Chapter 14

Gibbs gazed at the photograph for a long moment, then turned away and spoke into the phone. "That's him. We'll be there as soon as we can. What's the number so I can call the hospital directly?" He wrote it down, then hung up. When he turned he found the eyes of the whole room on him, all except Abby and McGee, who had returned to money tracking duty. Their attention, however, was split. "DiNozzo's been in a hospital in Wayne County since last night," he said, his voice seeming unnaturally calm in his own ears. "McGee, Abby, get that money back now." He turned to the director. "Jenny, that's a six-hour drive."

"I'll see if I can swing a helicopter."

"If you can't, I can," DiNozzo said.

"McGee, Abby, stay on the money. Ziva, Ducky, with me." Jenny was already on the phone in the elevator and by the time they reached the bullpen, she had a chopper landing at the helipad in five minutes. "Grab your go bag, Ziva," Gibbs ordered. "Ducky . . ."

Before he could finish Palmer ran up with a nylon duffel bag. "Dr. Mallard, is this what you wanted?"

"It is, indeed, Mr. Palmer," Ducky said, taking it. "Thank you."

Gibbs grabbed his own bag and dialed a number he'd had McGee program on speed dial for him. Dr. Pitt answered and Gibbs said, "We've found DiNozzo. Where are you?"

"On my way," Pitt said. "You only called me ten minutes ago. It's going to be a long drive, but –"

"Where are you?" Gibbs demanded, his voice a little more harsh.

"Maybe ten minutes from Bethesda. I had to grab –"

"Go back. We'll pick you up in twenty minutes. Be ready on the helipad."

"Helipad? I – why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Now is not the time for discussion, doctor," Gibbs snapped, wondering who the hell had called earlier.

"Right."

"Twenty minutes or less. The clock is ticking."

They reached the chopper and Gibbs turned to Jenny. "When he's got a minute, get McGee to dump Dr. Pitt's cell records. Someone called him ten minutes ago and told him where DiNozzo was."

"Son of a . . ." She cut off the emotional reaction and nodded. "Go. Keep me posted."

There were seats for eight in the chopper, and Gibbs made sure everyone was belted in and all the luggage was stowed before he gestured for the pilot to take them up. The flight to Bethesda was short and when they landed, Pitt was waiting. He climbed in and got settled in no time and they were on their way again. "Agent Gibbs, Dr. Mallard," he said. "It's a pleasure to see you both again, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

Gibbs nodded, and Ducky took it upon himself to make introductions. Ziva, Fornell, the DiNozzos. They had the usual brief discussion about the doctor bearing no relationship to the actor of the same name, then Pitt turned to Gibbs. "What do you know about his condition?"

"Not a lot," Gibbs said. "Who called you?"

Pitt stared at him. "I thought it was you. It was very garbled and hard to understand, but I heard your name, Tony's, and the hospital's name. I called them and told them I was coming, and got an update on his condition."

Gibbs waited for a moment. "Well?"

"If it wasn't you who called me, who was it?"

"We're working on it. What is DiNozzo's condition?" Pitt broke into a string of medical jargon. Gibbs held up a hand quickly before he was forced to strangle the man. "English, please, doctor."

"He's in the ICU," Pitt said. "From what they said, it sounds like he's got a bad case of pneumonia complicated by the damage to his lungs. They've already got him on a ventilator. I won't know more until I get there and review their test results. They don't have any experts in bioweaponry, so they –"

"Bioweaponry!" DiNozzo exclaimed. "Are you saying the kidnappers exposed him to something?"

Pitt shook his head and answered with more patience than Gibbs would have shown if he'd been able to speak. "No, sir, it's the remnants of the plague. He can't have a true relapse because the y-pestis had a suicide gene, but his lungs suffered severe scarring. The bioweaponry angle isn't all that relevant, truthfully, but it alarmed the local doctors immensely. I'm glad I'll be there sooner."

Gibbs nodded and sat back. It sounded like DiNozzo would be fine. He'd have no need to order him to live.

When they landed in West Virginia, Ducky and Pitt were met by the doctors. Gibbs let them go on ahead, and ordered Ziva to supplement whatever guard Sheriff Greer had put on DiNozzo. Gibbs and Fornell had their very own welcoming committee in the shape of Sheriff Greer. Gibbs was glad that the DiNozzos followed Ducky and Ziva.

"I'm Gibbs and this is Agent Fornell, FBI." Greer nodded to Fornell. "What happened, Sheriff?" he asked.

"That's a peculiar story, Agent Gibbs." Greer followed after the doctors and parents. Gibbs and Fornell walked with him. "Last night at around 2300 hours, a woman came running into the emergency room shrieking that her boyfriend wasn't breathing right. She led them out to a car, a blue '98 Honda Civic, and then, during the confusion of getting the man out of the back of the car, she disappeared. No one knew her, no one knows what happened to her, and she was wearing a hoodie so the security cameras didn't get much more than her chin."

