CHAPTER TWO
The next day, Don is sitting in his office, going over some paperwork that he's been neglecting lately. Since he's been working this case most of his free time has been spent undercover, which left very little time for his normal duties. Most of his work had been reassigned to the two other sergeants, but there were still some things that needed his attention. He signs off on the last monthly report and sits back in his chair to stretch.
He constantly finds his mind wondering back to the woman from last night and he still can't put his finger on what was different about her. From the moment he saw her he knew she didn't fit into that scene, but even after she gave him that story it didn't add up. Either way he had to give her credit for keeping her cool last night. Not only had she been brave enough to go into that dive alone, but then she goes sneaking around upstairs where even toughened men fear to go. Even when she got caught spying on them she was quick enough mentally to go along with his story and save her hide. She hadn't even seemed to mind when he kissed her, but she may have just been too shocked to react. He'd been pretty shocked himself and he still doesn't know why he chose to kiss her right then. Sure, at the time he told himself it was the only way to silence her before that brute overheard them, but he knows that isn't exactly true.
He smiles again as he remembers it was a good thing none of his guys were in the bar right then. They would have thought he'd gone mad if they'd seen him kissing some strange hooker. Strange or not, he had wanted to kiss her. Even in the midst of that dangerous situation he'd felt an instant attraction to her and it still amazed him, even now. He was no stranger to female company, but it had been a long time since any woman sparked his interest like she did. Maybe it was her calm courage or her defiant manner, or maybe it was just that she reminded him so much of Angel. She had been tough as nails on the job, but all woman at the same time too.
Just then there is a knock on his door and he looks up to see one of his detectives standing there with a file folder in his hand and a smug grin on his face. "What's so amusing, Pete?"
"Have I got a good one for you, boss.… you know that cell number you wanted me to
trace?"
"Yea, what did you find out?"
"You're not going to believe this, but… it's a federal agency number."
"What? Are you sure?"
Pete comes in and closes the door behind him before taking up a relaxed position in one of the chairs across the desk from his boss. He takes his time in slowly placing his feet on the edge of Don's desk, drawing out the suspense before he continues.
"Not only a fed, but an NCIS issued cell."
"You're joking… right? A Navy cop cell? Who was it issued to?"
"Apparently its assigned to a Special Agent Ziva David and…"
"...and what?"
"And… she works down in D.C. at the Navy Yard."
Don leans back in his chair and sighs heavily as it suddenly makes sense to him why she seemed so out of place in there. She was a cop! She was working undercover in there just like he was… she was working a missing persons case while he was working the mob. This adds a whole new dimension to everything… the one thing that sticks in his mind is the kiss. Now, it seems to make more sense why she didn't get upset over that kiss! She must know he's a cop too… otherwise, why would she have allowed him to kiss her? He forces his mind back to the present and looks over at Pete who is patiently waiting… tapping his fingers on the file he holds.
"Is that her file?""Yep. I took the liberty to get everything I could... which isn't much considering the Federal system. She's quite a looker, ain't she, boss?"
"Give me the file, Pete."
Pete just grins and hands him the file. He then waits as Don opens it and stares down at the woman he kissed last night. This is her official press photo and it doesn't do her justice. She is much prettier in person. He quickly flips through her official public file, noticing that she has an outstanding record and numerous awards to her credit. As Pete had said, she is assigned to the NCIS in D.C. This didn't explain her story about looking for a kid sister. If she was working for the Navy, what was she doing in New York, pretending to be looking for some missing sixteen year old kid?
Don is angry that she hadn't bothered to let him know she would be working that same location on a different case. It was obvious she knew he was a cop, but she had taken him by surprise. That didn't show very much inter-agency cooperation, if you asked him. She had almost destroyed several months of work by charging in there before coordinating her investigation.
His own investigation has been top secret for some time and not many people know about it, so it wouldn't have been available to her. He forces his anger down and decides to have a long talk with her about this when the case is finally over and done with. After he is done scanning through the file he returns his attention to Pete.
"I hope you were discreet in obtaining this information for me?""Silent as a ghost, boss. You and I are the only ones who know about this."
"Good, keep it that way. I need to meet with her again so I'll get it all straightened out then."
"I thought you'd be a little more upset when you found out another cop was poaching on your scene."
"I can't afford to get upset, Pete. There's too much riding on this deal going through next week. After it's all over with… then I'll get upset. For now, only you and I know, okay?"
"You got it, boss."
