Chapter 6
Tim came awake with a start. His face still really hurt, but he thought he might be a bit clearer in the head. ...and emptier in the stomach. He was starving. How long had it been since he ate something? Far too long. He was hungry and thirsty. He really was miserable. As he decided whether or not it was worth it to get up, he rubbed his hands on the ground and was surprised to find a few grimy quarters. Who would have dropped these here? When?
Well, meager as it might be, it was the first good fortune he'd had and so he picked them up and shoved them into his pockets. It wasn't much but it was something. And with that something, he should try to get moving.
With a sigh, he slowly got to his feet and still felt dizzy. He poked his head out of the garage and looked both ways. The alley appeared deserted. Good. He crept out and began to walk again.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
They pulled up in front of a row home that looked to be on its last legs. There were a couple of police cars there as well.
Gibbs got out of the car and strode over to the first officer he saw.
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," he said tersely, showing his badge. "What have you found out about Tim McGee?"
"Whoa. Why is NCIS here? It has nothing to do with Navy."
"Because he asked for us," Tony said, helpfully. "Tim McGee called and asked for someone to tell Agent Gibbs he was needing help. He's on our team."
"What was the name again?"
"Gibbs," Gibbs said, irritably.
There was an annoying pause while the cop looked it up but then he nodded.
"I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. I wasn't told about that."
"What do you know?" Gibbs asked.
"Not much. No sign of anyone in the house when we got here. Signs of previous squatters, but the house itself has been condemned for months. Probably should have been for years. The population of this area has been on the decline for a decade. No one admitted to seeing anyone or anything. No one was in the house when we arrived. Actually, we were just about to decide what to do next. If anything. We were considering the possibility that it was just a prank."
"Well, we know that McGee was here," Tony said. "Any idea how he got in?"
"Two doors. Neither of them locked. A couple of broken windows. Couple of windows just with plywood. Could have been any of those."
"Do you mind if we look around?"
"Knock yourself out... but not literally. Watch your step in there."
Gibbs nodded and strode forward, up the steps and into the house. Tony and Ziva followed right behind.
And when they stepped inside, they all stopped and looked up.
"Wow, nice skylight," Tony said.
"These homes must have been abandoned for a long time," Ziva said. "This type of damage does not happen quickly."
"Definitely not. Walk carefully indeed. This place definitely doesn't seem safe," Tony said. "I'll start at the back, Boss?"
Gibbs nodded and looked around.
How had Tim ended up here? Why?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim peeked out of another alley. The sun was going down. It had been a long, tiring, painful, starving day. He really wanted it all to be over, but it wasn't. Still, he had a chance now. Across the street was an old (and closed) storefront. But right in front of the storefront was a pay phone. What were the odds that it would work? Probably not good, but it was still there. He had to risk it. He had some quarters. He could try.
Cautiously, he walked out of the alley and across the street. He crept up to the old payphone, looking both ways all the time. A couple of people walked by as he lifted the receiver and stared at this strange man who was actually trying to use a payphone. Tim had to admit that it was very strange for him as well. He hadn't used a payphone in years. Still, this was what he had and he listened for a dial tone. He heard the tell-tale sound and was both shocked and amazed that it was functional. Quickly, he put a couple of the quarters in and dialed Gibbs' number.
"Please, answer, Boss," Tim whispered. "Please, work. Please, answer."
He listened to the phone ringing. Would Gibbs answer his phone when the number was completely unfamiliar? When he was at work? And probably in a bad mood...since he always seemed to be?
Then, there was a click and Tim nearly celebrated.
"Gibbs."
Tim wasted no time. He felt far too exposed as it was.
"Boss, it's me. I'm in big trouble."
"McGee? Where are you?"
"Baltimore."
"So are we. We're looking for you. Where are you?"
Tim laughed a little. "I-I don't know. On a street. At a pay phone, scared out of my wits. Boss, this is really important. There are two guys who attacked me and took me here. They think I took pictures of them. The pictures are on my computer at work. I was looking at them there and I forgot to take them home. You need to check them out, but I don't know if there's anything useful in them. I wasn't trying to take pictures of anyone. I was just... taking pictures!"
"Who are they?"
"I don't know! I really don't know. But they tried to kill me, and I'm terrified they're going to show up again after I ran away from them last night and, Boss... I'm really not at my best right now."
"Stay on the line. We're tracing your location."
"Sounds great," Tim said, but he kept looking all around him. He was feeling extremely unsettled at the moment. There were a few people walking on the street, but not many. A few cars on the road, but not many. He just didn't like it.
But then, he saw a car slow down and stop. He had no idea what car he'd been transported it, but he didn't like seeing a car slow down so close to him. Not at all.
"Boss, I think it's them. I think they're here. I need to hide."
"McGee, stay on the–"
"No, Boss. I'm getting out of here," Tim said, interrupting in his haste to get away.
"McGee! Don't hang–"
Tim didn't listen and hung up the phone.
Then, he started to walk away from that car as fast as he could without looking like he was walking away as fast as he could. He was just a random guy walking on the sidewalk, right? He kept glancing back over his shoulder as he walked, trying to be subtle but knowing that he wasn't really.
The car doors opened. Tim looked around frantically and saw another alley coming up. He started to run and darted into the alley as quickly as he could. He hadn't seen who was getting out of the car, but he didn't care. Instead, he started searching for a place to hide himself in case these were the people after him.
