After Ziva left, Lauren let out a breath. Her nerves had been on edge while watching the movie before she was finally ready to give it up.
"Abby? Are you watching this movie? I've seen it a dozen times and I think I might cause myself more head trauma falling off this couch after I fall asleep." Lauren said and turned to Abby.
"I thought you would never ask. We can play cards. I know some of the agents here play a mean game of poker." Abby said.
"Let's get a game started. Just, I have no money to play with." she said.
"Ah don't worry. I doubt anyone here has any money
to play with. I have a chips set down in the lab. You better come
with me to get it, Gibbs will throw a hissy fit if I left you alone."
she said. She grabbed Lauren's hand and made her way to the lab.
Ziva walked into bar alone. Tony was already there, acting like
he was drunk. Ziva thought it wasn't much of a challenge for him. She
waited until Pauly was watching her and slowly peeled off her light
jacket revealing a low cut black dress. About every man in the bar
noticed this and their eyes were glued to her. Ziva felt the
goosebumps on her skin as the cold air from the bar hit her skin. The
owner had the air conditioning turned up quite high for the sultry
July night. Tony had to sneeze just to break the silence. Ziva hung
up her jacket and made her way over to the counter.
"What can I do for you miss?" the bartender said. Ziva gazed at the collection of alcohol littering the counter and shelves.
"I'll just have a glass of chardonnay please." she said and turned to Pauly. He was still eyeing her from across the room. She gave him a little smile and turned back to the counter to retrieve her drink. Pauly was definitely not the best looking man in the bar. He had a hard look in his eyes, and even tougher hands. His face was dirty with what Ziva hoped was dirt. She took a few sips of her drink and made her way over to Pauly. Tony watched her and paned his small camera to them. Gibbs, outside in a van behind the bar, watched Ziva walk over to him. Her walk was everything a man desired. She tossed her hair before setting her purse down on Pauly's table. She situated it so the camera hidden was pointed directly at him.
"May I join you?" she asked. Pauly basically drooled and nodded his head yes.
"Go ahead, let me help you." Pauly said. He pulled out the chair for Ziva and helped her into her seat.
"Whoa boss, this crook's a gentleman." Tony said into his small mic in his jacket. Tony heard Gibbs laugh a little.
"Boss, looks like the footage from Ziva and Tony's camera matches the facial from the other surveillance." McGee said.
"Hear that Tony? You should make your move soon. We're coming in." Gibbs said and left the van with McGee in tow.
"Yeah boss, as soon as Ziva starts the deal, I'll move in." Tony said and listened to the conversation going on between Ziva and Pauly.
"So, what can I help you with miss?" he asked.
"Why do you assume I want something?" Ziva asked.
"No pretty lady comes up to me without wanting some of my services." he said. He smiled and Ziva got an eyeful of horrendous teeth. They were yellow and black stained, almost as if he chewed tobacco and smoked at the same time since the age of 2.
"Well, I guess you get right down to business. My husband is a very wealthy man. I know he's been cheating on me and according to my prenup, I get nothing when he divorces me. I took a couple hundred thousand from his accounts every few years, and paid his accountant to tell him that it was donations to charity." Ziva said. Tony started to make his way across the bar with a full glass of jack and coke in his hand.
"And now you need someone to clean the money for you." Pauly said.
"Exactly." Ziva said.
"Excuse me pretty lady, do you care to dance?" Tony asked her, slurring his words.
"Actually no sir. I'm in the middle of a conversation with..." Ziva said.
"Pauly, Pauly DiMarco." he said.
"Positive ID, McGee, let's move in." Gibbs said. They entered the bar, telling the bartender that they were father and son. They got drinks and moved over to a table close to the scene.
"Yes, I'm in a conversation with Pauly here. Now, why don't you run along and find someone else to entice with that alluring smell of yours." Ziva said.
"Funny lady. Funny lady." Tony said and pointed to Ziva.
"I think she wants you to leave pal." Pauly said. He grabbed Tony by his collar and pushed him back, spilling his drink on Ziva.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Tony said. Pauly once again pushed him away.
"I think you've done enough damage here. Why don't you leave." Pauly said and shoved Tony towards the door. Ziva began mopping up the drink off of herself. She looked back at Tony and he gave her a small nod. This told her that the small tracking device he had placed on Pauly during the fight had stuck. Tony went back up to the counter and ordered another drink. Gibbs and McGee were watching everything from behind a large medical textbook, which hid a camera. McGee smiled when Ziva let Pauly clean her off with the napkin.
