Original subtitles

Rise and shine, gentlemen.

Let's go. You know the drill.

Lights out.

Rise and shine, gentlemen. Let's go.

Rise and shine, gentlemen.

Let's go. You know the drill.

Inmate 670. Step out.

Make a hole.

Damn it, Mulligan. I ain't got time for this today.

I said move it.

No.

No! No!

Jess, I'm telling you, it is the way to go.

It's just so... blah.

- I think we can do better. - What?

What's going on?

We're discussing

what we should put into the time capsule.

The what now?

You didn't read the memo that P.R. sent out yesterday?

Are we supposed to read those?

As part of the 250th anniversary for the Navy,

the department has decided to put together a time capsule

to be opened in 100 years.

And they have asked us

to contribute one item that best represents

who and what NCIS is, like a computer

- or hardware. - No, McGee. It's...

Just think about it, we use computers

and technology for everything we do.

We couldn't get work done without them.

I get that, but computers are just

so impersonal and boring,

- no offense. - Yeah, no, that's fine.

I mean, it's just my life's passion, but whatever.

I was thinking that we go more emotional.

Something that really details NCIS and the community,

like a, like a commemorative plaque.

That's super boring.

Nick, what about you? What do you think

should go into the capsule?

Look, I want to celebrate the Navy

just like anybody else, okay? But a time capsule?

Mm, not your thing, huh?

Well, I don't believe in thinking about the future

or the past. I live in the moment, baby.

So you don't care

what people 100 years from now will think of us?

No, because I won't even be here.

All right? And whoever opens

this time capsule might not even be human anyways.

That's right, could be talking apes.

If we're lucky.

Talking apes? Never gonna happen.

It's the insects we got to worry about,

especially roaches. They're gonna outlive us all.

This conversation got weird fast.

You two, gear up.

Torres, you're with me in MTAC. I just got a call

from the U.S. Marshals' office.

An inmate escaped from Morris Federal Prison.

In Maryland? That's not a military prison.

Why are the Marshals calling us?

Because the convict, Thomas Mulligan,

killed a chief petty officer 30 years ago.

It was actually one of Gibbs' first cases.

First prison break in my 20 years here.

It's the day every warden fears.

Two of our agents are en route

to your facility now, Warden Tully.

In the meantime, maybe you can fill us in on the details.

Well, wasn't easy.

They used some tools from the machine shop

and removed the toilet from the wall.

And then, they squeezed through the narrow hole behind it

and both stowed away on the outgoing laundry truck.

They? You mean two inmates escaped?

Unfortunately, yes.

The second wasn't flagged

until we did the final morning count.

Luther Stokes.

Former hit man for the Baltimore mob.

Serving life without parole.

He is real bad news.

Were he and Mulligan tight?

Not that I know of. They ran in different circles.

Stokes was a hard case. He got into a lot of fights.

- And Mulligan? - We never had any problem with him.

- He was a recent transfer from California. - All right, thank you.

He kept to himself.

He was reserved, quiet.

Uh, not so quiet.

State police found Stokes' body in a ravine

ten miles from the prison.

My guess is Mulligan thought he was

slowing him down, so he killed him.

Looks like Mr. Mulligan will do anything for his freedom.

Well, that's the funny thing.

Mulligan just had his parole commission review

a few weeks back.

It was approved. He was set to be released soon.

How soon?

Three weeks.

Why would you risk an escape when, three weeks later,

you can just walk out the front door?

No, I understand.

Yeah, please keep me in the loop.

All right, thank you, Senator.

Problems up on the Hill?

No, just more rumors

about budget cuts coming down the line.

The usual. Okay,

so, um, where are we at with our escaped inmate, Mulligan?

One of the prison guards reported her cell phone missing,

so Kasie is monitoring it now in the off chance

that Mulligan took it.

McGee and I did find something interesting

when we were searching his cell.

Mulligan drew dozens of pictures, all of the same woman.

He wrote her name underneath.

Lainey Sims.

She was from Mulligan's hometown, Serenity, California.

Same place where he murdered that man 33 years ago.

Dispatch told us that the case was connected to Gibbs,

but we never got the details.

Chief Petty Officer Louis Burke was shot dead

and his body thrown in front of an oncoming train

to make it look like suicide.

The crime happened in broad daylight,

but when Gibbs and his team went to investigate,

no one said a thing.

Were they afraid? Were they protecting somebody?

