NCIS s16e13 Episode Script

She

1 GIBBS: I had a dream that I was her.
I was trapped.
I could not get out.
Yet I believed there would be a savior.
To the very end, I believed.
But sometimes a savior never comes.
NCIS 16x13 She Team Gibbs! Are! You! Ready! Ha! Happy morning, and Happy Random Day.
Oh.
Thank you.
What is this for? Oh.
Instead of buying for people on Christmas or birthdays, I choose one random date each year to give gifts.
Uh why? What makes you feel more special, getting another present when you're already rakin' 'em in, or getting one on a random Tuesday? (McGee gasps) My "Q" key! Where'd you find this? - I've been looking for this - For your vintage X28 Ryson typewriter.
Yeah, I know.
You mentioned it in passing.
McGEE: Yeah.
No way! I've been wanting a scarf that's not too thick and not too thin.
Yeah, I know.
You mentioned it in passing.
Ooh, I can't wait to see what I mentioned.
What is this? It's a jar.
Happy Random Day, everybody! (chuckles) You got a punching bag? Yeah, those punches I landed at the Studio-Art Brawl of 2018 really got my juices flowing.
I mentioned in passing I wanted to get one KASIE: Yeah.
It's secondhand, but it's a beauty.
You know, I think I might take it home.
I was gonna, uh, leave it down in Autopsy, but can you imagine the glare I would have gotten from Gibbs? Oh, you're getting a pretty good one right now.
Gibbs.
What terrible timing.
I mean me, my timing, not yours.
Uh, let me move this for you.
Grab your gear! We have a situation on base.
Uh, hey, Gibbs.
Happy Random Day.
I have a hunk of a tree strapped to the top of my car for you.
I found it by the side of the road, and I thought you could just woodwork the crap out of it.
JIMMY: Well, the back of him looked really excited.
- You think? Oh, yeah, yeah.
I don't know.
What do you want me to say? I'm telling you, I have never seen her before.
All right, we're gonna need you to calm down.
Are you gonna help or not? Just wait here.
The guy says he found a young girl hiding in his storage unit.
She won't come out.
He said she's terrified of him.
She's hiding behind some boxes in there.
All right.
Just make sure he's giving us the whole story, huh? Bishop, with me.
Hey there.
My name is Special Agent Gibbs.
Do you know where your parents are? (quietly): She keeps looking at you.
Give it a try.
(quietly): Okay.
Hey.
I'm Ellie.
What's your name? Lily.
Lily, huh? That's a really good name.
Hey, where do you live, Lily? In the basement.
In an apartment around here? Hey.
You cold? Do you want to wear my coat? What's that? Oh.
It's a jacket, 'cause it is way too cold to go outside without it.
I don't go outside.
Hey, Lily the basement where you live, is this your first time outside of it? He locks the door.
Mommy tries to open it but he always locks it.
Your mom was in the basement, too? (voice breaks): She's still there.
Where, Lily? Do you know how to get back to where your mom is? (crying): No.
(whispers): Okay.
(sighs) Doctor says she's undernourished and highly susceptible to illness.
Spend your whole life locked in one room, you have no immunity.
Mm.
They're gonna keep her for a few more days, build her strength, run some more tests.
She say anything else about where her mom is? SLOANE: No.
She's regressing by the minute.
The more overwhelmed she becomes by this huge, foreign world, the more she retreats-- plus, what the doctors originally thought were bug bites on her arms and legs were actually burns.
(exhales) I, uh, I could try to talk to her again.
That's not a bad idea.
Lily's without the one person in the world she trusts.
- Yeah.
Her mother.
- Yes.
And she defaults to trusting women because of what she suffered at the hands of a man.
You think that you can get her to talk? Gibbs I already made a connection with her.
Bishop, that girl needs us in the field.
Chase down every lead we can.
We find her mom.
Come on.
Okay.
Update.
Let's go.
KASIE: Incoming.
We got ourselves a DNA hit, people.
I found a familial match to Lily in the DoD database.
- You ID'd Lily's mother? - Yep.
She is Navy Seaman Recruit Morgan Burke.
McGEE: I remember her.
She was reported missing, what, eight years ago? Ten.
Boss? Getting some air.