Pete leaves the file with him and goes back to his desk. Once he is alone again, Don opens the file to stare down at the photo of the woman he knows as Ziva. Finding out she is a cop definitely puts a new twist on things, but it only increases his interest in her. Now, he won't have to come up with some stupid reason to see her again when this is all over with. He can simply say they need to work together on this investigation. He sighs and firmly closes the file, realizing she is proving to be more of a distraction than he needs right now. He has to follow through with his promise to find out what he can about the missing girl. He can't afford to have her start snooping around in there again, but he couldn't afford to start snooping around in there either.
******Across town Ziva is also sitting at Moira's desk, frustrated because no matter what she tries, she can't find any record of anyone named Nick Andretti. She has even signed in to her work station to search the national database for information on known mafia connections and still nothing. She doubts he's a foreigner because his English was too good… too natural to be a foreigner. She finally admits he might actually be someone else, just using this name right now. It wasn't uncommon for criminals to have any number of fake identities that they used when it suited them. She wishes now she'd thought to ask him for some way to get ahold of him also. She felt helpless, having to wait for this mystery man to call her. What if he already knew something about Tasha's disappearance and was just playing her?
Ziva was upset with how everything had turned out last night and realized it was her own fault. She never should have tried to go upstairs. She's lucky she didn't end up dead and for that she has Mr. Nick Andretti to thank. It would have been pretty hard to explain to Gibbs how she ended up a victim of a mob hit when she was supposed to be on vacation. No one in her office even knew she was unofficially working undercover in New York. If anything had happened to her there wasn't even a backup who knew where to come looking for her.
All in all, it had been a pretty dumb plan, but this case was important to her. If she could prove this mafia boss had something to do with the disappearance of Tasha, she could tie a lot more missing young girls to him as well. She sighs again and decides to catch up on a few of her emails, mostly from Abby, while she has time to kill. There was one good thing though, she would be able to spend more time with Moira and her son Shane.
After four days and still no word from the mysterious Nick Andretti, Ziva is ready to explode. She is beginning to doubt his sincerity. She isn't in a good mood because every minute she's waited for this guy to call her, the trail to Tasha is getting colder. She needs to keep on top of it now and finally decides she's waited long enough. She can still go back to the bar, as his girlfriend, and see what's going on there. And if she went early enough the chances of running into him there would be pretty slim.
Most criminals weren't day people anyway. This time, Ziva has thought out her plan more thoroughly and knows exactly what her objective will be. She smiles and glances at her watch as she heads for the door. It is just four o'clock and that should give her time to get to the bar and check things out before it got dark. Once again Ziva keeps her plans to herself, going into this dangerous place without back-up, but her desire to find Tasha overrules her common sense.
******This time when Ziva enters the bar she does so with more confidence … after all she is Nick Andretti's girlfriend. She walks directly towards the bar and makes eye contact with Vinnie as she smiles at him.
"Hello, Vinnie.""What can I get you?"
"How about a Schnapps on the rocks."
He fixes her drink, once again allowing his eyes to roam over her shapely form. This time she isn't dressed as provocatively, but she isn't trying to hide anything either. Vinnie, knowing she is Mr. Andretti's girlfriend, is much more discreet about his glances at her. Aside from his own boss, Andretti is one of the most dangerous men Vinnie knows. He wouldn't hesitate to kill a man over something as trivial as a woman. Not that this woman was trivial, but he simply smiles at her and hands her the drink. When she tries to pay for it he waves her off.
"On the house."
Ziva smiles her thanks and goes to the same corner booth where Andretti had kissed her. She sits on the opposite side now where she can watch the whole room. She is hoping to catch Saldoro coming in so she can have a chat with him… or maybe his guard, Tommy. Maybe she can get him talking if she turns on the charm enough. Her glance moves around the room and she sees four men at separate tables all drinking in solitude. One bearded man is staring at her intently, but from the drunken expression on his face she doesn't pay him any attention. As her gaze continues on around the room the drunk man's cell phone buzzes and he sways back in his chair to read the number.
After a moment he staggers to his feet as the tries to answer it, "Allo? Halloo?" Not getting any reception, he turns and staggers outside without drawing attention to himself. Ziva's attention returns to her inspection of the room.
Outside, the drunk man, who is really Detective Pete McCafrey, quickly loses the drunken appearance as he puts his phone close to his ear; "Okay, I'm clear. What's up?" He listens for a moment to his boss's angry words. "Yea, it's her, boss. She just came waltzing in here a few minutes ago and sat down in the corner booth with a drink. I think she's waiting for someone."
