The Rainbow Lake
Chapter 8
The patrol car came slowly down the hill towards Sandybacks, and the first glimmer of dawn followed it. The dark grey Honda hidden amongst the trees went un-noticed, as it had when they'd stopped by just over an hour ago.
"All quiet again, Sarge," the patrolman not driving reported in. "We'll come back in an hour, but really, I think everything's under wraps here." A squawk from the radio confirmed that the sergeant was of the same opinion, and the police car turned and retraced its path over the hill. In the darkness Arthur Hastings laughed. So… he had an hour between visits – easy. He'd wait until it was a little lighter…
"What the heck am I going to tell him, Boss?" Tony's eyes were frantic.
"Whatever's best to keep them safe," Gibbs told him calmly, understanding that his SFA knew he couldn't have the reassurance he desperately needed. "Safe until you two get there."
Tim came over with helmets and warm jackets that various villagers had offered, wanting to help. Tam's leathers were too small for either man. As they tried them, he said tentatively, "You're certain he's going to do something, Tony…"
"Aren't you?" His friend looked at him hard. "Don't go by my gut, Tim – what's yours saying to you right now?"
McGee nodded, pursing his lips. "He doesn't know he's been caught. His ego wouldn't let him think we could get him."
Gibbs looked at them both. "We're keeping what happened here under wraps in case he's awake and watching the news. Better if he doesn't know we're on to him. Ziva got Buckley to admit that he'd been there today, drove off late evening after some sort of run in with junior. Gary threatened him, he ran. He could be anywhere; Abby's trying to find out if his car's fitted with a tracker, no news on that yet."
Tony almost hissed with impatience; only the support and grounding presence of the other two men kept him from exploding in his anxiety. "We know where he's going, Boss."
"Tony's right, Boss," Tim said. "If he's quarrelled with the other conspirators, he's thinking that the deal's off, so he'll be angry, and after getting even." Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt, waiting for him to go on. "I watched him yesterday…" he glanced at his watch; they were well into Tuesday. "Sunday… whatever… He's all ego and malice… if he can't have his houses and his contract, he'll want to do something nasty to make himself feel better."
Tony passed his hand across his eyes. "What better than the painting… and I'm afraid he'll convince himself that Sunny knows where it is. He'll go to Jamie's apartment first to see if she's there…"
"There's nothing to suggest he'll find out she's at Patch's, DiNozzo."
"I am afraid that is not true, Gibbs." Ziva's voice was soft as she hurried over. "Tony, I called Patch…" She looked up into his face earnestly, ready to defend herself if he thought she'd taken on his job.
But Tony knew time was of the essence, and he'd stood there asking Gibbs what he should do, instead of just doing it. He didn't interrupt. Ziva went on, "He is not there. He was called back to work by SecNav's office to monitor and advise on an outbreak in a camp in Afghanistan. Polly says he will not be back until it has been contained."
Tony looked sick. "This is –"
Ziva held up a hand sharply. "No, it is not your fault, Tony. We all thought it was a splendid idea to hide Sunny with them. And it was. Nobody could have known…"
"But?"
Ziva took a deep breath, and said steadily, "But Arthur rang the Hastings home this evening, and Sunny answered the phone."
The SFA might have crumpled on the spot, but for the strength of the team surrounding him. Ziva added quietly, "Polly was shocked, but not surprised if that makes sense, Tony. I advised her to make sure all the doors were locked, and I told her there was a police patrol keeping an eye on the area. She said she would try to contact Patch, but that it might not be easy. I have told her you are on your way."
Tony nodded silently. Head bowed, and shoulders hunched, he took a few deep breaths, and Gibbs waited until his chin came up again before putting his finger tips on the younger man's jaw and saying, "Get gone. We'll follow. And don't break McGee."
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As the light grew, Arthur Hastings cursed loudly to himself. He'd sat in his car half the night waiting for his son to leave, reasoning that he could intimidate a couple of silly women into co-operation and silence afterwards; his son, however, had been impossible to scare since the day he first realised he was big enough and strong enough to take his father on. What Hastings had conveniently ignored from way before that day, was that Patch had realised long before he was actually strong enough to stand up for himself, that if he straightened his back and looked his father in the eyes, the older man always backed down.
(When Patch had talked to Tony DiNozzo about it one time, he'd sighed, and said that unfortunately, one thing his father wasn't was chicken.)
Now, Hastings realised, the young man he'd waited for hours to avoid, wasn't there anyway. Or at least his Saab wasn't; only his wife's Vitara sat on the drive. Well, shit, he could have done this hours ago. He drove down the hill, and pulled up viciously alongside the Suzuki. He fumbled with putting the key in the lock, impatient with the ill-designed thing, and as he pushed the front door open, he heard his daughter in law's voice coming from Lucy's room. "Patch? Thank God you're back! Did Gibbs call you? I've been trying to reach you!"
