FREEZE FRAME 4: Dead Man Talking.
DISCLAIMERS: I do not own NCIS.
Previously: "That little lady is in so much trouble when I get my hands on her," groused Gibbs.
"But, where is she?" asked an exasperated Ziva.
'Don't know," said Gibbs, trying to suppress his concern with feigned annoyance.
"But she's safe, boss," interjected Tony.
"How do you know, Di Nozzo?"
"Here look," Di Nozzo handed over his cell….. Que Sera Sera…
Chapter 12: Cinderella Liberty.
FREEZE FRAME: Cut to still. Mid shot profile shot of Marley smiling and standing in a door way, her hand stretched out in a greeting. Convert Black and white. CUT.
Fade into MTAC. Tony and Ziva are standing in front of the big screen as Tim and Abby pull up satellite footage of the house in Georgetown just before Lau Quing and Angus Devlin were bought in for questioning.
"Ziva, Tony, how could you lose Marley?" accused Abby.
"It was not our fault," said Ziva.
"No, so how come you weren't watching her then, and where did she get the idea to hide out?' asked Tim.
"Okay, Mc Accuse we had an eye on her until Lilith bought her up there. The Boss sent us to the car club. How were we supposed to know Lilith took her in the other direction? They were headed to the national park."
"Yes, Tim, it was not our fault. Besides, Marley knew what she was doing. Though, Tony, the boss is not going to be happy with you. It is too much of a co- incidence to the hitcock and the singing virgin and…"
"The what!"
"No, she means Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, Doris day and Jimmy Stewart. Marley was talking about that movie in the car. That's where she got the idea from. I didn't put it in her head, though I gotta admit it was pretty smart."
"Ya think!" said Gibbs as he marched down the incline of MTAC, then promptly slapped DiNozzo on the head with the think file he held in his hand.
"Aw, Boss, how was I to…"
"Don't care, Di Nozzo! Abby, what are you doing here? You got all of your forensics done? I want to go in there with as much evidence as possible."
"Gibbss, but what about Marley?"
"Tim?" referred Gibbs.
"On it, Boss; just rolling back some satellite pictures. We should be able to see where she went."
"Abbs, we'll find her. Right now her missing means I can get this tied up here. It gives us leverage with Devlin and SecNav."
"But, Gibbs, it also gives Lau Quing leverage," said Tony.
"He thinks… "
Ziva clicked her fingers, "Yes, I get it; the penny has plopped… neither SecNav or Lau Quing knows that… we know that Marley is the mastermind behind her own disappearance."
"Yup," quipped Gibbs. "Di Nozzo, I want you interviewing Ben, Jarrod and Ethan. David Lindsey is bringing them in. Ziva, I want you sitting in on Lau Quing. Douglas's running that show. I'm doing Angus. So Abbs, evidence?"
Abby flipped her tablet open and danced the stylus over its screen. "Oh, oh, some results are still pending, but the desk is a definite match. Oh, and thanks Zive for the wooden effigy of Kwan Yin or Guanyin. She was the goddess of compassion and mercy, but she is also considered the goddess of fertility. She was not the murder weapon, but she is pretty neat. I'll give it to…."
"Futility or fertility, Abbs… Move on!" grouched Gibbs.
"Okayyyy, Chi You…"
"Bless you," quipped Ziva. "Oww," she said after Gibbs awarded her a mild head slap as well. She rubbed the back of her head. "I beg your pardon, Gibbs, it means tribal leader. Actually, he was a tyrant…" she grimaced, then quickly shut up when Gibbs glared at her. Ziva instantly referred back to Abby. "Go on, Abby, I will not interrupt."
"Yes, all mighty Chi You, Gibbster, but I had to make wood comparisons. It makes the findings all the more definite. The corner of the desk had been damaged and then repaired. I found traces of Patrick's DNA from a hair follicle under the repair. He hit his head on the corner. He bleds out on the carpet, and the blood seeped into the floorboards and struts underneath it. The tongues and grooves are stained. The poker chip is definitely Daniel Fitzgerald's, and is the missing last one. Patrick had it on him when he died. There are fibers of his jacket caught in the mother of pearl inlaid."
"It accidently got in there during the fight at the poker game. It must have fallen out during another fight," said Ziva, "at the house."
"Probably, and definitely," agreed Abby. "Fact is, Patrick was attacked that night at the house. His body was transported in another car. Then he was dumped in his car, where he was shot. He was still alive at that point, but unconscious. From the extent of the blood loss, he most likely would have died from the head injury anyway."
"Which means there had to be two of them," revealed Gibbs.
"Yes, it would have taken two people to get his car from the car club," established Ziva.
"Where they dumped the phones. They must have been in Patrick's car," speculated Tony.
"How…" asked Tim.
Gibbs nodded, but kept his eyes on the large screen, waiting for the images to clear. "Patrick discovered them. He must have confronted Lau Quing, but kept them hidden."
