Chapter 29
'Vampires,' Ziva thought to herself as she pushed to run even faster. Six months ago she didn't know they existed, and now if she wasn't thinking about one, she was thinking of another. She couldn't believe that Roy was a vampire. And in Noah's line, no less. She laughed at the irony. 'What would he think of that?' she wondered. She suddenly realized she knew little of how things worked in Noah's world. She shook her head. She knew she didn't want a relationship with a vampire because she didn't want the uncontrollable emotional ties that came with giving herself to one - not now that she had experienced it. There were exactly two guys who had been able to reach her on a deep level that made her want to want more, and it turns out they were both vampires. Apparently Roy had a close vampire friend who had mentored him for years. Even when he was suffering and dying from radiation poisoning, he wasn't certain he would make the choice to join the undead. But meeting her had influenced his decision. She slowed a bit. 'Did he really choose to come back just to be with me?' she asked herself. She pushed harder, increasing her pace. When she had asked him why he waited so long to come to her, he told her he was learning to control himself. That statement in itself was enough to remind Ziva what she was dealing with. She needed to talk to Noah, but she was afraid of how the conversation would go.
"Wake up, McGee," Gibbs barked, slapping him on the back of the head.
"Sorry, boss," McGee said. Gibbs saw McGee's red eyes and the large black circles surrounding them.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"My sister is missing," he answered softly. "She called me Friday night to say she thought she had made a mistake. She sounded really upset. I haven't been able to find her since. Abby and I have been working around the clock all weekend," he explained, his voice showing his exhaustion.
"Let me know if we can help," he said. "Where is everyone?" Gibbs added frustrated. "0800 on a Monday morning and I only have McGee to work with?" he barked.
"Boss, Maggie is here, but she is in with the director," McGee quickly answered.
"And..." Gibbs continued.
"And I don't know," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.
"Sorry, Gibbs," Ziva said, rushing off the elevator. "My run took a little longer than normal and then..."
"Run on your own time, Ziva," he interrupted.
"Yes sir," she replied, sitting at her desk. She tossed McGee a glance and mouthed, "What's wrong?" McGee shook his head no, as if he didn't want to talk about it.
"Ziva, McGee is looking for his sister. Help," Gibbs said. "I'm going for coffee. DiNozzo and Diamond better be here when I get back," he said as he stepped onto the elevator.
"Is he talking about your sister, Sarah?" Ziva asked.
"Yeah, she called my Friday night and things seemed off, and now I can't find her. I'd like to think it's nothing, but I'm really worried."
"We saw her Friday night, Tim," Ziva said. She went on to explain the details.
"I can't believe he would... But where is he? I need to see Abby. If Tony... I'll kill him," McGee rambled and made his way to the elevator to go to Abby's lab. Ziva shook her head as she watched him go, and began searching to see if there was somewhere her coworker's sister could be that he hadn't found.
"Where is everyone?" Noah said, making his way to his desk. He sat down and started up his computer.
"Maggie's with the director, Tim is down with Abby, Gibbs went for coffee - he's upset that you and Tony are late," she added.
"So were you," he commented. When she cocked an eyebrow at him he added, "I saw you on your way in. I had an errand," he added. "So tell me about Roy Sanders," he said, his eyes flashing with emotion that she couldn't quite identify.
"I don't have time to talk about this, Noah," Ziva said. "Apparently after we saw McGee's sister Friday night, she called him upset and then disappeared. He and Abby have spent the entire weekend searching for her. And Tony's late, so..."
"Where is DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked. "Nice of you to join us, Diamond," he added.
"He's not answering any of his phones," Ziva answered, "but he was the last person that we know saw Sarah."
"Find him, now," Gibbs said, heading toward the elevator with his coffee and a Caf-Pow!
"I know werewolves heal quickly, but I want you to seriously consider my offer," Director Shepard said. She had called Agent Sullivan in early that morning to discuss her options at NCIS. "You've been through so much since you've joined us here. You've been kidnapped, your best friend was murdered, you've been wounded..." she trailed off.
"Director, I appreciate your consideration," Maggie said with a smile, "but I promise you I have never felt better. I've had a lot to deal with, and I think being here can only help me move past those things. Physically, I'm perfect. I'm here. I'm ready to work. I don't want to take time off right now," she insisted. "It has taken time, but I feel like I finally have a good working relationship with the team. I don't think me leaving right now would be a good choice."
Jenny smiled at Maggie. "I understand. I still think you would be better off emotionally if you took a couple of weeks off, but I will honor your wishes."
"Thank you, ma'am," Maggie said respectfully. Their conversation was interrupted with the buzzing of the phone.
