Chapter 20
Gibbs glanced down as he reached the mezzanine and saw DiNozzo seating himself at his desk. It wasn't ideal from his perspective. Ideally, DiNozzo would have some family to visit who could help him recover from this excitement, but Gibbs had never gotten the impression that DiNozzo spent much time with his family. The younger man talked a blue streak at the best of times, but he never said much about his parents. But Gibbs didn't have time to worry about DiNozzo's family life, nor really his moods. He'd have to hope that DiNozzo could handle twenty minutes alone with his computer.
He headed to the director's office. The door stood open, and his secretary nodded so Gibbs went straight in. "Agent Gibbs," Morrow said by way of greeting. "How stands the case?"
Gibbs shrugged. "We're in good shape, but I have a touchy situation."
"Close the door, have a seat and tell me about it."
Gibbs shut the door. "Michael Webber is here," he said, and Morrow's brows went up.
"Isn't he the one who called to let DiNozzo know that his father was asking questions about him?" Morrow asked. Gibbs nodded. "Has he seen DiNozzo?"
"We didn't know he was coming, so the gate didn't let him in, and he called DiNozzo."
Morrow grimaced. "Of course he did."
"What I need to know, sir, is how much I can and should tell him. He's here to see his father, who will presumably tell him his version of events, whatever that is." The senator's lawyers had shown up before Gibbs could speak to the man, and they'd locked him up tighter than a bank vault, though they hadn't managed to pry him loose yet. At this point it was a question of whether they could find a judge who would throw out the tapes of his conversation with DiNozzo. There was no justifiable reason for throwing them out, but judges had been known to make stupider decisions, and God knew if the judge in question felt he owed Webber anything.
"I've looked into the young man a little," Morrow said, glancing over at a file on the corner of his desk. "It might interest you to know that a sealed indictment has been filed against the senator, on charges of child sexual abuse, and that his son is one of the witnesses for the prosecution."
Gibbs blinked at him. "That is interesting," he said slowly.
"So far as the DA who filed the indictment knows, the senator is still unaware of these charges."
Gibbs shook his head. The man had plenty on his plate at this point. "That still leaves the question of what I can tell his son," he said.
Morrow shrugged. "Use your judgment, Gibbs. If you believe he's capable of keeping the enormity of this situation under his hat permanently, tell him whatever you feel is appropriate."
"So, the US District Attorney wants to keep it quiet?" Gibbs asked.
"Can you imagine the blow to morale this would be?" Morrow shook his head. "If the soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan found out that a US Senator was selling weapons to the other side . . . it doesn't bear thinking about."
"No sir," Gibbs said, and he found himself wondering suddenly about the wars he'd fought in. Had Senator Webber's cold-blooded money-making schemes existed back then? He thanked the director and left the office, then headed into the conference room where he found Kate and Michael Webber sitting in uneasy silence. He considered sending Kate down to keep an eye on DiNozzo, but decided against it. He wasn't reacting well to anything she said at the moment, so it probably wouldn't be beneficial. Instead, he simply walked over and sat down across from Michael Webber.
"Thank you for your help, by the way," Gibbs said.
"What did happen?" Webber asked, leaning forward anxiously. "Tony looks terrible, and he's not remotely himself."
"I can't explain very much of the situation to you," Gibbs replied. "Certainly not before I've asked you a few questions."
"There is something I should probably tell you. I had to get permission first because the indictment is sealed, but my father is being charged with eleven counts of child sexual abuse."
"My God!" Kate exclaimed.
"Yes, we are aware," Gibbs said, earning an incredulous look from Kate. Webber just raised an eyebrow. "So, can you please tell me exactly why you were so concerned when your father called that you felt you should warn DiNozzo of his interest."
"It's hard to explain," Webber said, and Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Ever since I can remember, my father has had young men around, generally between the ages of sixteen and thirty. As a senator, he has aides and interns and all that, but I became aware that there was something more going on as I got older. For one thing, they often lived in the house with us or with him, when he was away in Washington. We rarely went with him, you see."
"So when you say child, you're talking about adolescents?" Gibbs asked.
"The youngest I've known him to target was fifteen," Webber said. "The oldest . . ." He grimaced. "I don't really know what he's been doing the last ten or so years. I've separated myself from him as much as possible."
"But you didn't try to stop him?" Kate asked. Gibbs directed a glare at her, but Webber didn't get angry as he'd half-expected.