"Lau Quing's discovered them by luck then," presumed Tony. "Boss?"
"What?" barked Gibbs.
"Angus Devlin, he must have known. I don't understand, why he would protect Lau Quing?" asked Tony.
"I do," said Gibbs. "SecNav got onto this thirteen years ago. They'd been watching Lau Quing, and they needed Angus to get him."
"But why wait so long, surely they had enough on him?" proposed Ziva.
"They wanted more…" raised Tim. "It's been a theory jumping around world politics for the last half of the century. The Chinese have been gaining economic power…"
"Yes, Mossad was monitoring China, too. We know they were sanctioning arms trading to the Middle East in exchange for rights to oil and other trade. They would not have been all that helpful to US investigations back in '97. But now…"
"The development of Shanghai as a big international port and their subsequent talks with the United Nations, the questionable politics of the world economic forums…" continued Tim.
"And the release of more details from the Tiananmen massacre. They need to look like they are doing something on the world front, fix some pickets, so to speak," added Ziva.
"Mend fences, Ziva." corrected Tony.
Gibbs slapped the large file against his hand. "Yeah well, SecNav can have his coup. But, I want the truth, and now I want Marley. Tim, what's holding this up?" he said, frustrated as he pointed to the large screen.
"Got it, Boss," declared Tim. The large screen came alive with the aerial shot of a huge house and surrounding grounds. "It's still a little pixelated, but the figures are framed in infra red, heat detectors. We can't see details, but we can figure body types… Okay, so there's the back lawn. It frames the national park," described Tim as he played with the controls and panned the area.
Gibbs and the rest of his team watched the video footage in front of them. North west of the house, peeking out from some bushes were two small vehicles of some sort. Four small figures surrounded them, apparently hidden from view from the large line of tress on the opposite side of the yard. Several taller figures suddenly appeared from the tree line and headed for the house. The smaller figures stepped back and appeared to crouch down.
"They must be SecNav's men," observed Ziva.
"And those are kids," said Tony, "our little Semper Fi Gang, I'd wager."
The smaller figures waited until the others disappeared into the house, then moved to their vehicles, got on board and started towards the house also. But, they didn't get very far. Another figure suddenly appeared from the bottom of the screen, emerging from the house and met up with them.
"Marley!" growled Gibbs.
Two smaller figures were then seen chasing the vehicles and the loads of juveniles they obviously carried. They stopped when the gang disappeared at the border to the national park and then ran back to the house.
"They must be Arielle's two boys," said Ziva.
"Yeah, they said something about wanting motor bikes like the rest of the kids around here. Tim, can you follow those bikes?"
"I'll try."
Tim continued to pan the area. He zoomed out, making a wide spread of the yard and surrounding countryside in a bid to pick up the moving ATV's.
"Stop! What's that?" yelled Gibbs, "In the corner… there?"
Tim zoomed in. Another figure could be seen crouching in the west end corner of the property, seemingly watching the house. He moved out of shot when he saw the two smaller boys come his way.
"Don't know, Boss. Tim replayed the image and zoomed in even further. "It's a man."
"Could be one of SecNav's guys," speculated Tony.
"No, all four of them ended up in the house," said Gibbs.
"It would not surprise me if Lau Quing had someone there. He must have had some protection, surely," suggested Ziva.
"Then why didn't he make a move or come into the house?" asked Gibbs.
"What's with the infra red, McBlurr? It's like he's missing half his body or something," asked Tony.
"Hmmm, don't know…"
Tony narrowed his eyes trying to focus on the blurry red framed form. "He looks like he has only one arm. Ohh, it's the one arm man, the fugitive. Call Tommy Lee Jones."
"Di Nozzo!" yelled Gibbs, uncomfortable about the unknown man. "Did he follow Marley, McGee?"
"I don't think so, Boss. He disappeared on the opposite side of the grounds."
"Okay, find the bikes," ordered Gibbs, as he scrubbed at his face.
Tim ran the footage forward and panned the area. The image again became blurry as he scanned out and around the national park, presuming the kids were headed back there. The image then cleared and the two bikes came into view in the parking lot of the national park's picnic area. A third bike joined them and two other figures dismounted. The time read out on the video said 1630. All seven small figures; members of the Semper Fi Gang, then dispersed among what seemed like crowds of visitors getting ready to leave the area. Several figures got into cars while a large group lined up and filtered onto a bus. As the vehicles drove out of the park, six lone figures were left standing by their three bikes.
"McGee, get onto the national forest there, they may have registrations for those cars today. Obviously Marley got into one of them," bellowed Gibbs.
"At least we know nobody took her, Gibbs. She'll be fine, don't worry," fussed Abby, trying to suppress her own nerves.
