Chapter TextTony hugs Abby when he enters the lab, “What’ve you got for us Princess?”
“A lot of nothing unfortunately. There’s no mention of a Danny Ross in our records. There’s no agent, no civilian contractor, no undercover alias, no suspect, not even a witness by that name in our databases. But he also doesn’t seem to exist in the real world either. The social security number on the car loan tracks back to junior partner at Fisk, Stoat and Gage. On paper he’s the model employee with favorable, though not glowing, reviews. Only Fisk, Stoat and Gage them selves have never heard of him. It also matches a lease on an apartment in Crestwood but it’s the only residence Ross has ever had and it’s only been on his credit report seven months. It’s definitely an alias.”
Gibbs kisses her cheek, “Find out anything from the ID found with the badge?”
“It was pretty badly burned. I got the first two numbers of the ID but that matches over four hundred agents.”
“Where was the ID found in the car?” Tony’s examining the photographs he took which are slowly scrolling by on one of Abby’s monitors.
She consults the evidence bag the ID was delievered in. “In the spare tire well. It would have been under the trunk’s floor when the car was intact.”
“Definitely hidden then. Could’ve encountered our UC and hid his credentials to protect him,” Tony postulates.
“We’ll look into it. Anything else Abby?”
“I’m analyzing the residue you found on the car door and the wreckage you sent me but both of those are going to take time. And before you ask Major Mass Spec needs another twenty minutes on the accelerant. I’ll call that one up to you.”
“You do that baby girl.” With one last kiss to her cheek he leads Tony back to the elevator, “Call Metro, have them check if they’ve got an undercover using Ross as an ID. I’ll call Fornell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m sorry for the delay. I’ve been arranging for my staff to visit the clinic. A few of them were showing signs of hearing damage from the incident.”
“We understand Mr. Panchet. We’ll need to speak to your hostess and some of your wait staff though.”
“Absolutely Agent McGee. The valets were of course the most urgent as they were out doors. I’ll have Jacqueline join you as soon as we’re finished and she’ll be able to help you identify and locate the others.”
“Thank you Mr. Panchet. We will need any security footage you may have,” Ziva requests polietly.
McGee pulls up Ross’ photo on his phone, “And to know if you have ever seen this man, either tonight or in the past?”
“I may have seen him. I’m just not sure. But if he was here Jacqueline would definitely know. I’ll just fetch her for you and retrieve those tapes.”
“Not that I mind but do you think they’re going to send us out together from now on?”
“When it is not a determent to the case, yes. They work well together and they do not need to pretend to be anything other than themselves when they are alone together. I greatly doubt that they would do any thing that might endanger a case for their own comfort however.”
“Oh, no, I um, I didn’t mean it like that. Just… Well Gibbs used to send Tony on assignments like this. Coaxing memories out of cute girls…It’s sort of Tony’s area of expertise.”
“Are you afraid that you will not be able to charm the young ladies?”
“Not like Tony can, no.”
“I truly doubt any charm will actually be needed for this particular assignment. We are, after all, only seeking information as to who Mr. Ross was dining with and perhaps whom he left with.” She looks McGee over critically, “And no one is as charming as Tony.”
“Not even Tony,” McGee murmurs in an undertone.
“I do not know about that, he certainly seems to have charmed Gibbs.”
Before McGee can find a response to that the hostess joins them in the office. “Mr. Panchet said you need to speak to me?”
“That’s right. Ms. ?”
“Fucoe, Jacqueline Fucoe, I’m the evening hostess here.”
“Yes we’re aware Ms. Fucoe. That’s why we need to speak to you. I’m Agent McGee, this is Officer David, we’re with NCIS. Have you seen this man before?”
“Just earlier tonight. He came in with Miss Benoit.”
“Miss Benoit?” Ziva cuts a glance at McGee.
“She’s been in a handful of times since I’ve worked here. Her father likes it here and asks her to meet him here or brings her in whenever he’s in town. Which isn’t very often. When they come in together they both seem happy but when Miss Benoit arrives first she always seems sad, it’s why I remember her so well.”
