"Have You Seen Me?, Pt. 1"
Chapter One (A DiNozzo Mystery) --
Ziva had been thinking about Tony a lot lately--a lot.
Ever since Ray went away for the murder of Naval Officer Maya Burris--She and Tony had gotten closer.
Over the last month or so she had begun to feel their relationship grow beyond that of just good friends. He was constantly surprising her at every turn these days; and she was actually starting to see him as a 'man' now, where as in the past she had dismissively called him a 'child'.
At this point she had fallen so far into it that Gibbs had caught her daydreaming about Tony, not just once--but twice so far. Though she never actually revealed to Gibbs what she had been daydreaming about--it was still embarrassing.
Now, as she rode the elevator up to the squad room she fidgeted nervously as she went over, in her head, her plan of finally confronting Tony again and again and again.
'It should not be this complicated' Ziva thought to herself as she waited for the elevator car to reach her floor. This was Tony, after all, a man she had known for quite a few years now. They had been through a lot together so this should be a piece of cake, right?
Wrong?
She finally decided to just pull him aside at the first possible convenience, spill her guts, and get it over with.
Though she knew that what she planned to do would ultimately mean breaking Gibbs' 'Rule # 12'--right now she did not care. She would cross that bridge when she got to it.
'You can do this' she told herself, biting down on her lip nervously. 'You can do this'. she repeated the phrase over and over in her head.
Suddenly the elevator pinged, and the door(s) opened up to the squad room.
Ziva took a deep breath, and then let it out before stepping off of the elevator.
'You can do this'. She said to herself one last time.
She rounded the corner into the bullpen, and headed for her desk. As she stowed her belongings safely away behind her desk she glanced around the bullpen, but no sign of Tony yet.
'I must be earlier than I thought.' she thought to herself, as she checked her wrist watch.
A minute or so later McGee rounded the corner, and entered the bullpen.
"Morning Ziva." he said cheerfully, as he headed towards his own desk across the bullpen.
"Good Morning McGee." Ziva replied, with a smile.
McGee began to put his things away neatly at his desk While Ziva waited and watched.
"Hey McGee," she said, as she watched McGee finish putting his things away a few seconds later. "Have you seen Tony this morning?" she asked, hoping that McGee would not see how apprehensive she was at that moment.
"No," McGee replied, looking around the bullpen. "He's usually the first one here--must be running late for some reason."
"Tony is never late." Ziva replied, quickly glancing around the corner.
"You know how Tony is," McGee said, as he booted up his desktop computer. "Sees a pretty girl on the street, and just can't help himself."
Ziva nodded at McGee, but inside she really, really hoped that he was past that phase of his life.
A while later Gibbs entered the bullpen, coffee cup in hand, and headed for his desk in the center of the room.
"Morning Boss," McGee greeted his silver-haired boss upon seeing him.
"Morning." Gibbs replied, as he set his cup down on his desk.
Ziva did not even notice Gibbs walking past her desk. She had been unable to tear her eyes away from Tony's desk.
Gibbs waited a moment before saying something to Ziva--who had not even said two words to him since he walked in.
"Ziva," Gibbs called across the bullpen in an even voice.
Gibbs' voice broke through the fog, and stirred Ziva back to reality.
"Wha-" she said, stirring from her daze. She looked around until she finally noticed Gibbs (and McGee) staring at her.
"Gibbs," she said at last, shaking her head. "Sorry." she apologized. "Guess I was...distracted." she explained, glancing back at Tony's desk once more.
Gibbs eyed Ziva carefully from where he stood behind his own desk.
"Distracted?" he said, repeating what she had said, unsure if he had heard correctly. "You alright, Ziva?" he asked.
Ziva looked back at Gibbs.
"I am fine." she replied.
"You sure?" McGee chimed in, worriedly.
"Yes." she insisted. "I am fine, McGee."
Gibbs stared at Ziva for a moment longer, and then (with a sigh) sat down in his chair.
"If you say so." he said, as he switched on his computer.
"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, as he shifted some things around on the top of his desk.
"Don't know." McGee replied. "Ziva and I were actually talking about that just before you got here Boss."
Ziva had a bad feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Something just did not feel right--at all.
Suddenly the phone on Gibbs' desk rang. It rang twice before Gibbs actually answered it.
After a few moments Gibbs hung up the phone, and pushed his chair back from the desk.
"Gear up!" he said, as he retrieved his sidearm and his badge from the top left-hand drawer of his desk.
"Where are we going?" McGee asked, as he stood up and gathered his things.
"Norfolk." Gibbs replied, as he walked out from behind his desk (coffee cup in hand). "A Navy Petty Officer was found dead this morning in a dumpster outside a fast food restaurant." Gibbs explained.
McGee followed behind Gibbs as they headed for the elevator.
"Coming Ziva?" Gibbs asked.
Ziva snapped out of another daze, quickly jumped to her feet, grabbed her things, and hurried after the two men.
