Hello folks, here's chapter 3 for you all! A big thank you to those of you who have reviewed so far, and to those who have added the story to their watch list! I'm not entirly happy with this chapter but i promised you one by the end of the weekend so here you are!
A couple of people have asked me when this takes place. I've set it right after to conclusion of the Paloma Reynosa story line! So at the very start of season 8!
Anyhoo, enjoy! please let me know what you think! x
Chapter 3
"Talk to me, McGee." Gibbs called as he strode back into the bullpen.
"Several of the staff have records, Boss." Said McGee. "Assault, possession, illegal firearms possession, theft, there's a whole array of charges and convictions. Several in particular stand out." He nodded towards Tony who pointed the remote at the plasma. Several surveillance photos popped up on the screen. "This is the owner of the club…"
"William Greaves." Gibbs interjected.
"Yup, sixty two years old, originally from New York, never married, no children, he's been arrested multiple times for possession and distribution but there's never been enough evidence to charge him with anything." McGee stated. "There have been allegations made against him from several employees, they were all either dropped later or the witnesses never appeared to testify."
"What kind of allegations?" Gibbs asked.
"Assault, embezzlement, battery and sexual harassment." Tim reeled off the list from the sheet of paper in front of him.
"This," Tony clicked the remote and the plasma and the image changed. "Is Gunnery Sergeant Nick Roberts, thirty five years old from South Carolina. He received a more then dishonorable discharge in March 2001 for sexually assaulting a female marine. At his trial he proclaimed that women don't belong in the military. He served just six years and was released in 2007. Since then he has been in the employ of William Greaves."
"The last two of which he's been Greaves' right hand man." McGee added as Tony brought the surveillance photos again. In the background of every shot, a few paces behind his employer, was Roberts. "Where ever Greaves goes, Roberts goes."
"Where was he based?"
"At the marine corps recruit depot on Parris Island." McGee responded after looking down at his papers once more. "He was in instructor in the MCMAP. That's the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program." McGee elaborated. Gibbs turned to him, his eyebrows raised. "Not that you didn't know that, Boss." Tim said quickly.
"He was a black belt 4th degree, Boss. The guys a killing machine. According to his former CO his temper was paper thin. He had several altercations with other marines before the sexual assault case." Tony reported.
"Last but not lost is Joseph Wilson." Ziva stepped forward reading from her print out.
"Least." Tony corrected pointing the remote at the plasma one last time and bringing up Wilson's mug shot.
"What?" Ziva glared at him.
"It's last but not least, Ziva."
"Neh." She dismissed her mistake with a wave of her hand. "He has served a total of thirty five years in jail. He manages security for the club. He has been questioned several times by Metro police for being too heavy handed with punters."
"What was he inside for?" Gibbs asked.
"He served a few years in his early twenties for petty theft and aggravated assault." Ziva paused slightly before answering. "And he raped and beat three women, one of which was so badly injured she was in a coma for six weeks."
"My money is on these two." DiNozzo said as he moved Wilson's and Roberts' mug shots side by side on the plasma.
"Want us to bring 'em in, Boss?" McGee asked.
"No evidence, McGee. It's all circumstantial. Until Abby gives us something concrete most we can do is keep 'um under surveillance."
Tony's head snapped up and he turned to their leader. "Inside the club, Boss? I volunteer." He said eagerly.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Ziva asked shaking her head.
Gibbs stepped up to his senior agent and looked him square in the face, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why not?" He said lightly. "You'd blend right in." With that he turned and headed back out of the bullpen towards the elevator.
"What does he mean by that?" Tony pondered allowed to his team mates as he watched Gibbs leave.
"You read me, Abbs?" Tony said as he clipped the comms receiver onto the inside of his left sleeve. Evening had fallen and he had just parked his car in the lot opposite the club.
"Loud and clear, T-man." Abby's voice floated out of the earwig already in place.
Tony opened his car door and stepped out straightening his jacket. "Jaya there tonight?" He asked with a casual tone.
"Nope. It's her night off." Abby smiled. "She's out with her fiancé. It's their anniversary." To her right
McGee let out a snort of laughter when he heard Tony's 'Aw, damn.'
"Do not worry, Tony. I am sure there will be other…eligible ladies in there." Ziva told him with a smirk on her face.
"You got the feed up, Abbs." Gibbs asked as he strode into the room holding two cups. He handed one to Abby, a Caf-Pow, and took a swig out of the other.
"Just setting it up now." She pointed to the large plasma screen on the far wall of her lab. "Tony, you got the glasses on?" Abby spoke into the microphone joined to her headset.
"Putting them on now." The static on the screen was suddenly replaced with a view of Tony's feet.
"Nice shoes, DiNozzo." Gibbs said.
"Thanks, Boss. They're John Lobb, handmade…you were being sarcastic, weren't you, Boss?"
"Ya think, DiNozzo?"
