Chasing Jack
Chapter Fifteen: Part I of the Conclusion
"Convergence"
The deep orange glow of the sunrise was peeking through the curtains of the hotel room when Tim McGee opened his eyes. Deciding that getting up could be delayed a little bit longer he turned his head down towards the pillow to block out the light. Then tugged the blanket up further over himself.
Tim let out a faint contented sound as the warm soft cocoon of blankets and pillows on the bed embraced him. His eyes slid shut and he felt himself floating back under into sleep once again. But just as he was drifting away, disconnecting from the waking world, his cocoon was torn into by the ringing of his phone.
"No. No. No," he mumbled. It was too early for bright lights and phones and getting up. All that shouldn't start for at least a few more hours. In his half awake state the senior field agent noted that this was what voicemail was for and let it ring. And after a moment the room fell quiet again and he sighed happily.
The reprieve was short lived, however, as the phone began a second round of ringing.
"You gonna get that or what McGee?" Ro Moore groggily mumbled from the neighboring bed.
"Yeah I'm gonna get it and flush it down the toilet," Tim replied reaching over and feeling around for the phone on the bedside table. His hand finally landing upon it he picked it up. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and looked at the caller id.
Unknown Caller it read.
"You're kidding me, right?" he grumbled. What nut case, that he didn't even have in his contact list, was calling him literally at the crack of dawn?
He was about to turn down the volume of the phone, toss it back on the table and go back to sleep when a small more awake piece of his mind stopped him.
Suddenly he realized that it could be Gibbs using somebody else's phone to contact him.
He bolted upright into a sitting position, tapped the button on the phone to answer and put the phone to his ear.
"McGee," he informed the caller.
"Apparently, NCIS agents really need their beauty sleep, don't they? Time to rise and shine Agent McGee. Day's awastin'."
"Fornell?" Tim questioned upon recognizing the voice on the other end of the phone.
"Very good McGee. I can see why Gibbs keeps you around. Sharp as a tack."
"I've called you like a thousand times Fornell. You couldn't be bothered to answer just once."
"Easy there McGee. I'm guessing you called my regular cell."
"Well yeah."
"Haven't had that phone on in days."
"What too busy trying to help Jack Cutter get away? That didn't work out too well for you did it? Since he didn't make it."
"What do you mean? I thought that..," the FBI agent began to respond before abruptly going silent on the other end of the line. Tim could tell he was still there and when he didn't pick back up speaking the senior field agent piped up.
"You thought what Fornell? How are you involved with Jack Cutter? Tell me what you know right now. There's no time for this. Gibbs is missing. If you know anything that may help you have to tell me. Please Fornell tell me what you know!"
"Wait! Back up! What did you just say?" the FBI agent responded. Surprise and urgency saturated his tone.
"Gibbs is missing. He chased after Jack Cutter and some local cop who's involved with the organization. He's disappeared."
"Cutter?"
"Don't act like you don't know who that is because you know. We found Jack Cutter's Jeep. Or rather what was left of it. We found your print on one of his fake ids. What the hell is going on Fornell?"
"McGee, what do you mean you found what was left of his car?" the FBI agent questioned in what Tim would have sworn was a desperate tone of voice.
"At the salvage yard where it was towed after it apparently crashed," he explained.
"What about Cutter?"
"Seems that you would be the one to tell us that. What's your connection to him?"
Just as Tim finished speaking there was a knock on the door of the hotel room. Moore sleepily managed to get up, throw on his jeans which had been discarded on the floor and shuffled over to the door. After a quick glance through the peep hole he opened the door and let Ziva in.
"McGee, are you still there?" Fornell's voice inquired over the phone drawing the NCIS agent's attention back to the conversation at hand.
"Yeah. I'm here."
"Are you telling me you lost Cutter's trail? You don't have him."
"Both he and Gibbs disappeared around the same time. We believe that The Wheel has them," McGee responded.
"Oh damn! I thought he got clear!"
"You thought what? Were you helping Cutter?"
The FBI agent avoided answering the question by asking one of his own.
"Did you lift other prints from that Jeep? If you did just say yes or no. Don't say any names."
"Yes but they haven't been processed. We don't have an ID yet."
"So you don't know then."
"Know what?" Tim spat out in frustration.
