Chapter Twelve: Focus
Abby walked around the car that had been pulled out of the river earlier that evening. Aside from a little mud splattered across its normally pristine surface, it didn't look at all like it had spent the last almost twenty four hours in the Potomac. The smell was a different story.
She carefully inspected the outer surface of the car, searching for any clues that might be helpful in proving Tony's story, taking swabs and samples and dusting for prints before turning her attention to the interior of the car where she repeated the process.
"Have you had any rest in the last forty eight hours, Abby?" Balboa asked as he walked around the car, taking in its condition just as Abby had done.
"More than enough," Abby answered.
Balboa bent over and peeked in the window, looking through the car, directly at Abby.
"Okay, minimal," Abby confessed, "but more than enough. I'm fine."
"In that case, what'd you find?"
"Well, Tony's creds, weapon and phone were on the floorboard in the passenger side of the car so this is definitely the car he was driving."
"Anything else?"
"The car's been wiped so there's no prints and the Potomac took care of any DNA that may have been left behind but I just got the car. There is much to be done."
"I've got camera footage from Baltimore's holding cell, swabs, electronic records, glass shards I found outside the window the Tony broke and a couple other goodies in here," Balboa said, patting the box he'd brought with him.
Abby perked right up, eagerly grabbing for the evidence transfer form but Balboa held it just out of her reach.
"Sign for it and go home, Abs," the man instructed firmly. "Everybody else is gone for the day too. We all need sleep."
"Okay," Abby reluctantly agreed, reaching for the paperwork again.
"Not till you promise me," Balboa said, still holding it out of her reach. He knew Abby well enough to know she wouldn't break a promise.
Abby sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "I promise. I'll put this evidence away and deal with it in the morning, after I go home and sleep."
"Good girl," Balboa teased, earning himself a playful punch to the shoulder. He smiled at her and handed her the form then the two said their good nights and prepared to head home for the night.
After following through on her promise to Balboa and even managing to get a rare few hours of pretty decent sleep, Abby had returned to NCIS. She was juggling two important cases for the agency's two top teams and didn't have time to waste on personal indulgences. By the time the first team showed up looking for answers, she had plenty to tell them.
"I ran the glass shards Balboa brought me and talked to a specialist in Baltimore," Abby reported, "and the age of the glass is consistent with the building's age but, even better than that, when I called the local specialist, who also happens to work at a window company, he let it slip that he'd been called in for a rush repair job yesterday. Would either of you two fine gentlemen care to guess who needed the emergency repair?"
"No way," Fornell said in disbelief.
"Yes way," Abby countered proudly. "His company repaired the window Tony broke and they were paid in cash, not with a check from the government like he was expecting."
"That's good, Abs," Balboa praised.
"And that's not all," Abby continued. "I also looked at the security camera footage from Baltimore's holding cells," she said as she cued the video. "Notice anything hinky?" she asked. "Perhaps the guard on duty?"
Fornell looked confused but realization dawned on Balboa and a smile spread across his face. "That's Aiden Mitchell," he said. "That's the guard they sent home."
"At first I thought he was lying about his involvement," Abby said, "but I watched all the footage and there's no Tony so I looked closer and they doctored the footage. The real footage is gone. They replaced it with this."
"Raimey admitted to sending Mitchell home," Balboa stated. "His statement along with this footage might be enough to get a search warrant. I've got Mitchell coming in at zero nine today. I'll get confirmation from him and Tony that he wasn't there."
"Good work, Abs," Fornell complimented.
Abby just smiled proudly as both men left.
Eight o'clock may have seemed like a perfectly normal time to arrive at work for many law enforcement officials but by Jethro's standards they were late. One look at Tony in the passenger seat of the truck somehow made it all okay though. He knew the man needed rest so his body could heal and Jethro could tell it had obviously helped. It was clear Tony felt better than he had the day before and that was worth arriving at work a little later than he would've liked.
"So what's on the agenda today?" Tony asked as they headed for the building. "The case, obviously but is there a specific direction we need to go?"
"We need to figure out who got Hamilton pregnant," Jethro answered. "Any guess about why?"
Tony didn't even have to think about his answer. "It's the most likely motive."
