Chapter One
There was nothing special about the place, just a medium priced hotel amongst the all the others. It was the type of place that usually attracted vacationers because of its location, close to all the tourist attractions that D.C. had to offer. But the group that was gathered in one of the rooms tonight was not vacationers; they were FBI. The agent in charge, Tobias Fornell, did not look happy, far from it.
He turned to one of the other agents, “What in the hell happened here?”
The other agent grimaced, “I’m not sure, he had finished eating dinner, said he wasn’t feeling well and was going to lie down.”
A second agent joined in, “When I went to check on him around 9 o’clock, this is what I found.”
“Damn it” Fornell said, “This should have been a simple witness protection detail. You know what this means now, don’t you?”
As he glared at the other two agents, they just shook their heads, Fornell sighed, “NCIS is going to want in on the investigation.”
“God I hate making these kind of calls” Fornell thought to him self as he entered the apartment building.
He knew that Leroy Jethro Gibbs, although a friend, was NOT going to be happy that he didn’t come to him first. But Fornell was hoping that he could convince the next of kin to let the FBI handle everything. Even though he knew that the chance was small, he had to try. He approached the door, raised his hand to knock and thought, “Well here goes nothing.”
Anthony DiNozzo had only been home from work long enough to grab a bite to eat. He was headed off to take a shower and go to bed when there was a knock at the door. Looking at his watch, he wondered who it could be at this time of night. Looking thru the peephole in his door, he was surprised at who he saw there. Tony opened the door and just leaned against the frame, hands in his pockets.
Fornell just grumbled, “DiNutso.”
Tony replied with a solemn “Fornell. What do you want?”
“You going to let me in?” Fornell asked.
“That depends.” Tony said as he raised his eyebrow, “You here to arrest me for Murder again?”
“Smart ass” Fornell muttered then looked him in the eye, “We need to talk, Dinozzo.”
The proper use of his name alerted Tony that something was up. So he gestured for him to enter, wondering how long it would be before he had a chance to call Gibbs.
Fornell followed Tony into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table while Tony leaned against the counter.
Fornell, not one for small talk, jumped right in. “When’s the last time you talked to your Father?”
Tony’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”
“Did you know he was here in D.C.?” Fornell asked.
Tony was starting to get a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach; he just shook his head no as he stood up straight.
Fornell continued, “He was here to testify about a case, we had him set up in a hotel as a material witness.” He paused for a second, “He died earlier this evening. I’m sorry DiNozzo.”
Tony leaned back against the counter again, no emotion on his face as he stared at a spot above Fornells head. “How?” he asked quietly.
Fornell sighed, “We’re not sure, our M.E. was just arriving when I left to come here.”
Tony straightened up from the counter. “I want Ducky to do the,” he paused, “the autopsy.”
Fornell stood up then, “Listen DiNozzo, this IS NOT an NCIS case. I’m only here to notify next of kin.”
Tony cringed slightly at those words. Then a cold mask slipped over his face as he took a step closer to Fornell, determined to get his way.
Author's Chapter Notes:
An FBI case crosses into NCIS territory, bringing up painful memories for one agent.