A small bell dinged as Ziva and McGee entered the diner. There weren't many guests. A couple sat in a booth at the far end of the diner. A guest was drinking his coffee at the counter. Behind the counter a man with an apron was cleaning the table. He looked about 60, bald head and a belly that probably made impossible for him to see his feet. He looked up, when the NCIS-agents walked in.
"Hallo, how can I help you two?" he said as they reached the counter.
Both agents pulled out their badges.
"I'm officer David, this is special agent McGee, NCIS. We're looking for Gary?"
The man raised an eyebrow, "NC-what?"
McGee sighed, "NCIS, it's the Naval Criminal Investigative Service". For the first time since this whole thing started, McGee was glad Tony was not there. He would have slapped the man silly. McGee smiled to himself. Actually he would have liked to see that right now.
"Navy cops, huh? Well, I'm Gary, Junior that is. My dad died 10 years ago".
"He was the first owner of this Diner, yes?" Ziva asked and pulled out her notepad.
"Yep, my old man started this place more than 70 years ago. Managed it until he was over 80, before he would let me take over. Stubborn old fool".
"Did you know, or did your father ever mention a Harold James or a James Holmes?" McGee asked.
"Old Harold James? Yeah, I knew him. He used to come in every day when I was younger. Used to work here, you know? He would come in every day, sit at the counter, flirt with my mother, tell me jokes and entertain the whole diner with his stories. Man, he was a lot of fun". Gary Jr. shook his head and laughed. "Then one day he came in, all serious and wanted to talk to my dad. The two of them went out the back, and then Harold came out again, walked out and never came back. We never saw him again".
"Do you have any idea what they were talking about?" Ziva asked.
Gary Jr. shrugged his shoulders, "Not really, but I do know…" Suddenly he stopped. He looked from McGee to Ziva and back again.
"You're here about the box, aren't you?"
McGee's eyed widened. Could this really be it?
"Yes" Ziva lied.
"My old man always told us to stay away from it. We were never allowed to touch it. Said he'd promised to keep it safe for Harold. Never opened it, as far as I know. Don't think he could either".
"Can we see it?" Ziva asked.
"Wait, how do you even know about it?" Gary Jr. asked, "My dad never said anything about it to anybody!"
McGee answered him, "Harold James was murdered 3 days ago. We think it has something to do with the box".
When Gary Jr. didn't say anything, Ziva reached into her pocket, "and we have this". She pulled out the key and held it up.
Gary Jr. looked puzzled. Then he lifted the counter top, and let Ziva and McGee in.
"It's up in the attic". He lead them up the stairs to the hall, and up a small latter to the attic. When they got up, he started rummaging around to look for the box. He finally found it under a stack of old cloths.
"Here it is" he said, and dragged it out to the middle of the
floor.
McGee squatted by the box and took the key from Ziva's hand. He pulled it from the plastic bag and placed it the lock. It went in without a problem. He hesitated for a second, and looked at Gary Jr. "Thank you, we'll take it from here"
Gary Jr. looked extremely disappointed but he finally turned and crawled down the stairs.
Ziva leaned in over McGee when he turned the key. It opened with a small click. McGee removed the padlock and took a deep breath.
"Oh for Heaven's sake, open it already, McGee!" Ziva hissed. Her patience was running out really fast.
McGee looked up at her and then he opened the box.
Even though they already knew what they would find it the chest, McGee still said, "Whau!"
Ziva grabbed a bundle of bills. She flipped trough them, "All ten dollars bills".
"One million dollars" McGee said.
Ziva put the bundle back and McGee closed the box again.
"We better get this back to Gibbs" Ziva said.
McGee stood up and they both grabbed the handles on either side of the box.
"Do you know what his plan is?" McGee asked.
Ziva looked at him, "You never know with Gibbs. All I know is that the Valentino Family and Daniele Tacconelli will pay for what they did". She put the box down while McGee crawled down the stairs, "One way or another".
_________________________________________________________
"Good job, McGee. You and Ziva meet me at the Valentino estate. I'm gonna swing by the hospital first and then meet you there". Gibbs flipped the phone shut before McGee could answer.
He pulled the sedan into the parking lot and walked up to the ICU.
As he walked down the hall to Tony's room, he saw that Dr. Parker and Ducky were standing outside, talking. When he got a little closer, he caught the end of the conversation.
"… and we've decided it's time we turn off the respirator," Dr. Parker said, and Ducky nodded.
Gibbs felt his knees become weak as he walked faster towards the two doctors. This was not happening. It'd only been 24 hours since Tony was shot. They couldn't give up on him yet. He was a fighter. He was going to make it. He had to. Gibbs felt like a cold hand had reached into his chest and was trying to crush his heart. It hurt like nothing else. He never though he would feel like this again. After Shannon and Kelly he'd promised himself, he would never let anybody get that close again because the pain was too much. But Tony, Abby and the others had found a way in. And the pain was back.
Gibbs stopped as he reached the two, "You are not going to turn of that respirator!" He ordered Dr. Parker, "Tony will get through this. He doesn't have permission to die!"