“You’ve come to know her well then?”
“Not as such. I’ve had a few chats with Jeanne but I wouldn’t say I know her. Just that I’m an acquaintance who knows she wishes her father were around more often.”
“And who waited on the Benoits and Mr. Ross tonight?”
“I sat them in Amelia’s section tonight. She knows how to handle our more… discreet guests. Mr. Benoit doesn’t like being overheard.”
“How so?”
“Last year one of our waiters, Ryan Kohl, was waiting patiently beside the table to take a drink order from one of Mr. Benoit’s companions and from what I gather Mr. Benoit was unaware of Ryan’s presence. When he turned and realized Ryan was standing there he demanded Ryan that be fired for ease dr0ping on him. Mr. Panchet talked to both of them in private and ended up promising to keep Mr. Benoit out of Ryan’s section from then on. It’s not a common occurrence but some of our wealthier guests prefer to know where the staff is at all times. It takes a degree of subtly to do it properly. Amelia’s quiet good at it.”
“Thank you Ms. Fucoe. Could you please send Amelia in to speak with us?”
“Absolutely Agent McGee.”
The short blond that shows up in the doorway looks scared out of her mind, “Jacqueline said you wanted to speak to me.”
“Yes, we need to speak to you about Mr. Ross and the Benoits, whom we are told you waited on this evening.”
“I took care of Mr. Benoit tonight but I don’t know who Mr. Ross is.” McGee shows her the picture. “Oh, Miss Jeanne’s boyfriend. From the bits I heard, and with how much Mr. Benoit prizes discretion that wasn’t very much, Miss Jeanne was introducing your Mr. Ross, who she called Danny, to her father.”
“Was this the first time she’d brought someone to meet Mr. Benoit?”
“That I’m aware of, yes. Though he has on occasion brought someone to meet Jeanne.”
“Did they leave all together or separately?”
“They left the restaurant together but you’d need to speak to the valets to know if they stayed together after they made it outside.”
“Thank you Amelia.”
Mr. Panchet returns with the security tapes and after the sort of pleasantries Gibbs would scowl at they head to Munroe University Hospital to interview the valet.
Questioning the valet turns out to be a more difficult prospect than it appears at first as the one they need to speak to is the young man who is showing signs of hearing damage from the explosion. It takes almost twenty minutes of writing back and forth to determine that the Benoits left in a limo with Ross following and that Mr. Benoit repeatedly offered to have one of his staff bring Ross’ car along so that he could ride with the family in the limo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That’s every PD for a hundred miles Boss, he’s definitely not a cop.”
“Not any variety of fed I can find either.”
Tony nods and looks around his desk for something, anything, else constructive to do. Finding nothing he gets up and sighs, “I’m gonna see if Abbs needs any help.”
“I’ll get her a caff-pow. And Jenny will probably ambush me on my way back. Call if I’m not there in a reasonable amount of time.”
“Sure thing,” He smirks and switches to signing, “She can’t have you.”
Gibbs stifles a grin and signs back, “No she can’t.”
In addition to Abby’s soda he picks up coffee for himself and Tony, well aware that no matter what this is going to keep them at the yard well into the night. As he makes the attempt to pass from the main elevator to the secure one Jenny falls into step beside him. “Metro sent over their report. Have you identified who the badge they found belonged to yet?”
“Abbs is doing her best to lift the badge number but we’re also trying to determine who the owner of the car really is. The ID was good on the surface but didn’t stand up to scrutiny. Unfortunately no one will own up to his being one of their under covers either. ”
“If you give me the alias I’ll check with my contacts. Whoever it is they had one of our own Jethro. They may have killed him, we have to make sure they pay.”
“I know that Jenny, and we’re working on it. The registered owner of the car was a Danny Ross. Abby says he isn’t one of ours. DiNozzo and I checked with our contacts but giving yours a try couldn’t hurt.” He silently notes her quick suppression of her reaction and knows something isn’t right.
