The ride home was quieter than usual without Tony to lighten the mood. The silence made everyone even more aware that he was not there.
When they got back to the office, McGee immediately sat at Tony's desk and turned on his computer. Ziva had taken the evidence to Abby. Gibbs pulled his gun and was putting it in his desk drawer when his phone rang.
"Yeah?" he answered.
He recognized the voice on the other end of the line. It was the Director's secretary, Cynthia.
"Special Agent Gibbs, the Director wants to see you in her office…ASAP" Cynthia sounded almost scared to say it.
"I'll be up", Gibbs answered. As he hung up he cursed himself, because he knew he'd forgotten to inform Jenny Sheppard about the shooting. Now she'd probably gotten the call from the police chief.
"I want answers by the time I get back" his pointed his indexfinger at McGee as he walked by.
"Got it, Boss" McGee said without looking up.
Walking up to the Director's office Gibbs felt angry. This was not the time to start hassle Gibbs about his problems with authorities and chain of command. She knew him better than most. He did not have time to run around and notify everybody, just because they needed to show who was boss. His senior field agent was fighting for his life and he still had no idea as to who did it or why.
He walked past Cynthia and without waiting for her permission walked into the Director's office. Jenny was sitting at her desk, glasses on her nose and was doing paperwork. When Gibbs walked in, she looked up and removed her glasses.
Gibbs didn't give her a chance to start, "Look, Jen, this is not the time to start lecturing me about how's boss. I've got an agent in the hospital, and crime scene I have no idea why he was at and no suspect, so I don't have time to run around telling everyone personally what happened!"
Jenny sat quietly and listened to Gibbs' outburst. When he was done, she calmly asked,
"How's DiNozzo?"
Gibbs was surprised by her question and was silent for a few seconds. Then he let out a sigh and his shoulders relaxed a bit.
"He's still in surgery. He's got a punctured lung, broken thigh, damaged liver and a bullet near the heart."
"Is there anything you need? More agents?"
Gibbs gave her a crocked smile, "you know me better than that. Anything else?"
"No, that's all. Just wanted to check up with you."
As Gibbs turned to leave, the Director said, "You know, I'm not always the enemy. You know ME better than that"
__________________________________________
When Gibbs got back downstairs again, McGee and Ziva were standing together at Tony's desk. They were talking and didn't notice Gibbs.
"Talk to me!" Gibbs said as he reached his desk. McGee got up and pushed the clicker.
"Well, the house Tony was found in, is owned by a Larry Holmes" A picture of Jerry Holmes appeared. "I checked log in Tony's computer. Seems he did an extensive background check on the guy."
"What did he find?"
"Not a lot. He found the usual things; Bank statements, retirement papers, but it seems he wasn't able to find anything from before 1979. There is no record of a Jerry Holmes anywhere."
Gibbs studied the picture of Jerry Holmes. His gut was telling him one thing: Crook. He looked down at his clock. Tony had been in surgery for 4 hours now. He turned his focus to the screen again.
"Did Tony do any other searches today?"
Ziva answered, "He did. Computer shows he found a man named Harold James, who mysteriously went missing in 1979, only a few days before Jerry Holmes appeared." Ziva took the clicker. "This is why" She pushed the button and a new picture of Jerry Holmes appeared. He was a little younger and the name under the picture read Harold James.
"Tony found out that Jerry Holmes really was Harold James".
"Did he find anything on this guy?" He pointed at Harold James.
"Oh yeah" McGee answered, but regretted his superior tone, "Harold James has had few encounters with the police back when he was young. A few bar fights and 2 parking tickets. But the most interesting are the two arrests for fraud. Once in a casino in Vegas and once in New York. In New York he coned a family for over a million dollars. He was arrested, but the money was never found."
"So the shooter might have been looking for money in the house?" Gibbs said.
"Money, stocks, papers, keys. It could be anything. Nobody knows where the money is."
"Okay, let's find Harold James!" Gibbs ordered and was about to sit down at his desk when McGee stopped him.
"Ahh, Boss, we already did"
Gibbs turned around again and gave McGee an odd stare.
"He's dead, Boss. Died in a retirement home 2 days ago" McGee said.
Gibbs felt the anger rise. A dead end.
Then Ziva stood up, "However I did find out something interesting…"
"What?!" Gibbs demanded.
"Well, I know how you feel about coincidences. The retirement home that Jerry Holmes lived in? There was another resident I found interesting. Holmes' neighbour? His name was Giovanni DiNozzo."
"Tony's grandfather? He's alive?" McGee asked with a bit of disbelieve in his voice.
"It would seem so" Ziva answered and closed her file.
Gibbs stood for a minute. This was not a coincident.
"Let's go see Mr. DiNozzo. My gut says he knows something."
Just then the elevator doors opened and a black tornado came storming out in the shape of Abby.
"Gibbs, I'm done with the evidence!"
"Already?" McGee looked at here, but received a death glare in return.
"What'd you find Abs?"
"We'll skip the whole presentation today. Tested the blood and it matches Tony's blood type, but that's no surprise. Found a ton of prints. Some are Tony's, but there were two other sets. One came back for a Jerry Holmes, but he's the owner of the house, and he's dead, so it couldn't be him."
"We know, Abby. What about the other?" Gibbs said.
Abby glared at her. How did he always know?
"It didn't match anybody in AFIS, but I'm still looking."
"Okay, thanks Abs" Gibbs said and started to walk past her. She put a hand in his chest.
"Wait, I'm not done, Gibbs" She looked at him, then looked down. "I promised him I wouldn't say anything, but now…"
"What, Abs?"
"Tony came to me this morning with a blood sample he wanted me to run some tests on"
"What?!?"
"Yeah, but he was very secret about it. Didn't say where he got it from or anything."
"Why didn't you say anything sooner, Abs?" There was a hint of accusation in Gibbs' voice.
Abby looked like she was about to cry, "He said everything was okay. That nothing was wrong and I promised not to tell you. He promised, Gibbs. He promised everything was…"
Gibbs put his arms around her, and she let herself go and cried.
"It's okay, Abs. You kept your promise." She pulled away from him again and dried her eyes.
"What did the blood test reveal?"
"That the person was murder with a serious overdose of Digoxin. It's a heart medication."
"Did you find out where the blood came from?" McGee asked.
"I pulled DNA and compared it to a hair found at the house. Results aren't in yet, but I think I already guessed who it's from."
"Jerry Holmes" Gibbs said.
"Yep"
"Tony found out his death wasn't natural" Ziva stated.
"So whoever shot Tony might also have killed Jerry Holmes"
"Let's go talk to Mr. DiNozzo. Maybe he can shed some light on this mess."
"Uhm, Gibbs?" Abby said as they walked to the elevator. "When I'm done with the tests, can I.."
"Go" was all Gibbs responded.
Abby lit up in a smile.
_________________________________________________
Ducky was sitting in the waiting area, reading a fascinating article on the African Tze-tze fly. He stopped for a second and peered over the magazine. Down the hall, Dr. Parker came walking up towards him. He put down the magazine and looked at the time; 6 hours. As the doctor came closer Ducky stood up but then he froze. The look on her face was not joyous. There was sadness and fear.
"Oh, dear…"
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs and the team finds out what Tony's been working on...