"Ok..." Tim looked at the message. "Does this mean something?"

"Oh, yeah. Ziva mentioned to Tony when she was with him in his apartment in January that Bodnar always fancied himself as part of her family. She was very passionate and angry about his self-insertion, and made a point to tell Tony that 'he was not blood.' Ziva just reminded him that he is not the true heir of Eli David."

McGee was impressed. "That's going to make him angry, Boss."

"Ya' think, McGee? I'm banking on it. Maybe he will even try to come over here himself, since Ziva accuses him of being a coward. I'd love to see him try." Gibbs had a vicious gleam in his eye.

Vignette Eleven- Part Four

Montreal, Canada

After they were gone for one month and shortly after the "attack" on his dad, Tony and Ziva sent an email to McGee, to his home email. It was vague and gave no information, except that it would let McGee know they were alive and where they were at the moment.

They would be leaving in two hours to fly to Paris, so they waited until the last possible moment to send the email, in case anyone had it in their mind to come after them. They had made some decisions and Ziva convinced Tony that Paris should be their entry point. At this time, Tony was relying on Ziva's personal relationship with Bodnar and her experience with Mossad to guide them.

Once they reached Europe, it was game on. Tony was anxious to get started and get this over with. He knew that every day they delayed was another day the trail grew colder, unless Bodnar or someone close to him made a serious blunder. Tony doubted that would happen, unless something or someone made Bodnar show his face before he was ready.

McGee's Home

Tim threw his stuff on the sofa, he was so tired. They had busted their balls today, and having Tony and Ziva gone had been a serious hit to the team. Dorneget had been officially transferred to them, Tim was now Senior Field Agent and Agent Karen Markle was transferred from another team, out of Miami.

Tim grabbed a beer out of his fridge and sat in front of his computer. Rubbing his eyes, he opened his email. After deleting one message after another, he paused. He looked at the next email, confused. It said it was from "tommyandlisa ".

McGee's eyes opened wide. He quickly opened and scanned the email. He smiled and printed it up, then deleted it off of his hard drive.

Running out the door, he called Gibbs. "Boss, you home? I have something."

Gibbs' Home

McGee walked right into Gibbs' house, shaking his head at his own lax security, especially in consideration of what had just gone down in New York.

"Down here, McGee!" Gibbs called out. Tim followed his voice down to the basement.

"Where's Tony's Dad?" Tim asked.

Gibbs pointed upstairs, which Tim took to mean either in the shower or in whatever bedroom he was staying in. Sr. had been shocked when he heard about the attempt on his life. He gave Gibbs no more grief about his insistence at being guarded.

"I got an email, Boss." Tim said excitedly, handing over the paper:

"Hi McGregor!

Lisa and I were just talking about you, so we decided to say hi. We're doing great, after the excitement of the wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Paddington are taking things slow, thank you very much. Lisa did hear from her brother, so we may go visit him in Paris, sort of a belated honeymoon.

Hope Amy and LJ are doing well. Tell them we said hello and we miss everyone. Job is challenging and can be frustrating, but we are really getting into the groove of things now.

Cheers! Tommy and Lisa"

Gibbs read the email again, to make sure he got everything. He looked at McGee. "Did you read this?" Gibbs asked.

McGee frowned. "Well, yeah it was sent to me."

Gibbs smiled. "So what did you get from this?"

Tim thought about it. "Well, it's definitely from Tony and Ziva, because they are using the names of their characters in my book, 'Tommy' and 'Lisa'. Also, if I remember correctly, Paddington is a family name of Tony's. The email came from a public computer in a Library in Montreal. Uh, and they got married." McGee gulped at that.

Gibbs smiled. "Tommy and Lisa got married, McGee. It makes their cover more believable. So they're in Montreal and getting ready to fly to Paris. This means they got enough Intel to move forward. That's what they meant by 'hearing from her brother'." Gibbs frowned.

"Not sure it was a good idea to use a family name. It could be on Tony's dossier."

"Uh, Boss, I don't understand what they mean by 'hearing from her brother'. Isn't Ari dead?" McGee looked scared.

Gibbs nodded. "Remember when I mentioned that Tony told me that Ziva complained about Bodnar, how he considered himself the son of Eli David and his heir apparent. Ziva strongly disagreed."

"Ah, so 'brother' is Bodnar." Tim responded. "Do you think they really heard from Bodnar or are they just making sure we know they are going after him?"

Gibbs looked at the email again. "I doubt they heard from him, unless they are also monitoring their personal emails. In which case, they would have seen the email regarding Tony's father. I don't see any concern about his well-being in here, so I'm guessing it is code for their plan." Gibbs thought for a second.

"McGee, can you do a search for Tommy and Lisa Paddington without it raising red flags anywhere?" Gibbs looked at McGee, his blue eyes piercing.

McGee considered the question. "Well, we can look at passenger manifests for flights out of Montreal. I can hack into the airlines systems for their passports. At least we can see what they look like now."

Gibbs nodded. "Do it. And Tim. Set up your own dummy email account to keep in touch with them. Do what they did: use the public library computers or computers available at a university. Just as long as it doesn't lead back to you and NCIS."

