The Neisler case didn't slow down any. The man's brother wasn't any help, but their suspect's visitor logs indicated that Hayes had been meeting with a Smitty Brown, a dealer who wanted to keep Hayes in prison.
Brown was going to use Hayes in prison to help run the man's black market drug and weapons dealing. Smitty wanted to stop whoever was harassing Jerry Neisler and ran into Joe Casey, the guy who made the threatening video to Neisler.
Brown claimed self-defence when Joe Casey ended up showing up dead, but nobody actually expected him to take responsibility whether the man did it or not
Jerry Neisler, while still in protective custody at NCIS, was driving everyone crazy with his ability to accurately break down everyone's life and having no boundaries.
"Should I take my shoes off?" Neisler inquired as they walked into the house.
"I wish your wouldn't," he said. I also wish that Shannon wasn't still out with Stacy and Deborah so I didn't have to deal with you alone. Man, you're beyond irritating. Thankfully, given the time, she should be home soon.
"Never stayed at a safe house before," the man commented. "What's for dinner?"
"Beans," he said, grabbing some for the guy. He couldn't be bothered to put any more effort in than that at the moment.
The younger man gave a little hum in response. "So, you met with the killer. Think he knows who was after me?"
He dipped his head slightly. "I think he knew something."
"I saw him at a hearing," the younger man said. "Seems like a sad, sorry guy."
Neisler didn't become any less irritating as he rambled on. Jethro'd damn near kicked the man out of his home when Neisler started yacking away and trying to analyze him, bringing Shannon into it. He had insulted Jethro within minutes of stepping foot in his house that evening. And the insane thing was that the young man genuinely seemed to have no idea that he was being offensive.
"Alright," Jethro said, showing an impressive level of restraint in his opinion. "There's a cot down in the basement, right through there."
Honestly, that man was worse than most of the shrinks he had met. Jethro definitely understood now what Deputy District Attorney Walsh had meant though when she said you had to meet the guy to understand why he was so frequently transferred.
On another note, it turned it that Walsh was actually hiding the fact that Smitty was her informant and they shared an intimate relationship. She'd been concerned the entire case would get thrown out. However, the person behind harassing Jerry was none other than Matthew Gray… the younger brother of their victim Katie Gray.
Gray wanted the judge to grant a mistrial so that Hayes would be set free. Doing that would allow Gray access so that the young man could avenge his big sister's death by killing Hayes himself.
And that is how the MCRT found themselves outside that snowy evening, in an alley, attempting to talk the grieving brother down.
He got the boy's attention. "We found the wire transfer you used to pay him."
"You wanted to scare Jerry out of testifying," DiNozzo said. "We just don't know why. Why don't you put the gun down and explain it to us?"
"No!" Gray yelled. "He has to pay for what he did."
"He was about to," he pointed out. "The D.A was asking for the death penalty."
Gray immediately turned to him, the desperation in his voice tangible. "Do you know how long the average convicted killer spends on death row before being executed? Thirteen years. Assuming it happens at all. It just wasn't gonna cut it."
"So you tried to get Hayes out onto the streets," McGee said in understanding, "where you could get payback."
The young man shook his head emphatically. "Where I'm going to get payback."
He tried one more time to get through to the boy. The combat veteran understood way better than the young man knew and knew for a fact that revenge didn't fix anything. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. "Matt, it's not worth throwing your life away."
"And what about my sister's life?" Gray demanded. "She was the only family I had left." The young man turned to Hayes. "And you took her."
"I can't give you her life back," Hayes stated. "But maybe I can give you yours."
"Merry Christmas to me," Gray replied sarcastically.
"Look, I'd supply the bullets myself if I thought killing me would make you feel better," Hayes stated earnestly, "but it won't."
The young man scoffed at that. "You don't know anything about me."
"I've spent more time thinking about you than I have anything else in my entire life," Hayes admitted aloud. "And I'm clean now, and I barely remember what I did, but I understand it now. I took your sister's life. I wasted mine. Are you really going to let me destroy yours as well?"
"Put the gun down," he ordered gently.
"And what," Gray said, "he just goes free?"
"It's just a matter of time before the new D.A refiles the charges and I'm back in court again," Hayes said. "You know what? I'll just save everyone the trouble and I'll plead guilty. I'll even sign the confession right now... And maybe we can just... pretend that this never happened."
"We may have to settle for pretending some of it never happened," McGee said.
"I can talk to the D.A," he said, hoping they could get through to the kid.
A wave of relief washed through Jethro as the young man finally put the gun down. The kid needed support not prison and Jethro was glad the boy hadn't done anything yet that he couldn't come back from. Still, there was a long road ahead for the young man. "I miss her so much."
He sighed as he watched Ziva take Gray into custody. "I know, Kid."
Heading back to the Navy Yard after booking the pair, Jethro got on the phone with the new D.A in the case. It didn't go as smoothly as he'd have liked, but the prosecutor was willing to drop the witness intimidation charge against Matthew Gray if the young man pled to the weapons charge. He wasn't going to do any time.
That was about as good a deal as the boy was ever going to get.
Exhausted and trying to avoid Jerry Neisler, who had now managed to make the ever bubbly Jimmy Palmer cry right there in the middle of the squad room after some more unpleasant head shrinking, Jethro dismissed his team. He then headed home for the night himself, opting to leave the growing stack of reports and such up in the director's office for the following day.
Jethro walked into the house and was immediately greeted by his wife, who pulled him in for a kiss. "Well, hello to you too. Kel home?"
She shook her head in the negative. "Jethro, she went to the movies with Hayley and Natasha. They went to see that new Narnia movie that came out on Friday." Shannon looked up at him, smiling warmly. "So, how was dealing with Jerry all day?"
He gave his wife a pointed look. "Let's just say I'm glad he's no longer my concern."
His wife chuckled. "Uh-huh. I can only imagine."
He rolled his eyes.
"You are super cute when you're flustered though," she said, lightly teasing him.
"Oh, really?" he replied playfully.
"Yupp," Shannon quipped with a huge grin. "And it's what scored you points that day we were waiting for that train, Gibbs."
Jethro gave an amused little hum as he pulled his wife in close. "Is that so?"
"Uh-huh," she replied, the cheeky grin still on her lips. "Irresistible. A lot like now."
"Well then," he said with a suggestive smile, "you know what I think?"
There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What?"
"I think in that case," he said, kissing Shannon on the neck, "that we should continue this conversation somewhere a little more comfortable."
His wife smirked. "Best idea I've heard all day, Marine."