That gave Hastings pause for thought. Why was she so relieved? Gibbs? What did she know? She emerged from the room, smiling, swathed in pyjamas and a huge towelling robe, and Hastings was furious to see how her expression went from pleased to shocked and angry in less than a second. How dare she look at him like that? Her opinion of him was written all over her unguarded face, as she growled, "How the hell did you get in here?"
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Alberta was a cruiser bike, with the passenger seat set higher than the pilot's, so that both could see straight ahead and look at the scenery. Although there was no doubt that she was much faster than a car would have been, aerodynamically the position was no good at all for the sort of riding they were doing on a chilly night, and Tim hunkered down miserably behind Tony, trying not to distract his partner from concentrating on his driving. He had his earjack in place under the borrowed helmet, and got updates from Gibbs from time to time, but there was nothing much to report other than that they were following, Tam Black was with them, and they didn't know where Hastings was. His car tracking device was either switched off or disabled.
Tim sighed. If it was cold for him, at least he had a bit of shelter behind his friend; he doubted however that Tony was thinking about the cold at all. The Howakhan people had brought gas and refuelled the bike, and sent them on their way, using the names Keshowse had given them in farewell. Since it meant Tony didn't have to stop during the approximately hundred and twenty mile journey, Tim was sure he wasn't going to. And as if he'd read his mind, the Senior Field Agent pulled over. He flipped up his visor and turned.
"Y'OK, McGee?" His voice was steady enough, although Tim recognised the same tremors of cold and tension running through his frame that he was feeling himself.
"I'm fine, Tony."
"That's my word. Y'can come up front if you like, but it's no warmer."
"Not unless you need the break. You're used to her now. Only 40 miles or so more, I reckon… I've seen police cruisers, but no-one's stopped us. You think that was Gibbs warning them off?"
"Most likely. Has he said anything?"
"Nothing to report. They're way behind."
Tony nodded, and although his face was largely hidden by the helmet, Tim saw the pain before he turned back.
"Zi's right. It wasn't your fault," he yelled close to his friend's metal clad ear, and Tony turned back to him for a moment.
"Thanks, McGee. But we still gotta put it right." Alberta went roaring into the dawn.
Twenty minutes later, they tore down the hill to Sandybacks, and skidded to a halt outside the Hastings' bungalow. "Ah, shit," Tim muttered; he'd been able to remove his helmet before Tony did, and he drew his gun and was running almost before they stopped. The front door was open, and Polly Hastings lay face down on the hall floor. They cleared the house frantically, with Tony rushing to Pol as soon as he knew Tim no longer needed his back-up. As he found her pulse, and checked for other injuries than the contusion on the side of her head, muttering quiet, desperate encouragements all the time, the younger agent came back into the hall and dropped to his knees beside them.
"They're both gone, Tony." His face was anguished, his voice so soft his partner almost had to read his lips. "Sunny… and Lucy." The senior agent closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he groaned silently; they both tried to calm their crashing hearts.
"O-kay…first things first." He turned Polly onto her uninjured side, and pulled a cushion from the short oak bench beside the phone. As he put it under her head, McGee reached for his cell. You calling the EMTs?"
As Tim nodded, Polly said suddenly and sharply, "No! No ambulance!"
"Sweetheart, you're hurt… you need –"
"I need not to be shuffled off to some hospital and told nothing, while my daughter and young Sunny are out there with that wicked old loon!" Polly pressed her hand to the side of her head, and grabbed Tony's arm with her other hand to heave herself up. He tried to make her lie down again, remembered that this was a tigress whose cub was threatened, and gave up, instead making himself into a chair-back for her. Tim put his phone away and went into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with a pack of something frozen wrapped in a teatowel, which she took to hold against her head.
"Fair enough," Tony said calmly. "Pol, d'you feel up to telling us what happened?"
Polly let out an involuntary sob, then got herself under control again. "With or without the racist comments, or the bigotry, or bad language? I tell you, Tony, when you catch up with him I am going to slap him round his dirty chops so hard they'll have to wire his jaw…"
Tim squeezed her free hand encouragingly, and Tony murmured "That's my girl," grinning in spite of himself.
"He let himself in," she said furiously. I should have barricaded the door. Patch gave his mother a spare key… should have known he'd just take it from her. Poor woman never could stand up to him… I don't know how she's survived this long. He yelled 'where's your house guest', and as soon as Sunny appeared, he grabbed her wrists and started yelling about 'where was the painting'. When Sunny kept insisting she didn't know, he told her she was going to find it then. He made her go and get dressed, and I kept telling him to stop yelling, he'd waken Lucy, and to get out, but he just said she was going with him to 'that artist poof's' apartment. He started to drag her to the door, and Lucy heard the noise and started crying, and I threw myself at him. He shoved me off, hard enough to knock me off my feet. I think I banged my head on the bench, but I'm not sure. I remember feeling very sick, and Sunny yelling something, and then, nothing."
