The 'bus people' were introduced in two previous stories 'Tony's Omnibus Odysseys' and 'On the Bus' but I don't think it will matter if you haven't read those stories – I'll explain things as I go along.

"What you doing here, DiNozzo?" asked Special Agent Gibbs as he arrived to work.

"Working?" offered Tony DiNozzo.

"Good to know," said Gibbs drily, "But I thought you were taking today as vacation?"

"I am," said Tony hastily, "But there was something niggling me about the Cowper case. Just wanted to make sure we hadn't missed something."

"And had we?"

"No, don't think so but you know what it's like … when there's something eating away at you?"

Gibbs nodded. DiNozzo's doggedness and unwillingness to let go were two reasons for having hired him.

"And I had time, Boss. Not meeting the others till 1000."

"Go on then," ordered Gibbs, "Get out of here. Before I find a reason to keep you here."

Tony looked at Gibbs trying to discern if this was a joke but, unable to detect any sign of a twinkle, decided not to risk it and quickly shut his computer down and grabbed his backpack. "See you Monday, Boss."

Gibbs nodded, "Have a good one."

"Hold the door!" bellowed Tony as he saw McGee and Bishop emerge from the elevator.

"We get a case?" asked Bishop bewildered at Tony's turn of speed.

"Don't know! Don't care!" crowed Tony as he swept past them. He gave them a cheery wave as the doors closed on him.

"Boss?" asked McGee, "What was Tony doing here?"

"His work," said Gibbs coolly.

"What?"

"You have a problem with my Senior Field Agent showing some dedication?" asked Gibbs.

"No, Boss. Of course not, Boss. It's just that …"

"Just what, McGee?"

"Nothing, Boss. I'm going to start work now."

"Good idea, McGee. You got something to say, Bishop?" asked Gibbs as he saw that his other agent was standing by her desk.

"No, Gibbs."

"Good." Gibbs switched his computer with something approaching relish. A quiet day completing case reports and looking at cold cases beckoned. Agent Gibbs would have denied it vigorously, but he actually sometimes looked forward to office-based days with his agents working away safely: somehow, they appealed to his sense of order although he suspected he didn't understand much of what Bishop and McGee got up to as they tapped away at their keyboards.

Silence reigned for about two hours and then Gibbs finally succumbed to itchy feet and a burning need for caffeine and announced,

"Going for coffee!"

Bishop and McGee simply nodded in a distracted manner but, as soon as Gibbs had left the squad room, looked up in relief.

"Why didn't you go with Tony?" asked McGee.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, Tony's trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I thought it would be right up your street."

"I thought about it," agreed Ellie. "I like Tony's bus people."

McGee nodded. Tony had met the bus people when he had been without a car and forced to travel on public transport. He had formed an unlikely friendship with his fellow passengers and had continued to travel by bus a couple of times a week even after he had bought a new car. They sometimes met up socially, generally looked out for one another and had now planned a long weekend of driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains to see the Fall colours. The team had all met, and liked, the bus people and had been invited to join the tour.

"I have this half-price offer for a weekend spa stay," explained Ellie, "It runs out this weekend. And I really feel I need to kick back and be pampered. What about you?"

"Do I feel the need to kick back and be pampered?"

"No. Why aren't you going this weekend?"

"Thought about it but some of my MIT buddies are in town for the weekend. We're going to have us some virtual reality fun!"

Ellie nodded understandingly and then, hearing the elevator arrive, they bent to their work once more. The tranquillity and peace had had its effect on Gibbs, and he had brought them drinks. It was a good day.

It was past midday when McGee muttered, "Huh."

Gibbs was fluent in interpreting when a huh required a response, "McGee?"

"I was looking at Tony's emails …"

"You hacked Tony's emails?"

"No, Boss. No, of course not. Tony and I can look at each other's emails. We've given each other permission."

"Why?" asked Gibbs who didn't look at his own emails and couldn't understand wanting to read other people's.

"Er, it's efficient. You know, if one of us it out of the office …or on vacation … means someone else can keep up to date with anything urgent."

Gibbs shrugged, beginning to be bored by the explanation but he remembered the tone of the huh, "And?" he asked.

"And?" replied Tim.

"You said huh," Gibbs reminded him.

"Oh yes. Well, Tony's had an email. You know a courtesy notification …" McGee trailed off as he wondered if Gibbs would understand the concept of a courtesy notification.

"And?" asked Gibbs again, hoping it wasn't a notification of a special showing of an obscure movie that only a DiNozzo would enjoy.

"One of the Macalusos was released on Wednesday."

"What?" snapped Gibbs.

"Who are the Macalusos?" asked Ellie.

