Chapter 7

Neal fought to wake up but it was hard with the effects of the chloroform not out of his system yet but after a few minutes he was able to open his eyes. The room was dark, with only a little light coming from under the door and from the curtained windows but it was enough for Neal to glance around the room and to realize two things: he was lying down and he had a chain fastened to his left ankle. "Oh great, instead of my anklet I now have a chain," he muttered as he raise himself to a sitting position. Neal was so focused on his present situation that he didn't noticed that there was someone other than himself in the room.

"Hello, son!"

Neal froze, he recognized the voice and as he turned the light came on revealing his father sitting in the darkest corner. "What do you want?"

"I want you to return all of the items you have stolen during your criminal career," replied John Richter.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I will have to resort to the same methods I used when you were a child to make you behave," replied Richter as he showed Neal what he had in his hand…a strap.

Neal paled as he looked from the strap to the man holding it. 'This isn't good,' he thought as he started to look around the room looking for a way to escape.

Richter caught the look and smiled, "There is no where you can go kid; that's why you are chained so you can't escape why I convince you to comply," he said as he moved closer swinging the strap against his leg as he went.

Neal backed up as far as his chain would allow him until he could go no further and then he steeled himself for the whipping he knew he was going to get. He didn't have long to wait as Richter easily flipped him on his stomach and began to whale away.

Neal was only able to hold his tongue for the first six licks but after that as the pain began to worsen he could no longer hold it and began to yell out with each lick until he could yell no longer and welcomed the darkness that soon overcame him.

***********

It was a couple of hours later after diligently searching that McGee suddenly looked up. He had found what Gibbs had hinted to.

"Boss…I've found something!" he reported.

Gibbs looked up and moved to Tim's side reading over his shoulder.

"Yeah, that might just be it…where's DiNozzo?" he asked as he glanced around the bullpen without finding his senior agent.

"He left a few minutes ago…I think he said something about checking something with Abby," replied Ziva.

"Get him back here," he ordered as he turned back to McGee.

Ziva picked up her phone to call down to the lab hanging up a minute later.

"He's not there…Abby says she hasn't seen him all day," she reported with a frown.

"When was the last time he was here?" asked Gibbs annoyance showing in his expression.

Ziva and McGee exchanged a glance before Tim replied, "When the BOLO came through about Neal, he said that he had to go and see Abby about something…I've haven't seen him since. I'm sorry Boss, I was so focused on finding this information that I didn't exactly notice on his whereabouts."

"It's not your fault…its DiNozzo," replied Gibbs as he sped dialed Tony's number and discovered that it had been turned off.

"Track him," Gibbs ordered as he grabbed his gear and shouted, "Ziva, you'll with me," and left with Ziva hot on his heels.

********

Richter looked down at the sleeping form of his son; unconscious from the beating he had just administered and he smiled thinking, 'just like old times," as he bent down and shook Neal awake.

"Owwwww," moaned Neal upon waking as he opened his eyes to see his father standing over him with the hated strap still in his hands.

"Are you going to comply?" he asked his son, "or is another taste of the strap needed?"

"This is really about the location of a music box, isn't it?" stalled Neal as he scooted away from the man.

"I was told that it was all of the items you stole but if one of those items is a music box then, yes it is about the music box," replied Richter turning as a hated figure entered the room…Fowler.

"Well, Caffrey are you going to tell us where the music box and all of the other items are or is your father going to have to continue?"

"Where is Kate!" screamed Neal instead.

"Waiting for you to comply," replied the OPR agent as he took the strap from Richter's hand and approached Neal, his intent was evident, and he was going to continue the beating.

"Hold him," he instructed the older man who was only to happy to comply and before Neal could move found himself once again on his belly and being held there by his own father. "Now all of your licks was on his trouser clad backside…lets see how talkative he gets if that protection is removed first," and deftly pulled the trousers down leaving Neal only the protection left by his boxers.

"Going to talk?" Fowler asked before bringing the strap down hard on Neal's abused backside and causing Neal to howl in pain.

"I guess not," murmured Fowler as he rained lick after lick on Neal's backside and back. After delivering twelve additional licks he stood back and said, "let's let the pain talk to him for an hour and then come back to see if he has anything to tell us," before throwing the strap down and stalking from the room pausing at the doorway to say, "and don't think that my being here is going to convict me of this assault; it will only be my word against yours and who do you think they are going to believe."