“I’ll certainly check into it. I know we haven’t exactly been getting along lately Jethro but I need you to keep me in the loop on this one.”
A few seconds consideration and his own innate defiance have him countering her deliberately familiar tone with a clearly professional one, “I’ll make sure one of us calls as soon as we know anything Director.”
“I’ll call you if I find anything on my end,” She informs him stiffly and turns back toward the stairs.
When he arrives in the lab the first thing that strikes him is that the music is at a considerably lower volume than normal. More over, he knows the song, it’s one of the smooth, smoky jazz numbers Tony likes to sing in the shower. Tony himself is sitting at one of the side tables crossing names off a pair of lists.
“He’s one of ours,” Gibbs announces confidently.
“Boss?”
“Jenny got jumpy when I told her the name. She recognized it.”
“Tony’s on that,” Abby announces evenly. “The accelerant was military grade. Almost impossible to get on the open market. Whoever it is has serious connections.”
“Oh good, we’re dealing with a professional,” Tony snarks before turning around, “Two names left. Leslie Jones and Daniel Reston. I’m betting it’s Reston. He’s one of the agents in the legal department.”
“Which lists are you comparing?” Gibbs asks curiously, Abby hadn’t had any lists ready for them to compare when he’d called.
“The missed check-in log from dispatch against the call-outs from HR for the last twenty four hours. Figured if an agent was missing they’d only be on the one list.”
“And he missed a scheduled check in?”
“At 2000, according to the checklist.”
“Was he on the evening search authorization and warrant rotation?”
“No, he’s first shift, 0800 to 1630.”
“So why would he have a 2000 check in?”
“An off the books undercover op,” Abby volunteers as she pulls up a few logs on the big screen. “It’s the only thing that explains his call-ins, and eyes only emailing frequency the last eight months.”
“What did she have him doing?” Gibbs murmurs looking at the NCIS ID photo Abby has on the screen beside the DMV one for Ross, it’s undeniably the same man.
“If there’s any written records I’ll find them,” Abby vows as Tony moves for the door.
He hesitates when Gibbs doesn’t join him, “We checking out Reston’s place or not Boss?”
“We’ll check out the place in Crestwood too. Call McGee, get an update before we head out.”
Tony holds his response until they’re in the elevator, where he hits the stop button. “Sure thing. Right after you tell me what was up back there.”
“I just hadn’t realized she’d become that ruthless. He’s what, twenty-six or twenty-seven? Barely even out of law school I’d bet. Wet behind the ears, no field experience, and she sent him out on his own on an unsanctioned undercover op. Then she lied to my face about it. Not that I’m surprised at that last part really.”
“So we’ll have to do right by him instead. We find out what really happened to him and we don’t let her get away with it. Not if he’s dead because she didn’t do her job protecting him. Or teaching him how to protect himself.”
Gibbs smiles a little at that, “Just no rooting for her to be the bad guy.”
“No,” Tony agrees immediately, “I’d much rather find that she’s at least somewhat innocent of this. Hanging some poor kid out to dry and wanting to be a home wrecker are, after all, vastly different things.”
Gibbs sobers a bit, “Whether it’s her fault or not can wait. First we need to find out who killed him.”
“And why. We’re assuming whatever she’s got him doing got him killed. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Maybe all she’s doing is sexually harassing him in new and creative ways and a crazy ex-girlfriend or disgruntled poker buddy took him out.”
“We can only hope,” The comment is dry, but not without sincerity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
McGee shoots Ziva what seems to be a knowing look when they return to an empty bullpen, but she doesn’t respond to it.
“I shall seek out information on the Benoits while you review the security footage. Abby will likely have her hands full already.”
“I’m sure she does, especially as she sent up copies of the reports on the accelerant and the registration on the car.”
Ziva checks over the documents quickly, “And I will check with my sources about anyone making purchases of this accelerant under the radio.”