"I didn't have any direct proof," Webber replied. "Just what friends told me, because when I got to be thirteen or thereabouts, he started targeting my friends. He'd start out being all buddy buddy with us, which was weird. Then, after a while, my friends would refuse to stay the night. One of them finally told me that . . ." He closed his eyes and looked away. "But not all of them told their parents, and none of the parents who knew and believed it wanted to do anything. My father was a senator, it was embarrassing, better by far to put it in the past and move on. I've heard all those excuses."
Gibbs nodded slowly, wondering at the dynamics of that. It seemed unusual for that kind of predator not to go after any child of the right age and gender within reach, even his own son, but either Webber didn't recall any such attack, or he hadn't been molested by his father. "So, when you invited DiNozzo to stay with –"
"I didn't!" Webber said sharply, and then he flushed. "I . . . I would have, but by then I knew what my father was like. No, in our first year, Tony didn't go home over Thanksgiving break, but he didn't say anything to any of his friends, he just . . . didn't go. Most of us found out when we got back, and Dad inevitably heard that 'the DiNozzo boy' had stayed over the holiday. He called Mr. DiNozzo and arranged that if Tony wasn't going home on a break, he should come to our house. The first I heard of it was about a week before Christmas when Tony asked me why I hadn't said anything. I played it off, told him that I hadn't been sure and didn't want to get his hopes up."
"He stayed over Christmas with you?" Kate asked, sounding incredulous. Webber looked up, wide-eyed, as if he hadn't considered the impact what he'd been saying could have on DiNozzo's colleagues, and Gibbs suddenly realized that this whole conversation was an invasion of DiNozzo's privacy. He couldn't, in all conscience, end it, but he could minimize the invasion.
"Kate, why don't you go see how Abby's coming?" he said. Kate opened her mouth to protest, but when she looked at his face, she just nodded and left. Once the door had closed behind her, Gibbs said, "Sorry, Mr. Webber, please go on."
Webber didn't respond for a moment. "Tony would hate that I'm telling you this. I didn't even think about the fact that . . ."
"I understand," Gibbs said. "But I need to know."
Webber gazed at Gibbs for a moment. "How well do you know Tony?"
"I've worked with him for two and a half years," Gibbs replied.
"That doesn't mean anything," Webber said. "I've worked with people for longer than that without really knowing them."
"I don't," Gibbs said.
Webber blinked, then he snorted. "You know, from what Tony's said about you, I believe that. So, you know that Tony's confident, man of the world, frat boy manner is . . . um . . ."
"More mask than substance?" Gibbs suggested, and Webber nodded. "Yeah."
"If my father had gotten hold of Tony at fourteen, he could have twisted him around so bad he'd never have known which way was up," Webber said. Gibbs took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The image of an insecure, adolescent DiNozzo being preyed on by a man the age of Senator Webber made him want to strangle someone. "His instincts were good, he didn't really like my father then, but he didn't know why, and he felt guilty about it because Dad was being nicer to him than his own father ever was. Dad was such a good manipulator that he could have turned that guilt into dependence."
"And you knew that then?" Gibbs asked skeptically.
"Not in so many words," Webber said with a shake of his head. "But don't forget, I had seen all those boys and young men, and I knew how desperate Tony was for approval from the older boys and the teachers. He faked it well, but even a minor snub crushed him. And I knew Dad wanted him. He'd asked about him during Thanksgiving break, thinking he was being all subtle, but he'd asked about others of my friends, and I knew what had happened to them."
"How did you stop it, then?" Gibbs asked. "Or did you?"
Webber's eyes widened with alarm, and his back straightened. "Did Tony say –"
"Tony said nothing happened," Gibbs replied.
Webber relaxed slightly. "At first I just made sure they weren't ever alone together for long. Dad kept trying for a while, but there was a day when he figured out that I knew what he was up to."
"And then?"
Webber snorted dryly, looking disgusted. "And then he begged me not to tell Mom that I knew," he said. "I said that I wouldn't, but only if he stopped coming after my friends. He promised. I found out later that it wasn't the first bit of family blackmail, either. He'd promised Mom that not only would I never know what he was doing, but that he would never touch me."
"How old were you?" Gibbs asked.
