As he drove, Gibbs kept one eye on the feed from Abbey's lab. He was also careful to keep an eye on the traffic around them. It wouldn't do DiNozzo and McGee any good if the team coming to their rescue had to be rescued.
"Abby, what's taking so long? Why haven't you pinpointed their location yet?"
"I don't know, Gibbs. It's like the signal is intermittent. McGee's phone isn't transmitting at all."
Nobody even speculated as to the reason why that would be.
"Abby, are you going to be able to determine their location?" Kate asked in concern.
"Hold on, Kate," she said. "Got it. I'm feeding you the coordinates now."
"Great, Abs, thanks." Gibbs risked a quick glance at the map to see where he was headed. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw the coordinates on the map. Trust DiNozzo to take the long way around.
"Let me know what you find," she said anxiously.
"You'll be the first to know," he assured her.
Gibbs cell rang. Pulling it out he flipped it open. "Gibbs."
"There you are, Jethro. How you doin?" The voice was vaguely familiar, the tone implied he should know the identity of the caller.
"This is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, can I help you?"
"Now, Jethro, I'm disappointed. You don't recognize the voice of your old pal?"
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place and suddenly the picture became clear. "Leo."
"You always were too smart for your own good," the other man chuckled.
"You're supposed to be dead." He wiggled the phone to get Kate's attention. He mouthed 'trace it.'
She nodded and bent to work on the computer.
"Well it would seem that's wrong, Jethro, now wouldn't you say?"
"I don't understand, I saw your body." Gibbs flashed on the memory of that day from hell. He still saw Leo's body in his nightmares, the bullet holes spilling his blood out onto the Iraqi sand. It had seemed to disappear, absorbed by the moisture-hungry desert.
"Did you check it out for yourself, Jethro? Did you check my pulse, did you do anything?" There was scorn in the other man's voice.
"We were under enemy fire, Leo. Thompson said you were dead. We believed him." Gibbs could hear the gunfire, feel the heat, the damn sand got into everything.
"You left me there."
Gibbs didn't need to hear the accusation, he'd already figured that out for himself. "We came back for your body, it was gone."
"Oh, yeah, about that. The Iraqis found me. They've been keeping me occupied until recently. Thought I'd come say 'hi' to old friends."
"You left that body in the marine uniform," it wasn't a question.
"Oh, good you got it then."
The satisfaction in the other man's voice made Gibbs slightly nauseous. "Leo, this is crazy."
"Crazy?" the voice on the other end of the line was nearly insane with fury. "Crazy is being left for dead as bait for the Iraqis following us. Crazy is losing over 10 years of your life as a prisoner of war, a prisoner that no one even knew about. Crazy is losing your wife and son because they think you're dead. Someone has to pay for the time I've lost. And it's your turn to pay, Gibbs. I'm going to take away everything you care about, then I'm going to kill you."
Gibbs kept his voice calm, refusing to rise to the bait the other man dangled, "What have you done to DiNozzo and McGee?"
Leo chuckled, a low evil sound that sent chills up Gibbs' spine. "They've had a little accident. Didn't you know? You know those SUV's, they're really not safe. They roll and when they blow up, damn it's impressive. I'm thinking there probably aren't any survivors down there, but I'm going down to make sure." The false sympathy dripped from Leo's voice. "I'll let you know what I find."
"Leo!"
"Talk to you later, Gibbs."
"If you hurt them…" Gibbs was left holding his phone when the line went dead. "Kate?"
"Got him, Gibbs," she assured him. "He's on a cell, but...his location is almost on top of Tony and McGee."
Grimly, Gibbs drove into the night. He intended to arrive in time to do more than collect the bodies of his agents.
Leo might not have been dead in Iraq, and Gibbs truly regretted the tragedy of that.
But if he hurt Dinozzo and McGee he was going to be dead in the here and now.
Leo stumbled down the hill, following the path of destruction left by the SUV.
Damn but it was good and mangled. He surveyed the wreckage with the satisfaction of an artist. Careful of the still smoldering mass he checked inside. There were no bodies, no charred carcasses, no sign of victims of any kind.
While it was a little disappointing that he couldn't call Gibbs then and there and tell him the fate of his men, he was pleased that the game would continue.
At least for a little while longer.
He scouted the area and found the place where the two agents had lain, the ground still warm. He judged it hadn't been long since they had left. Studying the tracks carefully, he smiled in malicious pleasure. At least one was injured by the halting steps and the uneven prints he found.
Things were just getting better and better. He was going to have fun tracking and killing these two. Then he'd find Gibbs and hand him the bodies of the men under his command before he killed him.
Revenge was sweet.
It was all he had left.