.
Cooperating witness.
Heatherton's not active service.
Hasn't been since he was wounded in iraq.
I'll call metro.
If they can kick it
To the bureau's violent crimes task force,
They can hand it off to us.
Get, uh, ziva and dinozzo out of bed.
What?
Wake 'em up.
Oh, oh, oh.
Right, um... Get them out of bed,
Because it's the middle of the night and they're asleep.
Yes.
Individual beds. Get them out of individual beds.
I was confused. I thought we were talking...
Need some sleep yourself, do you, mcgee?
Uh, no.
You got bags under your eyes.
It's a look that I'm going for.
Believe me now?
What was heatherton doing for szwed?
Driving a truck. Like, serious driving.
Last run was cross country and back in less than a week.
He...
He said he messed up, but he had to.
Something about being a human first.
Heatherton was recruiting me for the next run.
And, um...
Szwed offered it to me.
When?
Before I came to see you.
I went to see szwed at his warehouse out in manassas.
You lucas?
Where's heatherton? Expecting two of you.
You guys haven't seen him?
Is this the wheelman?
Yeah.
But our boy heatherton's gone missing.
That guy's unreliable.
I'm not.
Your friend told me you can drive.
If the money's right.
Really?
It's a two-man job.
We'll roll tomorrow.
I've got someone in mind.
This is a murder investigation.
Szwed's body man, lucas, he carries a jack knife.
I think they killed him.
You're not getting involved.
What do I tell his wife, gibbs?
What do I tell his little girl?
I'll tell you.
You're just a witness here.
And you're not a very good one.
No.
I'm the guy taking a dead man's place behind the wheel.
You need me, gibbs.
What happened to your face?
What happened to your arm?
The job.
Same.
Office said you just got home a few hours ago.
Rico case.
Couple of mob hits.
Deep cover.
No sugar?
Try not to look so chipper.
All right, go.
I'm taking your crime scene.
Let me hop in the shower.
Tobias.
Nice slippers.
Oh, sorry.
It's okay.
You were sleeping.
I know.
It's kind of like being in a cave
With a hibernating bear, you know?
Makes me nervous.
I'll fall right back to sleep.
You can do that?
Wish I could.
My brain.
Once I'm awoken, just keeps going.
Starts spinning. Can't stop it.
Mm-hmm.
That would get irritating.
Yeah. I wish my brain had an on/off switch, you know?
In the corps, you learn
To get your sleep wherever you can.
Well, that makes sense.
You never know
What's going to happen next, right?
Any time, alice.
Boss.
I wasn't sleeping.
Werth and I were just talking about how...
All right. Let's go process the scene.
You're already doing it, aren't you?
This time of year, gaining weight, I got knots.
That's because you sleep in a chair.
It's not a chair.
It's a not-chair?
It's a top-of-the-line comfortastic brand
Gentlemen's reclining chaise
With a pretty terrific massage feature
And pretty fantastic cup holder.
It is a massage chair that gives you knots.
It is not healthy.
I can assure you, dear boy,
With the passing years, the knots do not get any looser.
For the sake of your health,
Give up the chair.
Can we just not... Not say "knot" anymore?
Thank you.
So, what are we...
What are we looking at here, ducky?
Well, his throat's been slit
With what appears to be a serrated blade.
Blood loss would have been extreme and immediate.
So, I would give you odds that he did not...
It would have been quick.
Bureau's case file on aaron szwed
For interstate trafficking.
It's just allegations.
He runs a fleet of trucks moving product overland.
That's legit.
His delivery rate is higher than industry average.
Prices are higher, too.
He uses two drivers per rig, alternating.
Heatherton told me one's always armed.
Came across our radar last year,
When one of his drivers shot a would-be highjacker.
The firearm was legally registered.
Szwed didn't take any flack.
Gerald lucas is listed as his head of security.
But I couldn't find any
Employment records for heatherton.
He was off the books.
Why don't we bring him in and ask him about it?
Three reasons.
What's he moving?
Where's he moving it? Who's he moving it for?
It's tough to run an interrogation if you don't know
The who, what, why, where and how.
we know the when.
Yeah, duck?
About two minutes.
No, stay.
Eat.
Drink.
No, I'm good.
You're good when I say you're good.
And the lab says you're good.
Cooperating witness, jethro?
Come on, what's the real story?
Ah, he was a marine.
He saved his friend's life.
A couple other guys, too.
Corps didn't work out?
Seems like a team guy.
He's a marine who broke the rules.
You didn't lock him up?
I gave him a medal.
I had one just lying around.
