Chapter 15
Ziva was at home with a bottle of CPL cleaner open on her kitchen table as she carefully ran a swab of cotton along the length of the bolt to her Sig Sauer when her cell rang.
'Gibbs' flashed across the caller ID.
“Ziva” She answered.
“Were you with Tony this morning, Ziva?” Gibbs began without preamble.
“Yes, we went for a run.” She told him as she sat up, worried by the strain she could hear in his voice. “Why?”
“I need to find him and he's not answering his phone.”
“I left him at his place not even an hour ago. I do not believe he had any plans to go anywhere. I do not understand why he would not answer his phone.....Has something happened?”
“Tony's father has been abducted and the New York State Police are looking at Tony as a possible suspect.”
Ziva's gut churned at the news.
“That is simply not possible, I was just with him and I am certain that Tony knew nothing of his father being kidnapped.”
“I know, Ziva. That's why we need to find him....” Ziva's anxiety shot up another notch as she recalled what happened earlier before she left Tony's apartment.
“Gibbs, when I dropped Tony off at his apartment, the door was unlocked and we were both certain that he had locked it, but we did not see anything out of place and there was no one inside. It may have just been a coincidence, but do you think that whomever abducted Tony's father has gone after him?”
“I don't believe in coincidences, Ziva. Go to Tony's place and see what you can find, I'll have McGee meet you there.”
“On my way.” She replied quickly.
Gibbs hung up without another word and Ziva sprang into action, reassembling her Sig in record time and loading it before she ran out of her apartment. She drove insanely, even by her standards, to Tony's apartment, narrowly avoiding collisions as she wildly swerved across traffic lanes, cutting numerous other cars off and ignoring the loud honks that accompanied her single-minded mission.
She screeched to a halt before Tony's building, not giving a damn about finding a place to park. Jumping out of her Mini Cooper, she dashed up the steps. McGee had still yet to arrive, but she made the call to go on ahead of him. Proper procedure would have called for he to have back-up, but she was in no mood to waste anytime waiting around for her other teammate to arrive.
She used Tony's security code that he had given her to get into the building then ran for the elevator, mashing the buttons as though that it might encourage it to go faster to his floor.
Once on his level, she took off from the elevator and ran to his door, knocking on it loudly.
“Tony?!” She called out, hoping somehow, that he was still at home, that he had perhaps just forgotten to turn on his phone or that he had just taken a nap, knowing how tired he had been after their workout this morning.
When there was no answer after several knocks, she went ahead and picked the lock swiftly, swinging the door open cautiously as she drew her weapon and silently crept inside. She scanned the room, then searched the rest of the apartment finding it empty.
“What the hell are you doing?” A voice called out behind her when she was in Tony's bedroom, looking at the pile of running clothes laying haphazardly tossed across the unmade bed. Ziva spun on her heel, nearly jumping out of her skin as she trained her weapon towards the source of the voice.
“McGee!”
“Ziva, Shit!” He lowered his weapon. “I thought you were an intruder. Why didn't you wait for me?
“Sorry, McGee.” Ziva gulped in relief as she lowered her gun as well. “It was foolish of me to go alone, but I could not wait any longer for you. Did Gibbs fill you in on everything?”
“Sort of. He just said to meet you here. What's going on?”
“Tony's father is missing and now, so is Tony. He is not here and he is not answering his cell.”
“Maybe he just has it off and went to the movies. His car isn't here.”
“Have you ever known Tony to have his phone off?”
“No. That's true.” McGee agreed, beginning to look worried himself.
“We should look around and see if we can find anything.”
McGee and Ziva began a search, looking for anything out of the ordinary. They found no signs of a struggle, as though wherever Tony went, he left willingly. Ziva walked into the kitchen, seeing his half-finished bottle of water still sitting on the counter from earlier that morning after their run. She thought it odd that he had not finished it, given the amount of sweat he had pouring off of him.
“Hey Ziva.” McGee called out from near the door. “I think I found something.”
