"Umm- Driver, where are we headed? This is not the way back to the house." Molly had been lost in thought about names that she had not noticed that the driver had turned away from the route back to Leroy's house. Her head snapped up at Tony's question. They were now headed out of the city and towards darkness. When the driver did not acknowledge his question Tony began to really get uncomfortable. "Listen Buddy, I am a federal agent. If you don't answer me there's going to be hell to pay." Tony went for his Sig.
"Agent DiNozzo, I would just keep that gun in its holster." The driver looked into the rear view mirror with a grin that Molly could only describe as disturbing. He held up his right hand that held a small remote control. "You go for that gun again and this whole car will be blown to bits." In response Tony put the Sig back in the holster at his hip and put his hands up so the driver could see that he was following directions.
Tony tried not to show the fear that began to take over. He knew he had to keep strong for Molly. God, Gibbs was gonna kill him. Of all the assignments over the past decade he was given by his mentor and this was the one that had to go wrong for him. Well, not the only one, but this was the mother of all assignments protecting the mother of Gibby. He put a hand on Molly's hand as he saw she was clearly scared. "It'll be okay Molly. We will be okay." He whispered as he squeezed the hand he had taken into his.
"Yes Molly, it will be just fine. When we get what we want then you can go home and have your baby and go on with your life. You just give me what I want and we will be all set." The man sneered this out as he pulled off the road behind a black Tahoe. The man turned the ignition off in the Cadillac and looked back at Molly. "Aren't you the least bit interested in what we want Molly?"
"Listen buddy, just tell me what it is and we will get it to you. What is it? Money? Just name the price." Tony's hostage negotiations training took over. Only problem was, he had never been the negotiator and the hostage before.
"This is between us." The man waved his index finger between himself and Molly. "Only reason you are stuck in the middle is because you are the schlep who got roped into taking Miss Molly here to that bullshit piece of propaganda they call a documentary. Sorry about that bro."
The fear in Molly compounded tenfold when she realized that the seat she sat in had become wet. Her stomach had been bothering her for hours but how could this all be happening at once? When the man dressed as a chauffeur spoke of the documentary, the language he used struck a chord in her memory. "CAMS". The one word put another disturbing smile on his face. Tony looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Citizens Against Media Suppression. So you are the one who has been sending me those emails?"
"We told you we were willing to take matters into our own hands if you did not release the information that we wanted. You clearly did not heed the warning so here you are." The man got out of the front seat with the device still in his hand. He headed towards the back door and got Tony out first. He reached into Tony's jacket and pulled out his gun. He then patted down Tony's body. After removing the backup gun from around Tony's ankle he was satisfied that Tony had no more weapons. He then indicated with Tony's gun for Molly to exit the car as well.
At that point Tony's cell phone began to ring. He knew exactly who it was. He also knew he would have to find a way to get Gibbs to understand the situation without getting them into trouble. Well, at least without getting Molly or Gibby hurt. "Listen. That's my boss and her man. If I don't answer, there is going to be a whole world of hurt raining down on you before you get what you want." Tony hoped he had stressed the point enough to get the guy to let him answer his phone but not antagonize him into the opposite.
"Answer it. But no funny business. Get me?" Just to make his point clear the guy pointed his gun at Molly. "One word about what's going on and she will be hurt."
Tony went for his phone slowly. He flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Hey Jethro. What's up buddy?" Tony tried hard to make it sound natural that he was using Gibbs name.
"Tony? What the-? Let me talk to Molly." Gibbs gut was screaming that something was wrong. Tony never used his name. Always Boss. And Buddy? Really?
"Yeah we had a great time. Was nothing like "Fire in the Sky" you know, but still an interesting subject. Can't talk to Molly right now because she's not feeling good Leroy. But we are going to stop and check her emails at her office. Right. Has some important business she has to tend to before Monday's press conference. Then I'll bring her home safe. Ok I will tell her that her love maniac says he loves her but seriously that's a little weird. Yeah her Cameo was amazing. Really got that political media message across. Ok Jethro gotta go."
Tony kept his eyes on the bastard who held a gun trained on Molly. He looked for any sign to tell him if the guy bought it or not. He prayed the guy did not catch on to how awkward that one sided conversation was. If anything happened to Molly a head slap would be the least of his problems. He would not have to worry about that because he would die before anything happened to her. "Very good." The man smiled as he shoved Tony and Molly towards the Tahoe. "Oh before I forget." He took the cell phone out of Tony's hand and tossed it by the side of the road.