Gibbs gets air? I've got the NCIS Report of Investigation.
"18-year-old "Morgan Burke was reported missing by her mother.
"Morgan had been sworn into the Navy but never reported for duty.
" McGEE: That's right.
She hadn't really started her service yet, so NCIS handed the case over to the sheriff's office.
I pulled up some news articles from back then.
According to her mother, Morgan was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
McGEE:Yeah, and then they found her body in the car, right? Well, her car had gone off a cliff, killing her.
KASIE: It says her remains were charred.
What little DNA they pulled was contaminated.
They ruled it a suicide.
Yeah, but if Morgan is still alive, that's someone else's remains who were in that car.
Well, and Morgan, she was abducted when she was pregnant, and she had Lily in captivity She must have been held prisoner in that basement ever since.
Ten years.
The port says there's a continued file at the annex.
- Why do we have the continued file when we handed over the case? I don't know.
But I'll check it out.
I'll help.
You know, Lily couldn't have gotten that far from the basement on foot, so I'm gonna start the search grid for Morgan at a five-mile radius.
MAN: My name is Detective Paul Atwood.
I headed up the investigation into Morgan Burke's disappearance ten years ago.
Why, Gibbs.
Come on in.
I was on a team that ruled this a suicide at that time, and I take full responsibility for that grave error.
I will find Morgan, and I will bring her home.
- Don't say it.
- One thing they had to do: keep it out of the press.
I had to update them, Gibbs.
You can spin this any way you want, but it was a Breen County Sheriff's investigation.
They went public with it to try to save face on TV.
I can't begin to figure out what went on in their heads, Gibbs.
We never should have handed this case off.
Well, look at you.
Bringing up ten years ago? - Yes, I am.
- Well, that's a new one.
Usually the past is nipping at your ass, and you're running full steam ahead the other way.
Morgan Burke was Navy-- that case should have been ours.
She hadn't served a day yet.
I approved that handoff.
I followed protocol in doing so, and so did everyone else involved.
So are we done talking about this already? - This case is ours now.
- At the very least, the sheriff's office will want to do a joint investigation, and I don't see them walking away without a fight.
Maybe not.
But you're the bigger dog.
(door opens, closes) Hey, did you see what Kasie gave Vance for, uh, for that Random Day thing? - A pen.
- Huh.
Who gives a pen as a gift? What are you so angry about? Because I never said I wanted an empty jar.
Everybody else got something they wanted, and the director and I got the shaft.
I mean, why would why would Kasie play us like that, man? (gasps) KM-216.
Here it is.
(grunts) But look at all these dates.
They go all the way up to 2013-- that's years after the police ruled this a suicide.
"Ben Ramsey, boyfriend of Morgan Burke.
" Look at all these.
- He was a suspect.
- Yeah.
Whoever was investigating this must have thought this was a murder, not a a suicide.
Who was investigating? Oh, my God.
What? Look at the reflection in the window.
You can see who's taking the picture.
BISHOP: That's Ziva.
Ziva David.
Ellie.
Ellie, wait.
This is a bad idea.
Look, if Ziva suspected Morgan's boyfriend of murdering her, it's possible he abducted her and we need to talk to him.
No.
I mean, not telling anyone.
You don't think McGee would want to know that Ziva kept investigating this thing? Gibbs? Okay, for whatever reason, Ziva wanted to keep her investigation a secret and I'm gonna honor that.
Look, you're protecting someone you haven't even met.
And for what, Ellie? Ziva David is dead.
And I wish she wasn't.
Look people are afraid to talk about her in front of me because they think I'll never measure up.
That's not even the part that gets me.
What gets me is I feel cheated.
Like there are things that I could've learned from her that I couldn't get from anyone else.
Look, this touchy-feely stuff is obviously not my thing.
But not telling Gibbs, that's a bad idea.
If you don't agree with it, you can stay here.
Listen, I have a deadline in, uh, 33 minutes.
And I could lose this entire account, so, uh is there any way you could come back later? That's you, outside of the home of Morgan Burke, two days after she went missing.
What were you doing there? I was visiting her mother.
Ziva David took these, didn't she? How did you know that? (exhales) Because she-she thought there was some questionable things about Morgan's car going off that cliff.