"What about Tony?" she asked, as she stepped into the elevator just as the door(s) began to close.
Gibbs only shrugged.
"I could send him a text...let him know where we're going." McGee offered.
"Do it." Gibbs replied, between sips of his coffee. "Let him know he's in trouble when he does show up." Gibbs added.
--At The Crime Scene/McBurgerTown Fast Food Restaurant--
They arrived at the crime scene in record time, and Tony still had not replied to McGee's text or Ziva's phone call.
"Ah, McBurgerTown." McGee said, as he stepped out of Gibbs' car.
He looked around at the building, the parking lot, and at everything else around the place for a brief moment.
"Used to love this place when I was a kid." McGee said, with a small glimmer in his eye. "The smells, the sounds...everything was so..."
"Cheesy." Ziva said, rather glumly, as she closed her car door behind her.
She could not believe that on the very day she had chosen to finally reveal her true feelings to Tony--it seemed as though he were going out of his way to avoid her.
She shook her head at the notion. 'No, Tony would not do that.' she told herself. Maybe she was just over-reacting, and needed to relax a little bit.
McGee nodded in agreement with Ziva's comment about the place being 'cheesy'.
"Maybe." he said, as they followed behind Gibbs. "But back then this place was BIG." he added.
"We still do not know where Tony is." Ziva pointed out. And I, for one, am concerned." she added.
"You're right." McGee said, thinking aloud. "He has been unusually elusive this morning; but then again this is Tony were talking about."
Gibbs shook his head as he strolled around the corner of the building to where the crime scene was actually located.
Unbeknownst to the rest of his team, Gibbs had a gut feeling that Ziva was right to be concerned. Something about today just seemed off, and Gibbs didn't like it--not one bit.
In his mind he kept flashing back to the top-secret assignment that almost got Tony killed several years back. It was an assignment that was given to him by the now deceased ex-Director of NCIS, Jenny Shepherd.
But he shook his head once again, dismissing all of his negative thoughts all at once. 'Here's to hoping I'm wrong.' he thought to himself.
One by one Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva slipped underneath the yellow crime scene tape and approached the area where the body was laid out.
There were two uniformed police officers standing just inside the yellow crime scene tape. One was scribbling down some notes on a tiny notepad.
Gibbs nodded to the one that he figured was in charge of the scene.
"We'll take it from here." Gibbs told the officers, as he flashed his badge with his free hand.
"It's all yours." One of the officers replied, with a nod.
And with that the two officers dismissed themselves from the scene.
The body was laid out on the concrete/asphalt that surrounded the area occupied by the restaurant's dumpsters. There were also a few garbage bags, that had been pulled from the dumpster, laying around as well.
Ducky and Palmer were already examining the body. They had been notified first, before Gibbs had gotten the call.
"Morning sir." Jimmy greeted Gibbs upon seeing him enter the crime scene area.
Gibbs only nodded back at Jimmy.
"Whatcha got Duck?" Gibbs asked, as he approached the aging M.E. kneeling over the body.
"Ah, Jethro." Ducky said, smiling up at his good friend. "I wondered when you'd get here."
"I'm here now." Gibbs replied.
"Indeed you are." Ducky agreed.
"Anything?" Gibbs asked again, motioning with his head towards the body.
"Well, nothing I can say for certain until I get him back to Autopsy for a proper examination." Ducky said, as he turned back to the body.
Gibbs rolled his eyes at his old friend. He should have expected that particular answer from Ducky.
"However, the Cause-of-Death appears to be blunt-force trauma to the back and side(s) of the head." Ducky added, as he looked back up at Gibbs.
"And I can tell you, from his liver temp, he's been dead about 48 hours." Ducky added.
Gibbs gave a nod.
"Any I.D.?" Gibbs asked next, between sips of his coffee.
"His wallet was found nearby." Ducky said, as he handed Gibbs a small evidence bag containing a small, brown leather wallet inside.
Gibbs took the bag from Ducky.
"Yes, his I.D. says his name is James Harris." Ducky told them. "Cash and Credit Cards are missing, I'm afraid." the older man added.
"So, it could be a robbery gone bad." McGee offered, glancing around the crime scene.
"Could be." Gibbs said plainly.
Jimmy, at that moment, was checking the pockets of the Petty Officer's uniform when his hand struck something deep in the left-side pocket. 'What's this?' he wondered to himself as he pulled the object out of the petty officers' pocket.
It was a Drivers License he discovered. He flipped it over in his hand to see who it belonged to, and gave a small gasp.
"Maybe not." Jimmy said, casting doubt over the team's first assumptions.
"What is it Palmer?" Gibbs asked, upon seeing the small card in the young man's hands.
"I think you guys should see this." Jimmy said nervously, as he handed the card to Ducky.
"It's a Driver's License." Ducky said, upon examining it.
"What's the name on it?" McGee asked, as he pulled a small notepad out of his coat pocket.
"Oh dear." Ducky gave a small gasp, as he raised a gloved hand to his lips.
