§ NCIS Squadroom.
Tony arrived at his desk at 0715 a.m. . He was alone in the office , so he started working on the new case , but just after 5 minutes a 'ring' interruped his work . It was centainly a cell phone , but it wasn't his ringtone . He looked around , but he was still alone . He listened to that sound more attentively and he understood that it came from his desk , so he opened all the drawers and finally he found an unknown cell phone , into the drawer where he kept all Gibbs' medals .
"Hallo ," he said , uncertain .
"DiNozzo ," said a distant voice .
"Gibbs ?!" he asked , really surprised .
"Are you alone ?"
"Yes ... but ..."
"I left this cell for you and just for you ,"
"Deal . What do you need ?"
"Nothing , for now , but keep this cell always with you ,"
"On it , Boss !" said Tony . He was so happy that Gibbs trusted him and he could still call him 'Boss' . Raising his eyes he saw McGee coming out of the elevator , so he said ,"Hi , McGee ," , smiling .
Gibbs said ,"I'll call you back ," and Tony smiled ,"Sure , honey ," and hang up .
"A new girl ?" asked McGee , from his new desk , grinning .
"Ehm ... yes , a very hot woman with 2 magnetic blue eyes ," lied Tony , sighing falsely happy .
"What did you find at the Hotel ?"
"It was all clean , eccept for some fabric's yarns on the chest's lock . They're in Abby's Lab . I talked to the
receptionist and Ziva has talked with the Hotel's Director ,"
"Did they say something important ? ... Wait , where's her ?" asked McGee , looking at Ziva's desk .
"I'm here , sorry McGee ... I've had some problems with my car ," she said , sitting down at her desk , panting . Tony smiled to her .
"It's ok . Did the director say something important ?" he asked , a little annoyed .
"Yes ... " she took her pad and she read ,"Director Thompson , told that , in the last 2 years , Capitain Cox had been at the Hotel twice , for 2 Hi-Tech and Computer Meetings ,"
"Well , he was the Computer Center's CO on USS Kennedy ," stated Tony .
"Exactly ... but he has never done something strange or unsual ,"
"Nothing else ?" asked McGee .
"No , sorry ,"
"I've talked with the receptionist ... she told me that he hadn't a reservation , but she remembered she saw him going to the Hotel's bar alone , and coming out just few minutes later with a man ,"
"Description ?" asked Tim .
"Generic ... white , bald , 5'60'' - 5'75'' , 176 - 187 lbs ," he read his notes "Black anorak , jeans ... nothing else ," smiled Tony , sadly then he added ,"I called Norfolk , but Agent West wasn't there ,"
"Why did you call him ?" asked McGee .
"I wanted to ask him if he had already talk to Capitain Cox's wife , maybe she knows why her husband was at the Hotel ,"
"Yeah ... I'll talk with her ," Tim said raising up and going to the elevator . Then he stopped and added ,"Tony , with me !"
"Okay ," said Tony , grabbing his gear .
"What about me ?" asked Ziva . The new boss looked at her uncomfortable . He didn't know what to answer her .
After a long and imbarassing moment , coughing , Tony said ,"The corpse ," , so McGee said ,"Call Norflok , and tell them to bring the corpse here ,"
"On it ," answered Ziva winking to Tony , that smiled , behind his boss .

