Back at NCIS, things were rather chaotic. Two 'loose ends' had already been killed off and it was likely only a matter of time before the case went cold of they didn't follow the trail while it was still piping hot.
DiNozzo walked into the squad after visiting Ducky down in autopsy. "Ducky confirmed Lambert died of multiple stab wounds." Not that it was really a question, but Jethro did need confirmation for his legal case.
"Fornell is still taking statements," Ziva said. She looked somewhat exasperated. "But witnesses report seeing Lambert in a car with either a man, a woman -" She flailed her arms slightly. " - or nobody, depending on who you talk to."
"Lambert said the money he took wasn't for him," he commented.
"Sounded like he was in the hole to somebody for something," DiNozzo agreed.
"One of his clients," McGee stated as he pulled several documents up onto the plasma. "Abby found this thumb drive in his wallet. Looks like Lambert was gathering evidence to cop a plea." That's hardly surprising. "His files show that he embezzled from one of his clients then blew the money at the track. And he had a statement for the D.A." Get to the point, McGee. "It says that the client threatened to kill him if he didn't repay the money he took, then forced him to steal from the IRS."
Ziva walked away to answer her cellphone, but Jethro assumed it was case-related and focused on his other two field agents.
"And then some," DiNozzo said. "Client must be a scary guy."
"You got a name?" he inquired.
"No," McGee replied. "Lambert left it out."
DiNozzo tilted his head slightly. "Well, maybe he was holding it for his plea bargain."
Ziva walked back over to them. "Okay," she said before hanging up. "That was Diane; she's on her way. Her fish BOLO came back. Customs found another container headed for Donggang, China."
We're still missing something. "More cell phones?"
"No," she replied. "This time they found DVD's and luxury soaps inside the fish."
"Client's a smuggler," he said. "Put up maps."
Jethro gave McGee a moment to do as asked and then looked over the list of locations. "There's U.N. sanctions on all these countries."
"Which means no Western cellphones, Dora DVD's or lavender-scented bath soap!" his Senior Field Agent commented more dramatically than was really necessary in Jethro's opinion. "And I thought the middle class here was having a hard time."
Ziva continued her briefing unperturbed. "Diane's contact thinks the smuggler is using local fishermen to get the goods across sanctioned borders," she said. "Apparently, it is quite common." Of course, it is.
"Was Diane able to trace the shipment?" he inquired.
Ziva shook her head. "It was a dead-end. Shipper's info was all fake."
His favourite forensic scientist walked up, looking quite pleased with herself. "Well, it's a good thing you can't fake DNA." He raised an eyebrow. "Because I've got some."
Still looking quite pleased, Abby took Jethro's right hand and led him over to the main elevator, obviously wanting him to go down to the forensics lab with her.
Getting off of the elevator, the goth took Jethro by the hand again and led him into her lab. "So, I ran DNA on our tuna to try to figure out where it came from."
Abby let go of Jethro's hand as they approached her computer. "Sadly, for those of us investigating fish-based crime, there's no national database to compare it to."
"But...?" he pressed.
"My fifth favourite word," Abby stated happily. "But... I sent Jimmy to pick up albacore tuna from every supermarket between here and Alexandria and I got a familial match." Jethro scanned the information she'd pulled up on the computer screen. "Our smuggle fish definitely came from the same catch as our sample from F&G Grocery." She pulled up an I.D photo. "And they buy their albacore from a man named..."
"Avis Boyle," Diane stated as she walked into the lab. "He owns a small fish distributor that serves the tri-state area. And according to his tax return, he was a client of Oliver Lambert. He's our smuggler."
He shot Diane a confused look. How does she know all of this already?
Apparently, his ex-wife caught the expression on his face. "Abby already briefed me."
He shot Abby a look. "First?"
"Let it go," Diane said. "We have to figure out our next move."
"Our next move is arresting Boyle," he stated.
"For what?" Diane pressed. He had to admit that she had him there. They had a really weak case legally at the moment. They needed something solid against Boyle before they'd have enough for an arrest warrant. "That's right, Woodchuck. You can't tie him to Lambert's murder. The books don't mention Boyle by name. And the fish DNA -"
Abby gave him an apologetic look. "It's circumstantial."