You know,
It's not like he's wearing your pin.
You're not going steady with the guy.
Tobias, it didn't mean anything.
I think it meant something to him.
We can use the information he's got,
Gives us the inside track.
But it doesn't go further than that.
It doesn't matter what he thinks he owes his friend.
In some eastern cultures,
It is believed that if you save a man's life,
You become responsible for him.
I can imagine the pain the poor boy
Must be experiencing at the loss.
Assuming he's part of one of those eastern cultures.
Oh, east, west, the mutual saving of a life
Is a powerful bond.
as evidenced by the two of you.
Is that why we're friends?
It's more like shared misery.
God knows you've got enough to go around.
Hey, I'm a happy guy.
Since when?
You don't know what I've been doing.
I haven't seen you in months.
Well, whose fault is that?
You only call when you need something.
Well, apparently when I need grief.
uh, staying
On that subject for a moment, if we could,
And the sad discoveries I've made of the departed.
I've found severe fractures of the first,
Second, and third metacarpals.
Recently?
I just found them.
Very recent.
Yeah, it appears
The bones have been systematically crushed.
Someone tried to get him to talk.
I wonder what he had to say.
I'm awake.
We didn't say anything, mcgee.
But you did something, didn't you?
What'd you do?
Did you try and put my hand in this water?
That's a little juvenile.
You drew on my face, didn't you?
You drew on my face. No.
I suggested stripping you naked, putting a tag on your toe
And dragging you down to autopsy
So when you woke up you'd think you were dead.
But ziva thought it was in poor taste.
Well, thank you, ziva.
I did not agree.
I think there are a lot of people who'd like to see you naked.
Anything in heatherton's apartment?
Nothing out of the ordinary, sleeping beauty.
Szwed.
Couple of speeding tickets two weeks ago.
One in texas, one in new mexico.
Hmm, he gets around.
So, who's this confidential witness that's got gibbs
So gung-ho about taking this guy down?
Confidential.
Oh, I see.
Well, in that case, I'm not gonna tell you
What ziva did to you while you were napping.
Please, ziva didn't do anything to me.
Whatever you say, mcgee.
Ziva.
Damon?
I was just, um, peeing in a cup.
Yeah, uh, damon, let's, um, let's head on down.
Right this way.
Szwed's truck rolls in six hours.
What do you got? We got nothing.
I don't like the sound of that.
Oh...
We got nothing!
Szwed's a trafficker who has escalated to murder.
We gotta stop the truck.
Or we can put someone on it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
We talking about letting johnny rambo
Go all first blood again?
Gee, I hope not.
Putting way too much trust in this guy.
Sounds like a big gamble, jethro.
Let it ride.
You told me to wake you up at 2:00.
What? It's 2:00.
Oh.
Thanks.
Hey,
Remember when you went to africa?
Uh, yeah, it left an impression.
You think there's,
Um, any chance that maybe you came in contact
With a tsetse fly that was carrying the protozoan
Trypanosoma brucei?
Abby, I don't have sleeping sickness.
I'm just exhausted.
I had no idea how hard gibbs works.
I mean, keeping up with his schedule's gonna kill me.
Mcgee, you can't do that, okay?
He's been practicing this for, like, years.
Abby, I owe him.
For saving your life?
That's part of his job description.
He pushed me out of the way of a speeding car.
Pushing people is really rude, mcgee.
Seriously.
He's up at the crack of dawn, if he goes to bed at all.
What exactly is running through that guy's veins?
Coffee, mcgee.
Right, boss.
No, get me some.
On it, boss.
And get everyone ready.
You're enjoying having a valet.
You done?
And the tox screen?
Positive for flunitrazepam.
Werth was roofied.
Is there anything else you need?
If there is, mcgee'll do it.
Last one to use the van should have to clean it out.
There should be a rule.
There is.
Well, who was the last one to use it?
You were.
I don't think so.
'cause it smells like falafels.
And I know a certain backup probie agent
That smells a little falafely.
You want to help?
Sure.
Thank you.
Probie? Yeah, I'm in the process
Of becoming a sworn ncis agent.
Thought you had to be an american citizen
To join a federal agency.
I'm also in the process of becoming an american citizen.
I thought you had to be a legal resident for, you know...
There are a few strings being tugged.
Pulled.
You pull strings.
You tug heart strings.
The heart has strings?
According to the poets.
Don't confuse the girl.
It's taken a lot of marionetting to get her this far.
And who's the puppetmaster?
Well, it's probably best if we table the issue
Of qualifications in case someone asks
How you're qualified to be on this op.
