Ducky's audible gasp, echoed by Abby's, could not have been prevented.
"I have to go," Tony said quickly before running out of the room to the twin shouts of his name.
Abby turned sorrow filled eyes on him, but Ducky had no answers for her.
"Call Timothy Abigail, warn him that Tony may attempt to leave and tell him to prevent him from doing so." Ducky instructed. "I'll try Gibbs again."
"He didn't answer you either?" Abby asked, looking at Ducky worriedly over the receiver.
Before he could reply she started a conversation with McGee that left nothing to the imagination about their relationship prior to him joining the MCRT. From the noise he was making down the phone line Ducky deduced McGee wanted to know how he was supposed to stop DiNozzo doing anything. Ducky conceded the point, he had only ever known one agent quite as stubborn as Anthony DiNozzo, and he was currently breaking was of his own rules by being unreachable.
Abby put her phone down, while Ducky hit redial.
"No luck?" She asked.
Ducky shook his head, wherever Gibbs was, Ducky certainly hoped it was important.
…
After leaving the bullpen on his way to the airport Gibbs had called McGee for Tony's father's whereabouts. He was going to demand Morrow organise them a ride anywhere they had to go, prepared to damn well chase the man to the other side of the world if it meant getting the answers they needed. Imagine his surprise when McGee called back and reported he'd retrieved and pinged senior's cell phone, tracing him to DuPont Circle, right there in Washington DC. Gibbs was positive if Tony had known about his father being in town he would have told him straight away, even if none of this had happened.
He didn't want to think the worst for Tony's sake, already knowing his father couldn't give a crap about him was bad enough, but what were the chances Senior just happened to be in town at the very same time Tony's life was being threatened by the person who kidnapped him twenty five years ago? Unlikely, which meant they had more problems than a possible false police report. The very idea that Tony's father was somehow involved in hurting his own son sent the uneasy feeling Gibbs already had in his gut in to overdrive.
Walking into the bar, Kate on his six, they were approached immediately by the maître d'. Flashing their badges not only got them through into the restaurant, but directions to their person of interest as well. It seemed DiNozzo was a regular. Gibbs barely held in the sarcastic comment he wanted to make upon hearing that the man was well known in a local D.C restaurant, yet hadn't seen or spoken to his only son in the three years Tony had lived there.
"Mr DiNozzo," Gibbs put on his best stone face and approached the private booth in the corner of the four-star Italian. "We need to speak to you about Anthony."
DiNozzo Sr looked up at the sound of his voice and Gibbs saw recognition in his eyes that Senior quickly tried to disguise.
"And you are?"
Suspicious, Gibbs played along, taking out his badge to show him exactly who he was, Kate doing the same.
"Special Agent Gibbs, Special Agent Todd, NCIS."
"NCIS," Senior spat, like tasting a fine wine he'd already decided he didn't like. "And what can I do for you Special Agents?"
He winked at Kate in a way so reminiscent of their Tony it physically hurt to see the resemblance.
"I said we're here about your son." Gibbs worded it as more of a reminder that he had a son and enjoyed the look of shame that briefly flittered across the older man's face.
"Look I don't know what Junior has done now, but surely this can wait, I'm in the middle of a very important meeting." The man smiled and relaxed, regaining control.
Gibbs shot a brief glance at the young blonde seated opposite him.
"More important than your son's wellbeing?" Gibbs snapped back calmly, not willing to allow this sorry excuse of a parent any respite.
"Sir," Kate spoke as DiNozzo spluttered, "Tony needs your help, and we'd appreciate a couple minutes of your time."
Gibbs bit his tongue, he knew what Kate was doing and she was probably right to try. Senior was a blow hard, he knew this from his first and what he had hoped would be his last, dealing with him over a year ago. Appealing to his ego would get the information they needed and if it helped DiNozzo Gibbs was willing to give anything a try.
"I guess I can spare a minute." Senior smiled, standing he excused himself to his guest.
They followed him over to the bar where he sat down and ordered a single malt scotch. DiNozzo tipped his glass at Gibbs, indicating the bar.
"We're fine thanks," Kate said politely when Gibbs merely held his glare "We need to know what happened when Tony was six."
Kate was clearly hoping playing dumb would get Senior spilling his guts without even realising it, but Gibbs knew from one look at the man's relaxed posture he knew exactly what he was doing and wouldn't be so easily fooled. Despite knowing it was futile he gave Kate two minutes, with DiNozzo Sr dodging every single question she asked, before taking back the reins.
"Why don't you stop bullshitting and tell us what we want to know." Gibbs growled low in his throat, drawing the attention of those few lunch time drinkers around them.
Senior folded his arms, assessing him. Gibbs recognised the action and remained ridged, refusing to back down from any intimidation this DiNozzo could dish out.
"You've got the report." Senior wafted his hand and shrugged broad shoulders, "What more can I tell you?"
"Reports wrong."
"Well," the smug smile was back, "I certainly can't be held responsible for poor police work."
Senior leaned back on the stool and he might as well have put his hands behind his head, because right now he thought he was untouchable. No matter, Gibbs always did like to get them when they least expected it.
"You call us if you remember anything." Gibbs flicked a standard issue NCIS contact card across the bar and calmly walked out.
Kate followed him in a flap and as Gibbs exited the restaurant he sensed she wasn't going to hold her ire in for long.
"Gibbs we can't just leave, we need answers to help Tony!"
"You think I don't know that agent Todd?" He hissed spinning around and pulling them both to a stop once they were out of sight of the large glass double doors of the restaurant.
"We can bring him in," Kate suggested, "he was the one who lied to the police."
"Got any proof?" Gibbs asked her curtly, "other than your gut?"
"No," he saw her visibly deflate.
Gibbs paced the sidewalk angrily, ignoring the people surrounding them, eating lunch or just walking by, going about their day unaware of his dilemma. Gibbs flashed back to this morning when he'd first opened Fornell's envelope. Seeing those pictures… it had hurt him. It hurt to see the bruises covering the child's body, knowing from one look what pain he must have gone through, how scared he would have been. Gibbs imagined the screams, could almost hear the child he felt he knew so well crying, calling out for help. He realised then that was what hurt the most, knowing Tony had been scared and hurt and alone, and he hadn't been there to save him from it.
"That man in there," he pointed back toward the restaurant, where Mr DiNozzo, had likely re-joined his blonde date. "I hate him."
He had been there, he could have done something. He was a father, charged with the responsibility of looking after his child, but the man didn't deserve the title. Gibbs knew that before he'd met him, seeing him in the flesh, experiencing the inflated ego for himself just made him hate the man more. Feeling a sudden intense urge to hit something Gibbs ceased his pacing and took a second to breathe, it wasn't like him to lose it like this, but this case, this victim was different, so the rules were different.
