During the past two years, Tim had learned to gauge his superior's moods. By the way he walked or raised an eyebrow. Or often, like now, by the way he drove. Tim could tell when Gibbs was pleased, angry or simply determined from these simple actions. Right now, he was bordering on furious.
Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Tim saw a very pale Walter in the rear seat, stoically looking straight ahead, a trace of panic in his eyes. Tim not-so-fondly remembered one of his first rides with an angry Gibbs and sympathized with the Brit as he turned back to focus out the front window. In an attempt at distraction, he commented, "I don't get it."
"Get what?" Walter responded from the back seat, his voice only the slightest bit shaky.
"Why they lie to us. They never get away with it. Look at Robin Stevenson," McGee gestured with the search warrant in his hand. "She could have helped us, now she could be charged as an accessory after the fact, depending on what we find at her place."
"Human nature, I'm afraid, Tim. The old self-preservation instinct kicking in." Walter shifted in his seat and continued, steadier now. "No one wants to know anything at all about a dead body. Too risky."
McGee sighed, but before he could speak, Gibbs had his say. "I don't give a damn why she lied. I'm getting to the bottom of this and I'm doing it with or without her help."
Two minutes later they pulled up in front of a modest suburban home outside Washington DC proper. Gibbs was out of the car and striding toward the front door instantly, leaving Tim and Walter to catch up.
Gibbs was pounding on the front door as the other two men stepped up onto the small porch. "Robin Stevenson! NCIS! Open up!" Gibbs stated loudly.
The door swung open and the raven-haired woman shushed them frantically. "Do you mind? What will my neighbors think?"
Gibbs shook his head lightly as he took the warrant from McGee's hand. "I don't care what they think. I have a warrant to search your property for the photographs of Captain Haggerty and Helena Downey, taken by you at Antonio's café four days ago." He watched as she sucked in a breath. "Don't bother to deny it, we have you on surveillance camera," he said coldly.
"Also included in that warrant, Ms. Stevenson, is Captain Haggerty's laptop," Tim continued. This they knew was a long shot, but if there was even the slightest chance that Haggerty had given his laptop to her, they didn't want to miss the opportunity to obtain it. The mention of the captain's computer, however, provoked a reaction in her, as she was jostled by the recently arrived agents who would be conducting the search.
"Philip's laptop? I don't have his laptop! I have the photos…" She twisted around to see several agents beginning to sort through her belongings. "Hey, stop that!" She turned back and shot Gibbs an irritated glare. "Look, I'll give you the damn pictures, all right! But I don't have his laptop. Can't you make them stop going through my things?"
Gibbs looked at her impassively. "You should have cooperated with me earlier."
"Dammit! Agent…" she shook her head. "I. Don't. Have. It. I never did. All I had were the stupid pictures and I couldn't see what those could possibly have to do with your investigation, all right?" She twisted her fingers together, partly in anger, partly in agitation as the sounds of the search continued.
"What's relevant and what's not is for me to decide, not the witnesses. Now you and I are going to go for a little ride back to NCIS headquarters. McGee, you stay here, make sure you get me everything that has to do with those photos." McGee saw the woman wince at Gibbs' sharp words. "And see if you can't find Haggerty's laptop while you're at it."
Gibbs turned toward Walter. "Sinclair, cuff her." Robin blanched at these words.
Walter cleared his throat. "Right, Sir. Ah, do you think the restraints are truly necessary?"
Gibbs, who had turned toward the car, turned back. "You're riding in the back with her. You trust her that much?"
Walter looked the woman up and down very slowly, clearly assessing the likelihood that she would try to escape or do damage. "Sorry, miss," he said as he took the handcuffs Tim held out for him.
Tim nodded and thought about what Walter had said earlier; self-preservation wins out over just about everything. No way he'd have ridden with an un-cuffed suspect, no matter how harmless they looked. He turned and headed into the house to supervise the search effort.