"Listen to me McGee. We've got problems. Big ones. We have to meet. It's not safe to talk on our phones. I'll tell you everything. But in person. Get Moore and David to tell you the street where they lost sight of me on our little foot tour of the city together. There was a large structure there. We'll meet behind it, northwest corner, in an hour. People may be watching and tracking so take the necessary precautions."
"What is going on Fornell?" Tim nearly yelled into the phone.
"I'll explain everything. But not on the phone. It's very important you meet me. And watch your six."
And with that the call was disconnected.
"What did he say McGee?" Ziva inquired.
"He said it wasn't safe to talk over the phone. Wants to meet. Do you guys remember where you lost sight of Fornell when you were tailing him?"
"We did not lose him. We simply misplaced him momentarily," Ziva responded correcting him.
"Misplaced momentarily implies that we found him again. Which we didn't," Moore commented.
"Not for the lack of trying."
"True. I still have the sore feet to prove it."
"So do you remember where it was?" Tim asked.
"Ash Street," Ro stated supplying the answer. Ziva glanced over at him, a surprised look filling in her features.
"How did you remember that? He took us down many streets?" she questioned him.
"Hey. I notice stuff!" Moore shot back defensively.
"Well, you were moving considerably slower than I after all," Ziva retorted. Tim piped up before Moore could respond - ending their squabble.
"Fornell mentioned a large structure on the street. Any idea on what that would be?" he asked.
"There was an old church on the corner near where we misplaced him," Ziva answered. Moore jumped right in after her.
"Sacred Heart."
'What is it with you?" Ziva threw out over at Ro.
"What? Contrary to popular belief I can read and run at the same time."
"Alright he wants to meet there in a hour. We have to be careful. He said we're being watched," Tim explained.
"By The Wheel?" Ro asked.
"Most likely. But we're going. He knew a lot more than he was letting on when we saw him. Gibbs was right he was giving us the run around."
"I'll look up the church," Ro offered and moved to sit down in front of one of the laptops set up on the table.
"I shall see what we have for ammo and weapons," Ziva offered.
"We're going to meet Fornell. Not going off to war Ziva."
"One can never be too prepared McGee. Fornell said we were likely being watched by The Wheel. Best not to be caught unprepared."
"I suppose better safe than sorry," Tim replied. With that Ziva started into her task and Moore began typing away on the laptop which he had booted up.
McGee deposited his cell back on the bedside table and ran a palm down over his face. A few minutes earlier he had been tucked away in a nice cozy cocoon catching up on his sleep and now he had been thrown into fast forward mode. He could tell already that this was going to be quite the day.
There had been something in the FBI agent's voice and in the words "I'll tell you everything." that resonated loudly in Tim. Fornell knew something major and hopefully it would turn out to be valuable in finding Gibbs.
"Found it!" Ro piped up. He then searched around amongst the items on the table for a moment and finally came up with a pen. Immediately after retrieving it he continued to search – clearly looking for something to write on but was coming up empty.
"Eh. I'll just put it in my phone," he mumbled, tossing the pen back down on the table and started to get up from his seat to retrieve the phone.
"No. Don't!" McGee found himself tossing over at him.
"Okay. Why not?" Ro asked sitting back down in front of the computer.
"Fornell said we were likely being watched and tracked. The Wheel has resources. Best not to put anything in the phones. In fact we'll have to disable the GPS in all our phones before we leave."
"I suppose I can just remember the address and directions," Moore replied.
McGee who was still seated on the edge of the bed looked over at the bedside table. He remembered seeing some hotel stationary around someplace. After a beat he pulled opened the drawer in the table and found several small pads of the stationary inside. Scooping one of them up he got up from the bed and went over to the table where his colleague was seated.
"Make sure you write down directions in detail. Last thing we need is to get turned around," Tim told Ro and handed him the notepad. That done he headed for the bathroom. A hot shower was in order. His body had not quite yet caught up in wakefulness to where his brain stood. And for some reason he had a feeling he was going to need to have his act together today.
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Tony maneuvered his way into the clean shirt he had retrieved from amongst the clothes he had stashed away in the duffle bag. Taking into consideration the state of his back he had chosen a loose fitting button down shirt. The wounds had settled down considerably. They still hurt but it was not so intensely searing now.
