Chapter 26:
While Myers was being brought up to an interrogation room, Gibbs headed up to the Director's office to get an update on Fornell and his team's progress. He knew it was unusual for him not to insist on being there and that Director Sheppard would definitely be curious as to why he hadn't this time. Gibbs had been worried about Tony, he still was. While the infection seemed to be beginning to clear up, there had still been the chance that Tony wouldn't have been as lucky. The thought of Tony being stuck in a hospital because he was sick again did not sit well with Gibbs at all.
"You can go right in, Agent Gibbs," Cynthia said as Gibbs approached the Director's office. Gibbs nodded his head in acknowledgement and walked in and sat down in front of the Director's desk before she could say anything.
"I figured you wouldn't be going home anytime soon," Director Sheppard said. Before Gibbs could snap back an answer, she asked, "How's Tony doing?"
"Worried that he's going to miss something important with the case," Gibbs answered as he took a seat across from the director, glad that she seemed to understand his reasons for not being at home recuperating. "They got him on antibiotics to fight off the infection. He'll be in the clear in a few days, just needs some rest."
"Now why does that sound familiar?" the Director asked with a smirk.
"Don't start. I've already gotten a lecture from Ducky for scaring the nurses at the hospital earlier and a lecture from Abby for getting hurt. I'm not in the mood," Gibbs all but growled.
"I just meant that you seem to be rubbing off on Tony," Director Sheppard said calmly. "Just be sure that you don't let him take the other 'b' in your name."
Gibbs stared at her for a moment before a grin broke out on his face. "That wouldn't be so bad."
"You would say that," she replied.
"So what's the status on the bust? Was Fornell's location any good or are we going to have to pick up the slack?" Gibbs asked.
"None of this is his fault, Gibbs. Do you really think he would have asked for our help if he didn't honestly need it?" the Director pointed out.
"No, but I need to direct my frustration somewhere until I get down to interrogation," Gibbs replied.
"Fornell's lead was a good one," Director Sheppard told him, choosing to ignore Gibbs' comment. "They found two men camping out a few miles from where Tony said he followed Myers to. Ziva said that they've been there for a while, if their trash is anything to go by."
Gibbs nodded. "Tony said Myers met up with two guys to pass along the drugs. We can get him to ID them later. Did they still have the drugs on them or did they already ship them out?"
"Someone had already been by to pick up the merchandise," she answered.
"Are there any…" Gibbs started to ask but was interrupted by the Director.
"McGee noticed that there was a third set of tracks from a dirt bike and put out a BOLO for anyone riding one in the area. The local LEO's found him on the side of the road, he had a flat tire," Director Sheppard informed him.
Gibbs laughed. "Figures Fornell would get the easy end of this whole thing. I take it he still had the drugs with him then?"
"There was a small amount missing, but from what I hear all three men decided to do some sampling," she replied. "No ID's on them, we'll have to wait for their prints to be run through."
"Abby's at the hospital keeping an eye on Tony for the moment," Gibbs told her.
"There's no rush. Fornell has some of his men bringing them over while Ziva and McGee process the campsite. They won't be here for another couple of hours at least," Director Sheppard said.
"Good," Gibbs said nodding his head. "I don't want to leave Tony alone, he hates hospitals enough that I wouldn't put it past him to try to sign himself out."
The Director smiled. "It's like déjà vu around here sometimes, have you ever noticed?"
"Myers should be in interrogation by now," Gibbs said as he stood up and gave the Director a glare as he moved towards the door.
"If you make a mess in there, your cleaning it up," she warned him as he walked out of her office.
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Gibbs was walking down the stairs when he heard Ducky call out to him.
"Ah, Jethro. Glad to see I was able to catch you before you got to work," Ducky greeted him.
"On my way now, Duck. What's up?" Gibbs asked.
"Just thought you would like to know that I just got off the phone with Abby…" Ducky began but was interrupted as Gibbs started demanding answers.
"What's wrong with Tony? He was fine when I left him! If I find out that the doctors didn't tell me everything…"
"Oh for goodness sakes Jethro! You have got to stop jumping to the wrong conclusions," Ducky scolded him. "All Abby wanted to do was let you know that Anthony finally fell asleep and is resting comfortably."
Gibbs took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'll stop when Tony is out of the hospital and is back at work."
