Chapter 3: Three Days
A/N: Over 300 hits and how many reviews?! C'mon guys I'm not one to beg.....but pretty pretty pretty please review!! :D

It's been three days since the afternoon,
I realized it was all my fault not a moment too soon.

"So what you're telling me is we have nothing?" Gibbs shouted.

"We do know that Corporal Hayes left for work on September 18 and was never seen again," McGee offered earning him a blank look from across the bullpen.

"We have nothing, Boss," Tony admitted.

"Find me something!" Gibbs barked as he retreated from the bullpen.

"Campfire!" Tony shouted much to the dismay of his coworkers. McGee rolled his eyes and begrudgingly dragged his chair from behind his desk to the center of the room. Ziva did likewise crossing her arms over her chest as she joined Tony and McGee. "We need a lead soon or Gibbs is going to fire us all."

"We've have barked up every bush there is," Ziva said.

"Tree," Tim corrected automatically. "I've run his financials. The only activity on his any of his cards has been corroborated by his wife as her personal spending. BOLO on his car has had several hits, none have panned out."

"What about the neighbor?"

"Robert Shaffer," Ziva picked up the line of thinking, "has lived next to the Hayes family for almost two years. Said he saw nothing out of the ordinary in the days prior to Corporal Hayes' disappearance."

"He seemed to be hiding something," Tony added. "He was a little...hinky."

"Should we talk to him again?" McGee asked.

"Ziva and I will go," Tony said. "Campfire over."

NCIS

When they arrived Mr. Shaffer was in his garage with the hood of his truck popped up.

"Mr. Shaffer," Ziva called.

He glanced up from the engine with a smile. "Call me Robert," he said wiping the grease from his hands onto a towel. "What can I do for you, Officer David?"

Ziva smiled sweetly. "You can call me Ziva. We just have a few more questions about Corporal Hayes."

"I've told you everything I know," Robert said.

"I was hoping you had remembered something else from that day," Ziva said. "Perhaps something suspicious from that morning or the previous night."

"I wasn't home the night before. I was…with someone," he eyed Ziva and smirked.

Ziva smiled. "And do you go out often?"

Tony hung back leaning against the hood of the car and observing the scene. He was interested in Shaffer's body language not what he had to say. And what his body was telling him had Tony on edge. He was obviously interested in Ziva, a blind man could see that. The thing that was bothering him was that Ziva was playing into his game, leaning in a little closer, smiling broadly and laughing softly. She was blatantly flirting with this guy and it was pissing Tony off. How dare she let this guy hit on her, and right in front of him no less! It was absurd, it was disgusting, it was…exactly what he had done. The realization dawned on him and he dropped his head in defeat.

'Why didn't I see it?' he thought bitterly. She was playing him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. And it tasted like hell.

NCIS

"Get anything?" McGee asked as the pair returned to the squad room.

"Ziva got something," Tony growled.

Ziva glanced at him before answering her coworker. "Robert did not give us anything we did not already know."

"Robert?"

"Robert Shaffer, the neighbor."

McGee quirked his eyebrow. "Since when do you refer to suspects by their first name?"

"Since when is he a suspect?" Ziva countered.

"Since he seemed to have something to hide," Tony answered. He locked eyes with Ziva having a silent conversation across their desks.

After a few seconds Ziva shoved back from her desk. "I am going to see Abby."

McGee watched the scene with a mix of amusement and fear. Having one of them pissed off was bad enough, let alone both of them. It was going to be a long day.

NCIS

"I already told Gibbs that I would let you guys knew when the DNA came back," Abby called as Ziva entered her lab. She didn't even bother looking up from the computer screen.

Ziva smiled. "I am not down here for test results."

Abby's head whipped around. "Ziva! What's up?"

"I needed to get out of the squad room. Tony is driving me crazy." She pulled up a stool and took a seat leaning her elbows on a clear spot on the evidence table.

Abby cocked her head to the side. "Problems in paradise?" Ziva only rolled her eyes. "What'd he do now?"

"He is being childish and immature," she explained. "When I became angry with him for flirting with another woman he told me he was only doing his job--"

"Wait, Tony was flirting with another woman? In front of you?"

"She was a potential suspect and he was trying to…schmuck her."

Abby looked at her perplexed. "Schmuck?"

"You know…work her over, make her melt with his 'DiNozzo charm'."

"Oh! Schmooze her?" Abby asked and Ziva nodded. "I still can't believe he would do that in front of you. It's just rude."

Ziva dropped her eyes to the table. "Well I am sure he realized how inappropriate it was when I did it today."

"Ziva!"

"You can not tell me he did not deserve it?" she defended herself.

Abby sighed. "You know if you fight fire with fire someone is going to end up getting burned."

Only one more chapter to go. If I get a lot of reviews I might post it later today....