"DiNozzo." Jimmy said, slowly, so that Ducky wouldn't have to. "Anthony DiNozzo...Jr." he added.
McGee started to scribble the name down in his notepad, but then he suddenly looked up.
"Wait? You sure?" McGee asked, looking over at Jimmy.
Ducky stared at the small Drivers License that Jimmy had found in the Petty Officer's pocket.
"He's right Jethro," Ducky said at last, holding the card up. "It's our Anthony DiNozzo all right."
Gibbs whipped out an evidence bag, and Ducky dropped the card into the bag which Gibbs then sealed up tightly.
"But," Ziva said, stepping forward and pointing at the body. "That...is not Tony."
"Nope." Gibbs replied, in agreement.
"Then why does he have Tony's Drivers License?" she asked, that sick feeling she had had before returning once again.
"That's what I intend to find out." Gibbs told her.
"Duck, you and Jim wrap this up and get the body back to autopsy ASAP." Gibbs told them.
"Faster than you can say 'She sells seashells by the seashore'." Ducky replied, motioning for Jimmy to follow him.
"Ziva, process the scene...quickly and quietly." Gibbs commanded.
"McGee. Surveillance tapes and eye-witness statements--get on it." Gibbs commanded him.
"On it Boss." McGee replied, as he turned away.
"Ziva," Gibbs said, noticing that the dark-haired beauty was standing stock-still on the spot. "Ziva." he tried again.
This time Ziva's head whipped around to face Gibbs.
"What's going on with you today?" Gibbs demanded, somewhat worriedly.
"I-" she started to say. "Nothing. Just...nothing." she said at last, shaking her head.
Gibbs did not, for one second, believe a single word coming out of her mouth; but he was not one to push things any more than he needed to. He knew that she would come to him when she was good and ready to.
"Then get to work." he told her, motioning with his hand over his shoulder.
Ziva nodded, and then turned away to begin processing the scene around her.
Chapter Two (The Car & The Bar) --
The team had finally made it back to NCIS just a little while before, and Gibbs had set everyone to work as soon as they stepped off of the elevator.
Gibbs walked down the hallway towards Abby's lab carrying a medium-sized bucket/container in his hands.
Inside the container were piles of evidence bags from where the team had processed the crime scene and gathered up possible evidence.
He had left McGee and Ziva up in the squad room to run down leads while he checked in with Abby.
His gut was churning even more than it had earlier that morning. He knew, without a doubt, at this point that something was definitely wrong; and somehow DiNozzo was involved. But all they had to go on, at the moment, was his drivers license in a place it should not have been.
He shook his head. He knew that right then he needed to stay calm and collected, and not let his feelings get in the way--at least not yet anyway.
Abby came running out of the lab just as Gibbs reached the open door. She didn't see Gibbs coming and ran right into him.
This caused Gibbs to drop the container he had been carrying with him to the floor.
Abby fell backwards, and would have landed on her backside if Gibbs had not caught her in mid-air.
"You alright?" Gibbs asked, as he pulled Abby back to her feet.
"I'm fine." she said, as she tried to push past Gibbs.
Gibbs spread his arms out to block the hallway so that she could not get by.
"Gibbs, please." she insisted, a frantic look on her face.
"Abs." Gibbs said, moving left and right and then left again--as Abby tried desperately to get by him. "Where are you going?"
"Autopsy." she said, trying to dodge past the silver-haired man once again.
"Why?" he asked.
"Jimmy just called--he told me everything." she said. And with that the uncontrollable rambling began. "I need to go down there, Gibbs, to see for myself. I have to make sure--see for myself."
"Abs. Calm down." Gibbs told her in a calm voice.
"I-I can't. I can't Gibbs." she said, ringing her hands nervously. "Not until I know...I mean, know for sure. Ya know...that its not him. Tony, I mean." she said, trying a pass once again.
Gibbs grabbed Abby by the shoulders, firmly, and held her at arms length for a moment looking into her troubled, green eyes.
"Abby," he said calmly and quietly. "It's not him." he told her, his eyes searching hers for a flicker of understanding.
"Gibbs, I need to see-" she started to say, wiggling a little bit against his firm grip.
"Abby." Gibbs said, a little more forcefully the second time. "It's NOT...Him." he told her, his voice still as calm as before.
After a moment or two Abby nodded that she understood, and Gibbs released her from his grip.
"How fast can you process the evidence?" Gibbs asked.
Abby looked at Gibbs for a moment before answering.
"How fast?" she asked. "If it'll help Tony...you'll have the results yesterday." she said, straightening up once again.
Gibbs gave a knowing grin.
"That's my girl." he said, as he leaned forward and picked up the container off of the floor.
He handed the container over to Abby, and at the same time planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Gibbs turned to leave after that, and Abby called after him.
"What about Director Vance!?" she asked, as Gibbs walked away.
She knew that once he caught wind of what was going on--whatever it was exactly--that he would try to interfere with their work.
"Leave him to me." Gibbs said over his shoulder.