Not my first rodeo.
I know that, cowboy.
Okay, ready to roll here.
Yeah, boss, let's get this guy out of here.
He needs to be wired.
Yeah, we gotta get him in first.
Then we wire him?
We got a plan for that.
Mcgee, go.
These are aerial photos of szwed's distribution hub
In manassas.
That's the loading dock,
Access road which leads to route 409.
Now, this is gerald lucas, aaron szwed.
I pulled, uh,
Prepass tracking numbers on all of their rigs.
Somehow I doubt that'll help.
Well, maybe we'll get lucky.
No, no, the less we leave to luck,
The better with a civilian on the inside.
Putting a lot of faith in you, son.
Observe only.
Understood. Gibbs: One of ours
Goes with you as your partner.
Find out what's in the truck
And take it to the other end.
We'll be following,
Then we'll bust both sides.
Two ways to fallow.
Rule number 27.
First way, they never notice you.
Second way,
They only notice you.
One team inside, two teams trailing.
Fornell's with me.
Well, then where are we?
They're on their way in, boss.
You made it.
My partner.
What, no comment about me being a woman?
You're kidding.
Like if I had a choice I'd hang around with more dudes, huh?
And it'll make patting you down more enjoyable.
Try not to enjoy it too much.
Good luck with that.
All right.
Got the telescopic mic up.
Check it out.
pretty cool.
Nothing yet.
A lot of big, heavy walls in there.
I gave them the blueprints.
I'm sure they'll find a sweet spot.
That's a lot of joe you got.
Double-fisting it, huh?
I'd be careful with that much caffeine, uh...
That is sugar.
That's a lot of sugar.
Oh, yeah.
Mmm, there we go.
Oh.
What's pretty boy mumbling about now?
Wow, can you hold a grudge.
He broke my nose.
He dislocated my shoulder, okay?
Well, you have another shoulder.
I only have one nose and it's on my face.
I mean, it's on my face, mcgee!
Look, it was two years ago.
Just drop it.
That would be fine, but he keeps coming back.
Gibbs should tell him to just... Be on his way.
Go live his own life.
Actually, ducky thinks that gibbs feels
A connection to werth since we saved him.
Two schools of thought
On the lifesaving/ responsibility issue:
You got robin hood:
Prince of thieves versus the world's greatest athlete.
I saw that one.
The blonde white guy with the african tribe.
It's the young jan-michael vincent.
Loved him on airwolf.
Stringfellow hawke...
That may be the best character name ever.
The tribe believed
That the lifesaver had to take care of the savee.
Versus prince of thieves
Where costner saved morgan freeman's life,
So azeem follows robin hood all around trying
To save his life to relieve the debt.
Well, werth served his country.
I don't know what it is exactly we owe him,
But we do owe him something.
Do me a favor.
Pace yourself with that stuff.
What is that sound?
You came prepared.
Yeah, I was a boy scout.
Not what I heard.
What are you looking for anyway?
Privacy.
I'm holding on to your cell phone.
You can have 'em back after we're done.
You know how to handle a cb?
Mm-hmm.
Collect your gear.
I'm sure you got a lot of questions.
Just one.
Shoot.
Where's the truck?
You hire a cleaning lady or something?
Nope.
Looks different in here.
You want a hand?
Yeah. Gibbs.
Hey, boss. We got a truck pulling in.
Looks like it might be getting close to kickoff.
What's your 20?
Switching cars. We'll be on the road.
This really is a big deal for you, isn't it,
Letting me drive your car?
Yeah, whatever. You already slept with my wife.
Hey, swap the plates, strip the markings.
Your partner's nice
To look at. She double-clutch?
Hey, I navigate.
And men are terrible with maps anyway, right?
Where are we going?
Not far.
And, uh, what are we taking?
What's in the truck?
Melons?
Did she say "melons"?
Melons in the truck.
Melons...
What are in these melons?
We're moving melons?
Yeah.
You're moving them out of the truck.
Now.
Empty it. We are driving
A truck full of nothing?
Not for long.
I don't think this is a trafficking job at all.
It's a hijacking.
And we are the hijackers.
All right, she's a triple-digit ride.
Big ol' pumpkins in there,
But don't get tempted.
If we gotta get on the big slab,
You stay to the granny lane
And you keep it under the double nickel
Even while you're running deadhead.
And bird-dog on the dash, so you don't get shot
In the back by bears. You got it?
10-4.
All right, let's roll.
Hey, we got to pit stop.
Three-quarters of a tank.
I don't like to take chances.