"Liar," Ducky said with a smirk. "You always worry about Anthony."
Gibbs gave a small smile. "He makes it hard not to."
Ducky nodded his head in agreement. "That he does, Jethro. After you're done with whatever your planning on doing to Myers, might I suggest going home and at least take a shower before you return to the hospital?"
"Sounds like a good idea. You heading out?" Gibbs asked.
"I've already finished with Erikson, and thankfully his was the only body this time around," Ducky answered. "My official report is on your desk, though I doubt you'll need to look at it."
"No, I don't need to read it," Gibbs agreed coolly, having been the one who put a bullet into the man's head.
"I thought I would go keep Abby company for a while. I'll call you if something comes up," Ducky told him.
"Thanks. I'll see you later," Gibbs nodded his head in Ducky's direction as he headed for interrogation.
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When they came to take him up to interrogation, Myers was a bit surprised. Although he couldn't say why, but for some reason he thought that he would have been waiting a bit longer before someone came around to take his statement. The interrogation room was much more pleasant then the holding cell. It was cleaner and very professional looking. Myers gained some confidence as he sat waiting for someone to enter the room. He had hoped that by not requesting a lawyer yet he would throw off the agents investigating this case. If he was guilty he would request a lawyer, right?
After sitting in silence for several minutes, Myers nearly jumped out of his skin when the door swung open and Agent Gibbs walked in. He knew he was going to have to play his cards carefully if he was going to get out of this mess, especially from the look on the battered agent's face. Of all the luck, it had to be this agent that would be interviewing him. Myers refused to think of it as an interrogation, afraid that it would lead him to lose what little control he had.
Agent Gibbs sat down across from Myers and opened a file folder he had carried in. He did not look up at Myers, focused on reading the file in front of him as if it contained all of the nation's top secrets.
"So, uh, are we gonna start or are you waiting for someone else?" Myers asked as his nerves began to get the better of him and he started fidgeting in his seat.
Still Gibbs said nothing, just continued to look down at the file.
"Must have a real page turner there, huh?" Myers said in an attempt to break the silence with humor.
Nothing. Agent Gibbs gave no outward sign that he had heard the other man talking. This bothered Myers even more. Silence was not something he was used to. At least if the agent was yelling at him he would have something to work with. How was one supposed to work utter stillness?
"Look, pal. If you're not going to talk to me then get someone in here that will or let me go. I don't…" Myers started rambling, only to be cut off by Gibbs slamming his hand onto the table.
Gibbs looked Myers straight in the eye and said, "The only place you're going is prison and I promise you that parole will never be a possibility if you don't cooperate."
"You haven't even asked me anything yet! How the hell can I cooperate if you won't say anything?!" Myers all but shouted.
"So when were you and Erikson recruited to cart drugs for Carlos Sanatos?" Gibbs asked abruptly.
"What? Drugs? I don't know anything about drugs!" Myers denied.
"Really? And how do you explain your frequent visits to a known drug dealer's home?" Gibbs pressed on.
Myers shrugged. "Carlos is a friend, throws great parties."
Gibbs glared at him. "We have evidence that links you to the drugs recovered from a raid on a campsite within the park where you work."
Myers shifted in his seat. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"There are several witnesses that can place you at the train tracks where you passed the drugs off to the next handler," Gibbs stated.
"Not possible. There's no one out there except those who were on the rafting trip, and they were all at the campsite," Myers told Gibbs, unaware that he was beginning to incriminate himself.
"They have all verified that you left the camp site for an extended period of time," Gibbs said casually, smirking to himself on the inside, knowing that Myers was going to cave.
Now Myers looked confused. "But you said that there were several witnesses who could place me at the train tracks. Who else is there to call a witness to any of these so-called charges?"
"Well, there are the two men that met you at the tracks to pick up the drugs," Gibbs answered. "And then of course the federal agent who followed you there."
Then Myers started to laugh. "You have got to be joking. No fed followed me anywhere. You're reaching because you've got nothing else to hold me on."
Gibbs' eyes narrowed. "The 'fed' who followed you was the same one that you let Erikson throw into the river."
Not realizing he was taking his life in his hands, Myers continued to laugh. "Now I know you're joking. No one could have survived that."
