“You were friendly with Lt. Cortez, Mr. Kessler?”
“We hung out a little, had a few beers. When he didn’t have to get home to Elena.”
“This Elena lives with him?”
“No, but when she was staying over he’d always go straight home.”
“Who was she to him? His girlfriend?”
“I don’t think so. He was clearly very fond of her but he treated her more like a little sister than a girlfriend. He wouldn’t say much about his family so I can’t say for sure if she was but that’s what it seemed like.”
“Did you ever meet her?”
“Just the once. She was kind of a funny girl. Real quiet, hardly said four words to me. When I told her she looked pretty you’d have thought I called her a troll. Diego didn’t seem all that surprised by her reaction, just whisked her off.”
“And he never said anything about it later?”
“No. He really didn’t seem to think it was at all strange.”
“Did the Lieutenant have any enemies, Mr. Kessler?”
His attention, and interest turns to Ziva at that, “Diego wasn’t the type to make any enemies Ma’am. I’ve known more than a few navy men in my time and if I didn’t know any better I’d have said there was no way Diego was one of ‘em. Didn’t seem to believe in violence. Saw him talk men out of brawling more than once. Made more than a few friends saving men from their own stupidity.”
“What about here at Reslin, did Lt. Cortez have a problem with anyone he worked with?”
“He seemed to dislike Dr. Harvey but he wouldn’t say why. And there was some glitch with his internal security clearance about six weeks ago. He couldn’t get into the lab or the testing hangar.”
“Thank you Mr. Kessler, you have been very helpful.”
“One last thing Mr. Kessler,” Gibbs interrupts Kessler’s response to Ziva’s dismissal. “Where were you last night between two and four AM?”
“Where else? At home in bed. Why? You think I killed Diego?”
“We just need to be able to clear you,” Ziva assures him.
“Can anyone verify that you were at home?”
“My doorman. All the exterior doors in the building have electronic locks that log when you open them except the manned front door.”
“We’ll just need your address then.”
Once they reach the car Gibbs waits for Ziva to face him, “I don‘t need someone to be diplomatic for me.”
“I just thought-”
“You thought that because Tony steps in when he thinks it’s needed you can too. You don’t have Tony’s instincts yet. I wanted Coltrane off balance.”
“But we needed his co-operation.”
“And he was required to cooperate under the terms of his contract. I wanted him thinking about what I could do to him if I received less than full disclosure.” After a long pause to ensure she gets it he adds, “Don’t assume you understand a situation just because you have all the facts.” He pulls into traffic and answers his ringing cell.
“Hey Boss. No one notified the family yet so I’m heading out to gather the background in person.”
“Watch your back DiNozzo. I’m not there to do it for you.”
“Love you too. Don’t let the crazy assassin get you into trouble.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Once again I am very sorry for your loss Ms. Dalton, but if you could answer a few questions about Diego it might prove invaluable.”
“Yes, yes of course. What do you need to know?”
“Were you Diego’s only family?”
“His father died when he was about six, Enrique had a heart attack. His mother, my sister Maria, passed when he was twelve. She was bitten by a rattlesnake while hiking near their home in New Mexico. Diego came to live with me and my daughter Elena. She was only seven but Diego was an angel with her. Always so patient and attentive, he was the brother she always wanted. She always told him things she wouldn’t tell me, ran to him when she was hurt or in trouble. How am I going to tell her he’s dead? How do I even say it?” Ms. Dalton begins crying again.
Tony hesitates before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and getting her a tissue, “There’s no right way to deliver news like this, Ma’am. All you really can do is let her know you’re here for her, that she’s not alone.”
He rubs her back until the sobs subside then moves back away from her giving her space.
After a long while Tony asks, “May we continue Ms. Dalton?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Did Diego have any enemies?”
“Enemies is such a strong word Mr. DiNozzo. There were boys he didn’t get along with of course. Diego was something of a slight boy. The other boys would use that to their advantage. I often wondered if that might be the reason Diego joined the Navy, so that he could show those boys what he was made of. When he came home to visit he didn’t seem to have any interest in revenge though. And when he took the new assignment here in town he seemed… happy. Elena started spending a few nights a week at his apartment. They both seemed to finally be settling.”
“May I speak with Elena?”
“She’s in Taos at a training session for her new job. She’s going to be a trend analyst at Kline and Barrowman Market Research. She’s due home tomorrow around 3.”