"You've spoken to him before?" Kate asked, and Gibbs could see her trying to puzzle together his odd behaviour.
He didn't blame her, they were standing in the middle of the street, bright summer sunshine beating down on them and he was acting more emotional than Abby on a bad day. He didn't question Kate for thinking he'd lost his mind, he thought he probably had too.
Pulling himself together he walked up to her, speaking calmly.
"I called him once to tell him Tony was in the ICU after getting shot and you know what the bastard did ... He left a message with some hotel receptionist asking me to leave him a voicemail should 'anything unfortunate occur'." Gibbs watched Kate's jaw drop. "I want him in my interrogation, but I need something other than your gut Agent Todd."
The softening of her features upon hearing this revelation told Gibbs she understood his anger, but before Kate could respond to his earlier outburst her phone rang and she quickly answered it.
"Abby?"
"Finally!" Abby's scream could be heard loud and clear down the line and Gibbs gave Kate a look.
"What's wrong?" Kate turned the volume down and pressed the phone to her ear.
"What's wrong? Everything that's what, Gibbs hasn't been answering his phone, yours has been going to voice mail-"
"I must have lost signal or something," Kate mouthed 'check your cell' at Gibbs before going back to the conversation.
Gibbs' pulled his cell out of his pocket and noticed he had over twenty missed calls, most from either Abby or Ducky. His ringer thing must have turned off again. McGee was going to have to sort that for him when he got back.
"Abby, ABBY!" Kate shouted, drawing back Gibbs' attention, "We'll be right there." She hung up. "Abby got an I.D on the man who approached Tony in the parking lot."
"And?" Gibbs asked as they both hastily made their way back to the car, his almost breakdown completely forgotten.
"Tony recognised him as a friend of his father."
Gibbs raced the rest of the way jumping into the car, pulling out his cell as they drove off.
"Duck, where's Tony?" He shouted the minute the line connected, several horns where honking him as he zigzagged between cars, undertaking and switching lanes.
"With Timothy Jethro," Ducky's calming baritone relayed, setting him marginally at ease.
"You keep him there," Gibbs yelled, narrowly avoiding rear ending a turning Chevy, "tell him I'm on my way."
Gibbs snapped his phone shut and threw it at Kate, intending to make it back to the Navy Yard in record time.
…
Tony flew into the elevator before Ducky or Abby had a chance to stop him, he could kick himself for not remembering sooner. The accent, the familiarity with which he'd spoken to him, Tony remembered him alright. He used to be at their home all the time, Henry Miller had been one of his Dad's closest friends, and they'd been business partners if Tony remembered rightly. Miller had a daughter Tony's age, maybe a little older. She was the one who had taught him how to play doctors and nurses for the first time. Shauna. Tony chuckled upon remembering the tall blonde girl's name, wait until he told Gibbs about this.
Pressing the buttons to get the elevator moving Tony fell back against the rear wall. He imagined his escapades with Shauna Miller being immortalised in an NCIS case report and Tony started to laugh harder. It began as a bubble inside of him and continued to grow until he was in a full fit of hysterics. Too late, Tony realised when the elevator doors opened on the next floor up to reveal none other than McGee, that he was actually having a very different sort of panic attack.
"Tony?" McGee gasped upon seeing him, now sat on the floor of the elevator, his laughter reduced to mere hiccupping giggles.
McGee seemed unsure of what he should do, but Tony had to give him points for trying to act like nothing was unusual. If their situations were reversed he'd probably flounder a little too. It wasn't everyday your teammate had a breakdown in the office elevator. Though working for Gibbs, Tony guessed it wasn't necessarily un-inevitable either.
Still sat on the floor, wondering if un-inevitable was even a word, Tony thought he heard McGee mutter something about Gibbs killing him, and Tony didn't want that so he braced both hands on the floor of the car and tried hefting himself up.
"Don't worry Probie, I'm fine." He spoke, his voice sounding scratchy and raw like he'd been crying.
He hadn't had he? Tony shook his head, no, he was sure he was fine.
"You don't look fine." McGee croaked, offering him a hand when he struggled to get to his feet.
Tony took the hand and a deep breath, feeling a little calmer once he was standing steady and upright.
"Well I am," he said quietly, suddenly very aware that the bullpen was full of people and he had no idea what he looked like right now.
"We could… go to the break room… it's empty since it's such a nice day." McGee stuttered, pointing in the direction of said break room as if Tony hadn't been working here for the last two and a half years.
Tony gave McGee a grateful smile, impressed that the extremely green agent and new addition to team Gibbs was astute enough to realise his dilemma. He stepped out of the elevator and they walked together in companionable silence, arriving at the as promised deserted break room.
"I guess you know everything too." Tony said, taking a seat.
McGee looked away, as if ashamed and Tony immediately felt guilty.
"It's okay McGee. This is a case like any other." Tony assured him wearily.
"I opened the sealed filed." McGee blurted, pouring two coffees and taking the seat opposite him looking like he was about to face the firing squad.
Tony ignored the coffee, and McGee's nervousness, his interest had been peeked.
"Sealed?"
"Yeah… er, the case file was sealed, very difficult encryptions…"
McGee stopped when he caught Tony's glare. He leaned forward over the table, speaking in hushed tones despite no one being around to hear them.
"Why was it sealed?"
"Gibbs didn't tell you?" McGee whispered back.
Tony shook his head, keeping his intense gaze focused on McGee.
"Gibbs hasn't told me much, Abby showed me the file, but didn't say where it had come from."
"Oh, I… gees," McGee shook his head, sitting back, looking distressed, "Tony you better, I mean-"
"Probie!" Tony barked, slamming his hand on the table, adding another reassuring smile when the probie looked set to run.
"Sorry," McGee refocused, leaning in towards Tony again. "The file's missing some key information. Gibbs found out there was a ransom demanded-"
"My father paid a ransom?" Tony asked surprised.
If his father paid a ransom then that would explain Miller's involvement, they were joint investors so their money was tied up together, but then why would Miller be working with Bower now? Could he have been involved from the start? Tony silently puzzled it over, while McGee actively avoided answering his question. He clearly remembered Shauna being at his house just before and after his mother died and that would have been years after his abduction. Surely his father wouldn't have still been friends with the man responsible for hurting him…
"I don't know if he paid, Gibbs didn't share that much-" McGee spoke up eventually, but stopped suddenly.
Tony knew the resignation must have shown on his face. That sounded much more like his father, could explain those photos too. Didn't explain why he was still alive though…
"Probie I need you to track my father's cell," Tony pushed those thoughts away and sucked it up, not letting on to McGee that his father possibly not thinking he was worth paying for was getting to him, "I need to know where he is."