§ Cox family's house .
When Mrs Cox opened the door , McGee said , showing his badge ,"Good morning , I'm NCIS Special Agent McGee and this is Special Agent DiNozzo ," , Tony just nodded ,"We need to talk with you ," . Tim was trying to be authoritative , but he seemed just a little rude .
Seeing Mrs Cox's discomfort , Tony added ,"We won't bother you more that it's necessary , Ma'am ... I promise ," he smiled , sweetly . She smiled softly and let them in and escorted them to the sitting-room .
"We're investigating your husband case ," started McGee , sat down in front of the woman .
"I've already talked to Agent ... West and I told him all I knew ," she said , with tears in her eyes .
"We need some more informations , Ma'am ," said McGee .
"But I don't know anything else !"
"Maybe you forgot something ,"
"No ! I told him everything !" she was starting to get angry . She was so tired and upset , and she certainly didn't need to talk with other agents . Why that young man didn't understand it ?! He kept on talking and asking , but she didn't listened to him . She just wanted he went away and he let her alone with her child . "ENOUGH ! Stop on tormenting me !" she raising up , crying and staring him angrly . He stared her astonished , with his mouth opened .
"Ma'am ... calm down , please ," said Tony , softly ,"Sit down ... please ," he added , helping her to go to her armchair .
"I've enough of all your questions !" she said , crying .
"I know ," sighed Tony ,"But we need your help , to find your husband's murderer ," he explained , kneeled next to her .
"It's so hard ... I've a little child and ... and I don't know how ... to tell him that his father ..." she couldn't go on .
"I know ," said Tony , squeezing her hand ,"Drink some water ," he said , giving her a glass . She smiled softly . "You said that you don't know why your husband was at the Hotel ," . She nodded ."A receptionist has seen Capitain Cox with a man ... not very tall , a little overweighted and bald . Any ideas ?"
"No ," she sobbed .
"On the days before your husband's death , has happened something unsual ? ... I don't know ... strange calls , strange visits ..."
"No , everything was normal . Will had to leave on USS Kennedy , so he worked a lot at the Base ... because he didn't want to leave anything pending , before his departure ... he always did it ... that evening he had to come home at 0700 p.m. , but he called me to tell that he'd have been one hour late ,"
"Did he tell you why ?!" asked McGee , shily .
"No ," she answered , rudely . She was still mad to him . She prefered the other Agent .
"Okay , ma'am ," sighed Tony , raising up and looking McGee .
"Thank for your help , ma'am ," smiled Tim .
"Hi !" said a little voice from the kitchen's doorway .
"Oh , Sammy ," smiled his mother .
"Who are you ?" asked the child .
"They're NCIS Agents ," said his mother .
"Really ?!" asked him excited , running to them "The Navy Cops !"
"Yes ," smiled them .
"My daddy is a Capitain ,"
"We know ," aswered McGee , sweetly .
"Do you know him ?!" . They shook their heads and he added ,"He's on a biiiig ship now !" he smiled proudly . His mother stared Tony , upset . He stared her sadly . "Have you ever been on a ship ?"
"Yes , I've been on 2 big aircraft carriers for some months ," smiled Tony .
"Wow ! Really ?!" he asked smiling . Tony nodded ."And your son missed you ?"
"I don't have children ," said Tony , with a strange sad smile . Tim noticed it .
"I miss my daddy ,"
Mrs Cox sobbed silently and McGee swallowed moved . "I believe you ," said Tony , kneeling .
"Why don't you have children ?" he asked , innocentely . Tony didn't know what to say .
"Sammy !" his mother scolded him .
"I don't know , but ... if , a day , I'll have a child , I'd like he were like you ," smiled Tony .
Sammy smiled and added ,"Next Friday will be my birthday ! I'll be 4 years old and daddy has said that he has a big surprise for me and for mummy too ... ooops !" he put his hands on his mouth ,"It was a secret ," he whispered to Tony .
"I'm sure mummy didn't hear anything ," whispered Tony "She wasn't listening to us ," he added , winking .
"Daddy wants to give her a video of their love story and of me ... but I will have to give her the gift , because daddy is away " Sammy whispered , grinning .
"I think she'll be very happy ," smiled Tony , ruffling his hair .
"Sammy ... they've to go now ," said his mother .
"Thanks , Mrs Cox ," said McGee , going to the door .
"Thanks , ma'am ," said Tony ,"Bye , Sammy ,"
"Bye !"
On the door way , when McGee was already near the car , Mrs Cox stopped Tony ,"Thanks , Agent DiNozzo for everything ... you're very good with children ,"
"I'm trying to learn ,"
"I've already learned ," she smiled , then becoming very serious and sad , she whispered ,"Find him ... promise me !"
"I promise , ma'am ..." said Tony , then he took his wallet ,"These are my numbers and ..." he wrote down something ,"This is my home phone number ... call me , if you need anything ,"
"Thanks ," she smiled , moved , taking the card .

§ On the way to DC .
McGee was driving while Tony , sat next to him , was strangely silent . He was watching outside the car window .
"What are you thinking ?" asked Tim . No answer . "Tony , what are you thinking about ?"
"Nothing ," he sighed , thoughtfully .
"Tony ... what's going on ? You're too silent ,"
"Mmuh-mmuh ..."
"You're thinking about what Mrs Cox's said , aren't you ?"
"Actually , I was thinking about Sammy's words ,"
"I didn't say anything important for the case !"
"I wasn't talking about the case ... but about me ,"
"You ?!"
"Yes ... me ,"
"What do you mean ?" . No answer again . "Tony ?"
"Nothing ," he answered . Then he saw McGee's stare , so he said "Nothing , Tim ... don't ask more ... please ,"
Tim nodded , thinking ,"I've never seen Tony in this mood ... what's going on ?! This is not DiNozzo ... this is not the Tony that I know ... what's happened to him ?!"

Before going into the NCIS Building .
"Ehm ... Tony ," said the boss .
"Yes ?" asked the other , still a little absent .
"Thanks ,"
Tony looked at him surpirsed ,"What for ?!"
"For you've done with Mrs Cox ,"
"Oh , that ? I just did my job , McGee ," smiled him .
"No , you did a ..." Tim's cell rang ,"McGee ... when ? ... We're coming !" he hang up .
"What's going on ?" asked Tony , going into the elevator with him .
"It was Ziva ... Alexandria PD has another body for us ,"
"Murdered ?"
"They just said that they need we go there ,"
"I've got a bad feeling ," said Tony , seriuosly .
"Yeah ... me too ," sighed McGee ,

TO BE CONTINUED ON THE NEXT CHAPTER ...