NCIS: Season 8, Episode 3

8 - 3: Short Fuse

NCIS responds to an emergency phone call after Heather Dempsey, a Marine bomb technician, shoots and kills an intruder in her home. Dempsey initially evades the investigation, but the team quickly find evidence she was not alone at the time. Her lover is revealed to be a senior FBI agent; the intruder a hit man. They learn that Dempsey's brother was shot and paralyzed by a man named Abbott in a gang war, and that the FBI lover recommended protective custody for him after he testified to escape jail time. Dempsey started a relationship with the agent to learn Abbott's new identity and location. When he learned that Dempsey was searching for him, Abbott hired the hitman to kill her before she could kill him. Because hiring the hitman was not part of his immunity deal, Abbott is arrested. Meanwhile, Tony is excited to be chosen as the face of NCIS' new recruitment campaign, but Director Vance decides Gibbs promotes the qualities NCIS is looking for more than Tony does.