Chapter 24

A/n Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. But not having computer access until I get moved has left me with little typing time. To make it up for it, I plan on getting another chapter up tomorrow. No guarantees but I will certainly try.

NNNNNCCCCCCIIIIIISSSSS

NCIS Building

Gibbs was still in shock about what he had just witnessed. He almost didn't recognize the man he was just talking to. He looked like his Senior Field. But he was in shock that the man he had trusted and worked with for almost ten years. At the least, he was hurt very much by what Tony had said to him. At the worst, he felt betrayed and was absolutely hurt by the man he also considered a friend. He was not looking forward breaking the news to his team. He knew that this would be so hard for Abby to take. She would be so devastated and crushed. He didn't know how to explain everything to them. He wouldn't be able to answers to their questions as he wouldn't be able to give them any answers.

Gibbs slowly walked out of the elevator and into the Squad Room. He was hoping to avoid any questions until had had the answers he needed. Gibbs saw all of them sitting in a huddle around one of the desks. He looked over at Abby, who was sitting in Tony's chair with his jacket draped around her shoulders. He was about to leave for a couple of hours when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Gibbs turned around to see his old friend standing right behind him. The look on the elderly M.E.'s face matched his own. Gibbs started to talk but Ducky put his finger up to his lips as a sign for him to be quiet for the time being.

"Jethro" Ducky asked "I am assuming that your talk with Anthony didn't go to well. I hope that you took my advice and allowed him to talk first without over reacting."

"I tried to Duck" Gibbs answered in frustration "But when I questioned him about what he had wanted to talk to me about, he just got very defensive. I tried to be very calm and encourage him to try and talk things out with me. All this made him just get angry and start to yell at me. He said some pretty terrible things. He openly admitted to the charges against him. When I questioned his guilt, he completely lost it and stormed out the door. When I asked him why he did it, all he said was that he did it because he could do it. Damn it Ducky, I don't know what to do. My gut is telling me that there is more than meets the eye here. Normally, someone commits a crime; they eventually have a good reason why they did it. And they also show some remorse. DiNozzo didn't show any remorse. It almost seemed like an act to me. Then as he stormed out the door, I could have almost sworn that he still had his gun and badge."

Ducky motioned to his friend to sit down. For once, he was at a loss as to what to say. Ducky pulled a chair up so he could again sit facing Gibbs.

"Jethro" Ducky replied "I honestly don't know what to say. This is so unlike Anthony. I would have never imagined that he would ever talk to you like that. Even when he acts out in frustration toward you, he usually comes back after he has calmed down to apologize to you. Jethro, I do believe that there is another explanation for his actions today. And it is up to you to figure it out. Now, I expect you to take fifteen minutes to go and clam yourself before speaking to the others.

Gibbs acknowledged what Ducky had said and agreed that it was best to do what Ducky had said. He decided that a cup of coffee and a call to Fornell was in order. Gibbs went down the elevator and out of the building. Gibbs walked around the corner and was surprised to see Agent Fornell sitting at a table drinking a cup of coffee and talking on a cell phone call.

NNNNCCCCIIIIISSSSS

Coffee shop near NCIS

Gibbs pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. Gibbs waited until Fornell was done talking before he started talking.

"Where the hell have you been" Gibbs demanded "I've been trying to get a hold of you for over a week now."

"I've been on a case for the last two weeks Jethro" Fornell explained "I just heard about Agent DiNozzo, and I figured that I'd find you here. So what did you want Jethro."

"Tobias" Gibbs asked "I need a favor from you. I need to know everything you can find out about FBI Special Agent Matt Thompson and Special Agent John Cooper. I also need to know if DiNozzo in the last year. And I need it right away."

"Jethro, I'll certainly do the best that I can. Everyone is being incredibly tight lipped right now. The last time it happened there was a mole in our undercover division. But like I said, I'll see what I can dig up. Again Jethro let me know if there is anything else that I can do for you." Fornell answered knowing that bigger things were going on here than he was aware of."