"Yeah, don't mean she isn't in any danger. God knows who she hitched a ride with or where she's going. We also don't know if she is being followed. DiNozzo, head for the conference room to interview those kids. Take David Lindsey in there with you, they'll have to have a guardian with them. Just don't take any stalling from them. Bust their asses if you have to."
"Their Uncle may not like those methods, Boss."
"Don't worry, he'll support you. Take an earpiece and tap me if you have anything on Marley while I interview Devlin. I'll tab the SecNav in with Lau Quing. That way he can go for the bastard's jugular as soon as I know she's safe."
Everybody jumped into action and followed Gibbs as he stormed out of MTAC.
Montage of interviews through transitional cutaways and segues between the conference room, Tony interviewing the Semper Fi gang; Interrogation one: Lau Quing with Clayton Douglas in interrogation two; Gibbs and Angus Devlin.
Shot 1: Fade into conference room…
Jarrod, Ben and Ethan sat on three chairs along the length of the large wooden table in the conference room. They were waiting for David Lindsey and one of the NCIS agents to appear and interview them. They had no doubt that it was about their involvement in Marley's disappearance. They only hoped they could keep their big mouths shut; which shouldn't be too hard, considering Ben was really the only one that knew of Marley's final destination.
Ben sat there thinking about the afternoon. He played with his cell, turning it around and around in his pocket. Knowing that Marley would text and announce her safe arrival at her destination, figured he had about three hours. He had hoped for longer, but these NCIS agents were good. They had quickly discovered the Semper Fi gang's involvement. A Cinderella liberty was what they'd planned. But, perhaps the best he could do was delay the proceedings, still convinced that they had at least given Gibbs's team a reason to collect evidence and process it.
Shot 2: Dissolve to main r parking lot and gates of the national park. Flashback; 3hours earlier…
"Okay, operation secret squirrel is declared a success," crowed Ethan, high fiving his friends' hands as they dismounted the ATV's.
"Well, part A," said Marley.
"Okay yep, we were lucky, Marley. But, we're not going to be able to hide you for long," said Ben.
"True, but I reckon I need about a day. It will take Abby that long to put all the evidence tests together. Until then, they still need a reason to hold the Chinese guy," explained Marley.
"They're gonna find you in DC, Marley," mused Jarrod.
"Yeah, I know. I've got a plan, but I'll need your help to get there. I'm gonna hafta hitch a ride somehow."
"Where do you need to get to?" asked Tom.
"You got the hide out all sorted out, maybe you can take one of the bikes. We're gonna have to do something fast, Uncle David's expecting us like half an hour ago," Ben reminded them all.
"Okay, but I can't tell you. You guys might hafta to give it up too soon."
"Marley, I don't know. Hitching a ride and us not knowing; you need a fail safe," insisted Jarrod.
"Okay, fair enough, I'll tell Ben."
Jarrod screwed up his face, a little hurt that Marley would not confide in him. After all, they had been good friends for nearly two summers.
Marley leaned over and whispered into Ben's ear, then straightened up.
"Sounds good, you got a map?" asked Ben.
Marley showed Ben her Iphone app with the map on it. "Hurry up. Have a look, then commit it memory. I can't leave this on. McGee will be tracing my cell."
"Turn it off then. Here use mine," offered Jarrod.
"No, I'll use Ben's cell. Like I said, I can't take the chance of you guys.…"
"We're tougher than you think," snapped Jarrod.
"Hey, what's your bug, Jarrod?"
"Nothin', it's just… well you're gonna be under the pump with this Cinderella liberty and I … want it to work…" He tried to explain. "Besides, you can trust all of us, and you've known me like forever." There I said it.
"Hey, that's true, but don't go all 'sookie sookie la la' on me…" Marley accused Jarrod.
"Sookie sookie la la?" Asked Ben confused.
"She's being a smart arse," groused Jarrod. "It's just an Aussie stir for calling someone a cry baby. And I'm not being a cry baby, I'm just being cautious!" Jarrod defended.
"Okay, okay. . It's just that Ben knows the area better than you." Marley punched Jarrod firmly in the shoulder.
"And I'm the commanding officer, Skippy, so don't get your junk in a knot. You've been in on everything; come up with some pretty good ideas and strategies, too. I like the call on the Cinderella liberty; leave till midnight. Marley, Jarrod's right. We can probably cover for you at least until midnight."
Ben bought up his map app, and Marley typed in the address. Ben nodded, and then looked around the parking lot. "Come on, I've got an idea, at least you'll be safe. Jarrod's got another damn good point."
Shot 3: Dissolve to conference room. End Flashback…
"So how much are we going to tell them?" Jarrod asked Ben as all three boys nervously tapped the table.
"Clam it up for as long as you can. I just hope Gibbs isn't the one asking. He's a hard nose interrogator. I don't think we could keep it under wraps if he's the one asking questions."
"Maybe we'll get that Tony guy. We'd have a bit of a chance with him," speculated Ethan.
