Anthony DiNozzo Senior usually liked to be the centre of attention but he was distinctly uncomfortable at the reaction he got to the announcement that he had received a ransom demand for his son.

"But," said Kate, "That can't be. We had a demand that the Commander had to mess up a case she was prosecuting."

"You got the demand with you?" asked Gibbs.

"It was an email," said Senior. He held out his cell phone. "Here, look!"

Gibbs took the phone and squinted at it. "McGee," he said brusquely, "Here. Can you bring it up on the plasma?"

McGee nodded and soon had the email up for everyone to see.

Mr DiNozzo

We have your son. He will be returned if you pay us $5 million. Wait to hear from us.

If you want to see him again, do not tell anyone.

"Is this the only contact you've had?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes," said Senior. "Wasn't it enough?"

Gibbs ignored this. "And you didn't tell anyone?"

"No. I replied, saying I'd do what they told me. Which I have, except for coming here. Are you telling me that this isn't some sort of hoax?"

"Tony disappeared this morning," said Faith.

"You sure he's not just playing hooky?" asked Senior.

It said a lot for Faith's self-control that she managed just to say, "Yes, I'm sure."

"It was sent at 12.30," observed McGee. "After the note to the Commander."

"Can you trace where it came from?" asked Gibbs.

"On it," said McGee.

"How did the kidnappers know where to send the demand?" asked Kate.

"What?" asked Gibbs.

"I've got a reputation in the world of finance," said Senior in a patronising voice. "I'm not hard to track down."

"No, I don't mean that, Sir," said Kate. "I meant, how do they know your email address?"

"Oh," said Senior. "Probably off my website. It has a contact address, you know. Uh, Agent Gibbs, will it get out?"

"What? Your email address?" said Gibbs blankly.

"No. No, I meant will it get out that I can't afford to pay the ransom?"

"I don't understand," said Gibbs.

Senior shifted a little uncomfortably. "It wouldn't do my reputation much good if word got out that I couldn't raise the ransom money."

Silence fell in the squad room. It was broken by Faith, "I'm going to go back to the conference room and put Tilly down to sleep," she announced.

"Boss!" said Tim, "The email to Mr DiNozzo. I mean, Mr DiNozzo Senior, not Tony … it was sent from a hot spot in Dumfries."

"A what?" asked Gibbs.

"A hot spot," said Tim. "You know, a place with free Wi-Fi."

Gibbs looked underwhelmed by the thought he could access his emails on the move. "Does it help us?" he asked.

"Just let me check something else," McGee answered.

"Gibbs," said Kate, "Dumfries is to the South. We thought the white van was headed North. What does it mean?"

"Van might have circled back," said Gibbs, "Or there's a team of people working on this."

"Boss!" said McGee. "The emails were both sent from the same phone."

"I thought the first email was sent from an internet café," said Kate.

"It was," said Tim, "But it was sent using a cell or a tablet. The sender must have been using the café's Wi-Fi but not one of their machines."

"Can you trace the phone?" asked Gibbs.

"No. It's a burn phone," said Tim.

"If we know the time it was sent, we could check for security footage," suggested Kate. "For both places. We can check if we see the same people in any of the shots."

"Get on it," ordered Gibbs.

"I'll check what other calls were made around the same time," said Tim. "The person who sent the emails may have made other calls at the same time. On ordinary phones."

"Do that," said Gibbs although it seemed a long shot.

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Senior. "You seem to have everything under control. I'd just be in the way here. I could go to my hotel for the night."

"I'd prefer that you remain here, Mr DiNozzo," said Gibbs.

"But," began Senior.

"The kidnappers might contact you again," said Gibbs, "I'd prefer to have you close by if that happens."

"Don't you usually put an agent with families at times like this?" asked Senior. "You know, in a hotel or something like that? Surely you don't need me to be here. An agent could listen in to my phone calls and report back to you if necessary."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed but he kept his temper. "We're using all our people in the search for your son, Mr DiNozzo. We don't have anyone spare to go with you. We'll make you comfortable in a conference room."