"On it, Boss. What do you want me to write back?"

Gibbs smiled. "Oh I have a few choice words in mind, but I don't want to blow their cover. I'll write something up for you to send them.

Paris, France

Tony and Ziva were in Paris for two days before they spotted their first person of interest. Ziva had told Tony that Bodnar used to tell her about all of his missions, in minute detail.

The man was such a megalomaniac that he didn't consider he was giving up any contacts or hiding places. He was so enamored of his own prowess, that he didn't mind answering the probing questions young Ziva had asked him.

Of'course at first, it was because she was learning and wanted to know every detail for future reference. The last time they had any one on one time, discussing mission details had been when she stayed in Israel over the Michael Rivkin debacle. That was four years ago, and many of these people Bodnar had mentioned could be long dead, or imprisoned.

Marcel Favreau worked as an Antiques dealer by day and as an arms dealer by night. They found him exactly where Bodnar had told Ziva he would be. They began their mission on a Thursday morning, strolling hand in hand along the boulevard, window shopping.

It was not too hot, even though it was June. Tony wore a designer sports shirt and trousers, and a hat. Ziva was dressed in a light weight dress with a light sweater. They wanted to appear well-off, but not too rich. Tony had opened an account and gotten a safe deposit box in a Paris branch of the Swiss Bank.

They had a lot of cash that they didn't want to carry with them. The account in the Swiss Bank allowed them access to the money wherever they were in Europe. The safe deposit box was for the remainder of the cash, which would only be used for emergencies.

Ziva had also inherited quite a bit from her father's estate. She took care of her legal obligations while she had been in Israel, but at the time she wasn't thinking of needing the large sums of money she had been left.

In March, when she started making her private plans, she had a large amount wired over to her American Bank account. This money was also taken when they left DC.

So far, the money had come in quite useful. The passports and fake ID's did not come cheap, nor was flying to Paris. They were essentially on the run, but had to maintain a normal lifestyle of tourists and when the situation warranted it, as locals. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves, so they acted like normal people visiting a foreign country.

This included some site seeing, while they were scoping out areas of interest. They stopped in front of the Antiques shop, looking in the front window display.

Marcel Favreau saw them outside and immediately pegged them as tourists that were on the higher side of the income scale. He didn't expect any big sale, but maybe something smaller? He was pleased when he heard the bell to his front door ring as they entered.

"Bonjour, bienvunu!" Favreau welcomed them.

Tony smiled wide. "Bonjour, Monsieur." Tony spoke with a cultured British accent. "I am sorry, neither I nor my wife speak French."

Favreau bowed. "It is not unexpected. You are not from here yes? I know some English."

Ziva turned and smiled shyly. "What a delightful establishment you have. We are travelling from Montreal, on our honeymoon. This is my husband Thomas, I am Lisa Paddington."

"Ah, what better place than the City of Love! Please, look around, make yourself at home." Favreau kissed Ziva's hand.

"Merci." Ziva murmured. She and Tony moved slowly around the shop, stopping to discuss some pieces they looked at.

"Look at this Louis the 14th chair! I would kill for this!" Tony whispered under his breath. Ziva just smiled.

"It will not fit in our suitcase, Thomas." She said loudly, letting the owner know they were actually interested in purchasing something.

"Ah, perhaps something smaller? I must say that I admire your taste. You have a very good eye." Favreau bowed again. "In my display, I have some smaller pieces. Perhaps a beautiful piece of jewelry for your beautiful bride?"

Tony had to give this guy points. He was ready to buy him out. They dutifully went over to the display and Ziva pointed to an exquisite cameo brooch. Several other customers came in, speaking French. Favreau nodded at them.

"That is a lovely choice. It belonged to a Duchess from Marseilles. Eighteenth Century." He brought it out and laid it on a velvet covered tray.

While they were looking at it, Favreau's phone rang. "Please excuse." He bowed again and took the call.

He spoke rapidly in French. Ziva examined the pin closely while listening in to the conversation. She turned to Tony. "Thomas, this has been a very lovely day. I adore this." She smiled brightly at Tony.

"Lisa, my love, are you saying that you have seen enough and would like this brooch?" Tony had his arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze.

Favreau ended his call and returned to his young couple. "So, you like what you see, oui? It is magnifique!"

"Oui, merci." Ziva murmured. Favreau beamed brightly.

"It is a favorite of mine. I am happy it will be worn again that all may see its beauty." He took the brooch, and went to clean it.

He brought it back, brightly wrapped in a special box. Tony didn't even blink at the price, and paid him in Euro's. Favreau was pleased to receive cash instead of credit. This young couple was an excellent customer, and he hoped they would come again.

"I hope you will stop by again before you return home to Montreal. I have some estate jewelry coming in next week that may interest you."

Tony smiled. "Thank you, we may just do that. We are not on any schedule, just taking us where the wind blows as they say." He took the owner's card. "I will definitely tell my friends in London about your establishment."

"Thank you, Sir, for your kindness and business. Good day and pleasant travels." Tony shook his hand, and smiled when Favreau kissed Ziva's hand again.