"Yeah, hopefully, but Gibbs's gonna have something to say when he's through, just the same. We made a promise we would keep out of the investigation," recalled Jarrod.
"Hmmm… yeah and he don't talk much, not with his mouth anyway," grimaced Ben.
All three boys jumped when the conference door suddenly swung open…
Trans Shot4: CA to Interrogation 1: Lau Quing. Segue of door opening….
Vance and Clayton entered the room, empty handed with neutral expressions. Henry Lau Quing looked up at them with a smug expression on his face.
"Well, Mr. Secretary, I see you have the honor of interviewing me. You must be very confident, you are not carrying the conventional file folder with you," he laughed. "You see, I'm a great fan of your detective shows."
"I have them, Lau Quing, and I know every word that's in them."
"Ah, but you cannot substantiate them, I am correct? My government will not allow you to prosecute me without good reason."
"Your government has allowed us, Lau Quing. They might have sanctioned your trading years ago, when they needed your development of Shanghai. But, they no longer need it, nor do they care for your unofficial trading and cargo."
"My government would not be so stupid to do such a thing, Mr. Secretary. I know a lot more than you think, and they know it. They will protect me. I have diplomatic immunity."
Clayton Douglas leaned in close to Lau Quing. You are not the only one who knows so much. Your government knows that too, and the biggest surprise is that they know that we know…Ling Pau Ling."
Lau Quing looked a little nervous at the SecNav's use of his alias. "And what is it that everyone knows, Mr. Secretary?"
"We know that you and Devlin established an export company in Shanghai just over fifteen years ago, and helped it to become the thriving port it is today. You also helped your country to develop its economic growth, part of its aim to become a world power, not in might, but in consumerism."
"We have not had such capitalists' ideals, sir, you have us wrong. We just wish to support our 'ju min'; hard working citizensand ever growing population."
"Not your motives, arms trading and personal wealth; that was your motive. Your government is quite happy to sanction economic growth and the attempts of its, 'gerng shyr' leading citizen Lau Quing. But, they will be more than happy never to hear from Ling Pau Ling for a long, long, time."
"Not so, it may be Angus Devlins motives. I cannot claim to know everything the man has organized. But, working with an American citizen has had its rewards."
"Funny, because he knows a lot about your business ventures," added Vance, who stood in the corner with his arms crossed in front, watching Lau Quing intently.
"Really, I think Mr. Devlin has you fooled!" Lau Quing did not divert his eyes from Clayton Douglas. He smirked again, "Perhaps you have threatened him with something, so that he may misconstrue and lie about our business. Besides, he will not tell you anything."
"You sure about that? You were the one who threatened him. If we don't find his granddaughter, he might just tell us everything."
"If he wishes to find his granddaughter, Mr. Secretary, he will not tell you a thing," gritted Lau Quing, equalling SecNav's defiant glare.
Trans shot 5:; CA to Interrogation 2: Angus Devlin… segue Xclose-up of Gibbs's eyes.
Angus Devlin looked Gibbs in the eye. "I can't tell you anything, Gibbs, not until they find Marley. This is entirely my fault," he pleaded.
Gibbs stepped back. "Your fault... Why, because you protected Lau Quing, all this time? We know he killed Patrick." Gibbs pointed to the photos of evidence he had sprawled out on the table. "Patrick's blood was found in carpet pulled from his storage unit. Then particles of hair were found in the desk. Then there's Daniel Fitzgerald's poker chip found at the house. It was in Patrick's coat pocket the night he went missing. The night he died. It proves he died at the house."
Angus said nothing, just looked at Gibbs, shaking his head.
Gibbs slammed his hands down on the table in front of Angus Devlin's down cast eyes."He killed your son," he spat out. "Why…What'd he find out?" Gibbs continued to stare at the big man as he answered his own question. "He found out that Lau Quing was monitoring Patrick's translations. It started off simple enough… you may have even suspected it," suggested Gibbs.
Angus Devlin flinched. Gibbs cocked his head, proposing a theory about Angus's motivation. "He have that on you? Did he have you over a barrel, suggesting that you were somehow involved in his arms trading? He would implicate you. He could do that because you were helping him create confidence in the trade markets; helping him build up your business. Or was it more, were you a part of the whole operation from the beginning?"
"It was more, but I didn't know… your government knows that. I'm trying to help, please…" appealed Devlin.
"Did Patrick know about the arms trading, about the transmissions? Is that why he killed him? When did he do it? When you were supposed to be picking him up at the airport? We know Lau Quing came in on an earlier flight."
"Until Marley is found…Please I can't tell you anything," repeated a frustrated and worried Angus Devlin. He took a deep breath trying to quell his fear. He suddenly became very angry. "You don't seem too concerned, Agent Gibbs. I thought when I found out that you were her guardian, that it was a good thing. I thought that I was right all those years ago, not to have Lilith find her. She was safe, and now with good people who cared."
