Way sorry it's taken so long to update. I've just been busy this past week and had a case of creative stifling for this chapter. I think this one is my favorite so far, especially since I parodied a scene in "O" is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton. For those of you who've read the book, I think you know which chapter it's in. =D There are also a couple of Lion King references, as Tony notices in the beginning of this chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter Twelve
"So, you were saying," Gibbs prompted McGee, snapping the team's two Shifters out of their morbid thoughts.
"Oh, right. There's no criminal record—unless you count him being friends with a drug dealer—but here's something: He has ties to the arms dealer La Grenuoille."
"Thanks for the information, McGee," a soft voice laced with a British accent said from behind Ziva. The team whirled around to find themselves face-to-face with Kort and his Russian friend.
"Kort," Ziva said.
"Volkov," said Tony, dipping his head to the she-wolf.
"DiNozzo." Her hazel-green eyes were cold.
"David," the British CIA agent finished.
"Gibbs, McGee," Leroy Jethro Gibbs said. "Now that we all know each other, get out of our house."
McGee looked confused. "You know them, they know you, and they need information on one of our cases," he said to Ziva and Tony, "and everyone's okay with this? Did I miss something?"
All Tony could think of to say was, "Nice Lion King reference, Probie."
"Shut up, Tony."
Ziva quickly soothed, "Relax, McGee. They're working our case from another angle."
Gibbs's eyes were frosty and swiftly turning to ice. "And no one mentioned this to me earlier?"
DiNozzo threw up his hands in a defensive posture. "Don't look at us like that, Boss. We just found out about it yesterday."
Meghan prompted, "About the case—"
Elf Lord scanned the background check again. "About the whole tie to The Frog, his friend is . . . uh . . . Ethan Keane. He's Nixon's old college roommate and is now apparently an ATF agent." McGee was referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
"No kidding," Tony and Meghan said in disbelief. The four Shifters exchanged meaningful glances—although Tony thought Ziva and Meghan were each warning the other away from her partner. "Once you two are done being all alpha-female," he muttered.
Both women glared and punched his shoulder in unison. Tony slightly whimpered, forcing it down when McGee and Gibbs stared at the four of them. "What was that all about?" the team leader demanded.
"Uh . . ." None of them had an answer. Gibbs just narrowed his eyes before turning back to Probie-Wan-Kenobi. "You have an image of this Ethan Keane?"
Seconds later, his ID was up on the plasma. He had black hair that curled down around his ears and ended just where his neck met his shoulders. Keane's eyes were the color of clover, and with his deep tan, they really stood out. Worse, though, Tony sensed this guy was a Shifter.
Crap.
Quietly, Kort said, "That's him."
"You're sure?" Ziva asked, just as softly.
"Yes."
Well, this is just great. Aloud, DiNozzo said, "You have an address, Probie?"
"Yeah. He lives in Fairfax." McGee scribbled down the address and handed it to Ziva, while Gibbs said, "Ziva, take DiNozzo and head out there. You two"—he motioned at the two CIA agents—"with me. McGee, see what else you can dig up on Ethan Keane or Chris Nixon."
"On it, Boss," the team chorused.
Walking toward the elevator with Ziva, Tony commented, "This is going to be fun."
She laughed. "I thought you hated Halloween."
"I do."
Thankfully, she left it at that, and a little over an hour or so later they were pulling up at the alleged ATF agent's house. As luck would have it, he wasn't home. There was no telling how long he'd been or would be gone, so, of course, the obvious thing to do was a little B&E and search the place. Tony voted for the front door, while Ziva took the back.
Within seconds, Tony was inside and on his way to see how Ziva was doing. He walked into the kitchen and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing: Ziva was attempting to crawl through the doggie door. She'd made it halfway and was now apparently stuck.
She glanced up at him and scowled. "Bite your tongue."
"I am."
