Chapter 4 – Following the Brew
Jimmy Palmer met the others in the lab, quickly and willingly relieving Abby of her small charge. Tim smiled briefly at him, gratitude reflected in his eyes. "Thanks, "Uncle" Jimmy," he said quickly, as he headed towards one of Abby's lab computers.
"I'm all caught up in autopsy, until Dr. Mallard returns," Jimmy shrugged. "I thought maybe I could help here."
Tony and Ziva quickly set up shop at one of the other computers. "Now, how do you turn this thing on again?" Tony teased, a gleam in his eyes. Abby glared at him briefly, then rolled her eyes at him. "You wiggle the mouse." Tony winked at her, then proceeded to launch the GPS tracking program.
"Jimmy, you got Ducky's cell number?" Jimmy turned his attention from Caitlin, over to Tony. "Yeah, lemme think a second… uh… 555-1909." Tony's fingers tapped the keys of the keyboard, then he waited as the tracking program went to work. He frowned at the screen suddenly. "Now, this can't be right," he muttered. Tim raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"
"According to this, Ducky's in the building. General direction of Autopsy." They glanced at Jimmy, who only gave them a shrug and a helpless look. "Maybe he forgot his phone? I'll go check," he said, turning to leave. "C'mon Caitlin," he whispered to the dozing baby resting against his shoulder. "Let's go for a little walk." Abby smiled at him as he exited through the doors. "He looks good with a baby in his arms," she observed, "just like you do, Hon." Tim's eyes shone briefly as he glanced at his wife, and he shook his head slightly and smiled softly. "Gibbs' phone definitely isn't in this building," he said, turning his attention back to the computer screen in front of him.
"Looks like he's just a few blocks away, according to this," he continued. "But that can't be right. It's in the opposite direction of his usual coffee shop."
Abby took on a thoughtful look. "Maybe he and Duckman decided to try somewhere new? Isn't there a new little coffee shop in the area his phone is saying he's at?"
Tony studied McGee's screen. "Yeah, there is. Remember, Probie, we stopped there one night after work? They make a kickass latte."
Tim nodded. "That, they do. It's a little place, a bit out of the way. I think you were hiding from Faith. Crib shopping, I think it was."
Tony cringed slightly. "Yeah, it was. She did fine on her own, by the way. What do I know about buying a crib, anyway?" Abby made a face at him, disapprovingly. Tony blushed and turned back to Tim. "It's a privately owned shop, if I remember right. Not a chain, like Starbucks."
"Oh, HEY," Abby said, suddenly. "I know the place you mean! Tim, you took me there, on the way home from the hospital, with Caitlin. My first caffeine hit after she was born. Manna from heaven, I tell ya. I can't believe I forgot it was there." Her bright green eyes took on a slightly dreamy look. Tim's eyes grew wide with surprise as his phone suddenly rang.
He looked at the display. "Looks like Ducky?" he said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Agent McGee," he answered, cordially. Tony sighed heavily as he glanced at the doorway, and saw a rather unhappy and quite worried looking Jimmy Palmer, a baby in one arm, and a cell phone in his free hand, held to his ear.
"Guess where Dr. Mallard isn't," he said into the phone. Tim turned his gaze towards the door. "Damnit," he muttered, as he pushed the end button on his phone.
"I'll go check out the coffee shop. Oh, hey, I know why Gibbs might have gone there," Tony said suddenly. Tim and Abby glanced at him questioningly. Jimmy's brows furrowed slightly, then he nodded in comprehension. "Doesn't Agent Gibbs have a thing for redheads?" Tony winked. "Yup. The proprietor is a redhead. Older lady, maybe Gibbs' age." His eyebrows waggled slightly. "I'd better go with him," Ziva said, as she swung her head in that way she had, that indicated either frustration, or resignation, depending on the situation. Tim and Abby shared a look, shaking their heads, something that didn't escape Tony's notice. "Hey, I'm married, I'm not dead," he said, defensively. Jimmy grinned at him sweetly. "Better not let Faith hear you talking like that, or that "not dead" part can change fairly quickly. I can get you a great deal on an autopsy though." Jimmy couldn't help himself from winking.
"Point taken, Palmer," Tony said, as he and Ziva left the lab.