"Now," his ex-wife continued, "the IRS has had their eye on this guy for some time, for undeclared earnings, but they could never prove it."
"But you got an idea," he said knowingly.
Abby smiled. "And it's a good one."
"Why do I feel like I'm being set up?" he asked.
"Not you," his ex-wife countered. "Boyle." I hope she's not suggesting what I think she is. "So his accountant was laundering his money. But now the accountant's dead. Well, Boyle's gonna need a new one."
Does she want to get herself hurt? She doesn't have the experience. "No, forget it."
"Can I finish?" Diane retorted. "We don't have a lot of time. I've got to approach Boyle before he hires somebody else to start doing his books." He shot her a look that clearly said Jethro didn't like the idea. "I can talk the talk. You can wire me and then bust him when he incriminates himself."
He opened up his mouth to tell her it wasn't happening.
Diane eyed him. "It's a good plan, and you know it."
Unfortunately, Jethro couldn't argue with that. He still didn't like it, though. "You're not going in alone; I'm coming with you."
Diane smiled. "You might regret that when you find out where Boyle is today."
An hour later he and Diane had both dressed up, been fitted with bugs, and arrived on scene. He'd also concluded beyond a shadow of a doubt that his ex-wife was right in at least one respect. A wedding was the last place he wanted to be.
He glanced around. "Oh, I regret this."
Diane just shot him an amused smile that clearly said, "I told you so."
Tobias, amused, spoke over their comms. "I am so glad this is you and not me."
"We're reading you loud and clear, Boss!" McGee said.
"And we're getting a solid image from the camera on Diane's brooch," Ziva said as the young woman happily readjusted her own mic. "Which looks much better on you than it did on me, by the way."
"Just be careful not to knock it loose," McGee said.
"Oh, it's not going anywhere!" Tobias commented. "You spent more than enough time attaching it to my ex-wife's... bosom. Way too much time, if you ask me."
"I guess he didn't get enough last night," Diane teased.
"What?" McGee exclaimed. "No, I... She's just... Diane, the joke is over!"
Diane turned to him, smirking. "I'm just having a little fun." She linked arms with him. "So, shall we find our man?"
More than happy to get this over with, he started to walk.
"Do you remember how you proposed to me?" she asked.
He shot his ex-wife a pointed look.
"Yeah," she said, "I didn't think so. Don't feel too bad; I don't, either."
They walked around silently for a few minutes, sipping on some wine until they finally came across Boyle. The place was huge and extremely packed, so Jethro was actually pleasantly surprised by how quickly they'd found him.
Diane gestured with a tilt of her head. "Hey, isn't that our mark?"
"I see Boyle," Ziva confirmed. "Twelve o'clock."
Diane nervously downed some more of her wine.
"You ready?" he asked.
She handed him her wine glass. "Yeah."
He was honestly just as worried as Diane was pretending not to be. These things could always go sideways in a heartbeat and she was still quite green.
Putting her game face on, Diane waltzed on over, seemingly brimming with confidence, and addressed Boyle. "Congratulations.
"Thank you," Boyle replied with a smile. "And you are?"
Diane leaned into their mark's ear and then spoke quietly. "An accountant. Luckily for you, 'cause I heard you might be looking for one."
Boyle turned to the man he'd been talking with. "Uh, will you excuse me?"
With a nod, the wedding guest walked away.
Diane gave Boyle a pointed look. "So, let's talk terms."
Jethro grinned and spoke into his comm. "She's in."
"Uh," Boyle replied, "I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No," Diane countered without missing a beat. "What you have, Ace, is a large influx of ill-gotten operating gross revenues that you're gonna have to shelter from any Title 26 tax liabilities." She clearly had Boyle's complete attention now. "Unless you want to be incredibly stupid and go to jail." Diane smirked. "Now you're listening, huh?" Diane adopted a slightly more serious expression. "I used to work with Lambert. I did all that jackass's grunt work. And when I say all, I mean all. But he's gone and I'm here." She shot the man a devilish smile. "So, what's it gonna be?"
Boyle glanced behind him nervously.
"Oh," Diane commented. "I see I'm not talking to The Man, which means you're just a big waste of my time." She moved to take her leave. "See ya."
