CHAPTER TWELVE

Racing back into the kitchen, Gibbs grabbed the Sig he'd put on the benchtop when he got home.

From the corner of his eye he saw Tony, his own Sig in hand, duck his head around the kitchen door and get off four or five shots before return fire drove him back. Gibbs took up position on the other side of the door and got off a few rounds of his own.

They both heard the heavy thump as another body hit the floor. For a moment the firing stopped. Outside on the porch they could hear someone moaning. Gibbs hoped fervently it was the delivery boy, still alive.

He caught Tony's eye and jerked his head at the door to the back garden.

Too late. The back door burst open as a bullet shattered the lock. For a moment there was silence as it swung to and fro on its hinges.

Then a disembodied voice made itself heard. "It's over, Gibbs. Give DiNozzo up now, while you still have a chance".

Through the ringing in his ears, Gibbs wasn't sure if the shout came from the front or the back. On balance, he thought the back. The distant wail of sirens told him neighbours had already called 911.

"Come and get him!" he roared. The answer was another crashing fusillade of shots. The kitchen furniture disintegrated around him. Too bad, he thought, I never did like those fittings. He reached up and shot out the light.

Almost immediately, a powerful torchbeam spotlighted them, but no further shots were fired.

"Who the hell are you?" Gibbs yelled, hand in front of his face to block out the light.

"Oh, I think you know", came the mocking voice. The sirens grew louder. "Here's a tip, Gibbs – when you're out to hide someone, don't have your tame doc do a housecall. Now give us DiNozzo or you're both dead".

"Come and get him!" Gibbs yelled again, but beside him, a second voice drowned him out.

"OK!" Tony shouted. "I'm here! I'll come out now, but let Gibbs go!"

"DiNozzo, no! You hear me? No!"

Tony ignored Gibbs and threw down his weapon. It clattered across the kitchen floor to the door.

"And the other one, DiNozzo!" Tony felt for his ankle holster and freed his backup, which joined his Sig on the floor. "Yours too, Gibbs". Slowly, Gibbs did the same.

"Let Gibbs go!" Tony shouted again. "You've got me, I'm the one you want". He stepped out into the middle of the kitchen and started toward the door, his hands held high and clear of his body.

"Oh, I don't know, a two-for-one has its charms. I think ..."

The sound of sirens turning into the street cut off whatever it was their hidden assailant thought. Gibbs threw himself to the floor a second before a shotgun blast tore into the wall where he'd been standing. The last he saw of Tony as he fell was the butt of a gun crashing down on his head as he was manhandled out through the back door.

When his head cleared and his ears stopped ringing, the room was full of police, but Tony and his captors were gone. Gibbs broke all records hitting the speed dial on his phone.