Disclaimer:- I do not own NCIS or its characters and any copyright infringement is unintentional.
A Hiding to Nothing
Chapter Two
Using the co-ordinates provided by the park rangers, Ziva and McGee arrived at the crime scene, immediately scanning the area for Tony's Mustang.
"Tony is not here," Ziva said unnecessarily.
"Dammit it," McGee cursed uncharacteristically. "He and Palmer should have been here twenty minutes ago."
Snatching up his cell he dialled Tony's number and huffed impatiently when the call went to message bank.
"Where the hell are you?" McGee asked, unable to hide his frustration. "Gibbs expected you to start processing the crime scene. If he gets here before you he'll know I've been covering for you and there'll be hell to pay. Just…call me!"
"I think you are over reacting, McGee. Gibbs is not an unreasonable man, we will simply explain that…" she watched as her partner raised a quizzical eyebrow and she nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I see what you mean. Perhaps we will be lucky and Tony will arrive first."
They turned hopefully toward the sound of an approaching vehicle and exchanged an foreboding glance as the coroner's van rounded the corner to the clearing with Gibbs and Ducky aboard.
"Or maybe not," McGee muttered resignedly.
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Sanjaya Kantaprawira flexed his throbbing fingers, attempting to shake the jolting pain from his bruised knuckles. He cursed as the pain ran the length of his arm and erupted in his side where a 9mm bullet had grazed him below the ribs and removed a sizeable chunk of flesh. In the small dispensary the pharmacist lay unconscious at his feet, his nose a mess of blood, broken bone and cartilage. At eye level, the door to the wall safe hung open, the previous day's takings not nearly as much cash as they needed.
A gunshot sounded from the main drug store area, followed by a resounding crash and Sanjaya rushed into the room brandishing his weapon wildly. Among the broken shelves and fallen items, a man lay bleeding and unmoving.
"What the hell happened?" Sanjaya yelled, pinning his partner with an accusing glare.
"I was watching him like you t-told me," Muluk Sastrowardoyo stuttered nervously as he pointed to Palmer. "That guy came through the door, s-startled me and the gun just went off."
Breaking free from the grip of his stuttering captor, Jimmy Palmer scrambled across the room to kneel beside his unconscious friend. Tentatively, he reached out a shaking hand and felt for the pulse point below Tony's jaw, almost overwhelmed with relief when he felt the strong beat beneath his fingers. He unzipped Tony's OSU hoodie to check his wound, unwittingly revealing the Sig and the shiny gold shield attached to the waistband of his jeans. Palmer yelped in surprise as he was grabbed from behind and thrown backwards.
"He's a cop!" Sanjaya said, quickly disarming the unconscious man and roughly patting him down to check for other weapons. "You shot a damn cop!"
"He's a federal agent," Jimmy spoke up as he crawled back to Tony's side. "And he's badly hurt."
Sanjaya paced anxiously, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow and heavily pockmarked cheeks. He ran agitated fingers through his crown of plentiful black hair. 'Could this day get any worse?' he wondered. They had met with the two American sailors in the state forest and received the flash drive. Alam and one of the sailors had each produced a weapon and a firefight ensued. Now the two sailors and Alam were dead and he and Muluk were on the run with no money to get to Canada to deliver the flash drive as planned.
Arriving at a decision, he turned dark eyes to the others. Palmer was trying to rouse the injured agent, speaking softly as he called his name while using a large square dressing to keep pressure on the wound. He carefully slipped his hand under Tony's injured shoulder checking for an exit wound and sighed audibly when he realised there wasn't one - the bullet was still lodged deep in Tony's shoulder.
"Wake him up," Sanjaya ordered. "We're taking him with us."
"No!" Palmer protested. "Leave him here, please! He can't help you, he needs to get to a hospital."
Sanjaya stepped closer and aimed his gun at Tony's head.
"Wake him up or I'll kill him right here."
"If you take him, he could die," Palmer tried to reason.
"That's why you're coming with us, Doc. You're gonna keep him alive," Sanjaya replied with a predatory smile. "That is, until I decide it's time for you both to die."
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At the crime scene, Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Ducky went about their work with their usual well-honed efficiency but each of them unconsciously cast frequent glances toward the trail as if expecting their absent team members to arrive at any moment.
Suppressing his concern, Ducky had commented that Palmer's lack of navigational skills had most likely caused the assistant ME and Tony to become lost in the maze of un-signposted fire trails that criss-crossed throughout the state forest. Gibbs nodded absently but his famous gut was starting to churn – Tony may give the impression of nonchalance but he took his job responsibilities very seriously. It was unlike the younger man to be out of reach when he knew the team had been assigned a case.
