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Chapter IV - Rule #44


Tony and Ziva sat in the living room with Anthony as they silently waited for their long time friend and colleague, Team Lead, Special Agent Tim McGee to arrive. After they called all of Tali's friends and their parents but found themselves hitting a brick wall, they closed the door to Tali's room and came to the unsettlingly conclusion that she'd gone missing. They called McGee shortly after to bring his team and equipment to the house without giving him any details. It had taken a few hours for the team to arrive as they had a rare weekend case, but eventually they heard the lock on the front door turn as McGee used his spare key to enter the house.

"Sorry we took so long, you guys would not believe how ...", McGee paused at the threshold when he noticed Ziva holding Anthony with tears in her eyes. "What's going on boss", the agent asked Tony apprehensively as he fully entered the living room with Agents Bishop and Torres behind him.

Tony stood up quietly and motioned for them to follow him upstairs. Ziva stayed seated in a trance with their youngest child. Once they reached Tali's bedroom door he turned to them and spoke, "I need you to process a crime scene. This stays between us. I didn't call you guys as your boss, I called as your friend who needs answers."

McGee looked Tony directly in his eyes. What he saw was something he hadn't seen since over 14 years ago when Ziva had been pronounced dead in Israel. He saw genuine pain mixed with anger and confusion. "Whatever you need Tony, we've got this."

Tony nodded and opened the door. "Bishop, there's blood in the closet, use the field tester to search it against Tali's blood." He spoke almost robotically. Bishop hesitated but, after getting an indifferent nod from McGee, she did as requested. "Torres?"

"Yes sir?" Torres stepped up next to him.

"Tali's windows are locked, I checked them when we first came in here, but check again to make sure there isn't a possibility that the locks could be faulty by slamming or something."

"Got it."

What happened in here? McGee looked around the room and felt a thick tension in the air. He knew something was out of place and definitely wrong. His best friend, practically his brother, wasn't his normal self and it all seemed to surround the teenage girl who called him 'Uncle Tim'. He felt strange being in her room and hearing Tony refer to it as a crime scene. "Tony, what's going on?"

Tony took in a deep breath, "Tali is missing."

Both field agents and their leader froze and locked eyes on Tony.

"Wait, what", Bishop asked not believing his statement.

"My daughter is missing", he still spoke robotically, "we came in here earlier after I tried to call her and Ziva found her phone there on the floor." He pointed to the spot where Ziva had put the phone back after they'd decided to have the room processed by the only people they trusted. "We've called all of her friends and theirs parents but no one has seen her."

"Torres", McGee shifted his head to signal the agent to take a photo of the phone before he picked it up.

"I'm not sure if there are any other prints on it", Tony stated, "but I know at least Ziva's and Tali's are on it. Run it anyway just in case." Torres nodded and placed it in an evidence bag.

"Tony" McGee looked him in the eye and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "we've got this. We'll find her. Just go downstairs and ..."

Before McGee could finish his statement, Tali's phone started ringing inside the evidence bag. Torres lifted it to see the caller ID read: 'UNKNOWN'. He looked up at Tony showing it to him.

In a quick decision, Tony grabbed the phone and took it out of the bag to answer, "who is this?" He placed the call on speaker.

"I go by many names, Director Dinozzo, but you may call me Lucifer", His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Where the hell is my daughter!?"

"All in good time Director. First we need to make a deal."

Tony was instantly fuming, "Listen you son of a bitch, tell me where you have my daughter now or I will hunt you down like a motherfu ..."

"Uhn Uhn, Director. Choose your words wisely. Your daughter's life depends on it."

McGee motioned for Tony to breath and to keep him talking as he tried to trace the call from Tali's laptop.

"What do you want", Tony conceded.

"We will get to what I want at a later time, for now I wanted you to know that you should keep Tali's phone close by. And you can tell Agent Bishop not to worry about the blood on the floor, it is not Tali's. Seems one of my men got sloppy but he's since been relieved of his duties."

The four of them looked at each other in shock then towards the camera on Tali's laptop, all simultaneously thinking that he may have hacked into it to spy into the room.

"That's right", he let out a sadistic laugh, "I have eyes everywhere. Now I must check on my guests. Goodbye for now lady and gentlemen."

Before Tony could say anything else, the call was dropped. He looked at McGee to see if he had gotten a location but he shook his head 'no'.

"This guy must be underground or have blockers up, I couldn't get an accurate trace at all. But we'll find her Tony. We will get this guy and we'll find Tali."

Tony shook his head trying to believe in his friend. "We need to sweep the room for bugs and cameras. There has to be one in here if he knew Bishop was running a test on the blood. Take Tali's laptop too, just in case he hacked it. You may be able to trace him that way", his voice was uncommonly trembling now.

"We'll sweep the house Tony", McGee assured him, "for now you need to get out of here. Let us work."

"I need to help", he sounded desperate.

"No", this time McGee's voice was stern, "we don't know who this guy is, what he wants, what he's seen or heard, or what else he may try to do." He pulled him in for a hug, being conscious of the fact that they could be being listened to, and whispered, "This is definitely a time to put 44 in play. After we process the house, I'll meet you at the zone for a sitrep." He pulled back and made sure that Tony acknowledged what he just told him to do.

Tony reluctantly shook his head in agreement. "Tim, she's my only daughter. She just turned 17, she's still a kid", he seemed broken as he tried to protest leaving.

"I know Tony, we'll get this bastard and we'll get Tali home safe. Just let us work, that's why you called us in the first place. I promise, we've got this."

Deep down he knew McGee was right. He needed to let them work. Tony felt crippled and helpless. Had this been any other case, he'd be sharp and focused and would refuse to back down when told to take a step back, but this was different. After finding Ziva still alive years ago and making their relationship official, he'd never had any issues when it came to his family. They'd always stayed out of the line of fire. He and Ziva both knew the possible risks that would come with the job when he took the position as Director a few years after Anthony was born, but they never really fully prepared for something like this to happen with either of their children. He'd only hoped that his little girl was safe, remembering what he had taught her while she was younger, and prayed she was being brave. For now, he'd do as his best friend requested and take his wife and son to the Navy Yard for their protection. He looked back one last time at the room and his best agents, then left to follow Rule #44.