"We'll want those recordings," Fornell said.

"Of course. So, they get him inside, and he's wearing a bathrobe and a blanket and nothing else, but in the pocket of the bathrobe is this note."

Gibbs took the plastic evidence bag from Greer and pulled his glasses out of his pocket so he could read the note. "These are drug names?" he asked, pointing to the Latinate forms on the top of the paper. Greer nodded. The rest of it read, "Severe pulmonary scarring." Gibbs handed it off to Fornell.

"They took x-rays and treated him accordingly, but I've got to wonder what kind of kidnappers drop their captive off at a hospital and give the caregivers information about his condition."

"I've got to wonder about kidnappers who essentially release their victim before they've got the ransom," Gibbs said, and Greer's brows went up. "They moved the drop time up two hours, but that's it. You may have a leak in your department because the call came in not fifteen minutes before yours did."

Gibbs half-expected Greer to growl at him, but he just gazed at him for a moment. "I'm looking into it," he said. "The papers around here always know more than they should, but this should narrow down the search because only a few people knew his identity."

"It may just have taken knowing you ran the fingerprints," Gibbs said. "Anything else before I get to my man?"

"Your man? Isn't this your investigation?"

"Technically it's his," Gibbs said, pointing a thumb at Fornell.

"Technically it's a joint investigation," Fornell said. "But the FBI is taking lead."

"Regardless, DiNozzo's my senior field agent. Is there anything else?"

"Once they got him stable, they realized that the woman was missing and they had time to look him over for problems other than the pneumonia. He'd clearly been beaten fairly thoroughly in the last few days, and he has ligature marks on both his wrists and his ankles."

Fornell nodded. "We've got video of some of that. It's not pretty."

Greer looked startled. "Well, with that evidence, they called us in. We took a look at the car and found two curious things. One, there wasn't a fingerprint on the damned thing, anywhere. If you look on the video, you can see the woman was wearing gloves. Two, there was a body in the trunk."

Gibbs and Fornell both stopped dead. "A body?" Fornell said. "What did he look like?"

"Big guy, dark hair," Greer said. Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out the photo of Thornburg. "Yeah, that's him. How'd you know?"

Gibbs looked at Fornell and they both took off towards where the DiNozzos, Ziva and the doctors were turning the corner up ahead. They reached the windowed room of the ICU and looked in to see DiNozzo lying motionless on a bed, his chest rising falling at a rhythmic, mechanical pace. He was pale and alarmingly still, but they were undoubtedly keeping him sedated.

The two agents and the sheriff drew aside after Gibbs had taken a long look at DiNozzo. "Has the body been examined yet?" Fornell asked.

"County coroner is on the other end of the county at the moment. She's due back tomorrow morning."

"Ducky?" Gibbs called. Ducky excused himself and came over.

"What is it, Jethro?"

"We've got another body for you. How did he die, Sheriff?"

"Gunshot wound to the head."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Ducky asked. "High caliber bullet?"

"Forty-four, forty-five, thereabouts."

"Damn it!" Gibbs muttered. There went the last person they had a real handle on.

"What is it?" Greer asked.

"We had him identified and were hoping he'd be able to lead us to his accomplices," Fornell said. "Now we're back at square one."

"Not quite, Tobias," Gibbs said. "We've got DiNozzo."

"If he lives." Gibbs hauled off and gave Fornell a smack on the back of the head. "Sorry," Fornell said, giving Gibbs an alarmed look. "Don't know what I was thinking."

"Neither do I," Gibbs said. "You want Ziva to help you with the car until some of your guys can get here?"

"Sure," Fornell replied, still looking at him warily.

"Do I take it you all are taking over my investigation?" Greer asked. He seemed vaguely alarmed by the interplay between the two agents.

"Yes," Fornell said instantly. "I'll take any evidence you may have collected and if you would please give Dr. Mallard access to the body?"

"Of course."

Gibbs walked back over and ordered Ziva to go with Fornell. Dr. Pitt was talking to a local guy and the DiNozzos were listening with earnest noncomprehension. Gibbs waited through a few more back and forths and then said, "And the upshot?"

Pitt turned towards him. "His condition is serious, but there's no reason to think he won't make a full recovery. I've got to look at some more test results, and there's a few tests I want to make myself, but I'd say he's very lucky."

"Can we go in?" Joyce asked.

"I'd like to do an examination first, Mrs. DiNozzo," Pitt replied. "After that it should be fine. Dr. Abrams?"

"I agree. This way, Dr. Pitt." They went through a door and a moment later Dr. Abrams pulled a curtain across to give DiNozzo at least minimal privacy.

"I'd say it's kind of weird," Sheriff Greer said. Gibbs turned to him in mild surprise. "I've got a deputy picking your people up to take them to our morgue," he said. "But tell me, Gibbs, how sure are you that your man isn't involved in this?"

