"Gibbs doesn't really believe that Harding entered the building and called him from the lobby phone, does he?" Abby asked as she gently brushed the fingerprint powder across the unopened envelope, reveling several bold prints.
"He does." McGee answered solemnly as he watched the Goth work, "I've never seen him so…so…"
"Obsessed is the word I think you are looking for my dear boy." Ducky suggested as he entered the lab and walked across to the bench to peer at the envelope Abby was carefully lifting prints from. "Unfortunately Jethro reminds me of a dog with a bone at times like these. He refuses to let go. I remember once, oh just before you joined NCIS, Abigail, he was involved with a particularly nasty case – three navy wives had been brutally beaten to death in their own homes while their husbands were away. There were several suspects but Jethro believed…"
The soft swish of the lab door opening interrupted the conversation as Gibbs strode in with a slightly flustered looking Tony close on his heels. "What have you got Abs?" He demanded as he reached the bench where the three were now seated.
"Now Gibbs, how about a please?" Abby teased.
"Abby!" Gibbs growled.
"Okay, okay Mr Grouchy pants." Abby smiled as she swung back towards the envelope. "I got several good prints off of the envelope and I am running them for a match now."
"One set will be mine and a set will be the guards." Gibbs interrupted.
"Already hit matches for you both but there was a third set of prints found." Abby told the lead agent excitedly, as she pressed a button on the computer that showed on the large screen that two sets of prints had be matched to Gibbs and the young guard and the computer was searching for a match for the third set of prints. "No matches so far with military personal so I am checking the FBI database now."
"Any idea what's in the envelope?" Tony asked as he settled onto a fourth stool.
"It feels like a small memory card. I haven't been able to detect any wires or anything that might trigger a device when the envelope is opened." Abby answered as she ran her fingers lightly across the envelope, outline the tiny rectangular item within.
"What about X-raying it?" Gibbs asked.
"If it is some type of memory card, Gibbs, than X-raying it could destroy the information that it contains." Abby explained as she pulled the envelope towards herself and slipped the small sharp blade of the opener beneath the flap and carefully tore it open. She turned the envelope up side down and shook it gently until a small memory card fell onto the bench followed a moment later by a small white card.
Carefully picking up a small pair of tweezers Abby grasped the card and turned it over revealing the hand written message printed on the other side.
Gibbs,
I bet that you will agree DiNozzo
Looks great no matter what he is doing -
Whether he is working in the field or in the bullpen
Or when he is simply playing or asleep.
Enjoy the sight of him now Gibbs because
Soon he will be back with me.
And there is nothing you can do,
To prevent me taking my toy back!
LET THE GAME BEGIN!
"Oh My!" Ducky gasped as he silently read the white card as McGee picked up and slipped the small memory card into a nearby digital camera before downloading the pictures onto the computer. Any more comments were silenced by shock as several pictures began to flicker across the computer screen.
Each photo featured Tony and had been taken over the last several weeks since Harding's escape. Some of the photos showed Tony emerging from the hospital, just hours after Harding's escape others showed the young agent working at various crime scenes, in nightclubs and even asleep in his own bed but the most disturbing shots of all were the photos of Tony taken within the bullpen taken both during the day and at night.
"Gibbs?" Abbey whispered frightened by the photos,
"It appears I owe you an apology, Jethro." Ducky murmured quietly, his eyes still locked on the image on the screen.
"Damn it! He has been stalking DiNozzo ever since his escape! How the hell has he been able to stalk and photo Tony without us being aware that he was there!" Gibbs growled in disbelief as the last photo that showed both Tony and he emerging from his house that morning flickered and froze upon the screen. Just how in the hell was he able to get into the bullpen and take photos and not be noticed!" He yelled angrily turning to glare at McGee.
"I…I… don't know, Boss." McGee stammered under the heated stare, "B...b...but I'll try and find out! I'll check the security tapes." He mumbled as he turned and fled from the room.
Turning back towards the bench, anything else he was about to say was interrupted by the soft beep of the computer that indicated a match to the fingerprints. All eyes turned to the computer verifying what they already knew – The prints on the envelope belonged to Paul Harding.
Fear was not an emotion that Anthony DiNozzo often experienced but turning away to again stare at the photos on the screen, it's icy tendrils began to wrap around his soul. The memories of his undercover assignment and the first two days spent in the hospital were extremely patchy and what little memories he possessed warned him that the rest were best left forgotten.
Author's Chapter Notes:
The aftermath of an undercover case that went drastically wrong, now the criminal is loose and out for revenge. Will Gibbs be able to protect Tony? Sequel to In Too Deep