She thought for a moment. "He won't hurt Lucy… she's the only thing he's got any time for other than himself. But I'm so worried about Sunny… "
"Does she know he won't hurt Lucy? Could he be using her as leverage? Or…" Tony screwed his eyes shut for a moment. "Pol, d'you suppose she thought you were dead, and didn't want to leave Lucy alone?"
Polly clutched her aching head and groaned. "Is the car seat still in my car? And… there's a turquoise canvas baby travel bag in Lucy's room…" Tim reported a few moments later that both items were gone. "I guess Sunny was in charge when they left; at least where Lucy is concerned." She made a move to stand up. "So where are we going?"
"Stay down, sweetie. You're not going anywhere."
"Neither are you. Maryland State Police. Freeze!"
Tony looked at the two patrolmen in the doorway, and rolled his eyes with a disgusted snort. "Wonderful. Where the hell were you when you were needed?"
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Gibbs, Ziva and Tam had left only a few minutes after the two on the motorbike. Gibbs hadn't wanted to take Tam, but he couldn't use the protecting a civilian thing against a young Marine. In any case, as Tam pointed out, he couldn't get back to DC without Alberta.
"I had my fun breaking Gary Buckley's nose," he said darkly, "And I won't get in your way, but I want to be there for Sunny." His tone seemed to say a little more than his words, and Ziva turned in her seat and looked at him enquiringly. He smiled, a little tightly. "I'm not languishing in love with my best friend's girl, Agent David. But I do like her a lot. Enough to stay away from them when they were together, because I did envy him… I'll be there as a friend, even if it's only long distance; one way or another, if she needs me, I'll be there. Maybe one day something'll come of it…"
"Semper Fi," Gibbs murmured to himself, and the young man nodded.
"You got it, Gunny. Semper Fi." His cell phone beeped, and he scrambled for it in his leather jacket, beside him on the seat. "Haven't had time to think about this… guess my friends will be wanting to know what's going down. Messages… texts…" He was going into the relevant box as he spoke, and his voice tailed off.
"What is wrong, Tam?" Ziva asked gently.
"There's one here from Jamie…" Tears suddenly welled in the young man's eyes. He blinked to focus, and then said "What…" in puzzlement. "He says, 'Had enuff, G1 home 2 mother'. Why would he say that? His parents are both dead…"
Gibbs screeched the agency sedan to a sudden halt, and turned in his seat. "Gone home to mother? Home?" He flipped his own phone open.
"Boss? I was just about to call you. We got to Glenelg –" Gibbs listened with mounting anger as Tim brought him up to date.
"But Polly's OK?"
"She will be, Boss. The medics are checking her over, but she won't go to hospital."
Gibbs huffed. Once again, DiNozzo and McGee could get where they needed to be a lot faster than he could. He had to trust them, and be there for Polly instead, while they got her daughter back.
"Tell her I'm on my way. And tell those LEOs to make themselves useful and stay with her until we arrive or Patch does. Director's trying to reach him. You need to get back on that bike and head down to McLean."
"McLean… what… Jamie's parents' place! OK, Boss… why's that?"
"Because, McGee, that's where the painting is… and if Sunny's smart enough to figure it, that's where Hastings is headed. There's a BOLO out, but no reports so far."
Tam looked at Gibbs in astonishment. "So he was telling me where he'd hidden my painting?" He thought for a moment. "It might have taken me a while to figure it…"
"Place belongs to Sunny now. She'd have figured it. She probably has. Leave it to DiNozzo and McGee… we've got to help Polly first."
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It took Tony and Tim not much more than half an hour to get from Glenelg to locate the house in McLean; it stood alone at the end of a longish drive rutted by construction vehicles. The building looked sorry for itself; although it had a sturdy central chimney, the roof, held up all along one missing wall by tall pillar jacks, slouched down at an angle that made it look like an old hat. Strong tarpaulins covered the gap between the intact part of the house and the construction site, there was a portaloo, two large but battered sheds, a dumper truck and a cement mixer. It was too early for the contractors to be about, and the place appeared to be deserted, but the two agents drew their guns anyway.
A brief walk around the site told them little, and they pushed the tarps aside and entered the house. There was some furniture , old stuff that Jamie probably hadn't thought was worth putting into store; when the builders moved on to this part of the house, it would probably go into a dumpster or on a bonfire, and it stood dusty and forlorn, resigned to its fate.
They looked everywhere obvious, and were thinking that maybe they and Gibbs had got it wrong, and the only person who was right was Arthur Hastings, who wasn't there. Tim decided to look in a high cupboard, and began to drag a coffee table across the room to stand on, when he saw Tony stiffen. He stopped, and heard it himself… the sound of a furious baby exercising healthy lungs.
Lucy! Both agents began to dash towards the tarpaulins and the outside world; neither one got there before the house collapsed around them – and on them.
AN: Oh, how I love a cliffie…