"I'll collect the Gibbs-slap later." The video feed moved as Tony moved his head up walked down the sidewalk. He rounded a corner and the bright neon sign of the club came into view. The entrance to the club itself was fairly plain. Only those who knew of its existence would know what lay behind the door.
As Tony crossed the road toward the club, the door swung open sharply, causing the agent to stop in his tracks. Two men emerged dragging a third with them. They lunged forward and let go of the man in their grasp who fell with a sickening thud to the concrete.
Gibbs, Ziva, Tim and Abby all watched as the evicted man rolled onto his side and tried to push himself to sitting. Clearly inebriated, the man lost his balance and fell back to the ground only to try again to raise himself from the floor. Tony stepped up onto the sidewalk making sure to keep both parties in the view of his surveillance glasses.
"That's Roberts." Gibbs said as he moved closer to the screen for a better look. "Who's the other one?" He asked, pointing to the unknown associate. The man was tall, his face partly obscured behind a beard.
"He is not one we came across during our research." Ziva informed him.
"I can try and run facial recognition but the guys face is too dark. Tony?" She spoke into the mic once more. "I need you to get closer to him."
Tony took a step closer toward the men who had turned and were retreating back into the club. As he neared the door the bearded man turned and looked at him. Tony flashed his trademark grin. The man simply looked him up and down, sneering slightly, and turned away and walked through the door.
"Did you get that, Abbs?" Tony asked into his comms quietly. Behind him the intoxicated man had finally found his feet and was weaving his way down the sidewalk. Tony could hear him mumbling something about hospitality.
"I got it, Tony." Abby told him as she started running the man's face through the database.
Tony pushed open the door to the club. He stepped into the finely decorated entrance hall and approached the front desk. He leaned an elbow on the surface, tucking his hand into an inside pocket of his jacket, removing his wallet. "One, please." He smiled at the girl seated behind the polished table as he handed her his credit card. She took it between her long nailed fingers and swiped it through the reader before handing it back to him.
"Enjoy your night." She told him in a husky voice, pouting her lips slightly.
"I plan too." He lingered at the desk a few seconds more before a bark of 'DiNozzo' through his earpiece from his Boss made him jump slightly. He headed past the front desk towards a staircase that he knew would take him down into the main of the club. As he descended the first few steps he could hear the heavy thump of music and the smell of alcohol reached him. He stepped down from the last stair and headed straight to the bar. His head was turned towards the stage the entire time and as a result he collided with the bar, miscalculating the distance. He steadied himself as the barman walked over to him raising his eyebrows in question to his desire for a drink.
"Sarsaparilla." The barman gave him a quizzical look. "Designated driver." Tony told him in explanation.
The barman shook his head and gave a small laugh and said 'Tough break.'
Tony paid for his drink and picked up the glass. He turned his attention back to the stage. It was large with a runway that jutted out into the middle of the room. There were chairs around its edge so the punters could have a front row seat. Either side of the back of the stage were two silver poles that reached from floor to ceiling, they were currently supporting two scantily clad women who were dancing round them. As he watched, one of the dancers flick her leg up and wrapped her knee around the pole and lifted her other foot off the floor. She rotated round the pole supported only by the muscles in her leg.
"Wow." He heard McGee's voice in his ear.
"It's not that hard." He heard Abby say in response. "As long as you have enough momentum and some good pole grease anyone can do it." Tony made a mental note to ask Abby for a demonstration at a later date.
"DiNozzo, you see any sign of Wilson or Greaves?" Gibbs voice called out, changing the subject. Tony looked around the club. Most of the booth seating was occupied, parties of men and those on their own enjoying the performance on stage as well as the attention from the girls walking among them.
"It's packed in here tonight, Boss. I don't know if we're going to get anything." The agent lifted his wrist as though to check the time on his watch in the dim light of club, and spoke in to the comms.
"Well, settle in DiNozzo, might as well get the most out of your entrance fee." Tony smiled as he made his way over to a free table and sat himself down at the chair behind it.
"I love my job." He said as he took a sip from his glass. He froze mid swallow when he looked towards the table three over on his left. Two men occupied the table and each were paying great attention to the dancer in their company. She was sat straddled over the lap of one of the men, her face very close to his. His hands were resting on the tops of her thighs and he was staring fixated into her eyes. Her blond hair fell in tight curls, a few of which were pinned back away from her face.
"I'll be at my desk, Abbs, call me if you get anything." The lead agent said gesturing to the photo of the man currently being run through the system. He was two paces from the door when he heard Tony calling him.
"Uh, Boss?" Tony said. "We might have a bit of a problem here." Gibbs turned back towards the screen. "Recognize her?" His agent asked.
Gibbs squinted at the screen. Even in the clubs dim light he knew who the girl was.
"Gibbs isn't that….." Abby trailed off, her eyes flicking between the girl on the screen and Gibbs' face.
"Yeah, it is, Abbs." He said after a brief pause. "Special Agent Hannah Blake."