"Damn! Why did she have to pick right now… today, to show up there. This is going to screw up the whole plan."
"You want me to stay on her until we're done?"
"Aaahhh… okay, here's what we'll do. I'm going to arrive there early… to meet her. They all think she's my girlfriend anyway because of that fiasco last week. You get back in there and keep an eye on her while the deal is going down and then I'll make sure she's with me when it all comes together. I'll let the hit team know she's on our side before I come in."
"Got it."
He hangs up the phone and immediately resumes the posture of a drunk as he slowly returns to the bar. He staggers slightly as he now goes to the bar and orders another beer. When he has it he comes to sit one table closer to Ziva's booth, but doesn't make any contact with her. Ziva simply ignores him and glances at her watch. It is now six o'clock and she is beginning to wonder if anyone is going to show up. Maybe the boss is already upstairs in his office. She decides to take a more proactive approach and goes to the bar. She appears to be bored with waiting and sarcastically asks, "Hey, Vinnie, my old man hasn't come in here yet, has he? He told me to wait here for him, but he's late."
"Nope. I haven't seen Mr. Andretti today, but I'm sure he'll be along if he told you to be here."
"Is Mr. Saldoro in? Maybe I can repay him for that drink?"
She says this in a suggestive way and Vinnie is glad he was smart enough not to get involved with this woman because she was trouble. The way she looks any man who came near her was in for trouble… just like those two idiots last week who were fighting over her like they ever had a chance. Vinnie decides to stay out of this one and simply nods towards the back steps.
Ziva smiles sweetly at him. "Good. Give me a refill and whatever your boss drinks and I will just run up and see him then."
Vinnie gives her the drinks and watches as she heads for the back stairs. When she is out of sight he picks up a phone and advises his boss that she's on her way up with a drink for him.
When Ziva reaches the office, the door is open and Tommy is standing there waiting for her. Vinnie must have let them know she was coming this time, but she hides her surprise with a smile. She enters the room as if she's been coming there for years and calmly walks over to where Saldoro is seated behind his desk. She sets his drink in front of him and then casually slips into a chair.
"I got tired of waiting for that man of mine downstairs so… I thought I would thank you for the hospitality last week.""You here spying on Nick again, are you?"
"No, he actually asked me to meet him. Besides, he isn't worth getting all worked up about."
"Really? And why would you have a change of heart like that?"
"I realized Nick isn't exactly what I've been looking for." The sultry tone of her voice and the sexy pose in his chair finally register with Saldoro and he realizes she is flirting with him.
He takes a moment to smile at her, picking up his drink as he leans forward. "Well then, I'm glad you find my company more to your liking."
"I do not like being left alone, Mr. Saldoro. Nick may have some of the qualities I am looking for in a man, but he has his faults too."
"Please, call me Johnny… and what qualities would those be?"
"The same qualities you possess, Johnny… power, money… and a gentleman like you would never leave a woman waiting… would you?"
"A woman like yourself should never wait on anyone. I may not be handsome like Nick Andretti is, but I do know how to treat a lady."
"Looks are over rated, Johnny. Men with that look do not appreciate fine things… they expect them."
"I know Nick well… and I know he wouldn't take kindly to our having this conversation. He tends to be very possessive about what he claims as his."
"Does he scare you?"
"Normally I would say no, but today… today I have reason not to want Nick Andretti upset with me. Perhaps after our business is completed today we could discuss this further."
"Perhaps we could." She smiles at him and takes another sip of her drink as he studies her closely.
He has never had a woman this beautiful come on to him before and he would like nothing better than to steal her from Nick Andretti. He isn't opposed to taking his million dollars today, but if he can manage to get his woman in the process that would make him even happier. He sits back in his chair and sips his drink as he thinks about this bonus to his dealings with Nick Andretti.
******Don enters the bar at just after six o'clock. He immediately scans the room for the woman who is quickly becoming a major pain in his side. He doesn't see her anywhere and as he approaches the bar his gaze passes over the drunk at the table. Pete gives nothing away, but secretly signals to Don that she is upstairs by rubbing his index finger along his jaw bone while pointing up. It appears to everyone else that he is just scratching his face, but Don understands his hidden message. As he turns his attention to the bar, Vinnie confirms the information.
"Good to see you again, Mr. Andretti. If you're looking for her, she's upstairs with Mr. Saldoro… having a drink."
"Is that so..." From the way his eyes narrowed Vinnie can tell this did not set well with him.