“She still lives here with you, Ma’am?”
“Yes. She’s just starting out. I don’t want her wasting money on an apartment until she’s settled in the new job at least.”
“I’d like to be here to speak with her when she gets home if that’s all right.”
“Of course Mr. DiNozzo. I’m sure she’ll want to help you in any way that she can.”
“Thank you for your time Ms. Dalton. I am truly sorry for your loss. If you think of anything else, anything at all, please feel free to call me.” He hands her his card and quietly leaves the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
McGee rubs his eyes irritably and dials Abby’s lab.
“Timmy, what have you got for me?”
“I need you to find what you can for me on a company called Montrose Electronics. I keep hitting a brick wall. Basically all I can get is the name and incorporation date.”
“I’ll call you when I have it.”
“Thanks Abbs.”
“How are things going?”
“We don’t have many leads yet. Cortez was being blackmailed and Tony’s trying to find out about someone named Elena but that’s all we’ve got.”
“And how does Montrose figure into it?”
“He’s been getting regular payments from Montrose Electronics since 1992. Three months ago the payments increased almost a hundred dollars an installment. All I have is the deposit records, no explanation of why he’s receiving the payments. While you pull what you can on the company I’m going to search the local papers and court records. Maybe it’s a lawsuit settlement or a royalty payment. I just don’t know yet.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emotionally exhausted from the weight of consoling an agitated loved one, Tony wants nothing more than to fall into bed, and preferably Gibbs’ arms, to sleep clear through to morning. That of course isn’t to be. For one, McGee still has his room commandeered as operations head quarters. For another Gibbs will be expecting to hear what he’s found. Which just might prevent the bedmate part of his plan, if Gibbs is sufficiently pissed off that he accepted the daughters absence virtually unchallenged.
No sense in delaying the inevitable though.
He’d expected them all to be in his room, Gibbs hates hotel conference rooms and McGee had already commandeered the table in his room. What he hadn’t expected was open the door and find Gibbs sprawled on his hotel bed as if he belonged there. He did, but that was beside the point. How was Tony supposed to report with Gibbs looking like that? Hell, how was he supposed to do anything but crawl into that bed and cuddle?
Gibbs solves the dilemma just as quickly as he caused it with a short, “What’d you get from the family?”
As he gives a summary of Lt. Cortez’s background he sits beside Gibbs’ feet, watching the computer screen over McGee’s shoulder. “Get anything useful at Reslin?”
When Ziva gives her own summary Tony catches Gibbs glaring at her slightly. He raises a discreet questioning eyebrow and receives the sign “later” in response.
“What about you McGoogle?”
“You all already know about the blackmail e-mail. I’ve got a back trace running on it but it’s almost certainly a untraceable free email account. I also found regular payments from a Montrose Electronics. The dates seem to be consistent with the payment beginning at the death of his mother but there are no records of a court settlement, or even of Montrose Electronics at all. Abby and I are both working on it though Boss.”
“Ziva, go pick up some dinner for yourself and McGee downstairs and then see what you can get on the mother’s death. Tony, you’re with me.”
After he’s sure they’re out of hearing range Tony quips, “Isn’t this the wrong time for a dinner date Boss?”
“I wish,” Gibbs offers affectionately. “While I do plan to feed you this outing is mostly thanks to my gut.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby considers calling McGee first but she hasn’t talked to Tony all day and he’s sure to be by Gibbs’ side. “Hi Tony.”
Tony puts her on speaker, “Hey Abbs, you got something for us?”
“McGee told you I was running down information on Montrose Electronics, right?”
“Right.”
“It’s of course a dummy corporation. There are six regular transactions to and from its accounts. A deposit of nearly ten thousand a month and then five checks of nearly two thousand each going out. I tracked down the registered owner, Butch Montrose. He owns two other companies as well. A small manufacturing plant in Nevada and Hillcrest Technologies in New Mexico. In March of 1992 five employees of Hillcrest died on the same day. The circumstances are all listed as something unrelated to their work but within eight weeks of the deaths all five families began receiving checks.”
“Did you find a cause of death on Mrs. Cortez?”
“Heart failure due to poison of indeterminate source.”
“Get a copy of the report to Ducky and ask him what he thinks of the findings for me baby girl.”
“Sure thing Pop.”
“And Princess? Pull anything you can on an Elena Dalton, for me.”