"Mike Macaluso was a Mafia Boss in Baltimore," explained Tim, "Tony helped bring him down. He went undercover when he was a cop there."

"And?" prompted Ellie.

"They weren't happy," said Gibbs succinctly. "Who's been let out, McGee?"

"Um," McGee looked at the email again, "Ricardo Macaluso. Mike's middle son. Uh oh."

"What?" asked Gibbs, liking the sound of the uh oh even less than he had liked the huh.

"When Ricardo was sentenced, he swore he'd kill Tony when he got out."

"But lots of people do that, don't they?" asked Ellie hopefully. "I mean, not lots of people wanting to kill Tony specifically but wanting revenge, losing their temper when they're sentenced…"

"Yes," said Gibbs.

"And they don't … I mean, they don't actually kill the people who arrest them?"

"You want to take that risk, Bishop?" asked Gibbs, "And this is Mafia we're talking about. McGee, call Tony, let him know."

"Yes, Boss."

"Bishop, start tracing where this Ricardo Macaluso has gone," ordered Gibbs.

While his agents worked, Gibbs wondered again how impeccable DiNozzo's timing managed to be: he was out of Gibbs' sight just as danger had reared its head. His thoughts were interrupted by his desk phone. McGee and Bishop looked up, hoping that Tony's gut had kicked in and he was phoning Gibbs. The look on the Boss's face was not, however, encouraging.

"What you mean? … How? … What the … Send me the details … Wait a minute, "Gibbs put his hand over the receiver and summoned McGee, "Here, give the guy on the other end of the phone your email address."

McGee nodded and obeyed. "Um, Boss, why did I just give someone called Ernie my email address?" he asked when the phone call was ended.

"Ernie works for A to B Travel. The coach Tony and the bus people hired for their trip has been stolen," said Gibbs.

"Oh, that's a shame," said Ellie, "They were looking forward to the trip."

"Boss?" said McGee, sensing something else was wrong.

"The bus has been stolen. With Tony and his people with it."

Bishop wondered if Gibbs had, unconsciously, a flair for the dramatic: he could have told them to start with that Tony had gone missing, but he had preferred to build the tension. Bishop sighed, and decided it was a matter to consider at another time. "What happened?" she asked.

"The driver showed up for his shift and prepped his bus. He says someone came and told him that the passengers had changed their minds and didn't want to leave until noon. He went off for a break and when he came back a couple of hours later the bus had gone."

"Doesn't mean that Tony and the bus people have been taken though, does it?" asked Bishop hopefully.

"That's what the bus company thought to start with – just an opportunistic theft. So, they sent a replacement bus to the pick-up point but there was nobody waiting. The driver asked around and people said they'd seen a bus pick up a few people around 1000."

"And the driver just believed the guy who told him the trip had been delayed?" asked McGee.

"Seems he knew the name of the driver, time of the pickup. All seemed legit," replied Gibbs.

"Um, why did Ernie need my email address?" asked Tim.

"He's sending us security camera coverage from this morning. See if we can recognise who's done this."

"On it, Boss," said Tim, returning to his computer. "And Boss, I'm not getting a reply from Tony's cell. I think it's been switched off."

"Ernie said that the bus has LoJack – he was sending the details to that as well. Get ready to roll when it comes through, we can find out where the damn bus has gone."

"How did they know to contact NCIS?" asked Bishop even as she grabbed her gear.

"They seemed to know that Tony works for us. Decided to call us before alerting Metro PD."

"Boss, got a fix on the bus. Looks as if it's come to a stop near Old Rag Mountain," said McGee.

"That's part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, isn't it?" asked Ellie, "Perhaps it's all a mix-up?"

"Looks a bit off the beaten track," said McGee doubtfully, "Some of the bus people are getting on a bit, they won't be going hiking or anything."

"Still …" said Bishop, "It might be a false alarm …"

"You ever know Tony switch his phone off?" demanded Gibbs.

"No, but …"

"On a day that the bus he was supposed to be travelling on gets stolen?" continued Gibbs.

"I guess not …"

"On the day we find out that someone who's threatened to kill him is out of prison?"

"No."

"I didn't think so," said Gibbs blandly, "So I guess we'll head out to Old Rag Mountain and see what's going on?"

"Yes, Gibbs."

"Good. Call Abby, tell her to search for Macaluso and see if she can trace DiNozzo's cell … or anyone else on the bus," ordered Gibbs.

McGee and Bishop followed Gibbs to the elevator.

"Er Boss," said McGee, "Do you really think Ricardo Macaluso is going after Tony?" The look Gibbs gave Tim was answer enough. "Yes, Boss. Me too."