Vinnie has always been smart and he knew where his loyalties were, but it never hurt to keep in the good graces of the other big fish… just in case he needed to find another employer in a hurry. Vinnie liked Mr. Andretti because he was always polite to him and spoke to him like an equal. He wouldn't mind working for him some day… if anything bad ever happened to Saldoro, that is. He stands behind the bar, wiping down the counter as Andretti quickly heads upstairs.
Don doesn't know if he's more afraid for her safety or for his deal as he hurries to Saldoro's office. He doesn't even knock or wait for the guard to answer the door as he bursts into the room, looking for all intents, like a jealous boyfriend. Tommy, jumps to his feet, but then relaxes when he sees who it is. Don ignores him and storms over to Saldoro's desk with his intent clearly visible in his eyes.
Ziva had been surprised by his sudden entry, but quickly recovers as she smiles up at him.
"Well, darling, it is about time you got here."
"What the hell's going on here, Johnny?"
"Nothing, Nick. Can't you see we're just…I mean I was just…"
Ziva can see Saldoro is truly nervous, and in his current state she can't blame him. She is sure Andretti isn't really jealous over her being here, but he was giving a good imitation of it. She decides to step in before Saldoro blurted out what they were talking about. She stands up and moves in close to Andretti as she takes his arm and secretly squeezes.
"Darling, calm down… Johnny was just being polite. He saw me downstairs waiting for you…
and he was nice enough to entertain me until you arrived." Don feels the pressure on his arm and
finally manages to control his anger as he looks from Saldoro to the woman beside him. He
looks at her for a long moment, seeing the silent plea in her eyes as she sweetly continues, "You
wouldn't want me to wait by myself… with all those drunks, would you?"
"No, I guess not."
"If you're going to make me wait for you all the time you could at least make sure I am not being slobbered on by some drunk. You know I hate to be kept waiting."
Don once again stares at her, shocked at how easily she's taken on the role of his girlfriend. He has to take several deep breaths to regain control and only now realizes his anxiety was for her safety. At this moment he could care less about the deal, but he remembers his plan and pulls himself together and looks again at Saldoro. The shorter man is once again looking relaxed and in control, just glad she can handle her boyfriend's explosive temper. Everyone who knows Nick Andretti knows how violent he can be when he gets upset.
"Nick, I was just doing you a favor, my friend! I knew you wouldn't want her down there with those punks alone, so I asked her to come up here for a drink. No harm done.""I guess there's no problem then, Johnny."
"Not unless you leave me waiting on you again." She turns to get her purse and in doing so winks at Saldoro in silent thanks. He just smiles in return and watches as she moves towards the door. Don hesitates a moment, then moves after her as he calls back to Saldoro.
"Johnny, we still have a few minutes, right?""Yea, we have time."
"I'll be back in a few minutes then."
"Sure, take your time." Saldoro and his guard watch as Don escorts his woman out into the hallway and the door is closed behind them. When they are alone again Tommy chuckles as his boss heaves a heavy sigh of relief. Tommy teasingly warns his boss, "I'm telling you, boss. That woman is evil. If I were you I'd stay the hell away from that one."
"I think you're right, Tommy. That woman could ruin a man before he knew what hit him."
He downs the rest of his drink and then leans back in his chair as if exhausted by the whole incident.
******Don leads her down the back stairs and then pulls her to a halt in the dimly lit back hallway. He spins her back to face him and for the first time she sees the full force of his anger. A tingle races down her spine, as her eyes glitter with excitement.
"What the hell are you doing here?""Getting some answers."
"Damn it… I told you…"
"You said you would call me and you never did!"
Just then the drunk from earlier staggers back towards the men's room and stops to watch their argument. He hesitates at the door and slurs his words as he asks, "Hey, buddy, everything all right?"
"Yea, everything is fine." He and Pete exchange a glance and then he nods and continues on into the men's room. Don realizes this isn't the place to have this discussion and turns her back towards the main room as he leads her to the secluded table in the corner where they sat before. She slides in and once again he sits beside her on the same side. He is still upset with her, but before he can say anything Vinnie calls out to them.
"Mr. Andretti, can I bring you two anything?""No, thanks Vinnie." When he turns back to her he takes a deep, calming breath and lowers his voice to tensely ask, "What were you doing upstairs?"
"Having a drink with Johnny Saldoro."
"...and?"
"And what? I took him a drink as a thank you for bringing me in out of the rain last time. We were just getting acquainted. I thought maybe I could find out something on my own."
