Chapter Ten: The Second B
"Hello, Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs leaned closer to Tony and tilted the phone so he could hear as well until Tony reached over and pushed the button that activated the speaker phone.
"Suffolk County isn't Leavenworth," the distorted voice said, "but it's a start."
"Who is this?" Gibbs asked.
"Who isn't important, Agent Gibbs. I'd tell you but that wouldn't be in my best interest."
"What about the best interest of all the people you've blown up this week?" Gibbs asked. "Or are you only concerned with your best interest?"
"Gotta look out for number one, now that my brother's gone."
"What happened to him?" Gibbs asked curiously.
"I didn't call to talk about him, Agent Gibbs."
"What did you call to talk about?" Gibbs' voice was patient despite wanting to crawl through the phone, wrap his hands around the man's neck and not let go until all the life left his body.
"Nothing, really. I just wanted you to know that I'm still here, still watching, still hunting."
"You son of a bitch! If you lay one single finger on—" Before Gibbs could complete his thought the phone went dead and in his anger Gibbs threw it across the room where it bounced off the wall before landing on the floor with a thud. The sharpness of the move had him wincing in pain as the cut on the right side of his chest was jostled without regard for his injury.
"Hey, easy," Tony said when he noticed. His hand found Gibbs' shoulder and he did his best to steady the man. He was pissed too but it appeared Gibbs needed a turn to be the broken one. Tony would be strong and allow him the moment he needed to fall apart. "Ready to get your weapon out and go shoot at the sky or something?" Tony understood Gibbs' frustration. It was everyone's frustration. It was just overwhelming them at different times and manifesting itself in different ways.
"This guy better hope I don't get my hands on him," Gibbs growled, holding both hands out in front of him as if he were waiting for their perp's neck to appear so he could strangle the man.
Tony gently held onto both of Gibbs' hands and watched the man until their eyes met and he could both see and feel Gibbs calm. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
"I'm done," Gibbs replied.
"Done?"
"I'm done sitting on the sidelines. Done moving from safe house to safe house when he already knows where we are. Damn it, I'm done letting him have all the control."
"I'm with you, Boss," Tony said. "What do we do?"
Gibbs carefully touched the cut on his chest. "Did I pull any stitches?" he asked.
Tony inspected the wound and shook his head. "No, you're good."
"We head back to the city," Gibbs said. "It's time we pay Fornell another visit."
Gibbs had calmed slightly by the time they reached the conference room where they'd been instructed to wait for Fornell. The FBI agent turned up shortly after they did with breakfast from Elaine. This time Gibbs' favorite waitress had sent over stuffed French toast topped with blueberries and strawberries and she'd sent along an entire spray can of Redi-Whip and a jug of warmed syrup. The group stared at the meal with disinterest except for the coffee that was snatched up immediately.
Before Gibbs could go off on Fornell, Fornell started going off. His anger and frustration over the situation matched everyone else's and it appeared he'd been holding it in until he exploded. Instead of giving his friend a piece of his mind, Gibbs found himself attempting to calm Fornell down.
"He's kicking our asses, Jethro!" the man all but yelled. "You guys are injured and the ones getting bounced around but nobody's getting any sleep and I don't think any of us feel safe. How the hell are we supposed to get ahead of this guy when he drains us mentally and physically? We can't even catch up with him! That's not even fair to say to you guys. Son of a bitch."
"I know," Gibbs replied, sharing in the FBI agent's frustration. "College kid offer any more leads?"
"We checked out the screen name of the person he'd been chatting with but the only thing we've found was that whoever it was that was using that screen name had tapped into the library's public wifi. We've got all the security footage but it's another needle in a haystack. This guy could be any one of thousands of people using their own laptop, tablet, phone, library computer—hell, he could've been sitting out front using some device with internet access and not even be on camera."
"So we've still got nothing," Tony pointed out.
"We're running faces through a facial recognition program and the librarians are cooperating with us but it'll take months to track everyone down."
"Delivery boy get paid?" Gibbs asked.
"Not a dime," Fornell answered. "Wouldn't mind if he was though. It'd be nice to have a financial trail to follow. Kid's just happy to be avoiding jail time."
"He dodged a bullet. You charging him?"
"Nah. He cooperated. There're worse crimes than stupidity."
"Um, guys," Abby interrupted. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Abby who was sitting at the table with her laptop in front of her. "We have a problem here."
