The morning sun baked the gravel road as they rolled along, tipping slightly with the occasional bump. The lead they were following was an older couple that held the deed to the building they'd found the bodies. They had come forward when Gibbs was following up on some background research on the victim's location. A house appeared around the corner as they continued down the dirt road. Gibbs and Kate got out of the car, pushing the doors closed they looked at the house; shielding their eyes from the sun.
"Can I help you?" the older woman asked, opening the front door.
"Yes, Special Agents Gibbs, Todd, NCIS, we're here to ask you about the restaurant," Gibbs said, flashing both sides of his badge.
"I don't know if I have anything useful to tell you…but I'll answer your questions," the woman explained.
"Anything you know will help," Kate said, following the woman into her home. The woman's home was cluttered and the smell of cat food lingered in the air.
"Mrs. Cadwell, we understand that there's been some interest in a restaurant you hold the deed to," Gibbs began.
"Please, call me Marg," the older woman said, interrupting Gibbs' train of thought, "and yes there was a sudden interest in that building."
"Did you ever see this person?" Kate asked, taking a seat on the worn down couch.
"No…I only spoke on the phone with him," Marg began, "my husband, Doug, always met with the potential tenants."
"Did he ever tell you what this man was like?" Gibbs asked, immediately noting that she was sure it was a male tenant.
"No…he never said anything about the person, I don't even know if it was the same person I talked with," Marg explained.
"Ok…can you tell us about the man you talked with on the phone that day?" Gibbs asked, determined to get something of use from this woman.
"He definitely had an accent…very noticeable," Marg said, trying her best to recall the call.
"Ok, thank you Mrs. Cadwell…is your husband around? I would like to talk with him then we'll be out of your hair," Kate said, standing up.
"Yes, I believe he's out in the back doing some yard work," Marg said, "I'm sure he'll gladly help."
"Ok, thank you ma'am," Kate said, reaching into her jacket, grabbing a NCIS card, "you can call us here if you think of anything."
Gibbs followed Kate out to the yard, into the burning sun which was now over head.
"May I ask why you felt the need to leave the room so abruptly?" Gibbs asked irritation evident in his voice.
"I think this was something Ari put together, he got all these people involved, making it impossible to pin it solely on him; logically speaking of course," Kate said.
"Kate…I know you hate Ari, I don't think there's a single person that doesn't working at NCIS, but you can't just pin it on the people you hate, it would be too easy," Gibbs said, "I know this is personal, it makes you feel like he's got a conspiracy against you and your family…and to be honest I think Mrs. Cadwell has more to say."
"Damn it Gibbs, she doesn't know anything more than we just got out of her, she said her husband handles the business side of the building, he picks the tenants," Kate said, "and what if I'm right, what if this is a master-mind plan put in motion by Ari…I want to stop him for good."
"Ok, let's just find Mr. Cadwell and see what we can get out of him," Gibbs said. They walked up the grassy hill, most of which was dead towards what appeared to be a barn resting on the top of the small hill. As they approached they heard the sounds of horses within the doors.
Gibbs reached out and knocked twice, "Mr. Cadwell…are you in here?"
There was a subdued rustling and then the sound of the doors being unlocked. Soon the two of them were face –to-face with the perfect East coast cowboy. Short, in blue jean overalls, plaid shirt and a straw cowboy hat covering what appeared to be a balding scalp.
"Can I help you two?" the man asked.
"Are you a Mr. Doug Cadwell?" Kate asked.
"Why, yes, yes I am," He said, taking off his cowboy hat, whipping the sweat from his head, "can I help you two with something?"
"Special Agents Gibbs, Todd," Gibbs said; flashing both sides of his badge the second time that day.
"Oh yes, Marg mentioned you might be stopping by," he said, a slight tension throughout his body was evident.
"Has there been anything suspicious going on at 1432 Liberty Avenue, anything you can think of?" Gibbs asked, eyeing the cowboy in front of him.
"Well…a few weeks ago a man called into the office with some interest in the property, something about wanting to open his own restaurant," Doug explained, "why…did something happen?"
"Yes, Mr. Cadwell, something did happen, we found my brother and his girlfriend murdered there," Kate said, losing control of her temper.
"Can you tell us anything about the men you were in contact with?" Gibbs asked.
"I didn't really have much contact with them, I wasn't even sure it was more than one man," Doug began, clearing his throat, "I don't really deal with showing property, so I only saw one of the people once in the office, just in passing."
"Ok…well…if you remember what this mystery person looked like at all, give me a call," Gibbs said, handing him a card. They both turned and walked away, heading back to the car; neither saying a word. Kate knew she made an error, no agent was supposed to let a case get personal, no matter how personal it really was.
Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out the car remote to unlock the doors. He knew Kate was under a lot of stress; but they couldn't handle anything like that happening again. It was bad enough to not know anything, much less their leads not knowing much either.
"You need to keep your emotions in control Kate," Gibbs said, his anger evident, "we can't let an agent's thoughts get in the way; it's bad enough that we don't' know anything about the team that did this. If this happens again, you'll be behind your desk, off this case entirely. Understood?"
"Understood…won't happen again," Kate said, turning to Gibbs, "What's the next step?"
"We go back to the office and run a background check on the whole family, I get the feeling Doug is hiding something," Gibbs said, turning back onto the main road.