“What is it McGee?”
“Take a look.”
McGee handed her a plain, white note which she took and read. A moment later she had Gibbs on the phone.
OOOOOOOOOO
Abby ran into her lab, her black cape billowing behind her as she swept inside then looked at her watch.
“Eleven minutes and fourteen seconds. Yes, new record!” she pumped her hand in victory before she noticed Gibbs standing in the middle of her lab looking less than enthused about her apparent excitement.
“Hey Gibbs.”
“'Bout time you got here, Abbs.” He complained.
“Didn't you just hear? This was the fastest I've ever gotten dressed and driven here from my apartment on a Saturday morning that we were supposed to have off. So what's so urgent.... we got a case?”
“I need you to find Tony.”
“What?” she asked concern and confusion marking her features.
“I don't have time to explain. Can you track his cell or not?”
“Sure, just give me a sec.” She darted for he computer and booted it up, pulling up Tony's cell phone data. She worked at it for several minutes before she growled in frustration.
“What is it?” Gibbs asked, looking over her shoulder at the screen.
“Tony's cell isn't giving off a signal. Either he's out of range from the nearest cell tower, which is unlikely anywhere near the city or his phone has been destroyed.”
“Shit.” Gibbs growled lowly. Abby looked behind her to see worried blue eyes gazing back at her.
“What's going with Tony? He's in trouble, isn't he?” She chewed her her bottom lip.
“He might be. I don't know, but I need you to concentrate, Abby. Is there any other way to track him?” Abby tried to keep the fear from creeping up on her from and consuming every fiber of her being as she thought desperately for a way, any way to search for him.
“Not if his cell is destroyed. I can keep the tracing program up and hope that if his cell is still intact, just in case he's just out of range and he might come back in, but who knows when that might be.”
Abby sighed and looked to her 'Tony shrine' that she had created when he had been away from them for so long after his fall. She had never gotten around to taking any of the pictures down after he returned and instead had added new ones. One in particular caught her attention. It was a photo of Tony leaning up against his car with his arms folded and a bright smile across his face, his precious classic Mustang that symbolized all that he was: sleek, sharp and sexy. Suddenly an idea struck her.
“Oh! Duh.” She slapped her head as she turned back to her computer with a new fervor.
“What?”
“Tony's car.”
“What about it, Abbs?”
“You remember how upset Tony was after his Corvette was stolen and totalled in that police chase right? Well, he had Lo-Jack installed on his car when he bought this new one after his last Mustang went kablewy so it could be tracked if it was ever stolen.”
“Can you track it?”
“Of course I can. It's just a radio transmitter hidden somewhere in the body of the car. It should be simple to find it since I already know the frequency. Tony gave it to me as soon as he had it installed so he could be the first one to go after anyone that dared to touch his new baby.”
“Do it.”
“Already am....” Abby typed commands furiously into her computer until the signal was found.
“There!” she pointed to the screen.
Gibbs leaned in reading the map just as his cell rang.
“Gibbs.” He answered.
“We know where Tony went, Gibbs.”Abby could hear Ziva's voice on the line.
“So do I. You and McGee get over to Piscataway National park as fast as you can. I'll meet you there.”
Before Ziva could respond, Gibbs hung up and gave Abby a reassuring peck on the cheek.
“Go get him, Gibbs.” She demanded.
“I'll bring him back. You have my word.” He turned an raced out the door, leaving Abby behind in his wake with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
“I know you will." She sighed heavily. "Just bring him back in one piece.”
OOOOOOOOOO
“Keep your hands in the air where I can see them DiNozzo, then walk this way slowly.” Foster ordered.
Tony kept his hands up and walked over as instructed, sizing up Foster. He had changed a lot since he last saw him. He was shockingly thin, gaunt even, skin tinged yellow with unhealthy looking dark circles under his eyes and the shaking in his black, gloved hands told Tony that the man was far from well physically. But what scared him the most was the crazy look in the other man's eyes. Gone was the sharp, intelligent gaze he used to have in them when he had worked at NCIS on Gibbs' team, only hatred existed there now.
