Drowning

Chapter 27

Tony shifted a little on the hard floor, trying to find a more comfortable position – an impossible task given his bound hands, the freezing air and his increasingly numb legs. He looked across at Vay. It had been interesting to observe her with Brogan. She was generally an irritatingly calm individual, but Tony had seen her show outrage at his imprisonment, shock at her own, and quiet seething since Brogan had left them on their own. He wondered at the extent of her involvement in the scheme to kidnap Dianne Partington. He decided to do some digging to distract himself from his discomfort.

'I was never a part of that young woman's kidnapping,' said Vay, suddenly, startling the NCIS agent. He had not asked her a single question out aloud.

'Geez!' spluttered Tony. 'You read minds as well?'

Vay looked over at him and sighed.

'You are an investigator, and now you are personally involved,' said Vay. 'It is in your nature to want to know how I became involved in this business. I don't have to read your mind to know that you are curious,' she added.

'So tell me,' coaxed Tony, 'how Aunt Miranda got involved in her evil nephew's little plan?'

'I had not seen Matthew since before he went to prison,' began Vay. 'When he showed up, years later, I wanted to believe that he was after a fresh start and that he was catching up with relatives. What he really wanted, however, was for me to help him with a criminal activity.'

'And you agreed?' asked Tony, slightly incredulous. Vay had not struck him as the criminal type.

'I told him I wanted no part of it,' said Vay, her tone becoming bitter. 'But he informed me that I already was. Dianne Partington was already in this basement and he had already demanded a ransom. He told me that if I told the police, he'd kill her. I believed him.'

'So why come to us?' asked Tony. 'Weren't you risking her life?'

'I was doing precisely what he wanted me to do,' said Vay. 'He wanted to make sure that there were no police looking for Dianne Partington when he exchanged her for the ransom money. My job was to convince you people that Dianne was safe and that the investigation should be called off. Matthew didn't want to risk being caught like he had before. An undercover officer delivering the ransom money arrested him the last time.'

'Mmm, that was actually me,' Tony told her.

'He was very angry when he found out you were part of the investigating team,' said Vay.

'Enough to shoot at me and Gibbs on our way back from seeing the Partingtons?' asked Tony. Vay's eyes widened. She had not made the connection between her nephew and the shooting of Agent Gibbs.

'I believe so,' she said, finding her voice. 'Unless it was a terrible co-incidence that someone else happened to shoot at your car on that day.'

Tony chuckled wryly as he imagined was Gibbs would say to that, and then immediately sobered as he realised that Gibbs had narrowly missed being killed by a man who had a serious grudge against Tony. Vay saw the combined worry and guilt in the man's face. She was also very aware of the way his breathing was becoming more and more laboured.

'Agent Gibbs and Abby have already come looking for you,' she told him. 'I know they will come back. They know you are missing and that you are sick. And they will find you.'

Tony shook his head at her words.

'Isn't the whole psychic thing crap?' he scoffed. 'You made all that stuff about Dianne up so that we'd call off the investigation. We did some digging. I know you're a profiler, like Kate was. She could tell all sorts of stuff about a person just by watching them.'

Dianne regarded him quietly and appeared to be making a decision about something. Then, she shut her eyes for a few moments before opening them again. Their gazes were locked. Tony gasped inwardly. It was as if she was looking beyond him.

'You lost your mother at a very young age,' she whispered. 'You had everything but nothing as you were growing up. You were told and you believed that you were worthless. You spent a lot of your early years wanting a different life – even wanting to be a different person. You are not afraid to face the dangers of your job, but your great fear is that you will become your father; that you will have a family and that you will let them down.'

Vay stopped speaking and her words hung in the air before continuing.

'But you will not become your father. He was not a worthy role model. You HAVE a worthy role model now, and that role model will not let you down.'

Tony finally managed to break eye contact with Vay.

'What about the Yankees?' he asked, attempting to sound flippant. 'Will they finish on top this year?'

But Vay was not finished and Tony found himself making eye contact with her once again.

'He is not perfect, Tony, but he's perfect for you. You will save each other a number of times more in the future. And you will one day be an excellent father.'

A noise above them announced the return of Brogan. The kidnapper descended the stairs and crouched in front of his captives.

'NCIS have just received my demands,' he bragged. 'Your director didn't sound happy. Shame about that.'

'It doesn't matter what you're asking,' Tony told Brogan with contempt in his eyes. 'NCIS does not deal with scum like you.'

Brogan reached forward and grabbed a handful of Tony's shirt, and pulled the man upwards. The action caused Tony to gasp involuntarily as the pain in his arms increased. Brogan ignored Vay's protests.

'NCIS might not hand over the money for you,' snarled Brogan, 'but one of your pals might. Not that it'll make any difference. Whoever ends up paying will be getting very damaged goods for their trouble.'

………………………………………………………….

Jenny Shepherd entered her office and closed the door as Gibbs began to pace the floor in front of her desk.

'Shouldn't you sit down,' she said as he made her way to her own seat. 'You're barely out of the hospital.'

'Shouldn't you be getting the money together?' Gibbs snapped back. 'That bastard's given us 48 hours before he contacts again.'

'Jethro,' said Jenny, warily. 'You don't need me to tell you that NCIS has a strict policy about ransom demands. You can't expect me to deal with a criminal.'

'Damn it, Jen!' yelled Gibbs, slamming his fist down onto her desk. 'This is not any kidnapper. This is a kidnapper who has one of my agents – one of my agents who is unwell and shouldn't have even been out in the field!'

It occurred to Jenny that it was ironic that Gibbs was pointing out Dinozzo's lack of fitness for fieldwork, but she held her tongue.

'You can get the money together, Jen,' he told her, 'even if we have to use it and then get it back.'

'Jethro, NCIS policy clearly states…' Jenny began.

'Screw the policy!' yelled Gibbs. 'This is Dinozzo we're talking about! I will not let you risk his life following some goddamn protocol!'

Jenny saw the raw emotion in Gibbs' face and she heard it in his voice. This was not the time to admonish him for not respecting her rank within the organization they both served. She had enough emotional intelligence to realize there was a complicated but intense bond between Gibbs and the younger agent. Reminders about protocol could wait.

'I'll see what can be done,' she told Gibbs. 'You get your team working on trying to find him. And Jethro? Be careful. I don't want to have to take you off a case you're technically not even supposed to be on.'

Gibbs blew out the breath he had been holding in readiness for another verbal blast, and nodded. Once outside Jenny's door, he leant against it, shutting his eyes. He hated the thought of Tony captive and unwell. He hated even more the memory of Tony's frank comments about his own childhood and his belief that his own kidnapping would not elicit money from his father. If it came to it, Gibbs resolved, this was one ransom demand that WOULD be met.