"You really should wait for Gibbs."
Tony unintentionally ignored how calm McGee was with his request, jumping up out of his seat eager to do something other than dwell on his messed up past.
"No, I think my Father's old business partner, Henry Miller, he's involved somehow and my Dad might know where we can find him. We do that, find Bower, then I can put all this behind me and forget it ever happened!"
"Tony," McGee gulped, and Tony slowly retook his seat, sensing there was more he hadn't been told. "I already tracked your father's cell, Gibbs and Kate left to question him… he's in D.C."
…
"Gibbs!" Tony ran at him before Gibbs could even step off the elevator. "You've been to see my father?" Tony all but screamed.
Gibbs glared at McGee who had followed closely behind and was now wisely hanging back. Agents in the bullpen where openly staring. Gibbs was sure scuttlebutt had gotten around that DiNozzo was at the centre of an investigation by now, but he trusted that no one on his team had shared details of the subject matter.
"DiNozzo, calm down," Gibbs said quietly, showing uncharacteristic patience.
"Really?" Tony shouted, not getting the hint, "Gibbs seriously, this is as calm as I'm going to get!"
The nervous laugh which followed up Tony's statement made Gibbs wince. He turned to Kate and tipped his head in the direction of the bull pen, indicating she was to get working on what they'd discussed during the mad drive back. Everyone else watching the scene got the message too and quickly moved on. Gibbs waited for Kate to walk away, drawing McGee with her towards to their desks, before fixing a softer than normal glare on DiNozzo.
"Tony," Gibbs stepped into his personal space, putting a steadying hand on his trembling shoulder.
DiNozzo opened his mouth to say something else, but Gibbs held his hand up, lightly pressing one finger to his lips and making a hushing sound. He knew his meaning was received by Tony's very subtle scan of the room and resigned nod.
Gibbs let him lead the way to one of the conference rooms, entering and shutting the door behind him he pulled out a seat, hoping Tony would do the same. He did eventually, but only after taking a good long look out the window, his gaze drifting across the Navy Yard towards the Potomac.
"What do you know?" Gibbs started.
"What do you know?" Tony returned, slumping down to almost disappear under the table.
Gibbs sat back and sighed, so this was how it was going to be. He didn't want to drag Tony's ass down to interrogation, in fact that's the last place he wanted them to be, but Gibbs didn't have time for Tony to be stubborn. If they didn't get a decent lead today, then they were looking at another night of protective custody and he didn't know how many sleepless nights he could take on this case.
"I went to see your father." Gibbs decided to be honest.
Tony wasn't the suspect, he was the victim, and a technically child victim at that. Admittedly he didn't know much about repressed memories or whatever it was McGee and Abby had been on about, but Gibbs didn't for one second believe DiNozzo would be able to deal with all of this in his usual deflective manner.
"What he'd say?" Tony asked him, trying to hide his hurt feelings over finding out third hand that his father was in the city.
"Tell me what you know first." Gibbs countered evenly, not letting on how miserably he'd failed.
Tony eyed him quizzically, and Gibbs suddenly felt like he should be in interrogation, as the one being interrogated. It reminded him of being sat in a Baltimore police station, a young cocky cop smiling at him while making fun of his name.
"Well Abby showed me the file." Tony spoke devoid of any emotion, and Gibbs didn't need Kate in the room to tell him that was a bad sign. "McGee told me about the ransom," off Gibbs' growl he quickly added, "don't blame Probie, think I freaked him out."
"You DiNozzo?" Gibbs grinned, which earned him a small flash of a smile from Tony.
"Henry Miller," he continued though, in his low lifeless tone, "Abby's confirmed he was the one who approached me yesterday, in the parking lot. He wants me to 'help willing this time'." Tony sat back and ran his hands over his face, "I have no idea what he meant by that, help with what exactly?"
"I'm more concerned about the 'this time' part." Gibbs kept his cool on the outside, while inside he was boiling over with rage that someone dared to think he could harm one of his agents and get away with it.
Tony averted his gaze, looking sick and Gibbs offered him a glass of water from the jug already present on the table.
"Deep breaths," he advised quietly when the silence stretched on, surprising even himself at how easy it was to treat Tony like the victim instead of an investigator.
"I'm fine." Tony choked out, finishing the water and knocking the empty glass into the middle of the table. "Gibbs you've really got to stop being nice to me…"
Tony's sentence dwindled when the effort to talk became too much and he was forced to focus on breathing instead. Gibbs waited for him to get himself under control again, sorry he'd inadvertently upset him with his concern over Miller's words. He didn't doubt seeing those pictures and reading the police file had taken its toll. They'd all needed some time to digest the facts after discovering Bower's connection to Tony. The problem was Tony hadn't seen all of it yet, only he and Ducky knew all the details contained within the file Fornell had brought him, and he'd rather it stay that way for now.
"What else did he say?" Gibbs asked, completely ignoring the 'nice' comment.
Tony cringed, gaze fixed to a spot on the table obviously mulling the question over and Gibbs worried that he was holding something back, something that would change the direction of the case and have them going somewhere neither of them would like.
"Just that he knew me as a kid, said I was always a comedian." Tony looked up at Gibbs from under hooded lids and damp eyelashes, sitting forward he clasped his hands together and rested them rigidly on the table.
Gibbs smiled wanly upon seeing the familiar look of hurt and pain reflected deep within those sad green eyes, a vulnerability that he'd hoped never to see in Tony again after leaving Baltimore.
"What else?" Gibbs asked, placing his own hands on the table next to Tony's, almost touching.
"He apologised." Tony shifted in his seat, briefly making contact with Gibbs before pulling away.
"He what?" Gibbs snapped before he could rein it in.
"Not like that," Tony shook his head, resignedly. "Said Bower wasn't meant to 'cause a fuss', those were his exact words," Tony's eyes flashed, "Gibbs, he must have been following me, I hadn't noticed anyone, but it wasn't a coincidence that he was in that store yesterday. I need to retrace my steps, talk to Kate, maybe she remembers something from when we were on our way back from Anacostia..."
Gibbs listened to Tony talk through what he needed to do to find out how Bower got to him yesterday. He smiled at his unrelenting spirit, pleased that despite all they'd learned over the last twenty-four hours Tony was still trying to be the excellent investigator Gibbs was training him to be and glad he wasn't letting the sheer weight of it all bury him.
"My father refused to help didn't he?" Tony whispered all of a sudden.
