Chapter Four: Lost
Tony had found some things out, talking to the siblings. One, according to both, Michael was aloof. They both mentioned something about him not really being part of the family. Like he was there and not there at the same time. Michael was complicated.
Tony arrived back at the navy yard and rode the elevator to his floor. Something Kate said earlier was troubling him. Several things were bought with his credit card that day as well. TV, video games, computer, you name it. Why? He felt he knew who'd purchased those things, and it wasn't the marine.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs said as Tony approached from the elevator.
"Boss? Can I question Taylor's family again?" Tony asked, walking up to Gibbs' desk.
Gibbs looked puzzled as to why Tony wanted to question the family again, but decided to ignore it. "If you have good cause, DiNozzo. Understand?" Gibbs said, not wanting him to harass the family, but also knowing Tony must have found something or learned something for this to be that urgent.
"Thanks, boss," Tony said, hurrying back towards the elevator.
Gibbs wanted to talk with him, figure some things out. But, he figured it wasn't the time. Not now. After the case would be better. He would have time to listen to his agent, that is if he would talk. He wasn't even sure DiNozzo would talk. He might just shrug it off, saying he was fine.
Gibbs shook his head, knowing already he wouldn't take that as an explanation.
"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby said, interrupting his thoughts.
"What, Abs?" he asked as the forensic scientist stood in front of his desk.
"I got fingerprint results from the knife," Abby told him.
"You could've called," Kate said from her desk.
"Yeah, but I got too excited," Abby said.
Gibbs gave a small smile, saying, "Whose prints were on the knife, Abs?"
"Hailey Rose," Abby told him proudly.
"Kate?"
"On it, Gibbs," Kate told him.
Tony walked up to the house the marine had once called home. It was small, but looked roomy somehow. He walked to the dark wooden porch to ring the bell. The house was blue with red curtains showing through the windows. He rang the bell.
"Agent, uh-"
"DiNozzo," Tony helped.
Hannah Taylor nodded as she asked, "What are you doing here? Can I help?"
Tony nodded slightly. "I was wondering if I could talk with Noah again? I just have a few questions for him, if you don't mind."
"Uh, of course. Should I be in the room?" she asked.
"Um, no offense," Tony said, "But, uh, kids usually are more truthful if their parents aren't in the room. They don't wanna get in trouble."
Hannah nodded in understanding. "Of course. I-He's upstairs, second door on the right."
"Thank you," Tony spoke, heading for the stairs.
"Um, Agent DiNozzo?" Tony turned on the step he was on, tilting his head to the side. "Be gentle. He's only seven."
Tony nodded. "I will."
He walked up the stairs and looked at the door, second on the right. In huge blue and red letters, it said NOAH. Under it was a sign that read Private Property! No Trespassing! Around the words were stickers of sports balls, baseball, basketball, football, soccer; the door was covered in them. He knocked lightly, asking, "Noah?"
"What?" Noah asked, opening the door. "Hey, you're one of those cop guys that was at the house earlier. Did you avenge my dad?"
A smile flickered around the corners of Tony's mouth. He answered, "Not yet. I came to ask you a few questions. Do you mind?"
Noah shook his head and invited the agent in. "What do you need to know?"
"We, uh, my partner actually, she found purchases on your dad's credit card. The day of the...incident. You know anything about that?"
Noah's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered, saying, "No, why?"
"Well, because we found these purchases, expensive stuff. TVs, computers, video games. Whatever, he bought it," Tony said.
"And?" Noah inquired.
"Well, you got a nice TV right there," Tony said, looking around the room. Noticing all the expensive stuff. "What is it, sixty inch?"
"Seventy," Noah mumbled.
Tony nodded. "Playstation 2? Nice," Tony said, walking over to inspect the games. "Madden NFL 2004, Need for Speed: Underground, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Mario Kart: Double Dash!, Tony Hawk's-"
"What's your point?" Noah asked skeptically.
"My point," Tony revealed, "is that your dad didn't buy this for you, did he?"
Noah silently stared at him.
"Noah? Tell me the truth," Tony told him.
"If I tell you, are you going to tell my mom?" Noah asked, fidgeting slightly.
Tony shook his head, saying, "Not if you don't want me to."
Noah sighed and started explaining, "I have a friend at school. He told me that his big brother was an electrician. He said he could hook up anything that I wanted. He said I could buy anything and that there'd be no record of it. So I did. And his brother hooked it up. And, now I have it. I wasn't trying to be bad."
Tony stared at him for a bit, then observed, "You're lying."
Noah indignantly claimed, "No I'm not! That's the truth!"
"No, it's not," Tony said calmly. "If it was, you'd have to be incredibly stupid, Noah, and you're not."
"What do you mean?" Noah asked.
"Everyone knows parents find out what was bought on the credit card bill. And, if you didn't, you would know your mom or dad would walk in your room at some point. They'd see expensive stuff they didn't remember buying, and you'd get in trouble. Am I right?"
Noah slowly nodded.
"What really happened, Noah? I won't tell your mom, I swear," Tony started over.
"Fine. I found his credit card-well, stole it from his wallet while he was sleeping one night. I don't remember when. I paid my friend's older brother to buy all that stuff, 'cause I knew they'd find it weird if a seven-year-old was buying all that stuff. Then, he came and hooked it up-that's the truth-and that's why he had those purchases on his card. You were right, it wasn't him."
"Why?" Tony asked.
"I wanted...I wanted him to notice me. Everytime he comes home, he barely says anything to me! I wanted him to...to...I don't know! Do something!" Noah ranted.
"Did he?" Tony wondered.
"No," Noah remembered. "He came in my room one night, told me to go to bed, and pretended he didn't see anything. He didn't care."
Tony nodded once more as he headed for the door. "Thank you for being straight with me, bud."
"You promised you wouldn't tell my mom, 'member?" Noah worried.
"Yep, I promised. I won't tell her, kid," Tony said, leaving Noah to himself. As he walked out, he couldn't help noticing, Noah's room was without any windows. No window, no red curtain, no witnesses.
"Did you find anything useful, Tony?" Kate asked as he got in.
"Uh, yeah actually," Tony mentioned.
Gibbs looked up. "What did find, Tony?"
Tony glanced at him as he said, "I talked to Noah, Taylor's seven-year-old son."
"Yeah?" Gibbs said.
"Yeah. He told me he made the purchases on the credit card. Wanted his dad to pay attention to him. And, if he wasn't going to get good attention, he didn't mind going the other way," Tony informed them.
"That's a good job, Tony," Gibbs praised.
Tony nodded, "Thanks, boss."
Yeah, Gibbs thought, something is definitely bothering him. Maybe our talk can't wait.