"He is one of the best agents I've ever had the opportunity to work with," Gibbs growled.
"Oh yeah?" Myers asked. "Doesn't say much about you or your agent then, does it?"
At that remark Gibbs snapped. In less than half a second Gibbs was out of his chair and in the next half he had hauled Myers out of his own chair and slammed him into the wall. When Gibbs spoke next he used that tone of voice that reminded anyone around that he was a former Marine.
"You listen, and listen very carefully, because I am only going to say this once," Gibbs started. "The agent you just insulted? He was the one who attacked you in the woods, tied you up, blindfolded you and left you in that cabin. He is very much alive and you should be thanking whatever higher power you believe in that he isn't the one in here with you right now. Want some free advice? Get a lawyer to make sure he never interviews you, because right now, that's all a lawyer is gonna be able to do for you."
With that Gibbs dragged Myers to the door and handed him off to another agent who was waiting outside. "Take him back to his cell, we're done here."
At that Myers seemed to shake out of his momentary state of fear. "Hey wait a minute! You said that if I cooperated I could get a deal!"
Gibbs gave Myers an evil grin. "I lied."
"You can't do that!" Myers shouted.
"Really? You did not request the presence of a lawyer and I did tell you we had evidence linking you to the drugs. We have everything we need," Gibbs told him.
Myers stared at Gibbs bewildered. "Then what was the point of making me go through all of that for?"
Gibbs turned to walk away from Myers, grinning. "Just for the hell of it."
The agent that had been quietly observing the exchange between the two smirked as he pushed Myers in the opposite direction back towards the holding cell.
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Gibbs entered the bullpen to see McGee and Ziva sitting at their desks working.
"Where's Fornell?" Gibbs asked as he sat down at his desk.
Both McGee and Ziva's heads shot up at their boss's question and moved to stand around his desk.
"Shouldn't you be at home resting?" Ziva asked.
Gibbs glared at her. "I'm fine. Just finished having a discussion with Myers. Now where's Fornell?"
"He's upstairs giving an update to the Director," McGee answered. "Though there's nothing new to report from when we last called in."
Gibbs sighed. "He's just following the protocol that goes with a joint investigation."
McGee nodded, then asked, "So how is Tony doing?"
"How long do you think he will have to stay in the hospital?" Ziva asked, not giving Gibbs a chance to answer McGee's question first.
Gibbs held up his hand to silence them before any more questions could be asked. "Tony is fine, Abby and Ducky are keeping him company for the moment even though he is sleeping. He'll have to stay at least until the infection clears up, after that we play it by ear. It will be several days at least before I'll even allow him to come back on desk duty."
"You could use a few days off yourself, Gibbs," Fornell said as he came down the stairs. "You don't look like your usual bastard self."
Gibbs snickered. "I might do just that, Fornell, seeing as how you're the one in charge of all the paperwork that came with this operation."
Fornell rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thank you so much for the reminder. Without you around I don't know who would be around to keep me on my toes."
"I think we have it covered, don't you agree Ziva?" McGee said.
Ziva grinned. "Definitely. We'll make sure you don't trip over your shoelaces while we're at it."
The group looked at her with amused grins on their faces.
"What?" she asked exasperated. "Did I not say it right?"
"No you said it right," McGee said. "It's not something I would have expected you to say. Tony, sure, but coming from you it just sounds weird."
Ziva sighed. "Well I figured I would pick up the sack until Tony gets back."
"Slack," everyone corrected her at once.
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes as she went back to her desk.
Gibbs smiled to himself. Everything was under control here; there was no reason for him to stay. With that in mind he stood up and started to head towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" Fornell asked.
"To take Ducky's advice and then back to the hospital. Keep me posted," Gibbs called back just before the elevator doors shut.
"Any idea what he meant by that?" Fornell asked curiously.
"You can never tell what kind of advice Ducky is going to give you," McGee answered with a shrug.
"Don't you have some paper work to do?" Ziva asked Fornell.
Fornell glared at her before sitting at Gibbs' desk and started to pull up some files, ignoring the smirks that passed between the other two agents.
Chapter End Notes:
Well classes are over and finals are done with finally! Hope to have more time to write a bit more. Thank you all for being patient as you wait for another post. Please keep reviewing, I love getting feedback. As always, hope you enjoy!