And just like that his spirit was broken and Gibbs deflated. He'd met many children, small and grown, during his time as an NCIS agent. Families torn apart, children left without parents and vice versa. No one deserved to have their family taken away, he knew that pain deeply, yet there was a father out there who had a living breathing child, a son who clearly needed his guidance and love, who he simply couldn't care less about. It was a cruel cosmic joke that men like DiNozzo Sr got to throw away their gift when he'd had his taken from him.
Gibbs made great effort to push his personal feelings towards DiNozzo's father aside and held Tony's gaze despite wanting nothing more than to leave the room and kick the living shit out of someone, preferably Bower, Miller or Senior. Granted he had no idea how any of these men fit into whatever scheme was being hatched at Tony's expense, but he knew in his gut all three were bad news and fully intended to let neither one get within feet of his agent for as long as he was around to prevent them.
"You remember what I told you yesterday DiNozzo?" Gibbs waited for Tony's nod before continuing, "Well you know I always mean what I say. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Tony's lips upturned slightly and Gibbs could see his embarrassment by the pink hue on his cheeks. They didn't often do this deep kind of talking. From the very beginning, their whole relationship was based on actions not words. Gibbs never actually offered DiNozzo a job at NCIS. He'd invited him to the Navy Yard under the guise of finding out what Tony had decided to do about his dirty partner. He gave him a headslap when Tony had suggested quitting law enforcement for good and left him outside the personnel office. Hours later Gibbs had returned from a coffee run, after avoiding yet another call from his soon to be ex-wife to find DiNozzo sat at his desk, cheshire cat grin spread ear to ear across his face.
"Hey Agent Gibbs," DiNozzo leaned back in Gibbs' seat, hands held protectively over a piece of paper lying face down on his desk. "You go to Baltimore for your coffee?"
Gibbs strolled up slowly, eyeing Tony speculatively. They stared at each other, DiNozzo looking wide eyed and innocent, Gibbs with his usually suspicious narrowed gaze in place.
"You're still here?"
"I am." Tony mimicked his minimalist tone, it caused a minor crack in his stone face, but Gibbs quickly reined in the grin before it could start. "Just had one last thing to do," he quickly stood and pulled on the leather jacket which had been haplessly strung over the divide and walked away with a wave. "See you Monday, Boss!"
Gibbs watched him go, letting the grin out as he reached for the piece of paper left behind on his desk. As hoped it was a completed NCIS application form, with a sticky note attached and in what Gibbs knew to be DiNozzo's untidy scrawl it read, 'if you think you can handle me' with an arrow pointing to the part of the form asking for details of the Supervisory Agent. It was already filled in with his name and badge number; all it required was his signature. Shaking his head Gibbs put down his coffee, threw his once again ringing cell phone into the trash bin and reached for a pen.
Now here they were, facing probably their biggest crisis since meeting on the streets of Baltimore three years ago. Dealing with it was going to require more than a headslap, there could be no ambiguity over Gibbs' intentions when it came to solving this case.
"He was a friend of my fathers," Tony's voice sounded distant and Gibbs assumed they were talking about Miller again, "Business partner. He had a daughter, Shauna. I remember her being at my house… we…"
He trailed off and if Gibbs didn't know better he'd swear Tony was all out blushing now.
"I do not want to know if she was your first DiNozzo." He quipped, lifting the mood slightly.
"Nothing like that boss," Tony assured him with a small amused smile, "that I would remember."
The light-hearted joke only served to remind both Gibbs and Tony that this gap in his memory was going to be a major problem if they couldn't track down Miller or Bower soon.
"He tell you why he's in D.C?"
Like a flicked switch Tony was back on his father again, obviously unable to let it go or understand why the man was so completely uninterested in him. Gibbs didn't understand it either.
"Nope" Gibbs tried to hide his own theory about why he was in town.
Tony dropped eye contact.
"You think he was involved." Tony's submissive sigh echoed around the room.
Now it was Gibbs' turn to look away and sigh.
"You have reason to think he wasn't?"
Tony shrugged and didn't answer. Gibbs knew he must find it as suspicious as he did that Senior was in town while all this was happening, but he didn't want to go into Kate's theory on the false report or the inconsistencies between the police and FBI records now, so settled for simply not denying what Tony had already worked out for himself.
"Tony, I know this is hard,-"
"Do you?" Tony snapped, but Gibbs' glare had him instantly repentant, "Sorry, I'm… sorry."
"It's okay."
"It isn't though." Tony shook his head, surprising Gibbs with the forcefulness of his answer. "I was kidnapped and didn't know it, my father and his best friend were probably involved… You're being really nice! I don't, I don't know how to deal with that, with any of it! I mean come on!" Tony stood suddenly, sending his chair flying backwards, "how does anyone deal with something so incredibly un-freaking believable!"
Gibbs sat back, resting his hands in his lap while he listened to Tony shout and vent his frustrations. Trying to superimpose the DiNozzo he knew with the vulnerable one before him, Gibbs watched the fight drain out of him as he pace up and down the conference room, breathing heavily, until Tony fell back into his seat, looking crumpled and exhausted.
"Gibbs I don't know what they want from me." Tony's voice was small, a far cry from the playful confidence he normally exuded on a daily basis.
Once he was sure Tony had finished with his outburst Gibbs moved to stand in front of him. Bending down and clasping still trembling shoulders with both hands, he whispered,
"That's what I intend to find out."
…..
Abby and McGee continued to watch the two agents together in the conference room, over the security cameras from her lab, taking in every word.
"You really think we should be doing this Abby?" McGee asked for the hundredth time after helping her hack the NCIS security camera system.
He was supposed to be finding Henry Miller. When Tony had confronted Gibbs at the elevator Kate had brought him up to speed on their meeting with DiNozzo's father, and he'd filled her in on what Abby had found. Kate told him Gibbs wanted all they could find on DiNozzo Sr and Miller and he wanted it yesterday, so they were to get working. After quickly discovering Miller hadn't been heard of in the US since the early eighties McGee set up several sniffer programmes on his computer and came down to Abby's lab to see if he could use her computer to run a trace on the Interpol database off a hunch. Only he didn't even get near to doing that because Abby jumped him the minute he walked in, asking about Gibbs, Tony and the whole sordid affair involving Tony's father. McGee thought he'd been doing the right thing by telling her he'd seen Gibbs take Tony up to the conference room, but he was starting to realise Abby was a lot more manipulative than he gave her credit for.
"Timmy, if we are going to help we need to know everything." Abby stressed, "Gibbs is too busy dealing with all this to come tell us personally so it's down to us to find things out for ourselves."
"Does that include snooping into private conversations?" Ducky's smooth English accent caught Abby and McGee off guard.
McGee floundered, why had he let her talk him into it?