There was something steely in Gibbs' gaze that persuaded Senior not to argue the point. "Of course," he said graciously, "A conference room will be fine."

"I'll show you the way," said Gibbs. On his way back from placing Tony's father in a room, Gibbs dropped in on Faith.

"She's sleeping," said Faith with a tired smile. "Seems she likes NCIS better than her bedroom at home. Tony would be so mad!"

"Commander," said Gibbs, "Something Kate said made me think of something."

"Yes?"

"How did the kidnappers know where to send an email?"

"I don't know," said Faith, "I hadn't thought about it. It was my work address, not my personal one."

Gibbs shook his head slightly at the thought that people might have more than one email account. "Do many people know the address?" he asked.

"People I work with," said Faith. "I guess someone might work out what it is but that seems a little haphazard."

"We'll check with JAG. See if anyone enquired about your account," said Gibbs.

As he turned to go, Faith said, "This doesn't make sense, does it? First a demand that I do something. Then a demand for money from Anthony. I don't understand."

"Hang on in there," said Gibbs, "We'll work it out."

"I'm sure," said Faith bravely. "Tony speaks very highly of you, Agent Gibbs. I know you're doing your best." She left unspoken the thought and fear that the best might not be good enough.

While Kate and McGee continued with their tasks, Gibbs phoned JAG Headquarters to ask if anyone had tried to obtain Faith's email address. The person he spoke to promised to make enquiries.

"I guess the kidnappers might have changed their minds," said Tim.

"What? How so?" asked Gibbs.

"They thought they'd get money from Albany Sutton to get his son off the charges. When that fell through they decided to try and make money out of Tony's Dad," said McGee.

"Could be," mused Gibbs. His phone rang at that moment. He answered it, listened to what the person had to say and then said, "Good. Send it to us." McGee and Kate looked at him expectantly. "JAG Reception desk says that they had a phone enquiry asking for Faith's email address. The caller said they needed to send her some information about a case and had forgotten her details. They gave the information out. And," added Gibbs with a grim smile, "They record all their incoming calls. And they know the exact time of the call …"

"So we'll be able to trace who made the call," said Tim excitedly.

"Details on the way," said Gibbs.

It seemed like their first break. The caller hadn't used a burn phone but a phone registered in his own name.

The Director came down to the squad room as Kate and Tim did research into the caller.

"Agent Gibbs," he announced, "I've just spoken to the FBI."

Gibbs looked up suspiciously, "Yes?"

"They have jurisdiction," said Morrow. He held up his hand to forestall any comments. "I know you already notified them and they have been looking for Agent DiNozzo but we need to involve them more closely. They have agreed to share responsibility and, for the moment, are happy for NCIS to take the lead. But I have committed to sharing of information. Do you understand?"

Gibbs nodded reluctantly. Part of him wanted to do it all in-house but he realised that the FBI resources would be vital.

"Good," said the Director, "Agent Fornell is the liaison."

"Colin Maxon," said Kate sometime later when they had traced the owner of the phone. "Lives in Alexandria. Single. No record of who he works for but he doesn't seem to be getting any welfare benefits so I guess he works for himself somehow. Can't find his tax returns. Dropped out of college where he was doing a bachelor's in accountancy."

"Let's go," said Gibbs jumping to get his weapon. He pulled out his phone. "Tobias. We've got a lead. You coming? Kate, you're with me. McGee, stay here and carry on with whatever you're doing with those phones."

NCISNCIS

Two hours later, Gibbs, Kate and Fornell trooped back with disappointment written all over their faces.

"Maxon hasn't been seen at the address on his driver's licence for three days," said Kate wearily. "He moved to DC four months ago. Pays his rent in cash on time, keeps to himself, puts out his trash on the right day and doesn't seem to get much mail delivered. Landlord had to think hard about when he'd last seen him. Seems our Mr Maxon doesn't make much of an impression, nondescript, I guess." She frowned as she said those words, wondering why they seemed familiar.

