CHAPTER 5 - He Was Not Feeling Very Forgiving
Miguel… Nick Torres was smiling at him, like he'd been in on the joke the whole time, which only served to stoke Tony's anger. Their eyes met and Nick seemed to be asking for understanding, but he was not feeling very forgiving. Tony could feel a flush creeping up his neck, and at that moment he wanted to be anywhere else in the world instead of standing in the middle of the director's office, facing his one-night stand, having just learned his real name.
He knew about Nicholas Torres, even if he'd never met him before. Torres had been working undercover assignments, some in very dangerous territory, for the past eight years. He also knew that while he was working in Norfolk, Agent Tess Monroe had left NCIS after a brief stint with them, and Gibbs had accepted two new people onto his team – Quinn and Torres. Tony had looked both of them up, and although the accounts of Torres' undercover work suggested he was made for the job, there had been no available photos of him for security reasons.
Swallowing his emotions, which included feeling both stupid and pissed off, Tony took a deep breath and coughed a couple of times into his elbow. He went over to the bar and poured himself a drink of water, taking his time, and only when he was ready did he turn back to the three men. If his face was still a bit flushed, hopefully they would think it was the result of his brief bout of coughing. They were all watching him, Vance slightly concerned, Reeves a touch puzzled, and Torres… the asshole looked like was secretly amused.
Tony wasn't sure what excuses he made, but he found himself in the restroom, doing breathing exercises in order to calm down and regain some control. He also had to take a leak – all the water he'd been drinking since he woke up that morning had to go somewhere. A few minutes later he was able to emerge from the restroom with (hopefully) a pleasant expression plastered on his face.
Vance excused Reeves and Torres in order to talk to Tony. Torres had the temerity to wink at him just before he closed the door behind him.
Once they were gone the director said, "I'm allotting you and your team the bullpen adjacent to Gibbs' team's work area. You can requisition whatever you need to bring it up to the same standards as Gibbs': computers, plasma, etcetera, but nothing excessive. Understood?"
"You're not transferring me to another field office?" Tony asked, trying to wrap his mind around this.
Vance seemed taken aback. "No, we need you right here. Your three-man team will be given assignments as they become available, exactly as Gibbs' team receives them. We've needed a second major case team for a while, what with the big influx of major crimes, and you're it. If you require another agent, or a forensic collection team, you put in for them." He gave Tony some more instructions, including a warning that although he could go to Gibbs for advice, at the end of the day Tony had to report directly to Vance.
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Back in the bullpen, McGee gave Tony a slight shake of his head to indicate he hadn't located DiNozzo Sr. yet, so Tony moved on to the other bullpen, the one his team was setting up in. Reeves and Torres were adjusting the position of a large plasma that had already been in the second bullpen when they took it over.
"Looks good. Okay, I'm not going to give a big speech, or lay down an ever-growing set of rules," Tony said. He avoided meeting Torres' eyes, afraid he'd forget what he wanted to say. "Reeves, you're our computer guy, so work with IT to set up whatever we need; that'd be great. Basically, duplicate what Gibbs' team has." He spoke some more about his expectations and told them what Vance had said, and finished up by saying, "Actually, there is one rule." He risked looking at Torres. "The three of us need to trust each other, so communication is paramount. So is telling the truth. We can't let each other down, agreed?"
They both nodded, and Tony said, "Reeves, I'll leave you to deal with the set-up. Call me if you need anything. Agent Torres, you're with me."
Without waiting to see if Torres was following him, he made his way down the hall and chose a small empty office. Once inside, he held the door for Torres, who didn't seem at all nervous, and closed it behind him.
Torres immediately started to speak but Tony held up one hand. "Look, we've both done our fair share of undercover work – to be fair, you, more than me – and due to our jobs, giving someone you just met an alias isn't unexpected."
"Like not telling anyone where you work?" Torres suggested.
"That goes with the territory." Tony saw an almost imperceptible relaxing of Torres' shoulders. He must have been expecting to get reamed out. Deciding to take the high road, Tony said, "You can use your discretion though, and give your real name if you feel you can trust somebody. It can be tough, though, making an instant judgment call on someone's character."
"So you're saying you didn't trust me when you first met me?" Torres asked with raised eyebrows.
