Gibbs cursed as he wove around a car moving too slowly for his liking. He wanted to be at the bank in a position to spot Warren before being spotted by him. Ideally, Gibbs hoped to catch Warren outside the bank rather than still inside.
Trapped inside, and if armed, it was far more likely Warren would do something desperate. And desperate often equaled violent. The last thing Gibbs wanted was for an innocent bystander to get hurt or to end up with his team embroiled in handling a potential hostage situation.
On the street, where it looked like escape might be an option, nine out of ten perps would run. For the one who decided to stand his ground, in the open, it was virtually impossible for a lone gun man to trap more than one or two people at a time. Gibbs preferred those odds to having a room full of people with no where to go, no where to hide. In the open, Gibbs was confident Warren could be taken down, permanently if need be, before the petty officer could get off more than a shot.
Gibbs barely slowed as he made a sharp right. He ignored the blaring of a horn behind him. He also ignored the Ziva cursing quietly in Hebrew from the back seat. She should have taken Tony's advice and belted herself in as soon as she got in the car. It wasn't his fault if she couldn't wrestle the stupid thing on now that they were in motion.
"You okay back there, Ziva?" Tony asked, looking over his shoulder, white teeth flashing as he grinned, clearly enjoying her discomfort.
"Fine."
Gibbs didn't have to see her expression to know she was gritting her teeth. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. It wasn't like she didn't know what riding with him was like. She should be used to it by now. And her own driving wasn't any better than his so it wasn't like she could claim any sort of moral high ground.
Gibbs eased off the gas pedal as he got within three blocks of their destination. While he wanted to catch Warren in the right place, he also knew announcing their arrival wouldn't help do that. The noise of squealing tires tended to carry well, no matter how busy the streets were.
"Rental car is on the right. Two blocks up." Tony said with confidence, pointing it out with his left hand.
Gibbs nodded, trusting the younger man's keen eyesight. From this distance he knew Tony could probably read the plate even though all Gibbs could really see for himself was the make, model and color of the car.
Gibbs spotted the black and white that had called in Warren's location. It was directly across the street from the bank. Gibbs would have liked them to be somewhere less conspicuous but there wasn't much he could do about that now. Asking them to leave would just draw more attention to them, and it wouldn't hurt to have back up on hand.
Gibbs jaw clenched as he scanned the street. It was far busier than he'd like. People were strolling up and down the sidewalk, going casually about their daily business.
"Too much to hope for they'd all have to be somewhere else about now," Tony murmured, voicing Gibbs' thoughts with his usual insight.
Gibbs snarled silently when he saw Warren leave the bank. He didn't need Ziva's curt 'there he is' to see their missing Petty Officer. Not wanting to give the man a chance actually make it to his car and lead them pell mell on a high speed chase, Gibbs accelerated, bringing the car to a screeching halt, stopping next to Kinsac's rental car.
Warren's startled expression lasted for only a moment before he bolted, running up the street. Gibbs didn't even need to say anything to Tony. He was already free of his seat belt and out the door, long legs stretching easily into a ground eating stride only a second later.
"Ziva..go!" He ordered curtly when she failed to move fast enough to suit him.
She was out the door in a moment, but that time was more than enough for both Warren and Tony to have already sprinted half a block away.
Gibbs stomped on the gas. He couldn't really predict where Warren was headed, but he knew he could herd him, direct him to some degree. Hopefully, it would be enough for Tony and Ziva to be able to stay with him.
Gibbs pulled into the intersection, tires protesting loudly as he forced the car to turn sharply at a higher rate of speed than factory specs recommended. The move directed Warren to go right, shoving people out of his way. Without losing focus or much speed, Tony dodged to around one man, and lent a hand to steady a woman in heels that Warren knocked off balance. Ziva darted around, weaving through the slow reacting pedestrians with familiar ease.
Warren kept looking over his shoulder as he ran. His needing to keep an eye on his pursuers slowed him down, but Gibb wasn't going to complain about it. He grinned wolfishly at the scared expression on Warren's face when looked toward him.
Gibbs gunned the car again, trying to get ahead of Warren. He grimaced when the son of a bitch darted into an alley. With the recent snow plowing to clear the streets the alley was too narrow for the car. Gibbs could see the alley was open at the end, a clear avenue for escape.
Gibbs watched Tony hesitate at the entrance of the alley, hugging the wall of one building before peering around the corner. He was clearly making sure Warren wasn't waiting with a weapon to blind side him. Gibbs mentally saluted Tony's caution, pleased to see he wasn't being careless even as the desire to catch Warren made him want to yell at Tony to stop wasting time and get going.
After verifying that Warren was still running, the younger man was off again. Ziva's shorter stature meant she was taking two steps for every one of Tony's, but having caught up, she managed to match his pace. Gibbs left them too it, racing up the street to the nearest intersection, turning right. He hoped to be able to block Warren in the alley from the other side.
He made it to the next intersection in time to see Tony and Ziva continue running forward, staying in the alley. Gibbs grimaced and pressed the accelerator to the floor, coaxing more speed out of the car. He made another hard right turn, smiling smugly when he realized he'd made it in time to trap Warren in the alley. Gibbs got out of the car, weapon drawn and trained on his quarry.