He watched nervously. If things were going to go sideways it would be now.
Boyle gently grabbed her hand and turned her back around. "Uh... Wait here."
Ziva chuckled. "She's a natural."
He smiled affectionately. "She's just being herself."
"Uh-oh," Ziva said. "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Tobias asked.
"The guy from the cheque-cashing place," Ziva said.
Shit. Her cover's about to be blown. Jethro quickly wracked his brain for how to handle this. He needed to stall and buy his team time to quietly come in and keep Diane safe. That was in addition to the fact that there were tons of innocent civilians around them, making it all the more crucial that he kept the situation under control.
Taking a deep breath, Jethro went and grabbed a wine glass before heading to the top of the stairs as he listened in on Diane and Fremont's conversation.
"Avis told me someone was making a play to be my new accountant," Fremont stated. "He didn't mention it was an IRS special agent." The son of a bitch discreetly put a gun to Diane's back, taking her hostage. "Walk."
Any reservations he had about what he was about to do went away. He needed to get Diane away from the man and she was safer if everyone's eyes were on her. Shannon wasn't going to like it, but he didn't have any better ideas.
He tapped the edge of his wine glass, getting everyone's attention. "I'd like to propose a toast. May you two always be as happy as you are today."
Everyone smiled and a large group of women said, "Awe." This might actually work.
"And while I'm at it," he said as he started walking down the stairs, "I'd like to propose something else; this time to the lovely lady with the lovely red hair." A chorus of awes and clapping filled the area again. "I'm not much for words. Most things are better left unsaid." He saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes. "It'd be a lot easier if I could just pick you up and we'd start running, and... we'd never stop." Jethro was now standing directly in front of her. "Maybe I'll still do that. But before I do... I just want to ask you one thing." He got down to one knee and raised his glass.
"Yes," Diane said, feigning elation. "I'll marry you."
Everyone was clapping, cheering, whistling, and whooping. Hand forced, Fremont had to let Diane go and she eagerly ran up to him. Jethro pulled Diane in for a hug, both of them continuing to play along for now.
"Not so fast," Tobias said quietly to Fremont as he and Ziva arrested the man. They all wanted to keep this on the DL. "Let's go."
Once the attention was finally off of them, Diane turned to Jethro, both of their smiles gone. "How come you didn't just shoot him?"
"Ah," he said, "I figure... we've ruined enough weddings."
"Yeah," she agreed.
Case closed. All that was left of work now was for the director to comment that Jethro, Tobias and Diane worked so well together that perhaps they should become the official team for inter-jurisdiction cases. Vance finished posing that question to a rather empty room though because they all split the second they realized just what the director was suggesting. It wasn't a prospect any of them were overly eager for.
Grabbing a black coffee from the station right outside the NCIS building, Jethro eyed Diane. "You've gotta give Victor a break."
"Excuse me?" she exclaimed. "Who told you that Victor and I are having prob... Oh, it was Chucky. He's such a dead man." Diane then sighed. "Okay, what do I have to give Victor a break for?"
"For being him... and not somebody else." She was doing to Victor exactly what he'd done to her, Rebecca, Stephanie, Ellen, and several others. He understood it, but all it was going to accomplish was leaving her hurt. "You gotta let it go, Diane. I couldn't... and I drove everybody away. And I know that's the last thing you wanna do."
Diane gave him a sad smile and spoke softly. "You've really changed." He just watched as she collected herself. "And I hear you. Unfortunately, it might be a little too late."
He shook his head. "No, it's not."
She chuckled. "How do you know everything?"
"I don't," he replied with a laugh. "I don't. I... I just learned how to listen."
Diane nodded and then turned the tables on him. "So, how are you? I didn't mean to cause any problems between you and Shannon."
Jethro smiled affectionately. "We're perfectly fine. Don't let her tiny, unassuming figure fool ya. Shannon ain't fragile."
"That's certainly true," Diane said with a laugh. "I guess I should go talk to Victor. See if we can start to patch things up."
"Just listen," he reminded her. "Just listen."
Wrapping up their little char, Jethro headed home to his wife, unable to keep the huge grin off his face as Shannon wrapped her arms firmly around him and pulled him in for a kiss. Every time he looked at her, it was like the first time.