Ziva interviewed Park Ranger, Clint Morgan who had been patrolling the area when he heard several shots fired. As there had recently been a spate of out-of-season deer hunting, he radioed his position to the ranger station and drove to the clearing to investigate. He arrived to find the bodies of three men. He checked for signs of life and then called for emergency medical assistance. Locating the ID of Petty Officer Paul Leyton, he contacted his base station and made arrangements for NCIS to be notified. Leyton was subsequently airlifted to VCU by the Life Evac helicopter and was currently undergoing life-saving surgery.
"Call Vance," Gibbs told her. "I want a Marine guard on Leyton's hospital room until further notice. Whoever did this could try again."
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Ziva made the call as Gibbs turned to McGee.
"What've you got?"
"ID agrees with the fingerprint scan, Boss, our dead sailor is Petty Office Jason Harvey. The Ford Explorer and the Beretta found near his body were both registered in his name. Harvey and Leyton served together on the USS Abraham Lincoln. I contacted their CO a…Captain Martin Harrow and set up an interview for later this afternoon."
"What about our John Doe?"
"Fingerprint scan was negative, Boss. Ranger Morgan searched the body for ID but he wasn't carrying any on him."
"I do wish they wouldn't do that," Ducky sighed, leaning over the dead civilian.
"What can you tell me, Duck?"
"Well, the tawny-coloured skin and black hair are consistent with Asian origin, however, note the moderately wide forehead. The nose is full and rather wide and the mouth is large. His upper jaw is somewhat prominent when seen in profile, sufficiently prominent to suggest that-"
"Today, Duck," Gibbs interrupted.
"Quite right, I am sorry," Ducky replied. "I would hazard a guess and say that this man is from the Asia Pacific region."
"Boss, the Abe Lincoln just returned from three months at sea in the Asia Pacific region, including several days in Indonesia where she acted as escort to a NATO diplomatic peace conference held in Sumatra."
"Scan his prints and send them to Abby," Gibbs said. "Have her run them through the Homeland Security database. If this guy is a migrant or entered the US on a visa, his prints will be on record at Homeland Security."
"Right, Boss," McGee replied as he kneeled beside the body and got to work.
"Gibbs," Ziva called. "There is more blood over here."
Gibbs walked to where Ziva was taking photos of a patch of bloodstained grass and he took a knee for a closer look.
"Not his blood," he said, nodding at the John Doe, "that shot would have dropped him where he stood."
"A wounded accomplice?" Ziva suggested as Ducky joined them.
"Hmm, a significant amount of blood loss but not life-threatening," he added. "The blood trail would suggest that our missing victim was ambulatory."
"Blood trail leads to tyre tracks, Gibbs. I will make a cast for Abby."
Gibbs continued the scan the ground.
"Two sets of footprints equals two accomplices," he stated.
When his thinly-veiled concern finally erupted in the form of anger, Gibbs found himself looking back toward the trail.
"Where the hell is DiNozzo?"
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Tony had woken to a world of pain; confusion and disorientation were written in a heavy hand across his pale face. Palmer's concerned and frightened expression was partially offset by the barely contained calmness in his voice as he quickly explained the situation. Tony's first thought was he needed to move. Upon attempting the action, the excruciating pain from his shoulder forced him to reconsider. With Palmer's help, he managed to get to a sitting position and years of training kicked in as he quickly conducted a threat-assessment and tried to get a read on their captors.
While Muluk backed their van to the alley in the rear, Palmer filled a bag with dressings and various other items. He handed the bag to the pock-faced Sanjaya who was aiming his gun menacingly at Tony's head. The contents met with the man's approval and when Muluk returned he ordered his partner to help get the agent to his feet so they could leave.
Getting Tony vertical provoked more agonising pain as he was roughly dragged to his feet. Although he gritted his teeth and, mostly, suffered in silence, every muscle in his body trembled as it reacted to the trauma and shock. He felt Palmer's arm around his waist helping to support his weight as they were led through the back of the pharmacy to the rear alley. Tony's feet staggered and stumbled along while his eyes glazed and drooped. Deep, gasping breaths emanated from the injured agent while his hoodie was dark with the stain of blood and perspiration. Step by step he forced one foot in front of the other, losing all sense of his surroundings as each jarring footfall sent a wave of pain through his body.
At the end of the alley, a van waited with the backdoors open. As they reached the vehicle a brutal shove in the back sent Tony pitching headlong into the van, producing a gutteral scream as he landed heavily on his injured shoulder. Palmer was quickly by his side, helping him to a seated position as Sanjaya climbed into the back of the van. Their captor's gun, trained unwaveringly at them, was a persuasive argument against trying to escape. Muluk slipped behind the wheel and guided the van out of town.
Tony was aware of the brusque conversation going on around him but lacked the concentration to make out the words. He barely noticed Palmer gently easing his injured shoulder from his hoodie and tearing his blood soaked t-shirt to access his wound. Removing a pair of sterilized rubber gloves from the bag, Palmer poured a liberal amount of Betadine antiseptic over Tony's shoulder causing the agent to writhe and hiss through tightly clenched teeth until the burning pain subsided to a tolerable level.