"Some guys can be such jerks. Now, let's get back to business. How much have you managed to steal from your husband?" he asked.
"Roughly about 15 million. My husband told my friends to also donate to the worthy cause. I told the accountant to make one more withdrawal which will bring it up to about 16 million. The bank account is under the charity's name. It's a fake charity, but we completed a back story to it. Some of the money is going to charity, about 6 million. I just need someone to clean up the paper trail so when I start living off of this money, no one will suspect a thing." Ziva said.
"Sounds like you've done a great job embezzling the money yourself. I'm pretty sure I can do this for you. But it's going to cost you." he said. Ziva got up from her seat and pushed her hair off her shoulder.
"I'm sure there is some ways we can," she sat down on Pauly's lap, "reduce the price." she whispered into his ear. She grabbed his collar and placed a small camera underneath a button. McGee adjusted his screen and the picture came into view. He could see Ziva's face and could tell she was trying her best not to throw up while acting as if she was trying to seduce him.
"Yeah, uh-- I'm pretty sure there is some arrangement we can come up with to, uh, reduce the price. Why don't you give me your cell phone number and I will call you in about an hour with all the details." he said. Ziva leaned back and slipped a small piece of paper into his front pocket.
"I await your call." she said and slipped off his lap. She waved to Pauly as he left the bar and then joined McGee and Gibbs at their table.
"I'm going to need like three showers after this. One to get the smell of alcohol off of me and the other two to get the smell of that man off of me. Where's Tony?" she asked.
"He's outside, waiting to see what car Pauly drove. Well done Ziva, sometimes seducing a complete and ugly stranger can be tougher then facing a hail of gunfire. We better leave before the bartender thinks something is up." Gibbs said. Before leaving, Gibbs and Ziva made sure the bartender overheard their conversation that indicated Gibbs as the accountant. They met Tony behind the bar, sitting in the van.
"My alluring scent, Ziva? I'll have you know this cologne costs a couple hundred for one bottle." Tony said.
"You should get your money back." she said.
"Tony, you want to see the footage from the camera on Pauly's collar." McGee asked.
"Uh yeah, keep one monitor live and rewind the footage on another." Tony said as Gibbs rolled the van out of alleyway. Ziva joined him in the passenger seat while Tony and McGee stayed in the back.
"Okay, here's the beginning of the tape Tony." McGee said and pressed play. The camera faded in and both saw what McGee and Gibbs weren't able to see when the camera was first placed. Tony pressed the pause button and both men just stared.
"Where's he heading McGee?" Gibbs asked from the front seat. There was quiet from the back.
"Boys?" Ziva asked and leaned her back. Tony and McGee fumbled with the remote to try and turn the monitor off.
"Uh, sorry Ziva. That didn't show up on the camera earlier." McGee said.
"Might as well soak in that memory now boys, because that is the last time you are ever going to see my chest up close, EVER again." She said. She grabbed the remote from Tony's hands and deleted the few seconds of footage from the tape.
"Hey, there could've been some vital images on that tape. We should've kept it so we could analyze it more." Tony said.
"In your dreams Tony. Could you two get up front so I could change please? I need to get some of this stuff alcohol off of me. " Ziva said and sat forward in her seat, adjusting the front of her dress to get it to close.
"Yeah sure Ziva." McGee said. He grabbed Tony and pulled him towards the front. Ziva shut the door and struggled to get into a pair of pants and a new shirt in the small space.
"You think Jonny is going to be there?" Ziva yelled from the back.
"I hope so, other wise we'll be taking down two flunkies and not the head honcho. What can you see on the video footage?" Gibbs asked.
"He's going into what looks like a warehouse. Maybe an old factory floor. Looks like the GPS is setting it near the old factory district." Ziva said. Gibbs was following the GPS from the front street through McGee's monitor.
"Looks like were here. I'll lead point, you guys follow. Ziva, is there anyone with him?" Gibbs said. Ziva opened the door and poked her head out.
"There is one guy there, looks like the other flukie." she said.
"Flunky, Ziva." Tony corrected her.
"Whatever Tony. No sign of Jonny, just Michael Little and my handsome drinking partner." She said and placed the NCIS cap on her head.