Burke was a bad seed.

Nasty drinking habit, got into fights a lot,

- destroyed property. - Town bully.

The thinking was

the town was happy to see him go,

and they didn't want to turn in the person

that did them a favor, so they all clammed up,

until Mulligan, who was the town sheriff at the time,

miraculously came forward and confessed to the killing.

But Gibbs didn't believe it?

No. Gibbs always thought that

the woman in those sketches,

Lainey Sims, committed the murder,

and that Mulligan took the fall for her.

The problem was,

Gibbs couldn't prove it, so the case was closed.

But it was Gibbs' boss, Mike Franks,

who took it the hardest.

He called it "the one that got away."

He never got over it.

Apparently, neither did Mulligan.

So you think his breakout is connected to Lainey Sims?

Doesn't explain why he escaped so soon before his release,

but it's a good place to start.

But we need to get to Lainey before Mulligan does.

He already killed one man during his escape.

Who knows what he's capable of?

Multiple contusions all over his body,

defensive wounds suggest a struggle.

Cause of death was severe trauma to the cervical spine.

Oh, Mulligan broke his neck.

Yeah, snapped it like a twig.

Plus, Mulligan's DNA was under his fingernails,

so it was definitely him.

Not bad for a man Mulligan's age.

And Gibbs thought that Mulligan wasn't capable of murder.

Maybe he wasn't back then,

but 30 years in prison?

That much time can change a man.

Oh, speaking of time, I came up with the perfect item

- for the Navy time capsule. - Okay, Jimmy,

you know, I'm not really into this thing.

Oh, whoa. Okay, what the hell is that?

- Is that a toe? - This toe

belonged to one of the victims of The Boneman.

Remember? The infamous serial killer

that we put away a few years ago?

Yeah, I remember.

At the start, this toe was the only clue we had.

- This toe represents teamwork. - Mm.

This toe is a symbol of what makes NCIS great.

It's also disgusting.

Have you thought this through, Jimmy?

Well, I-I, uh...

Hey, do you want children, 100 years from now,

to open the time capsule and find a wrinkly, nasty-ass toe?

Uh... Yeah, no, no, I...

Y-You're right.

I guess I got carried away. I...

I guess I got excited when I saw the memo and...

Oh, it's Jess. I got to go.

We're gonna be late to the airport.

Where are you two going?

We're going to Mulligan's hometown in California.

We're having problems tracking down his crush, Lainey.

Plus, Parker wants us there in case Mulligan shows up.

Okay, well, travel safe.

And, uh, you won't tell anybody about the toe thing, right?

Right?

Hey, Kase.

Any luck tracking that cell phone Mulligan stole?

Not yet. I kind of got slammed with all this last minute.

What is all this stuff? You looking to put something

- in the time capsule? - No.

Although, this whole box is practically a time capsule.

It is Gibbs' original case box from 33 years ago.

It has everything related to Mulligan's murder charge.

Oh. Anything good?

Oh, maybe it was good back in the '90s,

but it's a museum piece now.

Nothing's digital. It's just tons and tons

of paperwork, like, on physical paper.

- Ew. - Oh.

And get this, the interrogation tapes? VHS.

- Do we even own a VCR? - No.

Yeah, I don't know how people solved crimes in the '90s.

I don't know how they got anything done.

Ah, sweet technology. Music to my ears.

Ooh, please tell me that music includes

a hit on Mulligan's phone.

Yup. Looks like

he ordered an Uber to take him somewhere in D.C.

Ordered an Uber during a prison escape? Well, that's a first.

Okay, according to the account, the car took him

to a residential address,

belongs to someone named Vera Strickland.

Vera?

You know her?

Yeah. Vera was an NCIS agent back in the day.

She used to work with Gibbs and Mike Franks.

- You know what? I wonder... - What?

Yeah, here it is.

Vera worked the murder case 33 years ago.

Why is Mulligan headed to her now?

I don't know, but he's desperate

and he's on the run, and that's not good.

Thanks, Kase.

Federal agents!

Haven't you heard of a doorbell?

What the hell?

Uh, Ms. Strickland,

my name is Special Agent Parker.

- This is Special Agent... - Oh, I know who he is. McGee.

Hi, Vera.

Um, are you okay, Ms. Strickland?

We have reason to believe an escaped convict

was headed here to your home.

An escaped convict?

- Here? - So you're alone?

