Staring at the crime scene photos that Kate had taken in Tony's apartment up on the overhead computer screen, Gibbs growled in frustration as he listened to Kate's summary of the evidence, or rather the lack of evidence, that they had so far in connection to Tony's disappearance.
"The scratches around the lock to the door to Tony's apartment are consistent with being made by lock jimmying tools. All the fingerprints we found in Tony's apartment have been identified…" Kate told him as she clicked the button she held in her hand and the pictures on the computer screen changed to show a closeup of the scratches that Gibbs had first noticed when he had gone to unlock Tony's apartment door.
"Which means our suspects wore gloves." he growled.
Kate nodded as she continued her report. "Baltimore PD are still interviewing everyone who has made any threats against Tony while he was an officer there and checking out any recent parolees who might be still holding a grudge." Kate continued her report, casting a quick furtive look at Gibbs before returning her attention back to the screen, "But so far, all their alibis are checking out, but Baltimore PD will keep checking."
Gibbs gave a single, silent curt nod, his fingers tightening around the cup of coffee he held in his hand, as Kate hit the button again and the photos of the destruction left behind in Tony's apartment was replaced by Kate's pencil composite sketches of two of the suspects. The sketches were very basic and general, with no real distinguishing features that made them stand out from the hundreds of other familiar looking men in the D.C. area. "I'm afraid these are the best descriptions of the two men she saw at Tony's door that Mrs Anderson could give me. I'm running both through facial recognition but…" Kate shrugged her doubts that they would get a hit.
"What about Tony's other neighbors? Did any of them hear or see anything?" Gibbs asked as he stared at the two faces on the screen.
"No one else noticed any strangers or heard any sounds of a fight."
"Anything from Abby?" Gibbs asked as he turned his full attention back onto Kate.
"Abby was able to confirm that the blood on the needle you found is Tony's blood type, she's running a DNA test now to confirm it was Tony's blood, but she was able to tell me the syringe contained haloperidol."
"Haloperidol?" Gibbs frowned.
"I checked with Ducky, it's a drug normally used to treat schizophrenia." Kate hastily explained before adding, "So, I asked Ducky why it would be used in Tony's kidnapping."
"And?" Gibbs demanded, his frown deepening as he waited for the answer.
"Ducky told me if haloperidol is injected intravenously, it can knock a patient out in under a minute. But that would mean that there had to be more than just the one kidnapper waiting in Tony's apartment-"
"There had to be at least two of them, more likely three. Two to hold DiNozzo down, while the third injected the drug into his vein." Gibbs completed her sentence before he added, "It's not the sort of drug that would be sold on the streets or on the black market."
"It would only be available by prescription from a doctor or a psychiatrist." Kate nodded turning back towards the computer screen. Casting a quick, side-ward glance at Gibbs when he did not comment, she quickly added, "But I'll check with the free clinics, hospitals and medical centers, find out if any of them are missing any haloperidol from their stock."
Gibbs nodded, taking a small sip of his lukewarm coffee as he watched Kate turn and hurry back to her desk.
"Boss, Metro PD just found Tony's car," McGee announced, standing up as he hung up his phone. "Someone set it on fire."
"Probably to destroy any evidence." Kate frowned, pausing with her phone lifted halfway to her ear.
"Ya think, Kate," Gibbs growled before he looked back at McGee and demanded, "Where?"
"Just off Scarlet Tanagar Loop Road, Boss."
"Wait are you both waiting for? Grab your gear!" Gibbs ordered as he slapped his half-drunk cup on Kate's desk and headed towards the elevator as both agents scrambled to grab their field bags and hurried after him, making it to the elevator just in time to step in before Gibbs hit the button to take them down o the basement and the doors slid closed.
XXXXX
Sitting in one of the old dilapidated rundown bars located in one of the back streets of Columbia Highlands district, the noisiest two customers in the bar, still dressed in their work uniforms of white pants and shirts, sat guzzling multiple beers, smoking cigarettes, and cursing each's luck as they played a hand of penny ante poker together.
Bored with watching the two men cheat each other at cards, the barman began to wipe down the bar with the dirty rag that he kept in his back pocket. Although the bar was fairly quiet at the moment with just a handful of the regular day time customers, he knew that in a few short hours the place would quickly fill up. And soon he would soon be run off his feet dealing with drunks and breaking up the normal Saturday night bar room floor fights, where the combatants were often armed with knives and guns.
He looked up in surprise as the bell above the bar room door jangled as it was pushed opened and a man dressed in an expensively tailored business suit complete with a tie, and wearing a gold Rolex, wandered in, looking around for someone. After not immediately finding who he was searching for, the stranger approached the bar and ordered a scotch on the rocks, inquiring if the bartender knew the man he was looking for.
Handing the man his drink and pointing off toward a corner where the two card players were sitting in the back, the barman made a face at the man's back as the man walked away, finding it odd that someone dressed like him would be anywhere near there. He shrugged it off and went back to wiping the bar down.
Looking up just as the well-dressed man approached, the black card player threw his hand on the table and stood up.
Holding his scotch in his hand, the stranger paused as he reached the table and glared down at the other man sitting there before he looked back the man who stood up to greet him and growled, "Who's he?"
"He's cool. Takes more than one then just me in there to keep our newest patient happy," the dark man grinned.
"This is gonna cost me more than we agreed, isn't it?" the wealthy man grumbled.
