Disclaimer: no legal rights to NCIS, no money being made.
Not beta'd so all mistakes are mine. Anyone interested in the dubious pleasure of beta-ing for me, please let me know.
Warnings: same as Chapter One
Conundrum, a punning riddle
Death the enemy
Death the betrayer
Death the un-forgiver
Yet
Death the painless rest
Death the sleep secure
Death the forgiveness of sin
RIP Beta Mike91848
DETERMINED TO HOLD
Chapter Fourteen, Glassy eyed
Previously on NCIS
Gibbs hung up his phone and started issuing orders. "DiNozzo, with me. We need to be briefed on what Carlson has to say and get an interview with Shane and Peggy Ringold. McGee, you and Ziva see what you can get out of Senior DiNozzo, find out who's been feeding him info."
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"Mr DiNozzo, you're facing a long prison term if you don't..."
"If I don't what, Agent McGee? You don't have anything on me and frankly, I'm getting a little bit peeved at the continued harassment. What are you trying to get me to confess to? You have nothing better to do then to come after me every time Anthony falls on his face? Haven't you figured out by now that he's a disgrace to his family, your puny organization and the Country, itself? I guess working for this two-bit shoe-shine shop you call NCIS has gone to your collective heads if you think it matters one way or the other what you do, you're nothing..."
Tim listened to the Senior DiNozzo with increasing irritation. That's the way it had gone on for forty five minutes. McGee'd ask a question, Senior responded with scathing comebacks and putdowns. But Senior wasn't as cool and collected as he was pretending to be. Under all that bombastic rhetoric his forehead was moist with sweat and he kept wiping his damp palms on his pants legs under the table. Tim wisely took note of this and that the older man fidgeted and quivered and his heel made a muted staccato on the carpeted floor. In the past, naive McGee would probably not have picked up on Senior's nervousness, just attributed it to, well, nothing out of the ordinary but he was learning. McGee was learning from experts Gibbs and DiNozzo, and to a lesser degree from the Mossad Officer, what signs to look for or a 'tell' to be aware of and he had discerned that Senior knew they had him dead to rights in spite of his objections. Kidnapping. Of his own son along with being part of the conspiracy to commit murder. Yeah, Senior was sweating bullets and McGee was going to keep him unbalanced until he got what he wanted.
McGee looked over quickly at a silent Ziva in puzzlement. She hadn't said more than two sentences during the whole interrogation but sat stoically staring at the agitated older man. Tim pretended to read some papers from the file until Senior ran out of insults.
"And...Mr DiNozzo," Tim continued as though Senior hadn't just wasted ten minutes of their precious time. "Agent DiNozzo identifies you as being involved in his kidnapping and extortion attempt. You were there participating fully. Not under duress Tony stated and you, specifically, threatened him to cooperate. You then turned your back on him and left with the other kidnappers without a backward glance. You're going to jail for that, it's a foregone conclusion."
With thinned lips, Senior asked the question Tim had been waiting for.
"What do you want then?" And for the first time, Senior looked an old man and vulnerable.
"Somebody's been leaking information to you from this office about this office, specifically about Agent DiNozzo and his cases. Who is it? Tell us that and we may be able to cut you a deal."
Senior was the consummate con artist. His quicksilver mood change was blinding. The sneer was back in the blink of an eye and so was the confidence. McGee watched him relax back in his chair with all obvious signs of nervousness gone and he wondered what the magic word or words had been to bring him to this euphoric state, and so quickly.
Tim's eyes never flickered once toward Ziva and again he pummeled his mind to let go of the baseless suspicions that Ziva knew something...he had no proof just a gut feeling and he wasn't about to start relying on his gut a la Gibbs to accuse a co-worker of such treachery.
"Oh, I don't think we're going to have a problem here, McGinney, about getting me a deal. So, I have a proposition." Senior chuckled with inner humor as though he was the one with all the cards up his sleeve.
"It's McGee." Always polite McGee reminded.
"Whatever!" Groused Senior, and rolled up his sleeve impatiently to check his Rolex
"Well?"
Ziva, sitting beside Tim, took a deep breath before she finally joined in the conversation.
"And what is the proposition, Mr DiNozzo?" she asked coldly.
Senior made a production of turning his whole body toward Ziva, sitting up with his hands clasped on the desktop and directing one of his teeth-showing smarmy smiles at her. All that was missing was a gold tooth sparkle and a patch over the right eye.
"Have the charges dropped and I'll hand the person over on a silver platter, name, rank and serial number."
"Not going to happen," interjected Tim with a look of incredulity. Nobody could be that much of an ignoramus.
"Let him speak, Tim!" Ziva snapped roughly. She felt panic starting to rise in her bones and forced the feeling down ruthlessly. He could not harm her. She would deny his words and his words would be unbelieved.
"Carol Sutton." Senior finally revealed as though he was telling the secrets of the universe. "We have become the best of friends and enjoy each other's company. I'm afraid though that she suffers from one faulty aberration and I certainly do encourage it." He said gleefully, "as it benefits me to no end."