Me and my lonesome.

Just reading a book, having a cup of tea.

Would you boys like some?

Caffeinated or decaf?

Whatever's fine.

- So you've been here the whole time? - Yeah.

I'm retired. Where the hell else am I gonna go?

Oh. No tea.

Would you mind if we look around a little bit?

Make sure this guy didn't try to break in?

Knock yourself out.

Okay, I'm afraid it's gonna have to be water.

Tap. I don't spring for that bottled crap.

Who is this convict anyway?

Thomas Mulligan.

You put him away on a murder charge 33 years ago.

Thought you said you were alone.

You got me, Columbo.

- Mulligan was here. - McGee.

He just took some money, clothing,

a few... other things.

What other things?

My Harley.

You lied to us, Ms. Strickland.

You just aided and abetted a fugitive.

Don't get so dramatic.

I was gonna call the authorities after he left.

He only asked for a five-minute head start,

- that's all. - Well, at least

tell me you were coerced.

That he put a gun to your head.

I know that I might have crossed a line a little,

but I had my reason.

Vera, you didn't just cross the line. What you did was reckless.

Watch it, Goatee.

You're in no position to lecture me.

I seem to remember, the last time we met,

you "recklessly" lost your gun and your badge.

- It was my credentials. - It's because of you that

I had to go in the field, I got a sprained ankle.

Okay, you know that wasn't my fault.

DiNozzo was the one who pushed you.

- And I couldn't ride my bike for months. - Oh! Oh! Oh!

Can we please try to get back on track?

Thank you.

Why did you help Mulligan?

Because he is innocent.

We put away the wrong man 30 years ago.

Gibbs knew it, Franks knew it,

and I knew it.

Well, he might have been innocent back then,

but he just killed his fellow inmate.

No. That was in self-defense.

Mulligan told me the guy wanted to kill

a gas station owner for the cash in the register.

Mulligan had no choice.

Maybe. Or maybe he just said that so you'd help him.

Did Mulligan tell you where he was headed?

Or why he broke out three weeks before his release?

No. All he said was he had to "right a wrong."

Ah, that's it for now. We'll be in touch.

I know we will 'cause I want in on this case.

Excuse me? You?

I know the original murder case.

I was there. I know all the players.

You're lucky I don't throw your ass in jail.

But I can help!

Okay, here, have you talked

to Jimmy Wallace in D.C. yet?

You mean Congressman James Wallace?

He's from Mulligan's hometown.

He was called Jimmy back then.

He goes way back with Mulligan.

Maybe he could give you some insight.

See? I'm helping already.

Thanks, but no thanks.

No, wait. Wait. Wait.

The fact of the matter is, I need this.

Retirement is boring as hell.

Working on this case

would not only give me my groove back,

it would give me closure on something

that's been hanging over my head for 33 years.

Please. Please let me help.

Well, this town has seen better days.

Yeah, it's kind of depressing.

Something I can help you with?

Agents Knight, Torres.

We called earlier about Lainey Sims.

You didn't get my message? Damn it, Delroy.

My deputy. He was supposed to ring you, but he must've forgot.

Lainey Sims is not here.

She and her husband split up about eight years ago.

Took their son, moved up north.

Any idea where?

No. But her ex, Mac, lives in town.

I'm willing to help you in any way I can.

Well, that's good to hear,

since the last time NCIS was here,

you weren't too cooperative.

Read somewhere you, uh, trashed one of our cars.

- Hey! Hey! - Stop!

- Drop it! Drop it! Put it down! - Put it down! Put 'em down now!

I was a messed-up kid back then,

but I've cleaned myself up, straightened myself out.

More than I can say about most things around here.

- What happened to this place? - Well, if you ask the state,

they'll say it was climate change.

Serenity used to be a big farming town,

lived off our own water.

But then we had a few bad drought years,

the aquifer dried up.

We were forced to make deals

we couldn't afford for outside water.

Now, this is what's left, all because of a drought,

if you believe the state.

But you don't?

Ask anyone around here, they'll tell you the same thing,

the murder's what did this town in.

All our bad luck started when

Louis Burke was killed 33 years ago.

This town is cursed. No way around it.

Burke wasn't the only thing that died that day.

Find anything yet?

I've got a CD player, I've got a fax machine,

but so far, no VCR.

Kase, I should've come down here a long time ago.

I'm getting so many good ideas for the Navy time capsule.

