"Magnet for Disaster"- Chapter 4
A/N: Thanks again so much for the reviews and alerts! Seeing new readers always makes excited, which makes me want to write better chapters! I hope this one is a good one- the "NCIS" team pops back in, for a bit! Enjoy!
~*PLUM*~
"A hamster?" NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo asked, as he followed his current bounty hunter partner, Stephanie Plum, into her utilitarian second- floor apartment. "Rex is a hamster?"
"Yep," she replied, motioning to the counter. "He lives inside this glass tank, and sleeps in a soup can."
"It's a nice name and all," he told her, "but I usually associate the name 'Rex' with, say, a golden retriever."
She hung up their coats, and set her bag on the counter. "Joe has a golden retriever. And least, that's what he sort of looks like. He may be part garbage disposal, too."
Tony gave a bark of laughter. "I'm going to guess he eats other stuff besides his food. What's his name?"
"His name is Bob," Stephanie explained. "He came with that name, so Joe never changed it." She looked at the laptop case Tony was holding. "You can set that up on the coffee table. Just give it a couple minutes." She headed toward a back hallway.
"Where are you going?"
"I told you, I'm going wash up, and change," she said. "I'll be back in a minute."
He watched her walk down the hall, through a doorway, and close a door. He shrugged, and flipped his laptop open.
~*NCIS*~
"What's taking him so long?" NCIS Forensic Scientist Abigail Scuito exclaimed, cleaning her workspace in her lab yet again. "This is why I don't like it when any you guys travel to investigate cases- there's the tendency to forget to check in."
"He'll check in soon," NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee assured her.
"How do you know?" she said, her voice rising. "What if something happened to him in Trenton, and he can't check in?"
"He is probably looking for a place to set up his laptop," Ziva David, the newest NCIS agent, said. "I am sure he will check in soon."
"He'd better," Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the NCIS Special Agent-In-Charge growled. "I really don't want to have to rescue him."
"Rescue who?" a familiar voice called out from one of Abby's numerous screens.
"Tony!" Abby said excitedly, then glared at the screen. "What took you so long?"
"I've been following a lead, with a local bounty hunter," he explained. "However, the computer at the bonds office is turning up squat." He looked toward McGee. "Which means I need you help, Tim."
"Whatever you need," Tim assured him.
"I just sent you a text with two addresses," he said.
"Yeah, I just got it."
"Those addresses were found in Mancini's apartment," Tony explained, "And I just want to find out who the owner or owners of the properties are, before I bust in there, guns blazing."
"What exactly does this guy do for a living?" Ziva asked.
A pretty woman with brown hair and blue eyes joined Tony on the computer screen. "On his bond agreement, it says he's a 'freelance transportation specialist'."
"Boss, you already know this, but… guys, this is Stephanie Plum," he explained. "She's the bail enforcement agent, or BEA, that's been helping me out."
"Hi," she said, giving a little finger wave.
"It's very 'Midnight Run', but she's DeNiro, which makes Mancini Charles Grodin," he said, using one his trademark movie references.
"That would make you Yaphet Kotto, basically," Stephanie told him. "Except you're not FBI."
Tony smiled. "Impressive Steph. I can't believe you got that reference."
"Hello," she exclaimed, "it's one the best bounty hunter movies ever."
"Hey, Ebert, Roeper," McGee interrupted, "I found something."
"What do you got?" Tony, Stephanie, and Gibbs asked in unison.
"The properties belong to Christopher Dallasio," McGee told them. "Also known as C.D., also known as Chris Dallas. He's thirty years old, and a transplant from Baltimore."
"I know that name," Stephanie said. "A few weeks ago, another 'transportation specialist' was arrested, and went FTA. I was hired to find him, and I did… but he was dead when I did. We didn't know about the two addresses, and the Dallas connection. Joe said the cops couldn't find anything, either."
"Who's Joe?" Abby asked.