"Yes?" Jen answered.
"Have you heard from DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked her in an irritated tone.
"No, I haven't heard anything... Is something wrong?" she asked.
"He's not here," Gibbs said, as if that explained everything. "McGee's worried about his sister. He hasn't been able to find her. And apparently DiNozzo was with her Friday night."
"Yes, we saw them together at dinner," Jen confirmed.
"Abby and McGee are going through Sarah's calendar, which McGee apparently took from her dorm room Saturday morning. Ziva and Noah are also working on it."
"Jethro, there are a couple of cases to be wrapped up, but you're welcome to use your team to follow up on this," Jenny approved.
"I wasn't asking," Gibbs said as he hung up.
Maggie sat in silence, waiting for the Director to continue.
"Sorry about that," Jen said smoothly. "If you're determined to work, I won't make leave time mandatory. I do wish you would consider a vacation soon."
"I'll think about it," Maggie said agreeably. "Thank you," she rose and left the office.
'Maggie's met someone,' Noah thought to himself as he watched her descend the stairs from the Director's office. He always knew. It was something in the way she walked or the way she carried herself that gave it away. He determined to give her a hard time about it. Later. After he talked about Roy Sanders with Ziva. He couldn't believe a new vampire was his competition, but it appeared that was the case. He knew that if Roy knew he was interested in Ziva that he would back off. Ziva would hate that. He still didn't know how he would deal with the situation. No vampire in his line would dare compete with him for anything. But he knew Ziva wouldn't stand for him to use his vampire authority to control the situation. She would want to choose, and he would have to stand by her decision. It's hard to be diplomatic when you're used to ruling.
"Mags!" Abby said, trying to infuse enthusiasm into her voice in spite her mental and physical exhaustion.
"Any luck?" Maggie asked.
"Nothing so far," McGee said. "Sarah has a series of notes in her calendar that Abby thinks might represent something other than the obvious, but we haven't figured it out yet." He passed the calendar to Maggie.
"Hmmm..." Maggie perused the notes, looking for some sort of pattern or something that would stand out as different. "She met with JS at least six times. She has Friday night circled, but doesn't indicate any initials for Tony," she noted. "I have no idea what the other notes mean."
"Has Tony come in yet," Tim asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Nope," Gibbs said as he entered the room. "He's not answering any of his phones. Ziva and Noah just left for his house."
"Does she have any favorite hang outs or places she goes when she needs to get away?" Maggie asked even though she knew he had already been thinking.
"Not that I know of. She's young. We are close, but not to the point that I know those things about her. I've left a message for her best friend and for her roommate," Tim added hopefully.
"Tim?" a soft voice interrupted him. "I'm so sorry!" Sarah entered the lab, escorted by Director Shepard.
"Sarah!" McGee rushed to embrace his sister. "What is going on? You sounded so upset. You weren't answering your phones. We couldn't locate you anywhere..."
"Shh... calm down, Tim," Sarah responded, calming herself more than him. "I just got your messages and came directly here. I'm sorry for worrying you, but I'm afraid there really is a problem."
"What's the problem?" Abby asked.
"Is this about Tony?" Gibbs questioned. Sarah met his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said as tears began to fall down her face. "He said he was a friend of Tony's from college and he was going to play a prank on him. I played along because I thought it would be fun," she turned to her brother. "I wouldn't date someone that much older than me for real, you know that." She continued, "Anyway, after I led Tony to the pre-arranged location they took him away, and Jared made a comment that scared me. I don't think it's a prank," she said, crying even harder. Gibbs grabbed her by the shoulders firmly, but gently. He looked into her face.
"Sarah, it's okay, but we have to ask you a few more questions. Don't fall apart now," he said. "Jared who? And what did he say that made you think it wasn't a joke?"
"Jared Simpson. He's dating my roommate's best friend. He's former army, and a bit of a practical joker," Sarah explained. "He said, 'You have no idea how much I have to gain from this', and he had this demented look that really scared me. That's when I called Tim," she explained, tears falling again. But before I could tell him, he threatened me and I had to hang up. I went home and packed and just ran. I went to a hotel, registered under a fake name and paid cash. I was really scared. I'm sorry I waited so long to call you again. I hope he's okay," her voice had softened.
"We'll find him," Gibbs assured her. "Unfortunately, we're going to need you to stay here so we can get as much information from you as possible."
"That's fine," she agreed.
"Sullivan, take her up to interrogation," he barked.
"On it, boss," Maggie said, leading the younger woman upstairs.
"Already on it," McGee said before Gibbs could order him to begin finding what he could about Jared Simpson.
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