And with that Abby headed back into her lab to begin working on the evidence.
--Meanwhile, Elsewhere--
In a dimly-lit room, in a building, hidden somewhere in/around Washington D.C., the missing Tony DiNozzo was hanging unconscious by his arms/wrists.
His body was covered in scratches and bruises (well at least the parts of his body that were visible), and there was a spot on his right-temple that was stained with blood--his blood.
There was also a spot on his right side, just above the hip, where it looked as though he had been stabbed--twice.
Tony stirred, slowly opening one eye at a time. He blinked several times as his eyes tried to adjust to the low-level lighting in the dimly-lit room that he was currently in.
He shook his head to try and clear the haze that had settled in over his mind. But he quickly found that shaking his head brought about discomfort and dizziness. Now that he thought about it, his right temple was throbbing intensely.
Without warning an image flashed through his mind. He could see the butt of a gun coming down against the side of his head. He shook his head, suddenly, dismissing the painful memory.
And actually now his whole body felt as though he had been hit by a freight train--he could feel an especially painful spot on his right side, just above the hip.
He felt a cool draft over the top half of his body that made tiny chills run down his spine every so often.
"Wh-where am I?" he mumbled, as his eyes finally began to adjust to the low-light.
Upon further inspection of his person Tony found that the top half of his body had been completely stripped of clothing. 'Explains the draft.' he thought to himself. He also noticed that his shoes were missing as well.
Next he tried to move, and found that his movements were restricted. He looked up and noticed that a set of chains had been wrapped around a low-hanging beam just several feet above him. Those chains were then attached to his wrists, and held his arms up over his head in a rather uncomfortable position.
He also found that his feet just barely touched the ground which meant that he was suspended (in the air) to some extent.
The room that he found himself in was (again dimly-lit), and did not have a whole lot of furniture that he could see. He also thought that his nose detected a slight musty odor in the air.
'Maybe a basement or cellar of some kind.' he thought to himself.
"Look who's awake." a voice said from behind him.
Tony tried to look, but again his movements were restricted.
"Who-" Tony started to say, but a sharp blow to the right side made him gasp in pain.
"I'm supposed to kill you, ya know." the raspy voice said. "But I'd like to have a little fun first."
"Who--who are you?" Tony wheezed, still reeling from the pain of being hit in the side.
"That's not important." the voice said. "What is important, however, is the manner in which you will eventually die."
The man slowly moved around into Tonys line of sight.
"And how's that exactly?" Tony asked, with a cough.
"Painfully slow." the man replied, with a sneer.
Tony could see that the man was of an average build, with a shaved-head and no facial hair--at least none that he could see.
"Isn't there another option--one where I don't die perhaps?" Tony tried, humorously, coughing again afterwards.
"Fortunately, no." the man replied, as he turned around and walked a short distance to an object that was positioned just several, several feet back from where he had been standing.
The object was actually a video recorder set up on a tripod, and it was aimed directly at Tony.
"Didn't think so." Tony said with a labored sigh.
"I will explain further, in due time, but at present we have a film to shoot--must keep our end of the bargain you know." the man told him, as he switched on the video camera.
Tony watched as the man, next, turned to a small table near where the video camera was set up.
The man picked up a medium-sized, freshly sharpened knife and began moving in Tonys direction.
"What's that for?" Tony asked, swallowing hard, as the man got closer and closer. Though, Tony had a pretty good idea what the man intended to do with the knife. He just wished like hell that he could be wrong.
"Don't forget to smile for your friends," the man said, with another creepy sneer. "They'll be watching this soon enough."
Tony braced himself for the inevitable.
The man stepped right up to Tony, and in one swift movement left a medium-sized gash running diagonally across Tonys bare chest.
"Aahhh!" Tony cringed as searing pain shot through his body.
The man chuckled. "This is fun." the man said.
"Y-You bastard." Tony spat through gritted teeth.
The man sliced another gash across Tonys chest just a little bit lower than the first one.
"Aahhhh!" Tony flinched from the pain.
He forced himself to look straight ahead at the camera when he could.
"Don't worry about--Me!" Tony said aloud, flinching again, as the man inflicted a third, painful blow.
"Gi-ibbs!" Tony grunted through gritted teeth, as the man left another mark a little bit lower than the last three. "I'll be fi-ine." he grimaced.
--NCIS Headquarters/Squad Room--
Gibbs appeared from around the corner, and entered the bullpen.
He had just been meeting with Director Vance--keeping him apprised of the status of their current investigation.
"Somebody talk to me." he said, as he entered the bullpen.
McGee's hands were busily dancing across the keyboard of his desktop computer as he hacked and retrieved documents pertaining to their dead petty officer.
"Tony has not answered his cell phone or his home phone." Ziva told Gibbs, as she hung her desk phone up on its base--having tried to call Tony once again. "And according to the sign-in logs in the lobby," she continued. "He has not entered or exited this building since he left yesterday afternoon."
