Drowning

Chapter 21

Ziva tapped her pen impatiently on her desk. She had arrived at work at 8.00am to find an email from McGee telling her he was in Abby's lab and that he would be back soon. There had been no sign of Tony, and there still was no sign, even though the time was nearly 9.30am. There was no message from Tony, on either her phone or computer. She had busied herself by again examining the files on Brogan and Partington. She felt as though she knew their details by heart. She also felt overwhelmingly anxious. Examining her own feelings, Ziva had to admit she was worried about Tony. Perhaps he had taken a 'turn for the worse', as Ducky would say. It was true that Ziva found her partner to be highly annoying and immature and petty and nosy and rude – but she was concerned about him and was tempted to call his cell. As she reached for her phone, Ziva heard the lift doors open. She looked up eagerly, only to be disappointed.

'Oh, it is only you,' she said.

'And good morning to you too, Officer David,' said McGee as he sat at his desk and began tapping at his keyboard.

'I apologise. I thought you were Tony,' explained Ziva.

McGee looked at her, puzzled.

'I know that you do not LOOK like him!' snapped Ziva, impatiently. 'I thought he had finally arrived. He is very late.'

'No, not really,' said McGee, looking back at his screen. 'He said he'd be here between 9.30 and 10.00.'

'When did he tell you that?' demanded Ziva, standing up and walking over to McGee's desk.

'He called to tell me last night,' said McGee.

'And you did not think to tell ME this?' said Ziva, her voice rising with annoyance and frustration. 'I have been sitting here imagining that Tony has been involved in a terrible car accident, or been shot and killed by some crazy person, or is desperately ill in his bed!' she exclaimed.

McGee looked up at her and frowned.

'You are one morbid chick, David,' came a voice that actually expressed McGee's thoughts. 'Although I am kind of turned on that you've been imagining me in bed,' Tony added.

The pair turned to see Tony arriving with Gibbs. Their boss looked, miraculously, pretty much like he usually did except that he was moving slowly and was a couple of shades paler. McGee watched, open-mouthed, as Tony pulled Gibbs' chair away from his desk and tried to help as Gibbs lowered himself gingerly onto the chair.

'Close your mouth, Probie,' said Tony as he stood beside Gibbs. 'It's not a good look.'

'You didn't say you were bringing Gibbs,' said McGee, accusingly.

'I said I'd be late in because I was bringing someone with me,' said Tony defensively.

'Yes, you did. But I assumed you were picking up Vay or someone else related to the case,' said McGee, clearly put out and sounding petulant.

'Now,' said Tony, sternly, 'making assumptions is just about as bad as believing in co-incidences, isn't it Boss. Don't you have a rule that covers assumptions?'

'No,' said Gibbs, glaring at McGee, 'but I'm about to make a rule about pointless conversation and talking about me as if I'm not in the room.'

'We are just surprised – and pleased – that you are out of the hospital so quickly,' said Ziva, diplomatically.

'Doc says I'm fine to observe and supervise,' said Gibbs. 'No active duty yet. I can live with that. Dinozzo, if you don't stop hovering I'll have Ziva head-slap you!'

Tony quickly stepped away from Gibbs and sat at his own desk.

'Better,' said Gibbs, trying to be stern. Privately, he had been impressed and touched by Tony's attentiveness that morning. He'd brought in Gibbs' clothes, arranged the necessary paperwork at the hospital and helped him in and out of the car. He would have trusted few other people besides Tony to do that for him.

'Report,' was Gibbs' next instruction.

'Ah, surveillance still in place at Brogan's, Partington's and Vay's residences,' said McGee. 'Nothing unusual reported so far.'

'No,' said Ziva. 'In fact, there has been NO movement. The Partingtons have not left their house at all and have had no visitors. Brogan has not returned to his miserable residence. Madame Vay has had some customers, but she has not left.'

Tony pondered this before he was interrupted by the ringing of his desk phone.

'Dinozzo…….When?..............Where is she now?............Keep your post.'

He replaced the receiver and looked over at the expectant faces of Ziva, McGee and Gibbs.

'Partington's mother left the house fifteen minutes ago,' he explained. 'She drove directly to the closest Alliance Bank, went in, came out, and drove directly home again. Collins said she looked tense.'

'McGee – ' began Gibbs.

'On it Boss,' said McGee. 'Contacting the bank to get details of the transaction.'

Gibbs grunted in satisfaction and leaned back in his chair. Apart from a dull ache in his chest, he felt okay, especially now that he was back in the office and back on the case. He caught Tony casting a concerned look in his direction. Gibbs flashed his senior field agent a brief smile to signal he was fine. He needed Tony to focus on the case instead of him.

