AN: Next Chapter! And beta'ed this time by divine529! Sadly it will take some time to upload the next chapters… I'm taking a long holiday !
Chapter 3: The pieces are moving
"What is it, Gibbs?", Fornell asked agitated after he was pretty much forced in Gibbs' car.
"I'm going to talk to Rafael DeMarco, know who he is?" When Fornell shook his head, Gibbs handed him the copies of what McGee and Ziva found.
"Ah, yes, I remember, it wasn't an FBI case but I heard about it. Long operation, smooth downfall and a few expected casualties, including the key witness. It was covered by all the newspapers at the time.", he said as he skimmed through the pages.
"We found his fingerprint on the crime scene this morning."
"And why am I coming again? Don't you have minions for this?"
Gibbs smiled and accelerated a bit.
"Ziva and McGee are at Frank Millers' house and Tony went home for some stuff."
"Mmm, you're not telling me everything, as usual." Fornell muttered.
DeMarco lived in an gloomy neighborhood. The apartment was a plain four story concrete building. A man was just about to enter his car, when Gibbs parked behind him and effectively blocked him.
He and Fornell stepped out holding their badge, before the man could make any threatening comments.
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS and Federal Agent Fornell, FBI. You are Raphael DeMarco?"
The question was a pure formality. The man standing before them aged a bit, maybe more than the eight years he spend in prison, but it was definitely DeMarco. He had the unhealthy appearance of somebody who lost too much weight too fast, nevertheless his eyes flickered for a moment with anger.
Still this moment past and a lesser investigator than Gibbs may not have noticed it, but it was enough to trigger his gut.
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When Tony unlocked his apartment, he was surprised to see that it was exactly the way he left it this morning. The late November sun was casting long shadows across his living room.
After carefully locking the door behind him he went straight to his bedroom. On top of his closet there were three boxes. He managed to get the left one down without the need for a chair. He took out the first file. It was a witness statement from Nicholas Peruch.
"Tony! What are you doing? The boss said that he needed this delivered fifteen minutes ago!", one of DeMarco's men yelled.
"Traffic was hell and you know it!", Tony answered. In fact he just came from his contact and needed to make a few detours in case he was being followed.
A man stepped out of the house and looked at Tony attentively.
"And you're stalling him even more, Cooper. Let me help you with that.", he said and took two boxes. "Ah, this smells good. I'm Nicholas Peruch by the way, friends call me Nick, the rest call me Peruch and my father used to call me Nicolas."
"You're not going to tell me how you mother called you?", Tony asked sarcastically, "What a shame."
As an answer Nicolas Peruch just smiled back. "Follow me.", he said.
"Hey, what do I call you?", Tony asked.
"Haven't decided yet."
On the bottom of the box lay a USB flash drive; he took it out. Well, let's go back, I still have twenty minutes, he thought.
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"What do you make of this?", Ziva asked when they entered Frank Millers house. "It looks abandoned."
The house breathed neglect and emptiness; there was dust everywhere and the view out of the window revealed a wilderness instead of a suburban garden. Ziva took pictures.
"No sign of forced entry and nothing looks to have been moved in the last months… McGee?", she asked when the expected response didn't come.
"Ziva, come down here!", McGee yelled. He was standing at the base of the stairs leading to the basement.
When Ziva got down, she saw why the neighbor on the phone told her about Millers' lack of sunshine. Artificial light displayed a strange sight. One wall of the basement was entirely covered by various computer screens and there were wires all over the floor.
"Wow, this is a very strong computer. I don't think he was just surfing the stock market. I always wanted one of those." He pointed to some kind of machinery Ziva didn't recognize.
"And I would have had to save every penny I earn for the next two years to get this equipment."
While McGee was admiring the hardware, Ziva was poking around some fast food leftovers.
"I found the most recent bill, I believe: pizza on Friday evening around eleven pm. That means the killer or killers grabbed Millers, they did it no more than four days ago."
"I'll call Gibbs and we're going to need another van to get everything back." He lifted the lit of one of the boxed; they were filled with disks.
"It is strange. He almost never left his home, ordered in and yet there is no indication that he was taken from here by force." Ziva concluded.
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Tony was feeling very silly at the moment. He was joggling his keys, the box and the flash drive while trying to open his trunk, when he heard footsteps. Caught off guard like a rookie, he cursed silently.
He turned his head around, still holding the box in his half opened trunk. His gun was hanging useless on his side.
"Let us help you with that, Agent DiNozzo."
"No need, I can manage.", Tony replied, but he knew it was futile to argue. The man on the left was pointing a gun, it was covered by a jacket, but Tony could see the barrel.
"You will give the box and your keys to my colleague here, but slowly." The man with the gun said, when the other one came closer.
Tony's brain was working in overdrive. He thought he recognized the men. He also noted that they used his name, so they knew him as well. He was most probably cornered by Frank Millers' killers, which would mean they needed information. He did the only thing he could think of. The flash drive was still in his left hand and he was sure neither of the men had spotted it, so he let it slip in the trunk before turning completely towards his unknown assailants.
"Jeremy, put those in the car as quickly as you can and come back, while I entertain our agent for a few seconds."
Jeremy closed the trunk, locked it and grabbed the box. After a minute or two he returned.
"Cell phone.", he just asked, holding out his hand. Tony sighted and gave up his phone.
"Now walk, Agent DiNozzo.", the man with the gun said and pointed to a car with blinded windows.
Tony looked over his shoulder to Jeremy. The man tossed his phone on the backseat and put the keys in the ignition.
"Get in."
He was chuffed inside, feeling the hard metal against his back. The man with the gun entered also and sat behind the driver's seat. Jeremy was probably their chauffeur.
"You know, guys, a road trip isn't exactly first date material and…"
A sudden blow on his head stopped his smartass comment from finishing. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he felt the engine start.
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Down in headquarters Gibbs closed his phone.
"That was McGee, they haven't found anything helpful."
Both he and Fornell were standing on the other side of the glass, watching DeMarco closely. He still looked very comfortably and not the least worried. 'Amused' was the word that came to Gibb's mind concerning DeMarco's composure.
"What are you waiting for, Gibbs?", Fornell asked.
"DiNozzo should be here by now, he's running late." Again, he thought, I shouldn't have let him leave alone. He had no idea Tony was thinking the exact same thing.