DiNozzo, you are a slob."
Gibbs disgustedly surveyed the back seat full of empty coffee cups, candy bar wrappers and other assorted trash as he looked for clues to his agent's whereabouts.
"Boss, can I give you a hand?" McGee nervously appeared at Gibbs' elbow.
"Ya think, McGee?" the older man was snappish as he raised his worried gaze and stared down the probie.
Swallowing hard, McGee stood his ground. "Yes, boss. I can help process the car. I spoke to Mrs. Sandoval already."
Refraining from showing surprise at his efficiency, Gibbs held his gaze. "Okay, what did she say?"
"Uh, Mrs. Sandoval was getting ready for bed when she heard someone going downstairs, then about a minute later she looked out the window and saw Kate's car coming up the ramp. She says it caught her attention because Kate apparently doesn't go out much."
That gave Gibbs pause. Kate, whose looks made almost every man at NCIS stop in their tracks, including him, alone on a Saturday night?
"Boss, that doesn't sound right, does it?" Gibbs sighed at the sympathetic tone in McGee's voice.
"No, it doesn't, have to do something about that." He muttered, then louder, "And?"
"Right." McGee went on. "Mrs. Sandoval says that an old man or woman, she says it was hard to tell, came out of the shadows near the driveway just as Kate drove up, then stumbled. She thought the person was going to fall, then Kate got out of the car as if to help. She looked away for just a moment, then she saw the person grab Kate and push her into the back of the car, then do something to her. Mrs. Sandoval said she reached for her phone, thinking something was wrong, then saw the person get in the car and turn north, just as the security guard came into view."
Gibbs winced inwardly, what did the kidnapper do to make Kate go with him or her?
"I also spoke to Tom Jennings, the security guard. He confirms what Mrs. Sandoval said, as a matter of fact his 911 call pre-dates Mrs. Sandoval's. When he saw what happened on his surveillance camera, he ran over, but was too late to get more then a glimpse of the car driving off."
Gibbs nodded. "Okay, I want you to finish processing the area around the car, wait a minute…."
He spotted something white on the wet pavement near the driveway, and going over to the area where the assailant had apparently waited, stooped and picked up a soggy white paper.
"McGee, where did this come from?" he asked sternly, then squinted at the almost blank page as McGee shook his head.
"I don't know, boss, never seen it before. What's it say?"
Frowning, Gibbs turned it over and over in his hand, absent-mindedly running his fingers over the damp paper. It had a strange texture, reminded him of something...
"Some kind of note, the printing is all smeared but, hey…." Gibbs saw what looked like an address in Georgetown.
Suddenly it clicked.
"McGee, take this to Abby. I've got a hunch who's got Kate and Tony."
Puzzled, the agent hazarded a look at Gibbs. "You do, boss?"
"Yep, just got to find out where, and more importantly, why?"
Tony gazed worriedly at Kate as she was forced into a chair next to him. Watching mutely as a rope was looped around both of them, he felt her arms bound against his.
Abruptly he realized her fingers pressed against his for a moment, and he grinned inwardly.
"We'll get out of this." He thought, putting his hand around hers and squeezing back.
"I'm sorry to put you through this, but it's the only way to get my life back."
The grey-haired woman's voice was regretful, then hardened in tone.
"If Agent Gibbs cares as much for you as he does in solving cases…well, you'll be home in no time. All he has to do is make one phone call. If not….then we all suffer."
Tony heard Kate make a muffled noise, then he saw a small figure in the shadows.
"What are you doing down here?" Her voice was angry, then immediately softened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. Please go back to bed, I'll be up in a minute."
The figure retreated, then both agents heard a door close.
"See! See what I've done? I've never even raised a hand, let alone, well never mind."
Their abductor calmed down, then pulled out a cell phone and hit a number.
"NCIS".
"Agent Gibbs, please."
A moment, then a response. "Agent Gibbs is not at his desk, may I take a message?"
Pause. "No message, I'll call back."