"Is that why you paid the detective off? Lau Quing had already killed your son. Did he threaten Marley?"
"He didn't know about Marley. I made sure of that, because he would have threatened her and her mother. So, yes, I cared that much. This is more than I can say for you, Agent Gibbs. Marley has been kidnapped, and you just stand there… If you're worried about Lau Quing, your government has everything they need."
"They still need your testimony."
Devlin shook his head once more. "Lilith must be out of her mind. It's bad enough that I…"
"That you what?" barked Gibbs.
"Please, Agent Gibbs, I will tell you everything as soon as I know Marley is safe."
"Nobody's kidnapped her," stated Gibbs.
"What, but Lau Quing, he…?"
"Nobody's kidnapped her. Lau Quing is bluffing, trying to keep you quiet. I think she ran away."
"Ran away, why…So she is safe?" Angus asked, though still suspicious. "You think?"
"Yes, but I can't be sure yet," Gibbs answered honestly annoyed.
"Where is she, Agent Gibbs?" yelled Devlin, slamming his hands on the table.
Trans shot 6: CA to conference room, segue close up of hands on table.
Tony slammed his hands on the table. "What do you mean you don't know?"
Ethan, Jarrod, and Ben all jumped at Agent Di Nozzo's change in tone and demeanor.
They had played a game of cat and mouse for the last half hour. Every time the agent asked them a question, they sat silently, refusing to answer. David Lindsey, Ethan's father and Ben's uncle, sat on a chair at the other end of the table. He was growing as annoyed as Tony and on several occasions had given all three boys the evil eye.
Tony had appreciated the man's silent support, and knew David would continue to do so, even when Tony upped the ante. Tony had thrown a still photograph of the satellite footage of their figures seen at the Georgetown house in front of them and asked very simply, "Where is Marley?"
Ethan had been the first to break their silent pact when he heard his father's low growl coming from the corner, where the man sat with his arms crossed. "We don't know."
Ben kicked Ethan's ankle from under the table, a movement that did not go unnoticed by either adult.
Tony continued to stare at the three boys, though his true focus was on Ben. He added, several other images from the text and photos messages that Marley and Ben had sent via their cell phones. "Okay, this is how I see your little game of espionage playing out. Except… It's. Not. A. Game!" Tony enunciated.
Tony stood up and paced the small area behind them. "I would say you planned your little operation, "stick my nose in where it's too dangerous", sometime late last night. You contacted Marley. We have that fact from her phone records. She thought about it while out shopping today. Perhaps, at first, it was only going to be a little private investigation, a little fun. But Marley thought of something better. We have her purchasing three burn phones. At 1100, two kids were seen hanging around the car club, could have been you two, maybe…," said Tony, spreading his arms wide behind the boys back. He squeezed Jarrod's and Ethan's shoulders, while leaning in close to Ben's neck, letting the vibration of his voice send a threatening message. "Then a jpeg was sent to Marley's phone and another message from hers to…. Now whose was it…oh that's right, Ben's," smirked Tony.
The boys shifted uncomfortably in their seats again, and Ben knew they were in trouble. Consequences were inevitable, for all of them, and by the looks of things not just from their parents. But he couldn't be sure that they had wasted enough time to achieve Marley's plan. As soon as he got Marley's safe text he could give more away. Though, it appeared that NCIS was pretty much on her tail.
As Tony continued to describe the afternoon events pointing out their obvious involvement Ben decided it was time to talk. He interrupted, "Okay, Agent Di Nozzo. Jarrod, report," he sanctioned, revoking their previous clam up.
Jarrod took a huge breath. "BAMCIS; Begin the planning, Arrange reconnaissance, Make reconnaissance, Complete the planning, Issue order, Supervise." Jarrod expounded. "Operation Secret Squirrel, a surveillance mission only, was put into action at 0900, the first target, The Car club. Our agents reported their findings, which were very little other than the old cell phones. Photographic evidence was collected, then passed on and the evidence put back. Marley made contact at 1300, using her cell. Then she made further contact using one of three burn phones. At 1400, we rendezvous at Disneyland east. Cinderella liberty, a reconnaissance mission was the new plan. This would give your team time to collect and collate evidence on Corporal Patrick Sean Devlin's murder. Orders were that, until that evidence is solid and Lau Quing is charged with his murder, Marley was to stay hidden. The location of that safe house is…"
"Highly classified," added Ben.
"Oh, really," ground out David Lindsey. "Well you better think about that some more, before I get up and un-classify it, real fast."
"We can't yet…"
David Lindsey stood up and grabbed the nearest boy, Ethan. He raised one leg and rested it on the boy's now vacant chair, flung Ethan over his knee, then landed a powerful swat to his son's denim clad backside.
Tony pushed the satellite photograph in front of Ben again. "She get in one of these cars? How safe was that, hitching a lift with complete strangers?" He ground out. "She knows better…"
"They know better!" growled David, landing another swat to Ethan's rump.