"I must have, on some level. I mean, I took you home to my place, and I never do that with a date," Tony admitted.
"A date, huh? Is that what it was?" Torres asked with a twinkle in his eye. "Technically I took you home. I could have taken advantage of you, you know. You were pretty drunk."
"Don't remind me," Tony said ruefully.
"It was good though, right? I mean, us. Getting together, you know? A little horizontal action? Okay, it was a lot more than a little–"
Trying to discourage the man, Tony quickly said, "It doesn't matter because it won't ever happen again. Can't. I'm your supervisor now."
Torres' smile faded. "Oh yeah, there's that. But if you weren't?"
"But I am."
"If you were Gus… and I was Miguel?"
"That's not how it is," Tony insisted.
"Does Gus have a last name?"
Tony should have stopped right then and there, but the way Torres was looking at him, like he wanted to know more about him, made his resolve crumble. "Bricker. Gus Bricker. Abby made it up for an undercover gig years ago."
"Good name. Strong. I'm Miguel Lorenza," Torres said, as if he were introducing himself for the first time. "I mean, it's one of my undercover aliases."
"Nice name. Suits you."
"How's that?"
Tony looked Torres over, assessing him. "Traditionally, Lorenza is a feminine first name. It's quite beautiful. And strong, in its own way," he said with a smile. Jesus, what was he doing, flirting with this man? He should stop. He really should stop. Right now. Only he wanted this man, more than he'd wanted anyone for a very long time.
"You're saying I'm a girl?" Torres asked in a sharp voice.
With a slight shrug, Tony stepped towards him until they were mere inches apart. "I don't know you well enough to say that. Sort of a shame because I really was looking forward to learning more about you."
"I am not a girl," Torres insisted, his eyes dropping to Tony's mouth.
'He wants to kiss me,' Tony thought. We can't. But what the heart wants does not always go hand-in-hand with the sensible thing you're supposed to do, and as soon as that thought crossed Tony's mind, he knew he was in trouble. He said, in a voice made husky with desire, "No, you're not. But you're beautiful." He waited, his eyes on Torres' face, looking into his eyes, and then down at his mouth, and yes, there it was, the slight parting of those full lips, the tongue moistening that sensuous bottom lip. "And, just for the record, it isn't a girl I want," he whispered.
"Oh, what the hell," Torres groaned, as leaned into Tony and gave him a long, drawn-out kiss.
Coffee and mint, Tony thought. Torres smelled good, too. He must have showered when he got back to his rent-by-the-week room, and he smelled fresh, like lime. Torres moaned, softly, and Tony wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly, and raising his hand to grasp his short hair. God, this was good, so fucking good, and he felt Torres respond, relaxing in his arms, lips parted, tongue exploring, his erection pressing into Tony's thigh – and all of a sudden, in perfect unison, the two men parted with a gasp. They stared at each other, saying nothing until Torres wiped his hand across his mouth and stepped back.
"Okay, hold it! This is crazy," Torres said, a little wild-eyed.
"I know, and this is my fault. I said we can't do this. I can't… we shouldn't." Tony tried to catch his breath. Shit, if someone had walked in! Shit! He turned away, berating himself for being so fucking weak. He had to get his act together and go back to work. Gibbs was going to notice they'd been gone a while, and turning up with a bulge in his pants sure as hell wasn't going to look good on his first day as team leader.
There was a gentle hand on his back, and Torres spoke from close behind him. "It's okay. Won't happen again." After a moment the hand retracted. "I didn't get a chance to tell you… You seemed pretty rough this morning, but it looks like your defibrillator cure works. You look good." There was a pause and then, "Nice suit, by the way."
That made Tony laugh, despite the trouble they were in. He turned and smiled despite telling himself not to. "I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"Starting something we can't finish. I thought what we had might actually amount to something."
"Yeah, me, too."
"A shame." Tony took a deep breath. "The reason I was so bent last night… The truth is… my dad, he stole a lot of money from me, and now I have to track him down. I thought I should tell you, is all."
Torres said, "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."
"No, I should be open about this. I'm the one who made the 'be truthful' rule."
"I don't need details," Torres countered.
"McGee's helping me track his movements." There was so much more he should say, but he didn't know where to begin.
Torres took charge, saying, "We can talk about this later, after work? If you want."
