Gibbs and McGee continued their search close to where the attack had taken place but found no trace of Tony. With the fading of the light in the late afternoon came the rain predicted by Pastor Jack.
"We'll head back to the Navy Yard," announced Gibbs, "see what they've come up with." He could see McGee wanting to argue so added, "Local police are on the lookout for DiNozzo. We can't do anything more here."
Tim nodded reluctantly and followed Gibbs back to the car. He knew Gibbs was right but he felt the need to be doing something.
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" cried Abby when they arrived back, "did you find Tony?" Gibbs stared at Abby who hurried on, "silly question. Of course you haven't. You'd have told us." Gibbs canted his head in query and Abby answered the unspoken question, "no activity on Tony's cell or on his credit cards." She wrung her hands but was obviously trying to keep calm.
"Do you think he's been kidnapped?" asked Ellie.
"Hope not," said Gibbs briefly.
"But at least he'd be alive," said Abby, "that would be a good thing, wouldn't it?"
"Why would they kidnap a federal agent?" asked Gibbs, "they know there wouldn't be a ransom paid. Think! Why would they take him?"
"Because they think he could identify them?" said McGee slowly, "and that would mean that they …"
"Right," said Gibbs, "they'd have taken him to kill him."
"He hasn't been kidnapped then," said Abby firmly.
"That situation would fit the facts, would it not?" asked Ducky. "I do not want to imagine that scenario but it seems most odd, and uncharacteristic, for Anthony not to have been in contact with us." Abby gave a little sob at these words. "I don't want to distress you, Abby, but we need to be aware of the reality of the situation."
"Carter said that Tony was hit by the car," said Tim trying to be more hopeful, "perhaps he was disorientated in some way. Forgot about calling in …"
"Yes," said Ellie joining in with the optimism, "perhaps he followed his instincts to protect Carter and that overrode everything else."
"Maybe," said Gibbs, "but that doesn't explain why we didn't find him."
"And Timothy's suggestion leads us to suppose that Anthony is out there, injured and confused."
"And alone," added Abby.
Silence fell and they became even more aware of the rain gently hitting the skylight.
"Where's Carter?" asked Gibbs after a moment or two.
"The whole family has been moved to a safe house," said Ellie, "the Director decided that the attack showed that the threat was real and it would be best to hole them up somewhere until this is over."
Gibbs nodded. The protection duty had been a precaution that they hadn't really thought was necessary but they had been proved wrong.
"Why did they attack?" asked McGee, "they must have known that Addison had told the Navy about the bribery attempt. They know he can't give them information now."
"Perhaps they were sending a message to other people," suggested Ellie, "you know, they might have some other target. They can add a physical threat to the offer of money. 'Look what we'll do if you don't take our offer'."
Gibbs nodded in agreement, "we need to try and identify them. Just in case they have taken DiNozzo. Abby, any luck on the car that Carter saw?"
Abby shook her head, "You mean the car that might be a Toyota or might be a Chrysler? That might be blue or might be black? And might be big or might not? No, there's no CCTV in the immediate vicinity but the house is near a big interchange. Lots of directions they might have gone. I've been looking but nothing yet."
"McGee, help Abby," said Gibbs.
"Bishop, work on tracing the people who contacted Addison. Go over his statements."
"Yes, Boss," they said and hurried to their tasks.
They ended up staying at the Navy Yard through the night, snatching a few hours of sleep as they stayed on alert.
NCISNCIS
As morning dawned, Ducky arrived with coffee and food for his co-workers.
"Any luck?" he asked.
"Luck?" asked Gibbs morosely.
"Well, perhaps 'luck' is an inappropriate word to use," acknowledged Ducky, "any success?"
"No," said Gibbs, "no trace of DiNozzo or the crooks."
"We must hope that no news is good news," said Ducky philosophically, "I will be in Autopsy. Call me if you need me. Or if you have news."
A couple of hours later, with no news, Gibbs was beginning to think about going out and searching again when his phone rang.
"Gibbs."
"Detective Balini, Metro. A pawnbroker in Columbia Heights just called in."
"Yeah?"
"Seems someone came in wanting cash for a cell."
"Yeah?"
"Says the guy didn't look the sort to be having such a high end phone. He was suspicious."
"Is there a point to this, Detective?"
"He sent the guy away. Told him to come back later and he'd give him some money. I was close by when the call came through so I went down and looked at the phone. I recognised some of the names in the address book."
"Detective!"
"Your name, Agent Gibbs. Also McGee, Ducky … like I said, I recognised the names. That is your team, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"I think this is Agent DiNozzo's cell. You've got a BOLO out for him, haven't you?"
