Chapter 6
Due to the phone call, there was a change in plans. Gibbs and Sloane would go see Ami and take a look at her vandalized truck, and take photos for evidence. Bishop and McGee would deal with JAG, and Torres offered to talk to Corporal Lavery.
When Gibbs and Sloane got to Ami and Commander Lavery's house, they discovered Corporal Lavery was already at his brother's house, dressed in jeans and a long sleeve shirt, and, in fact, the person stopping a very angry woman from taking a swing at Gibbs when she saw him.
"You sonovabitch!" she yelled, nearly being lifted off her feet by Corporal Lavery's arm around her waist. "You bastards just can't leave me alone, can you! You're all the same! Think that having a gun and a fancy badge makes you God's Gift and you can do whatever the hell you want to dumb shmucks like the rest of us! My family didn't sue you the last time, but this time I'll sue your ass to the same damn grave Michael will be going to!"
"Easy, Am', easy," Corporal Lavery soothed, holding on to Ami. Considering the younger Lavery brother was broadly built, and likely more stronger, where Michael was tall and slim, it was like trying to move a solid concrete brick wall. "I just spoke to A.J. about Agent Gibbs, and he says Agent Gibbs isn't the kind of agent to pull that kind of stunt. Says he knows him, and once he knows someone is innocent, he leaves 'em alone. Agent Gibbs didn't do this."
"Then who the hell did? Maybe one of his other damn agents!" Ami fired back, watching as Slone started taking photos of the vandalized truck, which was sitting on the driveway, in front of the open garage.
"Agent Gibbs?" Corporal Lavery asked, still holding on to Ami firmly.
"I only have three, sometimes four people on my team, and they are not the kind of people who would do something like this," Gibbs said. "Whoever did this, it wasn't us."
This was black spray paint all over Ami's truck. There were a few graphic words in relation to Ami being female, and her tires had been punctured. It was a nice 1970 Ford F-250 in red and white and, despite the age, had been well-maintained, and Sloane was mentally crying over the damage to such a nice truck.
"Then if it wasn't you, who the hell was it?" Ami demanded. "Why the hell would anyone do something like this? There's no way in hell I can take this to work! And thanks to Michael being behind on the damn mortgage payments, I can't exactly afford to replace the tires right now! Or even figure out how to get rid of the flip-ass spray paint!"
"Considering you were planning to sell the place, that really won't be much of an issue, now will, it, hun?" Corporal Lavery soothed, rubbing her arm gently.
"You're planning on selling?" Gibbs asked. "That's fast."
"Considering you knew how much I hated Michael, are you really surprised?" Ami asked bitterly, slowly calming down, but seeming to hold on to Corporal Lavery's arms for comfort or support. "I hate this place. It was never really mine, and Michael made damn sure I knew it. So why would I want to keep a place I hated?"
Both agents did admit she had a point.
"Did you file a police report?" Sloane asked.
"They came, they saw, they took, they left," Ami said. "One of the officers discovered that the motion sensors on the lights over there (she pointed to the one between the garage and the front door, the front door, and the corner of the house) had been spray painted with black paint. I'm used to the lights going on and off during the night, and didn't think anything of it. Damn things go on if even my neighbour's cat wanders by."
"Okay. And you found your truck this morning, when you came outside?" Sloane asked.
Ami nodded, leaning against Corporal Lavery's chest.
"I know I'm supposed to go see you guys at NCIS today, but since I'm here and you're here, would you mind if we did it here?" Corporal Lavery suggested.
"Sure, but what about your lawyer?" Gibbs asked.
"Chedwiggen is Ami's lawyer," Corporal Lavery said.
"But give me cause to think you're going to cause trouble for him, and that can change," Ami threatened, glaring at them. Corporal Lavery chuckled and kissed her temple.
"That's my Frigga," he said, grinning at her.
Sloane quickly sent Torres a message, letting him know he was off the hook for interviewing Corporal Lavery and, on Gibbs' request, sent him to interview Private Moses. Her phone dinged a moment later, and she grinned.
"What?" Gibbs asked, as they followed the couple inside.