Gps tracking puts 'em in front royal in a few hours.
Let's make it quick.
Um, what language was that?
He says she's fast, but not to push her
Even when we're driving empty,
And to, uh, watch out for cops.
So the truck is a she?
Let's go rob someone.
Oh, no.
That's them.
Wow, ferrari.
I had a hamster named ferrari.
And here's the truck.
The markings are stripped, new plates.
That explains why
Szwed's not driving the truck.
Let's look for the sign. Hmm.
Looks like our guy's having a little bit of trouble.
How hard is it to drive one of those things?
I know cars, not trucks.
Well, it's a six-speed.
Plus, the half step makes it a 12.
You gotta clutch to get in, clutch to get out.
Can't keep his foot off the brake.
Hey, will you stop tapping your fingers?!
I'm not just tapping my fingers, I'm watching
His taillights; it's morse code.
F- u...!
E- I.
"fuel. " tony,
They're stopping for fuel.
Yeah, you're done with the coffee.
Well, it's empty anyway.
Listen, can we stop at the gas station, too?
I need a refill.
Well, we're the invisible tail car, not the visible one.
Your teeth are chattering.
Boss, near a service station on 409.
Possible rendezvous spot. Where are you at?
We just passed it.
Slow down.
Tobias! Fornell: What?!
It was a mistake to let you drive this car.
Don't get your underpants in a twist.
I know what I'm doing.
Don't you believe me?
No! No, I don't.
I don't believe any of it!
You drive like a maniac!
My impression of you!
Use the 91, moron.
Nice car.
How are you guys doing?
I'm doing. Nice ride.
If you go for the mopar.
I'm getting a slim jim!
I don't want a slim jim!
I wasn't askin' ya!
Ma'am.
Cash for the diesel.
What you got in there?
Under the hood?
Bring me the change.
Pushing 500 horse.
Got about a hundred grand in her. '72?
'71. Got a 426 hemi.
She'll eat you up.
Real power is torque.
I thought it was against the rules
To have your girl ride along.
No markings on the truck.
What are you, gypsy or something?
Step away from the truck, man.
Please?
My mistake.
You win.
Let's roll.
Well, werth was very convincing.
What exactly are the skeletons in this guy's closet
You didn't want to tell me about?
Small bout of steroid-induced psychosis.
Oh, great.
Damon.
Can you hear me, mcgee?
Roger that. 10-2, you are
Loud and proud. Come back.
Are you okay, mcgee?
Yeah, I'm good.
Tony's driving, I've been studying up
On the lingo. How are you?
We are, um... Fine.
So where's the drop stop?
Where are you taking the cargo?
The truck is empty now.
We believe they have a heist planned
And the target is in transit.
Front royal.
Estimated time of arrival: 10:00 p. M.
Okay, well, assuming it's something big
And on the road, it's gotta be a cargo vehicle.
I'm gonna check the national registry,
Compile bills of lading, check the weigh stations.
See, we've got...
Government agencies that keep track of that stuff.
Hey, did you know the brotherhood of truckers
Is the lifeblood of america?
It's true. Over.
Well, I'm glad that is over.
Ziva? Ziva, you there?
Ziva?
Hey... Relax.
Heatherton drove the lead hummer in our convoy when we were hit.
My friends who know about these things
Tell me it is a science.
Trauma intensifies memory,
Which can make it feel ever present.
There a reason for that?
Perhaps to teach you,
So you do not allow it to happen again.
I keep getting stuck in my own history.
Look, the last time we saw each other,
You were in control.
You helped us.
Even after everything
You have gone through, you can move forward.
You can find the right path, damon.
Slow down. Slow down!
What?!
Not you. Mcgee.
Right.
Sorry about that, boss.
He got an I.D. On the shipment they're gonna hijack?
I got an address in alexandria.
Garage owned by a david devoisier.
Truck cleared a weigh station in roanoke
40 minutes ago.
Bill of lading?
Assorted machinery.
Put the pedal to the metal, tobias.
Still won't make it before dark.
I was expecting a delivery, not federal agents.
You receive a lot of specialty machine parts
In the middle of the night?
When a project gets my attention,
It gets all my attention,
No matter what time it is.
So why does this particular shipment raise the red flag?
We believe there's an attempt about to be made to hijack it.
An attempt by whom?
That's part of an ongoing investigation.
We can't reveal that.
The truck originated in san diego.
Then it's aaron szwed.
You can bleach a blue color, but that doesn't make it white.
What makes you think of him?
He has a vested interest in stealing what's in that truck.
Why?