"You know DiNozzo?"
"Sure. We play in the same basketball team. I'm guessing he's in trouble?"
"You think? Where are you? When's this guy coming back?"
"Patrick's Pawnshop, on 16th Street North West. He'll be back in about 20 minutes. Can you get here in time?"
Gibbs didn't bother answering that question; he was already on the move gesturing to McGee to gear up. "Keep him there," he ordered.
"Pat says he won't come inside the shop. He's got some kind of phobia." The detective grimaced as he realised that Gibbs had ended the call, "You're welcome," he said to the empty air.
Balini knew enough about Gibbs not to be surprised that he was there within the 20 minutes. He was surprised however when Gibbs said,
"Thanks, Detective," as he got out of the car.
"We're having a crackdown on cell phone theft," said a mollified Balini, "So the pawnbrokers are being a bit cautious. Patrick says this guy often brings small things in. He reckons most of it is stuff that he scavenges."
"Boss," said McGee, "I think he's coming,"
"How d'you know?" asked Balini.
"He's wearing Tony's coat. See, Boss. That's Tony new coat that he was so pleased with the other week."
Gibbs' eyes narrowed as he saw a dishevelled looking man approach wearing an incongruously smart coat.
"Yeah, that's Marty," confirmed the pawnbroker.
Something stirred in the recesses of Gibbs' mind as he tried to remember where he'd heard that name recently but before he could recall it, something seemed to spook Marty who suddenly took off at a run.
A homeless person living on the streets, even though he was a former marine, stood no chance against a determined Gibbs and he was soon lying face down on the ground with Gibbs slapping handcuffs on him. For a moment or two, Marty seemed to accept his fate quietly but when Gibbs hauled him to his feet and started marching him to the car he suddenly began to panic and struggle. Gibbs proved stronger, however, and managed to force him into the car. Marty still didn't calm down and kept throwing himself against the door in a bid to escape.
"Uh, Boss," said McGee as he watched Marty in a frenzy, "He's claustrophobic."
"D'you think I care?" demanded Gibbs.
"Uh no, Boss, but …"
"But what?"
"He might respond better if you take him out of the car. You know, he'll calm down."
Gibbs considered this and decided that McGee was probably right. He opened the door of the car, "Hey, settle down and I'll let you out."
Marty nodded fervently and Gibbs dragged him out and took him over to a park across the street and settled him down on a bench.
"Where did you get the phone you were trying to sell?" he demanded, "and that coat?"
Marty was so wound up from being shut in the car that he was unable to come up with a lie.
"I found it; them," he said breathlessly.
"Where?"
"I didn't hurt him," said Marty.
"What d'you mean?" asked Gibbs.
"He was already lying there."
"Where?"
"At the church. He was lying in my place."
Gibbs' heart thumped, "and you left him there?"
Marty shrugged, beginning to relax a little as the horror of being shut in began to fade, "there's lots of people who sleep things off there. Pastor Jack lets them be."
"When was this?" asked McGee.
"Don't know. I don't have a watch," said Marty.
"Guess," ordered Gibbs.
"Don't know. Mid-morning, I guess," he said.
"Boss, he must have moved on," sighed McGee, "we'd have seen him, wouldn't we?"
"What did you do?" asked Gibbs.
"Took his coat," admitted Marty, "he'd taken it off. Looked as if he didn't need it."
"You believe that?" asked McGee incredulously.
Gibbs gestured him to be quiet, "was that all you took?"
"Took his wallet, his cell was in the coat," admitted Marty.
"'Cos he didn't need it?" said Gibbs sarcastically.
Marty shrugged. In his world, what fell at his feet was ripe for picking; there was little room for sentimentality.
"Have you been back to the church since?" asked McGee.
"No, didn't need to. Had some money. Didn't need Pastor Jack's stew last night."
"So you left someone laying in the cold and didn't care?" demanded Gibbs.
"Been a long time since anyone cared about me," said Marty, "I'm not about to care about anyone."
Gibbs glared at him but couldn't think what to say to him, he gestured to Detective Balini to come over,
"He's all yours," he said.
Balini took hold of Marty and made him stand up. Marty began to panic once more as he was made to walk towards the detective's car,
"Hey," he said, "I left him my blanket. That must count for something!"
"What?" said Gibbs.
"My red blanket," said Marty, "I covered him with my blanket."
Gibbs' heart sank as he remembered the person he had seen the day before, lying in the church grounds and covered with a red blanket.
"Come on, McGee," he ordered, "we're going to the church."