“On it. Where are you anyway?”
“Following the famous gut.”
Abby chuckles, “I’ll call when I’ve got something for you.”
“Great Abbs, and let Probie know what you found on Montrose, maybe it’ll help him. And makes sure Ziva gets the names of the other families that lost someone at Hillcrest.”
She lets some of her concern enter her tone, “You two aren’t out playing hero are you?”
“Not unless staking out a dead man’s apartment is playing the hero,” Tony reassures her effortlessly.
“Stay Safe.”
She’s about to dial McGee when Jimmy Palmer comes in with a batch of samples from Ducky, “Anything new and mysterious for me today Jimmy?”
“Well, we found this pink gel on the body but I doubt it’s really all that mysterious what it is,” Jimmy blushes spectacularly.
A spark of mischief makes her grin at his discomfort, “Something about it seemed telling?”
“W-w-where we found it was suggestive. But as it smelled like raspberries Doctor Mallard said we shouldn’t speculate.”
Abby just laughs and makes a mental note to scold Ducky for playing dumb just to embarrass Jimmy. Not that she’d ever call him on it to anyone else. “Major Mass Speck is on the job,” She promises signing the chain of evidence vouchers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At eleven o’clock Gibbs turns the car around and heads back to the hotel. He knows Tony’s looking at him curiously and decides to give in, “She’s staying there, or she had been. Maybe her mother managed to contact her. Either way I don’t think she did it so we’ll just try again tomorrow.”
“What’d Ziva do to piss you off earlier?”
“She assumed I was being abrasive because I couldn’t help it and tried to play the diplomat.”
“Strike one for the crazy assassin.”
“She reassured the project leader I was intimidating.”
“Maybe I should start calling her Probie.”
“Just remind her I already have a keeper.”
Tony chuckles and waits about a minute before ever so casually asking, “Am I sleeping alone tonight?”
“Did that detective give you her number?”
“She offered. Professionally of course. I had her give McGee her card.”
“Just make sure you put the do not disturb sign on the door handle.”
Tony smiles brightly, “And mess up the sheets to keep the house keeper’s suspicions at bay.”
“Oh I doubt house keeping will be all that fooled.”
“And here I thought we’d just cuddle.”
“Tired of me already? What happened to ‘making like rabbits for the next twenty or thirty years?’”
“I said I thought we’d just cuddle, not that it was what I wanted. You see my boyfriend has this pair of unfortunate, at times, personality quirks. He’s a workaholic and he has this notion of propriety.”
“Only at the yard Tony. Our free time is our free time, even in a hotel room paid for by the agency.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the morning they regroup in the hotel restaurant and Tony can’t seem to peal the contented smile off his face. It was happening a lot lately and he’d heard more than one whisper around the yard about how ‘adorable’ and ‘sweet’ it was.
McGee was more inclined to smirking than whispering though, “If I didn’t know better I’d say you got laid last night.”
“Ever hear of phone sex?” Tony quips against his orange juice.
Ziva offers a smirk of her own, “After so short a time apart?”
McGee doesn‘t even think before offering an amused, “Going twenty four hours without some kind of sex might strain something.”
“Just because you children can’t maintain healthy adult relationships doesn’t mean no one can.”
McGee snorts, “Like three months makes you an expert.”
For a split second Tony recoils as if the comment were a physical blow. Even though he’s got his game face back in place before Ziva or McGee can blink Gibbs sees it, gives his knee a reassuring squeeze under the table and makes a mental note to mention it later. Tony turns reflexively to humor, “Three months is a long time to still be at it like teenagers with someone you’ve known for years. You’re just jealous none of your girls would ever think to… make sure you weren’t lonely while we’re away.”
“More clues about the mysterious Jay.”
“Is that what we’re investigating?” Gibbs asks archly, too contented to truly snap.
McGee looks proper chastised but Tony just smirks, “You’re in a good mood Boss.” In the face of the quiet disbelief from all fronts he grins, “You didn’t smack him.”
Just as he’d known it would that prompts a double smacking, and a quick brush of fingers across the back of his neck. Abby was right, they were going to get caught.
And with that thought he pulls out his cell and speed dials her, “Hey Abbs. You find us anything on those mysterious deaths?”