"Ducky, I'm sorry, we shouldn't have-"
"Do calm down Timothy, I won't tell anyone if you don't." Ducky calmly slid into the room, coming to stand next to Abby, getting a look at the video feed for himself. "Normally I wouldn't agree but in this instance I believe snooping is the only way to help our friend out of his personal hell."
"Ducky, he's so sad." Abby said, offering Ducky an English biscuit from a little red tin off her desk.
"Well yes, he may well be." Ducky took a biscuit giving Abby a quizzical look.
"The sectary pool heard Tony was in trouble again," she explained with a shrug.
"Okay," Ducky continued, getting back onto the subject at hand. "As I was saying, Tony has a right to be a little of kilter."
"A little? Ducky he nearly lost it in the elevator earlier-" McGee began, but decided Tony might not appreciate him blabbing those details all over NCIS so cut himself off before he said too much.
"Well as I told him earlier, he has us to look out for him." Ducky nodded at the screen, "in fact I believe that is what Gibbs is trying to show Anthony right now."
McGee turned collectively with Abby. The conference room camera looked down on Gibbs and Tony from the ceiling so the view wasn't the best, but they could see the pair were no longer sat on opposite sides of the table. Gibbs was now bent down, his arms wrapped around Tony, the early afternoon sun shining brightly into the room.
Abby turned the volume off on her speakers and McGee nodded his agreement, even though no one was actually speaking at this point. Trying not to feel too much like a voyeur Tim was trying to focus his attention anywhere but at the monitor when he felt an arm wrap around his waist and Abby lay her head down on his shoulder. Feeling the need to reciprocate McGee wrapped an arm around Abby and briefly patted Ducky on the shoulder. This was a very strange group of people he'd gotten himself mixed up in, but damn if he didn't already feel attached to them all, including DiNozzo.
…
"Where's Tony?" Kate questioned upon seeing Gibbs, but not his expected shadow.
"Conference room, he'll be down in a minute." Gibbs sank into his chair and pulled up his keyboard.
"I have an address on Miller in Long island." Kate announced, but before Gibbs could say anything she delivered the bad news, "Its empty, got left to his ex-wife in the divorce, never sold it, never returned."
"Where's the ex-wife now?"
Kate swivelled in her seat to face him without moving from behind her desk.
"Re-married and moved to Vegas in '81, took their daughter Shauna with her, she got full custody no visitations rights. It was uncontested."
Gibbs typed in his password and waited for his computer to power up.
"Let me guess, that was around the same time DiNozzo's mother died." He drawled.
Kate blinked, not having made that connection.
"About the same time yes," which was only a couple of years after his kidnapping, she noted "Gibbs?"
"We should get a team up there anyway." Gibbs ignored her unasked question.
Kate deflated, sensing he'd share no more on what he was currently thinking.
"Already cleared it with the director, Balboa and two volunteers are on route." Off his curious look she explained, "I thought you'd want this to stay in house."
Gibbs nodded, indicating she'd thought right.
"Nothing on Bower?"
"Not yet, BOLO's out on both Miller and Bower. I've left a message with Elaine Cooper, the former Mrs Miller, to call us. It's a stretch, but she was his wife and might know something about where her ex went and what he could be doing in D.C."
"Or could have been involved and knew what her husband was capable of." Gibbs stood, opened his desk draw, removed his weapon and slammed it shut again.
"That too," Kate conceded overwhelm by how little they did actually know, "I hate to say it Gibbs, but we may have to wait for them to come to us."
"That would mean them getting within feet of DiNozzo." He gave her a level look.
Kate grimaced.
"Yeah" She quickly looked away.
"Over my dead body!" Gibbs shouted, reining it in as soon as he saw Tony walking down the stairs.
"I miss something?" He asked leaning against his desk, looking too cool, calm and collected for someone going through an emotional crisis.
Kate quickly turned her attention back to her computer.
"Coffee" Gibbs growled, walking out of the bullpen, "Kate, sit on DiNozzo 'till I'm back."
Tony stared at Kate with a teasing smile.
"I don't think he meant that literally." She said once Gibbs was safely out of the room.
"Wanna give it a go anyway? If I get kidnapped again you might not get another chance." Tony waggled his eyebrows at her.
She couldn't believe him, emotionally drained, on the verge of a breakdown she was sure by the look of him and he was still making a pass at her.
"DiNozzo, I should wash your mouth out with soap." Kate replied, getting back to doing something useful, like finding Bower.
"That what the nuns did in that Catholic school of yours?" Tony sidled up to her desk and parked his butt on the end, not caring that he was messing up her filing system.
Kate huffed and pushed her chair back to stand up. Up close she could see the puffy redness of his eyes, like he'd recently been crying, but chose not to say anything. If Tony was trying his hardest to act normal then she felt it was best to play along, like before in the stairwell acknowledging any perceived weakness now would do more harm than good. Tony was gifted undercover when he had his head on straight, but the profiler in her could read him like a book and right now he was screaming for help so loud Kate was at a loss of what she could truly do for him.
"Stay here, I've got to do something and I'll be right back."
"Ladies room?" He guessed instantly, which never failed to annoy her, "Want me to come with you?" Tony chased after her, "Gibbs did say you weren't to leave. What would he say if he came back and found me sat here all alone?"
Kate spun on her heels and got up into his personal space, forcing him to stumble backwards.
"You're right Tony," She smiled sweetly, walking him all the way back over to his desk.
Tony matched her smile with a rather nervous one of his own and before he could back away Kate secured him in an arm lock, grabbed her hand cuffs and clicked one around his wrist, securing the other to Tony's desk leg.
"Kate?" He cried out, suddenly not so cocky.
"What? Now you can't wander off and no one can take you." She pointed out innocently, strutting away with a pleased smile on her face.
Kate only felt slightly guilty when she took a sneaky look back to see Tony slump into his chair. Despite how it might seem to others, it felt good to get back to their usual teasing banter. Although she had to wonder if she truly had won that round, considering Tony could have easily escaped her, but Kate wasn't going to think on it too much. Instead she ran to the ladies room wanting to get back before Gibbs returned, not relishing the idea of explaining why she had felt the need to chain DiNozzo to his own desk.
…
Gibbs took his coffees from the vender, leaving a desirable tip. The sun wasn't setting, but the day was getting away from them all the same and he'd been pushed to reaching out for additional help.
"Didn't think it would be long before I heard from you," Fornell came up on his side, not daring to presume one of the coffee's was for him.
"Henry Miller," Gibbs dropped the name, waiting to see what surfaced with it as they walked.
"I looked into him. Small time embezzler, money launderer, seemed to run in the family. FBI's not heard anything of him in recent years."