Yeah, what happened?

You're not going with your severed toe idea anymore?

It was a bad idea, I admit it.

- Oh, that is putting it lightly. - Okay, all right.

Fine. What would you put inside the time capsule?

Easy, a glitter bomb.

That way, whoever opens it gets a fabulous surprise.

I can't tell if you're joking.

Kasie, Jimmy. I'd like you to meet retired

Special Agent Vera Strickland.

She'll be assisting us in a limited capacity.

Very limited.

Pleasure to meet you.

This pleasure is all mine.

I googled you after your name came up yesterday.

You're a legend.

The profiling program you created

is still the gold standard today.

Legend's a little strong.

Let's go with trailblazer.

I remember this.

Gibbs' notepad.

Franks' old files.

Oh, I could never read his handwriting.

It was like chicken scratch.

If I knew you had this, I would've brought my VCR.

You're my new best friend.

Congressman Wallace is waiting in the conference room.

Oh, great. Let's hit it.

No. You're staying here, where they can watch you.

Don't let her out of your sight.

No. Hey. I am not a child, Parker.

I don't need babysitting.

Do you hear me?

Oh, he's irritating. Oh...

Handsome, but irritating.

Well, thanks for coming in, Congressman Wallace.

We know election season's been keeping you busy.

What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

I take it you know about Thomas Mulligan escaping?

Yeah, such a shock, but I'm not sure how I can help.

How well did you know him?

Pretty well. Tom was a good guy.

I was floored when he confessed to killing that man.

The whole ordeal tore the town apart. It was awful.

Especially on the heels of what had just happened.

What do you mean?

The victim, Louis Burke?

He beat up my grandpa a week earlier.

That's my grandpa Dominic.

I took this yesterday.

Died later from his injuries.

Rumor was that Burke's killing was revenge

for what he'd done to my grandpa.

- Eye for an eye. - Yeah,

but I didn't ask for that.

I was raised to believe in the rule of law,

not this frontier justice crap.

That whole mess is why I got into politics to begin with,

to fight for real justice.

Sorry.

With Tom escaping, it, uh, brings up old memories.

Ah, we understand.

Congressman, we checked Mulligan's visitor prison logs,

and your name came up a few times.

Why did you visit him?

He wrote to me. Asked to help with his parole.

I did.

Something I now regret.

Why's that?

Because he changed.

The last time I saw him, he was, he was more aggressive.

Edgy. Like something had set him off.

It scared me, to be honest.

What do you think set him off?

I don't know, but I'll tell you this,

wherever Mulligan is headed,

I sure as hell wouldn't want to be there when he shows up.

Mr. Sims? NCIS.

Your neighbors said we'd find you here.

I heard you guys were in town.

Been waiting for you to show up.

We're looking for your ex-wife, Lainey.

We're thinking that Tom Mulligan might try to contact her.

This is my husband, Mac.

Yeah, well, he ain't gonna find her.

Neither are you.

Lainey, uh...

died three years ago.

They said the smoking's what did it,

but... I know

it was the guilt over what happened to...

Louis Burke.

Guilt?

Because she killed him?

Because we all did.

She didn't plan on killing him.

It was one of those spur-of-the-moment things.

She was just so filled up

with rage over what he'd done to old man Wallace.

Lainey loved him like a father.

So, she just... snapped.

She come to me afterwards.

She wanted to do the right thing.

She wanted to turn herself in.

But you had other plans?

I buried the gun out in the field.

Then me and a few others

put Burke in his car,

pushed him on the tracks and...

let the train do the rest.

Burke was no good. He had to go.

Lainey couldn't go to prison. She was pregnant.

So, everyone just... Shh.

Kept it a secret.

Until you all showed up asking questions.

Which forced Mulligan to step forward and confess.

He took the fall for your wife, and you let him.

Don't matter now, though, I guess.

Lainey's gone, my son won't talk to me,

the whole town's fallen apart.

And we all thought we got away with murder.

Mr. Sims, we're gonna need you to come with us so we can take

a written statement.

If Mulligan is innocent, people need to know.

You know, funny thing is,

we all thought it was Burke who beat up Wallace.

But now? I'm not so sure.

He might've been set up.

And everything we did...

...might've been for nothing.

What are you talking about?

See my son, tell him I love him.

No!

Mac Sims was declared dead at the scene.

Honestly, the guy seemed kind of haunted.

Like he was done carrying the weight.