"You really don't know who you're dealing with, do you?"
"If you mean Saldoro, yes, I do. I know he's mafia."
"Then you should know he'll kill you for asking the wrong question."
"I did not ask the wrong question! Besides, why do you care?"
He turns in his seat to face her, hiding their conversation from the others in the room as he fights to control his temper. This woman seems to take great pleasure in aggravating him and knowing she is a cop just makes it worse. Even now, she is looking at him with those big dark eyes, angrily defiant, as if she didn't care about his case or what was going on around her.
He once again takes calming breaths before he whispers, "Right now, all I care about is a million dollar deal that is about to go down in this bar. And at this point, you might want to reconsider where the danger lies because if you do anything else to screw this up… I'm the one you're going to have to look out for, lady."
Ziva is stunned by the threat and the barely concealed snarl in his tone as he warns her once again not to get in the way. She suddenly realizes this may not be the best time for her to have shown up here… with a huge deal going down… illegal, no doubt. She tries to pacify him by backing down.
"All right, all right. I will leave.""No, you will not leave. Because of that little act you put on upstairs I'm now stuck with you! Since you had to insist I told you to be here… and made such a big deal about having to wait for me… you're going to stay right here with me until this thing is over."
"But…"
Don leans in dangerously close and his arms once again frame her on either side of the seat as he glares into her eyes and warns, "No buts… you are going to sit here until I come back for you… now, is that understood or do I have to use force?"
"You wouldn't dare!" She sits up straighter, challenging him to keep her here by force, but when their eyes meet, only inches apart she can see his wasn't an empty threat.
His hands quickly seize her shoulders in a painful grip as his temper flares at her defiance. Before she can react his mouth once again swoops down on hers in a harsh kiss that bruises her lips. Her eyes open wide as she tries to protest, but this proves to be a mistake as he takes advantage of her open mouth. His tongue delves deeply into her mouth, turning her words into a muffled moan as the assault on her senses continues. Ziva is just about to push him back when she sees Johnny Saldoro and another heavy set man approaching them. She can't allow them to see her struggling with Andretti so she plays along. She suddenly relaxes her body and uses her hands to draw him closer as she returns his kiss.
Her sudden surrender catches him by surprise as he growls huskily and eases his hold on her. Ziva doesn't have to pretend she is enjoying his caresses as her body is suddenly flooded by tremors. She is so overwhelmed by this rush of excitement she momentarily forgets about the two men approaching them. They are both jolted back to reality as Saldoro roughly prods Don on the shoulder. "Hey, lover boy… save that for later… we got business here."
Don sits back slowly, stunned by her response and more so by the intense wave of excitement it brought him. Once again he can't find a clear cut reason why he felt the need to kiss her, but as before he can only say it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. He now looks into the mirror to see Saldoro and his cousin Guido watching them, in what appeared to be a very passionate embrace. He quickly composes himself and turns to face the men behind him.
"All right… man, what's your hurry?""I'm always in a hurry to make money, my friend. Leave the dame for later."
Don glances quickly back at her and once again sends her a silent warning with his eyes as he casually suggests, "I'll only be a minute or two, babe. Have another drink."
He gets up and follows the other two men from the room. Ziva is too stunned to do anything but sit there as he requested. She can't believe what just happened between them and her hands are shaking as she quickly drops them to her lap so no one else will see. She watches the three men walking away towards the back of the building, laughing together as they go. She expects to see them heading upstairs, but instead they turn the other direction and go out the back exit. The big deal must be going down out back and she edges towards the end of the seat; to pretend to go to the restroom, she wants to spy on them from the back doorway.
She hesitates as her eyes suddenly meet those of the drunk man from earlier. The serious expression in his eyes catches her attention as he silently warns her to stay put. He very slightly shakes his head and it dawns on her that he isn't drunk at all. She remains seated as her eyes now dart around the room to the other supposedly drunk men seated at various tables. They are all now very alert and she wonders who they are. They are obviously aware of the deal going down and her first guess is they work for Saldoro. But why would they pretend to be drunks if they worked here? Vinnie doesn't seem to know them so she revises this to consider that they must work for Andretti then. She realizes this is much bigger than she first gave Andretti credit. Maybe it really was a million dollar deal. She settles back into the seat and waits tensely, formulating a plan in her head. She is stuck here in the middle of a big mafia deal and if this thing turns south she has to be prepared for anything. She is in way over her head and without any back-up waiting outside she is pretty much on her own.