Chapter 2

"Any one seen Gibbs?" McGee asked. He had finally finished a report that should have been done yesterday.

"No," Ziva said as she walked behind McGee and started reading the report over his shoulder. McGee shot her a look of displeasure and minimized the computer window. She huffed and wandered back to her desk.

Just then, Ducky exited the elevator and walked into the bullpen.

"Has anyone seen my dear Abigail this morning? She's usually here by now," Ducky asked then continued, "We had a date to explore the lifecycle of the cockroach--interesting insects, these cockroaches. Did you know that they have been on the earth for more than four million years? That's an awfully—"

"We were just talking about Gibbs," Tony answered cutting Ducky off mid-sentence, "He's not here either."

"The last time I saw either of them was yesterday evening around 11:30. I heard Jethro offering to drive Abigail home," Ducky related, "and she accepted.

Tony looked at Ziva and raised his eyebrows suggestively. She smiled and glanced over at McGee and the three of them snickered.

"Doesn't Gibbs have a rule about that?" McGee questioned.

"Yeah, it's Rule #12: Never date a coworker," Tony responded dialing Gibbs' cell phone number.

The phone rang and rang and then eventually went to voice mail.

"Then there's Rule # 3," Tony said, his tone changing from light-hearted to serious, "Never be unreachable."

Before anyone could say another word, Tony had grabbed his keys and was heading for his car. Ziva and McGee jumped up and followed him out. Soon, the team was tracing the path to Abby's apartment.

It had rained all night, but now it seemed to be letting up.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until there were about ten minutes out. They came upon some broken glass on the opposite side of the road. Tony pulled over to investigate.

Getting out of the car, Ziva was the first to see the overturned car hidden down the embankment in a lightly wooded area.

"Over here!" she yelled sliding down the muddy bank, her boots nearly engulfed by the thick, deep, mud. Tony leapt ahead of her. As he did, he started slipping and put his hand down to stop himself from falling.

"Damn it!" he shouted, observing the streak of mud down the left side of his pants. "I just got these!"

When he got to the driver's side door, he fell to his hands and knees to see inside. The driver's side window was broken and the door was ajar. Leaning down, he peered inside the car. The car was empty but Gibbs' keys were still in the ignition. He reached in and removed them.

Then he made his way to the trunk of the car. It was as though no one breathed while he gingerly placed the key into the trunk lock and turned it.

With an audible pop, the trunk opened. "Clear," he shouted, much to everyone's relief.

McGee made his way to the passenger's side door. There was blood on the door handle and more blood on the ground. "It looks like someone didn't walk away from this unscathed," he told the others.

Fanning out, the team started searching for Gibbs and Abby.

"Abby?" Ziva yelled.

Then Tony noticed something partially hidden under some wet leaves that made his heart miss a beat. It was a bullet casing.

"What the hell happened here?" He said rhetorically, holding up the casing and staring at Gibbs' car.

Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.