"What is it, Abs?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, maybe Agent Fornell should wait outside," Abby said.
"Abs."
"Do I get immunity?" Abby asked.
"Sure," Fornell replied sardonically. "Just, out with it already, Abby."
"I, um, I've been working on hargaprewain into the FBI database," Abby mumbled cautiously.
"You what?" Gibbs asked.
"Hacking, Gibbs. I've been hacking. Alright? I said it. I've been working on hacking into the FBI database to get access to the personnel files of the sketchy agents on Tony's list."
"What?!" Fornell asked incredulously. "Sketchy agents? Hacking?!"
"What'd you find?" Gibbs interrupted.
"Someone else already hacked in. They've been accessing everything that has anything to do with this case. It's gotta be our perp. That's how he's known where we've been the whole time and that's how he got the number to Gibbs' burn phone."
"That's why he hasn't been messing with Ducky or McGee or Bishop," Fornell said, letting go of his earlier anger. "We never put them in our system."
"He probably doesn't know we split up," Tony said. "He thinks we're all together so he didn't bother looking for them."
"That's how he's been able to stay one step ahead of us," Gibbs said.
"Can you back trace the connection and figure out where he is?" Tony asked, looking over Abby's shoulder.
Abby's fingers moved furiously over the keyboard as she searched for the man who'd been taunting and tormenting them. "Got his IP address," she reported. "He's online now."
"Where?" Jimmy asked excitedly.
"Wait for it," Abby said. "Wait for it." The computer dinged and a series of numbers and codes popped up. After pressing a couple more buttons, a map with an arrow on it appeared. "Right there," Abby said, pointing at the screen.
"Send those coordinates to my phone, Abs," Fornell said, already hurrying out of the room. "You guys stay put!" he called over his shoulder.
Gibbs watched his friend go then turned back to Abby and gave her a pat on the back. "Good job, Abby."
"Let's just hope he's still there when Fornell arrives."
Any thoughts of disobeying Fornell's order to stay put and following him to the address where the computer was located were squashed when Gibbs discovered the agent right outside the door assigned to keep an eye on them. He was still too sore and too banged up to be of much help anyways so he didn't push the issue and instead sat down to try to get some of the food Elaine had prepared for them down with the rest of the group.
"Anyone wanna bet on where they're gonna send us next?" Tony asked cynically.
"Home," Abby said hopefully. "Fornell's gonna bring the bad guy back with him and we're gonna get to go home."
"My money's on a house in Prince William County," Jimmy said. "Sorry, Abs, but this all feels too easy. Whoever's after us isn't gonna be taken down easily."
"Easy? He doesn't even know that we know that he hacked us or that we pinpointed his location and we're coming for him. He'll be there waiting for Fornell to put the cuffs on him."
"Gibbs?" Tony asked.
"My money's on another hotel," Gibbs replied after a moment's hesitation. He reached out and squeezed Abby's shoulder lovingly to try to ease the sting of disappointment.
"I just want this to be over," Abby said sadly.
"He's gettin' sloppy, Abs. He's leaving clues. We're gonna figure out who this is."
Abby nodded in agreement. "I'll narrow my search parameters to anyone who did time in Leavenworth. That should narrow things down quite a bit."
"After breakfast," Gibbs said. "You need to eat."
Their premium suite at the Embassy Suites in downtown DC was nothing compared to the room they'd had at the Four Seasons but it was nothing to scoff at either. The Embassy Suites was used as a safe house by Homeland Security and to further protect the team and offer peace of mind, they hadn't been put in any system anywhere. The only people who knew where they were, were Agent Fornell and the two FBI agents who'd been protecting them, Agents Mathers and Dawson.
They were put up in a two room suite, one room with two luxurious double beds and the other a living room area with a fully stocked bar, another Keurig—much to Gibbs' disappointment, comfortable seating and a large, flat screen TV. The room didn't have much of a kitchen beyond a mini fridge, microwave and the coffee pot but the hotel offered a full, cooked-to-order breakfast and an evening reception with cocktails and snacks and, of course, there was room service.
The team didn't care much about luxury at that point. They would've been happy at the rundown motel on the corner but they were hopeful the Embassy Suites would offer them some peace of mind and a chance to get ahead of their tormentor.
