Chapter 33
They had just passed by Ashland when Gibbs' phone rang. He hoped that it wouldn't be something going wrong. He answered.
"Gibbs."
"Gibbs, the FBI is aware that you're coming here. They're planning on taking Jorgenson into custody as soon as possible," Jenny said.
"And I'm supposed to just hand him over?" Gibbs asked skeptically. "Doesn't sound like a good idea."
"It's the only idea. Director Norton is already upset that he was completely cut out of this whole thing. He has jurisdiction and if he decides to raise a stink, that will give us a lot more scrutiny than we want to have. You're going to deliver Jorgenson to NCIS, process everything, make copies and hand Jorgenson and the mercenary over to the FBI."
"Whoa. I don't think so. He's the only evidence of Jorgenson's involvement."
"I know that, but you don't have a choice, Gibbs. Director Norton has agreed to uphold the deal you made with him."
"And you're trusting him?"
"Yes."
"Bad idea, Jen."
"Jethro, I'm aware that you sometimes forget this, but let me remind you that I am the director of NCIS and I have been for years. This is not a position I got because of my pretty face. I am well aware of the politics surrounding this situation and I would appreciate it if you would do me the courtesy of acknowledging that you don't always have all the answers."
There was a pause.
"Director Norton has not shown any hint of sympathy toward Jorgenson. Not to me, nor to anyone else. When he was confirmed in his position, he said nothing for or against Jorgenson and he has not once stepped beyond what he is allowed to do. He also has the respect of other agencies. He has spoken with McGee and agrees that McGee should know what happens to Jorgenson, no matter what that is. We have done everything we can to make sure that this turns out for the best. So you will bring them both to NCIS and we will transfer everything over to the FBI. Understood?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
The conversation ended abruptly. Gibbs knew that he'd stepped over the line, but he didn't like the idea that they'd have to trust the FBI to take care of Jorgenson. Even if Director Norton didn't think much of him, surely, he'd still have some allies there.
"What's the word, Boss?" Tony asked.
"FBI is taking over once we get to D.C."
"The FBI? That doesn't seem like a good plan."
"Nope."
"No choice, then?"
"Probably not."
"I just don't..."
The conversation ended abruptly.
There hadn't been a whole lot of traffic on the road, but there was enough that they'd seen plenty of cars pass by. They were getting closer to D.C. and that meant more traffic. It was normal.
Until suddenly, things weren't normal anymore.
Suddenly, a blue car with tinted windows swerved around them at top speed. The convoy consisted of five cars. Gibbs and Tony were in a car in the very back. Ziva was in one police car with the mercenary. Jorgenson was in another car with two police and two unmarked cars were in front.
Jorgenson's car was third in the line.
The dark blue car came level with Jorgenson's car.
"Boss..." Tony said.
Gibbs saw it and sped up, moving around Ziva's car, headed for the blue car, ready to ram it if necessary.
The back seat window in Jorgenson's car shattered and the police car began to swerve as one of the tires blew out. Then, the blue car sped up again and zoomed off down the road, moving onto the shoulder as the car in the front of the convoy moved into the left-hand lane, trying to block it. The second unmarked car took off after it, but Gibbs would be surprised if he managed to keep up with it. The car had been moving extremely fast, probably over 100 mph.
Tony got on the radio.
"Ziva, you guys keep going with the first car. Don't stop until you get to NCIS."
"Understood. We have called for additional backup."
"We're stopping with Jorgenson's car. Send the police here, too."
"Will do."
Tony looked at Gibbs as they slowed down, took the emergency access turnaround and headed back to where Jorgenson's car had gone off the road. Other people were slowing down as well, but Gibbs wanted to make sure that everything was in control. He had his suspicions about what had just happened, but until he was sure, he didn't want to lose what he had.
They got back to the police car and saw the officer who had been driving just opening the door.
"Looks like he's okay," Tony said.
"Yeah," Gibbs said, grimly.
They pulled over to the side of the road and got out. Gibbs headed for the car while Tony began to control the good Samaritans who had also stopped.
"Are you both okay?" Gibbs asked the officer.
Denton had a black eye and a couple of cuts on his face, but he nodded.
"Cassie is..." he gestured.
Gibbs looked and saw the other officer leaning over the backseat.
"Jorgenson?" he asked.
"Dead," Denton said grimly. "That was the goal. He could have shot me easy but he didn't."
"You see him?"