They sped off, leaving Balini and Marty standing.
NCISNCIS
Jack Grounoski yawned as he looked out at the sodden church yard. As predicted, he had had a busy night with more people than usual arriving in the hope of finding shelter for the night. He had had to turn people away although everyone had been offered a hot drink and a bowl of stew. Now, with the rain easing off, everyone except Marty seemed to have gone. He was just deciding to go and check on his last remaining 'guest' when there was a screech of tyres and he saw Agents Gibbs and McGee climbing out of their car.
"Gibbs, McGee," he said, "are you still looking for your agent?"
"We've found him," said Gibbs tersely, "he's under that red blanket!"
"What?" said Jack, "no, that'll be Marty."
Gibbs ignored him and hurried up to the red blanket. It was soon clear, however, that there was nobody lying under the blanket. He whirled round in a fury,
"Where's he gone?" he demanded of Grounoski.
"Who?"
"My agent. Marty told us that he stole my agent's coat but left him under his red blanket. Where is he?"
"I don't know," said Grounoski. "I didn't check on him."
"You didn't check on him?" growled Gibbs, "you let someone lie in all night in the rain and you didn't check on him?"
Grounoski was made of stern stuff, "it was busy last night. I didn't have time."
"You didn't have time?" shouted Gibbs, "my agent was lying here all night and you didn't have time?"
"I thought it was Marty," said Jack, "he never comes in. He has a fear of being enclosed. I guess I thought it was odd that he didn't come in for food but …"
"But what?" hissed Gibbs, "you didn't want to get wet coming out to check on him?"
"I had eight people looking for shelter last night, Agent Gibbs and double that to feed. So, no, I didn't find the time to check on someone who I knew is afraid of crowds and of confined spaces."
Gibbs opened his mouth to say more but the pastor got there first, "Agent Gibbs, I regret not coming out to check but don't take your guilt out on me."
"Guilt?" said Gibbs menacingly.
"Yes, guilt that you didn't check yesterday. Don't blame me that there are so many people with no homes to go to. So many people let down by our government. Marty is an ex-marine, you know. Doesn't seem that your Navy did such a good job on him, does it?"
Gibbs was still furious but he recognised some truth in what the pastor said and also that this was no time for an argument.
"When did you see him last?" he asked.
"I don't know. I thought there was still someone under the blanket. I was just coming out to check."
"Is there anyone around who was here last night?" asked McGee, "who might have seen Tony, Agent DiNozzo, leave?"
"No," said Jack, "they've all gone."
"Do you mind if we take a look round?" asked Gibbs, trying to curb his temper.
"Of course not," said Jack, "how did you find out about Marty leaving him his blanket?"
"He stole DiNozzo's phone and coat," said Gibbs, "Metro alerted us when he tried to pawn the phone."
"Where is he now?" asked Grounoski.
"Metro have him," said McGee, "Detective Balini."
"I must go," said Jack, "Marty will go crazy if he's locked up. I may be able to help." He turned to go, "I hope you find your agent."
Gibbs shook the blanket almost as if he hoped that Tony might somehow fall out of it.
"Where are you, DiNozzo?" he said.
NCISNCIS
Earlier that day.
Tony had woken occasionally during the night, shivering and hungry but he couldn't summon the energy to get up and walk towards the church from which came the smell of warm food. Each time, as he tried to get up, he found himself slipping back into darkness. He awoke at dawn and realised that he was no longer shivering. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew that wasn't a good thing but he couldn't remember why.
His head hurt and his body was stiff and painful but, after a struggle, he managed to lurch to his feet. Through a fog of pain, he suddenly thought that he should contact the Boss and he looked for his phone. His head swam as he realised that his coat was gone and that a red blanket lay at his feet. He felt in his jacket pockets but found neither his phone nor his wallet. He swayed for a moment or two as he tried to think what to do. He felt his arm itch and rolled up his sleeve and gazed at a number of red bite marks and realised that perhaps the red blanket was flea ridden and that its occupants had found fresh meat during the night.
Tony shook his head in distaste and kicked the blanket out of the way. He needed to find a pay phone so he could call Gibbs although he had no idea where he was. He looked through the trees and thought he could see a river. He seemed to remember that the Navy Yard was on a river and so, in his foggy state, thought that perhaps he would follow this river until he came to the Base. He turned his back on the church and made his way through the trees; he staggered for a few hundred yards and then paused for breath at the top of an incline. He gazed to the left and right as he tried to decide which way to go but was hit by another wave of dizziness and he found himself rolling down the hill until he reached the river below.