Chapter Break
The morning sunlight shown through the slit in the curtain and Tony stirred. He hadn't expected to go to sleep, but he hadn't not expected to either. He used the bathroom and couldn't decide if he looked worse in his mind's eye, or in his actual reflection.
"Kayla?" he shook her gently. She rolled over and squinted, "Are we going home?"
"Not yet, but we have to get up and move. Get your brother up."
Tony peeked out the window and saw exactly what he didn't want to see: Housekeeping. He pulled his badge out and put it in his jacket, just in case she walked in. Keeping her from screaming when she saw him was the bigger issue, but then convincing her of his legitimacy would be a close second. If she called the cops, Testidori would be on them within minutes.
"We're ready to go."
Tony looked around and saw two bright eyed and well dressed kids. "So you are. We have a little problem." He pulled the curtain back just far enough for them to see the cart.
They heard the key as it jiggled in the door first, and before any of them could react, the room was flooded with sunshine. Tony stepped back into the shadows as the housekeeper stopped dead in her tracks, not expecting to see anyone.
"A mi Dios!"
Tony whipped out his badge and calmed the woman, "I'm Agent Anthony DiNozzo with NCIS. These children are in my protective custody. Please don't scream."
She pulled her hand away from her mouth and stared at his badge. "I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't expect anyone in this room. I was told it was empty last night."
"I asked the night clerk to keep it a secret." A thought came to him and he pulled out his phone. "Would you do me a favor?"
"Si, Senor."
"At six o'clock tonight, call the first number listed in this phone. Tell the man who answers that the children are safe. Then toss the phone into the dumpster out back. Do you understand?"
"Si."
"Are you sure? Don't do it before six o'clock tonight. Okay?"
She nodded.
"Good. Thank you." He nodded appreciatively and escorted the children outside and across the street.
"That was close," Jared said.
For some reason, Tony found his comment funny. It amused him that this eight year old boy would say something like that. "Yes, it was close. Let's just hope we don't have any more close calls like that one."
"Can we eat?"
Food? He hadn't had an appetite since he took on these two. And if it wasn't one of 'em needing a bathroom, it was one of em' wanting to eat. How do parents get anything done, he wondered. "Yeah, we'll find something." He helped them into the pickup and then achingly pulled himself in behind the wheel. His leg was throbbing and his arm was stiff, and his head was pounding, and his ribs were hurting, but as he looked over at his two wards, with nary a scratch and hungry stomachs, he figured everything was good. He cranked over the engine and forced the pain and agony he was feeling to the side for he had breakfast to serve.
He wasn't sure what town they were in and he didn't recognize anything. There wasn't so much as a city sign anywhere either. A few miles down the road he spied a small mom-n-pop grocery store that sported a breakfast sign. Through the windows, he could see a counter with a single man hovered over a plate of food. Once again, if he went inside looking the way he did, he ran the risk of the cops being called. A risk he wasn't willing to take.
"Listen Kayla, I need you to go in and order something to eat for you and Jared. Get me a cup of coffee, and some Tylenol. Get it all to-go. Here's twenty dollars."
She took the money and looked at him. She was tired of being grown up and it showed.
"Kayla? Just one more day, and it'll all be over with, and then you can go back doing whatever twelve year old girls do, and Jared can go back doing whatever eight year old boys do, and I can go back doing what I was doing, which in this case will be trying to explain to Danielle why I stood her up."
Kayla never thought about him having a girlfriend and asked, "Who's that?"
"Nevermind."
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"Not really. She could have been, but… I wouldn't mind seeing her again."
"Is she pretty?"
Tony studied her a beat. Then he smiled and whispered, "Not nearly as pretty as you."
She smiled back at him and scooted out of the truck. Ten minutes later she and Jared were back inside the cab and Tony was driving away, heading due west, again. He noticed she had more in the bag than food and Tylenol, and with just a quizzical look, he got her to pull out a plastic container.
"I saw this while we were waiting for our food." She held out a white box with a fat red plus sign emblazoned on the top. "It's a first aid kit. I thought you could use it."
Tony nudged her affectionately and said, "You're not only pretty, but smart too."
"Oh, brother," Jared whispered.
Tony rubbed the top of his head until the boy finally smiled up at him.
Chapter Break
The cleaning lady studied the phone. There was nothing on it that made it special. There was no lettering, no insignias, and nothing that identified it as belonging to the police. She made up the bed and tidied up the room, but it was when she picked up the bloodied towels in the bathroom that she paused and took issue with the mess. She tried to remember what the man looked like, but he had stood in the shadows of the room. The two children, though, looked fine, if not perhaps a little scared.
As she changed the sheets, she remembered the man's request. Suddenly, she felt like she shouldn't be handling this. She quickly finished cleaning, and then walked to the manager's office.