"Yeah, but it might not have been enough. Once my tired blew, I had to focus on not causing an accident."
"We'll try."
"Okay. I've been on the force for twenty years and I've never had this happen before."
Denton shook his head and ran his hands through his hair.
"Never."
Cassie stood up and looked at Gibbs. She seemed shaken but uninjured.
"There was more than one shot, but only one hit him. Right in the head," she said.
"No chance," Gibbs said.
She shook her head. "It's a mess back here. I'd say death was nearly instantaneous."
"And Cal didn't think there was any reason for all this security," Denton said. "And five cars wasn't enough to stop this."
"If someone wants it enough..."
"Yeah. I guess they did. You know why?"
"I have my guess," Gibbs said.
Another police car pulled up with its lights flashing. An ambulance showed up two minutes later, accompanied by two other police cars. In less than ten minutes, the road was shut down in both directions while they evaluated the situation.
Gibbs and Tony stayed back, letting this be in police jurisdiction.
After an hour, he got a call.
"Gibbs."
"We are at NCIS, Gibbs," Ziva said.
"Good. Any problems?"
"None. Jorgenson?"
"Dead. Shot in the head."
There was a pause.
"Anyone else?"
"Nope. Not the goal."
"Understood. You and Tony are safe?"
"Yeah. McGee there?"
"No. Director Shepard said she had sent him away so that he wouldn't be associated with Jorgenson when he arrived."
That had been a good idea, but now, Gibbs didn't like it.
"Call him. Find out where he is."
"I will."
Gibbs hung up and looked at Tony.
"They made it to the Yard."
Tony nodded with relief. "Good." He looked back at the wrecked police car. "I never thought this would happen."
"Jorgenson said he figured he'd either disappear or die."
"How do you know?"
"He told me last night, wanted me to make sure he just disappeared."
"I hope you didn't agree," Tony said.
Gibbs just raised an eyebrow at him. Was there really any question of that? Tony should know better.
"I'm not sure how I feel about this, Boss. I mean, I don't really care too much that he's dead. All that crap he pulled. But I don't know. It's one thing to take someone out in a firefight, but gunned down when he couldn't defend himself... I don't know. Seems a bit low. Who do you think did it?"
Gibbs shrugged. "Take your pick. Plenty of choices."
"Yeah. You think that it would be the FBI?"
Gibbs considered it. That was certainly a possibility. Jorgenson was an embarrassment and he might be considered a security risk, but assassination like this? That seemed a bit beyond what the FBI would do, especially when they were going to be taking him into custody anyway. CIA would make sense, but at the same time, why would they do it? NSA? Again, why? Even if they liked Tim, he couldn't see that assassinating Jorgenson would be their choice. The President himself? Unlikely.
"Don't know."
"Yeah, me either."
"Don't really care."
Tony smiled grimly. "I don't, either, but it would be nice if we knew exactly why he was dead."
Gibbs raised an eyebrow again.
"We know why. He went too far."
He looked over at the car. They were finally removing Jorgenson's body. Tony followed his gaze.
"Well? What now?"
"FBI can have him. They wanted him," Gibbs said and walked back to his car.
It was a little unsettling, but he was glad that Jorgenson was dead and as long as the reason for killing him wasn't to go after Tim too, Gibbs genuinely didn't care what had been the motivation.
Tim's life would be better with Jorgenson out of the way.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"...and so if you want to see him now, he's in the hospital in South Boston," Tim finished.
Dr. Hicks nodded. "That sounds like quite the adventure you had, Tim. How are you feeling about it?"
"Well, I..." Tim's phone rang. "Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to turn this off," he said, fumbling for it.
"That's all right. I'm sure you're still officially on the clock. Just answer it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Tim nodded and answered. He stood up and walked over to the window, giving just a little bit of separation. Dr. Hicks waited patiently.
"Hey, Ziva. Yeah, I'm fine. Why would you–?" Tim paled and looked at Dr. Hicks. "What? Is everyone okay? Are you? Gibbs and Tony?"
"What happened, Tim?"
Tim held up his hand.
"Okay. Yes. I'll be there soon." Then, he laughed weakly. "Ziva, remember that I'm never alone on the road. Okay. Okay. Yes, I promise. Bye."
Tim hung up and then walked back. He sat down with a heavy thump.
"What is it, Tim?" Dr. Hicks asked.
"Jorgenson is dead."
"How?"