"Owww…She didn't get in any cars. She got on the…"
"The bus," surmised Tony, flicking the photograph. "Where was it going?"
All three boys clammed up again. David Lindsey dropped Ethan to the floor, and then sat him back down in his chair before Ethan had the chance to rub the sting out of his bottom. He picked up the photograph. "There was only one tour bus booked in today. We always book tour buses. They are the most likely folks to get lost. This one was a summer camp group, twenty kids and three camp leaders."
"Do you know where they were from?" asked Tony.
"Yeah, Camp Winnemucca; I don't know where it is, but they had a three hour bus ride there and back," said David.
Tony got out his cell and typed a quick text to Tim requesting a search on the location of Camp Winnemucca. "Three hours, she should have gotten there by now. You can save us a lot of time, if we know where she was heading from there… Ben?" questioned Tony, levelling his eyes at the boy in the middle and their leader.
Ben looked at Tony and his uncle, but remained silent.
"Your turn," said David and picked up Ben. Jarrod stood up. But before he could say or do anything, David levelled him with a firm order. "Sit down, you're next. Chelsea has granted me parental rights. So unless you are about to tell me where Marley is headed right now, sit down and wait your turn."
David pulled out Ben's chair and put the child in the same position he'd had Ethan in earlier. Before Ben could protest he landed a rather hard wallop to the boy's backside. "We've had enough stalling, Ben. You tell us where Marley is right this very minute!" He demanded and landed another smack with the open palm of his hand.
The strength of the blow to Ben's jean clad rump dislodged the boy's cell phone from his pocket and sent it clattering to the floor. David stopped his interrogation and watched Jarrod pick it up and start to hide it.
"Don't even think it," warned Tony, holding out his hand for the cell. Jarrod reluctantly handed it over, just as the ping of a text message was heard. Tony flipped it opened and read the message. He looked at all three boys, Ben, still perched venerably over his uncle's knee, included. "You wanna explain this…" asked Tony, showing the cell phone message to the boys.
Trans shot 7; Xclose Up of hand holding cell phone, segue & XFade to hands and phone / different make of cell phone. Interrogation R1. Zoom out on Lau Quing is holding the cell phone.
"So you have some old message codes, so what. It proves nothing, Mr Secretary," stated Lau Quing, though not with the same level of confidence he'd shown hours earlier.
"They're your cell phones, Lau Quing. And they prove a lot," sneered SecNav.
"Including your motivation for murder and kidnapping. Devlin knows you have her, and he also knows you killed his son," added Vance.
"And Devlin knows everything about you and your terrorists activities," continued Clayton Douglas. "He knows of your government's involvement, and he knows he has their sanction. They have been given him amnesty in this investigation with the promise of getting rid of you. So, there is nothing you can hold over Devlin anymore to keep him from giving us all the evidence we need."
For the first time in the three hour interrogation Lau Quing looked worried. "Except…except, he does not know who has his grandchild, does he? And until he knows, he will not say a thing."
"We do not take kindly to children being kidnapped by terrorists," threatened Vance. "We will find her, and when we do you'll be going away for a very long time. Somewhere; where they have their own methods of dealing with child abductors as well as terrorists. "
"Yes," added SecNav, "I'd say somewhere along the lines of FOREVER!"
"Okay, wait… wait. I'll help you with the girl's disappearance and Patrick's murder, but you cannot trust Angus Devlin. You will not be able to use his testimony against me. He will be perceived as an unreliable witness," bargained Lau Quing.
"Really? Well Marley first, then we will discuss your theory," said Vance.
Both men were leaning in closely to the now very nervous terrorist, with Vance very subtly clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Marley, yes alright then. I never knew the child even existed. Henry played that one close to his chest," admitted Lau Quing.
"Devlin kept Marley out of the picture because he wanted to protect her!" ground out Vance.
"Yes, exactly, so how did I know about her then? How did I plan a kidnapping? Why would I really take the chance on you finding a way to nullify my diplomatic immunity? That would have been foolish of me. But, it ended up being quite handy, yes, for both of us. Devlin thinks I have the child, so he doesn't talk. But, Mr Secretary, I do not have the child, and I do not know where she is."
"You are lying!"
"I am not. You may tell that to Angus Devlin, and he can tell you everything you want to know. But, you will not be able to use his testimony, he will not be credible," repeated Lau Quing.
"Why?" Clayton Douglas slammed the table. "You think he will not be credible because you held the fact of his son's death over him? Or did you make a similar threat against his family? Did you threaten the boy's good name, taint him as a traitor and a spy for your corrupt little business ventures? Devlin is no longer scared of that. We know the truth, and he has amnesty in all of the business ventures. He has been working undercover for us!"
