"It might not be Tony they're after," suggested Ellie as they raced out of DC as fast as the traffic would allow them – and sometimes, given that Gibbs was driving, faster than the traffic would allow.

"What?" demanded Gibbs.

"Well, there's other people on the bus," said Bishop, "They could be the reason the bus has gone missing."

Gibbs frowned, it seemed unlikely, but he had a rule against making assumptions. "OK, what do we know about the other bus people?"

"I know Joe's real name is Arthur Josephs," offered Ellie.

"And he's a tailor," remembered McGee.

"You think he's made someone a bad suit and they're after revenge?" asked Gibbs sceptically.

"I guess not," agreed McGee.

"What about the others?" asked Gibbs.

"I don't even know their surnames," admitted Bishop. "Hey, Tony's got a photo of them on his pin board. Abby might be able to use it to run facial recognition …"

"Do it," ordered Gibbs.

An hour later, Abby phoned with some results,

"I can believe those sweet people have gone missing," she worried, "And Tony, of course. But we're kinda used to being in danger … I hope …"

"I hope you've found something, Abby," said Gibbs brusquely.

"Of course I have," said Abby indignantly. She correctly interpreted Gibbs' silence and hurried on, "And I'll tell you. Martha's surname is Martha Clarke, she's got two daughters – one lives in DC and the other lives in Michigan but she's going to be moving soon because her son-in-law has got a new job with some high-tech firm in West Virginia. She's a member of the Diamond Club …"

"The what?" asked Bishop.

"It's a women's club, they do charity work, run a book group, have speakers in. Sounds really interesting. I'd try and join if I had time although it looks as if they have a long waiting list for new members …"

"What else?" asked Gibbs.

"Seya Kaur. She works for the South West Public Library but before that she worked at the Hoover Building here in DC."

"What? Asked McGee. "Seya worked for the FBI?"

"In their archive department," said Abby, "I guess it's really interesting. I might ask …"

"She married?" asked Gibbs.

"No, as far as I can see, she never married. She was born in Pennsylvania. Her parents immigrated from India and became American citizens ten years later."

"Who else?" asked Gibbs.

"Julia Gordon works for a media company in DC. She works for the legal department, gets involved with cases where the company is being sued. Looks like she might be head of the department one day."

"Huh," said Gibbs, "She's got a kid. Is the father still around?"

"Not that I can tell. I think there may be some problems there."

"Keep digging," ordered Gibbs. "Anyone else?"

"Douglas Henton-Seavy. He works for DAR – that's a really big computer company, Gibbs – in the accounts department. Working towards his accountancy qualifications. Lives alone in DC. His parents live in Hawaii, retired diplomats."

"And you found this all from facial recognition on Tony's photo?" asked Gibbs.

"I'm good at what I do," said Abby primly, "And I was motivated, so I did my best work."

"Thanks, Abs. Put a CafPow on my tab," said Gibbs.

"So," said McGee, "Some of the bus people work for big companies … or have links to them. Then there's an FBI link and Douglas's parents are retired diplomats. Do we think someone could be after one of them for some reason?"

"Could be," mused Gibbs, "Abby, keep checking. Let us know if you find anything."

"Of course. And Gibbs, I heard back from Ricardo Macaluso's parole officer."

"And?"

"And he met him once, just after he was released. Isn't due to see him again till next week."

"Did he seem OK? Did he think he might be out for revenge?" asked McGee.

"He seemed a switched-on guy," said Abby, "I think he'd have done something if he'd thought Ricardo was going to go after Tony."

"I guess so," said Ellie.

"But Gibbs, he did say that Macaluso looks a lot different to what he did when he was sentenced."

"How so?" asked Gibbs.

"Lost a lot of weight. He's muscular and fit now rather than flabby. His hair's gone grey … which is a totally cool look by the way, Gibbs."

"So, Tony might not recognise him?" deduced Bishop.

"DiNozzo's a trained observer," said Gibbs curtly but Bishop noticed that he put his foot down on the gas even harder after hearing Abby's news.

PREVIOUSLY

"So," said Joe, "We all know that we're meeting at 1000 tomorrow?"

His fellow bus passengers nodded patiently: Joe had been over all the arrangements a dozen times. Joe always took the lead in looking after people on the bus so organizing the weekend away was perfect for him … in fact it was tailor made, which was useful as that had been his job throughout his working life.