"I'll have agents doing surveillance on the apartment," said Fornell.

Gibbs nodded approval, "Anything on his finances, McGee?"

"I'm trying to track his credit activity," said McGee, "Seems he tends to favour cash. Takes out fairly large sums and, presumably, uses it to last him for a few days. Takes the cash out from machines in various locations around DC and Virginia. I could try for footage from cameras as cash points – see if there's anyone with him when he takes money out."

"Do that," ordered Gibbs. "And put an alert so that we know if he takes any more money out."

McGee nodded and went back to work.

02.00 came and went and still there were no sightings of either Tony or Maxon. Gibbs saw that McGee and Kate were struggling to stay awake and he realised that even he was beginning to grow weary.

"Call it a night," he said finally.

"Boss. Gibbs?" said Tim and Kate in surprise. "We can carry on," said Kate.

"No," said Gibbs reluctantly. "If we work when we're this tired we may miss something. We'll stop now."

"I'm not going home," said Tim defiantly.

"OK," said Gibbs, "But take a break. One of you can go down to Abby's lab and sleep on her futon thing. Otherwise make yourself comfortable here."

Tim and Kate reluctantly agreed.

"Don't worry," said Gibbs, "I'll wake you up if anything happens."

He decided to go check on Faith before going to sleep himself. He let himself into the conference room quietly in case she was asleep but somehow wasn't surprised when her eyes opened immediately when he went in. He hated to see a look of hope dawn in her eyes. A look which faded when he shook his head.

"We're taking a break for a couple of hours," he said. "But we won't stop for long."

"I understand," said Faith. "No point in working to exhaustion. It's not efficient."

Gibbs nodded. "How you doing, Faith?"

"My husband is missing," said Faith, "We don't know why. We don't know who by. So I'm fine."

Gibbs nodded again. He wasn't good with words at the best of times and this was certainly not one of his good times.

"How long do kidnappers usually give?" asked Faith. "That email to Anthony. It didn't give any timescale. Is that unusual?"

"I don't know that there's any rules," said Gibbs. "The FBI have got their experts looking at both the emails. They may spot something we didn't. And we've got a BOLO out for Maxon. That's a solid lead."

"Unless it turns out that he really was going to send me something legitimate," sighed Faith. "I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. I know you're doing your best … and, at least, Tilly has slept through! Go on, go and get some rest. It's what Tony would tell you to do." She managed something like a smile.

Gibbs left the room as quietly as he had entered it.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs woke Kate and McGee after five hours. He had only managed a couple of hours sleep before he jerked awake and found himself unable to go back to sleep. He had gone up to MTAC and taken a turn at looking at the security footage around the park and the internet café in the hope of spotting something.

Having woken Kate and Tim, Gibbs went to have a shower. He came back to find Anthony DiNozzo Senior talking to Kate.

"Junior told me that you used to work for the President."

"That's right," said Kate.

"It must have been fascinating," said Senior, "Seeing all those powerful people up close and personal."

"I suppose," said Kate.

"I bet there are some stories you could tell, eh?"

"Everything I saw is classified, Sir," said Kate.

"Oh, please. Call me Anthony … or Tony. There's no need to stand on ceremony, you know."

"Thank you … Anthony," said Kate. "But I still can't tell you anything I saw on Airforce 1"

"I understand," said Senior. "Tell me, do you keep in touch with any of those people?"

"Sir?" said Kate immediately forgetting to call him Anthony.

"You know. I'm always on the lookout for business opportunities and I have openings for … high end investors. We could come to some mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Really?" said Kate wondering how to divert Tony's father without being rude.

"Grampa!" came a welcome voice as Faith and Tilly exited the elevator.

"Matilda!" said Senior. "And Faith. My dears, how are you today?"

"Dada?" said Tilly plaintively.

"Tilly and I," said Faith pointedly, "Are missing Tony. Very much."

"Of course," said Senior, "As am I. Desperately."