At least his confession tells us one thing,

Tom Mulligan was innocent.

He didn't kill Chief Burke. Gibbs was right.

That wouldn't be the first time.

Vera, it's a restricted area. How'd you get in here?

Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch.

I still have some friends in the building.

What, do you want to throw me out, McGee? Try it.

Vera, you are supposed to be working

on the old case files, downstairs.

In the dust trap? Uh-uh.

This is where the action is.

And who are they? The new Tony and Ziva?

- What? - I've been here for nine years.

What do we got?

Okay,

with Mac's confession, that's one mystery solved.

We still have a fugitive on the loose.

Any idea where he might be headed?

Uh, possibly. We think it might be

connected to this man, Dominic Wallace.

That's Congressman Wallace's grandpa.

The man Burke assaulted.

Well, maybe not. Mac said that Burke didn't do it.

That he was set up.

Well, he was the town bully. Be easy to do.

Our fugitive might've learned

the real identity of the attacker,

and he's going after them now for revenge.

We find out who this person is, we find Mulligan.

Who else had motive to attack Grandpa Wallace?

Well, see, that's the thing. I mean,

we asked around town, and we can't find anyone

who wanted to hurt him.

Is there anything in the original report

about his attack?

Sheriff is having problems

finding it.

What about you?

What about me? What?

You were there, remember?

"I know all the players." What can you tell us?

Hey, I only worked on the Burke murder case.

This guy Wallace wasn't military, wasn't our case.

- So you can't help us. - I didn't say that.

I know two people

who might have some info for you,

in their neck of the woods.

But I warn you, these guys,

these guys can be prickly.

Agents Knight, Torres.

- How's it going? - Hey. How you doing?

- Woody Browne. This is my assistant. - Good.

Uh, former assistant, Phil Elertson.

Oh, well, thanks for taking the time.

Well, we're retired, so what else are we gonna do?

He's retired. I am still working.

I'm the assistant professor of chemistry at the local college.

All these years and you're still somebody's assistant.

How is that even possible?

Okay. Uh, you know, Vera said that the two of you

used to work forensics for NIS back in the day.

Can you tell us what you remember

about the Dominic Wallace case?

Quite a lot, actually.

Wasn't even technically our case,

but Michael Franks asked us to take a look at it on the side.

No overtime, of course.

Dominic Wallace was

leaving his favorite restaurant at 10:00 p.m. when he

was beaten within an inch of his life with a baseball bat.

Elm Royal brand, 34-inch, solid wood.

No witnesses, but everybody in town just assumed Burke did it.

Because he was the town's bully?

That and because the Elm Royal bat was Burke's favorite item.

Carried it around all the time. It was like his good luck charm.

Also, he had no alibi.

Yeah, I was just about to say that, Phil,

- but thanks. - However,

Burke did dislocate his shoulder

a few months earlier, which raised doubts

he could've swung the baseball bat that violently.

Is it okay for me to speak now? Do I get a second now to speak?

- Do you ever not speak? - Phil, ladies and gentlemen.

Okay, okay, guys, this is all great,

but without any solid evidence, it's gonna be very hard

to prove that Burke was framed.

Yeah, we can't even find the murder weapon.

The sheriff thinks it's lost.

- Oh. - Oh, it's not lost. We have it.

What?

Yeah, no, we got it.

No, when the Burke murder case was closed,

uh, Franks asked us to hold onto it, so we did.

Uh, can't believe you guys still have it.

We got a whole storage unit

filled with all kinds of crap from old cases.

Yeah, you never know when it's gonna come in handy, right?

Did you analyze this?

Yeah, we had it analyzed right away

when Franks gave it to us. Yeah.

We had two different sets of DNA.

One was from our victim, Wallace,

and the other was not enough to produce a proper I.D.

It was the '90s.

We needed big DNA samples to get anything done.

But now, with modern technology,

you could reanalyze the bat,

maybe run it through one of the...

Probably identify, uh, Wallace's killer.

Seriously? That one just felt on purpose.

- I was in the middle of talking. - Well, you're old.

I was trying to keep you back on your thoughts. I was...

Oh, and you're some kind of spring chicken, Phil?

- Yes. - I disagree completely.

Grandpa Dom took in Lainey after her mama died, didn't he?

What are you doing?

You better not be messing up my VCR.

I'm reviewing, uh, Mulligan's interrogation tapes from '92.