There was a small shed with a gaping hole in the back of it. The house in front of it looked very rundown. Possibly empty. That would do. He hurried over to the shed and climbed through the hole. There was pretty much nothing in here except some debris. Would they think to look in here? He had no idea, but he wedged himself into the darkest corner.
And then, he pulled out the gun he'd taken from them the night before. Maybe he'd been wrong and it wasn't them. Maybe he was safe enough here that he wouldn't need to fall back on using the gun.
He could only hope.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"McGee! Don't hang up!" Gibbs said.
Too late.
He sighed.
"Boss?"
"He hung up. He got spooked by something. Call Abby and tell her to find the location of this number," Gibbs said, holding out his phone. "Then, tell her to get on McGee's computer and find the photos he put on there."
"Photos?" Ziva asked. "From what case?"
"Not from a case. Just some pictures he took that someone thinks were of them."
"That's what this is about?" Tony asked, incredulously. "Some pictures?"
"Maybe. Call Abby," Gibbs said again.
Tony nodded and got on his phone.
"Abby, I need you to look up a location from this number," Tony said and read off the number on Gibbs' phone.
Gibbs looked at Ziva while Tony was waiting.
"Go tell BPD that we have a lead on McGee's location and we'll keep them updated."
Ziva nodded and walked over to one of the officers who had been about to leave. After a few hours of searching and gathering samples with not a lot to show for it, they were mostly prepared to write this one off. Gibbs understood why but they weren't stopping until they found Tim. He must be relatively close by. It was just a matter of where. However, Gibbs made the decision not to tell Tony or Ziva that Tim had not sounded quite all there. His voice had been a bit distorted and he had been slurring his words a little. If it hadn't been for the fact that they had found evidence of Tim being injured (and the fact that it was Tim they were talking about here), Gibbs might have assumed that Tim was simply on some kind of high or something. ...but it was Tim. It just really didn't fit with who Tim was for him to be talking like this in any other situation than that he was injured and under threat. At least, a perceived threat.
"Okay, Abby, thanks. Now, Gibbs wants you to get on McGee's computer and find some pictures that he took that might have the people after him in them." Tony grimaced and Gibbs could hear Abby's voice rising in melodramatic concern. "Abby, I don't know. That's all we have and if you can figure out who is in those pictures, it might help us find him sooner."
Tony looked at Gibbs and shook his head in irritation. Gibbs didn't blame him.
"Okay, good. Yes, we'll call when we find him. Bye, Abby."
Tony hung up.
"You did that on purpose," he said.
Gibbs just smiled a little. "Address?"
"Yeah. It was a payphone. A couple of miles from here. Tim went from a bad neighborhood to a worse one if he started out here."
Of course. Gibbs nodded.
"Let's go."
Tony didn't linger at all. They headed over.
"We have an address of a payphone that Agent McGee used to call me," Gibbs said. "We're headed to it."
"Where?"
"Two miles east."
The cops looked at each other.
"You'd better not go alone, especially since it's almost evening. Not a good idea to be in that neighborhood alone... especially not as law enforcement."
Gibbs just nodded and headed back to their car, Tony and Ziva following behind.
"Is he right?" he asked Tony in a low voice.
"Probably. These neighborhoods weren't great when I was here and there was nothing to indicate they were getting better... and a lot to show that they were getting worse. Figures that the Probie would end up in one of the worst parts of Baltimore... looking like he belongs in the suburbs."
"I am sure that McGee did not choose to be here," Ziva said.
"I'm sure he didn't, but it still figures," Tony said.
They got into the car and headed over.
Gibbs was just hoping that they'd find Tim alive.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim stood there in a silence so tense that he was ready to explode from the force of it. He just was waiting for something to happen. Anything. That was all he wanted. ...of course, he also wanted it to be something good happening, not...
"I know it was him! A white guy running into the alley. In this neighborhood? It was him!"
Oh, no. Tim was never so disappointed to be right before. The car he'd seen had belonged to his captors. And they'd seen him as well.
"Then, we'd better find him. We search every inch of this place. Every single inch, you hear me?"
"I hear you."
"Good. Get looking."
Tim felt his tension ratchet up by a factor of a million. Maybe two.
They were going to find him in here. He knew they were. He couldn't climb out quickly and there was no where else to go. He'd officially reached the point of making a last stand. That meant drastic measures. He clenched the gun more tightly in his hand. The first face that poked into that hole was going to get shot. No way was he going to let these guys get him. It was getting dark inside this shed, even with the hole in the back. Tim knew he'd be in shadow and thus harder to see. He'd be able to determine if it was someone he should shoot.
He could hear them searching, the sounds getting louder as they approached.
Closer and closer.
"Look at that!"
Tim swallowed, although his throat was so dry it felt like he didn't even have any saliva.
"I'm going to check it out."
"Just do it and quick talking about it."
There was irritated muttering growing closer and closer to the shed.
"He thinks he's so great. He's the one who lost him. Not me. I'm better at this than he is. So stupid. Check out the shed. Yeah. Check it out."
Tim started to raise the gun as the voice grew nearer.
Then, suddenly, there was a face looking into the shed. It took a moment, but his eyes fastened right on Tim...
...and he opened his mouth to shout.