Chapter Seven: California

Tony, Ziva, and McGee were standing in the bullpen of the JAG for the San Diego Naval station. Tony looked around while Ziva and McGee stood impatiently. It seemed that a good deal of the people were not in the office today. Tony walked up to a desk.

"Can I help you?" an Ensign asked Tony. Tony flashed the million dollar smile and leaned down on the desk.

"Yeah, we're here from NCIS from Washington and we need to speak to some people about Lt. Commander Johanna Conrad," Tony said plainly.

"But Lt. Commander Conrad transferred, she isn't here," the ensign said confused.

"What's your name?" Tony asked pointing to the young man.

"Ensign Gabe Glousten," he replied suspiciously.

"Listen, Ensign Glousten," Tony continued. "We know she isn't here. We need to speak to the commanding officer here."

"Has Commander Conrad done something wrong?"

"No she didn't, but someone else did. Now is your commanding officer in or not?" Tony asked getting a little annoyed with the ensign. Ziva walked up next to him at that moment.

"Problem, DiNozzo?" she asked.

"Nope," Tony said with a smile as his gaze remained on the ensign. Glousten picked up the phone and called someone. Tony stood up and nodded. McGee joined the two by the desk. Glousten finally put the handset of the phone down and looked up at them.

"The Admiral isn't in anymore, but Commander Betz will talk to you. She's just through that door," Ensign Glousten said pointing to an oak door behind him. Tony nodded, flashing another smile and then the three of them rounded the desk and Tony led them through the door.

"How can I help you," a woman asked them as they came through the door, McGee sliding it shut behind him. Tony walked up to the woman and extended his hand, while Ziva came up beside him.

"I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," he said shaking the commander's hand once before pointing towards Ziva. "And this is Officer David and Special Agent Timothy McGee."

"Commander Marie Betz," the woman replied. "Again how can I help you?"

"We are here from Washington. NCIS is investigating the death of Lt. Commander Conrad and we'd like to ask some questions of you and your staff," Tony continued. The commander's face fell.

"Wait, Johanna is dead?" she said with a shaky voice. McGee and Ziva both nodded while Tony took a step closer.

"I'm afraid so."

"When?"

"This morning," Ziva replied.

"Someone killed her?"

"Yes," Tony replied.

"My lord," Betz breathed out. There was a moment of silence in the room as Commander Betz absorbed the information. She then seemed to mentally shake herself back into professional mode. "Certainly. You have access to anyone in the office you need. The Admiral will be back tomorrow morning."

"Where can we set up for interviews?" Tony asked.

The commander thought for a moment then looked up at them, "there is a briefing room you can use. Follow me."

Commander Betz led them from her office and around Ensign Glousten's desk. They then crossed the bullpen and were taken through another large oak door. Inside was a room with a long table, lined on both sides with chairs.

"This will work just fine," Tony said. "Can we start with you?"

"Certainly," Commander Betz said sitting down softly in one of the chairs. The other three all took seats and the interview began.

"How well did you know Lt. Commander Conrad?" Tony asked.

"I was friends with Johanna. We worked together for two years here."

"Do you know why she wanted to transfer?" Ziva asked.

"It was sudden. She came to me one day and said she needed to leave California. I tried to push further, asked her why. I denied her request that day. She wouldn't give me a good reason for a transfer and I needed her here. She was a damn good lawyer. She came to me again two weeks later," Commander Betz replied.

"Did she give you a reason then?" Tony prompted.

"Sort of," Commander Betz replied thinking back to the conversation.

"Sort of?" McGee asked.

"She told me she had a personal problem with someone on base and that she needed a transfer for the safety of her daughter. I asked her what was going on but she wouldn't tell me more at that point. My lord, could this be related?"

"We don't know, Ma'am," Tony said sincerely. "What else did she tell you?"

"I told her I would put in for the transfer. Two days later I went to her house to talk to her."

"And?" Ziva pushed.

"She strayed away from the subject but I kept putting us back on task. All I could get from her was that she just wasn't happy and that there was someone on base that was making it difficult for her to raise her daughter here the way she wanted to and that she needed to leave the area."

"Did she ever say who?" Tony asked.

"No."

"Was she seeing anyone?" Ziva tossed into the verbal fire.

"I don't think so, but Johanna was a very private person. I think she may have been seeing someone a couple months ago but as of lately she hadn't said anything," Commander Betz said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Any other problems she had, maybe family or friends?"

