Agentům NCIS se povede husarský kousek. Podaří se jim zadržet velkou dodávku heroinu i s mladším bratrem šéfa dealerské organizace. Bohužel mladík při převozu záhadně zemře. Je podezření, že za jeho smrt může agentka Zita. Mezitím však drogový mafián unese ředitelku NCIS a žádá výměnu. Gibbs je postaven před nelehký úkol – najít místo, kde jejich šéfka drží a osvobodit ji.

Ziva is sitting at her desk looking frustrated. Tony is taking photos of the body. Ducky comments to Tony and Palmer that this is shortest trip he's had to make for a crime scene. Palmer adds that it's the first he hasn't gotten them lost. Ducky asks Tony how Ziva is. Tony doesn't know, and Ducky asks why. Gibbs comes up and says it's because he told them not to, for she is now a suspect.

Ziva asks Gibbs if she can tell her side of the story. She says that he asked several times for the suspect to enter the elevator, but he wouldn't. So she struck him in the jugular with her fist. Here Abby comes in, taking photos and saying excitedly that this is her first crime scene. She realises she's interrupting something and runs off. Ziva thinks that the only way to fix this is turning over her badge, which she places in Gibbs' hand. He grabs her hand and puts it back, saying that next time she hands over her badge, she'd better be prepared to lose it.

Meanwhile Abby is taking photos at the 'crime scene' and saying that she has finally lost her crime scene virginity. She then realises how out of place she looks there and freaks out.
Down in Autopsy Ducky tells Gibbs that he has found no life-threatening abnormalities but during the internal exam he found a slight irritation of the interior jugular, caused by a physical blow. He also says that Ziva is not in the clear yet.

Ziva is going crazy at her desk, wondering how long it can take to clear her. She starts imitating Ducky telling Gibbs that it wasn't Ziva. Of course Gibbs comes up behind her. Gibbs tells Ziva that there is nothing to tell yet.

Up at the director's office, Cynthia is calling Stan, Jen's driver, wanting to know where she is. She leaves a message as Gibbs comes up. She tells him that she is worried, as Jen is never late for a meeting. Gibbs then calls Jen's cell. She picks up in a car, saying that she has a big problem. A man in the car then talks to Gibbs saying that he should really listen to her, for if he doesn't get his brother and his heroin, Jen dies.

Gibbs and Cynthia determine about where Jen was when she was kidnapped. Then Gibbs goes down to the squad room and informs the team that James Dempsey (Brian's brother - the dead suspect) is holding Director Shepard hostage and that they have 2 hours. Gibbs sets them work to do, then goes to MTAC to video conference with Cassie Yates.

Meanwhile Jen is being taken to an airport hangar. She is tied to chair. She asks about Stan, her driver. James says he's fine, in the trunk of her car.

Ziva is making phone calls, but keeps getting put on hold. She gets very frustrated, and McGee talks to her and makes her feel a bit better.
Tony is trying to find Jen's car in a garage with the help of an aide. They find the car and open the trunk to find Stan dead.

Cassie determines who the driver of the kidnapper's car is, Alex Rudd, and says he's a real psycho. Ziva asks Cassie if she thinks that Jen is dead. Cassie responds by saying that today isn't a good day to be the director of NCIS.
Where Jen is, James and Alex start arguing. Jen says to James that he may have to choose between between him and his brother.

Ziva goes down to visit Ducky, trying to get news about Brian Dempsey's autopsy. Ducky says he cannot discuss it with her and that she probably shouldn't be down there anyway. Ducky tries to comfort Ziva, but then Gibbs comes in. Ziva tells Gibbs that the car Jen was taken in was abandoned. Gibbs tells her to go back to her desk. After Ziva has left, Ducky tells Gibbs that Dempsey may have died from an intra-cranial hemorrhage.

Back where Jen is, she tells James that the name of the driver he killed was Stanley. He says that he didn't kill anyone, but that he tried to stop it. She manages to get James outside for a minute by saying that it sounds like Alex is about to take off in the plane. James says to wait, he's about to make the call to NCIS. Alex asks if the only thing holding him back is the director, and that it's easy to fix. He walks towards the room where Jen is being held, and is about to shoot her, but Jen has worked herself free of the ropes and is about to fight him when James shoots Alex. She looks up, shocked. James says he did that to get his brother back, so what does she think he'll do to her?

Back in the squad room, the team are ready for the phone call, and McGee is ready to trace it. The whole team picks up. James says he wants one car and one agent. Gibbs wants Jen on the phone. All Jen gets to say is that she's fine and she wants her coat. James says he wants the drugs in the car, and Brian driving it in 45 minutes. While the team are trying to think of where Jen could be, Gibbs has a flashback of Jen accidentally leaving her coat on a plane, and knows that she is at some sort of airport.

McGee pulls up a list of airports a 45-minute drive from NCIS headquarters. They try to figure out which one, and are able to with the help of Abby's findings from Brian Dempsey's belongings. McGee is left to figure out where exactly Jen is at the airport while Gibbs calls to Ziva to come on (with him). Ziva now looks a lot more happy. Tony points out that there's the small problem that Brian is dead. Gibbs replies by saying "We give him what he wants, his brother."

Back at the airport James says that he should thank her for him (Alex), as Alex didn't understand what family meant to him. He then says if she pulls a stunt like that again he'll send her back in little pieces, while pointing a pocket knife at her.

We see two NCIS cars driving through the airport. Tony, Ziva and Gibbs tie Brian to the car, to make it look as though he is driving. The put sunglasses on his face and Ziva holds his head to make him look less dead. Gibbs calls McGee, who tells him Jen and James are in hangar no. 3.

James says that time is up and looks out the window. He then says that Jen was right, they didn't come for her. Meanwhile Tony is driving the car from under the seat so he isn't seen and it looks like Brian is driving. Ziva is holding Brian's head up in the back seat. Ziva asks Tony if he's trying to make her sick. Tony says that he can't see out the windshield, his hands are driving, and yet he thinks he's driving better than her.

James hears the tyres squealing and looks out the window to see the car coming. He turns to Jen and says it looks like her people came for her after all. He unties her and takes her outside, holding a gun to her head. He yells at Ziva to get out of the car. We see her get out of the car, putting her hands to her head, We also see a gun taped to her back. Ziva walks toward him. James throws her some cuffs and tells her to cuff her hands behind her back. When she does James tells her lie down, which she does, and he sees the gun taped to her back. "Very clever," he says.

He yells to Brian to get the drugs and put them on the plane. The boot opens but Brian obviously doesn't get out. James yells to him again to get the drugs. He suddenly notices that Brian's hands are taped to the wheel and his head has dropped to one side. "They killed him." he says, shocked. "YOU KILLED MY BABY BROTHER!" He is about to shoot Jen when Gibbs appears from the boot and shoots James. Jen looks around a bit, looking a bit confused, as everyone comes towards her. Ziva says that it's actually an interesting story.

Back at Autopsy, later, Ducky and Jen are there. Palmer and Gibbs come in. Jen lets off a little steam about how stupid she was as Gibbs drinks his coffee. He just stares at her, and tells her to have a drink. Ducky comes up and says the hemorrhaging was caused by a congenital defect in an artery. "He died of a brain aneurysm?" Jen asks. Ducky says that he'd had it since birth, that he was a walking time bomb. He says that anything could have triggered it, a cough, a sneeze. "A blow to the throat?" Gibbs asks. They all look at each other. "Sounds like natural causes to me." Jen says. Ducky smiles. "Exactly the way I ruled it." he says. Gibbs and Jen look at each other. Gibbs leaves.