The shirt he had removed when Gibbs had taken a look at his injuries lay discarded on the floor a few feet away. Tony could see now why the team leader had been so insistent upon attending to the wounds. The back of the shirt was caked with dried blood.
Tony didn't remember the lashing in its entirety or as one continuous memory. There were only snippets – vivid flashes of recall – from off and on over the course of the assault. One of these was a flashback to Greene yanking up the back of his shirt so it rested up on his shoulders, leaving his bare skin exposed.
Looking at the bloodied shirt seem to draw more of these snippets which he would rather forget to the surface so he shifted his gaze away from it over at Gibbs.
The more senior agent was still laid stretched out on top of the sleeping bag. When Tony had first awoken he had been surprised to find Gibbs actually asleep. At first he had been sure that the team leader was only resting his eyes and body and would prove perfectly alert the instant Tony had stirred.
But as Tony began to move about, retrieving a bottled water from the backpack Detective St. Clair had given them and then rummaging through the duffle bag for two clean shirts which both of them were sorely in need of Gibbs had not given any indication of being even remotely awake.
Tony had even spoken aloud, saying "Boss?" and still the other man had not roused. Noting the faint flushed red tinge to Gibbs' skin and the fact he had not covered himself with the sleeping bag or anything else a bit of suspicion began to gnaw at Tony.
It was October in Maine and the previous night had not been anywhere near mild. Not long after lying down Tony had pulled the edge of the sleeping bag over himself to warm up. Gibbs looked as if he was about to break out in a sweat and was breathing more audibly than normal. Not to the level for concern but noticeably different.
Tony decided that when the other man did awaken he would insist upon taking a look at the wound in his shoulder. Turn around was fair play after all so the other man would have no ground to stand on with a refusal. Of course, this was Gibbs and getting the man to do anything he was not right keen on doing almost always resulted in failure.
Tony looked away from Gibbs over out through the doorway of the room. He could see a portion of the neighboring room which lay beyond. The building was old and neglected so there were drafts which kicked up the layers of dust covering just about everything in the place.
Tony watched the dust particles dance around in the orange glow of the sunrise as the light filtered in through the sizable gaps between the planks on the boarded up windows.
They probably should have left for the hotel already. Traveling in the predawn hours would have been safer. But the sleep had done wonders for him and, apparently, Gibbs had been in need of it as well.
Tony smiled at the thought of getting to the hotel so early. He would love to slip into Tim's room and take up a seat a few feet away from the bed where the younger man would be asleep. While Tony waited for the other man to awaken he would concoct some fantastic teasing remark to have at the ready.
Tony's smile turned into a mischievous grin as the scenario of McGee waking up to find a "dead" man sitting a few feet away played out inside his mind.
The look on Probie's face would be priceless. He'd probably think he was being haunted or having one hell of a nightmare. Tony wouldn't torment him too long – just long enough to savor the reaction. Any longer would be cruel and undeserving.
A piece of Tony still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that he was going to see Ziva and McGee that very day. Probably because thoughts of running, taking off on his own, were still traipsing through his mind off and on. They were already in danger and if he reunited with them it would only increase the risk they were in. By running he would entice Greene to chase him and, in turn, draw him away from the team.
But every time his mind proposed the idea he had come up with an excuse. Like now how he was ticking off the negatives to actually running – like his injured state, his lack of weapons and the thought that what if Greene decided to play games and turn on the team instead of following after him.
He decided that the last one on that list was just something he couldn't easily dismiss. If he ran and something happened to the team he would never be able forgive himself for his desertion.
So instead he let his mind drift onto thoughts of what would be the perfect remark to deliver to a newly awakened and totally surprised McGee.
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The flow of customers into the diner was beginning to pick up. Only a few moments earlier the place had been practically deserted. Now the seats were filling up rapidly one after another.
Tobias took one last quick sip from his coffee and stood up from the booth. Retrieving his wallet from his pocket he pulled out a few bills and tossed them onto the table as a tip for the waitress. Then made his way over to the cash register to take care of the tab.
He had planned to linger at the diner given that the bacon, eggs and toast had been more than decent. And reading the newspaper while working his way through several refills to his coffee cup had seemed like a good way to start the day. It was the crack of dawn after all. But his phone call to McGee had not gone at all as anticipated.