As she closed the cell phone, the woman let out a deep breath. "Well, I guess you'll be here longer than I thought. That's okay, though. I've got all the time in the world."
As their assailant turned, Tony tried to get her attention. "Humph."
"Yes, Agent DiNozzo?" she came back to them, then untied his gag.
Coughing, Tony managed to clear his throat. "Could I have a drink of water, if we're going to be here all night.."
The woman shook her head, frowning. "I'm not that dumb, mister. You can have something to drink later. If you promise not to yell, I'll leave your gags off. One sound though, and I'll have to silence both of you."
Both Kate and Tony nodded, then watched as she turned to Kate and pulled the cloth from her mouth.
As his partner gasped for air, Tony watched their captor vanish into the shadows, then heard a key turn in the lock.
"Kate, you okay?"
Tony felt rather then saw her nod. "Yeah, you?"
"Well, other then having a great evening out with the guys ruined by being kidnapped…." He heard Kate quietly groan…"Tony…."
"Okay, so it was a rented movie and a pizza." He admitted, heartened to hear her chuckle.
"That's what I thought. Wait a minute…" Kate started wriggling her arms, then kept stretching against the ropes. Finally she loosened their bonds enough for her to get her hands near her pocket.
"What are you doing?" Tony wondered, then Kate whispered, "My cell phone, if I can just reach it…"
"Sorry, Kate, but you're wrong. "Casablanca is not the greatest movie of all time." Kate tensed, realizing Tony was letting her know their abductor was returning.
"Well, "Laura" is a good movie, but it's hardly a classic." She replied sarcastically, then stopped as the woman reappeared, this time sans grey hair and glasses.
Now Tony recognized her, and unfortunately, it all made sense.
"Let's try Agent Gibbs again, shall we?" She said, then hit the redial on her cell phone.
This time a familiar voice sounded. "Agent Gibbs."
"Agent Gibbs, I have two of your people. I like them, I don't want to see them hurt, do you?"
"Depends. Who do you have?" Kate almost grinned at Gibbs snarky tone.
"This isn't a game, Agent Gibbs. I'm going to hang up now." The woman huffed, then Gibbs interrupted her. "No, don't….are Agent DiNozzo and Agent Todd all right?" Tony heard the worry in his voice, and his stomach tightened.
"Hear for yourself." She held out the phone to Tony first. "Boss, it's Tony, I'm okay." He replied calmly, then watched as their captor pulled the mouthpiece away and put it in front of Kate's mouth.
"It's Kate, Gibbs. As you can see, I'm fine." She responded, then had the phone jerked away from her.
"Satisfied, Gibbs?" the woman said coolly.
"For now. Okay, what do you want?" Gibbs asked, anger in his voice.
"I want a truck at the back gate of the McHenry Stockade, filled with gas, at 9:00 tomorrow morning.
The vendors dock is to be cleared, and no guards or police are to be in the vicinity. A prisoner will exit the loading area and no one is to interfere with him. He will climb in the truck and drive away with no homing devices or tails. One hour after he leaves, I will call with the whereabouts of your agents." She added. "If anything goes wrong or if you double cross me, I will kill your agents."
"The government does not do prisoner exchanges when it comes to the military." Gibbs informed her. "There is no way my boss or any official will let me trade for my people."
Kate saw the cold smile on their captor's face. "They will, Gibbs. Especially if I promise to put each of them to death, very slowly, so you can hear them beg. I will call back in two hours."
She ended the connection, then stared at the two agents.
"I'm sorry, if he doesn't do this, I'll have to make other arrangements." The woman quietly responded, then left the room, locking the door behind her.
Gibbs stared at his phone. He knew who their kidnapper was.
"Damn."
He also knew there was no way he could trade for them. Just then Abby came into the bullpen, McGee trailing after her.
"Gibbs, we've got Kate's GPS signal. And," she beamed, "I know who's holding Kate and Tony."
"So do I." He growled. "Let's go get them."