"Thanks Tobias." Gibbs said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

Fornell promised to keep him up to date on any developments that might arise. Gibbs turned around to head back to NCIS headquarters. He'd lost track of time and was sure that Ducky would most certainly come looking for him. Gibbs made his way up to the Squad Room. As he walked out of the elevator he noticed that his team was still sitting together and talking quietly.

NNNNNCCCCCIIIIISSSSS

Squad Room

Gibbs walked up behind them and pulled up a chair for himself next to Ducky.

"Ducky" Gibbs announced "Sorry it took me so long to get back."

"No problem Jethro. We were just sitting here discussing matters."

Abby pulled her chair up next to Ziva and McGee. Gibbs noticed that she still had Tony's jacket around her shoulders. Another glance at her showed that she was still crying and that her mascara was running down her cheeks. He was tempted to wipe it off for her like Tony would do. But he thought that it might upset Abby even more. So he offered her a couple of tissues from his desk. Stealing his resolve, he cleared his voice before speaking.

"I hate to have to tell all of you this but Tony left the building almost an hour ago. Now just listen before you say anything. He wasn't taken into custody but was released on his own recognizance. There's been a hearing scheduled for two weeks from now. Tony openly admitted his guilt to me and didn't deny any of the allegations made against him. When I tried to talk to him, he just got very angry and stormed out of the building. I don't think. Well I don't know what to think. I don't know why Tony did what he did. But I intend to find out and get some answers."

"Gibbs" Abby cried out "How could you have let him leave like that? You should have stopped Tony from leaving Gibbs. What if he never comes back? What if something bad happens to him? What if he gets hurt or something else terribly bad? Gibbs you have to find him now!"

"Abbs" Gibbs said comfortingly as he put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her "We will find him. I promise all of you that we will bring him back. Right now we need to get started. McGee and Ziva, I need you to put a Bolo out on Tony and his car. McGee I need you to check is bank and cell phone records. Then we need to go and check out Tony's place. Maybe he left some clues as to what is really going on here. So let's get to work here!"

Gibbs turned around to see McGee and Ziva still stand behind him.

"Uh Boss" McGee stated "Well, Ziva and I have already put out Bolo's on Tony and his car. I just got access to Tony's personal bank and credit card records. I am still waiting to get his cell phone records. I've programmed my PDA so that I will know if we get any hits using a program that I wrote. And there have been no hits yet on the Bolos that we put out."

"Good job you two" Gibbs announced "We'll leave to go check out Tony's place in about thirty minutes. And yes Abby, you can come with us. You are the most familiar with his place and would know if anything was out of place."

Abby hopped up still wearing Tony's jacket. She proceeded to give Gibbs a huge bear hug that almost knocked him down.

"Thank you so much Gibbs. I'll be back in a few minutes." Gibbs smiled as she ran toward the elevator and disappeared inside.

Gibbs noticed that McGee and Ziva were still working quietly at his desk. He had also noticed that his gear was sitting next to them. True to her word, Abby was back in less than ten minutes. She came hurrying out of the elevator wearing her gloves and her purse.

"We may as well leave right now" Gibbs announced impatiently "We can all ride together."

Ten minutes later they were on the road. They arrived at Tony's place in record time to Gibbs style of driving. When they got there, Gibbs asked McGee and Ziva to speak to Tony's manager while he and Abby went up to Tony's place to take a look around.

NNNNCCCCIIIIISSSSS

Tony's Apartment

Gibbs and Abby went up to Tony's place while McGee and Ziva stayed to speak with the manager. McGee and Ziva walked over to the front desk. The manager saw them coming and hurried out of his office to meet them.

"I was hoping that you would come by" he said anxiously "Tony came running in here earlier without saying a word to me. I tried to stop him because his neighbor had asked me to see if Tony could watch her place for a few days while she went to visit family. Tony said no and took off into the elevator. Tony must have left the building through the back way. I checked for him when he didn't come back out."

