Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply, NCIS is owned by other people, no copyright infringement is intended, no money is being made.
A/N: Many thanks go to my beta Rinne, for her patience; ZivaFan and ResearchGeek for their suggestions
Chapter FiveWhen Tony and McGee got back to the squad room, Ziva was sitting at her desk muttering curses at her computer. Gibbs was nowhere to be seen.
"How was your expedition to the bar?" asked Tony, stepping back in alarm at the glare directed at him by the irate woman.
"You don't want to know, Tony."
"I don't?"
Her gaze frosty, Ziva bit off her words. "No. You. Do. Not."
"Ooookay." Tony held up his hands in surrender, shrugged at McGee, and sat down at his desk.
Ten minutes later Gibbs strode back to his desk. "Find out anything new, DiNozzo?"
"Well, just that Petty Officer Turner and her co-workers had 'differences of opinion'; about what, we don't know. Yet. And that she probably didn't go out for a drink with a co-worker, her sister was too rattled and just assumed that." Tony looked at McGee and grinned. "And that I have a little girl who keeps trying to feed me."
"You know what they say," said Gibbs, "you can't fool children and dogs."
"Who says that?" asked McGee.
Gibbs looked at him. "Me." McGee looked confused.
Glancing cautiously over at Ziva, Tony said, "So Boss, any luck on your little excursion?"
Just then Gibbs' phone rang.
"Gibbs."
There was a moment of silence, then a male voice said, "My, Special Agent Gibbs, that's a very abrupt way to answer the phone."
"Who is this?" Gibbs demanded. The other three agents watched him curiously.
"I've been reading up on you and your team, Gibbs."
Gibbs signaled McGee to start a trace on his line. Tony stood and walked toward his boss' desk.
"You have, have you?"
"You've got quite a reputation, not only you personally, but your team. You should prove worthy opponents. Not like those incompetent FBI agents."
"I'm not playing a game with you."
The voice chuckled. "Well if you don't play the game, more people get killed. That's not really fair, is it?"
"Why are you playing a game? What's in it for you?"
"The thrill of the hunt, the thrill of being hunted. I guess you could call me an adrenaline junkie. It's your move now, Special Agent Gibbs. You're quite a few steps behind me, but I'll cut you some slack, you just started the game."
"I appreciate that," Gibbs said sarcastically. "How far behind am I?"
"I can't tell you that, that would be cheating."
"I'll cut you some slack."
A full-throated laugh came through the phone. "Excellent, you are going to be a good adversary. I'll be in touch." The line went dead.
"McGee?"
"Not enough time, Boss," McGee apologized. "We did get a recording of the call, though, to match up to other recordings."
"What did he say, Boss?" Tony asked.
"He's treating this like a game. Somehow, he knows all about us. We need to find out if anyone has been hacking into our systems. McGee, check that out."
"Yes, Boss." McGee started typing furiously.
"There's something else, isn't there?" Ziva's sharp gaze met Gibbs' impatient one.
"He says we're a little behind him. I'm not sure what he meant, but I think there might have been another murder that we haven't discovered yet."
The team spent the next few hours calling hospitals and local law enforcement agencies for any report of an injured or dead Jane Doe, to no avail. There had been three missing person reports concerning young women, two had been located and the status of the third was still unknown.
Late in the evening the squad room was quiet, illuminated by the individual desk lamps and evening lighting. The clicking of keyboards was the only sound in the room.
McGee was deeply engrossed in his task of checking the security system for the NCIS computer network when he heard the sound of coughing. He looked up to see Tony doubled over, his face red from the intensity of the coughs.
"Tony, you okay?" he asked with concern.
Taking a deep breath, Tony nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just swallowed wrong."
McGee looked skeptical. "You sure?"
"I'm sure, McGee," Tony said irritably. "Drop it."
"Okay," McGee put his hands up placatingly. "Don't bite my head off."
Tony frowned and rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired."
"Headache, DiNozzo?" Tony jumped at the sudden appearance of his boss.
"No, Boss," he replied. "Feeling good."
"You look like crap. How much sleep have you gotten the past few days?"
"I've been sleeping," Tony said defensively.
"Uh huh." Gibbs glared at the younger agent. "You remember what Dr. Pitt said about stress and being susceptible to lung problems."
"I'm fine, Boss, really," protested Tony.
"You are? Then why did you sound like you were coughing up a lung? Go home, get some sleep," Gibbs ordered.
"Boss, I'm just going over the personnel files for Petty Officer Turner and her co-workers. I think I found out what those 'differences of opinion' were."
He stood up and walked over to Gibbs' desk. "Six months ago, Turner filed a harassment complaint against a Lieutenant Andy Griffin... not to be confused with Andy Griffith, of Mayberry fame... and a Petty Officer Stephen Wakefield. Nothing ever came of those charges and according to unofficial notes put in her file for documentation purposes, she's been the victim of malicious jokes ever since."
"They're getting back at her for not being a team player," Gibbs said.
Tony nodded. "I've checked the medical records for everyone, and no one has a snake tattoo listed under distinguishing marks. So unless someone got a tattoo and didn't tell personnel, it looks like the disgruntled co-worker theory has been blown out of the water."
Gibbs nodded. "Check them out anyway, just in case they didn't update their medical records."
"Right, Boss." Tony turned to return to his desk swaying slightly at the sudden movement.
"Go home, Tony. "
"But Boss..."
"Now, DiNozzo."
Grumbling to himself, Tony turned off his computer, gathered his things and headed home.
"McGee, you should get some rest too."
"Boss, I'm running a program to check the systems for hacking, it should be done soon," McGee said. Gibbs nodded and returned to his work.
Tony opened the door to his apartment wearily. He was glad that Gibbs had ordered him to go home, but would never admit it. Yawning and stretching he walked through the darkened living room toward the kitchen and was hit from behind. He fell to the floor, unconscious.
An hour later a series of beeps sounded from McGee's computer.
"Boss, you need to see this," called McGee.
"What is it?" Gibbs went to McGee's desk and stood behind the younger agent's chair.
"Someone definitely hacked into the system and accessed our personnel files, including medical, education and service records. And," he looked up at Gibbs, "he has our home addresses and phone numbers."
"Get Ziva and Tony back here. Now."
"On it, Boss."
Gibbs called Ducky and Abby, informing them that he was sending MP's to stand guard over them.
"Boss, Ziva's on her way in, but I can't get hold of Tony."
"Did you try his cell?"
"I tried both his cell and landline. The calls went straight to voicemail." McGee looked worried. "Maybe he's sleeping really deeply? He looked totally wiped out."
"I hope so." Gibbs checked his weapon and put it in his holster. "Tell Ziva to meet us there."
"Um, Boss? She doesn't have a car."
"Tell her to take a cab," Gibbs said in exasperation. "She can expense it. Let's go."
To be continued…