Dr. Parker put her hand on Gibbs' arm, "Relax Special Agent Gibbs. Special Agent DiNozzo is not going anywhere if I can help it"
Gibbs started at her, confused. Ducky answered him, "Tony is actually starting to get better, Jethro. He's been fighting the respirator for the past half hour, which means he's starting to breath on his own".
Gibbs let out a sigh.
"What we want to do is change the settings on the respirator, so that he is breathing on his own, and the machine only supports him, when he's not getting enough air. It's a good thing, Special Agent Gibbs. It means he's getting a little bit better". Dr. Parker gave Gibbs' arm a short squeeze and let go.
Gibbs felt his heartbeat slow down again. "Is he awake?"
"No, not yet. And we don't know when that'll be. We're no longer keeping Special Agent DiNozzo sedated. It's up to his own body now. He'll join us again, when his body is ready for it". Dr. Parker said
"Is he gonna be okay?" Gibbs asked.
"We still don't know, Special Agent Gibbs. As I said he's doing a little bit better, but there's still a long way to come. I'm sorry I can't give you any guaranties" Dr. Parker said, and then she left.
Gibbs walked into Tony's room and looked at his wounded agent. Abby was asleep in a chair by Tony's bedside, holding his hand. Ducky had driven Giovanni DiNozzo home an hour ago. Hospital chair were not meant for elderly people. Gibbs walked to the other side of the bed and took Tony's hand. He stroked Tony's head with the other hand. On the monitor, Tony's heart rate slowed down a little. Gibbs stood like that for a few minutes, mindlessly running his finger through Tony's hair. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but to Gibbs it seemed like Tony looked a little more relaxed after a few minutes. He leaned down and whispered, "Hang in there, okay? I'll take care of it for you".
Gibbs stood up and walked out to Ducky. "You're staying?" he asked.
Ducky smiled, "Thought I'd stay. A least until we know for sure that young Anthony is out of the woods. He wouldn't like to wake up in a hospital alone, although neither Abby nor you would ever let him".
Gibbs smiled, "Thanks, Duck" He turned to leave but Ducky stopped him.
"Jethro, Abby told me what you are planning on doing".
Gibbs turned to face his old friend.
"I know you want revenge, Jethro, and so do I. But once you go down that road, there's no turning back".
Gibbs didn't say anything. He just turned and left.
__________________________________________________________
The Valentino Estate was everything you'd expect of a mafia home. Nothing about the place was small. Arches, columns, statues. It had everything. Gibbs walked up the front stairs to the main door. Behind him Ziva and McGee were keeping their eyes open.
Before he knocked, he turned to Ziva and McGee, "You still have time to turn back. You don't have to do this".
Neither of the agents spoke. Then Ziva walked up besides Gibbs and knocked on the door before she stepped back. Gibbs gave her a grateful look and turned to face the door.
It was opened by a huge guy with a face like stone. He didn't say anything, just opened to door wider and the NCIS-agents walked in. The hall was, like the outside, huge. Gibbs, Ziva and McGee looked around as the huge guy led them to a door down the hall on the left. He knocked and waited for an answer.
"Enter" a deep voice answered on the other side and the door
was opened.
Inside was an office. By the window was a huge desk and behind it, Guido Valentino was sitting in a huge leather chair. There were four armed men standing around the room. All had their arms crossed and only one facial expression. McGee felt like he'd just stepped into a scene in 'Godfather'. Why did everything about these people always have to be so cliché?
Gibbs stopped in the middle of the room.
"Special Agent Gibbs, I presume? I must say I was surprised to get your call", Guido Valentino said. He leaned slightly forward and placed his elbows on the desk. He looked over at the goons by the window and nodded. Three of them walked up to the special agents and started searching them. None of them protested. McGee adjusted his glasses and stifled when the goon touched his groin.
"I apologize for the discomfort, but I'm always a little suspicious when cops call to make a deal. They can keep their weapons" Guido Valentino said.
Gibbs nodded when the search was over. They didn't find anything.
"Now, special agent Gibbs, what is it, you seem to think I can do for you?" Guido Valentino asked.
Gibbs straitened his jacket and said, "It's very simple, Mr. Valentino. You have something I want, I have something you want. We trade, everybody's happy".
Guido Valentino laughed. "Straight to the point, I like that. And what exactly is it you think I have that you want?"
"Daniele Tacconelli" Gibbs said without batting an eyelid.
Guido Valentino's face turned serious. "Daniele works for me. That's true. But why would I turn one of my own people over to the feds just like that? And just what is it he supposedly did?"
Gibbs felt the rage rise in his chest. Supposedly? He controlled his anger.
"I want him! And I have something you want. Let's just leave it at that" Gibbs answered. He never took his eyes of Guido Valentino.
Again Guido laughed. "Look around you special agent Gibbs. I have everything I want. I doubt you have anything to offer me. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do". Guido Valentino turned his attention to some papers on his desk and ignored Gibbs.