Neal watched them both leave and moved off the bed, hissing with pain as he did. "I've got to get out of here," he said to himself as he slowly pulled his pants back up, "but first I've got to get this chain off," and turned his attention to freeing himself. It didn't take him long to undo the cuff around his leg, since it was only a handcuff that was fastened there to begin with and with the chain off he was able to survey the whole room pausing as he got to the windows, smiling as he discovered that they would give him no trouble and deftly scooted out of them and freedom.

It was only moments later that Fowler came back into the room to discover Neal's escape; he had come back to tease the con about Kate and found that was he not only still chained but not in the room. He hurried to the window and saw him scurrying through the roads and yelling for Richter hurried after him.

"He's escaped…go after him while I cut through the back roads and head him off," he ordered as they raced to recapture Caffrey.

Neal knew that he hadn't made a clean escape when he recognized Fowler's shouting and veered into the woods to the left. He had to find some cover or they would capture him and return him to his father and his strap. He knew he couldn't take much more before babbling everything.

***********

Tony had taken off as soon as he learned about the BOLO on Caffrey. He had an idea of where to look for Neal. He had seen Fowler in the area a couple of weeks ago after leaving a favorite bar and had decided to follow him. Fowler had led him to a vacant run down apartment building scheduled to be demolished within the year. He had thought it odd at the time but had kept it to himself, but upon learning that Neal was missing, with the assumption that he had run once his anklet had been removed he had wondered if that was entirely true.

Tony didn't like to announce it but he and Neal had bonded during the two last encounters. Neal had told him about Kate and his dislike of Fowler while drinking during their drinking encounter and Tony's gut was telling him that Fowler was dirty and up to something when Tony had seen him earlier. With that knowledge in mind Tony left knowing that he would most likely be disciplined for the action by his boss, Jethro Gibbs but he felt he had to give it a look.

It was while he was cruising through the abandoned apartment complex when he noticed movement through the bushes and came to a slow stop and got out to investigate. As he moved in Neal was about to walk into a trap that would have him back in the clutches of his father and Fowler when Tony stepped in and intercepted him.

"Neal," Tony hissed at the conman who came to an immediate stop.

"Tony? Tony I've got to get out of here…now," Neal dried as he slumped to a nearby tree. His strength was near its end when Tony moved to grab him.

"Man, there is a BOLO out on you…why did you run?" asked Tony as he held him up.

"I didn't…I was kidnapped…they want something I have and decided that force was the best way to get it," he hissed as Tony unintentionally placed an arm around him. "I escaped but they are tracking me," Neal added once he had his breath back.

"Then lets get out of here," Tony said as he helped Neal to his car unaware that Fowler and Richter were nearby and had heard every word.

"Why didn't you stop them?" Richter asked Fowler, "there were two of us."

"He's with NCIS; we've got to go carefully from now on. Don't worry I'll get him back; I just have to demand that he be placed in my custody after he is brought to NCIS…but for now get back and clear out anything that might incriminate us," ordered Fowler as they made their way back to where Neal had been disciplined.

As soon as he could Fowler demanded a wire tap on Agent DiNozzo's cellphone due to his being in contact with an escape felon and was granted it at once.

********

Aware that his cellphone might be traced Tony text Abby instead of calling. He kept his message small and to the point hoping it would get through undetected.

"Found NC…hurt…home…backdoor…TD."

Gibbs was with Abby when her phone tings alerting her of a text message. "Wait a minute Gibbs, that might be important," she said as she quickly read her message.

"Tony found Neal," she said excitedly as she showed Gibbs the message. "Neal is hurt and I think he's going to bring him back here but through the back entrance. Tony must have thought that his phone might have been traced and hopes that this got through."

Gibbs nodded his agreement, "get in touch with Ducky and have him meet me in the garage," he ordered as he made a call to McGee.

"McGee, we might get a visit from the FBI soon; when they arrive delay them the best you can until I arrive," he said as the elevator opened and he got off at the bottom floor to await DiNozzo and his guest. Ducky arrived only minutes later.

"What's the hurry Jethro," asked Ducky as he walked over to his friend.

"DiNozzo bringing in Neal Caffrey who has been hurt; a BOLO has been issued on Caffrey and he's been missing for a couple of days when DiNozzo somehow found him. He sent a cryptic text message to Abby a few minutes ago saying that he was bringing him home through the back door….here he comes now," explained Gibbs as Tony drove up.