Abby put her eyes to the microscope. Under it was the key found at the house.
"It's your basic padlock key, Gibbs" Abby looked up.
Gibbs cursed under his breath. This could not be another dead end. It would be a hell af a lot harder to get their hands on the money with nothing to go on. And the mafia would close ranks around Daniele Tacconelli. Unless Gibbs could find a way to get to him; No matter the cost.
Abby bent down again. After a minute she suddenly said, "Wait, there's something…"
"What is it, Abs?" Gibbs was getting impatient. They seemingly were getting nowhere, Tony wasn't getting any better according to Ducky and Abby was being mysterious. His patience was really running low.
"McGee, hit the lights" Abby said without lifting her head.
McGee looked a little puzzled, but did as she asked. It was not always wise to ask questions or express doubts when it came to Abby. McGee had learned that from bitter experience. He walked over to the wall and hit the switch. The lab went pitch black except for a few red and green light that were blinking from Abby machinery.
"Whola!" Abby straitened up and smiled, but no one smiled back.
"What?!?" Gibbs snapped.
"Okay, Gibbs, you need to seriously consider those glasses. They're not that expensive, you know, plus you would look great with them". Gibbs just gave her a stare.
"Oookay! Well anyway, come closer". Abby stepped back so Gibbs could see into the microscope. Boy, that man was in serious need of some coffee, and soon; or someone might not live to see tomorrow.
When Gibbs stepped closer he suddenly realized that something on the key was glowing. From a distance it just looked like a small spec, but when he looked in the microscope it became clearer. Two small initials came into focus; G.D.
"G.D.?" Gibbs stood up and looked around the group.
"Could be a storage room, a bank, anything" McGee suggested.
"Or a person…" Ziva leaned against the table with her arms crossed. She tilted her head and looked over at Gibbs.
It didn't take long for Gibbs to know where she was going with this.
"Giovanni DiNozzo"
"Tony's grandfather? You think he knows more than he's telling? There's no way, Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed, "'cause if he knew something he would have said it, and he would never do anything to hurt Tony. There's…"
Gibbs put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down Abby. We're only saying that Giovanni may be more involved in this then he's aware of".
Abby took a deep breath. Gibbs suddenly turned and walked into Abby's office without another word. The rest of the group stood silent for a while, all lost in their own thoughts. But all of them were essentially thinking about the same thing, or person; their teammate who was fighting the fight of his life right now. And there was nothing they could do to help him.
Ziva broke the silence, "Does anybody know…"
"I called Ducky 5 minutes ago. No change." Abby answered.
"Oh..." Ziva nodded and walked up next to Abby. She put her eyes to the microscope.
"G.D., G.D., G.D…" she muttered to herself.
"Doesn't have to be Giovanni DiNozzo. It could be anybody. Harold James stole that money 27 years ago. As far as we know, Harold James only knew Tony's grandfather from the retirement home. He had to have hidden the money somewhere for all those years. And it had to be somewhere good because as far as we know, the Valentino Family haven't found the money either".
Abby turned to face McGee, "He could have hidden the money somewhere for all those years, but when he met Big G, he changed his plans and included him in the new plan".
"Not likely" Ziva joined the conversation, "if he'd found a good hiding place for the past 20-something years, why change it? Because he met Giovanni? Seems unlikely"
"Maybe he spent it all?" McGee suggested.
Abby started walking around the lab, "But if he spent all that money, why was he afraid the Mob finding him?" She stopped and faced Ziva and McGee. Both agents had their eyebrows raised. Abby shook her head, "Dah, I know they would kill him! But if there was no money to hide, why tell Big G about the key?"
"She's right" Gibbs said as he walked into the lab again.
They all turned to face him.
"Gibbs, where did you go to?" Abby asked.
"I called the hospital to talk to Giovanni" Gibbs said, but he stopped what he was about to say. At the mentioning of the word hospital, they had all straitened up and their eyes focused solely on Gibbs.
"No news" Gibbs said. All their bodies sank a little, and he continued, "Giovanni has no idea why his initials would be on the key".
Ziva sighed, "So basically we're back to square one. Again".
Gibbs lid up in a small smile, "Not entirely, Ziva David. When I mentioned the letters to Giovanni, the first thing he said, was Gary's Diner. Apparently Harold James used to talk a lot about the place. He had breakfast there every day as a kid, and he also worked at the place as a teenager".
McGee eyed his boss suspiciously, "Boos, it could just be a coin…" McGee stopped himself before he finished the sentence. He knew how his boss felt about these things. "I'll find an address, Boss" He turned and used Abby's computer to find the needed information.
"Gibbs, this seems a little…" Ziva crossed her arms, "Well, it seems a little too easy"
"Sometimes the most simple answer is the correct one" Gibbs answered.
Both Ziva and Abby stared at him.
"Whoa Gibbs" Abby said, "Did you convert to Buddhism or something?" Gibbs just gave her a hint of a smile.
"You got that address jet, McGee?"
McGee hit enter, and Abby's printer started, "just printing it now, Boss" McGee said and walked over to collect the paper.
Gibbs stood for a minute and collected his thoughts. A plan had been forming in his head for some time now, and the final pieces were just starting to fall into place. He didn't just want the shooter dead. He wanted to bring down the entire Valentino Family. They were just as much to blame for Tony being in the hospital as Daniele Tacconelli. They were all going to pay. And Gibbs didn't care if he had to break the law to do it.
"Boss…?"
McGee's question brought Gibbs' thoughts back to the lab.
"McGee, Ziva. you two, get over to the diner and find that money. When we've got the money, we have something to bargain with".
McGee looked puzzled. He was trying to follow his boss' trail of thought. "Boss, I don't get it. Bargain with whom?"
Ziva was way ahead of McGee, and knew what Gibbs' plan was. "You mean to bargain with the Valentino Family, yes? The money for Daniele Tacconelli"
When Gibbs didn't answer, Abby took a step forward, "Gibbs…?"
"Boss, we'd be breaking the law big time"
Gibbs looked around the group, and he realized something. Although they were all a bit shoked by the idea, none of them had said no or tried to talk him out of it. They were all willing to break the law to avenge Tony. Ducky was right. They were a little odd, dysfunctional family. But they were still family.
But that was not Gibbs' plan… Not yet…
Gibbs grabbed his phone, "The Valentino Family are not the only ones looking for that money. Someone else wants it too".
Gibbs turned, dialled a number and headed for the elevator.
"Tobias, meet me in my conference room".
Author's Chapter Notes:
The team finally get a lead...
Chapter End Notes:
SO SORRY it's taken me so many months to finish this story:-( So many things have happened these past few months, that I just haven't had the time. Well, enough with the excuses, here are two new chapters. I hope to finish the final chapter in a few days. Hope some of you still wanna see how the story ends...:-)