Nuclear Family

24

"You better have something, McGee," Gibbs said as he put the phone on speaker and set it on the coffee table.

"I do. A couple things, actually. First—"

"The short version."

"Right. The dead guy from your doorstep was a guard for Tony's building. Worked a shift yesterday afternoon and was supposed to work the morning shift today. Never showed up. Which leads me to my second point—"

"McGee."

"Getting to it. The footage wasn't touched—"

"Rechter does not care if we see him," Ziva said.

"Yeah. So he entered the building, the guard stopped him, and Rechter put a gun to his head. He then went upstairs. I couldn't get my hands on the stairwell or hallway footage yet, but we can assume that—"

"Tim, please."

"Sorry. Timestamp... shows him leaving with Tali eleven minutes later."

"Send me the clip?"

"I really don't think—"

"Please. Just send us the clip." Tony let his head drop into his hands. This day was fast turning into a nightmare.

His phone buzzed with the text, and he reluctantly reached for it.

Ziva got to it first, desperately swiping to the message.

They huddled together over his phone, holding their breath as it loaded and played.

There he was, Rechter, slipping into the building, having his little altercation with the doorman.

Tony didn't care about that, even if that man was dead. He didn't have time to care.

He skipped ahead to the timestamp McGee marked.

Within seconds, Rechter hurried back into view, a child-sized bundle in his arms.

Tony recognized Tali's favorite blanket. Pink, with flowers and butterflies.

A horrible sound escaped Ziva's throat, almost driving him to tears.

The hell with it. His daughter was gone. He had every right to be in tears.

He dropped his head again.

Today was a nightmare, and he just wanted to wake up.

***

She wasn't moving.

She was wrapped up in that blanket and she wasn't moving.

What had he done to her?

Where had he taken her?

Where was her little girl, her precious Tali?

Ziva stood up, angrily wiping tears from her cheeks. "We have to have all flights stopped. He will try to fly out as soon as possible."

Gibbs picked up his phone and made the call.

She looked at Tony, silently but surely losing his composure.

For a half a second, she dared to think he'd had the same reaction to the news of her death.

Then the thought was gone, whisked away with all other impossible thoughts.

"We have to go to the airport. That is where he will be."

"There's more than one airport," Tony said. "He could've gone to any of them. He had a head start. He could be anywhere in the tristate area. Or further, if he caught a train or bus."