Gibbs nodded as he sat down behind his desk.
"I also spoke with Petty Officer Harris' C.O.," Ziva told Gibbs. "He has not seen Harris since the petty officer signed-out on leave."
"When?" Gibbs asked.
"Three days ago." she replied.
Gibbs nodded.
"McGee?" Gibbs called the younger man's name as he turned in that direction. "Speak." he gave the command somewhat forcefully.
"Yeah, I've been pulling up everything I can find on Petty Officer Harris." he told Gibbs.
"Put it on the plasma." Gibbs said, as he stood and moved out from behind his desk.
"Right." McGee said, pressing a few keys on his keyboard.
A few moments later a photograph and a bunch of other information appeared up on the plasma screen.
McGee stood up, and walked to the center of the bullpen with Gibbs. Ziva followed suit.
"Petty Officer James Harris." McGee read the name aloud for the group. "25. Single, no kids. Pretty clean record." McGee continued.
"But?" Gibbs pressed the younger man, sensing that there was a 'but' about to pop up somewhere.
"Right." McGee said, pressing a button on the 'clicker' in his hand. "It seems that Harris liked to drink," he told them. "He's got three DUIs to his name." McGee added. "Other than that though, notes attached to his service record (by his C.O. of course) say he's a pretty decent guy all-in-all."
"Any connection between this guy, and DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Uh, nope. None that I could find, Boss." McGee replied, with a sigh.
"Check his financial records McGee." Gibbs said plainly. "See if he did any drinking around the time of his death."
"On it." McGee said, sliding back behind his desk.
His fingers flew, once again, across his computer's keyboard as he quickly accessed the information.
"Okay," he said finally, after a minute or so. "Bank records indicate a cash withdrawal two days ago--at 6:14 pm." he told Gibbs.
"How much did he take out?" Ziva asked.
"Um," McGee said, as he read the information displayed on his computer screen. "Only Sixty Dollars."
"Ducky said that there was no money in Harris' wallet." Ziva pointed out.
"Could've spent it all in a bar." Gibbs said, thinking aloud.
"Or had it stolen." McGee offered.
"Its possible." Gibbs said plainly. "Where was this at?" he asked.
"At an ATM...not too far from where his body was found at McBurgerTown this morning." McGee said, looking up at Gibbs and Ziva.
"That can't be a coincidence." Ziva remarked.
"It's not." Gibbs replied, as he moved over to where McGee sat at his desk.
"Any bars in that area?" Gibbs asked, looking over McGee's shoulder.
"Let me check." McGee said, as he pressed a few keys on the keyboard. A few seconds later a map appeared across the computer's screen. "Yeah. There's one." he told Gibbs, as he read the information displayed across his computer screen.
"A bar called...Lady Luck." McGee added.
"I know the place." Gibbs said, as he stood up straight. "Let's go." he said, pointing towards the elevator.
McGee and Ziva started to grab their things, but just then McGee's desk phone started ringing.
McGee answered it.
"NCIS, how can I help you?" he said into the phone's receiver. "Yes, this is Special Agent McGee. Really? Where? Alright, thanks. Bye." McGee scribbled something down on a piece of paper as he hung up his phone.
"Who was that?" Gibbs asked, from across the bullpen.
"A Metro cop." McGee said. "I put out a BOLO on Tony's car after we got back. Because we couldn't reach Tony on either of his phones--and I thought just in case-"
"Get to the point, McGee." Gibbs pressed him.
"Right." McGee replied. "They found his car." he told them.
"Where?" Ziva asked.
"In an alley...about a block from his apartment." McGee said. "Tony wasn't in it, and it looked like there had been a struggle." he added.
"Go check it out." Gibbs told the younger man (quickly). "Take Ziva with you." he added.
"What about you?" Ziva asked.
"I've got a date with 'Lady Luck'." he said plainly, as he headed out of the bullpen.
--In The Car--
McGee had reluctantly agreed to let Ziva drive. He was starting to really regret that decision as Ziva swerved and weaved in and out through several lanes of traffic.
"Zi-Ziva, look out for that-" McGee shielded his face with his arms and braced himself for the impact he knew was coming.
But Ziva swerved away from the on-coming vehicle just in the nick-of-time.
"Ziva...you really should get someone to help you with your driving." McGee said, breathing heavily.
"We are almost there McGee." she said, without looking (at him).
"That's only if we make there at ALLLLLL!" McGee clutched at the sides of his seat, tightly, as Ziva swerved to miss another car.
A few minutes later they finally pulled up to a stop just a few back from where Tony's car had been found.
"There it is." Ziva said, pointing through the windshield, as she unbuckled herself.
The two NCIS Agents exited the car, and walked towards the open alley-way where Tony's car had been parked.
--New Crime Scene/Alley--
A couple of police officers were standing around taking notes at the entrance to the alley-way.
"NCIS," McGee said, flashing his badge, as he and Ziva approached the officers. "Agents McGee and David." he added.
Ziva flashed her badge as well.