Taking a large roll of Celox gauze from the bag, Palmer spoke quietly to Tony as he worked, explaining that the gauze was coated with granules that absorb water from the blood and cause it to coagulate and stop bleeding. Instructing Tony to take a deep breath, Palmer did likewise as he packed the gauze as deeply into the wound as he could, allowing the clotting agent to stop any internal bleeding that was happening inside Tony's shoulder.
The process was bloody and excruciating and despite Tony's best efforts, several strangled cries tore from his throat and tested Palmer's own resolve. By the time the young med student had applied the last of the dressings, Tony's eyes were closing of their own accord and he could no longer fight the pain and exhaustion.
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If Gibbs' gut was churning before, it was now spinning like a top. Something was definitely wrong and the former Marine intended to find out exactly what that something was.
"McGee!"
"Still not picking up, Boss," he responded anticipating the question.
"You're with me. Ziva, finish up here and you and Ducky take the bodies back to the Navy yard."
"Far be it from me to interfere, Jethro," Ducky began, "but Mr Palmer is my responsibility. If he and Anthony have met with some kind of trouble, I must insist that I accompany you to locate them."
Gibbs met his old friend's stubborn glare and nodded his head in agreement.
"Ziva, McGee, take the coroner's van back to Washington and find out what you can about Petty Officers Leyton and Harvey. Ducky you're with me."
Gibbs turned on his heel and strode purposely for the agency sedan leaving Ziva, McGee and Ducky exchanging bemused glances.
Without looking back, Gibbs snapped out an order coloured with a tinge of humour.
"Today, Mallard!"
"On your six, Boss," Ducky responded in kind as he dashed off after the lead agent.
Gibbs put the sedan into a controlled slide as they negotiated another sharp curve and headed back down the fire trail. He withdrew his cell from his jacket pocket and engaged his speed dial.
"You are on the air!" came the up beat reply.
"Abs, I need you to trace Tony's cell."
"Isn't he with you?"
"If he was with me, Abs, I wouldn't need the trace."
"But…it's been, like, almost two hours, Gibbs, and it's so not like Tony to be late," Abby replied, noting the deafening silence from the team leader. "Well, not on purpose, anyway…okay…sometimes it's on purpose but, well, not very often."
"Abs!"
"Relax, Gibbs, I'm already running it. Sheesh, I'm a woman, remember? We multi-task."
"Multi-task faster!" Gibbs growled impatiently.
Abby's fingers flew over her keyboard as she accessed the program and narrowed the parameters.
"Okay, I've got something. The signal is coming from…approximately four miles south of Leafy Grove. It's not moving, Gibbs! Maybe they had car trouble, although Tony would have totally called you if they'd had car trouble. Oh my God, what if he couldn't call you? What if Tony and Palmer were involved in a car wreck?"
"Abs! Can you lock onto my signal and lead me in?"
"I'm locking on now," she replied. "You are 12.4 miles from Tony's location and should reach it in approximately ten minutes, probably less the way you drive, not that there's anything wrong with the way you drive, Gibbs, I'm just saying that-"
"Abs…they'll be fine," Gibbs said with a confidence he didn't feel. "Check with the sheriff's office and the local hospital. See if there've been any reports of an MVA involving a '66 Mustang?"
"On it," Abby replied unconsciously using a Tony-ism.
12.4 miles on, Gibbs brought the agency sedan to a halt with a screech of tyres and the smell of burning rubber. He and Ducky climbed from the car and scanned both sides of the road for signs of their missing team mates.
"Duck, call Tony's cell," Gibbs instructed.
His gut clenched painfully when Tony's ring tone sounded from the long grass. He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, placed the cell into an evidence bag and slipped it into his pocket as Abby came back onto the line.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!"
"I'm here, Abs," he replied. "Found his cell but there's no sign of DiNozzo."
"Tony's Mustang was found abandoned at a gas station in Leafy Grove. Tony loves that car Gibbs, he would never just abandon it!"
"Abs!"
"Wait, Gibbs, that's not all...the sheriff said that two hours ago, there was an armed robbery at a drug store located directly across the road from Tony's car."
"Tony and Palmer?"
"The sheriff doesn't know, but there were reports of gunfire and there's blood at the scene."
"On our way, Abs," Gibbs said, snapping his cell closed and jogging back to the car.
"Jethro, you don't suppose that Anthony and Mr Palmer somehow got mixed up in that robbery?" Ducky asked, holding on for dear life as the sedan lurched forward and sped toward town.
"Knowing DiNozzo's talent for finding trouble...that's exactly what I think."
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A/N Passed on your many prayers and good wishes to Liz. Obviously she hasn't much time to access the internet and thank you "personally" but she asked me to thank you from the bottom of her heart. Little Ethan had more surgery on Friday and doctors are hoping to wake him late Sunday. He's a little champion!
Thank you all for your amazing support, I hope you are enjoying the story, L