Gibbs sighed as he walked down the stairs, hearing his phone ring. He glared at it and answered with a sharp, "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Special Agent Gibbs! It's Travis!"
Gibbs stopped walking for a minute, going behind the stairs and into the corner where he usually spoke privately with someone. "Travis, what is it?"
"Gibbs, I...About the murder...Do I need to do anything? I mean...What the hell should I do?!"
"Did you see anything, Travis? Maybe someone leaving the house, a car passing the street at the time?" Gibbs asked, taking a sip of his coffee and trying to figure out who would kill Travis' ex-wife. "Did she have any enemies?"
"Uhm...Actually, there was this guy at work that she used to complain about when we were married. But that was a few months ago..."
"Name?"
"His name was uhm...Oh yeah! Bryce White! He was some guy that she complained about not giving her any personal space. Kept asking her questions and stuff like where she was going, what she was doing later on in the night, when we were getting a divorce. Things like that."
Gibbs nodded and said softly, "Take care of Madison, alright? I'll try to figure out what the hell happened to your ex-wife and call you back if I find out anything."
"Thank you, Gibbs."
Gibbs hung up the phone, walking towards the bullpen and looked at Tony for a minute, watching as the younger man tried to see his reflection through a CD, and then took a seat at his desk. He stared at the computer, trashed his coffee and looked up at the only working people in the room. He stood up and said sternly, "Ziva, I want anything you can find on a man named Bryce White. McGee--"
"Bank and phone records. On it, Boss." McGee perked up, typing into his computer and beginning his search. Gibbs then began to grab his things as Tony asked, "Want me to start the car, Boss?" Gibbs looked up at Tony who already had his jacket on, gun holstered, badge around his waist, and backpack over his shoulder. He smiled slightly before tossing him the keys and saying, "Yeah, DiNozzo. Right behind you." Tony caught the keys with a smile before rushing towards the elevator. Gibbs took a deep breath before following after Tony and saying softly to Ziva, "If Gregory DiNozzo comes back, call."
"Got it."
AT EX-WIFE'S WORK...
"Hey Boss," Tony began, walking into a large building and looking at a few girls passing by. "How did you know where the ex-wife worked? You know the family?" Gibbs looked at Tony for a minute before making his way down a hallway and replying, "Yeah, DiNozzo. I do. That a problem?" Tony shook his head and replied, "Well no, It's just kind of weird. I mean, I've never heard of this Travis guy or his ex-wife."
"That's because unlike you, I like to keep my personal life to myself." Gibbs responded, opening up a door and staring at a few cubicles. He made his way down the long row of cube like offices until he reached the one he wanted, the ex-wife's. Tony stared at the cubicle and murmured, "It's really clean.." Gibbs nodded, looking at a nearby woman and asking, "Where's Bryce White?" The woman smiled gently, pointing down the long row and saying softly, "The third one to your left, sir." Gibbs nodded, Tony murmuring a thanks as he passed her, and made his way down to the cubicle, staring at the man before him and asking, "Bryce White?"
The man finished up with whatever he was saying on the phone, before looking at Gibbs with a cheesy smile and asking, "May I help you?"
Gibbs showed him a pictured of the ex-wife and asked, "NCIS Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo. Ya know her, Mr. White?" Bryce rolled his eyes and handed back the picture. "Listen, I don't know what that bitch told you, but I never sexually harrassed her. It's not sexual harrassment if she likes it, right?" Tony raised an eyebrow, looking at Gibbs for a brief moment before responding to Bryce, "No...But we were told that you simply harrassed her." Gibbs then began speaking, stating seriously, "You asked who she was talking to everytime she was on the phone, asked her when she was getting a divorce, what she was going to eat for lunch, where she was going for her breaks..." Tony smiled as he followed up with, "Sounds more like a stalker than harrassment." Bryce stared at the two before stating quickly, "H-Hey! We were in love! I just...I wanted to make sure that she wasn't cheating on me, that's all!" Tony scoffed slightly, murmuring, "I wouldn't call my girlfriend a bitch if I truly loved her."
Gibbs' cellphone suddenly rang and he stepped away, answering it. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"Gibbs, it's Abby! I found a few fingerprints on the rope that was used to hang our victim, Michelle Willington. They were a little smudged, but I got a hit."
"Who's were they, Abbs?"
"The prints came up with a Mr. Bryce White."
Gibbs hung up the phone, turning back towards Bryce and pulling him from the chair. He turned him around and began cuffing him, speaking loudly. "We're taking you back to NCIS for some questioning and possible murder against Michelle Willington." Bryce flinched slightly, exclaiming, "What?! M-Murder?! Are you kidding me?! I love Michelle! We were going to get married and move to Florida so her stupid ex-husband would leave her the hell alone!" Tony smiled as he replied, "Well, not anymore, Bryce."
NCIS Interrogation Room...
Gibbs sighed as he stared at Bryce, watching as the man tapped his fingers on the table and stared at the silver table with annoyance. Tony stood on the opposite side of the glass, watching Gibbs with a slight tilt to his head.