"Bout time you guys showed up." One of the officers said, upon seeing them.
The officer was wearing an overcoat, dress pants, and a white button-down shirt and tie. McGee figured he must be a detective or something like that.
The man was slightly balding, and sported a thick mustache.
"And you are?" McGee asked.
"Detective Stabler." the man replied, extending his hand towards McGee. "We spoke on the phone earlier." he added.
"Right. Right." McGee said, recalling the conversation he'd had over the telephone back at NCIS.
The two men shook hands for a moment.
"So what's a Metro-Detective doing at our crime scene?" McGee asked.
"Well," the man said with a snort. "Just so happens that YOUR crime scene is interfering with my investigation." he explained, sounding not very happy about the whole situation.
"Sorry to hear." McGee told him.
"Sorry?" Detective Stabler huffed. "Because of your crime scene a suspect in the case I'm working got away--again."
"Look, I'm sorry about all of this--I really am. But I'm not the one who left the car here. Okay?" McGee countered.
"Uh, no. You're right about that." Stabler said, as he pulled a tiny notepad out of his coat pocket. "That would be, one Anthony DiNozzo...Jr." he said, reading off of some notes that he had scribbled down in the notepad.
"How do you know about him?" McGee asked, somewhat confused.
"Well, I got bored waiting around for YOU guys to show up, so I had my boys over there run the plate." he said, pointing to a couple of officers standing inside the alley-way.
"Says he's an Agent...works with you guys at NCIS." Stabler added. "Sounds more like your average Italian-Mob hit-man, if you ask me."
Out of nowhere Ziva appeared, and grabbed the chubby detective by the collar of his shirt.
"You had no right!" she hissed in his face.
"Excuse me, I had every right." Stabler huffed in Ziva's face. "Smoking out criminals in my job." he said with a sneer.
"You listen to me, and you listen close," she said, pulling the chubby detective closer. "I don't ever want to see or hear you ever again. Clear? And if you even so much as THINK about investigating this or anything else related to Anthony DiNozzo--I will find you, and kill you myself."
The chubby detective tried to put on a brave face, and gave a snort.
Ziva pulled him just a little bit closer.
"In...Your...Sleep." she hissed vehemently.
She released the chubby detective from her grip, and backed away as the two other officers came to the detective's aid.
"It's alright. I'm alright." he told the two other officers.
The chubby detective glared across the way at McGee.
"I'd do as she says." McGee told him, plainly. "She is after all, a former Mossad operative." he added.
The chubby detective turned on his heels, and walked quickly away with the other two officers following closely behind him.
After they were out of earshot McGee spoke.
"You sure you're okay Ziva?" he asked her.
"I-I am fine." she said, turning away. "I...do not know what came over me, I-"
"It's okay Ziva. It happens to the best of us sometimes." McGee said, as he followed her into the alleyway.
Ziva knew, full well, what had come over her, and why. She was so worried about Tony that her emotions were beginning to take over.
--Later/At The 'LADY LUCK' Bar--
Gibbs strolled into the small bar/tavern, and stood for a moment taking in the scene around him.
"Sir!" a voice called out to him.
Gibbs looked around, until his eyes finally fell on the bartender across the room.
Gibbs crossed the room, and climbed up onto a stool in front of the counter.
"What can I get you sir?" the bartender asked, while drying off a newly washed glass.
"Information." Gibbs replied plainly.
"Not sure whatcha mean." the man answered, with a confused grin, as he reached for another wet glass.
Gibbs reached into his pocket, and pulled out a photograph of James Harris which he had taken the liberty of printing out before leaving the office.
"Seen this guy?" Gibbs asked.
The man looked at the photograph, and thought for a moment.
"Yeah," he said finally. "I remember that guy. Sure."
"Why? Something happen to him?" the bartender asked.
"He's dead." Gibbs replied.
"Oh, bummer." the bartender said, shaking his head.
"So when did you last see him?" Gibbs asked.
"Um," the man thought for a second. "He left just before closing...about three nights ago." he told Gibbs.
"What condition was he in?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, he looked pretty out-of-it to me, but he insisted that he was okay." the bartender explained. "See I offered to give him a ride home--I mean cause the guys he came in with...just left him here."
"That so." Gibbs said. "What happened after that?"
"He kept saying he was fine, so I let him go. But I remember seeing him leave the parking lot with some 'big guy'." the bartender continued.
"'big guy'?" Gibbs repeated.
"Yeah, mean-looking Son-of-a-Bitch too." the bartender added.
"Could you describe him?" Gibbs asked.
"Nope. Sorry man...it was pretty dark out that night--you know 'new moon' and all." he told Gibbs.
"Thanks anyway." Gibbs said, with a sigh, as he turned to get up and leave.
"Uh, but hey." The bartender called after Gibbs. "I can give you this." he said, as he turned and pulled a photograph down off of a bulletin board behind him.
He handed the photograph to Gibbs.
"What's this?" Gibbs asked, looking at the photograph.