"Excuse me, Senor Wallace," she said, knowing how much her boss hated to be interrupted. He was never one to put on a clean shirt, preferring just an undershirt, which was always several sizes too small. And it repulsed her (as it did all the rest of the cleaning ladies) to see his belly hanging over his pants and his too tight t-shirt riding up, exposing a hairy stomach. She guessed that she hated talking to him more than he hated being interrupted, which is why she kept all communication with him to the absolute minimum.
"Huh?" he grunted.
She reached into her front pocket and pulled out a cell phone, "The man in room 22 gave this to me." She explained how she found him in the room with the two children and what his request was.
"I never rented that room!" he bellowed as he snatched the phone and eyed it, liking what he saw.
The housekeeper knew that he'd keep it, like he kept all items that made their way to the lost and found box, valuable or not. The staff knew better than to question the whereabouts of jewelry, money, and articles of clothing whenever the owners would return looking for them. When he realized she was still standing there, he waved her off like one might wave off a pestering gnat.
It wouldn't be until later that she would learn what a good decision it had been to turn the phone over to someone else.
Chapter Break
The alarm on his desktop computer alerted Timothy McGee that one of the many programs he was running had found something. He pulled himself away from the conversation in the bullpen in favor of his keyboard. "Boss? I think I have something."
Gibbs and Fornell approached his desk. "What?"
"I think I have a location on Tony's cellphone."
Perplexed, Ziva shared a worried look with Dr. Mallard.
Fornell asked, "You mean he turned it on?"
Tim stared intently at his screen. "Since Tony and the children disappeared, I've been running a short script that checks for Tony's GPS every thirty seconds. His phone was just activated."
"Where?"
He clicked some more on his keyboard, "I'm back tracing it now. It's…um.."
"McGee!"
"It's in Fairmont, West Virginia."
"How far away is that?"
"Three or four hours. It's past Morgantown."
"Can you pinpoint an exact location?"
Tim stared intently at his screen, pulling up and enlarging satellite images, "Yeah, the signal's coming from the Daily Double Motel on East Street.
"I can have my people there in an hour or so," Fornell said.
"Do it. Grab your gear!"
Chapter Break
Tony pulled into the parking lot of a rundown theater.
"Why are we here?" Kayla asked.
"I thought you said that you like to go to the movies?"
"I do. But usually we go to the nice theaters. What are we going to see?"
Tony could barely make out the lettering on the marquee, and his heart sank when he finally did. How was he going to sell this? "I don't think it really matters what's playing as long as we're inside and hidden in the darkness."
Jared squinted up at the sign and read, "Spa—gee-hee—tee—Wes—t-…"
"—Spaghetti Western Marathon," Kayla read.
Tony grinned and nodded, "Fun, huh! I haven't seen a good Western in weeks."
Kayla and Jared looked at him.
"C'mon, guys, these movies are classics. Some day you'll thank me for exposing you to cinematic masterpieces."
They continued to stare.
"All right. If you agree to watch these movies, when we get out of this mess, I promise I'll take you to see any movie you want."
"A 3-D movie?" Jared asked.
"Yes, a 3-D movie, a 4-D movie, any movie you want."
"Okay. But it'll have to be two movies because I don't like the same kind that he likes," Kayla pointed out.
"Agreed."
Tony handed over another twenty to Kayla and sent her up to the ticket booth. Another glance in the rear view mirror reminded him why he should stay in the dark. Shielding his eyes from the sun was a good way to cover his face, but he suspected the guy taking their tickets had seen it all since he barely looked up from the magazine he was reading to take them. That was just fine with Tony. He went to the restroom, cleaned himself off a little more and swallowed four Tylenol tablets. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but he easily found Kayla and Jared as there were only two other people in the theatre besides them. He sunk low into the squeaky red seat ready to watch Marlon Brando star in The Appaloosa, one of his favorites.
Then, from out of the quiet, he heard, "Where's the popcorn?"
Chapter Break
Fornell stretched his legs from the long drive and looked around. The motel was old and run down and was in dire need of a paint job and a sign repair. The small neon one out front read Da ly Do ble Mote . Strangely appropriate, he thought.
"Where're your men, Fornell?" Gibbs asked.
He looked around and then pulled out his phone. A few minutes later, he said, "The field office reports that they're here. Maybe they're inside."
"McGee, take a look around. Ziva, with me."
"Sachs, go with him. See if you can find Agents Morris and North."
Ziva opened the motel door and listened as the bells hanging from the ceiling clanked. "Hello?" she called out. The small reception area held a threadbare sofa and two stained chairs. The coffee table held an array of magazines, all of which (like the furniture) were dated decades ago. Ziva hit the silver bell on the counter and called out again, "Is anybody here?"
A voice that had smoked way too many cigars came from the back room. Ziva walked behind the counter and opened the door that lead to the rear of the house and said, "Excuse me. Is anyone here?"
"I'm back here!"
Fornell and Gibbs followed Ziva through the well lived in, yet not often cleaned, rooms until they spotted a man sitting in a double wide recliner.
Flashing his badge, Gibbs said, "Special Agent Gibbs and David, with NCIS. This is Special Agent Fornell, with the FBI. We're here to ask you some questions."