"And what would that aberration be, Mr DiNozzo?" Ziva questioned while in the meantime, Tim had been busy on his cell phone.
"Oh ho, ho, lust for Junior, my dear, lust for Junior, although I doubt whether she would be too discerning if we, that is, she and I, had a go at it. After all, I'm still an attractive, relatively youngish older man and I can certainly still perform in bed like a man half my age."
No matter Senior's cultured, refined voice and manners, he was a debauched, old man and the subject matter was still degrading to any woman Tim knew. His timely cell phone beeping a text distracted him enough not to barf his last meal and after reading the text he excused himself and got up to leave. "I need a minute, Ziva," he informed her, "Stay here, I'll be right back."
Senior noticed the moue on Ziva's face even she couldn't hide quickly enough and he guessed the reason.
"Don't like being told what to do, do you Officer David, may I call you Ziva?" Senior saw an edge and took advantage of it. "Dearest Carol, lovely woman, not very smart but always so accommodating. Matter of fact, Ziva, she did mention your name a few times in our time together."
Ziva noticed the red light was still on and the recording continued but so apparently did Senior because he continued in a low almost whispering voice filled with innuendo.
"And she is quite talkative and knows so much. Her 'in' as to what goes on in your team would be worth knowing to Agent McGee, enough to get me out of here, don't you think?"
"It matters not to me what this Carol has said, Mr DiNozzo, or that I believe she poses a threat to me or anyone on my team as you are implying."
"Oh, but it should, Ziva," he interrupted. "You see..."
The door opened and Tim returned but didn't sit down. He nodded once to Ziva toward the door and she took the hint, albeit reluctantly, and rose from her chair and turned towards their prisoner. "We shall return, Mr DiNozzo, unless you have something further you wish to say at this time," she challenged.
DiNozzo, Senior narrowed his eyes suspiciously, was he losing his advantage? Talk now, reveal Ms David's culpability or wait to see what the hullabaloo was about?
"Ziva?" McGee's interrupted, his voice sounding loud and impatient to the liaison Officer, though in actuality, he spoke normally. He did, however, open the interrogation room door wide to stand next to it and she did not miss the authoritative power behind that action. Was she misjudging McGee? Was he not still the mild-mannered, easy manipulated co-worker with no spine? Yet, here he was, ordering her about and expecting her to Yes, sir and No, sir him like a baby rookie? Even if her world was about to change and she lost her job, she would not put up with that. Not from him or her other co-worker Tony DiNozzo. They would see her wrath first hand and regret the day they challenged her.
Before Tim could repeat his request that she leave the room, she gathered the file and her pad and pen and stalked towards the door and McGee.
"What is so important that you dragnet me from the room as though I was your subordinate underling, McGee?" Questioned a furious Ziva once the door was closed.
Seemingly unperturbed at her anger, Tim replied, "Drag, Ziva."
"Excuse me?"
"You said dragnet, it's just drag, and I thought you should know that Carol Sutton was working today and Dorneget escorted her here. She's waiting in conference room two. I think she might be able to put some light on what's going on."
"I see, very well." Ziva used a technique she had learned in Mossad to shift away from her anger at McGee and focus on Carol Sutton instead. Could this day get any better?
Carol Sutton stared intently at the door as Ziva and Tim entered the room. Tim was the last to enter but her eyes remained focused on the door even after he closed it as though she was expecting someone else to enter.
"Hi Carol, thanks for coming." McGee started out.
"I thought Tony, I mean, Agent DiNozzo would...oh, never mind. Anyway, it's no problem. As a matter of fact, I was glad to get away for a few, work is kind of slow right now. So what's it all about, Tim? Ziva? Hey, how've you been. Are we up for coffee tomorrow morning, unless you're busy of course?" Friendliness oozed from her wide smile.
Ziva wanted this woman's chatter to cease and desist and for her to just disappear permanently. Unfortunately, Ziva's choices were limited. Things were done differently here in this Country and a quick death with a garrote was frowned upon. Ziva's unrealistic thoughts were interrupted when she looked up into brown eyes framed by brown bangs of straight hair and froze. Brown eyes that were hardly without guile or calculating guts stared back at her and Ziva berated herself for having again judged by outward appearances. She'd been taken in by this sly creatures act of shallow dumbness and mocked herself for being so gullible. Carol and Tony DiNozzo would make a great couple, she thought mockingly, so alike.
"What this is about, Carol, is regarding NCIS security, moles and leaks. We thought you might be able to give us a hand."
"I?" Carol looked truly puzzled. "I am more than willing to help, Tim. But what is it you think I could help you with?"
Tim removed several pictures from the folder he had brought in with him and showed her the one on the top. "Do you know this man." Carol looked at the picture of Anthony DiNozzo, Sr carefully for several seconds longer than Tim thought she should. Was she deciding whether to tell the truth or lie? And why lie?