Jethro nodded proudly, feeling once again like his decision to hire Tony was the right one. "And you thought I just kept you around for your skills in the bedroom."
"Not just in the bedroom," Tony replied with a wink. "We had a pretty wild time in the backyard right after I got home from FLETC and you still have to take me down to the basement and show me your dinghy."
The comment made Jethro smile even bigger but the smile disappeared and he slipped into boss mode as the elevator dinged and let them off in the squad room. "Get with Abby, go over the evidence again and see what we missed. Call me when you figure out who the baby's father is."
"On it, Boss!" Tony replied, also slipping into senior agent mode. The façade faltered momentarily though. "See what I did there?" he whispered seductively. "On it? Double meaning… I wouldn't mind being on something right now." He let his eyes rake seductively down the man's body until Jethro's hand connected with the back of his head.
"Focus, Tony," the man ordered.
"Focusing," Tony answered back. "I'll be in the lab."
"Take this down to Abby," Jethro added, handing Tony the Caf!Pow he always got for Abby to start her day.
Thirty minutes later, Tony was sitting at Abby's desk, reading the journal they'd brought back from Jordyn Hamilton's Quantico home the previous night while Abby leaned against his back and read over his shoulder.
"Comfortable, Abs?" Tony asked distractedly.
"Very," Abby answered. "Actually I'd be more comfy in your lap but Gibbs might get jealous."
"I'm not so sure this won't make him jealous," Tony pointed out. He knew he would've been upset.
"Gibbs'll know this is innocent," Abby said distractedly as she pointed to a section of the journal. "What do you make of this?"
"Went to the doctor after blacking out again," Tony read. "He said it's not from the pregnancy… unfortunately."
"Sounds cold," Abby observed.
"Well, her parents did say she was more focused on her career and not interested in having kids," Tony pointed out. "They didn't even know she was pregnant until we told them."
"Yeah, but there's a difference between not wanting a kid because you're focused on your career and being downright cold towards your unborn child," Abby objected.
"Yeah."
"You sound hesitant," Abby observed.
"Something doesn't feel right," Tony admitted. He could feel the frustration creeping in. He had so many questions that he couldn't get answers to because nobody was being straight with him. He knew damn well that they weren't being straight with him but he didn't have a damn clue how to force them to open up.
"What?" Abby asked.
"I don't know but something's off. Something in this whole mess of puzzle pieces isn't right and I don't have a damn clue what it is and nobody's being straight with me!"
"Whoa, Tony, calm down," Abby said cautiously. "We'll figure it out."
"How? Gibbs is expecting me to work a miracle here, Abs," Tony complained dejectedly. "Like, I get the whole no special treatment thing and I don't want any but I think he might be punishing me for losing all that evidence. This case would be so much easier if I hadn't let that happen."
"First of all, there's no such thing as an easy case, Tony," Abby informed the man matter-of-factly, "and secondly, Gibbs isn't punishing you. Losing that evidence wasn't your fault at all and he knows that."
"Then what's he doing? I don't get it!"
"Gibbs is always hard on people but he has his reasons."
"His reasons?"
"Yep! But it wouldn't be fair of me to tell you what they were. That'd spoil the fun."
"Fun? I'm pretty sure nobody's having any fun right now. I feel like I'm screwing up all the time," Tony confided, "like I'm always five steps behind Gibbs and I'm never gonna catch on."
"It's your first case as an investigator, Tony. You're not screwing up, I promise. Just hang in there, be patient with yourself and it'll all be worth it." She tugged him into a tight hug, ignoring the yelp of pain as she put a little too much pressure on his wounded shoulder but before Tony could settle into the hug too much, Abby was pulling away and turning back to her desk. "We should get back to work. Gibbs'll be here soon and he'll be expecting answers. Let's keep reading and see what else she has to say."
"You keep reading," Tony said as he stood. He handed her the journal then donned gloves and opened the box of evidence he and Jethro had collected at the young Marine's home the previous evening. "I'm gonna see what I can find in here."
The two went about their separate tasks, both searching for that one clue that would break the case wide open but as time passed, disappointment set in.
"Anything?" Abby muttered almost a half an hour later.