Lau Quing looked momentarily shocked at this latest bit of news before resuming his poker face. "His amnesty, his deals with you will not matter, Mr Secretary. Because, the fact remains I did not kidnap Marley, and I did not kill Patrick Devlin."
"Oh, so who did?" asked Vance.
Trans shot 8: CA to Interrogation Room 2. Segue and XCU of Angus Devlin's face.
"I did!" choked Angus Devlin, looking Gibbs straight in the eyes as the special agent leaned over him. Devlin stood up and Gibbs straightened, watching as the man suddenly paced the room. "I killed my own son, Agent Gibbs."
"You picked him up that night at the club?"
"Yes, he phoned me. Henry had been delayed, and he'd sent a message sayin g he would join us at the Georgetown house. Once we got there we went into the study. Patrick wanted to talk to me. He said he had something urgent to tell me. I poured us a drink, and he told me about getting the Hanson girl being pregnant. He said it was mistake, that he didn't love her. He loved Arielle. But, he wouldn't leave the girl stranded, nor would he start his marriage out with such a secret. We argued about it. I said some things … bad things I shouldn't have. Patrick was making real headway in linguistics, and I was annoyed that he was transferring. While he never revealed any classified information about the region's military security, Lau Quing was much more confident and willing to take the risks in building our import business."
"Because he was having Patrick's translations intercepted. He bugged Patrick's phone," informed Gibbs, still a little shocked by the confession, but attempting to put the pieces all together.
"I know that now, but not that night. Neither did Patrick, or so I thought. Patrick had been offered the transfer because it paid more money. It was also a promotion. He decided he would take it so he could support Marley and her mother. I was enraged. The Chinese take this sort of thing seriously. If Arielle didn't break off the engagement, Lau Quing would. Our business partnership would be dissolved. I had a lot of money to lose. My personal investment was millions. We also would have lost everything we'd accomplished. All because he was irresponsible and got a girl pregnant, one who didn't love him and, from what I knew about the family, was mentally unstable. I suggested she best get rid of it. Hell, I'd pay for the abortion."
Gibbs instinctively growled.
"Your reaction, Agent Gibbs, is similar to Patricks. I said things I should never have said. My boy was an honorable man. I should have revelled in that, but I was blinded… by… by…"
"Greed!"
"Yes, at the time. It was that and fear." Angus Devlin shook his head. "Patrick lunged at me. We fought. Patrick was a trained officer. He was stronger than me, disciplined, but his effort was really half hearted. I doubt whether he really intended to do me harm. He'd never gone against me. He wanted to ruffle me up. I tried backing him up, but he lunged again, pushing me down to the ground, all the time yelling at me. What sort of man did I think he was? He didn't need me. He didn't need anything I had to offer to do what was right. He said he was being investigated. His whole department was, and my association with Lau Quing was only adding more pressure. His engagement to Arielle and my business with Lau Quing had made him a prime suspect. And that if Arielle couldn't accept this, then fine. It was her decision, and maybe it was all a set up anyway. I believed them to be all such lies. I stood up and pushed him back again, saying that what did that have to do with this situation. Maybe nothing, or maybe a lot, he yelled.
He pushed me again and punched me in the jaw. I grabbed his pant leg, trying to stop my fall. I hadn't realized I'd pulled so hard. He slipped on the rug and hit his head on the corner of the desk. He then hit the floor hard. He slumped immediately, blood poured out of a head wound. But his eyes, Agent Gibbs, he … he was dead. It was my fault."
"So you rolled him up and planted him in his car to made it look like a suicide?" Gibbs accused, straight faced and revealing no empathy.
"I couldn't have thought that straight at the time, Agent Gibbs. That was Lau Quing's idea. He came in as I was leaning over Patrick. I asked him to help, call an ambulance, even though I knew Patrick was dead. Lau Quing just started giving me orders. I was on remote, but when I stopped and shook my head at him, No… it was an accident I needed to report it..."
"But, Lau Quing convinced you otherwise."
"Yes. He told me that Patrick had been right. That he had bugged Patrick's phone. Patrick had been supplying him with classified information, and he knew about it. I told him I didn't believe it. He said that they would find the proof, and we had to hide him. If I didn't help him he would supply the authorities with the details. Patrick would have been labelled a spy and a terrorist. I would be charged with his murder motivated by the fear of discovery of my own involvement. Lilith would be devastated that I killed her son, and I would be ruined financially, leaving her without any means of support. I had lost everything and the control to do anything about it."
"He blackmailed you."