“All five were forms of poisoning, and nine months after the incident there was a scandal involving one of the coroner’s assistants, a Malcolm Rush. Nothing in the public record as to what exactly he was accused of. He left quietly and no charges of any kind were filed against him. But the local DA did deal down two negligent homicide cases and a life insurance fraud scam that all seemed pretty solid the next day.”
“Any real evidence that he had any involvement in the five cases we’re looking at?”
“Well he is listed on the reports of all five autopsies as the examiners assistant.”
“But the local ME signed off on all the reports?” Gibbs tosses out there.
“Yes, but the only one where Rush would have had to fake something was Cortez. Her ‘snakebite’ required wounds. They were placed and shaped correctly but the poison didn’t spread the way it should have according to Ducky. The circumstances of Brody’s death appeared to CO2 suicide, sitting in his car in his garage. Young had been ill and was written off as undiagnosed lung cancer. Johansen supposedly fell victim to botulinum toxicity. And Scott is listed as having died as a complication of a combination of asthma medications.”
“Aside from Cortez was there any evidence that the deaths weren’t what they seemed?” McGee questions tentatively.
“I had Ducky look over all the autopsy reports, he says the CO2, medicinal interaction and lung cancer are, and I’m quoting here, ludicrous oversights. He didn’t have anything to say about the botulinum toxicity.”
“Good work baby girl. Put a couple more caff-pow!s on my tab.”
“Thanks Pop. Call me later when you have some free time. It’s about Thanksgiving. I talked to Jackson last night.”
Gibbs heaves a put upon sigh, “I’ll call when I can Princess.”
McGee’s expression is thoughtful and Tony snaps him out of it as quick as he can, “Did you come up with anything on Montrose yet Elf Lord?”
“The only thing I’ve been able to confirm so far is that he doesn’t appear to have any personal holdings what so ever. His house, his car, all his utilities, everything is paid by the corporation. The only things he owns are his companies. He’s been divorced seven times so it isn’t all that hard to understand, but it might also point toward some sort of personal liability since about forty percent of those holdings were moved after the incident at Hillcrest.”
“What about the families?”
Ziva consults a note pad, “Brody had just been through a messy divorce, which seems to have been why suicide was deemed plausible. The money goes to a Hilde Wilcott, his younger sister. She has no criminal record or financial difficulties that I was able to locate. Young’s wife Melinda seems to have developed a gambling problem since his death. Loses the money as fast as Montrose sends it. Johansen’s son Zachery appears to have no other means of support. Scott was a little more difficult to track down. He was survived by his partner, Thomas Nance. Nance was his beneficiary on his insurance policies as well as his will. He seems to be just allowing the money to build up. As far as I have been able to track he has not spent one red penny of it.”
“One red cent,” Tony corrects distractedly.
“Ziva get me more detailed information on Melinda Young and Zachery Johansen.”
“Just them Boss?” McGee asks curiously.
“If the motive is money you look at those who need it, not those who have it,” Ziva imparts sagely.
“McGee, get ahold of that detective and see if there was an investigation into the suicide. Then get back with Abby on that email.” He glances at Tony’s still quarter-full plate, “You’ve got until I get a cup to go to finish that DiNozzo.”
“Sure thing Boss,” He scoops the last of his scrambled eggs on a piece of toast and folds it for portability then downs his orange juice in one go. “We starting at Cortez’s or her mother’s?”
“Let’s see what her new employers have to say about her whereabouts.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Detective Spencer?”
“Yes sir, how can I help you?”
“It’s Agent McGee with NCIS, we met yesterday.”
Her tone instantly becomes interested. “Of course Agent McGee. What can I do for you today?”
“In the course of our investigation we’ve found some other deaths that might be related to the Lieutenant’s. We were hoping you might be able to pull the file for us.”
“Of course I’d be happy to help. What’s the deceased’s name?”
“Richard Brody, but he died fourteen years ago in New Mexico.”
“That might take a while longer. I’ll bring the file by soon as I can get a hold of it.” She hesitates, “Agent DiNozzo will be there, won’t he?”
“Probably not. He’s backing up the boss today.”
“Tell me Agent McGee, is Agent DiNozzo single?”
“No Ma’am.”
“Too bad,” She mutters evenly. “I’ll get that file out to you as quick as I can.”
Chapter End Notes:
This case fic section was extended bumping back the more romance/family oriented portion of the story a bit. Sorry to those of you who are anxious to get to the holidays. To my case fic fans, I hope this works for you.