Chapter Two
One Week Earlier
'Nothing better than a Friday morning,' Tony thought as he stepped out of the elevator, 'except maybe a Saturday night.' He walked over to his desk to see Kate and McGee had already arrived and were in the middle of a conversation at McGee's desk. Gibbs wasn't there, but Tony assumed he was probably around somewhere, either with the director or maybe on a coffee run.
As he dropped his bag behind his desk, flung off his jacket, and secured his weapon in his desk, Kate told him, "You're late, Tony."
"Well," Tony replied as he plopped down into his seat and turned his computer on, "I'm here now. So the party can begin."
"What party?" McGee asked, his brows furrowed.
"The party that I bring everywhere I go," Tony explained.
"Exactly how big is your ego, DiNozzo?" Kate asked with the hint of a smile.
Tony just flashed her his signature smile in lieu of a response and opened the file on his desk. "Where's Gibbs?" he finally asked as Kate traveled back to her own desk.
"Director's office," Kate replied. "Something to do with a case."
"What kind of case?" Tony asked.
"When exactly do you think we would've been briefed?" she asked. "He's still up there."
Tony held up his hands in surrender as he said, still with a lighthearted smile, "Just a question, Kate. No need to bite my head off."
"And what question is that, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he walked past them to his desk without looking over.
"Just wondering about the case, boss," Tony said.
"Well, then, grab your gear. Dead petty officer in Norfolk," he said as the three agents grabbed their gear and followed him into the elevator.
The case in question involved a dead petty officer found at the bottom of a river. A fisherman had accidentally discovered the body, in uniform, and called it in.
"Kate, sketch. DiNozzo, shoot. McGee, bag and tag," Gibbs ordered as Ducky and Gerald headed towards the body.
"So, Tony," McGee asked as the three got to work, "why were you late today?"
"Does it matter, McGee?" Kate asked with a smirk directed at Tony. "DiNozzo's always late."
"Hey!" Tony objected. "I'm not always late." At Kate's look, he amended, "Just sometimes." Then, he continued, "And to answer your question, Probie, I may or may not have been trying to secure a date with this coffee shop girl, and I may or may not have lost track of time."
"'Coffee shop girl'?" Kate scoffed. "Did you even get her name?"
"Yes," Tony said. Then, he added with a smile, clearly trying to irk Kate, "It's just a question if I remember it."
"You're horrible, Tony," Kate told him as she walked away from the two men.
"Did you get the date?" McGee wondered.
"Don't encourage him, McGee!" Kate called back.
Tony rolled his eyes at Kate's comment, but nonetheless told McGee, "Of course."
Meanwhile, Gibbs walked over to the dead body. "Got a time of death, Duck?"
"At this time, I can tell you it was within the last three days. I'll have a more accurate answer for you once I can get him back to autopsy," Ducky explained. Then, pulling something, which turned out to be dog tags, out from underneath the man's collar, Ducky announced, "It appears that I can, however, tell you his name. Petty Officer First Class Josh Porter."
Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, Duck."
When they arrived back at NCIS, the three agents were tasked with finding out everything about the dead petty officer while Gibbs went on a coffee run.
As soon as Gibbs had returned and stepped out of the elevator, he called to his team, "Whataya got?"
"Well, Petty Officer Porter doesn't live far from where he was found," Kate explained. "And he's got a wife of 15 years."
"Any problems?" Gibbs wondered.
"No, not that I found. Their relationship seems to be out of a fairy tale," Kate explained. "Got married before he enlisted and actually just renewed their vows two years ago."
"Doesn't mean problems didn't exist behind the scenes," Gibbs reminded her. He turned to Tony. "DiNozzo, whataya got?"
"Well, Petty Officer Porter was found in uniform with his dog tags on," Tony said simply.
"And?" Gibbs wondered, waiting for the purpose of that obvious observation. "You better have more than that, DiNozzo."