But Gibbs was not ready to leave.
"Harold James… Ring a bell?" he said.
Guido Valentino stopped working and looked up. He tried to look uninterested.
"Why would that name mean anything to me?" He had a hard time controlling the obvious anger.
"Well, I would think you would know the only man who ever succeeded in stealing from your family" Gibbs smiled. "What's most interesting about it is that we managed to find, what you never did".
Guido Valentino jumped out of his chair. He walked around the desk and stood a few feet in front of Gibbs. Gibbs didn't move.
"You're telling me, that you have my money?!" Guido Valentino demanded.
Gibbs tilted his head, "your money? I thought you didn't know Harold James?"
Guido Valentino composed himself and smiled, "You're a dangerous man, special agent Gibbs"
He walked back to his desk and sat down, "But this isn't the children's playground either. So you propose a trade. The money for Daniele Tacconelli?"
Gibbs nodded. The meeting was going according to plan. He would get his shooter. This was an offer Guido Valentino could not refuse. He wanted that money more than anything. It was his honour at stake.
Guido turned to one of the goons and whispered something to him. Then the goon left and came back with a friend. Between the two Daniele Tacconelli was kicking and screaming.
"Guido, you can't do this!"
Gibbs felt anger when he saw Tacconelli. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the same disgust and rage in Ziva's and McGee's eyes.
Guido didn't look at Tacconelli but kept his eyes fixated on Gibbs. "We have a deal, Special Agent Gibbs" he said.
Gibbs nodded and looked at Tacconelli, who was still fighting his captors.
Tacconelli looked frantically around the room and then back to Guido Valentino.
"Guido, mi amigo fidato! I trusted you! You told me to kill the fed! He got in the way and you told me to kill him!"
"I didn't pull the trigger. I have you to do the dirty work. And now I don't need you anymore!" Guido yelled. He was now standing with his hands on the desk.
Gibbs' eyes turned to Guido Valentino. He finally got what he wanted. Out in the hallway shouting was heard. "FBI! Don't move!"
Guido turned to Gibbs. He realized too late that his family had been coned again; this time by the NCIS. He locked eyes with Gibbs. Suddenly he went for his desk drawer and pulled out a gun. Then all hell broke loose in the office. Gibbs quickly ducked down behind a couch and reached for his gun. Ziva and McGee took cover behind two chairs. The goons started firing wildly around the office and Ziva and McGee fired back…
When Tobias Fornell walked in the office five minutes later, Ziva was handcuffing one of the goons. He was bleeding from his left arm, but Ziva took no notice of it even though he was yelling at her. Gibbs was crouched beside McGee who was leaning against a bookcase. He was bleeding from a small wound on his shoulder. A bullet has grazed him but the bleeding wasn't bad and Gibbs was putting a handkerchief against the wound. Fornell crouched down beside them.
"You ok?" he asked McGee, who nodded.
"Not too bad. Maybe a stitch or two" McGee said.
"Paramedics are here" Fornell said and got up. The paramedics walked in and took care of McGee. Gibbs got up.
"Valentino?" Tobias asked. Gibbs pointed to the corner of the room. Guido Valentino was lying dead with 4 bullets in his chest.
"And Tacconelli?"
Gibbs pointed to a body on floor. Tacconelli had a bullet in his knee and six bullet holes in his chest. In his hand he held a gun.
"Was that gun there the whole time?" Fornell asked and eyed Gibbs.
Gibbs shrugged his shoulder, "As far as I know" He looked up at Tobias. Tobias just nodded and took a look around the room.
"You're still okay with us taking credit for this? And the money?" he asked.
Gibbs nodded, "I got what I wanted. You deal with the paperwork" He smiled and he and Ziva followed McGee out to the ambulance. Before he got in, he turned to Tobias and threw him a set of keys. "Money's in the trunk. Help yourself".
Fornell looked at the keys and smiled.
__________________________________________
Over the next few days Tony slowly but steadily started to get better. With both McGee and Tony out on sick leave, the team was pulled from active duty until further notice, which suited them just fine. It gave them a lot of free time, and they spent most of it at the hospital.
Gibbs was sitting in the chair beside Tony's hospital bed late at night. He always took ‘the graveyard shift'. It wasn't like he would ge much sleep anyway as long as Tony was sick. And the boat would still be there when this was over. If it would ever be over.
Lost in his own thought, Gibbs suddenly jumped, when he felt someone squeeze his hand. He looked up at Tony, but his eyes remained closed. Gibbs got up and squeezed the hand back.
"Tony? You with me?"
Tony remained still. Maybe he'd just imagined it…
Gibbs leaned down again and said, "It's okay. You're safe. We took care of it for you"
Suddenly Tony squeezed Gibbs' hand again, and Gibbs placed his hand on Tony's head.
"It's okay. I got your back. Go back to sleep"
Gibbs settled back into the chair, closed his eyes and smiled.
Then he fell asleep.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs wants the shooter at any cost...
Chapter End Notes:
Almost finished. Again sorry for the wait:-(