"You sure?" He could have easily had a total prick on his team, but here was Torres being so fucking nice.
"Yeah. We can still be friends, right? I've gotta get washed up, but… uh… I just want to say congratulations."
Tony raised his eyebrows in question.
Torres explained, "Your promotion, getting your own team."
"Oh, thanks," Tony said, smiling. "Now, if only I can find my dad and my money, my day will be perfect."
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After Torres left, Tony sat at the desk and called McGee to see if he'd made any progress. He hadn't, yet, but he was working on it as well as a cold case Gibbs had handed him. Next, Tony called Reeves and let him know he had some phone calls to make and would be back in the bullpen shortly.
He got hold of Marcel LaConti, and the news wasn't good. It appeared that Senior had divided the $750,000 into smaller amounts and transferred the funds to several overseas accounts. But within the hour, he had he'd moved it all again and they'd lost sight of it. "I am sorry but it doesn't look good," LaConti told Tony. "But that doesn't mean we won't persevere until every last penny has been recovered."
"Trust my father to know how to launder money," Tony muttered under his breath. "At least we know one person who knows where my money is: my dad, so my priority is locating him." He thanked the banker and told him he'd keep in touch.
Back in the bullpen, on Gibbs' side, Tony sat next to McGee to have a word. Bishop was on the phone, trying to gather information on a cold case, Alex Quinn was nowhere to be seen, and Gibbs had left the building for coffee, so they had a few minutes.
McGee had checked out Mrs. Robin because he was used to covering all angles. She was clean though, and had no unusual banking transactions. Although she had called DiNozzo Sr.'s cell phone several times, he had never picked up. McGee had checked all outgoing flights but there was no record of Anthony DiNozzo Sr. flying anywhere. "I've put some searchers out there, so if his name turns up anywhere, I'll get a ping," McGee said.
Tony thanked him. "I have to talk to the Sherlocks. They're avoiding my calls, so I'm going to drive over to their club and break down the front door if I have to," he said, frustrated. "I'll take my team." He figured they should meet the Sherlocks detectives at some point, just to understand what they were up against.
After a quick reunion with Ducky, and a promise to go out to dinner soon, Tony told him he needed Palmer for a short while. "I promise to bring him back in one piece."
Slinging one arm around Jimmy's shoulders, Tony said in jest, "We're going to visit the Sherlocks. I figure they'll open the door to you if you use your secret knock."
Jimmy stared at him and asked, "How did you know about the secret knock?"
«•» «•» «•»
Ten minutes later Tony was driving towards Silver Spring in an SUV he had commandeered to accommodate his long-legged agents. Reeves and Torres were in the back, and Jimmy Palmer sat up front.
As he drove, Tony told Jimmy he believed his father may have run off with Judith McKnight. "She's the resident cougar on the Sherlocks team," Tony explained to his agents sitting in the back seat. "My father, who is a member, as is Palmer here, is crazy about the woman. I didn't mean that Palmer is crazy about Judith… or maybe he is. Palmer?"
"No, no! She is rather intimidating." Jimmy seemed genuinely surprised at Tony's news, and said he knew Judith and Tony's dad were attracted to each other, but that wasn't any of his business.
"You okay with me dragging you along on my personal investigation?" Tony asked, glancing at his two agents in the rear-view mirror. He'd let the guys in Dispatch know he was out on a training mission with his new team, but they should phone him if a case came up. So far, all was quiet on that front. And, even better, Gibbs hadn't phoned to bark at him, which was nice.
"Me? I'm just here for the ride," Torres replied, peering out the window at the passing landscape as if he hadn't a care in the world.
Reeves actually rubbed his hands together. "I'm up for anything, mate. Who are these people, and why are we calling on them, again?"
Tony told him who the Sherlock Consortium was, and the basics of his problem, downplaying the amount of money Senior had stolen. He had a feeling something bad was going down though, and that the Sherlocks were somehow involved.
Jimmy said, "I'm really sorry you're going through this, Tony. I've been so busy at work the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to make the meetings. I have no idea what's been going on." He took a couple of breaths and asked, "Do you think they ran off to a remote island somewhere, and are drinking cocktails under a palm tree and watching a beautiful sunset over the ocean?"
"I sure hope so, because any other alternative doesn't seem quite so romantic," Tony said.
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