“We can talk about this, Foster. Just you and me. I'm obviously the one you have the beef with, so you can let him go now.”
“I don't think so.”
Tony turned his attention to his father and they made eye contact, saying a lot between them with just one look. The man had aged quite a bit since he last saw him. His hair, which had always been a steely grey like Gibbs', even when he was a little kid, was now shockingly white and he was thinner and paler than he ever recalled him being. That's when it hit Tony that his father was over seventy and entering his twilight years. However, the proud stance his father always maintained was holding up despite his age and even under these circumstances, he showed no outward signs of fear or intimidation, as usual.
“You okay, Dad?” He asked.
“I woke inside of a trunk with a bomb strapped across my chest this morning, so I'd say I've had better days, Anthony.” His father responded coolly. “This man a friend of yours?”
“Not since he broke my nose.”
“You always did have a way with people. I suppose somethings never change.” The elder DiNozzo grumbled.
“Alright, that's enough chit chat you two, family reunion's over now. C'mon, DiNozzo, get over here, we haven't got all day.”
“I'm coming, Foster. Don't get your panties in a bunch.” Foster sneered viciously as Tony came nearly face to face with him.
“Spread 'em.” Tony was ordered and he held his arms out while taking his feet out wide while maintaining a shaky hold on the detonator switch in his hand, Foster patted Tony down for weapons.
“So, what's your plan here?...Oh let me guess... Kill me?”
Foster chuckled then smiled wickedly.
“I'm going to do to you what you did to me, DiNozzo.”
“What exactly did I do to you?”
“You took everything from me. My career, my life, my hopes....you took it all. So, I'm going to take everything away from you.”
“How do you figure that I did all of that? I tried to help you. No one liked to see you go all 'Leaving Las Vegas' like you did after Mexico. You could have gotten help, but instead you drank yourself into a stupor. If any one is to blame it's you.” Tony knew it was foolish to antagonize the already irate man, but he just couldn't help himself.
“NO!” Foster's eyes flashed insanely with a burning rage as he violently grabbed Tony by the collar and yelled into his face. “I didn't want your help, don't you see? We wouldn't be here right now if it hadn't been for your help. I have nothing left and now it's your turn to watch everything you love disappear before your eyes as well.”
“Mr. Foster.” Tony heard his father speak up and Foster let go of his shirt with a little push before turning on the older man. “If it's money you're after. I have plenty. Just name your price. I have quite a few connections as well and you could start over far from here and get your life back...I would see to it personally...if you just let Anthony and I go.”
“Your money can't help you now. I know how you rich people operate.” He pointed to both of them and Tony grew nervous seeing Foster shake as he held the detonator. “You think you can buy whatever you want. Power, people, positions.” The last word he spoke directed towards Tony and he couldn't help but be a little incensed even with the threat of being blown to bits hanging over them.
“Wait a sec....You think I bought my position at NCIS?....Seriously, Foster?” Tony began incredulously
“It explains why Gibbs ever let you onto his team.”
“My father and his money had nothing to do with how I got on Gibbs' team, I put myself through college then became a cop. I had to work pretty damn hard to get as far as I have.”
“It is true, Mr. Foster. I was never too keen on the idea of my son working in law enforcement and I would have never wasted any my wealth on such a foolish pursuit.”
Tony looked with a slight roll of the eyes to his father, who had uttered the words as though they dirtied his tongue. His father had never given Tony any handouts growing up, forcing him to fend for himself, especially after he cut Tony off from the family money before he was even in high school claiming he wanted his son to know what it was like to work for what he needed. But when Tony actually did succeed in making his own way in the world without any help from dear old dad, he got nothing but grief for it.