Looking up at Tim, she replied innocently, "Of course I know him, Tim. That's Anthony DiNozzo, Tony's father. Everybody in the building knows who that is and he's been in my department visiting several times. He's got a business deal going that some of us have invested in. Is that what this is about?"
"This man has been allowed to roam about in this building without supervision, and without my team knowing about it?" McGee tried not to show his shock.
"Well, Tim, he's not roaming about without supervision!" she declared indignantly. "And anyway, he's Tony's father and everyone likes Tony so he can be trusted. Besides, Mr DiNozzo knows people in the building and can get a visitors pass to see them anytime he wants. He can talk to anybody and I know they tell him things because he promises to make them millionaires. I don't know about that, I do believes he lies to suit himself, but it can't hurt to try and I had a few dollars from my savings that I didn't mind investing." She said reasonably although contradicting herself about Senior being trustworthy.
Tim groaned internally. What a mess. There went their case against her. She had cleverly and slyly implicated the whole building as Mr DiNozzo's accomplices and there was no way they could go after her without going after every soul in the building. Not only that, but Ziva was off limits too and his, and he knows Tony's suspicions could not be confirmed. Oh, Senior would go down for his part in Tony's kidnapping but the person who revealed information to him could not be convicted on the evidence they now had.
"I can give you the names of the employees Mr DiNozzo had dealings with, if that would help. Maybe they told him things, I don't know. So many that I guess it would be hard to pinpoint the real culprit and so degrading to the moral of the employees if you went after the wrong people. Don't you think?"
Tim and Ziva eyed her than each other and abruptly got up from their chairs. "Here's pencil and paper, please write down names of those you know were in association with Mr DiNozzo. Knock on the door once you're finished and the guard will let you out. Thanks for your help, Carol."
"Oh, you're welcome, Tim, and please tell Tony I said Hi."
Tim had strode swiftly from the room, Ziva a little slower when Carol called out to her. "Meet me for coffee at the coffee shop tomorrow, Ziva, we have so much to talk about."
The inference was there and Ziva knew this woman was going to want payback for saving her ass and not telling Tim the whole story and her part in it. Unless she could come up with a counter proposal, she would be under Carol's unrelenting greedy thumb for as long as she was at NCIS. That was not going to work for her and Carol would soon find that out!
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Peggy Ringold washed breakfast dishes in an unfamiliar sink, in an unfamiliar kitchen and so, logically, an unfamiliar house and unfamiliar backyard were a given. But in spite of not knowing where she was and not recognizing any of the men supposedly guarding her and Yonta, she was the happiest she had been since she had been made the personal property of Shane Ringold, the length of time she had been married to that deplorable, despicable man.
With great satisfaction, she left the dishes to air dry in the dish rack instead of drying them individually with a pristine dish towel. She left the floor slippery wet with glee and placed the dish cloth haphazardly hanging from the towel rack with joy. It was over, no matter what happened next, she would never go back to Shane Ringold and his malignant possessiveness. His obsessive-compulsive personality disorder that needed to have every drop of liquid the same in every glass, every can of beans precisely stacked, every forced sexual encounter with her, because she could not call it lovemaking, the same until he reached his climax, all of it over and done with.
Her guards told her nothing and she didn't care. Her beloved was in a hospital but he was out of prison, that's all that mattered. She could wait patiently for Tony to show up along with his boss, that Agent Gibbs, and in the mean time, not pick up a speck of dust or crumb of food to her hearts content.
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"My mother, is she alright, and Peggy, is she safe?"
"They're safe, Carlson. The FBI picked them up and got them to a safe house. They're fine." Tony stood next to the left side of the hospital bed, Gibbs at the foot as they talked to bruised and beaten Jorge Carlson, who sported a cast on his left arm.
"Good. I briefed Agent Fornel on what I learned in that hellhole. There is an immediate danger, he's calling out the troops. He'd said he catch up with you later, had to act now." Carlson's words were quick and choppy as he leaned back in the bed as his face grimaced in pain."
"You need something for pain," Tony questioned. "I'll get the nurse," and he turned towards the door.
"No." Carlson shook his head in denial and held up an infusion pump for pain in his right hand. "They broke a few ribs but this stuff makes me pass out and I wanted to talk to you first."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Tony with feeling.
"Good, good, I wanted to get that out of the way. If you got what you needed then I have a question for you."
Carlson's facial expression morphed into stark hatred. "Is Shane Ringold still alive?"
"Ringold is still alive, under detention right now." Gibbs said shortly, understanding Carlson's hot anger over the threats to his family and not being able to do anything about it...at the time.
"I'm glad to hear that," said Carlson with grim satisfaction. He said no more as he laid back down and pressed the pain pump. Tony and Gibbs shared a look. They knew, one way or another, Carlson would seek his own revenge against the man who had defiled the woman he loved. They also knew the interview was apparently over when Carlson closed his eyes but they knew he wasn't asleep. As they left the room, Gibbs couldn't help saying, "Revenge isn't always what it's made out to be, Carlson," and with that they quietly left the room and the man to his own thoughts.
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