Chapter 4
Instead of sitting uselessly at his desk the entire time, McGee decided he should call Gabrielle back. He really wasn't sure what he would say to her, but he didn't want her to worry. After a quick stop at his desk – he had been told to go back to the squad room, after all – he headed toward the elevator.
"Where ya goin', Probie?" Tony asked, not even glancing up as McGee walked by.
"To make a phone call," McGee replied quietly. He didn't stop to chat. "I'll be right back."
He heard Tony mutter something about not knowing why McGee couldn't just make the call from the office, but McGee pretended he hadn't heard. The elevator was empty and McGee savored the privacy. He left the building but didn't go far. Standing just a few feet away from the building in the bright sun, which was a shock after being inside all day, McGee dialed Gabrielle's number. She answered almost immediately.
"So, what is going on?" she asked, not even bothering to say hello.
McGee wasn't sure what to say. "Well…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "The man I killed last night was a cop. Working undercover."
"If he was a cop, why did he try to shoot you?" Gabrielle demanded.
"We're still trying to figure everything out," McGee explained gently. He actually felt like screaming to stop asking him questions because nothing made sense. "I'm still not sure how the rest of the day is going to go."
"And I'm still sure that I will come there and kidnap you – right out from under Special Agent Gibbs' nose if I need to."
McGee heard papers rustling in the background. Desperate for a change of subject, he asked, "How's your day going?"
"Oh, you know, the usual." Gabrielle was the executive assistant for the vice president of a nearby amusement park. It kept her busy, but she seemed to enjoy it. "A lot of paperwork, stuff to go through. Nothing glamorous."
"I'll trade you," McGee said bitterly. He was trying not to wallow in self-pity, but not succeeding very well.
"Oh, Tim." Gabrielle sighed. "I didn't mean to imply that—"
"No, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just feeling sorry for myself right now." He shoved his hand into his pocket and looked back at the building behind him. "I'd better get back to work. I just wanted to call you and tell you not to worry."
"You should know better. That's not going to stop me worrying," Gabrielle said in a wry voice.
"Well…not to worry so much, then," McGee corrected. "I'll talk to you later."
"Call me later when you know what time you can go to dinner," Gabrielle demanded.
"Or if."
"No if. When." Gabrielle's voice was firm. "We are going to dinner. That's the end of it. And I have no problem calling Gibbs or coming down there to tell him."
Now that would be a sight to see. McGee almost smiled. "Okay, I'll call you later." He hung up and headed back inside. He sank down at his desk, feeling trapped. Unsure what to do with himself, he looked down at the smooth, polished wood in front of him, lost in thought. He was troubled about his memories of last night, trying to remember for sure if the gun Benedict had been holding had been fired – or if it was even pointing at him when McGee saw it.
Ziva's voice interrupted his ponderings.
"DiNozzo, look at this. Got a possible." She was staring intensely at her computer monitor, trying to find the owner of the SUV that McGee had seen in the alley. Since he couldn't remember much about it, it was not an easy task. Tony rushed over to stand behind her. Ziva described the man she had found, finishing with, "…drives a 2003 dark blue Ford Expedition. First two digits of license plate – eight, nine." The only numbers of the license plate McGee could remember.
"McGee!" Tony and Ziva both looked over at him. "Was the SUV as big as an Expedition?"
McGee looked at Tony and frowned, trying to remember. "Uh, maybe…I don't know. I'm not sure."
Tony looked disappointed and Ziva was talking again about a protest group that the man belonged to and how he had been arrested for defacing the main entrance of the Pentagon with horse manure.
"Call me crazy, but a guy who belongs to a group called CACA and smears horse pucky on a government building isn't making death threats," Tony said.
The conversation was interrupted. Gibbs was storming down the stairs, calling for DiNozzo and David to find the bullet in the alley. Everyone sprang to their feet.
"Boss, we spent hours," Tony protested. "We covered every inch of where McGee was standing when he—" Gibbs cut him off with a look. "Well, maybe we'll find something in daylight."
"We're working the protestor angle," Ziva informed Gibbs.
"I don't think that cop being there had anything to do with the threat against that CNO," Gibbs replied, bent over his computer. McGee stepped forward, wondering what Gibbs was talking about. "Can somebody tell me what is going on here?" Gibbs demanded, standing up and looking at the rest of them. "First, Abby's lab nerd frames DiNozzo for murder and then McGee kills a cop. Did somebody break a mirror?"
Tony and Ziva made a quick exit, and McGee stepped up to Gibbs' desk.
"Boss, can I go with Tony and Ziva?" He had to get out of the office. Had to be doing something. It was the doing nothing, the sitting around and waiting that was really getting to him. If he was able to do something to help, or something productive in some way, McGee knew he would feel much better.
"No. Metro P.D. is out to get you," Gibbs replied. He never had been one to mince words. "You find the bullet, it's compromised evidence."
McGee understood his point, but it didn't make the helpless feeling go away. "What should I do?" he asked, almost on the brink of desperation.
"Find that SUV."