“Radar,” Tony corrects emerging from the elevator. He waits until he can lower his voice to explain what they’ve found and get McGee’s report in return. When they’re all up to speed he grabs his gun gives them a little wave, “Bossman and I are off to check out Reston’s apartment. Call if you find anything interesting. And send along Jeanne Benoit’s picture when you get it Ziva. We’ll see if his neighbors recognize her. At either address. You kids behave.”
“It is you who needs the reminders to behave Tony.”
“I have no idea what you mean. I’m the absolute definition of professionalism and I’m offended that you’d imply otherwise.” His tone agrees completely with the joking sarcasm the words are meant to engender but the look in his eyes says there’s more truth to them than anything else.
“I am sorry Tony, I was only teasing. Your behavior has not changed in any manner at all since… your change in status.”
Tony sees an opportunity in that statement to salvage this encounter and seizes it with both hands, “Was that a facebook reference Zeeeva? Do you network when you’re not here with us?”
“I do not know what you mean,” The denial falls flat and Tony takes it as a cue to retreat, smirk once more firmly in place.
“He’s really not you know,” McGee comments when he’s sure they’re once again alone.
“Not in his general behavior, no. But if I had not pointed out the change of the last few months you would not have realized it was relevant to our work environment at all,” Ziva contradicts easily. She pauses to observe their surroundings briefly before continuing, “And their behavior toward one another is just the same as it has always been. They seem rather adept at separating the two.”
“True, I didn’t see it, but some of the people who read my book did.”
“That is common to all fiction with compelling male characters. It speaks more to how well you captured them as people than it does to their behavior toward one another. Especially as they were not together yet when you were writing about them.”
McGee just shakes his head and returns to his work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They start at the apartment in Crestwood, which turns out to be in the building across the street from Tony’s. “Told you it wasn’t a bad neighborhood.”
“Because some wet behind the ears kid set up his cover here?”
“You really think Reston set this up himself?”
“No Jenny probably set this up for him,” Gibbs concedes. “Doesn’t change the fact that there’s far less crime in my neighborhood.”
“You live in a community of multi-story family homes with a neighborhood watch. Community policing works. Wanna talk to the neighbors or search the place first?”
He smiles just a little, “Fair enough. Let’s search the apartment first, you can flirt with the neighbors in little while.”
“I don’t have to flirt. You can be plenty charming when you want to."
“We could try something new and act like federal agents instead.”
“Doe0sn’t sound much like us.”
“Search the desk. I’ll check the bed room.”
When the come back together Gibbs has a small wire bound notebook and Tony has a stack of photographs.
“His notes were in the heating vent under the headboard but they’re in a shorthand I can’t read. What’d you find?”
“He was a little careless with his film. There are a bunch of telephoto lens surveillance photos and then some normal focal length ones of him with the girl and the girl by herself. Well, I say girl, looks like she’s a doctor over at Monroe University Hospital. They look happy together.”
“Maybe they are. Maybe he’d been seeing her and when Jenny found out she saw it as an opportunity to get to the father.”
“She does keep an ear to the ground about gossip.” Tony shakes his head, “But we’re not speculating and neither of these get us anywhere on their own.”
“Not until the Princess can take a look at the notes anyway. Ziva get you that picture of the girl?”
Tony checks his phone, “Got it. She’s kind of cute.” He notices the look that earns him, “Seriously Jethro? I faced down a panic attack to meet your dad. Thinking, subjectively, that some girl is cute really shouldn’t threaten you.”
“What can I say, I’m a possessive bastard.”
“Would it sooth the savage beast to know that I’ve always sort of preferred to admire women from a far? That up close and personal they’re far too much work for far too little return in my books?”
“You’re cute when you’re placating me. Now why don’t we get to asking the neighbors about her instead?”