Because it is his.
A true gentleman-
Which clearly he is not-
Honors a wager.
What kind of wager?
Well, the kind that I won.
And that he lost.
This is all about a bet?
Do come in.
Szwed was in over his head.
He was throwing away money he couldn't afford to lose.
He wanted to prove that he could run with the faster crowd.
Want a drink?
No.
What exactly was on the table?
His best car versus mine.
A race?
Cross-country.
Winner takes pink slips.
Precisely.
Yes, I know it's dangerous.
You'll have to forgive an idle man
His reckless indulgence.
Sure- speed limits, they're really just suggestions.
I've already cleared the space out
For my trophy; it's on my truck now.
Just the two of you?
Support teams trailing in case of emergency.
Spare tires, what have you.
That would be heatherton.
I heard szwed cursing that name
At the finish line in san diego.
He was furious that he was nowhere to be found
When he overheated outside barstow.
Red-lining through the desert.
Heatherton cost him the race.
So he claimed.
He's dead, you know.
Pardon?
Who's dead?
Heatherton- he was murdered.
I hadn't heard.
That's terrible.
That does give szwed a motive.
Can you get ahold of your driver?
Sure.
Why? Do you want to stop my truck?
All of his movements, mcgee.
I've got devoisier on a commercial flight-
San diego to dulles.
It was a week ago.
I'm also seeing his speeding tickets.
Seems to be a lot of those going around.
Szwed had two- amarillo, texas,
And tucumcari, new mexico.
Get your kicks on route 66.
Actually shows up here as interstate 40.
Look for any unsolved incident reports off that route.
Absolutely, boss. You worried we're missing a fender bender?
Mcgee, gonna lose you.
Yeah, boss, I was just about...
Wait, boss, boss...
Get this- their cars are in the back of the truck.
What kind of cars are worth killing for?
I can think of a few.
Szwed was driving a maybach.
Are you kidding me?
It's worth like a quarter of a million.
And devoisier- a 1970
Plymouth barracuda convertible.
Barracuda.
Gibbs would like that.
Hemi?
Pull over here.
The truck's going to be coming down the road on your left.
Use the trailer to block the road.
Wait for my signal.
Copy. Good plan.
Mcgee, what's our plan?
I don't know.
I lost connection with gibbs. He went dark.
whoa, god!
No! Tony!
Hang on, mcgee!
Tony!
Nuts!
That's him.
Werth, pull out.
Pull out now!
Block the road. What do we do?
We stop the truck.
It's too late to go back now anyway.
What the...?
Come on, get out of there.
And you people think I'm crazy.
Put a gun on the driver!
Please do not resist.
Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Come on, come on, come on, open up!
Do I even have to tell you?
You're under arrest.
Thank you. Thank you for returning them.
Boys and their cars.
I'm a hot-rod girl myself.
So, uh, how much does something like this go for, anyway?
I paid $1.2 million.
abby: What?!
Are you stupid?
Stock
Hemi 'cuda convertible.
From 1970.
Only 18 made, abs.
Wow, an actual hemi 'cuda.
That's like...
The holy grail of muscle cars, huh?
Perfectly restored. No.
Not perfect.
How do you mean? Fornell: Always take a magnet
When you look at used cars.
The magnet sticks to metal.
It does not stick-
To bondo.
Quick repair job.
You have a little accident?
We already got szwed and lucas
For the attempted hijacking,
But they swear that they didn't kill anybody.
And we believe 'em.
So, we went looking for another motive.
Followed your path out west
To a report of a hit-an d- run in weatherford, oklahoma.
18-year-old girl crossing the street.
We sent heatherton's picture
To the hospital. He brought her in,
And he stayed with her
Until she died.
You'd stop at nothing to win.
Including red lights.
But you could not
Destroy this machine.
So you killed nick heatherton-
The only witness.
You want to bet I find traces
Of blood and hair
When I start taking this whole thing apart
Piece by piece?
I'm not looking forward to this next conversation.
It is better to do it in person.
Tell heatherton's wife that her husband
Died for being a good samaritan.
That he was a good man.
And that devoisier is not.
Well, see you later.
See you later.
Heatherton's wife lives in cleveland, huh?
I went to school in columbus.
I've got some friends in the area.
I could make some calls if you're looking for work.
I'd appreciate it.
Need a lift?
I'll walk.
So was that, like,
"see you later," like good-bye,
Or "see you later," like,
"hey, I'm gonna see you at a later date"?
Are you having trouble understanding simple english?
Just answer the question.
Sync by honeybunny www. addic7ed. com