Warren spun around, trying to retreat, only to be halted by Tony and Ziva. Both had their weapons drawn and aimed at the Petty Officer. Gibbs couldn't help feeling proud of the fact Tony was breathing easily, looking more like he'd been out for a casual stroll than running hard for half a dozen city blocks. Ziva looked equally fresh, dark eyes flashing with annoyance as she measured Warren.
"If you do not surrender now, I will shoot you," Ziva said calmly.
"Best to just do what she says." Tony smiled disarmingly. "She means it."
"And if she doesn't put you down, I sure as hell will," Gibbs growled.
Warren looked like he wanted to break away, to attempt another desperate bid for escape. Gibbs tightened his focus and knew Ziva was doing the same.
"Warren," Tony said softly, getting the younger man's attention, still smiling, appearing the least threatening of the three agents. It was a neat trick to appear harmless while holding a semi automatic pistol with unwavering aim. It never failed to amaze Gibbs how neatly Tony could pull it off.
"You really don't want them to shoot you, do you?"
Warren eyes nervously judged the distances and obviously weighing the odds. He had to know he couldn't get away from them. There was no where to run to. Warren looked at Tony, expression seeking guidance.
"Walk over to that wall, put your hands against it, and spread your legs." Tony ordered, making it seem like the most reasonable thing in the world to do.
Warren hesitated, eyes darting from Ziva and then over his shoulder to meet Gibbs' implacable gaze. He sighed heavily, shoulders slumping before he raised his hands and stepped over to face the wall.
"Stand still while I pat you down and cuff you. Any sudden moves and they will shoot you." Tony told him quietly. "Nod your head if you understand."
Warren gave a jerky nod. Tony holstered his weapon, careful to approach Warren in a way that didn't block either Ziva or Gibbs' line of sight.
Tony patted him down, careful and efficient. "No gun, Boss."
Gibbs hadn't expected there to be one. When they'd cornered him would have been the time to pull it, if Warren had a weapon he'd intended to use. And given that Kinsac was beaten to death, not shot, suggested Warren didn't have a gun on hand. It didn't mean he hadn't obtained one in the last twenty four hours, but Gibbs doubted getting a gun had ever been a priority for Warren. According to his file, he barely qualified on the shooting range during basic training, and his scores had never improved.
"But we do have several keys." Tony held up a small key chain that pulled from Warren's jacket pocket. It had nearly a dozen keys attached.
"Guessing this is what you picked up at the bank, ay Warren?" Tony gave Warren's shoulder a friendly pat before cuffing his hands behind him.
It made sense that someone as cautious as Warren seemed to be would store most of the keys to his safety deposit boxes in another yet another box. And Warren hadn't left carrying any sort of bag or briefcase that would have held the money he'd taken. They would have to check the keys against the boxes they knew about. Hopefully, McGee and Lee would have tracked all there were to find by the time they got Warren back to the office.
Tony spun Warren around and walked him to the car, putting him in the back seat. Gibbs didn't holster his weapon until Warren was belted in. The seat belt was not only for Warren's safety, it also acted as another means of restraint. With Ziva riding in the back seat, it was unlikely Warren could attempt much of anything, but Gibbs wasn't going to assume anything.
Gibbs slid into the driver seat, adjusting the review mirror so he could see Warren easily. Once they got back to the office, he planned to let Warren stew in an interrogation room while the team found every box the keys opened. Whenever possible, the former Marine preferred to be fully prepared before going into an interrogation.
Warren swallowed hard and then licked his lips nervously. "Aren't you going to read me my rights?"
"If you know enough to ask, I'm sure you already know what your rights are." Tony turned to look over his shoulder. "But to answer your question...as a matter of procedure, we'll go over your Article 32 rights when we are in back at NCIS headquarters." Tony grinned. "Wouldn't want you to miss anything while we're driving. We'd just have to do it over."
"Waste of time," Ziva said, giving Warren a cold look. "And you have already wasted enough of ours."
Gibbs ignored the way Warren tried to shift away from her, attempting move closer to the door. Ziva could truly exude menace when she chose. It was one of the things he liked about her. Not that he needed her for that, Gibbs could do that just fine on his own, but there was something about a cold blooded woman that could figuratively make guys like Warren wet their pants faster than anything Gibbs could say or do.
Gibbs glanced over at Tony when he heard keys rattle. Tony was flipping through the collection he'd taken from Warren's pocket. They were nondescript little bits of metal. If they hadn't known what bank Warren favored it would have been impossible to know what the keys were even to. There was no guarantee they would open any of the boxes, but Gibbs' gut told him they couldn't be keys to anything else.
"After we get Warren booked, take Ziva and go see if you can find what those go to."
Tony made eye contact with Gibbs. "Our very own little treasure hunt," he murmured, green eyes sparkling with curiosity and good humor. He looked positively delighted with the prospect of getting to search out what safety deposit boxes went with which key.
Gibbs fought down an answering smile. It was hard to resist a happy Tony. He cleared his throat, struggling to keep his tone dry. "Just don't come back with a parrot."
Tony grinned. "Aye, Aye, Cap'n."
Author's Chapter Notes:
They capture Warren.