"How long ago was that?" McGee questioned.

"It's only been maybe a couple of hours. Is Tony in trouble?" the manager asked.

Ziva and McGee exchanged looks before McGee answered him "That is what we are trying to find out. We'll let you know if we find anything out."

The manager stepped back into his office while McGee and Ziva left to go up to Tony's apartment. The door was partially opened when they got there. When they walked inside everything looked fairly normal. So they proceeded to go into the bedroom that they both knew was Tony's.

"Hey Abby" McGee asked "Where are you and Gibbs at?"

"In Tony's bedroom" Abby shouted out.

Ziva and McGee walked in through the living room and into the bed room. It was a completely different story inside. Clothes were laying everywhere with hangers all over the floor. His large closet was wide open. And his dresser drawers were also open with the exception of the top one that was closed. Abby walked over to open it. When she looked inside there was some old t-shirts and two picture frames.

"Gibbs" Abby announced "I found two pictures in here of Tony and a woman. It was taken outside at night so I can't see the woman clearly. It's obvious that Tony clearly cares deeply for her."

"Abby" Gibbs asked "Where does Tony keep that digital camera that he was fooling around with at Christmas time?"

"I know exactly where he keeps it. It's in a drawer in his kitchen along with his tripod." Abby said as she hurried into his kitchen. She came back empty handed and shaking his head.

"It's not there" Abby said as a way of explanation "I searched everywhere but I just couldn't find it anywhere."

Gibbs walked over to Abby and put his hands on her shoulder. "It's okay Abby. Don't worry about it. He probably took it with him. It looks like he was in a big hurry to leave."

"He is trying to hide. Yes?" Ziva stated.

"Or he is running from someone." McGee added.

"I don't know what is going on here" Gibbs stated matter of factly "DiNozzo is not the type to run away unless he was in a lot of trouble. He must have felt that his life was in danger. But why didn't he come to NCIS for help? Do you know where Tony keeps his important papers Abby?"

"As a matter of fact I do. His safe is under some boxes in the back of this closet."

Abby got down on her knees and started to move some heavy boxes out of the way. She laughed to herself when she noticed how messy it was. Especially after she had cleaned the closet for Tony just a couple of weeks earlier. The safe was not there. She crawled around the closet searching every inch of it with no luck. "That is strange." Abby said to herself.

"It's not there. Tony always has it in the same spot. Well mainly because it is so heavy but also so it could be found easily. He must have decided to move it finally."

"Don't worry about it. Like you said, he probably moved it." Gibbs consoled.

Ziva and McGee were going through Tony's dresser. They were searching for clues when they found an envelope with all of their names on it.

"Uh Boss" McGee stammered "There's an envelope here with our names on it. This isn't good Boss."

Gibbs took the envelope and studied the hand writing. He finally opened the letter and started to read out loud.

Gibbs, Ducky, Tim, Ziva, Abby, Palmer,

I had to leave in a hurry. Boss, I'm not going to be at the hearing. The FBI will come looking for me but they won't be able to find me. If you come after me my life will be in danger along with the life of others that are very important to me. So I need for you to not come looking for me. Tell Abby not to worry. I'll call her to make sure that she is okay. I trust that she will understand my reasons for leaving. The rest of you don't need to worry about me. I'll be okay. Boss, I know what you say about apologies. So I'll just say sorry. Take care!

Love you all,

Tony

"Damn it" Gibbs yelled startling a sobbing Abby "We're leaving right now."

Gibbs stormed out of the apartment, almost leaving the other ones behind. They had to run to keep up with him. He pounded the down button on the elevator and finally paused to wait for the others. When they got into the car, Gibbs drove at breakneck speed to get back to NCIS.

A/n Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt a cliffhanger was necessary for this chapter. Answers are coming in the next chapters. I see about five or six chapters left. All will be revealed in the end. Thanks so much for all of the reviews and alerts. By the way, I am going to try and get another chapter of my story Gone up next week.

Sarah