Chapter Thirteen
May Black looked around the grey-walled room. The grey colour depressed her. She knew Rupert had been in here a few hours before. She was slightly sorry that Rupert had gotten caught up in this whole situation but not as sorry as she should be; after all Rupert Carmichael had had his own reasons for killing Leo. She remembered meeting him, when she was in a taxi-cab. She had realized Leo was cheating on her again.
It was raining in DC; hardly anything new, but May Black found herself without an umbrella. She was furious at herself for forgetting it, as she had recently dyed her hair and she knew the continuous exposure to the heavy downpour would ruin her dye job. As she took cover under the awning of a shop, she wondered why she bothered, why she did not just allow it to go gracefully grey. The answer was simple; she did it for her husband so she could pretend he was still interested in her. She did it so she could pretend she was still young and blonde. Of course, her efforts to keep her husband interested were failing. Leo seemed less and less interested in her.
A taxi-cab pulled up in front of her.
"Need a ride?" The grey-haired driver said, leaning out of the driver's window.
"Yes," May said as she ran to car, trying and failing to keep herself dry with her hands. The driver all but laughed at her.
She sat down in the seat and told him where she needed to go. She picked up her cellphone and dialled Leo's number.
"Hello?" A woman asked in a soft exotic voice. May hung up. She kicked the chair and banged her fists on the leather back.
"Bastard!" She screamed.
"Ma'am," the driver said. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't beat up my car."
"He's cheating on me with some exotic woman," May said. "Bastard!"
"Get a divorce," he said as he drove along the road.
"He won't divorce me until he retires from the Navy; it will look bad for him if he divorces." May said, "And this isn't the first time. I want to kill him!" She banged the seat again.
"I'm sure it could be arranged," Rupert said as he looked at the photo of his son dressed in his Navy uniform. May looked at him through the rearview mirror. She nodded.
Gibbs walked in carrying a cup of coffee.
"One of my agents has a saying," Gibbs said. "It's always the wife who did it." "You want to know why?" May whispered.
"I've had three ex-wives; all three have tried to kill me. It was because he cheated," Gibbs said. He had only cheated on one of his wives, Diane. It had been with Jenny; and to be fair Diane had been cheating on Jethro with Fornell for the majority of their short-lived marriage. Diane had only divorced him seven months before Emily Fornell was born
"It wasn't just with the Israeli woman; it was every damn woman he could find. He even paid for one of them to get an abortion in 1994," May said. "He would not divorce me because he thought that a wife would benefit his career."
"Where does Rupert Carmichael come into it?" Gibbs asked.
"We met a few times. He told me about his son; he died on a Navy ship that blew up. His son only joined the Navy to pay for college. Rupert was angry. He wanted someone to pay," May whispered. "He wanted the money too."
May sat down in the park. Rupert looked up.
"You should let it go grey," Rupert told her as she sat next to him.
"What?" May said.
"Your hair," Rupert said, "It's pretty."
"Rupert," May whispered. "Why are you agreeing to do this?" Rupert was silent; he looked around the park, directly at a father and son who were playing ball.
"The Navy killed my son," Rupert said as he handed May a photo of him and his son, who was dressed in his Navy uniform. May felt a tear prick her eyes. "He was on a ship that blew up."
"I'm sorry," May whispered.
"I just wanted Leo to stop cheating. I wanted to have a good marriage. I was sick of being the butt of the jokes by the other wives. I wanted him to pay for all the times he walked in and smelt of exotic perfume, or all the times I heard him talk to the women over the phone and arrange dates and hotels." May said.
Gibbs walked out as May broke down.
XXX
Eli David hung up the phone on the ambassador in the US. He found he disliked Ori Likud's phone manners. He had been told Michael Bashan had quit, because of Eli's ex-wife and Bashan's former lover Rivka. Eli kicked his desk in anger. Malachi Ben-Gidon let himself into Eli's office; he had a sad look on his face.