"I don't get what we're doing here." Bryce spoke suddenly, glaring up at Gibbs. "I mean, Michelle's killer could be out there roaming around free to live peacefully! What the hell are you bastards waiting for?!" Gibbs didn't respond, simply stared at the man and watched as the man grew angrier by the minute. "Well?!" Bryce almost screamed, still staring at the older man. He finally backed down and stared back at the table, grumbling, "This is pointless."
"Where were you yesterday night, Mr. White?" Gibbs asked, crossing his arms as he did so. Bryce looked up and blinked slightly. "What? I...I didn't kill Michelle! I..." He trailed off as Gibbs asked again, "Where were you the night of yesterday, Bryce?" Bryce looked up and swallowed, playing with his fingers slightly. "I uhm...I was at a...St-Strip Club, downtown. You can even call the bartender! Freddy Carter! He'll tell you I was there, I go there every Friday night!" Gibbs nodded and murmured, "I'll make sure to check in with him." Bryce felt tears run down his face as he yelled with frusturation, "I didn't kill her!"
Suddenly, Gibbs' phone rang. He looked down at it, picked it up, and answered, "Yeah, Gibbs." It was silent for a minute as Bryce stared at him and Gibbs' face suddenly grew slightly angry. He looked back at the glass and Tony sighed heavily, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling.
IN ABBY'S LAB...
"You're telling me that there are two sets of fingerprints on the rope, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, staring at Abby. Abby nodded and showed him the two DNA samples. "Yep. One was on the part of the rope where her head had been stuck through, while the other one was at the top of the rope. Now, the one by her neck belonged to Bryce, but like I said earlier, it was kinda smudged. The other one, belonged to Travis Willington." She looked at Gibbs and Gibbs sighed angrily, rushing from the room. Abby frowned and looked at Tony, who was looking at the fingerprint curiously.
Abby blinked and murmured, "What is it, Tony? See something?" Tony shook his head and smiled at Abby. "No, sorry, Abbs. Just thinking." He began to walk from the room when Abby suddenly called, "Tony, are you okay?!" Tony blinked, looking back at Abby and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine, Abby. Don't worry." He laughed slightly as he pointed to his black and blue eye. "I've been hit harder by Gibbs." He rushed from the room just as Abby called, "I hope Gibbs hits your father harder than he hits you!" She sighed with a smile as she looked back at the evidence and murmured, "Now...What can we find on Michelle's clothes?"
AT THE BULLPEN...
Gibbs rushed over to his desk and looked at McGee. "McGee, whattya, got?" McGee stood up from his desk and walked over to Gibbs and the screen by his desk. He looked at the screen as he played a video and said, "Okay, well, according to Bryce's bank records, he deposited $20,000. The question is, for what? So I got the video footage from the camera in the strip club he went to, according to his credit cards, and got this." He played the video and watched as Bryce gave money to most of the strippers. However, he also paid the bartender a large amount of money and then some people simply watching the strippers.
Gibbs made a face before asking, "Why, McGee?" McGee smiled and looked at Gibbs, saying, "He wanted to get everyone help him kill Michelle." Gibbs looked back at the screen before saying, "Prove it." McGee brought up another video and said softly, "This was recorded from someone's phone, so it's not a very good picture, but you can see Bryce and the bartender and hear what they're talking about." Gibbs nodded, watching the video and listening quietly.
Bartender: "What?! Bryce, why would I help you kill your girlfriend?!"
Bryce: "She's too damn...Cruel! She deserves to die, Freddy! Come on, I already paid you!"
Bartender: "For the drink, dumbass! Look, just go home and go to sleep. You're already drunk enough..."
Suddenly, Bryce flew over the counter and began pounding the crap out of the bartender, Freddy. McGee stopped the video and looked at Gibbs. "That's all I got, Boss." Gibbs nodded and looked at Ziva, asking, "Anything?" Ziva looked at Gibbs and said, "Unless you count him working at a fast food restaurant and then moving on to where he works now anything, then yes. I have...Anything?" Gibbs sighed and heard Tony exclaim, "Got something, Boss!" He jumped up from his desk, grabbing something from the printer, before handing it over to Gibbs. "Look at this, Boss!"
Gibbs looked at the paper and asked, "She has a will?" Tony nodded and replied with a smile, "She had leukemia, Boss. She promised her daughter over to her mother when she passed away and," he handed him another piece of paper saying, "She filed a restraining order against Bryce." He looked at Gibbs before continuing, "Her husband would've gotten custody of his daughter if she hadn't made that will." Gibbs raised an eyebrow and looked at Tony. Tony stared at him, his smile dropping slightly before asking, "Want me to...Call him in, Boss?" Gibbs rolled his eyes and replied, "Now, DiNozzo!" He set the papers on his desk and sat down, watching as Tony began to call Travis in. He sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair and leaning back in his chair a bit.
Gibbs felt that in his gut it was something much deeper. He had known Travis for a while and he would never, ever kill his ex-wife. He was too...Well, he just knew Travis. That was all that mattered. But too many people had betrayed him in his lifetime and he didn't know what to think anymore. Didn't even know what his gut was telling him at the moment. However, when Tony suddenly looked at him, he felt his gut screaming that something was wrong.
Tony thanked someone on the phone before taking a deep breath and saying bitterly, "Boss...Travis was murdered in his house this afternoon." Gibbs stared at Tony and immediately felt his face wash over with a look of pain.