AN: Couldn't resist posting one chapter before my trip , hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing, just my own impulses…
Chapter 4: A weathering mist…
It was ten pm. Tony had been missing for almost five hours now and they reached a dead end. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee just got back from their sweep through Tony's apartment and while Gibbs headed upstairs to give an update to the director, Ziva and McGee sank down in their chairs with worried looks.
They knew they should get all the rest they can before Gibbs would return. Unfortunately the body can only rest when the mind chooses to cooperate.
Ziva was angry at Tony. Why did he do that? Run home without giving away the slightest information of why. He was acting like Gibbs on one of his bad days, going solo and leaving them in the dark.
She sighted, knowing she was only angry so she could cloud her anxiety and knowing it wasn't working very well. The apartment was clean, so the speak; there were no signs of forced entry, no cameras in the area, no witnesses. So they didn't even know when or where he went missing.
So she put out a BOLO; Tony's car was missing too, so maybe this way some leads may turn up eventually. And knowing Gibbs, he would order one the moment he returned.
Meanwhile McGee was starring at his screen restless.
"Ziva, tell Gibbs I went down to Abby's, she will need all the help processing those disks.", he said before he rushed out as well.
Ziva wondered how it was possible to feel so alone on a floor filled with people.
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"Agents Gibbs, may I introduce Mr. Greyer, DeMarco's lawyer?"
These words were never followed by something good. Fifteen minutes after the director had spoken them, Gibbs was still fuming with rage. No legit grounds for holding him, powerful friends and a lawyer who knew every loophole in the book, were sufficed reasons for the order to release DeMarco.
And his suspicions about DeMarco's involvement in Tony's disappearance were easily countered.
Of course the man had an alibi. He was in their freaking custody! The irony tasted bitter in his mouth.
DeMarco, accompanied by his uptight lawyer, smiled before entering the elevator, disappearing out of sight…
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"Tim! These are lovely toys you brought me, but please tell me they are helpful tracking Tony down." Abby pointed to her table and a part of her floor, covered in shiny disks.
"Don't know, Abs.", McGee answered, "I came down to help."
"Yes! Team up, buddie, but first…"
Abby opened her arms. "I need a hug, Timmy."
"I'm so worried.", she whispered in his ears.
"Me too, Abs, me too." McGee sighted.
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"Where's McGee?"
Oh, Gibbs was in a foul mood, Ziva noted.
"He went to Abby, I think he got a little weary, boss. Any news from the director?"
Gibbs kept silent and began pacing.
"I put out a BOLO, no hits yet, I'm afraid."
"Ziva, call Baltimore and let them send over all the files, all the evidence, every tissue and former leads. I want to know everything and everyone that worked on that case. The two cases are clearly related. And tell McGee to keep working with Abby. If Millers was involved somehow he must have left a trace too. I want to know everything he did last Friday."
"Getting it done, Gibbs. What about DeMarco?"
"Pulled a few strings and left. Find out about his lawyer too. Never mind, I'll do that, just call Baltimore, ok?"
He sat down behind his computer. Ziva was eyeing him carefully.
If Gibbs was this loquacious then it was really, really bad. Something was on…off, she autocorrected herself. Tony, get your ass back in that chair!
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It was quiet. He felt something soft underneath him at the same time he realized he was lying down on his back. Carefully he opened his eyes and lifted his head. A weak emergency light flickered constantly, showing a small empty room besides a sink near the door and the already bloodstained mattress he was lying on.
There were no windows and only one door, its handle had been removed and was tight shut. The flickering light was already starting to bother him.
His head felt fine, a little sensitive at his touch, but nothing he couldn't handle. Hopefully Gibbs would find him soon.
Checking his wrist he realized his watch was gone, as were his belt and shoes. He cursed and started pacing; five steps back and forth, back and forth, …
Good job, kid, you really screwed up big time. Not only did you left everybody out, you managed to get yourself caught. Gibbs is going to kill you and then Abby or Ziva and probably McGee too. Oh, they will just have to wait in line because…
His thoughts were interrupted by impatient footsteps coming towards the door.
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Ziva's phone ran and she almost jumped out of her skin. 'Must have dosed off', she thought before picking up.