The first guy they interview, 4B, is so obviously fresh out of school Tony expects his greeting to consist of a six syllable “dude” and an offer of a beer. His response to the picture is “Cute chick. I’d remember her. But I don’t think I’ve ever even seen 4A let alone his dates.”
It is only force of will that keeps Gibbs from laughing. The woman in 4C proves far more useful.
“Jeanne. Yeah Danny’s been seeing her almost as long as he’s been living here. He really seems to adore her. And he’s really sweet with her too. They dated for six months before she spent the night here. And he’d cook her meals and run them over to the hospital when she was working nights. I think they were starting to get serious the last few weeks. He told me she was taking him to dinner with her mother a few weeks ago.”
“So you talk to Danny often?”
“We get off work at the same time most days and we chat as we walk up the stairs together. Danny says it’s the only way he gets any exercise and I just don’t like enclosed spaces like the elevators.”
“And he comes home at the same time most days?”
“Usually, yes. Occasionally he has an early date with Jeanne, or stays at her place. And once a month or so he pulls an all-nighter at the firm. Has something happened to him? Is that why you’re asking all these questions about Danny?”
“His car was involved in an accident, we’re not sure yet if it had anything to do with Danny or not. Have there been any problems around the building lately: break-ins, car thefts, anything like that?”
“Mr. Kwaten in 1D said some boys were in his place last week but nothing was stolen or broken. The police seemed to think he was lying.”
“Thank you Ms. Layton, you’ve been very helpful, if you think of anything else don’t hesitate to call,” Tony gives her his card.
“If it does turn out that Danny’s hurt, or heaven forbid, dead, will you have someone let me know?”
“You’ll get a call as soon as we’re able to release any information about who was hurt,” He promises patting her hand.
“He reminds me of my little brother,” She smiles sadly at them and retreats into her apartment.
“So, think we should look into Mr. 1D’s mysterious break in?”
“I doubt it has anything to do with Reston’s death even if it isn’t just some crazy rambling but we’ll put in a request for the report later. Let’s see what 4D has to say and then check out his official residence.”
The last neighbor proves useless and Reston’s official residence looks a lot like Tony’s place has lately, dusty and unused. Tony finds another coded notebook, but this one is casually tossed on the desk, not hidden like the other one had been.
When they return to the bullpen Ziva is grinning triumphantly and McGee moves to display something on the big screen.
At a nod from Ziva McGee brought up the surveillance footage of Reston in the foyer if the restaurant with Jeanne and Rene Benoit.
“As we told Tony earlier this is Jeanne Benoit, identified as Danny Ross’ girlfriend. She is a doctor at Munroe University Hospital. From what I was able to gather she is kind and caring, yet she seems to know how to take care of herself from the reports of a recent incident in the hospital. She was able to resolve a dispute with a drug addled family member of a patient without allowing harm to come to her or the nurse who was also involved in the incident. It is clear what Ross would have seen in her but there was no reason I could find for her to be the target of an investigation. Rene Benoit on the other hand is an international arms dealer known as La Grenouille. While he is not a priority for any specific agency, he could prove to be a feather in the director’s cat if she were the one to bring him down.”
“Cap,” The three men chorus absently.
McGee flips through a series of surveillance photos, ranging through months of time before picking up the reporting. “While a quick inter-departmental cooperation bulletins search provided no results someone at the CIA is definitely looking into him as the number of their surveillance photos tagged with his name over the last six months has doubled. Either he’s been more active on the international scene or someone has taken an increased interest in what his activities entail. Unfortunately if I actually open the photos someone will become aware that I’ve been in their system.”
Ziva continues, “None of my contacts were aware that Benoit was currently being investigated and they all seemed to find it unlikely that he knew it either. Without proper investigation I cannot say for certain but I doubt he had discovered that Ross was actually Reston.”
Gibbs seems to consider this new information for a moment, “Fill them in on what we found. I’m going to grab a round of coffee and call Tobias.”
Tony gives him a slightly plaintive look but does as instructed after only a few seconds hesitation.