It had been Joe's idea that they all meet up the night before the trip to review the plans and also to get in the holiday mood, so they had met in the café close to the Navy Yard gates.

Martha wasn't quite enough in the holiday mood to forgo knitting,

"You see," she said, "My grandchildren all want scarves … they're going to a football match next weekend." She cast a mischievous look at Tony who sighed dramatically,

"Michigan, I suppose. You've usually got good taste in colours, I wondered why you had blue and yellow wool!"

Martha rapped him playfully over the knuckles with a knitting needle, this was an old argument. "I haven't told you though," she said excitedly, "My son-in-law has got a new job. He and my daughter are going to be moving to West Virginia, so they'll be closer."

"What's the new job?" asked Joe.

Martha shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Something high tech and hush hush," she went back to her knitting.

"You'll be glad to have them nearby," said Seya in her usual calm way. "Joe, would it be a good idea if I packed some Indian snacks – in case we get hungry on the way? After all, we'll be away in the Blue Ridge Mountains all weekend."

Tony averted his eyes from the blue and yellow of Michigan and nodded vigorously at this suggestion. Seya was an excellent cook who was generous in supplying tasty treats.

"I don't think we'll be going hungry," said Joe, "I've got all the stopping points worked out." He sensed Tony's disappointment so relented and said, "But I guess extra food never goes to waste."

"Not with Tony around," said Martha.

Tony tried to think of a suitable response but at that moment Julia arrived with her young son Charlie. Charlie was a rare child who actually liked Tony and he rushed towards him for a hug. Tony duly obliged and lifted him on to his lap.

"Sorry we're late," apologised Julia, "I had to finish a rush job at work."

"That's all right my dear," said Seya, "We didn't order you a drink in case it got cold."

"I can't stay," said Julia, "Charlie needs to go to bed but I just wanted to make sure you know that I'll be there tomorrow. I've got my instructions," she pulled out a sheaf of papers and Joe nodded approvingly.

"I've been doing some research as well," piped up Douglas who, as usual, had been silent till now, "The Fall colours should be at their best right now. And the weather forecast is good."

The others nodded approvingly at Douglas.

"It will be good for you to get out in the fresh air," said Martha kindly, "You spend too much time indoors, you know. What with your work and your studying."

"Not much longer to go now," he said hopefully.

"We'll go out and celebrate together," promised the others.

Tony grinned as he looked around the table at his unlikely circle of friends and wondered, as he often did, why he found it so relaxing to be with them.

"So," announced Joe, "We'll be on the A to B Travel bus. And," he paused for effect, "We've got Sid as our driver."

"That's nice," said Seya, "He's such a good driver."

"Yes," said Joe, "Ernie confirmed it this morning."

Tony hid a smile as he wondered how often Joe had been in contact with Ernie in the weeks since they had decided on the trip. He wondered how Joe found the time for all the organization given that he still looked after the clothes of some private clients and helped out three days a week at a halfway house repairing and altering donated clothes.

"And," said Joe, "We all know where we're meeting tomorrow?" Before he could continue the others all said together,

"Outside the Eastern Market Metro Station."

Joe grinned, he opened his mouth to speak again but the others chimed in,

"At 1000. Sharp!"

"I'll see you all tomorrow then," said Joe, "And now, Charlie needs his bed and I think we could all do with an early night. It's going to be a busy weekend." Joe rubbed his hands together in excitement while the others smiled back.

"I've got my car," said Tony, "I can give some of you a ride home."

Douglas and Julia declined the offer as they lived nearby, and they left together. Tony escorted Martha, Joe and Seya to his car.

As they left, the person sitting in a nearby booth nursing a mug of coffee, looked thoughtful.

NEXT DAY

The bus passengers assembled promptly the next morning and the A to B Travel bus soon drew up. Joe sprinted up the steps as soon as the door opened and then stopped in surprise,

"I thought Sid was driving us?"

"He phoned in sick this morning," said the driver, "Said he had a stomach upset and didn't think he could manage to do the driving."

"Oh," said Joe, he went back down the steps, "Hey everyone, Sid couldn't come. He's sick." There was a disappointed noise from the passengers, "But we've got … I'm sorry, I don't know your name …" he asked the new driver.