"They were transferring him up to NCIS. Someone shot him. They drove by and shot him. Ziva said that he was specifically targeted."
Dr. Hicks looked at Tim closely. It was clear that he'd been shocked by this development, and yet, Dr. Hicks would be surprised if Tim genuinely cared that Jorgenson was dead. He'd expressed intense hatred for the man in the past and it was unlikely that his death would really have changed that.
"Does that bother you?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because..." Tim actually managed to smile a little. "...because it doesn't. And it should."
"Why should it?"
"Because he was defenseless. It's not right to go after someone when they can't fight back."
"But you aren't really bothered?"
"Jorgenson tried to do that to me. Tried to take me down when he thought I couldn't fight back." Suddenly, Tim sounded angry, moreso than he had in years. "He was no different than the people who tortured me. They had me at their mercy, trying to force me to do things that I didn't want to do. The only difference was that Jorgenson wasn't actually using physical force. But it doesn't matter! He was no different than Jubran. Enjoying my pain! I know how it feels because he did it to me! And... But I..." The angry vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. "But it's wrong to be glad that he's dead."
Dr. Hicks leaned forward. "No, it's not, Tim. It's human to feel relief, even satisfaction, when someone who hurt you also suffers. You didn't seek out that kind of satisfaction. The fact that someone else has killed him..."
"My whole life for the last decade has been like this, Dr. Hicks. I just realized it today. Just before I came here. I really was going to talk to you about it, but... but I didn't want to."
"About what?" Dr. Hicks asked, confused.
"I've said over and over that I don't want to be in that gray area."
"Yes, I know."
"But I am. I always have been. I just deluded myself into thinking that I wasn't, that I could leave it behind. But I can't. It's right here. It's the whole reason I'm here talking to you. It's the reason I could be the one to find Levi. It's because I am gray."
That was interesting. He did wonder what had brought that on, but for the moment, he let Tim talk.
"This is just another aspect of it. Was Jorgenson killed because of me? Because of Carew?"
"Because of the fact that he had proven himself to be untrustworthy and dangerous?" Dr. Hicks interrupted. "You've come a long way since you felt you were to blame for everything that happened around you, Tim. Don't fall back into that habit."
But then, Dr. Hicks understood. Tim was facing a bit of an identity crisis. Something had forced him to take a hard look at himself and now, he didn't know how to deal with the idea that he was living the life he'd always declared he hated.
"Gray is not black, Tim," he said.
He was glad to see Tim smile a little.
"People have told me that before, but I don't like it, Dr. Hicks. I don't...but...at the same time, that's why I could help Levi...because the rules don't apply to me unless I let them apply. That's not the way it should be!"
Tim seemed extremely distressed by this realization and Dr. Hicks was of two minds about it. On the one hand, he understood that there was just a bit of a crisis. On the other hand, Tim lived a good life and he did choose to follow the rules set down by society. There shouldn't be much of an issue here.
But there was.
"Tim, your life is atypical. You've known that and I thought you'd accepted it."
"I had...until now."
"You are not a bad person, Tim. You're simply someone who moves through the world slightly differently than others do. And that difference is so slight that no one notices until an extreme event occurs. You live a good life, Tim. Don't let this realization make you question that."
Tim smiled a little. "Too late."
"Well, then, stop questioning it. You're not perfect, but you're a good person with a solid moral center and you haven't let the things that happened to you change that. So stop worrying so much about what it means. It doesn't mean anything except that what has been true is now obvious to you. That's it."
Tim nodded and took a deep breath.
"I need to get back to NCIS. See what's going to happen now."
Dr. Hicks could tell that Tim wasn't yet convinced, but he seemed calmer and that was probably the best he could expect for now.
"All right. Thanks for letting me know about Levi."
"Of course," Tim said. "There are too few people who care about him. Might as well make sure they all know."
"True."
Tim left the office and Dr. Hicks leaned back to think. Jorgenson dead. It was a shock, but really, it was probably for the best. He was not likely to be willing to accept defeat, given his actions. Tim would never have been completely safe with him free. The question was who had done it, but Dr. Hicks found that he didn't really care. For him, while he would never have taken steps to kill Jorgenson himself, and he would believe that, should the person be caught, he should face justice, Jorgenson himself had eluded justice for far too long and it was a relief that he was out of the picture.
And since he was, that left Dr. Hicks free to see if it was a good time to see how Levi was doing.