"There's nothing in her stuff, nothing from her apartment that indicates a guy ever set foot in her home," Tony said.
"She's a good looking girl," Abby pointed out, "and there's a difference between not wanting a serious boyfriend or family or whatever and not wanting sex. Obviously she was interested in sex considering she was preggers."
"Exactly," Tony agreed. "I'd totally hit on her. Why is there no sign of romance in her life yet she somehow ended up pregnant? Did you find anything else?"
"No," Abby answered. "Pretty much the same thing day after day."
Tony replaced the evidence then tossed the latex gloves. "I'm gonna head back to the crime scene. Maybe if I poke around her childhood room and talk to her parents, something will click."
"Alright, I'll keep looking from here," Abby replied.
Tony dialed Jethro's number as he stepped into the elevator and informed the man about his plans when he answered.
"Come see me in interrogation before you go," Jethro instructed.
"In interrogation?" Tony asked, adding an approving growl to the end of his question. "Does this have anything to do with me being on it?" he asked seductively. "Please say yes."
"I'll be in observation," Jethro replied, ignoring Tony's attempt at seducing him and hanging up the phone but not before a grin spread across his face.
A handful of minutes later, Tony opened the door to observation and joined Jethro in front of the two way glass in the darkened room. On the other side of the glass Balboa dropped his, folder onto the table in the interrogation room as he paced around it, pausing to hover in Aiden Mitchell's blind spot.
"I told you to bring your union rep with you," Balboa said.
"That's not necessary, Sir," Mitchell replied. "I've got nothing to hide. I didn't do anything wrong. I swear it." His eyes met Balboa's in the mirror in front of him and they hid none of the trepidation that was rapidly building in his body.
Balboa paced around into Mitchell's line of sight again, leaned against the wall on one side of the mirror and continued. "BPD's records say you were supposed to be guarding the holding cells two nights ago."
"I was, Sir, but Major Raimey sent me home since there were no prisoners."
"Stop calling me sir." Balboa's tone was no nonsense, "What happens if patrol brings someone in and you're not there to watch 'em?"
Mitchell shrugged and began to fidget in his seat. "I don't know, Si— uh… Raimey said he'd take care of it."
"So where were you?" Balboa continued.
"I went to my girlfriend's house, er, ex-girlfriend. I have a two and a half year old son. That was the first night in a long time that I actually got to read him a bedtime story."
"This guy's nothing more than a scapegoat," Tony said as he watched from the other side of the glass. "He wasn't there when I was there. I've never seen him before in my life."
"Seems like a gullible kid," Jethro commented.
The two continued watching as Balboa coaxed what little information he could out of Aidan Mitchell. The kid clearly didn't know much and Jethro agreed with Tony's statement about him being a scapegoat but Tony watched with different interests. Balboa was gruff, short tempered and hard on Mitchell but not unfairly so. He easily maintained control of the conversation and left no doubt in the BPD officer's mind about who was in charge. It reminded Tony of Jethro and he couldn't help but imagine what it'd be like to watch his lover interrogate someone or maybe even be interrogated by the man himself.
"You okay?" Jethro asked when Tony grew quiet.
"Yeah," Tony choked out. "Uh, I think I'm having a little problem here," he admitted, looking at Jethro and then down at the front of his pants.
Jethro followed Tony's gaze and a smile spread across his face. He glanced over at the technician monitoring the audio and visual equipment to make sure he wasn't paying attention then reached over and slipped his hand between Tony's legs. He growled in approval in Tony's ear and gave the man a squeeze.
"You're surprisingly horny for being in so much pain," Jethro observed as they continued watching.
"It's all your fault," Tony accused proudly.
"It's time for you to grow a pair, Mitchell," Balboa ordered sharply, startling Mitchell and refocusing Gibbs and Tony's attention. "People are walking all over you and you don't even realize it. You find your confidence and stand up for yourself," he continued, slamming both fists onto the table separating them, "before you get yourself or someone else killed."
Balboa stood to leave but stopped before he reached the door and looked back at Mitchell. "And don't ever let anyone take advantage of you like I just did. Others won't be so nice. Always bring your union rep to formal questionings." He turned and left without another word.