"She didn't have family aside from Nicole. My lord, Nicole. She's not…"

"No, she is alive. We have her in custody now," McGee said reassuring the Commander. Betz let out of sigh of relief.

"You were saying?" Ziva prodded to get Commander Betz back to her original train of thought. The commander looked at Ziva a moment before shaking her head.

"Oh, yes, I was saying that Johanna only had her daughter. She didn't have any other family. Her husband died almost 13 years ago in Somalia, and there weren't any brothers or sisters. Her parents are dead and Nicole's other grandparents I don't know but were out of the picture."

"What about friends, any disputes or arguments with friends?" Ziva asked.

"Not that I know of. Johanna mostly was friends with people here at the office. I guess her neighbors would know more," Betz said with a nod.

"Ok, I think that's all we have for you right now," Tony said with a smile. "If you could send someone else in for us that would be great."

"I will," Commander Betz said standing up and turning for the door. "I can't believe Johanna is dead."

Once the Commander was out of the room Tony turned to Ziva and McGee. They both stared at him. "What do you make of that?"

"Sounds like Commander Conrad had a problem with someone on base. We need to find out who, could be related," Ziva said. Tony nodded thoughtfully.

"Running half way cross the country when you have a child means she really wanted to get away from who ever it was. I say we need to look into that," McGee replied.

"Same here," Tony said as the door opened and Ensign Glousten walked in. He looked nervous and Tony flashed him a smile while pointing to a chair for him to sit in. Glousten sat down and wrung his hands on the table top.

"Commander Betz told me you wanted to talk to me about Commander Conrad," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Ziva and Tony both nodded.

"How well did you know Commander Conrad?" Tony asked starting the ball rolling.

"I worked with her here. That was about it. She was a good lawyer, friendly."

"Would you consider yourself her friend?" Ziva asked.

"I guess. It was more like co-workers though. We didn't talk much unless we needed too. She was always so busy with her cases and when the Admiral is in I'm pretty busy too," Glousten said as he began to relax a little.

"So you didn't talk much besides work stuff?" McGee continued.

"Well sometimes we small talked; I mean everyone does that in the office. But if you mean we shared our personal lives with each other no. We ran in different circles."

"Was Commander Conrad having problems with anyone in the office?" Tony asked.

"Not that I was aware of. It was a pretty big shock when the announcement was made that she was transferring. She always seemed cheerful in the office and friendly with everyone."

"Was there a case that she was working on that might have prompted her to leave?" Tony continued.

"How so?" Ensign Glousten asked confused.

"Maybe something too close to her, maybe she was threatened?" Ziva asked.

"Not that I know of, but I wouldn't really know. I'm not involved with that aspect of the office. I primarily just work for the Admiral or Commander Betz."

"Do you know if Commander Conrad was seeing someone on base?" McGee asked.

"You mean like dating? I wouldn't know. Like I said we didn't share our personal lives and we ran in different circles," Ensign Glousten said with a shrug.

"Thanks, Gabe, could you have Commander Betz send someone else in?" Tony said pointing to the door. Glousten nodded and stood as he opened the door he turned back.

"I'll tell her but you're going to run into people leaving for the day now," Glousten said.

"Not a problem, just see if we can catch at least one if not two more people today and then we'll come back in the morning," Tony said winking at the ensign. Glousten nodded and left the room.

This time the three sat in silence as they waited for the next person to come in. It was a few minutes before a woman walked in and took the seat in front of them. She smiled sweetly at Tony who returned it. Ziva rolled her eyes and McGee just ignored it.

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS," Tony said.

"Lt. j. g. Michelle Pearce," she said with a smile.

"Do you know why you are here?" Ziva asked breaking the connection between Tony and Pearce. The woman turned her head and looked at Ziva before answering.

"Commander Betz told me it's about Commander Conrad," the woman said nodding her head.

"How would you classify your relationship with Lt. Commander Conrad," Ziva said.

"We worked together a lot and I guess we could be considered friends."

"How good of friends," McGee asked.

"We talked but not a lot. She was a private person. She didn't talk much about out of the office aside from Nicole."

"Did you know if she was seeing anyone on base?" Tony asked with a smile.

"She never said. But I think she would be pretty private about a relationship," Michelle said returning Tony's smile.

"How so?" Ziva asked annoyed.

"She just didn't talk much about stuff like that," Pearce said with a scowl.

"Was there a case that she found threatening?" McGee asked.

"Not that I know of. I worked pretty close with her on cases as second chair. She had a handle on them all, nothing to major."

