Kate followed her boss out of the building into the early autumn heat. Her head was foggy from the past few days' events; she couldn't think clearly, and she found herself forgetting important facts. As much as she tried to tell herself that it was the intense family crisis flung upon her just days before, she knew better. Anthony DiNozzo; since when had that name made such a difference in her life? He was always there, dependable; but why this sudden change? To determine whether it was good or bad was easy, in personal terms of course. She knew there'd be a serious explanation due if Gibbs found out about it from someone other than herself or Tony. She thought of him and the masterful torture he'd exuded over her being the previous night; in spite of herself, a deep crimson color her cheeks.
"Is everything alright?" Gibbs asked quietly, though his tone made it clear he was unhappy to see her daydreaming on the job.
"Yes, fine…" snapping suddenly from her daydream, she stammered, climbing into the car, "just a little hot, that's all." For a minute she thought she saw the 'all-knowing' look wash over his face and she panicked suddenly.
"Yea, we're going to need some water," Gibbs said, pulling out onto the main road. Kate thanked her stars that the drive to Natalie's apartment was only thirty-five minutes, arguably long to some in this situation, but they could've been traveling to the edges of Virginia. While a quick stop at the gas station increased the silent time between the two agents, she was thankful for the ice cold bottle of water it produced. She knew she would have to shake the images of the two of them together if she wanted to make it through the day; though seeing Tony later wouldn't help matters. Once on the road to the apartment, there was a silence that built between the two. Kate noticed that Gibbs seemed to be in an unusual mood, asking about alarm clocks and the back-up methods she had if her current one fails again.
Parking the car the two agents climbed out and headed towards the square apartment building. The neighborhood was nice, quiet; plenty of trees lined the streets giving it the classic east coast autumn look this particular day. As they approached they noticed a young woman in the front of the complex working in the yard. As they moved closer to the complex they were able to identify the worker as Natalie.
"Ms. Andrews, NCIS, we're here to ask you a few questions," Gibbs said flatly, leaving Natalie no doubt that she was going to cooperate.
"What can I help you with?" Natalie asked; a soft southern accent flowed with her words. Immediately Kate knew something was deceiving about this girl. She could very well be from the south, but most of her appearance seemed to tell that she was much smarter than the first impression led on.
"We're here about a recent death of a petty Officer…an officer Larsen," Kate explained, letting the name hang in the air.
"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that someone has died…" Natalie said, whipping the sweat from her face with the back of her hand.
"Did you know Ms. Larsen?" Kate asked, her opinion of this young woman souring more by the minute.
"Not really…" the woman said, tugging at her tank top, doing her best to maintain eye contact.
"What about a Ms. Audrey Reyes," Gibbs cut in, his failing patience etched in his tone. Kate pulled out a picture of the woman Tony and McGee were apprehending at this very moment; looking confused Natalie took the picture.
"Again, I don't think I can help you, I believe I've seen her around, but not much more than that," Natalie said, studying the picture intently. Watching this witness, Kate grew more skeptical as every second passed. She was tugging at her clothes; she wouldn't be surprised to see her playing with the silver chain around her neck next. As if Kate had been a mind reader, Natalie's hand found the thin chain at her neck and began to twirl it.
"Do you know what Audrey did?" Kate asked, desperate to maintain the situation so Gibbs wouldn't have a chance to lose his cool. Natalie stopped playing with her necklace suddenly; she looked over their shoulders, lost in thought.
"No…what does this all have to do with me?" she asked, pouring on the southern charm. 'Too bad DiNozzo isn't here, he could charm her right back,' Kate thought smiling to herself.
"We believe that she's involved in the death of Ms. Johanna Larsen, and my brother, Joseph," Kate said, she was now fighting for her patience to stay with her. This girl knew something; she had an instinct about women like this, always intelligent and manipulative on the inside with an innocent, charming quality to show off to the world. She was two – faced and she needed to prove it.
"Oh my," she exclaimed; Kate wanted to strangle her right then, but her common sense held her back.
"Do you know anyone that was close to this woman?" Kate pressed frustration evident in her tone.
"No…not that I could think of," she said, solemnly. 'Damn her, if I was such a good actress I wouldn't have wasted my talent,' Kate thought, doing her best not to scowl, 'she's obviously intelligent, JAG wouldn't have accepted her if she wasn't.'
"Not even family?" the agent asked still fighting the urge to slap her around, "no one?"
"Well…maybe my brother," she finally admitted a second naval connection to the family, "he might've known her better."
"Can we have his name?" Gibbs barked, breaking in; he needed results faster than Natalie was willing to give them up. Kate watched her superior plan his next move; she could see his annoyance clearly expressed in his unyielding gaze.
"Well…I would give you the name but sadly I just dropped him off at the airport this morning," Natalie retorted, gaining control of the situation.
The two agents studied her; seeing if she would continue to fidget. She appeared to hold her innocent outer image well; everything they were observing went against Kate's instincts. Before she knew it Gibbs was handing her their card and the two of them were heading back to the car.
"Please tell me you don't believe her, Gibbs," Kate exclaimed, "she had 'prolific liar' practically tattooed on her forehead."
"I don't trust her either," Gibbs said through clenched teeth, quickly making the point that he wasn't to be questioned.
"She was just so," Kate began, pausing, "two-faced."