"But still touting for business?" asked Faith.

Senior tried to laugh it off. "Got to raise that ransom somehow."

"Grampa!" said Tilly again, tugging at his leg. "Up! Up!"

"What?" asked Senior.

"She wants you to pick her up," said Faith.

"Oh," said Senior. He bent down and picked her up and then tickled his granddaughter's tummy. Tilly giggled happily. "Is she all right?" he asked Faith.

"What do you mean? She's missing Tony," said Faith.

"She's not talking much yet," said Senior. "Is there a problem? I could probably recommend a good paediatrician."

"She's fine," said Faith evenly, "She's not two years old yet."

"If you say so," said Senior who, for all his doubts, did seem to be fond of Tilly and continued to tickle her.

"Down! Down," she said when she caught sight of Tim.

McGee's face showed a mixture of embarrassment and pride as Tilly raced over to him as soon she was put back on the ground.

"Agent Gibbs," said Faith, "I'm going to take Tilly over to Childcare for a few hours. I think she'll be better there. She needs some routine."

Gibbs looked at Faith, thinking that young Matilda was not the only one who needed things to get back to normal. Senior, grumbling a little, went back to his conference room.

"Gibbs," said McGee sometime later, "I may have footage of someone with Maxon at a cashpoint machine."

"Show me," ordered Gibbs.

"He's been in two of the shots at different banks," said McGee pointing to a tall, thickset man in his mid to late thirties. "I'm running facial recognition to try and find out who he is."

"Good work, McGee," said Gibbs slapping him on his shoulder.

The elevator dinged and an elderly couple, escorted by another agent, came out.

"Agent Todd," said the man.

Kate looked up in surprise. "Mr Villeneuve. Mrs Villeneuve. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my dear," said Mrs Villeneuve, "We thought you wanted us to come and sit with your sketch artist. We expected to hear from you or Agent DiNozzo yesterday but when you didn't call …"

"We thought we'd come anyway," said her husband. "I've got friends who still work in the Navy Yard so I like to visit. It's no problem if you don't want us to stay."

"I'm sorry," said Kate, "We did mean to contact you. But something … came up yesterday and I'm afraid I forgot."

"I understand," said the former Sergeant. "We could come again another day."

"Kate?" asked Gibbs. "What's going on."

"Gibbs, these are the Villeneuves. Tony and I interviewed them about the investment fraud. Tony suggested they come in and sit with a sketch artist but … well, you know. Mr and Mrs Villeneuve, this is Agent Gibbs, one of my co-workers."

"And is Agent DiNozzo here today?" asked Mrs Villeneuve. "I brought him some salted caramel cupcakes. You both seemed to enjoy the brownies so much."

"That's kind of you," said Kate. "I'm afraid Agent DiNozzo isn't here today. I'm not sure if we have anyone available to do the sketches with you today."

"I'm sure we can find someone, Agent Todd," said Gibbs. "Why don't you sit and wait for a couple of minutes."

"We'd be glad to," said Mr Villeneuve. "Our neighbour was talking to us yesterday. It seems that she had the same man talking to her about investing. He was there at the same time as Agents Todd and DiNozzo were talking with us. If only we'd known, you could have caught him there and then."

"We'll get your neighbour in as well," said Gibbs. "But we'll probably pass the case on to our Fraud Team."

"But it looks as if you've already found him," said Mrs Villeneuve, as she looked up at the plasma with its picture of Colin Maxon getting money out of the cashpoint.

"What?" asked Gibbs following her gaze.

"That's the man who sold us the investment," said her husband,

"Which one?" asked Gibbs.

"The man in the front of the picture. I don't recognise the man behind," said Mrs Villeneuve.

"Are you sure?" asked Kate.

"Oh yes, Dear," said Mrs Villeneuve. "He may not be very memorable … but he is when you see him. If you know what I mean."