Gibbs and Tony were both missing and the evidence the NCIS team had uncovered had lead them to believe that The Wheel had captured them. He was kicking himself – hard – for waiting so long to call the junior agent. He had believed that Tony had gotten away and that Gibbs had just not answered his phone because he was being a bastard.
Having paid for the breakfast Fornell made his way out of the diner and to his car. The parking lot, much like the diner, was now bustling. There were multiple cars vying for the same parking spot and still others trying to pull into the small lot from the roadway. People, both individual and in small groups of two or three, were climbing out of their vehicles and heading into the diner. The swirl of activity was almost dizzying.
The morning air was unseasonably mild and after unlocking the Honda he shed his coat. Discarding it on the passenger seat Tobias climbed into the rental.
He remembered the church from his walk to DiNozzo's safe house and had a guess as to what street it had been located on. But the name of the church eluded him and he really should double check the street name as well.
Earlier he had seen some maps and brochures in the glove box so he opened the compartment up and sifted through its contents. In a pamphlet on historic sites and buildings in Portland he found it – Sacred Heart. It stood on the corner of Ash Street and Granite Way.
Tossing the booklet aside he grabbed the street map of the city he had found and used it look up the route from the diner to the church.
He couldn't believe after everything they had been through to keep this secret that he was about to spill the beans to Gibbs' team. But he had no choice. They had to know that Jack Cutter was really their friend and teammate, Anthony DiNozzo Jr. And that The Wheel didn't just have Gibbs. They had Tony as well.
Done with the map he started up the Honda and pulled out of the spot which another vehicle immediately snatched up.
He drove through the small lot and pulled out onto the street. Traffic was picking up and Tobias encountered a few drivers who were rather impatient. And still a few more who were just downright oblivious. He found himself continuously checking his mirrors and out the side windows on alert for more like them to appear out of nowhere.
On one of these quick passing glances in the rearview mirror he thought he had spotted something suspicious so his gaze immediately returned to the reflection. But the black cargo van he would have sworn he caught a glimpse of was not there. He checked every angle and still it was nowhere to be found.
"Stop being paranoid Tobias. It's nothing more than a figment of your over caffeinated brain," he chided himself.
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The third floor hallway of the Harborside Hotel was empty spare a lone housekeeping cart. Stationed at the doorway to the stairwell Gibbs looked down the length of the floor. The employee belonging to the cart of supplies was nowhere in sight. Likely they had gone inside one of the rooms.
Seeing that it was clear the team leader stepped out of the stairway and into the hall. Tony trailed after him as they made their way along to Room 332. Gibbs could see that the younger man's left leg was slowing him a bit. He was limping slightly but still making slow steady progress under his own power. He had first noticed the limp back on The Blue Northern. Its persistence meant it would need checking out, preferably sooner than later.
Arriving outside of McGee's room Gibbs gave a firm rap of the fist on the door.
When no one answered and there was no audible movement inside the room Gibbs landed his fist on the surface of the door again – this time with added force. But still no response arrived. Moving to the next door down where Ziva was staying they repeated the process with the same result.
"We could go call them from the front desk or try to wrangle a key card. You're a guest here after all," Tony suggested.
"Yeah. A guest with no way to prove it. Greene took my wallet and badge. And I left my access card in St. Clair's truck. Ziva checked us in so the desk clerks won't recognize me."
Before Tony could respond the sound of a door opening further down the hall stopped their discussion. Both men's gazes instantly shifted to look in the direction the sound had originated from – at ready to react if need be. A heartbeat later a woman in a housekeeping uniform emerged from one of the rooms down near the end of the hallway.
As the petite young woman moved over to the housekeeping cart Gibbs studied her and realized she was familiar looking. Upon realizing why he was in motion in her direction. Tony followed after him. As Gibbs neared the cart the woman noticed him and looked up from the cleaning supplies she was sorting through.
"Can I help you with something Sir?" she asked pleasantly.
"Do you remember me? We met the other day. I came out of my room down the hall here and saw that you were having trouble with your cart because of one of the wheels."
"Oh yeah. You were actually nice enough to help me fix it. Got some kind of tool from your room."
"Yep. Multi tool on my knife. Easy enough fix."
