4.
"Gibbs," the ex-Marine growled into the phone. "When? Tell me exactly where you are. Yeah, I'll find it. We're on our way." Gibbs slammed the receiver down into the cradle. "McGee, get the car gassed up. David, find out everything you can about Thomas Teasdale and get photographs of his daughter, Laurel. You've got fifteen minutes."
Tim and Ziva exchanged puzzled glances as they watched Gibbs trot to the stairs. Without looking back, he ordered them to stop lollygagging and get on with it.
Gibbs stalked into the lab, finding both Doctor Donald Mallard, the NCIS medical examiner, and forensic specialist Abby Sciuto looking over her latest battlefield recreation.
"Abby, we have a situation developing in Maryland. DiNozzo's been grabbed while trying to prevent a kidnapping."
"Oh, no. Poor Tony."
"Poor Anthony indeed. What can we do to help, Jethro?"
"I'm taking the car so we can get there fast. I'd like you and Palmer to bring the van, Ducky." Gibbs gave general directions to the restaurant.
"Of course, Jethro. I shall have Mr. Palmer prepare the vehicle immediately." Ducky left the lab and preceded to the morgue.
Abby pulled nervously on her black ponytail. "Gibbs, will they kill Tony?"
"I don't know, Abs. I'll need you to start running a trace on Tony's phone in case he gets a chance to use it. Check out the area near the kidnapping." He handed her a paper with the address written on it. "I'll be in touch."
"Bring him home," Abby ordered.
Gibbs nodded once. "Call me with any information." He waved as he left.
"You, too."
The drive to the restaurant normally took slightly more than three hours. With Gibbs driving at his usual pace, it took less than two. Even Ziva David was clutching the handholds in the backseat by the time they arrived.
Balancing her laptop computer on her knees, Ziva gave the results of her research to the two men. "Thomas Carlyle Teasdale, 42, billionaire who made his fortune in construction and advertising, now is in investments. Married at twenty, widowed at 40. He has two daughters, Clarissa Mae who is six years old and Laurel Marie who just turned eight. Teasdale is currently unavailable and out of town on a personal trip, no known location." Ziva handed prints to McGee and Gibbs. "This is the only known public photograph of the children, taken two years ago. Teasdale wisely keeps the children out of the press."
They drove past the barricades, showing their identification and badges at each one. They finally arrived at the restaurant, Gibbs parking near the front entrance.
As the three NCIS agents exited the vehicle, Timothy McGee paused. "That looks like Tony's car."
"It is," Gibbs said curtly. "He's been kidnapped, along with the older Teasdale girl."
Tim and Ziva stopped short, Gibbs striding past them to walk into the restaurant. He flashed his identification one more time to get past the layer of police surrounding Thomas Teasdale. "Mr. Teasdale? Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS. I understand my man was taken by the individuals who kidnapped your daughter?"
Teasdale shook the agent's hand. "He saved Clarissa from those animals. They drove off before he could save Laurel. Your man, Agent DiNozzo, was very brave. I hope I get a chance to thank him."
Gibbs grimaced. "I hope you do, too. Tell me about your daughter, Laurel."
"She's a pistol. A regular little tomboy. This was her birthday trip. Laurel wanted to learn how to ski."
"Who knew you were coming here?"
"Hang on a second. We're running this investigation."
Gibbs turned to the brown uniformed officer. "A federal agent was abducted. That makes it my investigation."
"Actually, Jethro, I believe this is my case," said a voice from behind him. "Kidnapping is usually the Bureau's bailiwick."
"Fornell." Turning, Gibbs glared at the FBI agent. Not wanting to conduct a turf war in front of civilians, he crooked a finger at his old nemesis.
Fornell willingly followed, in concurrence regarding keeping it a private discussion. That didn't mean he could resist a dig. "I don't think they have any elevators here, so where are we going?"
"Outside," the NCIS agent growled.
Fornell shrugged, signaling his fellow agent to remain in the restaurant.
Gibbs stopped out of hearing of the various people milling around the parking lot. His gaze landed on his missing agent's car and hardened. "They've got DiNozzo as well as Laurel Teasdale. I want in on this, Tobias."
"I heard that an NCIS agent was snatched, but I didn't know it was DiNozzo. What was he doing here?"
"Vacation. I mean it, my team will be on this. Ducky's on his way."
Fornell nodded. "We work together. That's acceptable." They walked back to the restaurant together. "You actually let DiNozzle go on vacation?"
"Yeah, big mistake. One I won't repeat." Gibbs spotted his prey as he stepped back inside. "Ms. Fishburne."
With a sick smile, Kathy Lee left her uniformed admirers and slowly moved to where Gibbs stood. "Hi, Agent Gibbs." She looked at the other man for support, but quickly realized he was cut from the same cloth.
"McGee, David, question the witnesses, find out what they saw. FBI agent…"
"Hawkins, Seth Hawkins," Fornell supplied.
"Agent Hawkins will speak to Mr. Teasdale."
"Yes, sir."
"Yes, boss."
"What happened?" Gibbs barked at Kathy Lee, not bothering to introduce Fornell.
She blinked, her lower lip beginning to quiver.
"Don't you even think about crying," he ordered. "Right now you need to help us find DiNozzo and Laurel. You can cry later."
She gulped. Considering the stories she had heard about Special Agent Gibbs over the years, Kathy Lee didn't want to think about what the man might do to her if she did start crying. Her Tony might think his boss could walk on water, but he had also let slip the man's notorious bad temper and what she considered physical abuse.
"Well?"
She sniffed delicately. "Um, we were heading to the ski lodge and I needed…I needed to stop and use the facilities. So we did. And I did. When I was, uh, done and came out, there were all these policemen around."
"How long were you in the bathroom?"
"I don't know. I had to, you know. Then I fixed myself up a bit."
Using his ex-wives as a guide, Gibbs offered an estimate. "About 30 minutes?"
Kathy Lee shrugged, tugging nervously at her bottle blond hair. "Maybe. It could've been."
"Then what?"
"I heard that man," she pointed to Teasdale, "talking to that police officer, Deputy Farris, about his daughter and a man who was taken while fighting with the kidnappers. That's when I realized Tony was gone." She frowned. "And then I called you."
"What did you see on the way inside? What kept Tony from walking in with you?" Gibbs asked, knowing his senior agent would normally be closely escorting his date, walking right at her side, helping her walk over and around any dangerous pebbles lurking on the driveway.
"I…I don't know. That was unusual. Tony just kept walking slower and slower. I couldn't wait for him, so I went ahead. I was just about to go inside when I was almost run down by those little heathens. Their father graciously held the door open for me. I walked straight to the ladies' room."
"He saw something, Jethro," Fornell said softly.
The NCIS agent agreed. "Something out of place. But why didn't he pull his gun?"
Kathy Lee really did feel like crying now. She mumbled a reply, hoping the two men wouldn't hear, that maybe they'd move on.
"What? What did you just say?"
She just wasn't having any luck at all. "Tony didn't have his gun. I don't like them, so I made him lock it up in the trunk of the car. I didn't even want him to bring the stupid gun, but Tony refused to leave it home. We compromised. As long as we were together, he would keep it out of sight, either in the trunk or his luggage."
"Son of a…" Gibbs glared at the quivering young woman. "Because of your stupidity, my agent had to try and stop a kidnapping unarmed."
Disgusted, Jethro stalked off, leaving Fornell to smooth any ruffled feathers. But since the FBI agent agreed with Gibbs, he wasn't inclined to cut the woman any slack either. "Stick around, Ms. Fishburne. We may have further questions for you later."