The man sat at the top of the hill, looking down on the path of destruction left by the SUV. The fire from it's explosion glowed against the evening sky, but he was confident that no one would see it. The ravine was deep and the road wasn't used tonight. The NCIS vehicle had been the only one to come that way all night. No, no one was going to come to the rescue of the hapless pair at the bottom, if they were still alive.

The man had his doubts that anyone could have survived the crash he witnessed. But he knew the people that Gibbs trained had a knack for survival. There just might be something left at the bottom at the hill. If there was, he intended to have some fun.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and shook one out into his hand. Lighting it, he inhaled deeply, watching the smoke curl up and become lost in the darkness of the evening. The question was: did he go down and check on survivors, or did he call Gibbs first? Taking another drag on his cigarette, he contemplated the question.

If he waited it might give any survivors some time to think they might actually get rescued. If they were smart and figured out they'd been ambushed, they might even try to escape. That could be fun, too. He'd always loved the thrill of the hunt.

And if they were dead, well he'd just scored the first point against Gibbs. Making his decision he pulled out his cell phone. He'd been waiting over 10 years to make this call.

Too much time had passed. Somebody should have answered one of their phones. Something had happened, he was sure of it.

Pacing restlessly, Gibbs decided it was time to do something. He punched the button that brought up Abby's lab.

"Abby," he barked.

"Hey, Gibbs." The music blaring in her lab was almost enough to drown out her voice.

"Would you turn down the music?" He requested, his voice sharp.

It must have caught her attention. Where itany other day she might have told him to come turn it down himself, today something in his voice made her reconsider. She glanced up at the monitor.

"Gibb's?" she asked, "What's up? You look worried."

"What, I can't look worried?"

"Well, I've seen you look angry, pissed, determined, but I don't think I've seen you look worried."

"Just turn the music down," he requested again, rubbing his head.

Wordlessly she moved to the stereo and turned off the music. "You just had to ask. What's up, Gibbs?"

"I'm not sure, Abbs. DiNozzo, McGee, you talked to either of them lately?

"Lately?" She shrugged. "Can we define lately?"

"Abs…" he started then stopped. Taking a breath, he started again. "Yeah, lately, within the last 20 minutes. That too hard for you?"

He knew he was being unreasonable, she didn't deserve it, but the worry was gnawing at him. He was hoping that she would be able to alleviate it.

"No, Gibbs, I haven't heard from either one of them lately. I might be having dinner with McGee later," she volunteered "when they get back from this witness thing. Is something wrong?"

"Not sure yet, I'll get back to you on that." He abruptly changed the subject, "What can you tell me about that uniform we took off our John Doe?"

She nearly danced to her table where she had the uniform spread out. "It's not anything special. Your standard marine uniform circa the Gulf war. You can tell that because of the distinctive chocolate chip pattern..."

"Abby," Gibbs cut her off.

"Yes?" She turned to look back at him on the moniter.

"Tell me something I don't know. I served in the Gulf war. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah, well," she shrugged, "there's not much else to tell, Gibbs. The uniform is clean, there's no fingerprints, no dna besides our John Doe's. Who, by the way,isn't showing up on any database anywhere."

"That's not what I wanted to hear, Abbs, but keep on it. Let me know if you find anything else." He severed the link and disappeared before she could say anything else.

"Sure, Gibbs."

She went to her own phone and dialed McGee's number curiously. There was no answer and after a few short rings it went to voice mail.

Gibbs turned from his conversation with Abby thoughtfully. The Gulf War, a John Doe in a marine uniform, Tony and McGee missing: it was all pieces to a puzzle that was beginning to take shape for him.

"Gibbs." Kate's voice jarred him, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Yes, Agent Todd. Any answer?"

"Not yet.' She'd put her phone on redial, and just kept hitting it whenever the phone went to voice mail. "Look at what I found." She had her computer up and was tapping the keys furiously.

He moved to look over her shoulder. "What have you got?"

"That address you gave Tony?"

"Yes?"

"I took it off your desk, and looked it up incounty records. It's been empty for over 10 years, vacant, there's no one living there."

Her words stuck him to the heart. The feeling that had been growing in his gut said that he had sent DiNozzo and McGee into a trap. This newest information just confirmed that suspicion- the smoking gun.

"Who's the owner?"

"I think it belongs to the county now." She tapped a few more keys, reaching out with one hand to hit the redial button on the phone when Tony'scell went to voice mail one more time.

"But the previous owner was one Leo Maxwell Morgan," she continued without missing a beat.

"What?"

She glanced back at him at the sharp exclamation. He was tense as a bow string ready to explode at any moment. His eyes were far away, seeing something that she couldn't even fathom.

"I knew him," he said at last, breaking the silence.

"Leo Morgan? You knew him?"

"Yes," with a jerk he broke from whatever hold that name held for him. He slapped the button that was the link to Abby's lab. "Abs?"

"Here, Gibbs."

"I want you to start triangulating on Tony's cell phone. I want to know exactly where he and McGee are."

"Sure, Gibbs, I'll get on it. You going to tell me what's up?"

"As soon as I know, Abby, as soon as I know." He took his gun from it's place in his drawer. "Kate, we're going to find them. Come on, you're with me."

"But, Gibbs, you don't know where to look for them." She had to run to keep up with his hurried stride.

"I know where they were going, Kate, and I know the way DiNozzo thinks, God help me. We'll find them if I have to send out the search dogs." She heard the promise in his voice and felt sorry for anyone who got in his way.

To be continued...