Kate drew Gibbs to one side. "Gibbs, Tony said that the fraud case reminded him of one he'd worked while he was in Baltimore." She walked over to Tony's desk and looked at his scrap pad. "There's a note here to remind him to phone Jack Phillips, Baltimore PD. It must have been about the case."

"Call him," ordered Gibbs. "Tell him to get the file sent over to us."

Kate nodded and said in a low tone, "When we went to see them, Mr Villeneuve mentioned that his brother had been duped as well. In Baltimore. Might have been the case that Tony worked on."

"After you've spoken to Phillips, ask the Villeneuves if you can contact his brother. See if he can identify Maxon as well."

"What do you think is happening, Gibbs?" asked Kate as she waited to be connected.

Gibbs didn't waste time in answering but walked away to talk further to the Villeneuves.

NCISNCIS

Gibbs called a campfire an hour later.

"Report," he ordered.

"The Baltimore PD file for the Villeneuve case is the one Tony worked on," said Kate. "The captain arranged for a picture of Colin Maxon to be shown to Mr Villeneuve and he's pretty sure it's the person who defrauded him. Captain Phillips says that Tony thought he was getting close to finding the fraudster when he left to join NCIS."

"And they never did catch him?" asked Gibbs.

"No. He seemed to melt away. Phillips says they suspected there were more victims than ever came forward. He thinks there's a pattern of the guy working an area and then moving on. He knows not to stick around too long."

"McGee!" said Gibbs.

"Er … right. Well, the man behind Maxon at the cashpoint is Harry East. There's no obvious connection between them."

"They're standing together, McGee," said Gibbs irritably.

"Er … yes. Yes, I know that. I meant that they don't seem to work together, live close together, they aren't members of the same gym or anything like that," said McGee.

"OK, what do we know about him?" asked Gibbs.

"In and out of prison," said McGee. "Started off with shoplifting and petty theft. Went up to drug dealing and some violent assaults. Came out of prison most recently just five months ago. Served six years in the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown."

"Any record of kidnapping?" asked Kate.

"No," said McGee, "But it looks as if he'll do pretty any much anything he's hired to." He looked at his computer screen again. "Boss, Tony was the arresting officer for one of his offences … eleven years ago. East went to prison for a year for that. Looks as if he had a rough time in jail."

"You think East kidnapped Tony out of revenge?" asked Kate doubtfully.

"Don't know," said Gibbs. "But there's a connection. What if Maxon recognised Tony when you were visiting with the Villeneuves? Thought he might solve the case?"

"And so he kidnapped Tony?" asked McGee.

"Stopped us investigating, didn't it?" said Gibbs. "Perhaps he was playing for time. Needed a couple more days to make his last marks."

"So Tony is OK?" asked Kate.

"May be. Nothing in Maxon's history to suggest violence," said Gibbs. "Not so sure about East."

"Gibbs," said Tim, "I've just checked East's bank account. That picture is from two days ago … Maxon withdrew $5000 using a variety of cards and East deposited $4500 five minutes later."

"He was being paid for doing something," said Kate.

"You think?" said Gibbs sarcastically.

Tim tapped on his keyboard again. "Gibbs. East hired a white van from Eazydrive in Georgetown."

"There was a white van outside the park Tony runs in," remembered Kate.

"And," said Tim triumphantly, "It was pulled over around 10.00 yesterday for having an obscured licence plate."

"Where?" demanded Gibbs.

"On the 1-70 West near Martinsburg," answered McGee. "Driver was told to clean it and allowed to drive on."

"Get the licence plate to MTAC," ordered Gibbs. "Tell them to look out for the van on 1-70 and get a BOLO out on it. But with a warning not to stop it unless we approve."

"Yes, Boss," said McGee, scurrying away.

As he left his computer pinged again. Kate looked at the screen, "Gibbs. Maxon just used his credit card. In a café on South East Boulevard."

"Come on," said Gibbs, "I'll call Fornell on the way."

NCISNCIS

Tony shivered as he tried to shelter from the rain. He tried to decide whether or not he wanted his captor to return.