A/N: Sorry about only one chapter. I kind of got stuck at the end, not sure how to start the next one. Don't worry, by Monday I should have it all figured out and will be able to post more than just one chapter. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for the continued reviews!
"McGee, update on the BOLO."
McGee sighed. "Already checked Boss. Lots of hits but nothing that's going to help us. Just maybe sightings and possibles, nothing definite.
"Run 'em down McGee. I don't care how slim the info is, nothing gets overlooked."
"Yes Boss," McGee agreed, hoping Tony and Ziva were having better luck.
Gibbs watched him for a minute then decided to go see Jenny. He thought about watching her in the shower this morning and how nice that image had been. It was the only spot of lightness in his otherwise awful day so far, and he just wanted to hold onto that memory. Gibbs needed to take his mind off the case, if only for a moment. His wife was the best distraction he could think of.
Jenny was just coming out of MTAC and saw Gibbs heading into her office. With a quiet word to Cynthia to hold all her calls, she entered the room and locked the door. Her husband sat slumped on the couch, eyes closed, his head resting wearily in one hand. She sank down beside him and reached out to touch his shoulder gently.
"Any news Jethro?"
He shook his head slowly. "All we've got are cryptic phone calls and a scavenger hunt he's currently sending Tony and Ziva on."
Jenny sat silently for a moment, then moved her hand to the back of Gibbs' neck, her fingers playing over his hair. "Are you alright Jethro?"
Gibbs met her eyes. "No Jen, I'm not. But I will be, as soon as we find Jasmine and Gabriella and the dirtbag that took them."
"Have you been thinking about Kelly today?"
Gibbs wished she wouldn't ask. He took her hand, rubbing his thumb over her rings. "Every time I look at the girls, I see her," he admitted.
She hugged him then, holding Gibbs tightly. He put his arms around her, keeping Jenny close. He'd really needed this, a quiet moment away with her, a moment with the woman who knew him best and carefully held his heart, hurts and all. Finally they drew apart. Jenny pressed her lips to his cheek, brushing her hand over the spot lightly afterwards, as if trying to rub it in.
"I love you Jethro," she said softly.
Gibbs kissed her hand. "I know Jen. Thank you."
She gave him a half-hearted smile as he rose to go. "Anytime. See you Jethro."
He paused in the doorway, needing her to read in his eyes, his face, everything he didn't have the energy to say right now. "Later Jen."
Jenny sat there after he'd gone, hugging her arms around herself, already missing him. Today was so far away.
NCIS
Tony and Ziva entered the children's library quietly, two federal agents looking very out of place in the colourful room full of child sized bookshelves no higher than Tony's waist, small tables and bright chairs, with pictures of animals and smiling children everywhere. The whole building looked open and inviting, a good place to spend some time. But that was not why they were here.
Scanning the room, they noted that each letter of the alphabet was clearly visible and Tony headed straight for the back, aiming at the section between R and T. They both skimmed the shelves, finding Dr. Seuss had his own section. A large brown teddy bear sat in a plastic, red, child sized chair, observing them quietly. Tony ran his finger over the spines of the books from one end, while Ziva started at the other. Tucked in the front of a hardcover copy of Green Eggs and Ham so only the corner was showing, was a small white envelope.
Tony slipped on one latex glove before touching it, and even then he held it only by the corners, careful not to smudge any prints that might be on it. Ziva already had both her gloves on and used the tip of her knife to slit the top of the envelope open. A lined, three by five cue card was the only thing inside. Two typed lines were glued onto the card.
Jasmine and Gabriella really miss their teddy bears, it said. Perhaps you could retrieve them from Miss Scuito's lab. They will look sweet in the caskets, don't you think Agent Gibbs? Or maybe there will be nothing left of them to bury. Tick tock.
Ziva's eyes widened and she exchanged startled glances with Tony. "I do not think he is playing a game anymore."
Tony focused on the words. "He mentioned Abby. Better call Gibbs. I don't like this."
They slipped the card into a clear plastic evidence bag and strode quickly to the front. At the check-out desk, Tony flipped open his badge.