Ziva wiggled around, trying to gain more entrance, and froze, every muscle tense. Tony strained his ears and heard the click-click of nails on the linoleum. For the first time, he saw two bowls on the floor near the counter, half full with water and dog food. Well, dang. Where was the dog when they'd rung the doorbell? The dog padded into view just then. Now, Tony really couldn't tell one breed from another, unless it was a Chihuahua, golden retriever, Great Dane, poodle, German shepherd, or other obvious breeds. It obviously must have heard the noise and come plodding down the hallway and around the corner to see what was going on. This canine looked like it weighed about fifty pounds, was maybe 22 inches, and for all appearances looked like a wolf. Its medium-length fur was red along the back and sides and white on the legs, paws, face, and underbelly, with one blue eye, one brown. Why couldn't it have barked a warning when it first heard the bell? As it was, it skidded to a halt. Tony could almost see the question mark appearing above it as it cocked its head, a perfect mixture of incredulity and confusion on its face. This gave Tony and Ziva opportunity to determine its gender (it was a girl, as it turned out). Apparently, in her experience, very few humans had attempted to slither through her personal entrance. Ziva and Tony weren't exactly human, but it didn't really matter at the moment, especially since the dog was now crawling on her belly to Ziva. Obviously, this required something in the way of nice manners on the dog's part. She was whining softly, making no move to bite either of them, and currently almost in the Mossad officer's face. DiNozzo figured the no-attacking bit was because that, as Shifters, they smelled like wild animals. Ziva and the dog lay there face-to-face for a while, the Shifter propping herself up on her elbows.
"Well, hi," she said at last, obviously talking to what Tony finally identified as a Siberian Husky. Hopefully, from the canine's perspective, it was a pleasant and friendly tone of voice.
The husky laid her head on her paws and shot Tony a worried look. He was still trying not to laugh. What? The whole situation was ridiculous!
"Sorry to barge in on you like this," Ziva was saying to the dog, "but I have to get all the way in."
"Otherwise the neighbors will see your hind end sticking out of a doggie door," Tony put in, his voice full of suppressed laughter.
"Shut up, DiNozzo." Ziva then wiggled her way in further, making all sorts of kiss-up phrases to the dog. When she was all the way through, she started to rise to her feet. This didn't bode well with the Sibe. She drew her lips back to show her teeth and growled. Ziva dropped to all fours again, then slowly tried rising. Again the dog growled. Tony heard her tell the Siberian, "You're very strict, you know that?" Not that the dog cared.
Finally, both Shifters had had enough. Ziva managed to stand up while Toy took care of the dog. While he was putting her in the bathroom, the Siberian wagged her tail and tried to jump up and give him the canine version of kisses. In response, he literally growled at her, shut the door, and went to help Ziva search.
There was nothing of value in the kitchen, so Tony decided to take the den while Ziva searched the living room. A quick visual scan revealed nothing, and it wasn't likely what they were looking for would be in plain sight. That would just be too easy. God forbid their job ever be easy.
Tony crossed the room to the desk, snapped on latex gloves, and started rifling through the drawers, hoping to find some connection to Nixon or something that showed they'd been in contact recently. He hit pay dirt when he opened the bottom left drawer. Inside were a bunch of printed emails between the two. DiNozzo lifted the stack of papers out and set it on top of the desk. A brief in-depth search revealed nothing else, so he headed into the living room to check on Ziva.
"You find anything?"
"No, not yet," she said from where she was crouched along the window wall, running her fingers along it. That turned up fruitless, so she moved on to the corner bookcase. Tony watched from the doorway as she skimmed her hands along the spines. Finally she pulled out a slim volume with a black leather cover and silver lettering. She had just opened it to the first page when DiNozzo heard the crunch of car tires on gravel and the engine stalling.
Ziva snapped the book shut, slid it into place on the shelf, and hurried to the doorway. Together they bolted for the garage door, but skidded to a halt when the doorknob started to turn. They were trapped.
Dun, dun, dunnnn. Cliffhanger! I love those, don't you?
Review, please. They make my day.
~~ Brambleshadow