"Thank you for your time, please have Commander Betz send someone else in," Ziva said with a sigh. Pearce smiled at Tony again he returned it as she got up and walked from the room. Tony's eyes followed her out and Ziva kicked him under the table.

"What?" Tony asked rubbing his shin.

"Stop ogaring," Ziva said shaking her head. McGee laughed out loud drawing a confused look from Ziva.

"It's ogling, Ziva," McGee said with a smile. Ziva smiled back and nodded.

"My apologies, Tony, stop ogling," Ziva replied. Tony glared at them both, but didn't say anything as a new person came through the doors. Tony checked his watch and quickly converted the time to California time. This would be there last interview for the day.

"I'm Lt. Commander Dietrich Blake," the man said with a nod as he sat down. Ziva and McGee both smiled but Tony's scowl remained on his face.

"Lt. Commander Blake, do you know why we are here?" Ziva asked. The man nodded a sad look crossing his face. "How well did you know Lt. Commander Conrad?"

"We were pretty good friends," Blake said with a sad smile. "We both came to this office two years ago, she stared the week after I did so we sort of latched onto each other as the newbies, formed a pretty good friendship."

"Did she confide in you?" Tony asked sitting up a little in the chair.

"Depends on what you want to know. She was a pretty private person. Nicole was the center of her life and she didn't want things to affect her so she would keep two separate lives essentially," Blake continued.

"How so?" McGee asked.

"She would talk to me about her troubles. I know she was seeing someone on base a couple months back but she wouldn't ever tell me who. I think he was a commanding officer and she didn't want to get in trouble."

"Did she think you would tell on her?" Ziva asked.

"Oh no, Ma'am. She just didn't want to say it out loud I think. If she was careful and kept the name inside less chance of others finding out I think."

"Did you have a guess as to who it was?" Tony asked.

"Does this have to do with her death?" Blake asked with a confused look on her face.

"It could," Tony replied with a nod. Blake looked a little shocked and then thought about the question.

"I had some suspicions but I never knew who it was no. She wouldn't tell me."

"How did the relationship end?" McGee asked sitting back in his chair.

"Not good. I remember her coming in one morning just frazzled. She was nervous and stressed. I cornered her in the coffee room and tried to pry the information out of her but she kept throwing the age old lawyer excuse in my face," Blake said with a shrug.

"What's that?" Ziva asked.

"She had to go to court," Blake said with a smile. Ziva nodded.

"Did you push the subject further?" McGee asked.

"Yes. That night we had dinner together. I pushed her on it. Told her it wouldn't go any further. She wouldn't give his name but she said it ended in a bad argument and that she didn't know if she could continue to work on this base. I told her she should ask for a transfer. And she did. She finally got one and then…" his voice trailed off as he thought of her fate. Ziva watched as his eyes clouded over with grief before he quickly shook his head and looked up at them with a forced smile.

"You said you had your speculations of who this man could be," McGee said.

"It was only speculation and I won't name names without proof, Agent, I'm sorry but I can't ruin someone else's career because I had a hunch," Blake said.

"Gibbs would," Ziva mumbled drawing smiles from both McGee and Tony. Blake stared at her blankly.

"Thank you for your time, Commander Blake," Tony said.

"Can I ask something?" Blake asked leaning forward in his chair.

"Sure," Tony said sitting back in his chair to put distance between them.

"What happens to Nicole?"

Tony looked at Ziva before looking back at Commander Blake. "Right now she is in the custody of NCIS. After the case is over with she will most likely go to child services and into foster care."

Ziva saw the sadness in Commander Blake's eyes. "There or here or where?"

"Most likely in the state of Virginia or in the city of Washington DC, where ever the closest opening is," McGee said.

"Would it be possible to send her out here?" Blake asked with a glint of hope in his eye. Tony and Ziva looked at each other before looking back at him.

"If someone put in a request maybe," McGee answered with a nod. Blake nodded in return and got up from the table. He was out the door and Ziva got up and closed it. She returned to her seat and they sat in silence for a moment.

"I think this relationship is the key," Tony said tapping his finger on the table.

"It's a strong lead," Ziva agreed. "We need to find out who this mystery person was. Someone has to know."

"We can start on that tomorrow," McGee said standing up and stretching.

"McGee you start on that while Ziva and I finish these interviews tomorrow. I think we should get two rooms tomorrow split up and make this go a little faster," Tony replied.

"Sounds like a deal," Ziva said.

"Plan, Ziva," Tony said as he stood gathering up the files they had brought with them.

"What ever," Ziva said helping him.

TBC…