"Yes… We rolled up Patrick's body and took him to the car club. Lau Quing put the cell phones in his car... I couldn't have that. If they found his body, then those would have been proof that Patrick was involved. I didn't believe he was. I now know he wasn't. While Lau Quing took my car with Patrick's body to the national park, I was to drive the Maverick. But, I dumped the phones that were in the trunk as soon as Lau Quing was out of sight. Once we got to the park, we found a secluded spot and put Patrick's body in the front seat of his car. Lau Quing returned to his car and got Patrick's gun. He tripped with it coming back to the Maverick, and it went off. He said we should make it look like a suicide over the Hanson girl and the disgrace he would be causing Arielle. I was not coping well at this stage, and Lau Quing insisted that I go back to the car, so I did. Lau Quing shot him in the head…I heard it…" Tears were now streaming down Angus Devlin's face. "He must have planted the bottle of bourbon and, unbeknownst to me, Patrick's cell phone in the glove box."
Gibbs threw Ducky's coroner's report on the table. "All the evidence we've collected supports those events. However, Patrick was not dead when Lau Quing put that bullet in him."
Devlins head snapped up. "Agent Gibbs, no… No I saw his eyes," pleaded Devlin.
"His head injury was serious, and would have required instant medical attention. Even that may not have saved him, but he was alive, Devlin."
Angus Devlin paled and dropped his heads in his hands, rocking it side to side. "I can't live with this anymore. I've had to watch Lilith all these years pining for our boy. I couldn't have Rose Hanson or Marley on the scene, either. Lau Quing was ruthless. Your Detective Franks at the time was onto to it, I guessed. I wouldn't have lasted a week after we reported Patrick missing, but your intelligence agency… and Clayton…"
"Douglas?"
"They approached me. They knew about Lau Quing and wanted to get him. They also knew Patrick's cell had been bugged. I wanted to prove my son innocence. Agent Gibbs, I wanted Lau Quing caught," spat Devlin. "So I agreed to help them. Play along with Lau Quing, and have him thinking he had me over a barrel with Patrick's murder. That way I could get the information, help set up the covert operations, and prove that Patrick had nothing to do with it. As soon as they were ready to take Lau Quing down, I would testify for them. I planned to tell them about Patrick as well." Angus Devlin dropped his head once more and scrubbed the tears from his face.
Gibbs's cell phone suddenly vibrated and wobbled on the table. He snatched it up and flipped open its cover, then read the message. Arrived; need 2 X the lake. ETA at dest 30mins… Cinderella.
"What the F…" he mumbled. Gibbs tapped his ear piece… "You heard Devlin's statement, SecNav. You can hit the warehouses. And get Devlin a good lawyer," he snapped.
Angus through his arm out, "No… Agent Gibbs…Wait. Lau Quing has Marley, and he will kill her. I know he will. Please, I can't ever go back… Lilith… I will never be able to face her. She won't want to see me either. At least Marley… There has got to be some goddamn good out of this for her."
"Lau Quing doesn't have Marley. I told you that," snapped Gibbs.
"Then who…"
Abby suddenly burst into the room. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs…"
"Abby!"
"I know, Gibbs. I'm not allowed to barge in on an interrogation, but this important. I know where Marley is," she said excitedly as she handed Gibbs her IPad and pointed to the map. "I should have guessed it. We were talking the other night. Well I did guess it, I worked out where this summer camp is, and…"
"Abby, this is too small," complained Gibbs as he looked at the screen.
"Oh, where are your glasses. Gibbs? Oh never mind, look!" Abby enlarged the map on the tablet and pointed to the graphic image of a map pin.
Gibbs shook his head. He flipped his cell phone open again and started dialling.
CA to a Long Shot of Marley trying a canoe to a small pier bollard.
Marley took out her cell phone, checked her GPS, and followed the directions. She came to the main street of the little quiet town, noting the row of old fashioned shops and cafés. Having spotted the house she was looking for, she ran up to the side door and knocked. She could hear the occupant shuffling towards her, mumbling about the late hour. Then she heard a phone ring and the footsteps turned around and headed away from her.
Marley knocked again and was relieved when she heard a gruff voice yell, "Hold on, someone's at the door!"
The door was quickly pulled open, and Marley smiled at the old man, taking in his familiar features. He looked down at her and frowned. "What in god's name…"
"Hi, I'm Marley Rose Hanson, now Riggs hope to be Gibbs, and I need a place to lay low for a couple of hours. And you are my surrogate grandpa, Jackson Gibbs. Nice to meet you!" announced Marley, with a grin ear to ear as she held out her hand.
Jackson Gibbs looked stunned, and then he remembered the phone. "Leroy!"
FREEZE FRAME: Cut to still. Mid shot profile hot of Marley smiling and standing in a door way; her hand stretched out in a greeting. Convert Black and white. CUT. Add… SFX; Gibbs voice over; Dad! Dad! Pick up the phone!
TBC Chapter 13: BPC: By Parent Command, or EPD: Extra Punitive Duties.
A.N. Sorry for the long wait. I finally have a new computer but I'm battling with windows 8 I'll get there. Meanwhile Kudos to Harliquinn for beta'ing this in between writing their own stuff. Check out Harliquinn's new 'Firefly' and 'Arrow stories.
