Chapter 14:

Shortly thereafter the US Attorney arrived and went over the conditions of the immunity deal with Tony. Tony had waived his right to council and the paperwork was signed. At least now Tony was safe from prosecution; if all went according to plan, that is.

Now they had to work out how to get Senior to agree to meet up with his son. They sat together and tried to work out the best options. Unfortunately, because Tony had no idea where his father was (last time he spoke to his father he said he was "working" in Melbourne, Florida), or even if he was still in the country, they would have to wait for Senior to suggest where to meet. Thankfully the FBI had offices in all major cities so they could scramble to where the needed to be if given enough time.

McGee arrived while they were formulating their next move and removed the burner from the evidence bag and hooked it up to his laptop. They were going to record the conversation and also hopefully get a lock on Senior's phone. No doubt he would throw it away when the call was over but hopefully they could track him down from the point of origin. There was a lot hanging on this one call.

Finally they came up with every possible scenario they could think of and it was now time for Tony to make the call.

Tim handed Tony the phone. "Try and keep him talking as long as you can so we can get the trace on him."

"I know how this works McGee," Tony snapped. Tim didn't say anything, knowing that Tony was under a huge amount of stress. If this didn't work his friend was facing a long time in jail.

"Good luck Tony."

Tony took the phone, took a moment and almost seemed to be listening to something. "It's too quiet."

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked.

"I live in Dupont Circle. It's always noisy. I would be on foot heading to the train station to go to the airport. There is no noise here."

"Ok, just give me a minute," McGee typed on his keypad, clicked his mouse a few times and traffic noise started to emanate from his computer, "How's that?"

"Yep, that's good. OK, here goes." Again Tony took a short moment to get him self mentally prepared for the call. It wasn't just a matter of having to call his father; he had to be in the mindset of how he would sound if it was really happening. Just like his undercover work, and the backstories he created, he had to make it believable to his own ears, and not just Senior's. He took himself back to Tuesday night, the night he was going to make the call for real. He dialled the only number in the phone's contact list, John Smith.

It rung … and rung. There was no answer. An automated voice said, "The person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Try again later." The call was disconnected.

Tony stared at the phone. They had considered so many things about the call, what to say, how to say it, how to sound. This was not a variable they had actually thought about.

He looked up at Gibbs, Fornell and McGee and it was obvious from the look on their faces, they hadn't anticipated it either.

"Now what?" McGee asked.

"We try again in a little while," Gibbs said and took a seat. "Until then we wait."

Tony thought about where his phone had been buried these last couple of years since his father had given it to him. His had been in the back of his closet in a secret panel, opened once a month to ensure it was charged. He realised if his father had ever tried to contact him he probably would never have heard the call. It could have been weeks before he checked the phone and noticed a call.

What if his father had done the same thing. What if he couldn't hear it ring from where it was hidden? What if he didn't even have it anymore? Maybe he had used it for some other purpose and disposed of it. Maybe he had changed his mind after giving Tony the phone that it wasn't a good idea and threw it away. What if … the phone started to ring in his hand. The display showed the only name in the contacts, John Smith.

"McGee, background noise," Gibbs said. McGee hit the spacebar and the sound of traffic started once again.

Tony took a quick breath and answered, "Dad! Why didn't you answer? You said I could call you when I needed you." Tony sounded panicked but the men could tell from the concentration on his face he was merely playing the part.

"Relax son I am here now. What is going on? Why have you called?" McGee could hear Senior's voice in the headphones he had on but Gibbs and Fornell could only hear one side of the conversation.

"They know. I think they know. I'm running, like you told me to."

"Know what?" Senior asked.

"You know damn well what! They know that I'm not who I say I am. Fuck, thirty fucking years and I am back on the God damn run again. I thought I was out of this game."

"How did they find out?" Senior asked. Tony knew he had to sell this, any slip up here and Senior would know something was up. He decided to go with the truth … again he went back to Tuesday night when his life changed forever.

"Fucking McGee went up to Long Island and went into a shop owned by a DiNozzo. He told them they are the only DiNozzo's and whoever I am I am lying. Gibbs and McGee just came around to confront me. I told them we were in Witness Protection and they have gone off to check but … Fuck I just grabbed my gear and ran. They will know that is bullshit in no time and they will get a BOLO out for me. I have to get on a plane before they do that."

"I'm sorry that happened but you have made the right choice. If they find out what you did you will go to jail. You know that. Running is the only option for you." McGee shook his head in disbelief, not only had Tony believed he killed that man for all of these years, but his father was perpetuating the lie, knowing full well Tony was innocent. He couldn't believe he was encouraging Tony to run; just to he could cover his own guilty ass.

"Don't you think I know that!" A loud horn blasted from the speaker causing Tony to jump and throw a cranky look McGee's way.

"What was that? Where are you?"

"I almost got hit by a truck, I'm on the way to the train station, I am going to try and get on a plane before they put out a BOLO for me. It may already be too late."

"You have to be careful, you can't draw any attention to yourself."

"Stop telling me what I already know! I'm sorry if I am not following my road safety rules but they tend to go out the window when you go on the fucking run!"

"Calm down Son. Take a breath."

Tony relaxed a bit, it sounds like his father was buying his story. "Where are you Dad? I will come to you." Tony was manipulating the conversation to try and get as much information from Senior as he could.

"That's not a good idea. Give me a minute and I will call you back," and with that the phone disconnected.

Tony was shocked, had his father picked up on something to make him not believe what Tony was saying. Was it the truck sound that tipped him off? Was he going to jail for the rest of his life because McGee couldn't load street sounds?

Gibbs looked at McGee, "Did you get him?"

McGee shook his head, "No. I'm so sorry Tony."