He had heard no end of the bitterness from his father the last time they actually spoke to one another years ago when he graduated from high school and announced that he was going to Ohio State on a sports scholarship. As if letting his father know that he was going to a public university was bad enough, when he made it known to him that he had no intention of going to business school like his father and take over the family business when he retired, his father wasted no time completely disowning him. But by that point, Tony had become his own man and wanted nothing to do with his father and his plans for him anyway, he had his own dreams and ambitions and they didn't include shady business dealings nor international corporate intrigue.
“Gee thanks, Dad.” Tony couldn't help but bite back.
“Enough!” Foster edged closer to the senior DiNozzo. “I had a father like you. He did nothing but tell me how worthless I was. I suppose then, this will be all the better when I make your son watch as you die.”
Tony took a step forward, but was stopped when Foster lifted the detonator threateningly. Raising his hands in supplication, he tried to reason with him.
“Foster. Think about this rationally for a minute.... unless of course, you've flown too far over the cuckoo's nest to come back to reality anymore.” Tony pointed to his father. “He didn't do anything to you. Sure, he was pretty much a cold bastard for the majority of my life and a manipulative, alcoholic, mean-spirited sonuvabitch that wouldn't care if his own son fell of the face of the planet, but whatever your father did to you, is not my dad's fault.”
Tony ignored the mixture of emotions crossing his father's face as he vehemently spat out the words he had wanted to yell at his father for so long and for a split second, he thought he had gotten through to Foster, but just as soon as it seemed that some sense had flashed over his features, it was gone, replaced again by his intense, unstable glare.
“I know what your doing DiNozzo and it isn't going to work, You pretending like you don't care about him, thinking that I wouldn't get any satisfaction out making you watch me kill him if you didn't love him. You wouldn't be here if you truly hated him.”
“Okay, maybe I don't hate him. But you can still let him go.”
“He's part of the plan.”
“What plan? Have you really thought any of this out?”
“I've had six months to think about this thanks to you!" Foster shouted. "You're going to confess to killing your own father before disappearing. Your name will be disgraced, just as mine was.”
Tony actually chuckled despite the fear that crept up inside.
“Right....How are you going to pull this off exactly since you had me toss my gun into the river?”
“Who said he's to be shot? Especially since a knife does the job just as well.” With his free hand, Foster pulled a large hunting knife from his back pocket and pointed it towards his father with a murderous gleam in his eyes.
“It'll never work Foster. You of all people should know that, even if you're not thinking clearly. C'mon, look around you. You left too much evidence. Two sets of tire tracks? My gun and phone in the river. Gibbs won't be fooled for a second.”
Doubt seeped into Foster's face as he looked off in thought.
“You don't really want to do this, do you?" Tony started in with a gentler voice. "You used to be a good guy...and smart....in fact, you were kinda scary smart and I'll admit you had me a little worried about my own job safety.”
“Yeah right,” Foster snorted in anger. “Gibbs would never let you go....Anyone could see that ...The way he let you stay at his home, made you a cane....He respects you way more this guy over here.” He pointed to his Dad. “Besides, maybe I was never all that great of a guy to begin with, DiNozzo. You don't know me. You don't know how many times I daydreamed about pushing you down a flight of stairs, just so you could never come back again, because I knew, I was the better agent. I had the better credentials, the better education, the better skills..... I've had six long months to think about it and you know what? I don't give a shit about being the 'good guy' anymore so spare me your platitudes and shove them where the sun don't shine.”
Foster jerked and shook from his emotional outburst and Tony worried he actually let go of the trigger on the detonator. He was going to have to make his move soon before Foster killed them all.
Tony dared to take a step towards him, but Foster saw it and darted for his father, grabbing him from behind and wrapping his arm around the older man's midsection while bringing the knife to his throat.
"Foster, Don't!" Tony pleaded.
That's when the totally unexpected happened.