Going over Gibbs' notes here.

- Seeing if there's anything we missed. - Mm.

Oh, look at me.

I was a fox.

What are we gonna do about it?

Oh. There's Roy.

Gibbs was so young.

We all were. Time is a bitch.

- Mm. - I went to go

fingerprint Lainey and her husband.

They left town.

You know, he talks about you.

- Gibbs? - Mm-hmm.

You... you talked to him?

Did he call you or...?

Well, not-not exactly.

But it's not important how I talked to him.

What is important is that he's proud of you.

He told me that you are a better agent

at your age than he ever was.

When the job is done, probie, you got to walk away.

- Rule 11. - Mm-hmm.

- That's where he got it from. - Mm-hmm.

The irony is Franks never followed his own rule,

did he? I mean,

this case bothered him until the day he died.

Yeah, because the job wasn't done.

Right. Now, it's our turn

to finish it for him.

Huh?

Hey, Kase. Got anything for me?

DNA results on the baseball bat.

We had the office in San Diego run the tests.

And?

The DNA does not belong to Burke.

He's not our killer.

Great. That means he was definitely framed.

- Whose DNA is it? - Don't know. They're not in the system.

- So, we're back to square one. - Not necessarily.

I think Gibbs just handed us the piece we've been missing.

Wait till you hear this.

I was going through Gibbs' case notes,

and on the days leading up to the attack,

Grandpa Wallace called the San Diego county office

dozens of times.

He even set up a meeting with them

on the actual morning he was attacked.

Gibbs tried to follow up with the county,

but they never called him back.

The case was closed before he could do any more.

I called the county archive department.

Wallace had filed dozens of documents with them.

That disappeared shortly after his death.

Whoever killed Wallace must've taken them to destroy evidence.

But we know something that the killer didn't know.

County made copies of all the originals.

And apparently, someone requested

to see them just three weeks ago.

Who?

Jason Cross, lives alone, works as a vet assistant.

What's a vet assistant want with 30-year-old papers?

Looks like we're not the only ones interested in this case.

- I'll check the back. - Copy.

Jess, runner!

NCIS. Let me see your hands, Mulligan.

Hey. I heard a noise. I didn't know who you were.

Step back.

It's-it's not what you think.

I'm not here to hurt anyone.

Then what are you doing here?

I'm trying to save my son.

Lainey and I had been having an affair for over four years.

No one knew.

Not even her husband.

Jason Cross is, uh, your and Lainey's son?

Yeah.

Cross was... his mother's name.

And that's why you went to prison for her.

She was carrying your child.

Lainey didn't want me to do it, of course.

She... hated the thought of me being punished

for something that she'd done,

but...

I convinced her that it was the...

it was the right thing to do, you know.

For Jason. So...

I went away.

And we kept our secret.

I shot Louis Burke.

This is the gun I used to do it.

But Jason found out.

Yeah.

A few weeks ago, um, he...

he visited me in prison for the first time.

He said that Lainey had told him everything on her death bed,

about me being his dad,

about the murders.

Somehow, he figured out who really killed old man Wallace.

Did he tell you who it was?

No. Just...

...said he wanted to make them pay.

Why?

Jason wasn't even born when any of this happened.

You don't understand.

See, in Jason's mind...

every bad thing that's ever happened to our family...

I mean, to this town,

all started with Wallace's murder.

I mean, that's like the original sin.

To him, the man who killed Wallace just...

cursed us.

He's to blame for everything.

So now, he's out for revenge.

I... I tried to talk him out of it, but he...

he wouldn't listen to me.

That's why I broke out of prison. I-I-I...

I couldn't wait for my release,

the damage could already be done.

Look, I-I have to stop my son

from making the same mistake that Lainey did.

Where's Jason now?

I-I don't know.

I got here not long before you did.

His car's gone. It... looks like he's packed.

Any idea where he might be headed?

Who he might be targeting?

No.

Well, whoever it is,

I think you'll find the answer in here.

- Thanks so much. - So where we at?

We've revised the BOLO, so it's now

for Jason Cross. FBI set up a tip line.

Calls have come in that have

placed him in Colorado, and then

in Chicago as recently as two days ago.

He's heading east. Call Torres and Knight.

Tell them to get their butts back here.

Already done. They're on a plane with Mulligan now.

All right, let's leak to the press

that we're looking for Cross.