"When I got him to promise? Nearly sixteen. Mom died during my senior year, and that's when he started angling after Tony again. He offered him that internship, and I nearly went through the roof, but I didn't have any proof, and I couldn't really threaten him the way my mother had."
"Divorce?" Gibbs asked.
"Messy divorce," Webber agreed. "I guess she had proof that he'd had affairs with men, but I never saw it. She told me on her deathbed that I had to watch out for him, that she'd hoped to protect me at least till I was eighteen." He shook his head.
"So Tony turned down the internship," Gibbs said.
"Without much input from me, as it happened," Webber said. "His father was really pushing it, liked the status aspect, I'd guess. Even if Tony had wanted it, which he didn't, that would have turned him off it completely. After that, Dad gave up. Tony moved to the Midwest and was largely out of reach. I think he may have proposed an internship again when Tony graduated, but Tony already had a job in Peoria then."
"But why were you concerned about it now?" Gibbs asked. "DiNozzo's old enough to take care of himself."
"My father's a senator, and Tony's a federal employee. I wasn't sure what pressure he might bring to bear, and I thought I'd better give him a heads up, just in case. Tony's on the old side, but he's never really lost that whole adolescent air. I was afraid . . . Dad just seemed really intent, like something had happened to spark his interest again."
Gibbs let out a sigh. "Oh, it did," he said. "It sure did."
"What do you mean?"
Gibbs gazed at Michael Webber thoughtfully. "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a lawyer for the CWDL." Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Child Welfare Defense League," Webber amplified. "I work as an advocate for abused, neglected and exploited children."
"I see," Gibbs said. "I guess I'd better get you to your father. Once you've spoken to him, I can give you more information about the specific case."
"I'm not his lawyer, in fact, I'm sure he's already got at least three."
Gibbs snorted. "Four, actually, but you are a lawyer, he did request you. It would be better to err on the side of caution."
Webber shrugged. "I can see that. Well, let's go."
Gibbs walked him down to one of the interview rooms and left him there, then went to get Webber out of holding. Mr. Beltran, one of the cadre of lawyers the senator was hiding behind, met him at the door to the holding cell. "When are you going to bring my client in front of a judge?" he demanded.
"I don't do that," Gibbs pointed out. "I'm just a grunt. His son's here."
"Where is he?"
"In one of the interview rooms."
"I'll let the senator know."
Beltran got the guard to let him into the cell and a few moments later Senator Webber emerged, looking dignified and embattled. "Agent Gibbs, please take me to my son."
Gibbs pulled out his handcuffs and Beltran said, "Surely you can dispense with those."
"I don't think so," Gibbs replied. "Senator?"
Webber put his hands out and Gibbs snapped the cuffs on, then guided him towards the elevator. Beltran followed, bitching nonstop, but Gibbs ignored him.
"Is Tony here?" Webber asked.
Gibbs pushed the call button and didn't respond. DiNozzo wasn't any of Webber's concern, and he found himself hoping that his agent had followed instructions and remained at his desk. If he was in the elevator, or made to get into the elevator, Gibbs was going to shoot him. They made it to the interview room without meeting any member of his team, for which Gibbs was grateful. He opened the door and ushered them in. A moment later, Beltran emerged, looking disgruntled. Gibbs didn't comment, but he was amused.
He and Beltran stood outside the room for about ten minutes until they could hear the voices inside rising. When it became out and out shouting, Gibbs opened the door. Both men were on their feet, glaring over the table, and he'd caught the senator in mid-shout. ". . . ungrateful, spoiled brat. I paid for that fancy legal education!"
"You're a child molester, a rapist and a felon hiding behind a sanitized public image. Mother should have turned you in!"
"I never want to see you again!" Senator Webber snapped, and he turned to storm out. Gibbs stepped back to let him leave.
"Stay here," Gibbs said to Michael. "I'll send someone to escort you back to the conference room."
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs."
He returned the senator to his cell and went back for Michael. Agent Markowicz got on the elevator at the squad room, and Gibbs caught sight of DiNozzo at his desk, working diligently. Kate sat across from him, and he got the impression that she was worried about DiNozzo's manner.
"How's DiNozzo holding up?" Markowicz asked.
Gibbs turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"He seems a little off his game. I barely even knew he was there."
Gibbs shrugged. "Rough assignment."
"Never would have thought anything could repress him," Markowicz said. They got off on the same floor and went in different directions. Gibbs collected Michael Webber and returned with him to the conference room.