"Dick. My name's Dick."

"Nice to meet you, Dick," said Joe offering his hand to be shaken. He turned back to his friends, "This is Dick," he announced.

Dick got out of and put the luggage into the under-bus storage compartment. Everyone clambered aboard and found a seat. Tony asked Joe something which had been puzzling him,

"Joe, why did you book such a big bus … oh," he trailed off as he caught sight of the long seat at the back of the bus. One of the first things he had learned about Joe was that he loved to ride at the back of the bus, "Never mind," he said.

Joe beamed happily and went to check that Dick knew where they were going,

"Blue Ridge Mountains?" said Dick. He seemed to sense this wasn't enough of an answer, "Sorry, it was all last minute. We didn't want to keep you waiting so I came without being thoroughly briefed."

"And without your uniform," said Tony who had joined Joe.

Dick laughed nervously, "Like I said, I was in a hurry. I was meant to be off today, so I just grabbed my cap and came," he pointed to the ballcap with A to B written on it.

"Don't mind him," said Joe, elbowing Tony, "He's a federal agent, paid to be suspicious. We're grateful to you for giving up your day off. Aren't we, Tony?"

"Yeah, sure," said Tony.

"And don't worry about not knowing where we're going. Ernie programmed it all into your Satnav," said Joe encouragingly.

"Great," said Dick, "Um …" he looked at his instrument panel blankly.

"You have driven a bus before, haven't you?" asked Tony.

"Sure, just not this model. This one's new to the fleet, you know."

"Don't worry," said Joe, "Ernie showed me how it worked. It's that panel there. Press the green button and follow the instructions."

Tony and Joe watched, with varying degrees of doubt, as Dick accessed the Satnav and brought up the first stage of the journey. Joe took Tony firmly by the arm and led him to a seat at the back. Tony looked back a couple of times but was reassured when Dick pulled away smoothly and began to navigate the DC traffic competently enough.

Charlie started singing Wheels on the Bus and everyone joined in. Tony wondered how many times he would sing that song before the weekend was over. So far, Charlie's appetite for that song had proved inexhaustible so it was likely to be a lot.

Progress was slow through the DC traffic, but they finally left the city and made towards Shenandoah National Park: Tony hoped there weren't any sailors being murdered there, he was hoping for a quiet weekend.

"We were going to stop there!" called Joe after a couple of hours. They had just cheered their first sight of the mountains and Joe had planned a stop at a café which was said to have great views.

"Sorry!" called Dick, "Missed it. And it looked crowded anyway. I figure there's somewhere better up ahead."

"Sorry, guys," said Joe, "I was looking forward to one of their donuts. They're famous, you know."

"Never mind," said Seya, "Perhaps we can stop on the way back. Now, it's a good thing I packed some snacks. And I made some Jalebi – they are fried like donuts and dipped in sugar syrup so perhaps you'll enjoy them."

Joe still looked a little discontented at his plan having been ignored but accepted one of Seya's cakes which were indeed delicious even though they weren't the donuts he'd been looking forward to.

The bus continued for a few more miles and then took a left turn. Joe once again protested at an apparent change of route.

"This is a good road," called back Dick, "Great views along here."

Tony's eyes narrowed in distrust. Joe's planning had been meticulously designed to be scenic and it seemed unlikely that he would have missed out on a picturesque opportunity. It wasn't long before the bus turned once again, this time along a dusty track.

"Has something gone wrong with the Satnav?" asked Joe.

"Looks like it," admitted Dick. "I'll stop soon and see what's happening."

A few seconds later, he swerved off the track and came to a halt.

"I might just use the restroom," said Martha, standing up and beginning to make her way towards the onboard facilities.

"Wait a moment, Martha," said Tony, gently putting his hand on her arm.

Martha looked at him in puzzlement and then saw Dick striding down the aisle of the bus, holding a gun.

"Hey, you," he ordered, "Federal Agent, put your gun down on the ground!"

NCISNCIS

45 minutes later, the NCIS car came close to where the LoJack data suggested the bus had stopped. Gibbs stopped the car a few hundred yards away and the three of them approached cautiously. As they drew closer, they heard banging and shouting from the bus,

"Help! Help! They've been taken!"