She thought she was murdered.
She thought you did it.
I mean, she followed me for-for months.
She must've been like some kind of ninja, but, uh, well, eventually, she cleared me.
- And how do you know that? - She told me.
And she promised to find the person that did this to the mother of my child.
You know that, right? Morgan was pregnant when she was killed.
The baby was mine.
- Ben, listen - You know, Morgan's mom I used to drop her off at Ziva's office late at night so they could talk, you know? She used to call Ziva her nightlight.
And when I found out Ziva had died, I thought that that, uh that light, that hope for justice had gone out, too, but now Hold-hold on.
Ben, you mentioned Ziva's office.
You mean NCIS? No.
The-the-the other office.
The one behind the house on Leland.
Leland and what? Uh, east of 14th, maybe? Uh, look, Ben, there have been some developments in Morgan's case.
Agent Torres will fill you in.
What's going on? (over P.
A.
): Amber Alert.
(announcement continues indistinctly) Hang on, hang on.
Uh, what? - Hey, Dr.
Conrad.
What? - It's Lily.
I stepped out to get her chart, and she was gone.
Oh, no, Lily.
Lily.
Lily.
Did you see a little gir-- Lily! Lil Lily! Hey.
Hey, just give me a minute.
I have her.
Hey, there, Lily.
It's just me.
(door closing) Can I tell you a secret? Okay.
A long time ago, I had a baby girl.
She was perfect, just like you.
But I only got to hold her once.
But I felt her little fingers, and her head on my chest, and I loved her.
I (inhales) I loved her so much, that I, I had to send her away.
My mom loves me, too.
Yes, she does.
That's why I was thinking maybe she sent you away, too, is that right? And now it's our turn to help her.
I have a dad.
His name is Ben.
Mommy said he was like Superman.
So maybe he can save her.
Yeah, maybe.
Uh, and what about you, though, Lily? Think you can be brave for your mom? Tell me about the man who locked the door.
(shuddered breathing) Robert.
Do you know his last name? There was another man, too.
Buddy.
He was nicer.
He brought us food when Robert was away.
(crying): But Robert Robert hurt Mommy and I hid under the sink.
Mommy said to give her to the police when I got out.
Thank you.
Lily, honey, how did you get out? (crying): No.
No.
I want Mommy.
Oh.
I know, I know.
I know you do, sweetheart.
Come here.
Oh, it's okay.
It's okay.
Update, McGee.
Where are we with the grid? Well, our agents have searched every home with a basement within a five-mile radius of where Lily was found.
So far, nothing.
Bottom line is we need to know how Lily escaped in order to know where to look for Morgan.
Where is Torres and Bishop? Haven't heard from them.
Agent Gibbs, Detective Atwood from Breen County.
Yeah, I saw you giving a speech on TV.
Listen, Sheriff Jones sent over a formal request for a joint investigation an hour ago.
- I didn't see it.
- It was sent to your director.
Yeah.
I got it and I'm denying it.
Here is my formal response on paper.
Thank you for saving me the cost of a messenger.
Listen, we're just looking to pool every available resource.
We want Morgan home same as you.
You know, boss, if he really wants to help, he could find out whose remains those were in Morgan's car.
'Cause they sure weren't hers, like you said.
Yeah.
Why don't you do that? And give our regards to the sheriff.
(scoffs) Tell you what, this new pen makes me write like a big dog.
(chuckles) So I made the initial incision here, enabling me to peel back the epidermis-- w-well, the-the fabric, uh, showing me what was inside.
- Stuffing.
- Hairs.
There were two distinct DNA profiles in there.
I'm running them both through the system now.
SLOANE: My God, that is brilliant.
Morgan sewed the DNA in the doll, and told her daughter to give it to the police when she escaped.
She essentially handed us the identity of her captors.
If we get a ding.
Ooh, that is what - I am talking about.
- The hairs? KASIE: Yeah, I got a hit on one of them.
A Robert Hill.
Lily said her captor's names were Robert and Buddy.
Robert being the primary.
Uh, it looks like he was arrested in 2008 for assault.
Got probation, last known address is now a strip mall.
But it looks like a guy named Bud Hill bailed him out of jail.
