NCIS HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON D.C.
Kate and Tim were doing background checks on Lieutenant Makepeace, both concentrating on his family in general and his older brother in particular. Gibbs had left the building, probably going for a refill of his coffee.
"Colonel Robert Makepeace," McGee read out loud. "A colonel for four years now, and stationed at Cheyenne Mountain for almost three years. Has a small apartment in Colorado Springs, but is hardly there, though."
Kate looked up from her files. "Why is that?"
"Payments of rent, electricity, phone bills and so on are all automated. His electrical bill however shows great difference in usage, as if he's not using his heater and lights for... like months," McGee looked up to meet Kate's gaze. "And I've also looked a little bit further in his phone records. There's long periods of time in which he made no phone call at all, then followed by a shorter period with some conversations."
"He's away a lot," Kate nodded in agreement.
"What are they doing inside that mountain?" McGee looked puzzled. "I can't imagine anything being that important that they won't let you outside for weeks?"
"Must be pretty important stuff," Kate replied. "But who says they spent their time inside that mountain? Maybe it's all a cover-up story for some secret missions elsewhere."
"Yeah, maybe," McGee looked back at his screen.
"What did he do prior to his job at Cheyenne Mountain?" Kate wanted to know.
"He was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in southern San Bernardino County, California. He was a teacher of the ground task force Training Command and one of the founders of the program Mojave Viper, a pre-operation Iraqi Freedom."
"So the colonel certainly is familiar with combat situations," Kate reasoned.
"I'd say so," McGee agreed. "Or he at least has enough knowledge of combat to be qualified as a trainer."
"What does that tell us?" Gibbs asked, surprising both agents by suddenly standing there, sipping from his coffee.
Kate shrugged. "That he's a highly trained officer who has a sudden interest in deep space telemetry?"
Gibbs grinned, then turned to McGee. "Found anything that could indicate his younger brother's involvement in the treason?"
McGee shook his head. "I've scanned the colonel's phone records, and none were made to his younger brother. There's a few calls to the state of Virginia, but they all trace back to an old girlfriend. No phone calls from the lieutenant's home to Colorado Springs either."
"They could have used a phone booth or a cell phone with one of those pre-paid cards," Kate suggested. "And they could have met in person."
Gibbs gave a brief nod. "Look further, McGee." He looked up as the elevator door slid open.
Tony DiNozzo stepped out, followed by a tall Air Force colonel, dressed in his service dress uniform, ribbons pinned neatly in rows on his chest. His appearance didn't go by unnoticed, as everybody in the bullpen looked up from his or her work to throw an admiring glance at the visitor.
DiNozzo led the way, babbling like a tour host, as he indicated around the bullpen, explaining things to the colonel.
The colonel however wasn't paying attention to the bullpen, nor did he seem to be aware of the people that were staring at him. His eyes quickly darted from left to right and his gaze found McGee, then Kate before making eye contact with Gibbs.
"Colonel O'Neill," Gibbs started. He quickly finished his coffee and tossed the empty paper cup in the trash can. "Welcome to NCIS."
"Special Agent Gibbs," O'Neill responded with a nod. He raised a hand to take off his cap, then quickly ran a hand through his short silver hair.
Gibbs pointed. "Special Agents Todd and McGee."
Colonel O'Neill acknowledged them both with a nod. "I'm not a big fan of formalities," he excused himself for keeping it brief, then looked at the big screen, where a picture of Robert Makepeace was shown. "So I heard you found this man's younger brother."
"We did," Gibbs replied. "Heard you were looking for him."
O'Neill glanced sideways. Apparently, Gibbs was also a man getting right to the point. "I was."
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Because," O'Neill answered, his dark brown eyes locking on the former gunnery sergeant, "his brother asked me to."
Gibbs frowned in surprise. "You mean after his arrest?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Don't know," O'Neill shrugged.
"Then why did you start looking for the younger man?" Gibbs wanted to know.
"Because it seemed important to Robert. Because I owed him."
"All right," Gibbs, satisfied with that answer for the moment, decided to come forward with some information. "We found him. He's dead. Tortured, then murdered. Think it's got anything to do with what this guy," he pointed with his free arm at the screen, "was doing before he got busted?"
"That's what I intend to find out," O'Neill answered.
"What was Colonel Makepeace arrested for?" Kate asked.
"Treason," O'Neill replied, turning to look at the only woman in Gibbs' team.
"Yes, we heard that," Kate said. "What was he selling, and to whom?"
"That," O'Neill said with a shrug, briefly glancing at her, "would be... classified."
"Ah." That wasn't very helpful, Kate thought.
Colonel O'Neill turned back to look at Gibbs. "If these two cases are connected, we're going to have a problem. I can't give you classified information, and you know that."
"It's need to know..." Gibbs said, "and you think we don't need to know. What I'm interested in is finding the person responsible for the death of our Marine. If I can find him without that information, so be it. If I can't..." He paused, glaring at the colonel, "we are going to have a problem."
O'Neill paused as well, without breaking eye-contact. After what seemed minutes, he replied, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I'll give you all the help I can."
Gibbs, still not looking down, tried to determine the other man's honesty. Trusting his guts, he nodded and answered, "Fair enough." He turned to face the youngest member of his team. "McGee. Fill the colonel in."
McGee, his eyes still wide from staring at the scene that had taken place in front of him, let out a breath and stood up, his fingers running over his keyboard as he flipped some images on the big screen. "Two days ago, two boys, age fifteen, were riding their skateboards in Princeton Corner. They came around a corner of an alley and slammed into a dead body..." He continued his story, piece by piece explaining their findings, showing images on the screen when it was appropriate.
Colonel O'Neill listened, and slightly winced at the mention of the shooting in the warehouse. He frowned at the mention of the lieutenant's apartment being thoroughly searched. At the end of McGee's report, he wondered, "So you don't know who that guy in the warehouse is, and don't know if he's related to the murder?"
"Nope," Gibbs responded. "We haven't been able to identify him. His prints didn't show up in any of the databases we matched them against."
"And you said Lieutenant Makepeace was tortured? How?"
Gibbs started walking, indicating with his head for the other man to follow. "Come on, I'll show you."
Colonel O'Neill followed and both men got into the elevator which was going to take them down to autopsy.
---oo---oo---