"What do you suppose we do?" Gibbs barked at her, "Bring her in for questioning as well? That seems like the obvious plan, but I say we deal with Audrey first and see what we get out of her."
The same uneasy silence washed over the car as they headed back to the office; both preparing for having Audrey held in one of the interrogation rooms, neither expecting her to be questioned quietly. She was a spit-fire; and however long she'd been in the interrogation room she wasn't going to be happy. Gibbs walked into the building, heading straight for the interrogation room; he knew that he would have to get something from Audrey today and fast. Kate followed a few steps behind, as opened the door she saw the obvious happiness wash over her coworkers face; suddenly she felt herself panic. 'I can't believe we are where we are, I promised myself I would never be involved with someone at work…ever.' Kate mentally scolded herself; through her thoughts she had to remind herself to walk in a straight line. She made it to Tony's arms and immediately felt her stress ease away. He dipped his head to kiss her softly and without thinking she turned her cheek. Looking up she saw she'd hurt Tony. Shrugging, not knowing what to do, she muttered something about 'the job they have to do,' and led herself into the interrogation room where Audrey and Gibbs had begun their conversation.
"What do you think we're going to get out of her today?" Tony asked, moving to stand next to Kate.
"Well, based on what we've seen of her previously, not much most likely, we know she's a tough woman," Kate explained, thinking about her fiery expressions the first day they'd met.
"Have I missed anything?" McGee asked, joining the two in the interrogation room.
"Nope, he's just getting started," Kate said, "she's gonna pay if she doesn't cooperate, I can tell you right now." The team fell silent, paying close attention to the scene unfolding in front of them.
"Do you know a Ms. Natalie Andrews," Gibbs asked calmly, speaking through clenched teeth.
"Barely," Audrey began, but Gibbs cut her off.
"Now why don't I believe you?" Gibbs growled.
"I don't know, maybe because you don't want to believe me? You don't want to believe that you could possibly have the wrong woman connected to whatever you're investigating," Audrey spat back at him, trying to get under the silver haired man's skin.
"Don't you play stupid with me," Gibbs growled, standing to move closer to her; willing away any false confidence a normal witness would have. The team watched Audrey's face on the video, and knew she was different; Gibbs was going to have to do better than staring her down to get any information.
"I'm not, I'm simply not giving you the information, I'm going to make you work for it," Audrey taunted, a sarcastic smile forming on her lips.
Gibbs sighed, knowing that this girl was tougher than he'd anticipated after their first meeting, "Alright then, why don't you tell me who you're working for."
"You know that already, I've only got one boss," She said, the same smile still lingering. She knew what she was doing, and Gibbs knew her plan as well.
"McGee!" Gibbs barked, "Run a background check on everyone that's ever worked for World Wide Chefs, Inc." McGee looked like a deer in headlights for a second, and then headed out of the room to the main floor.
Gibbs then leaned down to whisper right in Audrey's ear, "Listen, you better hope there's no classified information in the computers, because if there is anything you are hiding from me, we'll find it and we'll drag you back down here and you'll be in prison faster than you can claim innocence. I'm giving you one chance to give me something that may make both our lives a little easier."
"Try me," Audrey said smugly.
"We will find something on you or what you've been involved with, trust me," Gibbs said, catching her eyes. He stood there studying her for a minute before walking out of the room. Tony and Kate stayed behind to study Audrey's expressions; five minutes later, a security guard entered to escort her back to her home.
"I wonder what she's hiding," Tony asked, intrigued by Audrey's unruly behavior.
"Well, we'll see what she gave us, and then we can decide what she's hiding," Kate explained as if it was the right way to move forward, and the only way. As the elevator began to move, she could feel Tony's eyes on her, studying her every move, even the slightest twitch. Returning to their desks they worked fast to get thorough information on the company, World Wide Chefs, Inc. Even the name was starting to sound awkward to Kate; reminding herself that she had a job to do she returned to pulling profiles of every person associated in some way to the company. Slowly the hours wore on until someone finally reached the head of the company.
"Boss! I've got something!" Tony said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.
"What have you got for me, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said his false enthusiasm already showing as he looked up from his screen.
"The CEO of World Wide Chefs, Inc., Jake Thompson is an excellent chef, as it says here in his profile, but look here," Tony said, as a red dot appeared under the education category on the profile, "he's got his degree in chemistry and physics, then he went to the Atlantic Culinary Academy in New Hampshire…"
"Now why would someone interested in the culinary arts need a degree in chemistry and physics?" Gibbs snapped, interrupting Tony.
"I'm thinking he's not really into the chef part, it's just a cover-up for something bigger," Tony said, "what are we going to do to capture this guy?"
"Kate and I will go to the company headquarters tomorrow and see what we can find out from this guy, whether or not he's sitting on a bigger business," Gibbs said, staring at the picture of the CEO. He knew this man was hiding something and they hadn't even met. He told himself that tomorrow is another day, more time to find out what was going on, and how to stop it. He knew someone was behind this, someone Kate probably knew; that was more unsettling than anything he'd been confronted with in the last five years. At six thirty he finally gave up on the nonstop search for Ari like so much white noise, constant and comforting in the background. As he exited the building a fleeting thought crossed his mind that he could be the bastard behind all of this, bringing Kate pain.