Chapter 8
“It wasn’t Ari! WHO WAS IT?!!” Gibbs said, causing several members of the hospital staff and several patients to look at him in surprise.
“That’s just it Gibbs.” Abby said cowering. “I compared the voice patterns of the phone call that Tony received to the voice recording we have of Ari. I even asked Ducky in to verify, since he was with him the most down in the morgue.” Abby paused. “They’re just not the same. Since we have nothing more than a voice, all I can say is that it is not Ari.”
“Why did Tony say it was Ari? He sounded so sure.”
“The accent is the same. That is probably it. He thought this is something Ari might do. And I am not saying Ari is not involved, he could have driven the car. But he didn’t make the phone call.”
“Ari was involved for sure.” Gibbs said, fuming. “He is still out to get me. He is just going through the members of my team to get to me.”
“Gibbs….” Abby started.
“If Tony doesn’t make it, I’ll kill Ari with my bare hands.” Gibbs stated, still angry.
“Tony is going to make it, Gibbs. He is going to be fine. He has to be. He has more lives than an alley cat.” Abby said, hoping to calm Gibbs down. She didn’t like to see him this angry.
“Ari won’t live long enough to hurt another member of my team.” Gibbs declared and then hung up with Abby.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Gibbs phone rang and he quickly flipped it open thinking Kate was calling about Tony or Abby had found more something to help with the case.
“Well, Agent Gibbs I hope Anthony and Caitlyn are well.”
Gibbs almost growled. He recognized the voice immediately. “You BASTARD! Too afraid to come after me, so you go after my team. You have sealed your fate. I just wanted you to know that. I WILL kill you.”
“You, versus a trained assassin…” Ari chuckled into the phone. “…good luck.”
“I don’t need luck, Ari. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” Gibbs shot back.
“Keep a close eye on Anthony. I would hate for something else to ‘happen’ to him during his hospital stay.”
“YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM.” Gibbs yelled into the phone.
“Please…” Ari said, gloating. “…I have people to do THAT dirty work for me.”
“LEAVE HIM ALONE.” Gibbs reiterated. He flipped the phone closed, too angry to hear more.
Gibbs took a moment to calm down. He then called Director Shepard and arranged for around-the-clock security for Tony.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
The dream was horrible. He couldn’t breathe. He struggled. He opened his eyes, and realized that he was not dreaming. That was a man standing over Tony’s bed with his hands around Tony’s throat.
Tony remembered his phone. He grabbed it off the bedside table and flipped it open. He pressed a few buttons, hoping he had gotten the numbers and sequence right. He was beginning to feel a little floaty. He just wanted to close his eyes. But he fought against it. He tried to raise his arms, but found that he was too weak to do so. Tony had no choice but to let the darkness envelope him.
Gibbs flipped his phone open. He expected it would be Ari. But he was greeted by silence on the other end. “I won’t play your games, Ari!” Gibbs said. He was about to hang up when he saw that it was not Ari calling him, but Tony.
Gibbs put the phone to his ear and heard shouting. “Code Blue, SICU-Room 217, Bed A.” Gibbs recognized the room number and ran down the hall to Tony’s room. He arrived in time to see the nurses placing shock pads on Tony’s chest and putting a tube down his throat. Tony’s lips were blue. His face was pale and he was completely unresponsive to what the nurses were doing to him.
It took 4 shocks to get Tony’s heart going again. Gibbs cringed and his heart broke with the first couple shocks. He couldn’t watch anymore. He moved away from the window, but not out of earshot of the doctors and nurses working on Tony. He called the rest of the team and told them what had just happened. They were all at the hospital within 10 minutes.
Hospital security caught the guard as he tried to make an escape down the back stairway of the ICU unit. They were holding him until Agent Gibbs had the opportunity to question him. Gibbs waited until he found out Tony was going to be OK. He visited Tony for a few minutes after the incident. Tony was not awake due to weakness caused by the incident and the effects of his previous injuries. Gibbs then left Tony’s room and went to see the security guard hired by NCIS to protect Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
Hospital security had placed the guard, whose name was Emanuel Gomez, into the vault were they placed lost and found items. It was the most secure location they had in the hospital. Gibbs requested Mr. Gomez be brought out of the vault and be provided a chair to sit in. Both requests were granted.
Gibbs bent down within an inch of Emanuel’s face. “Who do you work for?”
“Highland Security.” Emanuel said.
Gibbs noted that that was the name on the uniform that had been provided by the company.
“Who do you work for?” Gibbs asked again. He straightened up and paced in front of Mr. Gomez.
“Highland Security.” Emanuel restated.
Gibbs stared at the man, obviously irritated. “WHO. DO. YOU. WORK. FOR?!” He asked again, fighting the urge to punch the man in the face.
Mr. Gomez was silent.
“You nearly killed a Federal Agent! I can tell you the penalty for attempted murder of a federal agent is an automatic 20 years in a federal prison!” Gibbs stated walking around the chair the man was sitting in.
“I…”
“Who are you working for? That is all I need to know. I don’t care how much he paid you. I don’t care what he promised you. I JUST NEED A NAME!” Gibbs stated glaring at the man in front of him.
“Ari Haswari.” Emanuel whispered his head down, looking at the floor.
“Who? Speak up!” Gibbs requested.
“ARI HASWARI!” Emanuel stated. He raised his head to meet Gibbs’ gaze.
“THAT BASTARD!” Gibbs said, flying into a rage. He looked for something to throw. When he found nothing he balled his fists up so tight that his fingernails cut into his palms.
Gibbs went upstairs again to check on Tony. He was still unconscious and still very weak. The team promised to keep a watch on him and report any changes to Gibbs as soon as possible. Gibbs then left the hospital on a mission. He had cold-blooded murder on his mind.
TBC
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