In the observation room, Jethro pulled his hand away from the front of Tony's pants moments before the door opened and Balboa entered.
"Tony?"
"Never seen him before," Tony answered. "He wasn't there that night."
"Micah, give us the room?"
The audio visual tech nodded, got up and left, leaving them alone in the small, dimly lit room.
"Why would they do this to you, Tony?" Balboa asked, the gruffness slowly fading away as he came down from the high interrogations always brought.
"I-I d-don't know," Tony stuttered, suddenly feeling like he was in the hot seat.
"You piss anybody off that much?" Balboa continued, calming even more.
"I don't think so."
"Tell me what happened," Balboa urged. "How'd you end up here, working for NCIS?"
Tony was growing more and more nervous. He was unwilling to share his secret but afraid to deny Balboa answers. His skin was growing cool and clammy except for his hands which were suddenly sweaty. "Gibbs offered me a job and I accepted," he answered evasively.
"Tony," Jethro interrupted calmly, "you can trust Balboa."
Tony looked back and forth between Balboa and Jethro, all of his excitement over witnessing Mitchell being interrogated now gone.
"My dad's a big name businessman in New York City," he started, "a conman, actually. I'm his only son. I'm his only kid. He was pissed when he found out I had no intention of taking over the family business so now every time I get settled somewhere, he shows up and makes shit up."
"What kind of shit?" Balboa asked.
Tony shot a nervous glance towards Jethro, wishing he was anywhere else, talking about anything else. "He showed up in Baltimore just before Christmas and told the guys I'm gay which, of course, never goes over well in our line of work. And it didn't help that I'd just broken off my engagement to my fiancée. Senior convinced everyone that was why there was no wedding."
Balboa looked more confused than Tony had ever seen him. "They did all this, risked everything because they thought you were gay?" He shook his head and looked to Gibbs for confirmation. "There's gotta be more to it than that."
"They were pretty pissed off at me," Tony offered unsurely but a glance at Balboa told Tony that the man still wasn't buying that as motivation. "If there's more to it than that, I don't know what it would be."
Balboa nodded, satisfied with the information Tony had shared, and disappeared from the room without another word. He headed down the hall with purpose, pulling out his phone and calling Fornell as he walked.
After bringing his partner for the case up to speed on the interrogation and his chat with Tony, he said, "My gut says there's more to it."
"What is it with you NCIS agents and your guts?" Fornell asked.
"It's a prerequisite for getting hired," Balboa joked.
Fornell laughed before growing serious again. "With this many players involved, I doubt the motive is personal. I'd put my money on a financial motivation."
"I got lucky in Baltimore earlier but I doubt they're just gonna hand over anything else, especially anything incriminating," Balboa said. "I'll see if Abby can read the license plate on the car that pulled Tony over. If we can trace it back to Baltimore PD that might be enough for a search warrant that'll let us dig into their personal lives."
"I'm headed your way now," Fornell said.
Balboa and Fornell were baffled. They knew what Tony was telling them and they believed him but the evidence was telling them something different. Abby had run the license plate on the car that had pulled Tony over and found out that it belonged to a civilian, Richard DuBois, who lived in Falls Church and had no connection to Tony, Baltimore PD, NCIS, the Navy or any other law enforcement official or agency. It made absolutely no sense.
Things got a little clearer when they pulled up in front of the man's house and found a Ford Crown Victoria that looked to be black in color, a car that was identical to one many agencies used for their unmarked cars.
"I think I know what's going on here," Balboa said as both men exited their car and made their way over to the Crown Vic.
"Check the VIN," Fornell said, already dialing Abby's lab as he caught on too.
"The VIN comes back to the license plate that pulled Tony over," Abby reported moments later.
"What about this plate?" Fornell asked, reading off the sequence of letters and numbers on the license plate of the car in front of him.
"That plate comes back to a black Crown Vic registered to the Baltimore Police Department," Abby reported.
"Thanks, Abs," Fornell said before hanging up and confirming what he and Balboa had already figured out. "BPD found a car the exact same color and model and switched the plates to cover their asses."
"Call the tow truck," Balboa said excitedly. "We gotta impound this car. I'll give Mr. DuBois the bad news."