He took her hand and they strolled back out into the street. "Later." Ziva said. Tony nodded, pointing things out as they walked. They didn't really think Favreau suspected anything or was watching them, but they didn't want to take any chances.

They passed by a Library, and decided to go in and see if they got an email back from McGee. Sure enough, after logging into their email account, they found one new email, from "McGregorT .:

"Hi guys! Great to hear from you. LJ says hi. Boss isn't happy but he never is. Call when you get the chance. All sorts of news to share. Take lots of pictures and send when you get the chance.

McG."

Tony and Ziva read the email silently. "Do you think he meant Gibbs or Vance when he said the Boss isn't happy?" Tony wondered.

"Does it matter?" Ziva asked. "I feel bad we just left like we did, but it had to be done that way."

"Yeah, I know." Tony looked around. He signed off on the computer and took her over to a deserted section of the library. "So, anything?"

Ziva looked around. "The phone call was definitely from a buyer, so he is still in the business." She sighed. "It is too bad. I rather liked him."

"He was charming. That's why he's good at what he does." Tony looked grim. "We better make that call. What time is it there?"

Ziva looked at her watch. "It is 8 a.m. They should be in the office, unless of'course they are in the field on a case."

Tony nodded. "Ok, let's go back to the hotel and make the call."

NCIS

Gibbs was sitting at his desk when his cell rang. He looked at the readout. "Blocked number."

"McGee, with me." Gibbs got up with his phone and headed toward Vance's office. "Yeah, Gibbs." He answered.

"Hi Dad." Tony said quietly.

Gibbs looked at McGee and nodded. "Well, if it isn't my wayward son and daughter. Give me a second to get into a quiet place. We have lots to talk about." He went into Vance's outer office and showed her the phone. It was enough for her to buzz him in.

Vance looked up when Gibbs and McGee entered.Gibbs punched the speaker on his cell. "Ok, 'Tommy', go ahead. Nice to finally hear from you."

"Yes, well, we've been busy." Tony hedged.

"Doing what, exactly?" Vance demanded.

Tony looked at Ziva. "My friend used to brag about his work. He gave me many names. We are looking for them. We found one today."

"In Paris." Gibbs said.

"Name!" Vance barked.

"Marcel Favreau. He owns an Antique store on the West Bank. He is making a weapons deal tonight. You need to contact Interpol or the French authorities." Ziva said.

"Will he be able to connect the bust to you?" Gibbs asked.

Tony thought about it. "We made a point that we could not speak French. Several other customers came in that were French before he got his call. It would make more sense to think of them."

"We have some names for you: Enrique Vasquez from Barcelona, and Marco Cagnani, Naples." Vance said, after getting the address and meeting time for the arms deal.

Tony looked at Ziva. "Where did you get those from? We already know about Vasquez."

Gibbs took a deep breath. "Tony, they went after your father. He's fine; he's been with me since you left. I anticipated this was going to happen. We caught the assassin and he spilled his guts. Except where we could find Bodnar."

Tony went pale when Gibbs had said Bodnar had sent someone to kill his father. "Shit" was all he could manage.

Ziva squeezed his hand. "We need some…assistance. Guns, knives, a voice squealer. We can't always call you to call the authorities; we may have to call ourselves. Anything to help disguise our voices will be of help."

"Is that your plan then? To destabilize his network, to find and turn in every arm's dealer and assassin known to have contact with Bodnar?"

"For now." Ziva answered quietly.

"Then why do you need weapons?" Vance asked, his voice edged with anger.

"For our protection. We may have to actually disable some of these people and I want us both to walk away in one piece." Tony answered the question.

Vance looked at Gibbs, who nodded. "We'll talk to our friends at Interpol. If this bust goes down, they will probably be willing to offer some assistance. Call us tomorrow, noon our time, and we can give you some instructions."

"Did you get the email?" McGee asked this question.

"Hey, McGregor! Didn't realize you were there. Yes, we read it today. Glad to know that worked out ok."

"It was a good idea, Ton…Tommy." McGee answered.

"I want to make it clear that you are not sanctioned to go after Bodnar. Believe me, I understand your motivation, but you will not, repeat, will not, make any attempt to contact Bodnar. Do I make myself clear?" Vance's voice was cold and harsh.

Tony and Ziva looked at each other. Tony cleared his throat. "Director, it is not our intention to capture or kill Bodnar, despite our…motivation. We want to find him, and then let the authorities know where he is so he can be captured. Period."

Vance looked at Gibbs, who nodded. "Understand this, I can't protect you. You have gone off on your own. We will give assistance as we are able, but our hands are tied. If Interpol decides to take a more active role in helping you, that is up to them. We will remain in touch, and you will report in."

"Understood." Tony and Ziva both said. "We'll check back in tomorrow around noon." The line went dead.

Vance looked again at Gibbs. "Well, do you believe them?"

Hmm…not so many responses to Part Three. Hope you liked it. This Vignette is not going to be overly long, maybe seven parts. Have to wait and see how the writing goes. Thanks for reading, please review when you get the chance.