“Ross’ neighbors seemed well acquainted with him as though he had been living his cover full time. Reston’s apartment on the other hand was empty, dusty, and unused. Ross’ neighbors seemed familiar with Jeanne Benoit to an extent that tells me there was either a genuine relationship or he had embraced his cover fully. We found his notes but they’re coded. I’m going to run them down to Abbs now. We also found some surveillance photos he took of Rene Benoit. Why don’t you try to identify the times and locations McGee and see if they match up with your CIA files. Ziva puts some feelers out about somebody at the CIA taking on personal projects and start trying to get some background on Reston. Gambling debts, disgruntled exes, neglected pets, the usual.”
“Who died and made you the boss?” McGee mutters mostly to himself.
“No one McSnippy. I’m the senior field agent. I just finished bringing you up to speed and so I gave out assignments. If you have an issue with me being second in command because of who I go home with or to, suck it up. You’re an adult, act like it.” Tony doesn’t bother to stomp off or slam the door he just silently enters the secure elevator and heads down to see Abby. The last thing he sees before the doors close is McGee’s stricken look as he tries to fumble for words to defend himself.
It takes a bit of effort but by the time Abby’s door slides open Tony’s managed to diffuse enough of the tension in his stance and expression to not have to explain himself.
“Finished with Major Mass Speck, Princess?”
“No, there was some residue on the badge that he’s running now but if you’ve got something for me he’s all set and will work just as well without me.”
“Reston’s ops notes are coded, Bossman thought you might be able to translate. Or find someone who can.”
She looks it over for a few pages, “This is short hand but not steno. It’s familiar though. Give me an hour or two, I might not have it all by then but I should be able to at least tell you if it can be done.”
“Thanks Abbs,” He kisses her check and turns to head out only to find McGee in the doorway.
He looks to Abby as if assessing how dangerous a suspect is before stepping just far enough into the room to let the door shut behind him. “It has nothing to do with who your boyfriend is.”
Tony lets a long silence stretch before verbally confirming his response to that, “Could have fooled me. You’ve never openly questioned my authority before.”
“You didn’t act like your word was law before.”
“I’m second in command McGee. I, as far as you’re concerned anyway, always have been. Now I will admit that giving orders didn’t fit with the dumbass over grown frat boy persona so I used to imply that every order came from Gibbs and I was just the messenger. But the change has to do with thinking I no longer needed to put on an affectation with you, not my relationship with Jay. If I’m over stepping my boundaries that’s between him and me. I know my job and how my personal life does and does not affect it. Now are we done or do I need to start looking into new geeks? None of this will make your next performance review, I’ll just write it up as yet another personality conflict, this time with me.”
“What?” McGee’s look of panic is genuine.
“If you can’t deal with me being higher in the chain of command you can transfer off the team, no questions asked.”
“I didn’t say I wanted off the team.”
“No you’ve just acted like an insubordinate asshole since we left the bar.” He shakes his head, “Look I’m not going to force you out. I’m not going to go running to Gibbs. But I’m also not taking any shit from you. You and Ziva are going to have to get used to the fact that I’m a competent adult because unless the situation calls for it I’m not going to go on hiding it anymore.”
“I um… Wow… I’ll… Okay. I’ll just get back to work then.”
After he’s left Abbs hesitantly pulls Tony into a hug. “You okay?”
“Yeah. It was a one push too far thing. The jokes about me being Jethro’s bit of fluff or lap dog pushed my buttons but popping off about me not being the boss when I’ve literally been his boss was just too much.”
“The yelling might have been a bit of an over reaction but you know the rest of us have your back right? Even Jimmy I’d bet.”
“I know Princess, and I appreciate it. This case is about to get touchy though and I don’t need to waste a lot of energy pretending to be too dumb to search our own database to make him feel better, you know?”
“I like you better when you’re yourself anyway, and so does Pop. Now start scanning and I’ll start sending character samples to see if anybody recognizes the shorthand he’s using.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.