Gibbs nodded, tallied with the fraud charges Abby had found against the uncle.
"Any connection to DiNozzo Sr?" Gibbs asked and immediately felt anger at Fornell's guilty expression.
"Your boy's Father has also spent some time on our radar."
"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?" Gibbs pulled them to a halt, getting that this wasn't new information.
"Need to know Gibbs," he stressed, "nothing I have on DiNozzo Sr pertains to his kid or recent events."
"Oh and you know that for sure?"
"I know enough, I'm putting my neck on the line just telling you this much. You think I have clearance to be here?" Fornell paused, looking around before resuming. "I wasn't going to tell you about his father unless it was necessary."
"You think it's necessary now?"
"I read the file Jethro," Fornell paused, eyeing him with worry, "I know what he means to you. Hell I already took your ex-wife, wasn't going to take the kid too, figured I owed you that much."
"You owe me more than that Tobias," was Gibbs' roundabout way of accepting Fornell's apology.
"What then?" Fornell was losing patience with him.
This time Gibbs looked around, ensuring no one was nearby before he continued to walk.
"I want everything you have on DiNozzo Sr, Miller and an associate of his, Craig Bower."
"Your boy know you're investigating his father?" Gibbs just glared at him and Fornell raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, I'll see what I can do."
Gibbs nodded and handed Fornell one coffee before walking away.
…
"McGee, have you seen my PDA?" Kate asked feeling through her bag for what felt like the hundredth time.
The day was moving fast, too fast. Elaine Copper hadn't called back. McGee had been typing madly at his keyboard since coming back from Abby's lab with no more information than he'd left with and she'd done nothing more than pull up some dirt on Senior, that though enlightening sure didn't help much in finding either suspect. Tony had left a few minutes ago to get a chocolate bar from the vending machines after Ducky came by and declared he looked 'peaky'. Kate took that as a British term for extremely pale since Tony had seemed set to face-plant his desk any minute. After a brief hushed conversation with him Ducky spoke up in a normal volume declaring that he required some sugar if he insisted on continuing to work. Up until then Tony had been doing something on his computer since she'd released him from his desk, but when asked he'd evaded their questions. If he wasn't back in a minute she was going to send McGee to drag him back.
"Did you have it when you left for work?"
"Huh?" Kate looked over at McGee.
"Your PDA."
"Oh. Right. No." Kate thought she must look and sound pretty dumb, but her lack of concentration could easily be explained by a sever lack of sleep.
Damn DiNozzo.
"When did you last have it?" McGee got up and helped her search her desk again.
"Yesterday, I think." Kate paused, she'd looked for it in the afternoon and that had been the first time she realised it was missing. "Gibbs sent us to Anacostia."
"You left it there?" McGee cringed.
"That thing has my life on it, I wouldn't have just put it down, I'm not DiNozzo."
"Tony finds things, he doesn't lose them."
"Is that a compliment Probie?" Tony jumped out from behind the divide, scaring her and though he looked much better Kate wished she'd left him chained to his desk.
McGee stammered, but before he could form a response Gibbs came around the corner behind Tony.
"Leave McGee alone DiNozzo, he's busy." Gibbs ordered, slapping Tony's head without looking at any of them and sitting behind his desk.
"Sorry Boss," Tony said naturally, even though this time he hadn't actually been doing anything wrong.
"Sorry Boss," McGee also apologised, getting the hint that he should be working not talking.
Kate sat stunned and then smiled. It seemed whatever was going on in the foreground they all seemed to be coping just fine. The fact that Tony was acting semi-normal pleased her, Gibbs smacking him was sort of normal too and if that last smack was less about punishment and more about making Tony feel better, well she wasn't going to examine the merits of a healthy relationship today. If it worked for them and she was content not to judge.
Despite hating to be the one to break the good mood of the room Kate thought she should bring Gibbs up to speed on her searches. Hesitantly standing up and approaching his desk she was about to open her mouth when Gibbs stood up as well and walked over to the elevator. Kate stayed still, puzzled for a mere minute before buying a clue and following him. Once in the elevator, doors shut and in motion, Gibbs pulled it to a stop.
"Gibbs is this really necessary?" When she got nothing but a glare in return Kate let it go. "SO I got a friend to do some digging. Turns out DiNozzo Sr is into anything and everything to make a quick buck. A regular finger in every pie business man, but not a great one, seems he spends all if not more than he makes on an extravagant lifestyle, though the surprising truth is his main source of income isn't from his less than wise investments…"
Kate looked at Gibbs, expecting intrigue, but received complacence.
"Go on."
"His wife's Gibbs, Tony's Dad has been married at least twice as many times as you," Kate joked, but noticed he didn't see the funny side and swiftly moved on. "Anyway, they are all either from money or divorced with money. Since 1981 Mr DiNozzo has a had a new wife and new income source on average every three to four years, all the marriages have ended in divorce, some with hefty settlements. He sold the home he shared with his second wife, Tony's mother, in 1982 and since then he always moved into the wife of the moments existing address."
Gibbs nodded, but also looked bored. She stopped and stared at him.
"You know all this already." Gibbs' face remained impassive but Kate wasn't letting this go. "Gibbs why did you ask me for this if you knew it?"
"Kate," he answered, "Let's pretend I heard about the wife's, house moves and those other things from you. What about-"
"Henry Miller was a friend and investment partner of DiNozzo Sr, they go way back." Kate snapped, making it clear she wasn't just going to let this drop. "McGee's found financial records of several businesses they set up together from as early as 1969."
"Until…"
"Until 1981, Miller left Long Island, closed down all his assets and moved to Europe. Gibbs' what's this about?" Kate asked him straight. "And I don't mean about Miller being involved somehow."
"FBI had eyes on Senior and Miller a while back." Gibbs side stepped her question again, which she wasn't happy about, but at least he was sharing some of what he knew.
Kate mulled over the new information and put it together with what she had dug up.
"I'm guessing fraud, money laundering that sort of thing," off Gibbs' slight nod she asked, "does Tony know?"
"Nope"
And he wasn't going to tell him obviously. There was only one reason why Gibbs would be keeping this information from Tony.
"You think the kidnapping was an inside job," looking at Gibbs stone face she realised it went beyond that, "wait, you think his Dad actually did this to him?"
Gibbs shrugged, so casual with the idea that Tony's father could have allowed him to be hurt, or worse, actually hurt him like that it left her speechless.
"You said he faked the report."
"I meant that he was involved in covering it up," Kate gasped, "that he knew the kidnappers and didn't want the police involved for some reason, not that he actually took part!"
"I didn't say that." Gibbs said coolly.
"But you're thinking it." Kate placed both hands on her hips, making it clear he was frustrating her.