"Special Agent Tony DiNozzo with NCIS. This is Officer David. We're investigating a kidnapping. Do you have any security cameras in the building?"
After a brief, shocked moment, the matronly woman behind the counter nodded slowly. "Several, inside and out. It's the law you see. And with all those pedophiles running around, we want to make sure our kids are safe."
"We're going to need to see those," Tony informed her gravely.
"Of course. The cameras record directly onto DVDs. I'll make you a copy."
Tony looked at his watch impatiently. "Please hurry. Go back about a week, just to be safe."
Less than ten minutes later Mrs. Robinson handed them several separate DVD cases, each carefully labeled with the date and location the camera focused on. This lady was good. Then she held out another one in a different coloured case.
"This one's from the bear."
"The...bear?" Ziva asked, not understanding.
"Yes," Mrs. Robinson nodded. "Didn't you see Paddington watching you when you were at the back?" She smiled indulgently. "That's what all the kids call him. Only we know he's no ordinary bear."
Tony flashed her a smile, perhaps their luck was looking up. "Thank you for your help ma'am."
"Anytime young man." Her eyes shadowed. "I hope you find them." At their questioning looks she shrugged. "Jaz and Bri come in almost every day after school with their mom. I saw their pictures on the news this morning. Poor little things."
Ziva looked uncomfortable. "We will do our best."
On their way back to the car, Tony flipped open his cell to call Gibbs. Ziva waited until he answered before she grabbed the keys from Tony's hand so he couldn't protest.
"Yeah Boss. Found a couple messages, got some security tapes for Abby to go through. But I think we're running out of time to find them." He took a breath. "One of the messages mentioned Abby. I don't like how it looks." He nodded. "On our way."
Knowing he was about to regret his next words, Tony looked at his partner. "Get us there fast. But Gibbs says we don't have permission to die in a car crash."
Ziva smirked at him and started the engine.
NCIS
"McGee!" Gibbs yelled as soon as he hung up with DiNozzo, snapping the younger agent out of his concentration. "Get down to the lab now! This psycho mentioned Abby's name in one of the notes Tony and Ziva found. You're officially on protection detail with her. She's not to get further away than arms reach or so help me I will headslap you into next week. Do you understand me?"
McGee swallowed. "Yes...yes Boss," he stuttered, and fled to the back elevator.
Gibbs rubbed his face. First two innocent little girls to get his attention, now Abby. Was no one he cared about safe anymore? He suddenly jerked his head up and grabbed the phone to dial a number.
"Special Agent Gregory," came the crisp response.
"Will, Gibbs here. Threat level has just been raised. I want you and Samuels up here with the Director. One in with Cynthia and one stationed on the floor. No one gets to see her unless it's me or SecNav himself. And she doesn't leave that office without an escort. I don't care if she's going to MTAC or Autopsy, you stick with her. No out of the office, consider her on house arrest. Do you copy?"
"Yes sir Agent Gibbs," Agent Gregory said, snapping his fingers at his partner and getting out of the car. "ETA two minutes."
"Anything out of the ordinary, call me," Gibbs added.
"Will do."
Gibbs hung up the phone and tried to breath. Abby and Jenny were both being taken care of, that only left two. He kept an eye on the elevator, willing Tony and Ziva to get here fast. He couldn't live with another failure.
NCIS
Several minutes earlier than they should've been there but still not soon enough for Gibbs, Tony and Ziva came rushing out of the elevator, Tony waving what looked like CD cases at him.
"Got a phone, a note, and the security footage from the children's library here Boss." At Gibbs questioning look, Tony shook his head. "Long story. This guy apparently likes dropping breadcrumbs all over creation before getting to the point. But these tapes could get us something. We were just heading down to see Abby."
"Let's go," Gibbs waved them towards the back elevator.
McGee was standing within a foot of Abby as she was working on the computer, and darted a nervous glance at Gibbs when he walked in the room.
Abby turned around. "Gibbs! What's going on? First Tony and Ziva disappear for an hour and then McGee shows up here and won't even give me elbow room to work." She put her hands on her hips. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on?"