"You wanted quality work, no? Well, it's gunna cost ya to get that."
Rolling his eyes, he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a thick envelope. "Guess you will have to split this until we can arrange for the...extras," he said, discreetly handing the man the envelope stuffed with cash.
After taking the envelope, the man tossed it to his seated partner before he turned back to his employer, his grin growing wider as he began his report. "Things are going well. He's already gotten the bath once. I'd bet his will is fading fast. It usually does."
"Good. The quicker the better. Has he been asking questions? I don't want him asking questions."
"He just keeps yelling that he's an NCIS agent and he doesn't belong there. Has no clue how he got there. No one believes him anyway. We've stuffing enough drugs into him that soon he'll even forget he's NCIS."
"I want him to forget his own name. Think you can accomplish that?"
"Like I told you, the only way anyone ever leaves that place is in the back of a hearse. Don't worry."
The wealthy man downed the rest of his scotch in one gulp and handed the black man his empty glass. "After what he did, he doesn't deserve the dignity. Make sure he has none before he dies, ok?" he growled hatefully, before he turned and walked quickly out of the bar.
XXXXXXX
Lying on the thin mattress with his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around them in an attempt to conserve what little body heat he still had left, Tony stared at the only link with the world outside of his room, the small window in the door. The thin cotton pants he wore were still damp and his body shook with small bouts of shivering. He was beginning to doubt that he would ever feel warm again.
He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the headache that was making his head feel as if it was about to explode. The smell of the rancid food and the nauseating smell of the mattress he was laying on was only adding to his misery as he tasted the hot bile as it rose in the back of his throat. Swallowing hard, he forced it back down as he closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the room which had become the nightmare, he now found himself living.
Listening to the muted noises of the day room on the other side of the door, he tried to work out how much time had passed since he had woken up in his own private hell and how he had gotten here. He wondered if Gibbs had even realized he was missing yet. But it was like his mind was stuck in slow mode and his mind began to wander, his thoughts kept racing off on nonsensical tangents.
His eyes snapped open and he looked up in fear at the door as he heard the key in the lock. Forcing himself to sit up, he watched warily as the door opened and the nurse stepped inside, followed by a large man dressed in white. She glanced down at the plate of untouched food sitting by the door before looking across at the stale bread roll that was lying against the opposite wall before she looked back in disgust at the disheveled man on the mattress who had opened his eyes and now was watching her nervously. "Time for your tablets." she announced icily as she walked across to him and held out a small plastic medicine cup, waiting expectantly for him to hold out his hand and take it.
"I don't need any medications." Tony growled in defiance, slapping the cup from her hand and unsteadily rising to his feet, his hands curling into fists as the orderly slowly began to move towards him, "I told you before I shouldn't be here! I'm a detective, my name is Anthony…Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, I'm with-"
"And I told you it's time for your medication!" she ordered coldly, pulling a pre-filled syringe out of her pocket. "Now are you going to pick those tablets up and take them or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"
Glancing at the large man who grinned and cracked his knuckles as he took a step closer, before looking back at the nurse who was waiting for him to retrieve the tablets scattered across the floor, Tony suddenly made a run for the door, knocking the nurse out of the way as he stumbled past.
He cried out in pain as the orderly tackled him and brought him crushing to the ground. Kicking out, he felt a small moment of triumph as he managed to kick the large man in the midriff. He heard the man gasp in pain as he rolled free and tried to scramble back to his feet. He felt the air rush from his lungs as he was tackled again and slammed back across the room, the soft wall padding doing little to protect him from the hard impact as he was bodily slammed against it.
Momentarily winded, he sunk to the ground as he tried to blink away the gray spots that danced in front of his eyes. He felt several hands roughly grab him a heartbeat before his arms were forced into sleeves that were made of some type of coarse material and pulled tightly across his chest. "No!" he cried out as he realized what was happening and he struggled violently to break free again as he was forcibly rolled over onto his stomach and pinned against the ground as the straight jacket was secured too tightly behind his back making it difficult to breath as his arms were pulled tightly across his chest.
"So, you want to do this the hard way, do you? I was hoping you might." the nurse whispered menacingly into his ear before she looked at the two orderlies and ordered, "Hold him still!"
Tony cried out in pain and frustration as one of the men straddled his back before cruelly grabbing his head, pushing the side of his face painfully into the cold padded floor as the second orderly grabbed his legs, pinning them still using the full weight of his enormous body, as they prevented Tony from moving at all. Tony could only grit his teeth and his body tensed up as the nurse tugged down his pants enough to expose his hip before painfully plunging the needle in, laughing as he yelped in pain as she slowly injected the syringe's contents.
Withdrawing the needle, she nodded at the two orderlies as she rose to her feet and walked out of the room.
They waited until she was safely out of the room before they released him and slowly rose to their own feet, towering over Tony as they stared down at him. One of the orderlies lifted his foot back and viciously kicked Tony hard in the ribs. "That's for kicking me!" he growled down at Tony before he turned and walked out of the room with the other orderly close behind him.
Groaning in pain, Tony rolled over onto his side and drew his knees back up to his chest as he heard the door close behind them and the key turn in the lock.
"I told ya, the only way ya leave here is in a pine box!"
Tony looked up at the blurry grinning face watching him through the window as the darkness began to pull him under. The face's haunting insane laughter echoed in his ears long after his eyes had drifted close.