"Thanks so much for that. Maintenance always takes forever to come repair our carts. Don't think it's very important I guess."
"Glad I could help. Thing is I lost my key card for the door to my room. I'm going down to the desk for a new one but as you can see my friend here has been injured. He should really be resting. I was wondering if it might be possible for you to let me in so I can get him settled."
"Room 334, right?"
"That's correct. Good memory."
"No problem," she replied and they headed down the hall towards the room. When they arrived the housekeeper took out a key card, likely a master key, and scanned it in the reader on the door. After she opened the door Gibbs put his hand on it to keep it open.
"There you go. Thanks again for the cart," she said quietly. Then looking to Tony she spoke up again.
"I hope you feel better," she told him.
"Appreciate that," Tony replied. With that the young woman began to head back down the hallway but Gibbs piped up before she made it very far.
"One last thing. Have you seen the other people I was with that day?" he inquired of her.
"Yeah I think so. The woman and one of the men had dark hair? The other man had lighter hair and bruises on his face – like he'd been in a fight or something?"
"That's them."
"I saw them a while ago. They came out the next door down together and headed off towards the elevator. Haven't seen them come back but I've been in and out of rooms. Went downstairs to get more supplies too. So they could have come back and I just didn't see them. Sorry."
"Nope. No apology necessary. You've been a big help."
"Have a nice day," she offered and headed back to her work.
Before pushing the door open the rest of the way Gibbs reached down and pulled the 9mm from where it was tucked in his waistband and, therefore, hidden underneath his shirt.
Just as a precaution he entered the room with the weapon at the ready. Tony followed close on his six. Just inside the entryway was the bathroom. While still maintaining the deeper portion of the room in his peripheral vision Gibbs covered Tony as he went about clearing the bathroom. That secured they stepped further into the room. A bit of daylight filtered in through the gap between the curtains. It illuminated the room enough for them to quickly determine the room was empty.
Silently signaling with his hand to Tony he indicated the door which lead into the adjoining room where McGee and Moore were staying. With Gibbs leading the way they proceeded into the next room and cleared it in the same fashion they had done with the team lead's room.
His posture now relaxed Gibbs tucked the Glock back into his waistband.
"I've got a firearm stashed in my room. You can have that. I'll keep this one," Gibbs said before moving back towards the other room. Just as he crossed the threshold of the doorway he twisted to look back over his shoulder planning to tell the younger man to sit down and rest. But he was stopped short of speaking.
Tony who now had his back to Gibbs had walked over to the chair by the window and was staring down at the agency issued backpack that was set in it. For some reason Gibbs was drawn to stay silent and watch the younger man for a moment.
As he did so Tony reached down and ran his hand over the material at the front of the backpack. His fingertips lightly brushing over the acronym there and lingering for a beat on each individual letter. N – C – I – S.
The team leader knew that those letters translated to something more, something greater, in the other man's mind and heart than what they literally referred to. He knew because they meant the same to him. Instead of NCIS the letters meant home.
Feeling a wave of emotion building up in him Gibbs shifted his gaze away from DiNozzo and headed the rest of the way into the adjoining room. He would retrieve the spare firearm he had hidden away – secured under the chair by the window. Once that was done he would call McGee's cell.
After a moment he had the weapon in hand and was reflexively checking the clip to ensure it was fully loaded. Finding it squared away he set it down on the bedside table. He had barely landed his hand on the phone receiver when Tony's voice calling out from the neighboring room made his attention snap up in that direction.
"Boss!" the call came once again. The tone was slightly higher than normal and filled with urgency. Snatching up the gun off the table he rushed into the other room.
At first there seemed to be nothing amiss in the room – no visible threat of any kind. Tony stood at the end of the bed in which Gibbs had seen McGee sleeping the other day. His back was still to the team leader.
"What's going on DiNozzo?" he questioned. And after a tense beat Tony replied – near dread in his tone.
"Greene was here," he stated.
Tony had not turned to look at Gibbs so the senior agent followed the line of his gaze over to the bed and up onto one of the pillows. There in the middle of the pillow lay a thin coiled up piece of rope. Nestled in its center was a silver cigarette lighter.
