Short Fuse - Recap

Gary is getting dressed, asking Heather if she'll be free after his
staff meeting, Thursday night. She says she thinks not. They hear a
noise from downstairs. She grabs a gun from the bureau. He tells her no,
she tells him to stay put. She goes
out, gun drawn, to the hall. She and the intruder open fire at the same
time, but she's still standing as he drops.

DiNozzo is getting his makeup done because he's going to be on the cover
of the new NCIS recruiting brochure. McGee says there'll be no living
with him now, and Ziva retorts "Now?" Gibbs didn't authorize the photo
shoot. He comes through announcing that a marine was shot and killed by
an intruder in Arlington. Ron Sands, in charge of the shoot, tries
telling Gibbs that DiNozzo can't go, as they're not done yet. DiNozzo
takes one look at Gibbs' expression and offers to drive.

While the team is going over her house, Heather answers a few questions
by David. She gets a call that she needs to head out, and asks when she
can get her weapon back. Gibbs says when they are finished with it.
DiNozzo comes back and reports it's not likely she was alone last night,
since her queen bed was rumpled on both sides, and the toilet seat was
up. Heather had stated she was alone at the time of the shooting.

Ducky announces that the perpetrator's fingertips were removed. Abby
can't find anything based on facial recognition. She's trying to recover
the sanded off serial number from the gun that belonged to the intruder.
DiNozzo asks Abby to listen to the 911 call from the night before. She
notes that Heather sounds very calm, and McGee says that's because she
defuses bombs for a living. There's a voice in the background, male.

David gives the background on Heather Dempsey. She's had a few
write-ups; one for fighting, two for questioning authority. They're
trying to get a lock on who was on another phone during her 911 call.
She doesn't have a land line, so McGee has to go with cell. There were
only 32 calls going on during that minute, and McGee is going to run
them down. Heather's not answering her cell, The team heads to the boat
she's working on. Ron invites himself along, and McGee cautions DiNozzo
to ask Gibbs first this time, however he tells Ron to grab his
photographer and join them.

Ducky says that the man Heather shot is between 55-60. He's had a liver
transplant, and given that it was 15-20 year ago, it should narrow
things down considerably.

DiNozzo and David arrive at the ship. Heather refuses to admit anybody
was with her the night before, and knows they can't prove it if they
don't know who it was. Her team is trying to disarm the bomb using a
robot, and Heather is chomping at the bit to suit up and go in herself.
Finally, the robot is removed and deactivated, and she goes in. She's
supposed to just remove the bomb to the containment ship but says as
long as she's there, she's going to take a look. She said there was a
timer, and she was getting out of there. She took three steps and the
bomb went off. Heather was conscious and answering questions as soon as
they got to her. She's going to be fine.

McGee ruled out all the cell phones but one, and it's not going to be
easy to get any information on it. It's a secured phone - registered to
the FBI. Gibbs gets the name from Tobias: Gary Tolin. He has a very long
title, and he is waaay up there in the FBI hierarchy.


Abby is talking to the gun, because it's supposed to be speaking to her;
but it's not cooperating. Jimmy says the body is being more
communicative, and he needs her help. He tells her about the liver
transplant and asks if she can run a computer search of the transplant
list and see if anybody pops. He gives her all the information they
have, which is inclusive of blood type.

Gibbs is questioning Heather. Tobias is on the other side of the glass
with Gary and DiNozzo. She comes up with a convincing cover story that
nobody buys. Gary is unamused that he was dragged into this, but Tobias
reminds him that he was at the scene of a crime and he didn't report it.
Tolin says he wants this information kept between the two of them, and
he wants no further contact with Gibbs.

Abby tracked down the guy, so now they have a name for the deceased.
He's a life criminal. His fingerprints were found at two murder sites,
which would likely explain him having them removed. What this means,
though, is that he wasn't a burglar. He was a hit man.

Gibbs and Fornell are looking for Tolin. They check with his wife. She
informs them that he came home a few hours ago, packed a bag and headed
out the door. Said it was bureau business, she assumed he'd be back in a
couple of days. Tobias tells her that if she hears from him, she needs
to let him know. She is shocked to realize that the FBI doesn't know
where he is.

DiNozzo is waiting outside when Heather gets home. He tells her that the
intruder wasn't a burglar, but a hit man. She assures him it must be
about Tolin, since she doesn't have any enemies.

Gibbs says the police found an abandoned, stolen car a couple of blocks
from Sgt. Dempsey's house. Tobias wonders if the hit man used it. He
wonders why Tolin took a couple of personal days off, and lied to his
wife about it being bureau business. Gibbs goes up to Abby, where she's
working on the car. She found a camera in it which clearly indicates
that Dempsey was the target, not Tolin. Gibbs issues an order to bring
in Heather Dempsey. McGee tries, but she turns her cell off. McGee
tracks her, and he and Gibbs go to find her at a rehab center. She's
gone, but they talk to her brother Judd. He's in a wheelchair because he
got caught in the crossfire of a gang war.

DiNozzo puts all the pieces together. Gary is the one who gave the man
who shot her brother a new identity. Heather got close to him so she
could find out the identity and pay him back for putting her brother in
a wheelchair. David wonders if Abbott hired the hit man to kill Dempsey,
and Gibbs said that makes sense, if he found out she was gunning for
him. Gibbs and DiNozzo go into a video conference call with Fornell and
Tolin. Gary admits that he let himself be used for the Abbott
information. He's living on a farm in Eldersburg, MD. Gary intends to
tender his letter of resignation.

When the team gets to the location Gary gave them, they see Heather's
pickup parked by the barn. She's set a bomb on him, so if he moves, he
dies. She says she'll put him out of his misery when she's ready. Gibbs
refuses to call in the bomb squad until Abbott answers a few questions.
He admits he put the hit out. He says he did so in self-defense. Gibbs
tells Heather to disarm the bomb, and she says they can - it's a fake.
She just wanted Abbott to experience what he did to her brother. Stuck
in a chair in constant pain, unable to do the simplest things. At the
mercy of others.

Gibbs arrives home, and Fornell is making an Italian dinner. Gene Abbott
was charged with conspiracy. He didn't realize the new crime wasn't
covered by his immunity. The bomb being bogus would likely prevent any
jury from convicting Heather.

The team comes in, and DiNozzo is already there. He's very happy about
getting his brochure approved and run. Ron is trying to avoid DiNozzo,
but he catches him. They went with Gibbs. However, there is a bit of
Tony's shoulder in the background.

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