"It's about that damn phone, isn't it?"
Gibbs studied the man before answering, "What phone?"
"One of my maids brought me a phone this morning, and there's been nothing but trouble here since."
"What happened?"
"Good question. Where were you about an hour ago, when I needed some police protection?"
"From who?" Ziva asked.
"How the hell do I know!" he spat.
"Why don't we start at the beginning?" she said. "Who are you?"
"The name's Wallace, Roy Wallace. I'm the owner of this here establishment. Never had any problems in the fifteen years of running this place until now."
"Mr. Wallace," Fornell said, "have any FBI agents been here."
"I wish they had! Maybe those boys wouldn't have pushed me around the way they did!"
"Who pushed you around?" Gibbs asked.
"I don't know who they were! They were well dressed and looked like him." He ticked his head at Fornell.
"How'd they look like him?" Gibbs asked.
"They were all wearing them fancy suits and talking like they was standing in a five star hotel or something."
"What'd they want?"
"That phone, I tell ya! They came barging in here demanding to know where the man with the two children was."
"What did you tell them?" Ziva asked.
"Nothing! I didn't know what they were talking about!"
"How did you get the phone?"
"My maid brought it to me. She told me this weird story of some guy giving it to her. I didn't half pay attention to it."
Knowing the man had little to offer his investigation, Gibbs asked, "Where is your maid?"
"I don't know. I sent those men to talk to her."
Disgusted with this self-serving creep, Ziva started to say something, but Gibbs cut her off. "What's her name?"
"Maria. She's only been working here a couple of months. She's one of those immigrants."
As they exited the lobby, McGee saw them and yelled across the lot, "Boss! We found the FBI agents!"
Inside one of the motel rooms, the two agents had been bound and gagged. Fornell was relieved to see that they were relatively uninjured, and demanded, "What happened?"
Agent North explained, "We arrived here as directed and we were greeted by the manager. At least he identified himself as the manager. He brought us to this room and the next thing we remember is being woken up here by Agent Sachs."
Fornell said, "Testidori doesn't want us interfering. They must have followed the GPS signal like we did."
"Where's the maid, Maria?" Gibbs asked. "Ziva, find her."
McGee and Ziva left the small room in search of housekeeping. "What if she has left for the day?"
"Then we go to her house," McGee said, always the pragmatist.
They finally located her in a small break room, being comforted by another, much older, woman.
"Maria?" Ziva asked.
"Si, senorita."
Ziva flashed her badge and said, "I'm Agent David, this is Agent McGee, and we're with NCIS. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?"
"Are you not with those other men?"
"What other men?"
The older woman answered, "The ones who threatened her?"
"No, we're not with them. We're federal agents investigating a missing agent and two missing children. We think you might be able to help us."
After she nodded, they escorted her to Gibbs.
"Ma'am, it's important that you tell us everything you know," Ziva explained. "Please don't leave out anything."
She nodded, almost relieved that she was in the presence of federal agents instead of the Mafia. She had grown up in New York and knew the mafia when she saw them. "I was starting my rounds this morning, like I do every morning, when I opened up a room that was supposed to be empty. I was just making sure it was ready for any guests that might arrive this weekend. I was startled to see it was occupied. I knew Mr. Wallace didn't rent it because he gives us a list of all rented rooms, and this room, Room 22, was not on it. But they were standing right in front of me. The man, I didn't get a good look at him, but he said he was with some agency and these children were in his protective care. He then asked me to do him a favor. He handed me his phone and said for me to call the first number listed and tell the man who answers that the children are okay. He said to do this at six o'clock and then to toss the phone in the dumpster out back."
"How did your manager get the phone?"
"I became scared. When I started to clean the room, I found bloody towels in the bathroom. The children, they look okay, so I didn't know where all the blood had come from. Maybe the man, I don't know. So I took the phone to my manager and gave it to him."
"Did they say anything else?"
"No, Senor. They just got into a truck and drove away."
"A truck?"
"Si. A white pickup truck."
"Can you describe it?"
She gave a generic description of just about any standard sized work truck that's ever made, but it was better than nothing.
"Can you show us the room?"
"Si."
A few minutes later, they were standing in room 22, looking at nothing. Gibbs inspected the bathroom, but knew he wouldn't find anything there either. Tony was the best, and he'd never neglectfully leave anything behind. Gibbs ticked his head and left.
Ziva thanked the woman and followed. "Now what? He could be anywhere within a two hour radius."
Gibbs rubbed his chin, thinking. That's true, Tony could be anywhere within a two hour radius, and if he stuck to his plan, which was to have no plan, he could effectively disappear in that amount of space. But he was running with two children, and that would mean that he had to have had at least a modicum of an idea of what he was doing and where he was going.
"Fornell, how hard would it be to blanket the area with FBI agents?"
"Not too hard, given the circumstances."
"Let's do it. Look for a white pickup truck."
TBC