Instantly the memory of being back in that cabin on the Northern flashed to his mind. While he and Tony had awaited whatever was coming next Greene had settled calmly on the edge of the desk. Pulling a thin length of rope from his pocket he had began twirling it around his hand. And then upon reaching its end he had unraveled the coil and started the process all over again. The rope on the pillow was identical looking.
Gibbs did not recognize the lighter but he had a suspicion about that – it had likely been the source of the burns on Tony's hand, neck and shoulders.
"He could have the team Boss," Tony piped up when Gibbs hadn't yet said anything.
"Nope. No. We don't know that DiNozzo."
"What do you mean we don't know that? This is the team's room, right, and those – that rope and lighter – are Greene's. Trust me I recognize them. He nearly strangle me with one and burnt me with the other. He was here. He's got the team. Dammit I never should have stayed with you. I should have run when I had the chance this morning."
"Take a breath Tony. Just calm down a minute," the team leader gently instructed.
"No, Boss, you don't know him like I do," Tony shot back.
"Stop DiNozzo. Just stop and breath."
"I just...this can't be happening."
"Let's not jump to conclusions. The housekeeper said she saw the team and that they were on their own. She didn't say anything about there being anyone else. She described them and didn't mention anything about a man with gray hair, military style like Greene's or otherwise. She seemed to have a good memory. She knew my room number. They left this room on their own accord."
"Okay I'll give you that. But the housekeeper also said she wasn't out in the hallway the whole time. Greene got in here somehow, threatened somebody – bribed somebody – who the hell knows. He was in this room, Gibbs, and he wanted us to know it."
"Maybe so but that doesn't mean he has the team. Housekeeper said they left a little while ago so they couldn't have gone far. And that means Greene is not far either. I'll call McGee. Warn him and find out where they are."
Gibbs made his way around the bed to the bedside table. Picking up the phone he punched in Tim's number on the number pad. There was a brief moment of silence then the junior agent's voice came on the line. But it was the recorded version on his voicemail and not really him.
Next he tried Ziva's number and came up with the same result. Finally, he tried Moore and once again got nothing more than voicemail. Their phones didn't even ring.
"They didn't answer did they?" Tony inquired even though it was clear he already knew the answer. Moving back to stand in front of the other man Gibbs handed the recently retrieved Sig Sauer off to him.
"Could be plenty of reasons they needed to turn them off," Gibbs responded and looked around the room. His gaze landed on the laptop on the table near the window. Going over to it he booted the computer up. Once it was ready he logged in remotely to the NCIS network with his username and password.
"You remember how to do the GPS thingy on the phones?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, I guess we're about to find out," Tony replied and took a seat in front of the computer. There was a moment in which the younger man went about trying to recall the steps but eventually it seemed to come back to him. He typed and clicked away for a long moment.
Then stopped typing when a box popped up on the screen asking for a phone number. Gibbs leaned in over the computer and typed in McGee's number when Tony looked up at him at a loss for what to enter. When Gibbs had completed putting in the digits Tony initiated the search for a location on the phone. Shortly after a bright red error message came up on the screen.
"What's wrong?" the team lead questioned.
"It's not finding a location. To get this message the GPS on the phone would have to either be broken or disabled."
"Can you try another number?"
"Sure," Tony replied and tapped a few keys. Whatever he had done brought them back to the search box which once again asked for a phone number. Gibbs leaned in again and put Ziva's number in. Tony ran the search and came to the same error message. They did this one final time with Moore's number and came up empty handed.
"Bring up McGee's call history from the last couple days," Gibbs instructed.
"I can do that. Just like riding a bike. It's all coming back to me now," Tony replied returning his fingers to the keyboard. Soon a long list of phone numbers and times appeared on the screen in front of them.
"I recognize that number," Gibbs stated looking over the list.
"So do I. He called Fornell like a zillion times."
"Must of caught on that Tobias knew more than he was letting on."
"I'd said so. Looks like he called non stop until late last night. Then Tim received one call earlier this morning and doesn't make a single outgoing call after that," Tony replied.
"It's a masked caller. Tobias wouldn't use his regular phone up here. He'd have a burner. And the call lasted a few minutes so the conversation must have been fairly involved."
"You think that incoming call was Fornell?" Tony asked.
"Timeline fits. McGee repeatedly tried to call him. Then he gets a call from an unidentified number and shortly after the whole team leaves together. Tobias would know better than to meet here at the hotel so they would have planned to meet someplace. We just have to figure out where that is."