'Boss,' said McGee. 'Mrs. Partington just withdrew $200,000 in cash. We could be looking at a ransom situation.'

'Ya think, McGee?' said Gibbs, sarcastically.

'They have been waiting until the investigation is called off,' mused Ziva, thinking out aloud. Gibbs looked across at Tony who seemed to be deep in thought.

'It's not enough,' said Tony, suddenly.

'Tony, it's 200 grand!' exclaimed McGee. 'That's hardly a small amount of money.'

'It's not chicken feed, but it's not enough,' persisted Tony. 'The Partingtons are from old money. I grew up in a house like theirs. I'd bet you couldn't buy their antique cutlery set with your annual income, Probie. If someone's demanding a ransom, they'll be asking for more than 200,000.'

Ziva regarded Tony with interest. She had heard that Tony came from a very rich family, and his taste in clothes was certainly expensive. Yet he worked in law enforcement and spoke little of his family. It was intriguing.

'Check recent transactions,' Gibbs instructed McGee who quickly resumed contact with the bank. After an exchange, McGee excitedly turned back to his colleagues.

'$200,000 has been withdrawn on five separate occasions recently,' he announced. 'A million in cash. That's a big ransom demand.'

'My parents would have had the kidnapper eliminated before paying such a ransom or ANY ransom,' said Ziva. 'Giving in to such demands just encourages more kidnappings amongst wealthy people.'

'I guess that's one of the risks of being filthy rich,' said McGee. 'Any kidnappers try to get ransom money out of YOUR parents, Tony?'

The younger agent had asked the question out of the blue. If he had seen it coming, Gibbs would have cut him off. He didn't know many details, but he did know that Tony's childhood was a touchy subject.

'Would have been no point,' Tony said, wryly. 'Kidnappers do their homework. They would have worked out they wouldn't have got one Dinozzo cent. If Brogan has Partington, he's confident her parents actually want her back and they have the money to pay.'

Gibbs sent McGee a glare to silence further personal questions, but Tony was already reaching for his jacket and weapon.

'Where do you think you're going?' Gibbs asked him.

'To the Partington house to relieve Collins and Baker,' said Tony. 'They've been there all night. A million bucks is a nice round number. Probably won't be long before Partington's parents are sent instructions.'

'McGee and Ziva will go,' Gibbs told Tony. The weather conditions had deteriorated. He wasn't comfortable having an agent on antibiotics for a possible chest infection spending the better part of a freezing day waiting around in a car. McGee and Ziva stood up.

'Now, hang on!' objected Tony, causing McGee to sit down again. 'I'm still the senior agent on this case. I've had direct experience with Brogan. It should be me with Ziva or McGee on watch.'

'You shouldn't go and you're not going,' said Gibbs, his tone even. McGee stood up again.

'You shouldn't even be out of hospital,' countered Tony. 'Technically, you haven't got the authority to make decisions.'

McGee sat down again and looked nervously over at Ziva. He didn't really want to witness a pissing match between Tony and Gibbs. Ziva, however, was fascinated.

Gibbs toyed with the idea of quoting a whole lot of rules and giving Dinozzo a blast for impertinence, but he was pretty fatigued and he wasn't convinced that approach would work anyway. Tony had done a good job. He didn't really deserve being verbally cut down in front of the team.

'Technically,' said Gibbs, quietly, 'I've been released into your care, Dinozzo. If you go off on surveillance duty, who knows how long you'll be gone. Didn't you offer me your spare room?'

Tony mentally head slapped himself and felt the indignation of having Gibbs over-rule him leave his body. Gibbs was right.

'Probie, Ziva. Head down to the Partington house,' instructed Tony. 'Any movement from them, any visitors, any sign of Brogan, call me on my cell.'

McGee hesitated for a moment before nodding and hurrying away with Ziva.

………………………………………..

Madam Vay sat at her table. She had put up the 'Closed' sign in her window to allow herself some private time. She studied the cards that lay before her. She was pleased to see the Three of Swords that signified that a difficult situation was finally coming to an end. It had been a very difficult situation. She wondered how much pain would come with the ending, but it not matter. She had yearned for the end, regardless of the consequences. What concerned her about the reading, however, was the suggestion of something unexpected and unanticipated occurring. There was also a suggestion of betrayal. Frowning, she gathered the cards together, put them away and went about her business.

………………………………………

Thank you to everyone for their patience and their reviews. I do try to reply to the reviews, but sometimes I don't get around to replying to all of them. Suffice to say that I'm really glad that people are liking the story. And thank you for all the PM's about recent events here. I believe all Victorians have been changed by this terrible thing.

Zan XX