Golden Child
Chapter 9
'I know, I know. Ziva would have beaten the red light,' said McGee as he brought his car to a stop at the busy intersection. Tony looked at McGee in surprised amusement.
'McGee,' he said. 'One, I was SO not going to say that. Only Gibbs can predict what people are going to say. Two, I'm certainly not in a hurry to get to the hospital. And three…McGee! Look there!'
McGee followed the direction Tony was pointing in and saw a man walking along the sidewalk.
'See him?' asked Tony.
'What about him?' returned McGee. 'It's just some guy.'
'It's Read!' exclaimed Tony. 'Same clothes as the day he held us up. Obviously doesn't have an extensive wardrobe.'
'How can you be sure?' asked McGee. 'He's walking away from us.'
'Because I'm sure,' affirmed Tony. 'Pull over.'
'What? Are you crazy?' protested McGee. 'Even if it IS Read, which you have yet to prove to me because there must be more than one guy in this city wearing that kind of jacket, we can't go near him without backup.'
'What do you mean we haven't got backup?' Tony said incredulously. 'We've got each other as backup. You DID bring your gun this time, didn't you? I've got mine.'
'Yes I brought my gun!' exploded McGee. 'But what good is yours? You can't fire straight with your left hand!'
'Yeah, but READ doesn't know that,' said Tony, happily. 'Come on. Pull over into that laneway. The lights are green. Mush!'
'Don't mush me,' grumbled McGee. He found himself complying for God knows what reason. 'Gibbs is gonna kill me,' he added.
Once the car was parked, McGee scrambled out and hurried to keep up with Tony who had quickly made his way to the main street.
'He's there,' hissed Tony as McGee caught up with him. 'He's standing out front of the café. I can see his face now.'
'Is it Read?' asked McGee, squinting to see across the distance between them and the café.
'Not sure,' replied Tony, thoughtfully.
'You see the back of him and you're sure and now you see his face and you're not!' hissed McGee. 'Make up your mind!'
'Come on McGee,' said Tony, pretending to be hurt. 'The guy was actually crushing my hand when we last met. I wasn't really able to focus on his face. Have you got your fancy phone thingy?'
'Yeah, why?' asked McGee, getting the device out of his pocket.
'Take his picture, send it to Abby and get her to check it against her photograph of Read,' said Tony.
'She's busy processing evidence for the FBI murder,' McGee told him.
'Oh don't be such a party pooper!' Tony implored him. 'She'll do it. Tell her it's worth a dozen Cafpows.'
'Okay!' exclaimed McGee. He took the photograph and began sending it and a text to Abby. Tony kept his keen eyes trained on the man he believed to be Read. The adrenalin coursing through his body had more than taken the edge off the discomfort in his hand. The hospital could wait. This was potentially too an opportunity to miss.