"I will order another desk," Malachi said as he looked at the gaping hole Eli had created in his desk.
"Do it in the morning," Eli said as he checked the time, "Go home, call Liat, do whatever it is you people do." Eli found himself wishing he had someone to go home to; he was sleeping with the married female deputy director Channah Calev, but she had decided to go home to her husband and child, much to Eli's disappointment.
"We are no longer doing what we are doing." Malachi said, as he found Eli's secret supply of alcohol. "She said she liked me a lot."
"I imagine that happens when you sleep with someone for a few months," Eli said, speaking more for himself than for Malachi. Malachi was a man who hopped between women like a pilot hopped on planes. Almost every woman in Mossad had slept with Malachi; it would be no surprise to Eli if Ziva was on the list.
"I do not want that," Malachi said taking a long sip of alcohol, "May I speak honestly, sir?"
"Never stopped you before," Eli said as he looked at the bottle of alcohol; he was tempted to take the bottle and drink the majority of it.
"I've seen how your family suffered because of your job; I could not do that to someone. I cannot be the parent that misses soccer games or the husband who is never there. My father was bad enough," Malachi said. Eli felt a tiny bit of sympathy for the younger man; his father had been a general in the IDF and had been home about as often as Eli had been with his children. Malachi's long-suffering mother Gillah had killed herself when Malachi was away in the army, realizing she had nothing left to live for. "So I break up with the girls when they start telling me they like me; it's easier to hurt them early on than string them along, and hurt them even more." Eli got up and grabbed the bottle of alcohol. He did not even bother with a glass; he put the bottle to his lips Malachi's words stung him.
"Go home Malachi." Eli said. Malachi walked out no doubt to head to the clubs in the centre of Tel Aviv. Eli picked up his phone.
XXX
Michael Bashan drove his car down Embassy Row; he felt strangely relieved having quit, though he would miss his nightly walks, when he saw the embassy staff from various places hiding their vices, extra-marital affairs, and drinking problems. He would not miss having to sneak the ambassador's son Chaim in and force him into the shower, so Chaim's mother would not smell the drugs and alcohol on him; nor would he miss the ambassadress's flirty mother. His phone rang, playing the default factory ringtone. He recognized the caller ID. Eli David. He gulped and pressed the green button.
"You bastard!" Eli David shouted skipping awkward small talk. Bashan took a deep breath.
"Eli," Bashan said.
"She is my wife," Eli shouted. "Screwing her for the majority of my marriage was not enough for you?"
"Was," Bashan said. "She was your wife. You two have been divorced for twenty years."
"She is mine." Eli shouted even louder than before. "She is not for you to take. You cannot take my family from me."
"Just like NCIS took Ziva," Bashan uttered in a mocking tone. "Because Ziva certainly does not seem to believe they took her; if anything she believes they saved her from herself and from you. How long would it have been until Ziva ended up like Ari? How long before Rivka ended up like Hazmia?" Bashan remembered many of his and Eli's meetings, where Eli had suggested Ari's mother be killed in a retaliatory strike as she had served her purpose. He remembered Ziva's words when she had been at the embassy after the Iranians she had told Bashan how Eli had found a solution for Ari, and his actions on American soil.
"How dare you?" Eli shouted. Bashan heard him throw something.
"Neither Ziva nor Rivka are for you to control. They are able to make their own decisions, live their own lives. As am I. I quit." Bashan heard Eli kick something, and hung up the phone.
Bashan drove along the empty road; he turned his music up loudly and took off his tie. Eli had not ended the telephone call with threats. Eli knew Bashan would defend himself if Eli tried, and Eli would not try to hurt his ex-wife or estranged daughter, because despite the fact that he hated that they had left him, he still cared for the both of them and would not have the heart to kill them.
Bashan kept driving until he reached NCIS and Rivka. I'm free he thought I am finally free.
A/N: I took a break from writing complicated!Eli and decided to write Bastard!Eli that's the last you'll see of him folks.