"It seems Ami makes and sells pipe lamps, and there's one Torres knows Bishop was eyeing. He says it's still available, and is asking if we could pick it up if he pays Ami directly."
Gibbs smirked.
Inside, there was an organized chaos, with boxes everywhere. Photos had been taken down from the walls, and several bookcases were being emptied out, the contents put in boxes.
"Sorry about the mess," Ami said. "I'm just going through everything, figuring out what to do with what. Can I get you guys some coffee or tea?"
Both Sloane and Gibbs opted for coffee, and while Ami made it, Gibbs spoke to Corporal Lavery.
"We're sorry for your loss," he said. "What is going on between you and Ami? Both your phones show a lot of texts and calls between each other, especially over the last three months, and we know Ami spent the night at your place three weeks ago."
Corporal Lavery smiled wryly, sitting in on a loveseat placed near the couch, where Sloane and Gibbs were. "What happened is I fell in love with my sister-in-law three months ago, and three weeks ago, we both discovered it was mutual," Corporal Lavery said. "You're right; Ami didn't leave my apartment that night. She also didn't leave my bed, not that she was complaining, other than about the hickey I left on her neck." He smirked at that, causing Sloane to grin in amusement.
Ami came back into the living room, carrying a tray with four cups of coffee, which she distributed among everyone. She smiled at Corporal Lavery when he kissed the hand that handed him his coffee, and the affection between them was clear to see.
"A month after the wedding, I confronted Michael about his infidelity, which I had suspected but couldn't prove," Ami admitted, sitting beside Corporal Lavery. "You saw my temper, and that was one argument I lost. See that dent in the wall over there? Up until recently, a picture had been hiding that damn thing."
"Did he hit you or did he slam you into the wall?" Sloane asked gently.
"I had a hell of a headache afterwards, and trouble swallowing for a day or two," Ami admitted, looking down as painful memories flooded her. She smiled at Corporal Lavery when he took her hand in his, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. "He told me I was little better than trailer trash, and he owned me, which meant he could say and do whatever he wanted, and because he was such a good lawyer, he could kill me and no one would ever find any evidence of wrongdoing on his part. And the worst part was, no one would ever believe me."
"I found out about it over the last three months," Corporal Lavery said. "I've been away, overseas, until three months ago, when I came home. Met Ami at my homecoming party Mom hosted, and I knew right away something was wrong. Yeah, I wanted to beat the hell out of him, but we both knew he held all the cards."
"Until you decided to play dirty and get a divorce," Sloane said.
"Three weeks ago, yeah," Ami said. "I woke up that morning and realized I couldn't do this anymore. I wanted out. I wanted my freedom from Michael and I wanted it now. David showed me how it felt to be loved, and I admit I wanted more. But I couldn't do that if I was still married to Michael. That night, I took my wedding ring off, and I haven't put it back on since." She looked around the living room. "I didn't want anything from Michael. I didn't even want his money. I just wanted my freedom and a written guarantee that he and his father would leave me alone."
"You didn't trust either of them to keep their word," Gibbs guessed.
"Michael was the kind of guy who would shake your hand with one hand, and keep a knife behind his back with the other, and as soon as you turned your back, especially if he decided he didn't like you, he'd put the knife in it," Corporal Lavery said. "He screwed me over a few times on what I thought were honest deals that turned out to not be so honest. That was why I joined the Army; to get as far away from him, and Father, as I could."
"Do you hate him?" Sloane asked.
Corporal Lavery shook his head. "No ma'am. I hate what he's done, and I really don't like him as a person, but no, I don't hate him. I can't be bothered."
"What would have happened if Ami had gotten the divorce?" Gibbs asked.
"I would have moved out. I had worked out a deal with a coworker whose mom had a garage apartment she was renting out, and was willing to take cash. Mac didn't fully know what was going on, but he also knew enough to not ask too many questions," Ami said. "After that, with the exception of David and Sarah, I would have cut ties with the Lavery family and taken back my maiden name." She smiled shyly at Corporal Lavery. "As for David and me, well, you never know."
"And now?" Gibbs asked, watching as Corporal Lavery pressed another kiss against Ami's temple.
