"Jack its Viv; we traced the original call back to a cell phone belonging to a Jeff Lindall, we have a search warrant. As far as we can tell he has no connection to James Cooper, Martin and Danny rang the prison. Turns out James was released on parole, but his parole officer hasn't heard from him in a couple of days," Viv waited.

"Okay, well we found out Sam and Anthony went to Central Park after leaving the restaurant, but it's not much of a lead. Cooper rang my cell, we have video footage too. They seem to be in a warehouse of sorts. He's going to ring back in about 40 minutes, we'll be back at the office and I want the call traced. Tell Danny and Martin to go talk to this Jeff Lindall. Find out what they can." Jack said.

"Will do,"

"How are we going on the money?" Jack asked.

"We have the five million ready, but there's no possible way to get him a full pardon Jack. Not with what he did." Viv replied gently, the other end of the line was silent.

"Try." Jack hung up. Vivian shook her head and replaced the phone on the receiver.

"Martin, Danny! Go check out Jeff Lindall." Viv called. Both agents left immediately. Vivian stared vacantly at Sam's empty desk.

"Agent Johnson?" McGee asked, "Are you okay?" Viv smiled slightly

"I'm fine, thank you Agent McGee."


"Tony!" Sam hissed weakly, this was the first time there was nobody else in the room all day. It was thankfully silent.

"Tony!"

"Sam?" Tony called painfully,

"Can you get out of your restraints?" She asked quickly, afraid they would come back at any time.

"I think…so" his hands scanned the floor, looking for a sharp object. He found a shard of rock digging into his back. He busily went to work freeing his hands. Once they were free, he could take the restraints off his legs. He tried to stand, but it took him a couple of tries. He had a sharp stabbing pain in his chest, and one of his wrists hung uselessly by his side. He limped over to where Sam was, and tried to free her. They both froze when they heard talking and footsteps outside the door.

"Go!" Sam hissed sharply. Tony looked at her,

"I'll be back for you," he promised. He limped quickly towards the door. He paused at the table where he saw his cell phone; he snatched it and went as quickly as he could. He had to dive behind one of the crates as the door opened and their captors returned. Quietly he dialled Gibbs' number. He hid the cell under one of the crates, hoping Gibbs would answer.

"He's gone!" James yelled, "Where the hell is he, you bitch?"

Tony heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh again, and again. He could also hear the sounds of Sam screaming the words "I don't know" desperately over and over.

"Spread out, search the room, the warehouse, he couldn't have gotten far." James commanded. Hello? Tony! DiNozzo? Where the hell are you? Gibbs was on the phone. He heard him call the name Jack, and it made him wonder whether he was in New York.

"Found him!" Tony spun around and saw one of James' men coming toward him. He ran as fast as he could toward the door, flinging it open. He fled through dilapidated corridors, and rooms. The sound of gunfire rang in the corridor and Tony dived, landing awkwardly on his bad hand. He let out a scream of pain.

Two of James' men were closing in on him. He stood up and made a run for it. Shots were fired and a bullet went straight through his leg. He fell face first, the pain in his leg searing through him.

A hand grabbed his arm, and Tony tried to shake it off, half blinded by pain. The last thing he heard as he fell into unconsciousness was,

"Stupid bastard, the Boss ain't going to be happy."

When he awoke again, he was re-bound to a chair, and his leg hurt like hell. He looked down and found it was bleeding freely.

"Clever," James drawled, "but very, very stupid." Tony looked around for Sam. The sight of her made him sick. Her face was purple. Her right shoulder was bruised; making Tony suspect it was dislocated. She had several cuts on her stomach. Shallow enough that they wouldn't kill her, but would still hurt like hell. James leant into Tony's ear and whispered

"That's only the beginning. I always wondered how good a lay she was." Tony's eyes widened furiously. James only smiled.


Jack stormed into the office, and found Danny and Martin back from their trip to Jeff Lindall's apartment.

"Well?" he asked.

"He wasn't there boss, but we searched his apartment and there wasn't anything there." Danny replied. Jack swore colourfully.

"He was an FBI agent, right?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah." Jack answered. Gibbs started pacing.

"Well, okay he knows how we work, and if he really is as good as you say, he's not going to leave any traces, no evidence, nothing to indicate he's been in contact. My next suggestion would be to wait until Cooper rings again, we can tell him we have the money and he's been acquitted. Make an official looking document to that effect and get the cash in order." Gibbs opened his mouth to continue talking but his phone rang, a slight frown creased his forehead as he read the Caller I.D; it was Tony.