"Of course, boss," Tony told him with a cocky smile. When Gibbs just stared at him impatiently, clearly not amused by his agent's theatrics, Tony finally explained as he stood up and handed Gibbs the document to which he was referring, "Well, he wasn't currently enlisted. He was honorably discharged 3 months ago. So unless Ducky is wrong and he was actually murdered 3 months ago—"
"—why is he in uniform?" Gibbs finished with a nod. Then, he turned and said, "Kate, talk to the wife, see what she knows. Take McGee." As Kate and McGee began to depart, he turned to his Senior Field Agent. "DiNozzo, find out everything about Porter's whereabouts these past three months; where he went, who he talked to, who he called, hell, what he ate—everything."
"Got it, boss," Tony told him and got to work.
"I think this is it," Kate said as she pulled up to the house. The two agents hopped out of the car and strode up to the front door. As Kate knocked, McGee asked her, "Do you think she even knows that he's dead?"
"Well, that's what we're here to find out, McGee," Kate replied as the door swung open.
"Hello..?" a woman greeted them, clearly confused as to why they were at her door.
"NCIS, ma'am," Kate said, showing her badge. "Are you Andrea Porter?"
"Yes," the woman said, now looking concerned. "Is this about Josh?"
"Can we come in?" Kate asked her.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," she told the agents as she slowly stepped aside. As they walked past her into the house, they noticed a man sitting on Andrea's couch. Picking up on their unasked question, Andrea explained, "Oh, this is Bill Haywood, my neighbor. He's friends with Josh…" she trailed off. Then, she asked, "I'm sorry, where are my manners? Can I get you a drink? Coffee? Tea? Lemonade?"
"No, thank you," McGee declined as Kate shook her head. "Um, is there somewhere we can talk to you…in private?"
"Yes, of course. Um, why don't we step into the backyard," she said, walking over to a set of french doors leading out to a patio. As Kate and McGee followed, Kate signaled to McGee that he should instead stay inside and get some information out of the neighbor. He nodded and headed over to the man.
"So," McGee began, "you know Andrea and Josh well?"
"Yeah, of course. We've been neighbors for years. We hung out all the time whenever Josh was on leave—you know, game nights, Sunday brunches, that sort of thing," Bill told him. "Is Josh okay?"
"Um, no," McGee answered. "He was found dead this morning. Looks like he was murdered."
"My God," Bill uttered in shock. "Who the hell would want to kill Josh? Everyone loved him. I mean, the whole neighborhood just adored him."
"So you can't think of anybody who might've wanted him dead?"
"Of course not," Andrea answered Kate's question as they sat at one of the patio tables. "I mean, Josh was like a rock star around here. I think people liked him more than they liked me if I'm being honest. He is—I mean, was—the nicest, most kind person you could meet. Always willing to go out of his way to help anyone. I can't think of anyone that would want to kill him."
"When was the last time you saw him?" Kate asked.
"Well, it's been a while. He's been deployed for the past year. He was supposed to be coming home next week. That's why—when you showed up at my door—I knew it had to be about Josh," Andrea said.
"Are you sure?" Kate asked.
"Yes. Why?" Andrea wondered.
"He was honorably discharged three months ago," Kate explained.
"What?" Andrea asked.
"You didn't know?" Kate wondered.
Andrea shook her head. "He never said anything to me. Bill was helping me get the house ready for his welcome home party. Why wouldn't he have said anything to me?"
"So, what are we thinking?" Tony asked that evening as they ate Chinese food at their desks. "Dead guy was having an affair?"
"I don't know," Kate told them. "Andrea was sure he'd never told her about his discharge though. And if not an affair, where did he go?"
"Wherever it was, it might've gotten him killed," Gibbs reminded everyone.
Tony turned to McGee and said, "The neighbor—" as he snapped impatiently at him.
"—uh, Bill Haywood—" McGee supplied the name.
"—yeah. He couldn't think of anyone who'd want Porter dead?" Tony asked.
"No one. He said everyone loved Josh," McGee answered.
"And exactly how good of friends were Josh and this Bill guy?" Tony wondered.