"What I'm thinking is we need to bring Senior in and get him to tell us the truth."
"Show me what you got from Fornell." Kate relaxed her stance and Gibbs continued to glare at her. "Gibbs I get why we are doing this in the elevator instead of the bullpen, you want to protect Tony, but if we're going to work this case as a team I need to know what you know."
Kate waited as she watched Gibbs think it over. Without warning he released the elevator and together they went down to see Ducky.
…
"What you got for me Ducky?" Gibbs asked strolling into to autopsy, Kate on his heels.
Ducky looked over at Kate, giving her a brief smile and exchanging a look with Jethro to ensure it was alright to talk in front of her.
"I've looked over what you gave me Jethro, and I've had a brief conversation with Anthony."
As promised he didn't let on that he, Abby and McGee had seen some of what had happened in the conference room earlier.
"When, what he'd say?" Gibbs actually sounded panicked.
Ducky stepped back and Kate was looking at him with surprise as well.
"Well earlier while you were interviewing Mr DiNozzo and not a lot, but the little he did divulge concerned me."
"Ducky, did he say anything about his father?" Kate interrupted.
"Funny you should ask." Ducky paused, "He said the man in the store," Ducky looked to Gibbs.
"Bower."
"Yes, him. Tony said he called him Junior, a name only his father used."
"Okay."
"Well that would indicate a certain familiarity, not only with Tony but with his father."
"We already have suspicions his father's involved somehow." Gibbs confirmed, "What have you learnt about Bower?" He nodded at the FBI file Ducky now held in his hand.
"That he is one very troubling individual," Ducky walked over to his desk and picked up the envelope Gibbs had dropped off earlier. "The details contained in his confession, he describes exactly what happened to poor Anthony and it's collaborated by the doctor who documented his injuries. Bower was definitely present when the abuse was inflicted."
"But?" Gibbs asked, following Ducky when he walked over to the furthest autopsy table.
"But I find it highly unlikely he performed any of the acts, or if he did took no enjoyment from it."
Ducky removed the photos from the file along with the confession and placed them one by one over the table much like Gibbs had done earlier that morning.
"Was he supposed to Duck?" Gibbs asked him, coming up on his right.
Ducky could see Jethro wasn't comfortable viewing Tony's pictures and Kate went so far as to stand on the opposite side to avoid looking down at them.
"I'm afraid so." He nodded, "I haven't quite finished going over these, as you can imagine it hasn't been easy, but I've noticed that these injuries though painful when inflicted would have been superficial, leaving minimal if any scarring."
"That's a good thing?"
"It's not good or bad. Just interesting. According to the report Bower acted alone, taking Anthony on a whim when the opportunity presented itself. Jethro, they paint him as a sadist, someone who wanted to cause the most amount of pain and enjoyed doing it." Ducky swallowed, pointing at a picture of Tony's hands. "You see this bruise? It could have been caused by someone bending his fingers back," Ducky demonstrated by bending the fingers on his hand, "only none were broken."
Gibbs looked at him blankly and Ducky couldn't work out another way to put it.
"A sadist wouldn't have stopped. He'd have broken his fingers, Gibbs." Kate added sadly.
"I'm betting he also wouldn't have been too concerned about a ransom either." Gibbs walked away from the table, the photos, them.
Ducky felt the same way, he'd spent the better part of the day studying these images and whereas he'd seen Anthony's body many times during his time at NCIS due to injury or routine medicals and knew there was not a mark on him, it didn't prevent him from seeing the adult in the child and vice versa.
"Unlikely," Ducky agreed quietly, he gave Jethro a minute and looked to Kate, "correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't a perpetrator like the one portrayed in this confession be much more likely to kill the victim once he was done with them?"
"You should be a profiler Ducky," Kate summoned a smile from somewhere.
"You flatter me my dear, but I would never seek to tread on your toes."
"Detective Haynes said they found Tony in an alley wrapped in a blanket, after an anonymous tip." Gibbs walked back over, sounding strong once again.
"Signifies remorse," Kate concurred.
Ducky could tell Gibbs was getting impatient with them, but these things had to be worked through carefully to avoid jumping to conclusions.
"A sadist wouldn't have remorse for his victim," Ducky continued, "So why did Bower?" He had read Bowers confession. It suggested detachment and held little detail, like he didn't care one way or the other. "He was simply doing exactly as he was told, for some reason going to jail didn't bother him."
"Because he knew someone would get him out." Gibbs grunted, "What are the chances Bower willingly took the blame for a cover up?"
"They were serious charges and a fairly lengthy sentence for his age. You'd owe someone pretty big after that." Kate followed Gibbs train of thought.
"Or he owed someone big."
Ducky could see the wheels turning in Gibbs' head.
"Jethro, what are you thinking?"
"Tony said Miller wants him to help willing this time." Gibbs glared at them.
"Last time he was six, what could they possibly have wanted his help with?" Kate asked exactly what Ducky was thinking. "Wait, if Miller and DiNozzo Sr were both under FBI surveillance…. what if they got involved with the wrong people?"
"Why do I get the feeling if he were here Anthony would be quoting 'The Godfather'?" Ducky asked dryly.
"Kidnapping and a ransom. The MO fits. Would explain why DiNozzo Sr lied in his report."
"Doesn't explain why he went to the police." Gibbs picked up the envelope and pulled out DiNozzo Sr's missing persons report.
"Maybe he had no choice," Kate suggested.
Ducky watched intently as Gibbs flicked through the file.
"If they were using him to get to his Dad, what if it's the same this time?" Gibbs whispered as if to himself.
Ducky contemplated the question. If Senior was the key to Anthony's assailant's reappearance then Ducky knew no matter how hard Jethro tried to protect the lad, he was going to come to harm one way or another. Either the kidnappers got what they wanted from Tony or they got it from his father, whichever way it went poor Anthony would be caught in the middle.
Silence ruled the room for several minutes only to be broken by Gibbs' ringing cell phone.
"Get Senior in here," he said to Kate after checking the caller I.D.
"But Gibbs,"
"I don't care how, just do it!" Gibbs ordered storming out of autopsy.
As soon as Gibbs was gone Ducky turned to Kate with a further concern.
"Caitlyn, I'm afraid I've thought of something else, about the blanket Tony was found in..."
Kate turned to look at him and by her resigned expression Ducky knew he needn't explain anymore.
"You think it was someone close to Tony."
Ducky nodded sadly, confirming that was exactly what he was thinking. The act of covering the body suggested whoever left him in that alley cared about him. Not enough to take him to a hospital, but enough to feel sorry for what had happened, was maybe even responsible for the anonymous call to the police. Whether it was Bower after all or Tony's father, they just wouldn't know until Gibbs got them into interrogation. Ducky watched Kate look back over her shoulder, out the doors Jethro had just left through.
