„Tobias was really pissed. His director had pulled him off the case and our team's been pulled aswell. He said that they were all emotionally involved."
Jethro told Tony as they took a walk through the their neighbourhood. Jethro thought that fresh air would be good and not as depressing as sitting at home.
„Did Tim find anything before they were pulled?"
„Well, the car was stolen and the owner was a family father with three daughters in the age of 2 to 7. He didn't seem like the type for it. And he had heard of the incident when Lish was abducted...he said he'd grill such a fucking bastard and feed his guts to rats. And that's a quote."
Tony sighed as they walked on. The description of the car fitted to about a hundred thousand of minivans in DC alone, let alone in Virginia. And since the car was stolen only three days before Lish was abducted he probably used different cars every time. Maybe he was a fucking nut-job, but he was definitely not stupid.
With their team pulled they had not much left to get information, at least not much more than any other parents. They could hope that Jen would keep them in the loop but apparently she was fighting over jurisdiction with the FBI director. Tony plainly hated that guy.
About three blocks away from their house Tony stopped at a house. The front garden was neat, the windows had pretty curtains and it looked like a house from Pleasantville. It looked too neat. In a window on the second floor Tony saw a brown cat. But then he realised the the cat didn't move...it was a preperated animal.
„Tony?"
Jethro had stopped and turned to see why his husband had stopped but the younger man's gaze was fixed on the house. A black minivan stood in the driveway. Without much thinking he went to the car and as he came closer he saw sawdust on the floor behind the car, as if somebody had carried a bag with it and some of it spilled. He looked inside and saw bags of a children cloth store, but as he looked around he couldn't find any indication that children lived there.
„Fucking bastard!"
He muttered and went to the door. Jethro was short behind him as he hammered against the door.
„HELP!!!"
A child cried out and that was enough. Tony kicked in the door and ran inside the house, Jethro on his six. Once inside the house a man jumped at Tony from the stairs. The younger man needed only a second to turn the situation and the man was pinned to the floor and Tony was hitting him as if there was no tommorow. Between the sound of heavy breathing and fists colliding with flesh and bones Jethro could hear a girl crying and after a moment he recognized it as his daughter.
Knowing they were in trouble already Jethro tried to pull Tony away from the unconscious man. It took his several more hits before he finally managed to restrain Tony from beating. The younger of the two took heavy breaths and then broke free from Jethro's grip and ran upstairs to the room the girl was still crying. The door was open and Tony stopped as he saw his daughter and the little girl they had met on a playground sitting on the floor, their hands tied behind their backs, and Ivi had tape over her mouth, Lish's tape was hanging from her mouth, apparently they had managed to get it off somehow.
„Daddy!"
As the shock faded Tony found his feet moving and he was there hugging his girl tightly.
„Everything's going to be ok, honey. I promise you, nobody will ever hurt you again!"
As in an after thought he let go off her to loosen her ties. He opened the ropes around Ivi's wrists and ankles and then he hugged the two girls again. It took about five minutes before he let them go again.
„I called Jen."
He turned and saw Jethro standing behind him.
„She's sending someone."
He knelt down and took Lish in his arms, just as tightly as Tony. As much as he was happy that they had their girl back, and that Ivi was alright, too, Tony couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the other girls. He left the room and went through the house, finally reaching the door leading to the basement. He had the door knob in his hand but he didn't know if he should really go in there. But marcabre curiousity took the better of him and he opened the door. He took the flight of steps slowly and as he stood on the bottom he could only stare for a moment.
Then his stomach twisted and all he could do was running up the stairs, out of the front door and emptying his stomach onto the perfect lawn, or rather, onto the shoes of FBI Special Agent Ron Saccs. As he realized that he had hit somebody he wanted to apoologize but when he saw the man's face he thought ‚Oh, well...‘.
„Any reason you're puking on my shoes?"
„Check the basement and you'll know."
Tony answered grumpy and turned to the house. Jethro exited with his daughter on his arm.
„Tony, are you alright?"
„No..."
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.