Maybe if he catches wind we're onto him,

he'll back off whatever he's planning.

- Hey. You guys need to see this. - Kase, what do you got?

Wallace's county documents.

Knight and Torres scanned them for me before they left.

Listen to this,

before he died, Wallace was

in the process of gifting his property

to the town of Serenity.

Why? I thought it was worthless.

He was sitting on a goldmine.

Wallace's property is situated above a huge aquifer.

There's enough water in there to supply a whole city for decades.

And no one knew?

Wallace didn't even know

until an outside water company

approached him to sell his water rights.

Jason looked up the original offer,

it was huge.

Wallace could've made a fortune,

but instead, he decided to gift it to the town he loved.

But somebody killed him before he could do it.

That same somebody

who inherited his water rights upon his death,

his next of kin, Congressman James Wallace.

I looked up the congressman's

bank accounts going back decades.

He came into a huge amount of cash

months after his grandfather's death.

He must've learned about his grandfather's decision

to donate the aquifer.

And then he killed him,

so he could sell the rights himself.

The congressman has to be Jason's target.

We need to warn him.

Where's the congressman now?

So then, after the music, I'll say,

"It's good to see so many hardworking folks here today.

Folks like me, blah, blah, blah."

You think Jason's here?

Well, if he's planning on killing the congressman,

this is as good a place as any.

All right, let's split up. Search windows,

any high vantage points.

Jason?

- Come on. - NCIS! Show me your hands!

Hey, get back! Get back! Don't come any further!

Put the gun down, Jason!

Stay away from me.

- Jason, put the gun down! - Stay away!

- Don't do this. - S-Stop it! I mean it!

- Get back! - We can help you.

How?

How? I've got nothing. Wallace destroyed everything.

We know. We know, and we're gonna make him pay,

but don't let him destroy you.

No. No.

My team, they knew your mother.

And she wouldn't want this, Jason.

And your biological father?

He spent 30 years in prison to protect you,

and he broke out to do it again.

If you do this now,

all that sacrifice is for nothing.

I can't thank you enough, Agents Parker, McGee.

You saved my life.

Well, you may not want to thank us just yet.

So, the congressman confessed to killing his grandfather?

Didn't need to.

We took his DNA from the water mug

he used when he was here.

Compared it to the killer's on the murder weapon.

It's a perfect match.

Congressman's going away for a long, long time.

Well, then there's just one last thing left.

And, um, what about my...

...father?

Is he gonna be charged for breaking out of prison?

No. We spoke to a federal judge who agreed that 33 years

for a crime he didn't commit counts as time served.

And the other convict that he killed was in self-defense.

Your dad's a free man.

But unfortunately, I can't say the same for you.

With a weapons charge and intent to commit murder,

you're gonna have to do some time, Jason. Sorry.

Yeah.

But luckily, you won't have to face this alone.

There'll be somebody pulling for you,

waiting on the other side when you get out.

Jason.

Look, um...

I know that I...

wasn't able to be in your life before, but...

...I'm here now.

Gonna be sad to see you go, Vera.

Thanks for all your help.

Oh, no, thank you, guys.

This case was the little pick-up I needed,

and I didn't even sprain my ankle this time.

No, seriously, though,

working here the past few days, it...

reminded me why I loved this job so much.

Does that mean you're thinking about coming out of retirement?

Hell no.

I'm gonna leave all the agenting up to you young pups.

You, not so much.

Yeah. Don't be a stranger, Vera.

I'll see you, Park. And you.

- See you, Vera. - Uh-huh.

Oh, good, you're all here.

Jimmy, what's going on, bro?

Well, I finally came up with the perfect item

to put in the time capsule for the Navy's celebration.

- Oh, gosh. - Whew...

Jimmy, we're so over this.

Please don't tell me it's another toe.

No, no, hear me out. So, I've been working this case,

I've been going through a ton of old photos and videos.

Made me realize how much history we have together.

Now, who has all that history in one place?

Oh, yeah.

- Ducky's memoir. - Oh, my gosh, yes.

I mean, not only does it have a lot of great stories

about our cases, but the revised edition

actually has photos

of all of us from past and present.

This is what people should remember about NCIS.

- What we meant to each other. - Wow.

That we were a family.

Oh, look, a young Gibbs.

- Oh, my gosh. - Ooh, look at this one of us.

Look at that.

I think you got a winner here, Jimmy.

Nicely-nicely done, bro.

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