Relation, brother.
- Buddy.
- Got an address for him in D.
C.
Hey, Gibbs.
We got something.
Yeah.
(door opens) What the hell are you doing? Kasie called.
She caught me up to speed.
Where's Bishop? I don't know.
McGEE: Boss.
GIBBS: That him? McGEE: Yep.
Buddy Hill.
There's no basement, and no evidence that Lily and Morgan were ever here.
Sloane said the brother was the primary.
The badder one.
Yeah, Robert Hill.
He's got Morgan somewhere else.
My neighbor said you were wandering the streets.
Oh, yeah.
I didn't know the exact address.
Mm-hmm.
So Ziva rented this place from you? Just the office.
She started back in 2005, paid for it in advance to help me financially.
Because that was her way, wasn't it? A warmth beneath the armor.
Mm.
You never rented it out after that? Oh, no.
The last time Ziva made a payment was four years ago from Israel before her death.
So, technically, it's still hers through next year.
Out of respect, I haven't touched it.
Wait.
Show me your badge again.
I'll leave you to it.
(dialing) GIBBS (on phone): Bishop, where are you? Uh, Gibbs I have something to tell you.
McGEE: "For weeks, it was darkness.
"I had stopped counting the horrors I endured.
"And then the monster lifted the hood.
"The light spilled in, and I saw my friend.
"My heart saw him as if for the first time, and I knew I could not live without him.
" That was from when she was captured in Somalia, right? So, you guys didn't know about this place? Gibbs, she didn't tell you? No.
Did you talk to DiNozzo? I tried.
Senior said he's on his way back to Paris.
I left a message.
Listen, boss, there really isn't anything classified in these.
I don't feel right about reading them anymore.
Okay.
So don't.
But tell me what she was doing here.
Well, she started renting this place right after she became a liaison at NCIS.
The first few books are in Hebrew.
She switched to English after that.
McGEE: Each one of these books represents a case that Ziva was working on.
She wrote about what she was feeling.
How the grief of a victim's family pained her.
How a killer made his way into her dreams.
Things she couldn't put in an official report.
Personal things.
It's like every case got into her head, and she had to get it out somehow, and so she did on paper, alone in this room.
And, uh, this is the one on the Morgan Burke case.
Whoa.
I like this woman.
What do you got, Torres? I went through the rest of the files that Ziva had at NCIS.
20-some-odd suspects.
Ziva cleared all of them.
Wait, you knew that Ziva was investigating after the handoff? Go back to headquarters.
Get back on the case.
Go.
Boss Tim.
I got it.
I will take care of her things.
Gibbs-- Morgan Burke-- clearly, every case mattered to Ziva, but she kept investigating this one even after it was handed off and you knew about it.
So why was this case so important? The next time you withhold relevant information, you are gone.
- Gibbs - Rule ten.
Get back to the office.
Keep your head in the game.
JIMMY: Death has a way of finding us all-- the good ones, the bad ones, and even the enablers of evil.
Like you, brother Buddy.
Body tell us anything about where Morgan might be? Well (sighs): I'm afraid not a word.
- Hey, Jimmy? - Yeah? I, uh, I scanned through some of Ziva's journals, and she mentions a "basement confidant" quite a bit.
She called him Mr.
H.
, which stood for - Happy as an Oyster? - Yes.
- (chuckles): But shouldn't it be "clam"? - It should.
It should be "clam," yeah.
(laughs) It's about you, right? I had no idea you two were so close.
Eh, it must be something about being this far underground-- you know, people feel safe, like they can really confide in me.
Hey, uh so, do you feel like it would be an invasion of privacy for me to read this? I just I really want to find out why this case was so important to her.
Well, I could tell you that.
She told you? She did.
Yeah.
So, this was one of her first solo assignments as an NCIS probie.
She was just following up on a recruit who failed to report.
But when she got to the scene, the sheriff's office told Ziva that the case was theirs.
- Mm.
She was the one who handed over the case.
Yeah.
And when Gibbs found out (exhales) He was well, he really laid into her.
He said: Morgan Burke took an oath.
She was Navy.
And we never hand over one of our own.
That was a mistake.
And it was a mistake that Ziva never forgot.
