Chapter Four
Tony was once again tied securely, his arms twisted behind him so that his elbows were bent and ropes wrapped tightly, allowing no slack or movement. His legs were bound together at the knees and ankles. There was no chance of freeing himself at all, even if he had the strength to try.
Alexandra had come back, accompanied by Antonio, full of apologies that she didn't have the promised soup. She had discovered that her brothers weren't giving Tony the food she had provided for the past few days and felt that the rich soup she had made would be too much for his deprived system. Instead, she brought some clear broth, crackers, and some cold water.
"I wish I had some ginger ale or Gatorade for you," she said, as she carefully fed him the broth, "but water is the best I can do, other than beer or wine."
Tony didn't say much, a softly murmured thank you the only acknowledgement of his benefactor's kindness. The broth was wonderfully hot, the flavor sending shivers of pleasure through his body, the crackers settling comfortably in his cramping stomach. He sighed softly, relaxing as his body eagerly accepted the sustenance. Antonio watched him warily from the corner.
Wiping Tony's mouth gently, Alexandra turned and called to her brother, "Antonio, take the tray back upstairs, I'll follow you shortly." Seeing her brother's hesitation, she added, "It's okay, baby, he's tied up, and he's too weak to do anything. I'll be up in a minute."
"No more than a minute, Alex," her brother said, giving Tony a warning glare.
"Yes, yes… a minute."
When her brother had gone up the stairs, she turned back to Tony. "Are you feeling any better, Anthony?"
Tony looked at her briefly, studying her eyes. "Yes," he whispered hoarsely, "a little. Thank you."
Alexandra smiled sadly and stood to leave.
"Wait," Tony said quickly. She stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Did you mean what you said? About helping me get out of here?"
Nodding, she said, "I just don't know how to do it yet. Gianni's very angry with you, and upset with me for interfering. He's sulking, drinking too much and sulking."
"Will you call my boss? Tell him where we are?" Tony's eyes were pleading.
Alexandra hesitated. "My brothers will be arrested. They won't go quietly, they might be killed," she whispered.
Closing his eyes briefly in despair, he opened them again and pleaded, "They'll kill me, Alexandra. If you don't want to risk them, then at least get them to finish this. I don't think I can take any more."
Kneeling next to Tony, Alexandra gently wiped away the tears that had formed and were tracking down his cheeks. "I'll do what I can, Anthony, I promise."
"Tony."
She looked at him, puzzled.
"No one calls me Anthony, except my parents."
"Tony." Alex stood up to leave.
"202-555-7295." She looked down at him again. "That's my boss' cell phone. If you call him, tell him you know where Tony DiNozzo is. Please."
Nodding once, Alexandra left the cellar and closed the door behind her.
Sighing, Tony settled back, trying to get as comfortable as he could. He felt a little better with the rich broth and broth-soaked crackers inside him, but he knew the feeling was temporary. Gianni wouldn't allow his sister to continue her nursing, no matter how much he loved her. He was a man with vengeance on his mind, and his target was tied up in the cellar. His emotions whirling around inside him, Tony closed his eyes and managed to fall asleep.
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Gibbs was at his desk, going over the history of the Mancuso family. The whole team was still working late, Ziva and McGee at their desks, Abby going over the evidence in her lab, trying to see if she could gain one bit of information from what little she had.
Gibbs sat back, rubbing his eyes. He looked over at Tony's desk, but instead of seeing his senior field agent, goofing off, he saw Tobias Fornell, using Tony's computer to go over some records he pulled up from the FBI database.
Fornell had worked tirelessly with Gibbs and his team, using his resources to try to fix the mess his men had made, trying to locate the missing agent. Privately, he agreed with the Director, that DiNozzo was already dead, and it hurt him in a way that surprised him. He saw how much pain his friend was in, worrying about the younger agent, and Fornell knew that he would be just as upset if one of his agents had disappeared.
Gibbs' cellphone rang, and he answered it with a curt, "Gibbs."
There was a slight hesitation, then a woman's voice said softly, "Is this Tony DiNozzo's boss?"