A few silent beats passed while they thought on their next move. Before Gibbs had come up with anything solid Tony who had been looking about the room spoke up.
"Uh. I think I can tell you that," he offered and reached across the table to pick up a notepad which lay amongst the items strewn about. He held it up for Gibbs to see.
It was hotel stationary and on the top sheet were pencil scribblings. In amongst the lines were faint impressions into the paper. They formed two words right across the top and then quite a few bunched together further down lower on the page.
Someone had written on the pad and torn off the top sheet. Then a pencil had been run over the page below to reveal what had been written on the missing page above. Oldest trick in the book. And it likely had been used by Greene.
"Sacred Heart," Gibbs spoke softly aloud.
"Got to be Sacred Heart Church."
"You know where it's at?"
"Yeah it's where I hid out waiting for Fornell to signal me. Ziva would know where it was since she and...whats-his-name..."
"Moore."
"She and Moore were following Fornell. That church is on the street where they seemed to lose track of him. Fornell turned one way and they went another. This has to be where they would meet. It'd be familiar to both sides without them having to actually state the name – ya know in case someone might be eavesdropping," Tony told him.
"I recognize this handwriting on the notepad. It's Moore's. They must have gone there to meet Fornell. He'd know well enough they couldn't talk on the phone. Would insist on meeting in person. Then Greene comes in here. Would have been easy enough to find where we were staying. He finds the notepad and does a little magic with a pencil and knows where they are going to be."
"Boss, what if he already got to them? Greene deliberately left the lighter and rope in case we came here. Knew I'd see it. It's a message."
"Can't think like that DiNozzo. We'll find them. You know how to get to the church from here?"
"Yeah."
"How far?"
"In a car. Under ten. Wait! Do we even have a car? Wouldn't the team have taken it?"
"Never said we had to use our car DiNozzo," Gibbs responded as he headed for the door.
"Not sure I like the sound of that," Tony commented as he followed after the team lead.
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Sacred Heart was a beautiful and old structure. The tall and expansive building dwarfed the others which stood neighboring it. Although currently in a state of disrepair its beauty came through in the precision of its decorative detail and the quality of the workmanship.
Tim McGee could see how the church would be memorable as he looked up at it from the driver's seat of their rented sedan.
Driving down along the street that ran parallel to the side of the church he could finally see a narrow side street which would bring them back behind the northwest corner of the building.
Taking the right turn McGee let up on the gas pedal slightly. The street was narrow, a near alleyway, and brought them into an area behind the building where there seemed to be countless nookies and crannies. Each one was covered in shadow since the tall structure looming overhead prevented the morning sunlight from making its way down to the street level.
McGee flitted his gaze up along the street and into every notched out area of the building in hopes of spotting Fornell. In doing so, he spotted a place that would suffice as a parking spot and began to pull the vehicle over. Ziva's voice immediately piped up from the passenger seat.
"We should not park here. We must park somewhere more protected. We are too vulnerable here," she explained. So Tim continued on down along the narrow lane. After a few seconds Ziva spoke back up.
"There," she stated and pointed out one of the notched out areas in the structure's layout. It had a low wall extending out a ways from the building. The wall would serve as cover if needed.
Tim considered her idea. The sprawling church did have a lot of potential hiding places most of which were currently darkened under the long shadow cast by the building.
Then Fornell's words to him over the phone floated back into his mind. The FBI agent had very firmly told him to take precautions and watch his six. Ziva probably had a point.
Arriving at the spot she had pointed out he turned the sedan in and parked alongside the wall.
As he climbed out of the driver's seat Tim once again looked up at the towering structure. It was dark and beautiful all at the same time. He sensed there were secrets in its past. He could tell Sacred Heart was a place that had tales to tell.
But right then he could not ponder on its mystery any longer. He had another tale to go in search of – one he hoped would bring Gibbs back safe and sound.
Looking down from the building he spoke up.
"Keep your eyes open," he told Ziva and Moore. Both nodded agreement in reply.
And with that they set out in search of Tobias C. Fornell and whatever tales he had to tell.
To Be Continued...
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Coming Up Next!: Part II of the Conclusion - "Battle at Sacred Heart"