"Let's go." Gibbs said and left the van. All three agents followed closely behind, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings. McGee withdrew the small monitor from his coat that showed the two suspects.
"They're still alone. I say we go now." he said.
"Right," Gibbs bust down the door, "NCIS Freeze!" he screamed. Both men put their hands up in surprise. To Tony's surprise, they both went quietly. Tony jerked around Pauly a little to get back at him getting beat up a little bit when they were at the bar.
"Well, Pauly, looks like you're out of a job. Sorry, you should really know when a cop is talking to you, and when a woman is about to throw up in your lap while trying to seduce you." Ziva said and placed him in the car that had arrived to take them to NCIS headquarters.
As Ziva, Tony and McGee walked back to the lounge, Tony couldn't help but say something about the fact that Abby was left alone with Lauren.
"Well, I guess its back to the lounge. I can't wait to see how much Abby has corrupted our young witness." Tony said and threw his microphone that was attached to his jacket on his desk.
"It wouldn't surprise me if when we got back Miss Press was decked out in all black with a few tattoos here and there." Ziva said.
"Oh come on guys, put a little bit of faith in Abby. I'm sure they just sat and watched the movie." McGee said and opened the door. They were greeted by a wave of yells and to a group of agents sitting around a small table playing poker with Lauren and Abby.
"Or not." McGee said and took in a deep breath. Ziva was quietly laughing in the doorway and Tony had his hand up to his head.
"Hey big spender." Lauren said as an agent threw down a couple of chips.
"You guys wouldn't happen to be playing for money?" Tony said as he approached the table. The agents suddenly quieted down. Abby looked up at Tony as he made a move to clear the agents from the table.
"Hey Tony. Didn't expect you guys back so soon." She said. Tony sat down across from her and put his chin in his hands with his elbows on the table.
"Abby, we've been gone for about 3 hours now. We left around 9. It's almost 1 a.m." he said. Abby looked down at her watch.
"Oh, well, I've never been good with keeping track of time." she said.
"Yeah, I know. Gee, what happened to the quiet girls night of watching a movie about sisterhoods and pants?" he asked.
"It's my fault. I've seen those movies millions of times and I asked her if we could do something else. She said poker and I coerced her into it. If you want to blame anyone, blame me." Lauren said. She stared at Tony, as if igniting a staring contest. The first one to blink would be the first to give in. Tony quickly blinked.
"Okay, I guess there was no harm in the poker game. Just clean all of this up before Gibbs sees and then you need to go to sleep. You have an early doctor's appointment and I think your doctor will kill me if we miss it." Tony said.
"Agreed, but you owe me a game." Lauren said.
"Fine, but let's get you cleaning up and sleeping first. Oh and at the warehouse where we found the suspects, we found your clothes. We brought a few items you can wear so you don't have to steal anymore of Abby's or Ziva's clothes." Tony said. She popped up from her seat and gave him a hug.
"Thanks Tony! I was hoping I wouldn't have to buy a whole new wardrobe. Even though shopping would be fun, the spending of my money would not be. Though I would so have to take Abby along to pick out a few things." Lauren said and started to pick up a few things from around the table.
"I told you Abby would corrupt her." Ziva said and turned to McGee.
"Wait, who was making bets about me corrupting Lauren?" Abby asked while throwing away a bag of chips.
"Well we all were. Ziva and I thought you were going to and Probie here defended you." Tony said.
"Aw, McGee, you defended me. How sweet." She gave McGee a hug; "I need to go get something from the lab." she said and left the lounge.
"Well, since this is all cleaned up and the cards put away, lets get you in a bed. I believe there is a separate room set up for you near our desks so we can have someone stand guard. I'll be back here around 8 to get you for your appointment. That way you can get a shower and change your clothes." Tony said.
"You're not staying here?" she asked.
"No, I need to get some rest and all my clothes are at my house. I'll see you in about 7 hours though. Not too long to go without me. Don't worry, all the agents here are great. You'll be safe." he said.
"Okay, I understand. Well, lets get me to bed so you can leave." she said.
"All right, I'll just have McGee show you there. McGee--." Tony turned around and McGee wasn't there, "Ziva, where's McGee?" he asked.
"He said something about doing something. I wasn't really listening and he left in a hurry anyways. I'll show her to the room while you go find McGee." she said.
"Good, uh, I'll see you, in the morning." he said and left the lounge in search for McGee.