Gibbs sat straight up. "Who is this?"
Ziva, McGee and Fornell looked over at Gibbs, noting the tenseness is his voice. McGee got on the phone immediately and told Abby to trace the call.
There was another pause, and then the woman whispered, "This is Alexandra Mancuso."
Gibbs' eyes widened in surprise. He kept his voice steady and calm, not wanting to frighten the caller off. "Miss Mancuso? Where are you?"
"I don't know what to tell you. I don't even know why I'm calling you." The woman sounded frightened and confused. "I can't let them continue hurting him like this."
"Who, Miss Mancuso," urged Gibbs patiently, "who's hurting who?"
"Tony," came the whispered reply. "My brothers are hurting your agent. They're going to kill him."
"Where are you? Where are they keeping Tony?" Gibbs asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
She seemed not to hear him. "He asked me to call you, so you could come help him. If I couldn't do that, he asked me to get my brothers to finish him off quickly. They've done some terrible things to him, he won't last much longer if they continue." Alex's voice broke.
Gibbs closed his eyes in despair. Taking a deep breath, he repeated, "Where are you, Miss Mancuso? Please, tell me where Tony is."
There was a noise in the background and Alexandra's voice got even softer, "They're coming. I'll call you back, I promise. I'll try to protect him, but Gianni's got blood in his eyes. He wants Tony to suffer and die slowly… I'll call you later."
"Miss Mancuso," Gibbs called frantically, swearing when the connection was broken. "McGee, did Abby get anything?"
"Abby?" McGee spoke into the receiver, waiting briefly before smiling broadly. "The connection was long enough for Abby to get a location!"
Gibbs grabbed his weapon from the drawer, the other agents doing the same, and headed for the elevator. McGee finished scribbling the address and rushed to join the others, surprised to see Gibbs holding the door for him, but looking very impatient.
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Tony was awakened by a bright light coming through the cellar door as it was thrown open. The darkness returned when the door was shut and locked, the silence broken by the sound of someone stumbling down the stairs.
Pulling the chain on a lone lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling, Gianni Mancuso stood, swaying slightly, holding a bottle of beer and glaring at his prisoner. He reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke and his eyes were bloodshot.
Glaring, he went down on his knees next to Tony and put his face close to the agent's. "What did you say to Allie? Why is she so worried about what happens to you?"
Unable to back away from the alcohol soaked breath washing over him, Tony replied, "I didn't say anything, Gianni."
"Liar," roared Gianni, backhanding Tony, causing the agent's head to hit the wall. "She said she's ashamed of me," he growled. "You must have told her something to make her ashamed of me."
Tony's head was buzzing from the force of the blow, but he managed to keep from getting sick. "She saw what you were doing. I didn't have to say anything to make her feel that way."
Shaking his head, Gianni drank some more beer and said, "No. She saw Antonio fucking you, not me. She didn't see me."
"She's not stupid, Gianni."
"Did you sleep with her?" accused the other man.
Tony looked confused. "What? No..."
"She not good enough for you?"
"What?..."
Squinting at Tony, the other man stared for a while, a grin slowly crossing his face, sending a chill down Tony's spine. Standing awkwardly, Gianni stumbled over to a table and came back with a roll of duct tape. Ripping off a piece, he placed it firmly over Tony's mouth. He leaned in and whispered into the agent's ear, "Wouldn't want to wake her up, would we?"
Tony tried to struggle as the bigger man rolled him over onto his stomach. He tensed up, waiting for the inevitable, his eyes closed tightly, but nothing happened.
"Damn," muttered Gianni, "too much beer."
Tony sighed in relief, but froze when he heard, "Well, guess the bottle'll have to do."
The cellar resounded with Tony's muffled screams.
TBC
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer I don't own the characters in this story, except for the original ones. I'm not making any money from this, no copyright infringement is intended.
Huge thanks to my beta, Rinne, for correcting my errant punctuation. She's a peach.
Huge thanks to my beta, Rinne, for correcting my errant punctuation. She's a peach.