As they pulled away the kidnapper hit the switch in his hand and transformed the Cadillac into a ball of flames. All Tony could do was hope that someone made sure Abby dusted his cell phone for prints once Gibbs had McGee tracked his cell. In order for that to happen, Gibbs had to figure out what he was trying to tell him. Until they stopped moving Tony could not figure out an escape. He could not risk Molly's safety. The best thing to do was comply.
"DiNozzo, what the hell is wrong with you? Don't you- DAMMIT!" Gibbs slammed the phone shut. What the hell was wrong with DiNozzo? Why would Molly have to go back to the White House? She was on maternity leave as of tonight. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He opened the phone again and hit a speed dial number on his phone. McGee answered the phone on the third ring. "McGee I need you in the office now. Something is wrong with Tony and he's with Molly."
"What is it boss?" The young man began to throw a pair of jeans over his boxers.
"Don't know McGee. Just hurry. I'm calling Ziva." Gibbs hung up and made a similar call to his newest but highly skilled agent. By the time the call was over Gibbs was already on the road in the Charger headed for NCIS headquarters. He tried calling Molly's office just in case they really were headed there but that resulted exactly the way he knew it would. The call went to voicemail.
He would have tried her cell but knew better. It was sitting on his dinner table. She never took her cell phone to these functions. Her purse was too small for it she explained. This had been a source of contention with them on a couple of occasions. He tried to quote rule number three to her. Someone should never be unreachable. She pointed out that she was the Press Secretary and the White House knew where she was at all times. She was always reachable just not by phone. Even tonight she pointed out that Tony would have his phone and he could reach her on that if he needed to. Next time he was going to put a tracking device on her ankle. See how she liked that accessory!
"Yeah. Gibbs." The agent answered his phone when it rang and broke the silence in the car.
"Boss, I am almost at the office. Anything you want me to start on when I get there?" It was McGee. "Possibly start tracing Tony's cell?" McGee thought that if Gibbs did not know what the problem was then he probably did not know where Tony was. But he also did not want to assume anything.
"Yeah McGee. That's a good start. Call me when you got something if I am not there yet. I should be there in less than five." Gibbs hung up the phone and speed dialed Tony's phone for the third time. There was still no answer. "DAMMIT!" Gibbs hit the steering wheel as he pulled into the parking lot at the Navy Yard.
"Boss, I was just about to call you." McGee's head popped up when he heard the elevator ding. "I traced Tony's cell to Fort Davis Drive in the Fort Davis Park. If he doesn't have his cell on his person it may be hard to find. That park is a lot of forest. I am sending the coordinates to your phone now." McGee's fingers flew over his keyboard.
"That's good work McGee. Gonna take Ziva with me." Both men looked up as Ziva and Abby entered the bullpen together. "You and Abby need to work on figuring out what the hell Tony was talking about when I called him." Gibbs recounted word for word the conversation Tony had had with himself while Gibbs had him on the phone. McGee typed out the message in order to look back at it without missing anything.
"Oh Gibbs." Abby's hands went up to her mouth. She did not want to be the one to break the news to Gibbs. But she also knew someone had to. "'Fire in the Sky' is about an alien abduction. I don't think Tony meant that he was being abducted by actual aliens. I mean he could have been but I really don't think-" She stopped and her heart broke when she saw the fear and anger in Gibbs eyes. "Tony and Molly have been abducted."
"I knew it!" Gibb's hand slammed on his desk and everyone jumped at the noise. "Ziva you're with me. McGee I think the answer is in Molly's emails at work. Why else would he say they were going to check her emails? I want you to get in there and read them. He said something about maniac lover. Look for anything that seems remotely like a stalker." Gibbs boarded the elevator with a quiet Ziva in tow. She knew there was nothing she could say that would console Gibbs. It would be an insult to even try.
McGee looked over at Abby. "Does he really want me to hack into the White House email account?" He knew the answer before he asked the question but was still dumbfounded.
"McGee- Tony, Molly and Gibby are missing. You have to do it. He can't lose another agent. You know what it did to him when we lost Kate. Scratch that. We can't let him lose another family. He won't survive that." She rubbed his shoulders as he took a deep breath and began typing. "Email me that message from Tony so I can start deciphering."
McGee's fingers had never moved so fast in his life. It was not like the everyday case. While lives often depended on how fast he could work the system, this was different. This was family. Tony was a brother to him. Yeah he constantly picked on McGee but there was no doubt that he would not be the agent he was today if it had not been for Tony. Then there was Molly. Abby was right. Gibbs would never survive losing another family. Losing an agent is a risk in the job. Losing the woman and unborn child you loved was a different matter all together. The fact was, that they all liked Molly. She had fit into the dynamic of their group instantly.