"Now, I'm sorting through Michael's stuff, figuring out what to donate, what to send back to the Navy (they already took his laptop), what to sell, and what to give to Sarah," Ami said. "As soon as I can, if Captain Lavery doesn't fight me over this, which I think he will, I'm selling the house. I'll put the money into a savings account, and when I'm ready, I may decide to buy another house, but not right now. I just know I'm not hiding anymore."
"Why do you think Captain Lavery will fight you over the house?" Sloane asked.
"He blames her for Michael's death," Corporal Lavery said. "I got that loud and clear when I spoke to Mom yesterday. And once Father hates someone, there's not a lot anyone can do to change his mind."
"Do you think he'd pull something like what happened to your truck?" Sloane asked.
"I don't know," Ami said.
"With him, who knows? If he's mad enough, maybe. Or maybe he's hiding in his library, doing the grief thing to the max," Corporal Lavery said. "We don't really talk much these days, not since I defied him and joined the enemy." He smirked. "Best thing I ever did."
Before the agents left, with promises to stay in touch, Gibbs had a question for the couple.
"By the way, Frigga?"
Sloane grinned at him. "Viking mythology. Frigga was Odin's wife, and in the Thor movies, she was just as much a fighter as her husband was."
As for Sloane, she was able to quickly buy the floor lamp for Torres, who sent Ami the money through e-transfer, but not before buying one of the desk lamps Ami had available.
"Do I dare even ask?" Gibbs asked, watching as Sloane carefully put both lamps in the car.
"Torres is doing something nice for Bishop, and I'm doing something nice for myself," Sloane said easily. "These are nice lamps."
Before they left, Gibbs gave Ami the name and number of an auto body painter who might be able to help her.
As they drove back to NCIS, they discussed the case.
"Vandalizing Ami's truck like that, that makes no sense," Sloane said. "Either someone saw her with Corporal Lavery, or someone is trying to throw us off the track. Thing is, someone had to have been following her, or knew she drove that particular truck, to know that was her truck. Do you think it could have been Captain Lavery?"
"Spray painting the light motion sensors like that?" Gibbs shook his head. "Captain Lavery is old school. He would have gone after Ami's reputation, or confronted her directly, rather than do something like spray paint a truck and puncture tires."
"If that's the case, the vandalism could be a diversion, keep us running in circles, or it could be a legitimate threat against Ami," Sloane said.
"If that's the case, then we tell Corporal Lavery to keep his gun nearby," Gibbs said.
"Didn't look like he needed an excuse to stay close," Sloane said, grinning.
"What do you make of that?"
"From a psychologist perspective? Or a personal one?"
"Both."
"From a psychologist's perspective, there was genuine affection and caring between those two. Corporal Lavery got Ami to calm down without patronizing her. She went from a raging valkyrie to an angry, possibly scared, woman, in under two minutes. Had we tried to deal with her alone, one of would have likely gotten hurt, and she would have likely been arrested for assaulting a federal agent," Sloane said. "From a personal perspective, they're a cute couple, and I think there is genuine love between them. Also, it's likely if I had ever met Commander Lavery, I would have tried to either punch him through my office door, or shot him."
Gibbs chuckled. "He was an abuser. That dent in the wall? Seen that before."
"So have I," Sloane said. "Which makes me wonder what else he did."
"If he was that way towards Ami, I'm wondering how he was towards his lovers," Gibbs said.
"They were disposable," Sloane said matter-of-factly. "He wouldn't even admit he was gay, and treated Ami like dirt, so why would he treat his lovers any better? They were a means to an end, and so was Ami, who was a pretty pet to be shown off whenever he felt like it, and beaten when she didn't do as she was told. Probably why she started the pipe lamp thing, so she'd have an excuse not to have to be in the same room with him all the time, especially in the evenings."
"Those were some nice lamps," Gibbs admitted.
On an airplane, headed for Leavenworth, Torres smiled as he read the message Sloane had sent him. He couldn't wait to see Bishop's reaction. He just hoped Private Moses would give them some answers, or they were back to square one until they could find Donald 'Davey' Jones, or someone from JAG gave them another suspect.