"Close. He said he was at the Porters' house all the time," McGee explained.
"Yeah, wife said the same thing," Kate cut in. "Best of friends. Said Josh told Bill everything."
"So," Tony said, "if Josh told Bill everything—"
"—Bill would know if Josh had been having an affair," McGee finished.
Tony immediately stood up and was already pulling on his jacket when Gibbs told him, "Not tonight, DiNozzo."
"Boss?" Tony asked, looking a little bit dejected at being told he'd have to wait.
"It's almost ten," Gibbs told him. Then, directing his next sentence to the entire team, he ordered, "Go home." The three agents did as they were told and, after gathering their things, headed for the elevator together and rode down to the parking garage.
Tony arrived at his apartment and, after unlocking the door, entered and closed the door behind him. He sighed. He hated starting a case on Friday and then having to wait an entire weekend to continue the case. Unfortunately, this wasn't their weekend on call, so his hunch would have to wait until Monday—well, unless he decided to head back to the office of his own accord, which he'd been known to do on many occasions. But, for the time being, he decided to decompress. After putting his gun away, he stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out a beer. He intended to head over to the couch and turn on the TV and find a movie to watch, but right as he sat down, his cell phone rang. He sat his beer on the coffee table and stood up to answer his phone that he'd left in the kitchen. He glanced at the caller ID: Unknown Number.
Curiosity peaked, he answered the phone with a simple, "DiNozzo."
The voice on the other end, which, Tony noted, seemed to be masking their actual voice, replied, "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
"Who is this?" he asked as he suddenly realized he'd left the door unlocked and quickly went to lock it.
Ignoring his question, the voice explained, "I'll spare you the details as I'm sure you're more than capable of looking into your father's business transactions on your own."
"My father?" Tony wondered as he hadn't so much as spoken to his father in nearly fifteen years. "What are you talking about?"
The voice explained, "Your father owes us. 500,000 to be exact. You have 12 days to pay us back—every cent."
"Well, why are you calling me if my father is the one that owes you money? Why aren't you calling him?" Tony wondered.
"You'll find out soon enough," the voice said.
"I don't have that kind of money," Tony told the voice seriously.
"We're not without sympathy, Agent DiNozzo, and we expected something like this," the voice told him. "So, we're willing to make you a deal. If you can't repay us in cash, we will accept every file, every piece of information the FBI has on the Brick-Hills Organization as a repayment of your father's debt instead."
"Whoa, wait," Tony said, trying to grasp all that the voice had said but finding a problem immediately, "I don't work for the FBI."
"Oh, we know. In fact, we know everything about you, Agent DiNozzo. However, I believe you have the capabilities—and most importantly, the slyness—of getting this information," the voice told him.
"I can't just steal case files from the FBI," Tony said, his voice now hushed, though he wasn't sure why since he was the only one in the apartment.
"It's your choice, Agent DiNozzo. Give us the files or give us 500,000," the voice told him. "You have 12 days."
"And what if I can't?" Tony asked, not looking forward to the answer.
"If you choose to do nothing, you will regret it," the voice said. Before Tony could say anything else, the voice hung up and all Tony could hear was the dial tone.
'This has to be some sort of prank or scam,' Tony thought. 'They can't actually have anything over me. I haven't spoken to my father in years. If they were really keeping tabs on me, they'd know that.' But regardless of how Tony tried to rationalize the call and make it seem like it wasn't a big deal or that there was no actual threat, he couldn't get rid of the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He decided to forgo the movie and instead go straight to bed. Without changing out of his work attire, he slipped into his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if the call had any merit or not, while the water ring around his still unopened beer bottle continued to grow on the coffee table in the next room.
A/N: I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who read, followed, favorited, or reviewed this story. I also want to specifically thank Acrwdof1 for your review as you gave me a great suggestion that I loved and I wanted to give you credit since I decided to incorporate part of it into the story. Also, I want to apologize for any mistakes or inaccuracies I may have made. I'm definitely not an expert, just a fan of the show.