"That was taken the night your guy was here." the bartender explained. "The guy in the middle...that's your guy. He won the 'Drink-Off' that night."
"Thanks." Gibbs said, with a nod.
And then Gibbs turned and left the bar, and headed back to D.C. and NCIS.
Chapter Three (The Missing 'Link') --
Gibbs entered the squad room, and quickly rounded the corner into the bullpen.
McGee and Ziva were already waiting there for him.
"Whatcha got?" he asked, upon seeing the two Agents.
"We brought the car back to the garage for Abby." McGee told Gibbs.
"Find anything in the car, McGee?"
"Yeah, Boss...actually we did. We found blood stains in the trunk of Tony's car. Abby's going to run a DNA analysis for us, and see if she gets a match in the system." McGee explained.
"And we found this." Ziva said, handing a sheet of plain, white copy paper over to Gibbs.
"What's this?" he asked, as he took the paper from Ziva.
"Don't know. Just has two words on it." she told him.
Gibbs held the sheet of paper up to his face, and the words aloud.
"Mail Call." he said, reading the two words on the piece of paper aloud.
He stood, and thought about it for a moment or two before doing anything else.
Gibbs handed the piece of paper back to Ziva, and then quickly headed over to his own desk. He picked up his desk phone and dialed an extension number.
"Boss?" McGee asked, certain that Gibbs had come up with an answer to the supposed 'riddle'.
"Stan." Gibbs said into the phone a few seconds later. "This is Gibbs. Yeah, you got any mail for me?" he asked the man on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, actually I do." the man said over the phone line. "Just came in." he added.
"Send it up will ya." Gibbs said. "Okay. Thanks Stan. Bye." Gibbs hung up the telephone.
"You think it has something to do with our mail?" McGee asked.
"Maybe." Gibbs replied. "Any activity from DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Nope. None." McGee replied.
"And we have checked his financial records, his phone records, everything." Ziva chimed in. "I am starting to get really worried." she added.
"Me too." Gibbs said, quietly.
Just then Gibbs' desk phone rang, and he answered it.
"Yeah, Gibbs." he said into the phone. "Alright. I'm on my way." he said before hanging up.
"Was that-" they started to ask.
"Abby." Gibbs told them. "Be right back." he said, heading for the elevator.
--Abby's Lab--
Gibbs walked into Abby's lab a few minutes later.
"Whatcha got for me Abs?" he asked, as he walked into the lab.
"Tons." she replied, without turning away from her workstation.
"I ran a DNA analysis on the blood stains that were swabbed from the trunk of Tony's car." she told Gibbs. "I got a match Gibbs...it's Tony's." she told him, a little bit of panic in her voice.
Gibbs just looked at her with those steely blue eyes of his, and it calmed her down a little.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"Uh yeah." she replied, as she turned away from her computer, and walked to the work table just a few feet away. "I'm still analyzing the shoe prints pulled from the driver's side of Tony's car--there was some kind of clay-like substance all over the floor mats so I'm running that too." she explained.
"What I can say for sure, Gibbs, is that the shoe prints are definitely not Tonys." she added.
"So he didn't drive his own car." Gibbs reasoned.
"Probably not." Abby agreed.
"Anything from Harris' crime scene?" Gibbs asked.
"Um, yeah." Abby said, moving back to the computer station. "I'm still running some tests on the trace from the Petty Officer's uniform," she told Gibbs. "And I did manage to pull a partial print off of the drivers license that did not match any of the prints we have on record for Tony."
"Enough for a comparison?" Gibbs asked, looking at Abby.
Abby rolled her eyes at Gibbs.
"Yep." she replied. "I'm running it through every database I have access to as we speak--I'll let you know if I get any hits."
Gibbs grinned at Abby. "Nice work." he told her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"Why thank you Gibbs." Abby said, as she blushed from cheek to cheek.
"Keep me posted." he told her.
"Will do Gunny." she said, with a chuckle.
Gibbs gave a small grin at the Forensic Specialists joke, as he turned to leave the lab.
--Squad Room/A Few Minutes Later--
Gibbs rounded the corner into the bullpen a few minutes later carrying a small package in his hands.
McGee and Ziva were still working, and running down leads when Gibbs walked in.
"What is that?" Ziva asked, pointing towards the package in Gibbs' hands.
"Dunno." Gibbs replied, plainly. "Ran into Stan on the stairs." Gibbs added.
"Well, who's it addressed to?" McGee asked, from his desk.
"The 'Team'." Gibbs replied, as he reached his desk.
He sat down in his desk chair as he began opening the small package. The first thing he found was a small note.
He read the note to himself--silently.
The note read: "Junior's time is short. But not to worry...he's in good hands. P.S. Have a souvenir!"
McGee and Ziva had become so curious as to what the package was that they had moved out from behind their desks, and were now crowded around Gibbs' desk.
"What is it?" McGee asked.
Gibbs tossed the note aside, and quickly tipped the package up over his desk causing the rest of its' contents to spill forth onto his desk top.