"Are you suggesting that my son was involved in his own abduction?" DiNozzo senior asked, and Gibbs bridled at both men. He wasn't sure how DiNozzo senior would jump, and he was ready to lay them both out if they continued in this vein.

"It's not unheard of. I mean, do you give him any kind of allowance?"

"He's a grown man," Tony's father said. "He has gainful employment. Of course, I don't give him an allowance. He hasn't had an allowance since he was twelve."

"Plenty of rich kids feel like their parents owe them something. It's just . . . he was released before the ransom was paid and he was brought to a hospital. Even you seem surprised by that, Gibbs."

DiNozzo seemed to swell in indignation. "Number one, Anthony has a sizable trust left him by his grandmother, and that's on top of his job. He doesn't want for money. Number two, he has a profound sense of justice that would not countenance thievery or extortion. Number three, he knows full well that if he joined the family business, I would fund anything he wanted to do."

"Hey, it's just a possibility."

"No, it's not, and if you knew the first thing about my son you would know that. Incompetent, ignorant idiot. If I hear so much as a rumor of that scurrilous allegation, I will sue you, your department, and I will see to it that you lose your next election."

Sheriff Greer muttered some apologies and walked away. "What did he mean you were surprised, Gibbs?" DiNozzo demanded.

"It's kind of an odd thing for a kidnapper to do," Gibbs said mildly.

"Yes, it is," Joyce said. "Behave, Leonard." She walked over to the nurse's station, leaving the two men alone in front of the window.

"Ten years ago, I wasn't important enough in finance or the business community for my son's refusal to follow in the family business to make news. Now, all it would take would be a misstep on either of our parts for him to become front page chatter on the gossip pages. A rumor like that getting out . . . it would be devastating." Gibbs nodded mutely. "Trust is important in my business, I'm sure you understand that." Gibbs blinked. He'd thought the word 'devastating' referred to the effect the rumor could have on DiNozzo's son, not DiNozzo. "Furthermore, I suspect it would be fatal to Anthony's career."

Gibbs wasn't sure where he found his voice or how he kept his cool, but he managed it. "I thought you didn't approve of his career."

"I don't." DiNozzo looked at Gibbs frankly. "I have nothing against law enforcement, per se, though it isn't a career a DiNozzo should be engaging in, but, nevertheless, I don't want him to leave it because he's forced to. I want him to realize that following in his father's footsteps is worthier than leaving his family behind."

Gibbs didn't have anything civil to say to that, so he left it alone. Somehow, though, he didn't think that a man who forgot and left his son alone in another state had much to say about 'leaving family behind,' but engaging in a debate with him would not benefit anyone.

As soon as the doctors came out, Gibbs strode in. DiNozzo looked better than he had with the plague, but worse than he had when he'd come back in to work too early afterwards.

"I've never seen him look so ill," DiNozzo senior said in a hushed voice.

"I have," Gibbs replied.

DiNozzo sank into the chair beside the bed, gazing at Tony. "He looked worse than this?" Gibbs nodded without speaking, settling into a chair on the opposite side of the bed, away from most of the equipment and the IV tree. He'd spent a lot more time at DiNozzo's hospital bedside than his father had, and he knew the ropes. "Are you staying?"

"I am," Gibbs replied.

"There's no need."

"We're doing our level best to get that money back," Gibbs said mildly. "That could anger the kidnappers."

"Wouldn't a guard be outside the room?" DiNozzo asked pointedly.

Gibbs looked up. "I'm staying," he said. His tone was implacable, and he wasn't giving an inch. Nor was he about to engage in an argument with the man that would get them both kicked out. If DiNozzo wanted to pitch a fit, that was his right, but Gibbs wasn't going to play.

Though disgruntled, DiNozzo senior didn't seem to want to pursue the matter either. Gibbs used the bedside phone to call Abby to find out where they stood on the money recovery. "Gibbs, how's Tony?" she said before he'd gotten more than his identity out.

"He's sedated and on a ventilator," he replied. "He'll recover. Where are we?"

"So far we've gotten nine million back, and we're still working. Is he safe? Are you with him?"

"Right next to him, Abby."

"Tell him we're all pulling for him," she said.

"He's sedated."

"You never know what he can hear."

"You got anything else for me, Abbs?"

"Ziva's sending back some evidence, she says, but obviously I don't have it yet. I thought I could come out and see Tony when we've finished with the money."

"We've got to find out where these kidnappers are, Abbs. They could come back after him."

"You're with him, right?"

"Call me through the hospital if there's any more news." With that he hung up. "They've recovered nine million so far," he said.

DiNozzo Senior blinked at him. "I hadn't even thought about that since we got here," he said, sounding stunned. "But . . . nine million, you say?"

"They're still working on it," Gibbs replied.