"Yes, mmm, I see and what about digital records? Ok, just send what you have left then."
Gibbs paced into the bullpen again. His restlessness was tiring to watch.
"That was Agent Duncan from Baltimore.", she said before he had a chance to ask. "Apparently they had a water leak several years back…"
She paused, not for dramatic effect but genuinely dreading being the messenger.
"Only a tenth of the files were saved. They will be here by six o'clock."
"What!"
"A tenth of…", Ziva repeated.
"Got it the first time!", Gibbs snapped and then regretted his outburst a bit, still he was going to call Baltimore and give them a piece of his mind.
"God, I need coffee… You want one?", he asked, almost politely.
Ziva nodded a bit overwhelmed. So Gibbs still has a few mood swings up his sleeve, I ought to remember that.
"Boss!", McGee ran into the bullpen panting. "We… Abby we… the car."
"You located his car?"
"Yes, here is the address." Catching his breath, he hold up a colorful animal shaped post-it.
"Grab your gear."
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Fifty minutes later Gibbs was staring at the young guy sitting across him.
"I didn't do anything wrong! The car just stood there, key in the ignition, all ready to go. Okay, I did something wrong, steeling the car and stuff, but it was a sweet thing. It's not like I committed murder or something like that!"
Gibbs loved interrogating without saying a word, this kid was really fond of hearing himself talk apparently. A few glares and a carefully applied stare made him spill his guts.
"I spotted the car around four o'clock, it was such a sweet ride, just took it for a spin, didn't know it belonged to a missing cop!"
"Write everything you saw down.", Gibbs said while leaving the room. He heard the boy writing anxiously before he closed the door. Ziva was waiting with a Cafpow.
"You're going to let him sweat for a few more hours? Good."
"Found anything?" He walked towards the elevator and Ziva pressed 'down'.
"McGee is processing the car as we speak and I checked Tony's phone. He deleted all his outgoing messages. But Abby found something 'excitingly hinky', her words not mine.", she clarified quickly as Gibbs marched into the lab.
"Gibbs! This is so cool and yet frustrating at the same time.", Abby launched at them the moment the door opened.
She pointed to the screen. Digits were swirling across it.
"When I opened it the file name was 'ELYSIUM', don't know what it means, well I know what it means but not its relevance. Well, it is relevant, but I can't figure out why." She paused for a second and continued.
"It's very high tech. All the files are encrypted and my usual mojo isn't working.", she said sadly, "I paged Tim, maybe he has more luck, but frankly if we don't know the password then I think it's hopeless, boss."
"So you have nothing?"
"Don't say nothing. Tony was hiding something so classified I can't crack it! That something, right?"
She shouted those last three words at Gibbs back as he walked out.
"It tells me Tony maybe got into more trouble he bargained for, Abby." Ziva handed her the Cafpow, before leaving as well.
Abby turned her music up a few notches. "Come on, my babies! Lets crack this code and don't let Gibbs down again!"
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Tony was missing for almost 24 hours now.
Abby and McGee were taking turns downstairs, flipping a coin every hour deciding who would get some sleep and who tried decrypting Tony's files. Currently McGee lost six out of eight times already and was pondering his statistical misfortunes while gazing at the green digits.
Gibbs and Ziva were sifting through the Baltimore case files, both noting the daring undercover op. But huge chunks were missing. Only the debriefing report from Tony and the witness statement from Nicholas Peruch were sufficiently readable to be of any use.
The strain of the long hours and the anxiety was taking its toll. Ziva repeatedly caught herself reading the same sentence over and over again. And next to Gibbs' desk, his trash can was overflowing with empty coffee cups.
"There's nothing helpful here, Gibbs.", Ziva finally stated, reading the witness statement for the third time. The last time she stared at Peruch's photograph for nearly ten minutes, wondering why the man betrayed his family and became the target of their wrath.
She turned to her boss. "Maybe I can check Tony's apartment again or our original crime scene? We could have missed something…"
But Gibbs wasn't listening, he was staring at the stranger that just entered the bullpen.
"Let my help you with that.", the stranger said while walking towards Gibbs' desk. He held out his hand, but when he didn't receive the acquired response, he tapped his visitor's badge.
"I'm Nick Straga, but in another lifetime I was Nicholas Peruch."