"No time Abs," Gibbs said briskly. "Got some security footage here you need to take a look at. Children's library in one of the neighbourhoods."
Tony handed Abby the blue case. "Check this one first Abby, for today. Focus on the Dr. Seuss section next to the big teddy bear. We're looking for a guy with more than a casual interest in Green Eggs and Ham."
Ziva frowned at Tony but didn't have time to ask him what he was talking about. Abby quickly downloaded the footage and searched through the time and date stamps until they came to the one they were looking for. All eyes were glued to the screen.
"There!" Ziva pointed to a thin man dressed in a black zip-up and jeans and wearing a baseball cap. He glanced over the Dr. Seuss section before selecting the bright orange coloured book that was one of the most well known stories and slipping a small white envelope inside.
"Dang!" Tony was frustrated. "He must've cased the place beforehand. He never even comes close to looking at the camera."
"Anything you can do Abs?" Gibbs asked, feeling the disappointment keenly.
She shook her head. "Sorry Gibbs. All I've got are some really good shots of the back of his neck. My babies are good but they can't work miracles."
Ziva nudged Tony. "What about the bear camera?"
Tony's face lit up. "Oh yeah! Boss, you're going to love this! The old lady that owns the place has a nanny cam at the back, built into this great big brown teddy bear..." Gibbs stare was boring a hole in Tony's forehead. "But you don't really need to know that. Here," he handed a purple DVD case to Abby. "Meet Paddington."
Abby raised her eyebrows at him but took the DVD and slid it into her computer. Fast forwarding to the same time as the first footage, they looked for the tall lanky man again. From a different vantage point they saw him approach, and after he slipped the envelope in the book, he looked right into the bear's face.
"Got him Gibbs," Abby crowed, "this is more than enough for facial recognition. I'm running him as we speak."
She blew the guy's picture up and put it on the plasma. Gibbs walked slowly forward, focused on the image. He closed his eyes briefly.
"I know him."
They all turned towards him. "You know this creep Gibbs?" Abby asked. "How?"
Gibbs couldn't even move. "Old case. Gotta be at least twelve years ago. I was still on Mike Franks' team. This guy, Sam Rush, was smuggling items on board Navy ships, making contacts with the sailors and selling the items to buyers in ports around the world. We chased him for six months before we finally caught up to him. He never did think he deserved to go to prison for living his piece of the American dream." Gibbs scoffed at the memory, then his eyes hardened and he swung around to face Abby.
"Rush got fifteen years. Find out when he got out." He looked at McGee. "Background McGee. Anything and everything on Sam Rush. I want to know where he is right now."
The fingers of the two tech savvy people in the room started flying over their respective keyboard while Gibbs paced in front of the plasma. It was after four. Who knows how long those little girls had?
Abby was the first to find an answer. "He was released from prison two years ago Gibbs," her voice was grim, "got out early for good behaviour."
"So he's had two years to plan this thing Boss," Tony pointed out, though it was rather obvious.
"Ya think DiNozzo?" Gibbs spat at him. No way Rush was going to win this round. Gibbs wouldn't let him.
"He's got a house on Claymore Avenue Boss," McGee said moments later. "And he owns a small pleasure craft. It's," he checked, "moored at the marina. Spot 256."
Gibbs shook his head. "No. This is too easy. He looked right into the camera. He knew we would find that footage. And he's too smart to get caught in this kind of trap." The team leader stood in place for a moment, indecision making him hesitate. But he had to make the call.
"Okay, gear up. Tony and Ziva, we're going to check that boat. McGee, get me everything you can find on Sam Rush and what he's been doing since he got out of prison. Track down the people on that list the Shorey's gave us this morning. There's something we're missing here. I can feel it in my gut." He turned a hard gaze on the agent. "You leave the lab, make sure Abby goes with you." The warning was severe enough to make Abby pout and McGee turned a shade paler.
The team knew better than to question Gibbs' gut and hurried to follow his instructions. They'd solved a tiny part of the puzzle, but they still had two little girls to find.