Chapter 16:

If Tony had been annoyed with the way Gibbs had treated him like a wayward child these last few days, it was nothing compared with the FBI. Basically, Tony was now a 'person of interest' for the FBI (code for suspect) and while Fornell had been fairly blasé about it all this morning, now that it was a full blown operation with multiple agents and various jurisdictions in play, Tony was handcuffed and an agent was at his elbow at all times. Fornell had agreed to allow Gibbs to remain part of the investigation, for Tony's sake, but they both knew that Gibbs would hold little sway going forward.

This was a serial killer case that would garnish a lot of attention by both the media and the head honchoes of the DOJ. If Tony's father managed to slip away then Tony would stand little chance of being let off. In fact he was pretty sure they would try and add a few more charges to the list if at all possible.

Some two and a half hours later Tony and Gibbs were in Boston care of an FBI private plane. The plan was that Tony was to enter the airport with the other passengers from the flight that Tony would most likely have taken from DC to Boston if he had run. They didn't know if Tony's father would be watching but they didn't want to take the chance. Tony was wired with a microphone and a pinhole camera was hidden in the frame off the glasses he was to wear as part of his 'disguise'. They would record everything he saw and said. He also had a GPS tracker in a special watch supplied by the FBI. The watch could only be removed by a key which was held by Fornell. They wanted to make sure their star witness (or main suspect depending on how this night turned out) couldn't flee when the cuffs came off. There was no way Tony could run unless he was willing to cut his arm off to get rid of the watch. Because they didn't want to risk Senior seeing a receiver in Tony's ear, Tony wasn't able to hear anything, or receive instructions, but everything he said and saw was being fed back to the team.

Gibbs, Fornell and his team would monitor everything from a conference room in the airport the Transport Security Administration had agreed to supply for this case, while other agents spread out to watch for Tony's father. Again they were to observe only. Fornell would give the word when it was time to move in.

Once the flight from DC landed, Tony was lead out from the terminal onto the tarmac and then to the stairs leading up to the walkway. At the foot of the stairs the handcuffs were removed and Tony was handed his run bag (less any cash and weapons) as well as the glasses and a black baseball cap. He put the glasses and the hat on and slung the bag over his shoulder and headed up the stairs where the TSA agent unlocked the door. Tony slipped through and blended in with the other passengers from the plane. From here on in, he was on his own but he knew there were many eyes (and probably several guns) trained on him.

He blended in with the crowd and as he exited the gate he quickly gazed around to see if he saw his father. He didn't know if he would even be at the airport but they had to cover their bases. He made his way through the airport, checking at a few gates to see if his father had arrived before him.

Tony knew that if his father was trying to source a passport, as he suspected, it would take some time for that to be ready. As Senior wasn't here, he figured he ad some time to kill. Tony walked over to a newsstand and with the $10 Gibbs had slipped into his pocket, he bought a coffee and a newspaper. If he had to wait he had to look like someone waiting for a layover, and they would be reading something.

He took a seat near one of the gates that had several people waiting for their flight and tried to look inconspicuous. Honestly though, because all of the airport security were aware of the FBI sting, he could start to do a dance recital and no one would say anything. That might tip is father off though.

Hours passed and during that time Tony had taken a few walks around the airport to stretch his legs, bought one more coffee from the last of the cash and moved from gate to gate, sticking with the gates with several people waiting and then slipping away with the arriving passengers when it was time to move. This seemed to do the trick because between his non descript clothing, his apparent interest in the news paper and the fact he stayed at one gate no longer than an hour, no one even seemed to notice he existed.

It was nearly 11pm and Tony had given up on Senior turning up. He was slumped in a chair, arms crossed over his chest, legs outstretched and head leaning back on this seat enjoying his last moments as a free man. Soon he would be locked away behind bars, waiting for death to come. He was lost in his waking nightmare when he felt the seat jump as someone sat a couple of seats down from him.

"Glad to see you made it son," came Senior's unmistakable baritone from beside him.

"I've been waiting for ages! I thought you had changed your mind," Tony said, turning to look at his father. Senior had a full grey beard and a pair of round glasses making Tony doubt who he was talking to for a moment, having only ever dealt the immaculately groomed and dressed 'Anthony DiNozzo Sr' since he was dropped off at Remington all those years ago. "Christ, you look like Santa Claus!"

"And I have a present for you. Here this is yours," Senior reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a Canadian passport and handed it to Tony. "Sorry but it took a little more time than I thought to organise. I could have had an Australian one two hours ago but I didn't think you could pull off the accent."

Tony opened it and saw a picture of someone who looked enough like him to be his brother. At a quick glance this person could pass as Tony but if they looked too closely it might be a problem. "Who's this?"

Senior shot him a look that spoke volumes, "You as far as you know. If you doubt it, they will doubt it. Come on, we have to go, I have a car parked in the lot. Is that all you have?" he asked nodding towards the black duffle bag at Tony's feet.

"Yep."

"Good, grab it and follow me."

Senior started to head towards the doors that lead out of the arrival area, expecting them to open automatically but as he approached they remained stubbornly shut. He turned to go to another door when he saw them.

"FBI hands in the air," several agents were yelling at them both while the crowd around them started to scream and scatter. Senior's eyes darted trying to look for an escape.

It had suggested, and Tony had agreed that both men should to be arrested so that Senior would still believe Tony was on the run and hopefully remain in his confidence.

"Get on your knees hands on your heads," both men complied and it was then that Senior saw Gibbs and Fornell in the pack. "That stubborn bastard."

Gibbs walked up and crouched in front of a kneeling Tony, "So we checked, and it turns out you are not in witness protection, want to tell us who you really are?"

Tony clamped his mouth shut, playing the part of a non co-operating suspect.

"Ok then, have it your way," Gibbs said, "Antony DiNozzo Jr, or whatever the hell your name is, you are under arrest for identity fraud, impersonating a Federal Agent and attempting to flee the country under an assumed name." Gibbs hauled him up onto his feet. "Fornell, you want that one." He pointed to Senior.

"Sure, Anthony DiNozzo Sr, or what ever the hell your name is, you are also under arrest for identity fraud and aiding and abetting a criminal to flee the country. That will do for starters. We will work on the rest later."