"I had my people make you a copy of the hard drive from the laptop we found," Fornell told Abby. "I thought we could bypass the felony this time."
Abby shrugged sheepishly. "I was just trying to help," she said. "I can't sit around and wait for this guy to blow us up anymore."
"For the record, we were looking into the dirty agent theory. I'd do anything to protect you guys."
"I'll be back in a bit, Gibbs said, walking from the bedroom through the living room, over to the door.
"Whoa, hold it, Gibbs," Fornell said.
"What?" Gibbs asked innocently.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To get coffee," Gibbs answered.
"There's a coffee pot right there," Fornell said, motioning towards the Keurig.
"That? That thing only thinks it's smart but it doesn't have a clue how I like my coffee."
"Jethro, it's too dangerous for you to be wandering around on the streets," Fornell said with a quiet firmness that he hoped would have his friend seeing reason and staying put.
"I'm not going out to wander, Tobias. I'm getting coffee. What's the worst that could happen? Perp comes after me, I'll bring him in for ya, put an end to this mess once and for all."
"You arrogant, stubborn bastard," Fornell grumbled.
"That's what the second B is for, Tobias," Gibbs said cheerfully. "And you can tell Dawson and Mathers to stay put. I don't need any babysitters."
"You want some company, Boss?" Tony offered.
"Not this time," Gibbs said with a reassuring smile.
"You're coming back, right, Gibbs?" Abby asked.
"I'll be back before you know it," Gibbs assured her and with that, he stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
Fornell paced around the room, swearing under his breath. When Mathers poked his head in the door, Fornell simply shook his, silently telling the man not to follow Gibbs but he couldn't decide if he should follow the man or not. He understood Gibbs needing space but a trip to the coffee shop felt like an unnecessary risk.
"He's gonna know if you try to follow him," Tony pointed out.
Fornell stopped pacing and looked at Tony. "You can read my mind now, too?"
Tony shrugged unapologetically. "I'm worried too," he said, "but Gibbs'll be fine."
"He always is, isn't he?" Fornell asked rhetorically.
"He's a United States Marine," Tony pointed out.
Fornell nodded and smiled uncomfortably. "I'm gonna go… do… something," he said before taking one last look at the team and leaving in a somewhat frazzled mess. He knew he couldn't follow Gibbs but he could sit in his SUV and watch until the man returned, just to make sure he was safe.
Back in the room, Tony flopped down on the couch beside Jimmy and turned the TV on while Abby sat at the table, fussing with her laptop. The change in scenery didn't even faze them that time. It was just another day in another safe house in their new normal.
Less than an hour after walking out of the Embassy Suites, Gibbs waved at Fornell who was sitting in his car watching from across the street before he walked back through the automatic doors and over to the elevators that would take him to the top floor of the hotel. Despite the chill in the air, it had been nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air as well as some time to himself. Between the elusive mad man after his team and everything that was happening between him and Tony, there was a lot going on and he needed time to get away and think but he knew staying gone for too long would be unfair to his worried team. All he needed was a cup of good coffee and an hour on his own.
After a short elevator ride, he stepped off onto the top floor and made his way down to their newest, and hopefully last, safe house and used the key card to gain entry. As soon as he stepped through the door, he could see that something was wrong and braced himself for more bad news.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's gone," Abby replied dejectedly as Tony and Jimmy looked on, neither of them knowing what to say.
"What's gone?" Gibbs asked. He leaned in behind Abby and rested a hand against her back.
"Fornell gave Abs a copy of the hard drive from the perp's laptop but the guy wiped it," Tony explained.
"Everything. It's all gone. Like gone, gone. It's almost impossible to completely erase everything from a computer hard drive but this guy did it. It's empty, Gibbs. There's literally nothing to find."
"Any chance Fornell's guys made a mistake and didn't get it copied right or something?" Gibbs asked.
"No," Abby answered. "I talked to his people while you were gone. They're running into the same thing with their copy so they got the original out and looked at it. The computer could be put back on the market and sold as brand new. Whoever this is, knows how to completely wipe a hard drive clean. That's no easy feat, Gibbs."
"Figures," Tony said. "Just when we think we're getting ahead, this happens."
"I was sure this would be the key to cracking this guy's identity," Abby said.
"Right back to square one," Jimmy added.
"Don't lose faith, guys," Gibbs said. "Every step is getting us closer. We just have to hang in there."