So she never stopped investigating.
That was the thing that I will remember most about her.
She-she was always just so Put it this way-- she'd see that fire in your eyes she would have told you to read every word.
(takes deep breath) GIBBS: His own brother cut his throat.
Wow.
Are we sure? Kasie is.
Robert Hill's fingerprints were all over the murder weapon.
So he trusts his brother to feed his captives whenever he's out of town, and he repays said brother by taking him out with a beer stein.
Family first.
Robert Hill is tying up loose ends.
He knows Lily escaped.
Good chance he's on the run with Morgan.
Or worse.
- Gibbs.
- Leon.
- Clock's ticking.
- This, um, outside office of Special Agent David's.
Yeah, I'm handling it.
I have the journals.
I'll clear out the rest of it when this is over.
It's just a room, I know.
But it must be bringing up a lot.
Lot of what? When a daughter keeps a secret like that, father has to ask himself why.
She didn't think I would approve.
She was right.
(door closes) Lily? Hiya.
I have someone I want you to meet.
Hey.
It's okay.
This (whispers): is Ben.
This is your dad.
Hi.
It's okay.
Hey, Lily.
I've been been so excited to meet you.
I think this is yours, right? Mommy said you had a mark on your hand that was like a heart.
Yeah.
She said you were like Superman.
(crying): Please you have to save her.
Oh Hey, Lily, hey.
Listen.
The only way I can help your mom is if you tell me exactly how you got out.
(breath trembling) Okay? Robert hates germs.
Everything has to be clean.
So Mommy burned us to look like bites.
She told him our mattress had bugs in it.
(breath trembling) And she made a spot for me to fit inside the mattress.
SLOANE: Did your mom convince Robert to take the mattress out of the basement and get rid of it? He took it to the place with all the garbage.
Uh, the-the dump? (breath trembling) I crawled out after I heard his truck drive away.
And then I ran until I was too tired.
Oh, hey, you did so good.
- Good girl.
- You did good, Lily.
Hey, buck up, dudes.
The mattress ought to be around here somewhere.
Oh.
Oh, seriously? Please, don't even tell me what just leaked on my pants.
Mama, this better be the right place.
Oh, no, this is the only dump within ten miles of that storage unit.
Right, McGee? Hey, McGee? What? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Sorry.
It's been a it's been a crazy couple days.
Uh, hey, Kasie? Hmm? Did I do something to you? - What? - You know, like something that would make you want to give me an empty jar as a gift? (laughs): What? No.
I just I never heard you mention something you wanted, so I decided to give you something you needed.
What am I gonna do with an empty jar? I don't know.
Put something in it you don't want to lose.
I don't know.
Look, everybody needs an empty jar.
They do? I found it.
This has got to be it.
That's where Lily hid.
Can you imagine? Hey.
Wait, so, Morgan Burke, she makes a plan, she executes it-- the mattress, the hairs inside the doll.
We got to think that if Robert Hill's on the move with her, she's leaving more clues.
What are you telling me? I made a tip line for the public to call in with info on Morgan.
Okay.
Yes, Gibbs, I read this.
But I learned something.
Ziva, she let everything in.
She let it affect her.
And it made her work harder, but it also, it made her see clearer.
I told you to keep your head in the game.
The stuff in here matters, Gibbs.
Look.
Look at this last page.
Morgan's mom, she had cancer.
Before she died, she dictated a letter, and Ziva wrote it down.
Do you see this? Ziva promised to read this to the man who did this to Morgan.
That's relevant how? When we get Robert Hill I'm gonna read him this letter.
I'm going to honor Ziva's promise.
Rule ten.
Say it.
Say it.
Never get personally involved on a case.
So what? No, so what? I connect with Lily, a-and you put me in the field.
I want to fulfill the dying wish of our victim's mother, and you say "Rule Ten"? No, Ziva was personally involved in every case.
- Don't you tell me about Ziva! - Then what about you? You were furious when she handed off the case because you take every case personally, too, even one you only had for half a second.
(quietly): Enough.
No.
Rule Ten-- it's B.
S.
Every time I look at that desk, you know what I see? She is not there.
You ignore Rule Ten, you go too far, you end up dead just like her.
Go home.
You're off this case.