"Yeah, Ducky, I'm afraid of that too."
…
"What's going on?" Kate asked, meeting Gibbs back in the bullpen.
Tony was still working at his desk, head bent down low scribbling away on his notepad this time. She tried covertly leaning over to get a look at what he was scrawling, but as if he sensed her closing in on him he immediately stopped what he was doing, opened his desk draw and dumped the notepad inside, slamming it shut.
"We got the son of a bitch." Gibbs announced with venom, slamming shut his own desk draw.
McGee was hovering between the elevators and entrance to the bullpen, coat on, bag in hand and full of nervous energy.
"D.C police have Bower at a motel off the I-95 near Rose Hill, Virginia." He explained when she gave him a perplexing look.
Springing immediately into action Kate grabbed her own bag and as she was holstering her weapon Kate looked over at Tony to see him doing the exact same thing.
"Where'd you think you're going, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked standing in front of Tony's desk.
"Going with you," Tony's response hid no doubt that he knew he shouldn't be going.
Kate watched, waiting for Gibbs to tell him how stupid an idea it was, and mentally prepared her own response with which to back the decision up, but was caught off guard by Gibbs' clipped nod of agreement. Without a second wasted Tony pushed passed McGee, making him the first to call for the elevator. Gibbs tried to follow after him, but Kate stepped out and blocked his path.
"What the hell are you thinking?"
Gibbs glared at her, lips pressed tight, no emotion showing on his face whatsoever. Reading his message loud and clear Kate reluctantly stepped to the side, letting Gibbs pass with the minimum amount of fuss. McGee looked at her, jaw almost touching the floor.
"This is a terrible idea." She said shaking her head while pushing McGee, stunned looked still in place, to join Tony and Gibbs in the elevator.
Whether Tony was at risk by attending the crime or not didn't matter now, Gibbs had made his decision, they'd just have to go with it and hope like hell nothing went wrong.
…
Arriving at the scene in the sedan Gibbs spotted the police cars parked outside a taped off motel room. Kate pulled the van up seconds later and while his team filed out Gibbs approached the one man in plain clothes leaning leisurely against the wall outside.
"You Gibbs?" The man, who had to be a detective, asked as he approached.
Gibbs nodded.
"Where's Bower?" He wasn't the mood for pleasantries, which was good because apparently the detective wasn't going to offer any.
"Your man's in here," The detective lifted the crime scene tape covering the door and walked inside.
"You questioned him already?" Gibbs asked following him.
"Questioned?" He turned around looking puzzled, "I think there's been a misunderstanding…"
"I thought you caught him." Kate asked only just catching the detective's comment as she ducked under the tape and came up on Gibbs' left with Tony and McGee following close behind.
"Oh he was caught alright," the detective pointed at the motels small bathroom, "just not by us, someone else caught up to him first."
Gibbs shouldered passed the detective who had yet to identify himself as such and stepped into the bathroom to discover Bower propped up on the toilet seat, blood pooling on the white linoleum floor beneath his feet.
"Shot" The detective came up behind him and slumped against the door frame, hands in pockets. "Two to the chest and one to the head, close range."
Gibbs pulled off his hat and ran one hand wearily over his face. Finding Bower was their best lead, but dead he was useless to them, and he betted whoever left him there knew that.
Stepping out into the main room Gibbs beckoned Tony forward.
"McGee, fetch the equipment from the truck, we've got a scene to process." With a hand to his shoulder Gibbs walked Tony into the bathroom.
It was too small for both of them, so Gibbs hung back.
"You're taking it I assume?" The nameless detective asked casually.
Gibbs gave him a cursory once over before he looked back to Tony who nodded, confirming it was indeed the same guy from the convenience store yesterday.
"Yep. We're taking it." He grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him out, "DiNozzo, go outside, call Ducky."
Gibbs tracked him all the way to the door, accidently catching and mirroring Kate's concerned gaze as he left. Shaking it off Gibbs forced a more neutral expression and quizzed the detective on how exactly Bower was discovered.
"We got a call from the owner around 6.15 who reported gunshots," he answered. "A patrol car responded and found this."
"That was less than an hour ago, how'd you know to call us so soon?" Kate asked.
"Wasn't hard, the guy's wallet was left out on the side over there," the detective pointed to the bedside table, where lay a wallet opened to a driver's licence, "identified him as the guy on your BOLO. After that didn't touch a thing, heard what you guys are like."
Gibbs eyed the detective speculatively, something about the way he held himself, and his little chuckle after stating he hadn't touched the crime scene…
"His wallet was left out?" Kate pulled on a glove before picking it up.
"Yeah, clear as day," the detective nodded, "almost think he wanted you to find him."
Hearing Kate's question and the subsequent answer Gibbs immediately ran out of the room nearly bowling the detective over. He stood on the top of a flight of concrete steps that led into the motel car park frantically scanning the scene. The general area was secluded, the motel being surrounded by woodland on both sides of the interstate. LEO's had cordoned off the immediate area, but traffic still passed by, a few gawkers slowing down to see what was happening. He could see the sedan left exactly where he'd parked, with the van just behind it, but no sign of DiNozzo.
"McGee!" Kate shouted, flying passed Gibbs down the stairs and over to where McGee was struggling to carry the crime scene equipment bags.
"I'm coming!" McGee stumbled and dropped one of the bags.
"Where's Tony?" He heard her ask.
"He was just over there, told me to bring all this inside. What's going on?" McGee looked from Kate to Gibbs, still stood on the top step.
Trying not to show his concern Gibbs looked around again turning full circle, but still couldn't see any sign of DiNozzo.
"Tony!" Kate resorted to shouting, moving through the small crowd of onlookers and law enforcement personnel.
Not seeing any other option Gibbs joined her, searching in the opposite direction, calling out 'DiNozzo' in-between every shout of 'Tony' from Kate.
McGee stared at them as if they'd lost their minds. If Ducky was there Gibbs was sure he'd liken them to two panicked parents who'd lost their toddler in a department store, but right now he didn't care what he looked like, they'd walked into a trap and he could kick himself for realising too late that Bower hadn't been the threat, he'd been the bait all along.
….
A/N: What a monster. Hope everyone is okay with the long chapters, I'm going for a slightly different pace that befits the story compared to Impetus. All mistakes are mine and I did it all on purpose ;P
THANKS EVERYONE for your reviews, I know a lot of people have followed and favourited already, it makes me smile every time I see my emails. Hope this chapter cures 'Guest's' withdrawal for now lol;) ttfn.