Chapter 3— Scare Tactics
From the dark interior of the casket, Abby quickly dialed Tony's cell phone; the illuminated screen of her phone bathing her pretty features in an eerie green glow. She had to warn Tony and Ziva about the two suspicious persons that had wandered into the display room while she had been 'testing' one of the caskets. The young lab tech was absolutely sure the couple was part of the ring that was selling human body parts to other countries. Still seething over being called 'old' by the woman, Abby made a face as she listened to the ringing of Tony's cell phone in her ear.
Back in the lobby, the mortician was stubbornly denying his involvement in anything illegal. Ziva had pretended to go to the bathroom and did a little snooping of her own, in addition to looking for Abby. Now she was back, and the look she gave Tony told him that she had found damning evidence to take the pasty-faced mortician in on several charges. Tony had been ignoring his phone, but it chirped incessantly, so he answered it, annoyance in his voice as he read Abby's name on the Caller ID.
"Yes?" He asked tersely, wanting to ask Abby where the hell she was, but not wanting the funeral director to become suspicious.
"Tony," Abby whispered excitedly, "I'm in a casket," she said and Tony frowned.
"You're what?" he asked, pressing his fingers into his eyelids, hoping to feign grief.
"In a casket; but never mind that!" Abby said.
"Some people wandered in here while I was…umm…'investigating'. Tony, they were looking for a body. Now, who comes to a viewing through the funeral home's back door, and can't find their loved one's body, right? So, I got to thinking…" Tony cut her off.
"That's great;" he said, thinking quickly, "what colour casket do you like best?" He watched as the mortician's face relaxed into a smile.
Ziva was watching the other man, and figured he thought he was about to make a good sale for the poor, mourning family. When he cut his eyes to her, she quickly ducked her head, pressing a tissue against her nose and mouth. She let out a small sob.
Tony frowned as the mortician stepped toward Ziva, and he quickly slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his side, effectively burying her face just below his armpit.
"Okay, that sounds good, sweetie," Tony cooed into the phone, trying to ignore Ziva's repeated pinches to his lower back.
Ziva meanwhile, was trying to ignore the fact that Tony had her so tightly pressed against his side that she could hardly breathe. Okay, now this was definitely over-kill, she thought, and what's more, Tony was probably enjoying making her uncomfortable.
"Can we possibly look at your caskets?" Tony was asking, and the mortician directed them down the hall.
Thinking quickly, Ziva blew her nose loudly and inelegantly against Tony's shirt. This caused the agent to release her quickly, and swipe at the spot where Ziva's nose had been pressed against him. Giving her a thoroughly disgusted look, he followed the mortician down the hall.
Meeting a man and woman in the hall, the mortician made a huge production of exclaiming that they had entered the wrong door and would they please go wait in the lobby. Tony spotted the black casket where Abby was hiding as soon as they stepped into the display room. He nodded at Ziva, who slipped away and walked toward the lobby.
"So, when do you embalm the bodies?" Tony asked the man, who looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?" he asked, and Tony grinned, pulling his badge from his pocket.
"I mean, before, or after you harvest the organs you're selling?" he asked, taking pleasure in watching the mortician's face pale quickly.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" The man was indignant, and Tony stepped forward, causing him to back closer to Abby's hiding spot.
"Oh, yes you do," Tony taunted.
He looked toward the door. Time to lay it on, he thought, and grinned wickedly.
"Right now my partner, who happens to have trained with the Moussad, is interrogating your friends back there. Do you know what the Moussad do to people who don't talk?" He asked, inching closer.
Just then, the couple walked in, visibly shaken. Ziva followed, gun drawn. Tony turned back to the mortician and forced him to back up until his calves were touching the black exterior of the casket.
"Ziva, show him how you scare a confession out of people," he said, hoping Abby would get the hint.
She did.
Later, back at NCIS headquarters, Tony couldn't stop smiling as he remembered the events preceding the arrest of the mortician and the couple, who turned out to be Admiral Blocker and his wife.
As he'd suggested to Ziva to scare out a confession, he'd backed the mortician up against the casket while Ziva ordered the Admiral and his wife to stand next to the mortician. Just as the man's leg had touched the casket, Abby sprang up, throwing the lid back and yelling at the top of her lungs.
The mortician nearly wet himself, the Admiral's wife fainted, and the Admiral began to babble like a baby, confessing his involvement in the sale of body parts. The three had been arrested on the spot, and were awaiting their day in court.
Just then, Abby walked into the bull-pen, her hair in a tight ponytail at the back of her head, and a tight black t-shirt with a picture of a skull on the front.
"Hey, Abby," McGee said, peering over his monitor, "I heard what a fantastic job you did tonight," he said and Abby grinned.
"All in a day's work for me McGee." She winked at Tony.
"Besides, I've been dying to do that to someone for ages, now."