He had a bad feeling about this package, and it was slowly getting worse.
There were two items that fell out of the package. One was a small, lapel pin and the other was a DVD.
Gibbs grabbed the DVD first. It had the word 'DiNozzo' written across it.
"McGee, put this on the plasma!" Gibbs barked, as he tossed the DVD to the younger man.
"On it." McGee said, as he rushed over to his own computer terminal.
Gibbs stood up, and walked over to the plasma screen in the center of the bullpen.
It didn't take long at all for McGee to get the DVD/Video running so that they could see it.
And what they saw was just horrible.
The three of them stood in silence as they watched their friend, Tony, being tortured by a man whose face they could not see.
"My God," McGee breathed, in horror. "T-Tony." he stammered, a sick feeling washing over him.
Gibbs could feel his blood pressure rising steadily as he watched the video. He wanted like everything to look away, but he couldn't. Someone was torturing a member of his team--of his 'family'--and he was helpless to stop it.
Ziva's whole world was spinning in circles, and threatened to come crashing down around her at any minute. She finally, after a few seconds, managed to steady herself against the edge of Gibbs' desk.
Tears were welling up in Ziva's eyes as she stood, leaning against Gibbs' desk, and they threatened to fall down her cheeks--but she fought them back.
She could not lose Tony--not now. Not when she was so close to telling him how she really felt about him. She had to find him--and find him fast.
Ziva started to turn around, so that she would not have to watch any more of the horrible video, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the lapel pin.
It looked familiar for some reason.
"Turn it off." Gibbs said at last.
McGee did as he was told, hard as it was, and switched off the video.
Ziva thought for a moment, and then it came to her. She knew who the lapel pin belonged to. She grabbed it up off of Gibbs desk and turned around to face Gibbs and McGee.
"This pin," she said, holding it out for them to see. "I know who this belongs to." she told them.
"Who?" Gibbs asked.
"Ray." she said at once. "I gave this to him for his birthday, before..." she trailed off, as the pain he had caused her came flooding back.
Gibbs spun on his heel, and walked quickly over to McGee's desk.
"McGee, Ray Cruz. Find him." Gibbs said forcefully.
McGee nodded, and set to work instantly.
McGee began pressing keys on his computer's keyboard, and a few moments later he had an answer.
"Got it." McGee said at last. "It says here he's currently being held at Leavenworth Federal Prison." McGee informed them.
Gibbs leaned down to look at McGee's computer screen.
"Call'em." he told the younger man, as he looked him in the eyes. "Tell'em to put Cruz on a red-eye--Now!" he said angrily.
"But don't we need permission from the director for that?" McGee asked, as he dialed the listed number into his desk phone.
Gibbs stood upright again.
"I'll talk to Vance." Gibbs said, as he turned and headed off in the direction of the Director's office.
.........To Be Continued in Have You Seen Me, Pt. 2.........
Story Notes:
Sorry guys. I know I pulled the story I was working on before, but it just didn't seem to be going where I wanted it to, and my muse was taking mini vacations on and off.
But after seeing the most recent episode of NCIS I have the idea for this story, and I think I kinda like this one better. Hope you guys do as well.
Thanks a lot :)
Any feedback or comments that you guys have are more than welcome. :)
Author's Chapter Notes:
This story takes place a little while after the events depicted in the most recent episode of NCIS--"A Desperate Man".
Ziva has been thinking about Tony a lot lately. The partners seem to be getting closer and closer to one another. Ziva begins to feel more than just friendship building between them, and she's finally worked up the nerve to confront Tony with her feelings.
But just before she can--Tony goes missing, and Ziva quickly realizes that her problems with Ray are far from over.
How far will Ziva go for the one she loves?
Ziva has been thinking about Tony a lot lately. The partners seem to be getting closer and closer to one another. Ziva begins to feel more than just friendship building between them, and she's finally worked up the nerve to confront Tony with her feelings.
But just before she can--Tony goes missing, and Ziva quickly realizes that her problems with Ray are far from over.
How far will Ziva go for the one she loves?
Chapter End Notes:
I have made a few changes to the story since I first posted it, so you guys may want to re-read what's posted so far so that it will all make sense in the end. Thanks again! :)
Sorry guys. I know I pulled the story I was working on before, but it just didn't seem to be going where I wanted it to, and my muse was taking mini vacations on and off the entire time.
But after seeing the most recent episode of NCIS I had the idea for this story, and I think I kinda like this one better. Hope you guys do as well.
Thanks a lot :)
Any feedback or comments that you guys have are more than welcome. :)
Sorry guys. I know I pulled the story I was working on before, but it just didn't seem to be going where I wanted it to, and my muse was taking mini vacations on and off the entire time.
But after seeing the most recent episode of NCIS I had the idea for this story, and I think I kinda like this one better. Hope you guys do as well.
Thanks a lot :)
Any feedback or comments that you guys have are more than welcome. :)