BISHOP: Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Uh, of course, yeah.
- She asked me to hang on.
- Hey.
Look, I know I said you could have your tip line transferred down here, but that was before I knew Gibbs sent you home.
Yeah, but the woman on the phone might have the location of Robert Hill's uncle.
Uh-huh.
What do you think Gibbs is gonna do if he sees you down in my lab working, as opposed to at home regretting your life choices? (elevator bells dings) (quietly): And there he is now.
(quietly): Kasie, I have to do this.
GIBBS: Update! Let's go! Yes.
Torres.
Uh, hiya, Gibbs.
Listen, I wanted to explain about that hunk of wood in your parking space.
Yeah, the white oak.
I loved it.
- Now give me something else.
- Yeah.
Okay.
Um, well, Lily said that when she was inside this mattress, Robert Hill dragged it out of his house to his truck.
On the side that scraped the ground, I found something.
The address of where they're holding Morgan? Man, how easy do you think this job is? - No.
I found bird poop.
- You ID the bird? You mean did I get the bird's name and Social Security number? No.
Seriously, you two? I analyzed the excrement and confirmed that it came from a caique parrot, and according to the website, "Caiques of Fairfax County," two pet caiques were accidentally released and have since spawned.
They are often spotted in this area of northeast Virginia.
Still so many houses.
Got something from Detective Atwood.
Love letter from the sheriff? Oh, no.
Actually, Atwood did exactly what we asked him to do.
He reanalyzed a sample of the remains found in Morgan's car.
Turns out they found traces of heat refractory concrete.
From a cremation chamber.
Yeah, the remains were likely stolen.
Atwood tracked down a crematorium where Robert Hill worked ten years ago under the alias "Randall Howe.
" Randall Howe.
Got it.
One home address for a Randall Howe within our bird-poop radius.
Send it.
Bishop, did you hear that? We got him! Bishop? GIBBS: Lights.
TORRES: They're not here.
Kasie.
KASIE: Gibbs, Bishop's gone.
Where is she? Mr.
Fisher? They found us.
I see your truck in the driveway.
Get to the boat.
Move! I need to talk to you about your nephew, Robert Hill.
- Help me! - Shut up.
Get in the boat! (whimpering) NCIS! Help Shut up.
You put the gun down, or she's dead, you hear me? Put it down! Look, I ain't playing, lady! Okay.
Okay.
Putting it down.
There it is, Robert.
Putting it down, okay? Now it's your turn.
I need you to let her go.
(grunts) You stay there! You stay where you Uh.
Uh.
You stay (grunting) (Robert grunting, Morgan groans) (panting) GIBBS: I had a dream that I was her.
I was trapped.
I could not get out.
Yet I believed there would be a savior.
(chamber clicking) To the very end, I believed.
But sometimes, a savior never comes.
Stop! McGEE: NCIS! Drop the weapon! (Robert gasps) (both grunting) GIBBS: Hey.
Hey! You're done.
(grunts) Ellie?! (grunts, pants) Okay.
GIBBS: When I awoke, I knew I must not forget what it was to be her.
(rhythmic breathing) (groans) Oh.
(coughing) Okay.
There we go.
Hi.
(panting) Lily? Where's Lily? She's safe.
You're safe.
Okay? Okay.
Oh.
GIBBS: So I fight, and I kick, and I scream, and I feel Mommy! GIBBS: and that is good.
- Hey.
- Uh.
(frogs peeping) GIBBS: It is good to let it in.
It is good to feel.
"Because feeling brings me power.
"Feeling is what makes me realize "that the savior I have been waiting for is me.
" That was on page one.
The first thing Ziva wrote about this case.
Yeah.
(taps on table) Robert Hill had a heart attack on the way back.
He's at Mercy Point, Room 118.
Do what you have to do.
- Gibbs - I know.
I know.
(door opens) (door closes) BISHOP: Robert Hill.
Hey, Robert.
You.
What do you want? I have something to read to you, and you're gonna listen.
It's a letter from Morgan's mother.
Yeah, I got it.
What? Somebody already came here and read it to me.
(exhales loudly) Who? (Robert laughs) She told me she was gonna haunt my dreams.
(door creaks open) (sighs)
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