A look of pure murderous rage exploded over Vincent DiNozzo's face and before Tony could do anything or even call out, his father grabbed the hand that held the dead-man's switch and twisted, causing many things to happen all at once. Foster called out in pain while the elder DiNozzo grabbed the trigger and held it close to his chest. With a wail of pure, inhuman rage, Foster shoved the knife to the hilt into his father's back before yanking it out again and pushing him to the ground, causing the older man cry out and land on his chest, his hold remaining tight on the detonator as he came crashing down.
“No!” Tony cried out lividly at the same time as rammed full force into Foster, bringing them both to a bone-jarring landing into the gravel behind, knocking the knife out of the other man's hand and sending it skidding far out of the way. Tony threw a fist directly into the face of his opponent, but failed to take him out as they rolled and tossed each other about, limbs, hands and arms desperately grappling and trying to inflict as much damage as possible to the other man. Finding himself on his back with Foster straddling him across the waist, he made contact with Tony's face several times in a row, causing darkness to creep in around the edges of his vision, but Tony was too incensed to go out so easily and reached for the one weapon Foster had failed to find: the knife hidden in his belt buckle and he thanked God once again for Gibbs' rule number nine.
With an powerful thrust and a malevolence Tony had never truly felt before, he gripped the knife and plunged it deep into Foster's thigh, eliciting a satisfaction out of the other man's scream that took him by surprise and frightened him more than any other event of that day. Tony pushed him off just as Foster pulled the knife out. Bright red blood spurted from the wound, but it didn't faze the injured man as he lunged for Tony with the knife. Tony rolled and ducked, but was caught by the edge of the knife as it cut a long swath across his chest, ripping his shirt and breaking the skin. Adrenaline coursing through his veins prevented him from registering the pain that normally would accompany such a gash and he kicked out, hitting Foster square on the injured portion of his leg. With a yell, he Finally fell in agony, dropping the knife and Tony jumped on top of him, his fists going to town on his face, one after the other.
“YOU!” He punched him in the nose. “DON'T!” His fist landed on his jaw. “MESS!” Blood poured from Foster's mouth as a tooth flew out. “WITH FAMILY!”
“Anthony!” Tony was inches away from another strike when he heard his father shout at him. “He's out already.”
Breathing heavily, exhaustion took over his muscles as his hand fell limp to his side. Even bloody and dazed, Tony could make out how badly he had beaten Foster and knew he wouldn't be waking up any time soon.
On his hands and knees, he crawled over to the older man, who was still laying on the ground, blood from his back seeping into the dirt as he grew paler by the second. Quickly, Tony had him sit up and helped him to lean against the opposite side Foster's car. Tony put his hand over his father's and took over his hold on the dead-man's switch. Once the trigger was safely in his hand, he used his free hand to loosen up the straps that secured the vest loaded with explosives attached to his father and eased it off of him.
“I'll be right back.” Taking the vest in hand, Tony shook off a wave of dizziness and headed for the middle of the field beside of them. Fifty yards out he dropped the vest and hurried back to his father's side.
“Cover your ears and your head.” he instructed as he did the same, then let go of the switch. Half a second later, the ground shook as the explosives in the vest detonated, incinerating the grass in the field surrounding it.
Once the shock-wave passed, Tony turned to look at his father, who was staring at him with a look he had never seen pass over the man's face before: respect and pride.
"How are you doing?" Tony asked as he stripped down to his t-shirt, using his other shirt to press into the wound on his father's back.
"I'm fine, son." Tony blinked a the 'son' moniker, he couldn't remember his father ever calling him that. "But, you look like you might pass out." He pointed out, referring to the blood on Tony's chest and face and .
"DiNozzos don't pass out, remember? You told me that when I was five and broke my arm falling off a horse."
"I said a lot of things that were wrong." The older man confessed seriously.
Stunned by his father's admission and the light smile that creased at the corners of his mouth, Tony was unprepared for when he closed his eyes and slid over, losing consciousness. He caught him as he came down then laid him gently on the ground. “Hold on....If I know my boss, he's on his way.”
TBC.....
The T.A.D. by Angie