"My boyfriend," Stephanie told her. "He's a Trenton cop."
"I know the name, too," Tony interrupted. "Tim, is his father's name James, or Jimmy Dallasio?"
McGee did some fast typing. "Yeah, it is. Was he someone you arrested in Baltimore?"
Tony nodded. "One of my last collars before I joined NCIS, nine years ago."
"What was he charged with?" Ziva asked.
"Possession and sale of stolen property," Tony replied. "Looks like he groomed his son to take over, and revive the family business in Trenton." He looked to McGee. "McGoogle, does it say when he moved here?"
"Not specifically, but it does say he acquired the properties in 2002."
"Eight years ago," Stephanie concluded. "Not too long after his dad's death, I guess."
"No wonder Gabriel Mancini didn't show up for his court date," Tony told her. "Dallas could have gotten to him, and he could be missing, or dead."
"Well, that would suck," she said. "I'd have to forfeit half my fee."
"Is that all you care about?" Gibbs snarled. "The money?"
"I'm just explaining how things work on my end, Agent Gibbs," she replied.
"I hope you guys find your Marine, and I want to help you."
"I think you and I should check out these addresses," Tony told her. "Suppose that Dallas knew that Lance Corporal Mancini was visiting, and kidnapped her. Suppose he's using that as leverage to keep Gabriel Mancini from going to the police. Suppose Mancini didn't show up for court, because he's trying to rescue her."
"That's a lot of supposing, DiNozzo," Gibbs told his Senior Field Agent, "without much physical evidence."
"I still think Steph and I should stake out these addresses," Tony said. "If we find anything hinky going on, I'll call you."
"Hinky?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah," Abby told her. "I invented it years ago- it means strange or unusual."
"Oh, I see."
"If you two are going to be, how you say, sniffing around," Ziva said, "You should have adequate back-up."
"Well, I know someone who can help us," Stephanie told her. "Ranger."
"Who's that?" McGee wanted to know.
"He's another bounty hunter," Stephanie explained. "When I started out, he was my mentor, and friend. He's always got my back."
Because he monitors you with a low- jack in your purse and car, Tony thought to himself, rolling his eyes.
"I saw that," Stephanie said. "I know you think he's a little out there…"
"Try a lot out there," Tony replied.
"But he's the best person to have, as far as back-up goes." She turned to Gibbs. "He operates more by morals than by the legal system, plus he's an expert when it comes to security. I can give him a call, and tell him to be ready to when we need him."
"Sounds like a good plan, Stephanie," Gibbs said. "Are you also going to be on the lookout for Mancini's car?"
"Absolutely," she said, looking over to Tony, panicked. He then realized that, while they had been out, they had completely forgotten to watch for the car Mancini was driving. Heck, Steph had never even mentioned if she had that information in her copy of the bond agreement.
"We're wasting daylight here," Tony told Stephanie, then turned to face the computer screen. "Thanks for the help, McGee."
"Anytime."
"I'll check in with you later, Boss," Tony assured Gibbs. "If something happens, one of us will get a hold of you."
"Make sure you do, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, as Tony severed the laptop connection.
"Stephanie! The car!" he exclaimed.
"I am so sorry," she told him. "I know I have that information- I just forgot to tell you."
"Don't apologize," he told her. "I forgot to ask you for it, so we're even."
She pulled the file out of her pocketbook. "It says here that he drives a silver 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt."
"Why don't we do a drive-by past his house," Tony suggested. "If there's no sign of him, we can check out the addresses."
"Okay, but I think we should concentrate on the warehouse first," Stephanie said. "It's a large space, away from traffic. The storefront has too much traffic."
Tony nodded. "That makes sense. If I remember right, his father would use the vacated warehouses by the docks in Baltimore."
"If he follows his dad's M.O., the warehouse will definitely be our first stop," she replied, hoisting her bag over her shoulder.
"Lead the way," Tony told her.
~*PLUM*~